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A review by melbsreads
Harlem by Eric Jerome Dickey
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Trigger warnings: mentions of child sexual abuse, death of a parent, gun violence, murder, alcohol abuse, mentions of rape (in the past)
Well then. This was...a thing. That I read.
In some ways, it's kind of hard to rate this because it's only a short story. But at the same time, it's a short story that went all over the place and I have a LOT of thoughts. I'm going to number them under a spoiler cut purely because it's easier.
1. So Harlem is known to have killed like 8 people and yet at some point he mentions that he'll be out inside a year??
2. We're not really told enough about his crimes for me to buy him being this super dangerous person but also not dangerous enough that a woman feels comfortable being alone with him when he's not restrained???
3. Why did Daphane and Phyllis go along with the doctor being killed? Like, yeah, it got Harlem out of the facility, which then let them kill him. But why did they go along with his plan to kill the doctor??
4. Legitimately thought the doctor was going to turn out to be the husband
5. I feel like this would have worked better for me as a split narration with Daphane?? Maybe?! IDK. Like, I get that the big plot twist is that she's trying to kill him. But I didn't really buy it because we didn't know enough about her or her husband to actually care.
6. Why was Phyllis SO into killing someone? Like, ma'am. Calm down. Maybe eat something.
7. It needed less of the Tragic Backstory stuff and more character stuff for me. Like, SHOW me he's a bad guy, don't just be like "Here is my sad story of abusive parents who both died and then I got sent to abusive foster parents and now I murder people tralala". SHOW me that he murders people. Have him remembering what he did to his victims.
8. In summary, this wasn't bad. It was a wild ride, that's for sure. But there was very definitely SOMETHING missing for me.
Well then. This was...a thing. That I read.
In some ways, it's kind of hard to rate this because it's only a short story. But at the same time, it's a short story that went all over the place and I have a LOT of thoughts. I'm going to number them under a spoiler cut purely because it's easier.
1. So Harlem is known to have killed like 8 people and yet at some point he mentions that he'll be out inside a year??
2. We're not really told enough about his crimes for me to buy him being this super dangerous person but also not dangerous enough that a woman feels comfortable being alone with him when he's not restrained???
3. Why did Daphane and Phyllis go along with the doctor being killed? Like, yeah, it got Harlem out of the facility, which then let them kill him. But why did they go along with his plan to kill the doctor??
4. Legitimately thought the doctor was going to turn out to be the husband
5. I feel like this would have worked better for me as a split narration with Daphane?? Maybe?! IDK. Like, I get that the big plot twist is that she's trying to kill him. But I didn't really buy it because we didn't know enough about her or her husband to actually care.
6. Why was Phyllis SO into killing someone? Like, ma'am. Calm down. Maybe eat something.
7. It needed less of the Tragic Backstory stuff and more character stuff for me. Like, SHOW me he's a bad guy, don't just be like "Here is my sad story of abusive parents who both died and then I got sent to abusive foster parents and now I murder people tralala". SHOW me that he murders people. Have him remembering what he did to his victims.
8. In summary, this wasn't bad. It was a wild ride, that's for sure. But there was very definitely SOMETHING missing for me.