A review by whiiitnee
The Best Bad Things by Katrina Carrasco
2.0
An 1800’s crime fiction novel with a bisexual woman protagonist? This book hooked me right at the synopsis. The combination of fiction, mystery, and having strong women characters at the forefront is basically my dependable novel trifecta. Add in a shady drug smuggling business in a dark and vivid historical city, and I was all in and really looking forward to my dive into The Best Bad Things.
With these expectations in mind, I realized pretty early on in the book that my takeaway as a reader wasn’t really what I was hoping for. The thrill and excitement of the smuggling ring storyline just fell flat for me, and it was tough to be invested in a group of really corrupt and unlikeable characters. I got lost in what was going on pretty regularly and then found myself just trudging forward, only to lose steam again.
The execution of the novel and writing style just didn’t connect for me—the writing felt dry and the story was driven by basically intense 10/10 negative emotion only—anger, greed, violence, lust, and jealousy. It read to me like a video game where you skip the cutscenes just get to the fighting and gore, only to realize you have no idea why you’re doing what you’re doing—just going through the motions for the sake of the action.
I found Alma to be a really complicated protagonist, which was what ultimately did me in. I wanted to root for her to succeed — a woman in a man’s world, rich with ambition and cunning and desire. But then I quickly realized that she was actually just getting under my skin in the same way as all the men in the novel. Her character seemed to embody constant womanizing, tireless one-upping, and the decision to resort to violence in alarmingly every single scenario.
I will say that the author does a truly amazing job of setting the scene for Port Townsend in the 1800’s. You can really get a vivid picture of the gloominess, grime, and culture at the time and place in history.
I read a lot of reviews from people who have responded really positively to this book, so maybe it’s just not my jam. But if you do decide to pick it up, be ready for lots of talk of punching, body parts, stealing, bodily fluids, violence in general, lots of weather updates, more violence and a confusing cast of characters.
With these expectations in mind, I realized pretty early on in the book that my takeaway as a reader wasn’t really what I was hoping for. The thrill and excitement of the smuggling ring storyline just fell flat for me, and it was tough to be invested in a group of really corrupt and unlikeable characters. I got lost in what was going on pretty regularly and then found myself just trudging forward, only to lose steam again.
The execution of the novel and writing style just didn’t connect for me—the writing felt dry and the story was driven by basically intense 10/10 negative emotion only—anger, greed, violence, lust, and jealousy. It read to me like a video game where you skip the cutscenes just get to the fighting and gore, only to realize you have no idea why you’re doing what you’re doing—just going through the motions for the sake of the action.
I found Alma to be a really complicated protagonist, which was what ultimately did me in. I wanted to root for her to succeed — a woman in a man’s world, rich with ambition and cunning and desire. But then I quickly realized that she was actually just getting under my skin in the same way as all the men in the novel. Her character seemed to embody constant womanizing, tireless one-upping, and the decision to resort to violence in alarmingly every single scenario.
I will say that the author does a truly amazing job of setting the scene for Port Townsend in the 1800’s. You can really get a vivid picture of the gloominess, grime, and culture at the time and place in history.
I read a lot of reviews from people who have responded really positively to this book, so maybe it’s just not my jam. But if you do decide to pick it up, be ready for lots of talk of punching, body parts, stealing, bodily fluids, violence in general, lots of weather updates, more violence and a confusing cast of characters.