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A review by nikrib
The Groomer by Jon Athan
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Well… where to begin… This book is definitely not for everyone and falls into the splatterpunk genre. This narrative was difficult to get through for a while, given the topics and themes, but after the specific chapters (you’ll know when you read them) it’s all more of a vengeful narrative from there on out and less splatterpunk shocking. The story felt a tad like an extreme horror thriller, following the protagonist on his journey. The characters aren’t relatable, for obvious reasons, but the author does try to get the reader to feel the dark decent of the protagonist as he tries to find his daughter. Some reviews state that the actions of the protagonist are too extreme, but I’m sure there are parents out there that can somewhat feel the agony of the protagonist. Also, there’s been studies and articles depicting the brokenness psychologically a person can go through when incident/crimes like these occur, so following along with the protagonist’s decent and psychological break was intense.
This book’s topic is taboo to even mention amongst each other, much like cannibalism, but I believe this narrative can be seen as eye opening to naive people that don’t understand the grand scale, vastness, or frequency of these types of crimes. I wouldn’t say I “like” the story (that would be strange way to put it) but it did what it was meant to, scare, disgust, and shock. Similar to why people go to haunted houses or spooky events, to get scared, shocked, etc.
My only qualm is that the author uses redundant descriptive verbiage to build scenes, it can get a tad annoying. Overall, solid story, not for the faint of heart or those with many “triggers”. Venture into this book with caution, it is splatterpunk genre after all. The epilogue at the end is a quick excerpt by the author and was interesting to get their take on the process and the book as a whole.
This book’s topic is taboo to even mention amongst each other, much like cannibalism, but I believe this narrative can be seen as eye opening to naive people that don’t understand the grand scale, vastness, or frequency of these types of crimes. I wouldn’t say I “like” the story (that would be strange way to put it) but it did what it was meant to, scare, disgust, and shock. Similar to why people go to haunted houses or spooky events, to get scared, shocked, etc.
My only qualm is that the author uses redundant descriptive verbiage to build scenes, it can get a tad annoying. Overall, solid story, not for the faint of heart or those with many “triggers”. Venture into this book with caution, it is splatterpunk genre after all. The epilogue at the end is a quick excerpt by the author and was interesting to get their take on the process and the book as a whole.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol