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skyfox24kd's review against another edition
2.0
Uhhh....
and you can quote me on that.
This was not my favorite type of horror. It was disgusting and gory vs spooky and scary. It was for a book club and was something new to me. The plot felt a little all over the place, but maybe it was the protagonist that was all over the place.
Maybe I just started with the wrong book for this author or maybe I don’t get the humor? I have GR friends who love this guy and I’m not about to disagree; I’m only saying that whatever it is didn’t reach me here. I felt sad after reading it.
Anyway, I prefer spooky or terrifying rather than gory and demented. It did get to me though. I felt for the protagonist despite it all.
and you can quote me on that.
This was not my favorite type of horror. It was disgusting and gory vs spooky and scary. It was for a book club and was something new to me. The plot felt a little all over the place, but maybe it was the protagonist that was all over the place.
Maybe I just started with the wrong book for this author or maybe I don’t get the humor? I have GR friends who love this guy and I’m not about to disagree; I’m only saying that whatever it is didn’t reach me here. I felt sad after reading it.
Anyway, I prefer spooky or terrifying rather than gory and demented. It did get to me though. I felt for the protagonist despite it all.
imogeno's review against another edition
4.0
uuugh, I loved this story. But it's so sad.... It's not as graphic as people make it sound, an average amount of violence and gore for Jeff Strand. Which means it's def rated R but not gratuitous. I am squeamish and I had no trouble finishing it. :)
lenaf's review against another edition
4.0
Frank calls himself ugly, but is also clearly socially awkward too. His story starts out happy enough when he falls in love and starts dating the flower girl down the street. It’s when he gets mixed up with some drug dealers that his life goes sour quickly.
The tone of this book is a lot of fun despite hor dark it is. Strand knows how to pack a lot of character into Frank’s voice and it’s a fun, compelling read.
As things go bad for Frank, the action picks up, and you’re cheering him on through dangerous and violent decisions. Finally the book ends on some gruesome body horror that I ultimately had to skip through.
Although I’m not a fan of body horror, that’s ultimatelyl not what made me knock a star off this book, it was for a very different reason that I’ll explain with spoilers...
Despite this and the body horror, this was a good book. If you’re not a stickler for these details like I am and you love a book with multiple horror facets, I think you’ll love this read! For readers who love dark, bloody horror alongside humor and fun movie references, this is definitely the book for you!
My Overall Rating: 4/5
The tone of this book is a lot of fun despite hor dark it is. Strand knows how to pack a lot of character into Frank’s voice and it’s a fun, compelling read.
As things go bad for Frank, the action picks up, and you’re cheering him on through dangerous and violent decisions. Finally the book ends on some gruesome body horror that I ultimately had to skip through.
Although I’m not a fan of body horror, that’s ultimatelyl not what made me knock a star off this book, it was for a very different reason that I’ll explain with spoilers...
Spoiler
Abigail grew on me as a strong, reasonable woman and even when she’s kidnapped, she doesn’t lose herself. However when she is ultimately killed, I was frustrated because she was the only woman in the book. When it happened “off screen” though, that only made it worse for me. For the rest of the book she’s the reasoning for all of Frank’s actions, and I wanted to at least hear what her last words to him would have been.Despite this and the body horror, this was a good book. If you’re not a stickler for these details like I am and you love a book with multiple horror facets, I think you’ll love this read! For readers who love dark, bloody horror alongside humor and fun movie references, this is definitely the book for you!
My Overall Rating: 4/5
joelrsundquist's review against another edition
4.0
Second Jeff Strand book I have read and the second one I have thoroughly enjoyed. He does some great dark humor. And I mean blackest humor. That's what I enjoy about his writing. A good, fun read...and I must be mentally deranged to think the word fun applies. But it does!
jennyninnymuggins's review against another edition
3.0
I now question my sanity...
I don't know how to review this book. It was... unexpected. It was cute, then it was full of action, followed by some extreme horror. I feel like a reasonable person would dislike the main character by the end of the story, but... is that a trick the author pulled on us? Writing a likeable unlikable character? Or am I less reasonable than I thought?
I think I'll be reading more by this probably insane author...
I don't know how to review this book. It was... unexpected. It was cute, then it was full of action, followed by some extreme horror. I feel like a reasonable person would dislike the main character by the end of the story, but... is that a trick the author pulled on us? Writing a likeable unlikable character? Or am I less reasonable than I thought?
I think I'll be reading more by this probably insane author...
sjgomzi's review against another edition
5.0
This was my first Jeff Strand book, and it looks like I picked the right one, because I want to read all the Strand books now! There are few writers that can balance extremely dark, tension filled fiction, with comedy, and make it work. Jeff strand makes it look easy here.
This ill fated romance between Frank and Abigail is not for the faint of heart. It is heartbreaking, and filled with ferocious brutality. This is not a spoiler since Strand let’s the cat out of the bag so to speak early on with the statement, “This is not a love story.” And he sure wasn’t kidding.
There were scenes here that will disturb and anger even the most experienced of horror readers. Strand doesn’t hold anything back, and I confess to actually cringing at some scenes, but this isn’t just a gory bloody mess with no substance. Strand paints a vivid picture of Frank’s state of mind, what’s left of it anyway, throughout the narrative, and there is a scene near the end that nearly drove me to tears. This book won’t be for everyone, but what book is? I really enjoyed Strand’s writing style and will definitely be reading a lot more of his books in the near future.
This ill fated romance between Frank and Abigail is not for the faint of heart. It is heartbreaking, and filled with ferocious brutality. This is not a spoiler since Strand let’s the cat out of the bag so to speak early on with the statement, “This is not a love story.” And he sure wasn’t kidding.
There were scenes here that will disturb and anger even the most experienced of horror readers. Strand doesn’t hold anything back, and I confess to actually cringing at some scenes, but this isn’t just a gory bloody mess with no substance. Strand paints a vivid picture of Frank’s state of mind, what’s left of it anyway, throughout the narrative, and there is a scene near the end that nearly drove me to tears. This book won’t be for everyone, but what book is? I really enjoyed Strand’s writing style and will definitely be reading a lot more of his books in the near future.
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