Review: Tough, gritty read that's not for the faint of heart
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 23, 2013
I think this book has received some low ratings and bad reviews because it's repulsively haunting. The central characters are so horrific they make you feel ashamed to be lumped into the same category as 'human' with them. Their dysfunctional, delusional, morally reprehensible ways are almost too much to read in big chunks. I truly had to put this down at points because it was so draining to keep up with characters so devoid of any kind of moral compass.So why keep reading, if the characters are so vile? Because they're extremely well done! This isn't a happy, smiley, relatable read where you can envision yourself in the character's shoes. At least I hope not! It's falling through the looking glass into the minds of some sick individuals, and it's fascinating because as much you despise them, in the back of your mind you reluctantly acknowledge that there are really, truly people like this walking around with the rest of us. It's one of those bottlenecking-car-wreck bits in a readable form. It offends you to the core, yet still you need to see where it goes.The fact that I hated the characters so completely speaks to the author's talent. Keeping up such loathsome characters without any sliver of hope in finding something likeable about them throughout a whole book takes a lot of work, I'd imagine. In hindsight, the ending isn't too much of a shocker given the rest of the story, but I was shocked anyway. As stomach churning as the first 95% of the book is, it shouldn't have been a surprise- yet it still was.I found the consistent use of the word 'retard' in a derogatory fashion extremely offensive, but I gritted my teeth through it as I understand it was a tool used to show the tendencies of the main character, much like the few racial slurs here and there that were far less numerous. I could deal with the cursing and 'likes', but that one I struggled with.A good read if you know what you're getting into and accept that it will most likely offend you in numerous ways. Even if you're not easily offended, prepare yourself. I'd highly recommend it to anyone ready to read something out of their usual 'comfort zone' who can deal with being offended by a fictional character's language and ways.