Reviews

All the Beautiful Sinners by Stephen Graham Jones

franklyfrank's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

bananaship's review

2.0

Good cop bad cop shinanigans that is a little unsettling because of the act of the killings but.. meh. I don't know if I should ease it with watching cop series or maybe I didn't like it.

Although this written good. Very calm if I may say. It feels like walking along the road on a calm, sunny day. That's how I felt reading this. He was intricate in making it feel like he got you where he wants to.

But still slightly boring. It almost felt like everything was prolonged.

Arr.

helpfulsnowman's review

Pains me to say I'm quitting this one.

Sorry, I'm about halfway and don't know what the fuck is going on.

There's a guy who's looking for a guy, who is maybe two guys, or maybe the one guy sort of trained the other guy, and there's a girl, who's maybe dead and maybe not dead. Oh, and the guy looking for the guy keeps getting mistaken for the guy he's looking for. And he's been arrested, I think, maybe twice, but I'm not totally clear on that. Pills, something with trees. Desecrated graves and also kids kidnapped during a tornado. Maybe it becomes clear how this all fits by the end, but I don't think I'm willing to wait that long.

It feels like a failure on my part, but I'm just not excited to get back in, crack the cover and be confused again and again.

There's some great writing in here, some good inner monologue stuff, but I just can't hang with it. It's not something I can hang with for 400+ pages.

I respect that this book almost actively doesn't give a fuck if you can follow it, and maybe there was a time in my life where I was ready for that. As I've aged, clarity has become the most important thing to me in books. If I can see the scene, feel the sensations, and understand a complex situation, I'm happier than I am trying to piece something together.

I respect that this book almost demands you read it a certain way, probably in a binge over a couple days straight. But that's just not the way my life works these days, and I don't think I can interact with this story the way that you have to.

In another life, another time, and another place, I suppose.

minorcan's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

bracky's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

reader_cheryl's review

4.0

whoa. Don't read before going to bed...but then, I couldn't help myself because I couldn't stop reading. Complex, beautifully written. I borrowed a copy from the library, but am going to buy a copy to keep here at home.

Tornadoes, disappearing children--both dead and alive--FBI, serial killers are all in this mystery/horror/thriller/hard to pin into one category (a good thing) novel.

For me, hard to pin down words to accurately describe this novel, which means--you need to read it for yourself. :)

chloesnotscared's review

challenging mysterious

3.5

valentina_legge's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lrooks98's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I’ve read a few of SGJ’s books before this, and I just think he might be too smart for me. This book is incredibly dense, and you have to pay attention to every little detail. However, the story is so interesting and definitely feels different. If I had the time, I’d go back and read it again immediately after finishing it the first time. 

mygeekblasphemy's review against another edition

2.0

I wanted to like this more than I ultimately did. It has a great opening, and I was drawn in to the story, even when I didn't know exactly what was going on -- the writing is almost deceptively simple, but God help you if you aren't paying attention to every word -- but I felt the backstory and the plot moved from complicated to convoluted. Sometimes, it felt all over the map -- literally as well as figuratively, I suppose. I liked the main protagonist, Jim Doe, but I was often frustrated by a lot of the good guys' decisions -- they seemed to unnecessarily and stupidly be putting themselves in dangerous situations. And the conclusion just didn't work for me, which is why the rating ultimately dipped down to two stars. I do really like a lot of the lines, though -- Stephen Graham Jones constructs sentences in such an interesting way. They're very sharp and darkly funny. I just wish the story worked better for me.