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bookishraccoon's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
“Sweet Galactic Jesus”, that book was terrible!
I’m not one to leave bad reviews, so I feel awful writing this one. I had to read this one for a book club, & it was almost painful to finish.
This book follows ‘Worm’ , who just recently got out of prison. The whole premise is him trying to make it in to the halfway house before 9pm. But all sorts of weird series of events occur- people in gimp suits doing acrobatics, strange monsters, men in biomech, lots of villains plotting evil things, a weird lobotomy like procedure to remove the amygdala, & tamagotchis to name a handful of events.
With that said, I’m normally all for random concepts - but this book just didn’t make sense to me. It just sounds like bad drug trip, but the tone of the book is just strange to me. It goes in so many directions, it’s almost like the author didn’t quite know where to go with it. Reading it just feels almost like a jumbled mess, and it’s hard to follow what’s going on half the time. The dialogue is painful to suffer through, and a lot of the story just feels empty.
Not much really goes on throughout the story, with a series of odd events here & there. The lobotomy scene I’ll call it doesn’t make sense, & the way the characters react about it takes away from the serious moment. It just feels goofy instead of shocking.
I think the author was trying too hard to sound intelligent, by the overuse of medical terminology in segments. Between that & the slang that would be used throughout. Things like that will take your reader out of immersion.
I could ramble on & on, but I feel like I’ve said enough already…
So yeah, those are my thoughts on this one! If you actually enjoyed this one, then I won’t stop ya! This one personally just wasn’t for me.
I’m not one to leave bad reviews, so I feel awful writing this one. I had to read this one for a book club, & it was almost painful to finish.
This book follows ‘Worm’ , who just recently got out of prison. The whole premise is him trying to make it in to the halfway house before 9pm. But all sorts of weird series of events occur- people in gimp suits doing acrobatics, strange monsters, men in biomech, lots of villains plotting evil things, a weird lobotomy like procedure to remove the amygdala, & tamagotchis to name a handful of events.
With that said, I’m normally all for random concepts - but this book just didn’t make sense to me. It just sounds like bad drug trip, but the tone of the book is just strange to me. It goes in so many directions, it’s almost like the author didn’t quite know where to go with it. Reading it just feels almost like a jumbled mess, and it’s hard to follow what’s going on half the time. The dialogue is painful to suffer through, and a lot of the story just feels empty.
Not much really goes on throughout the story, with a series of odd events here & there. The lobotomy scene I’ll call it doesn’t make sense, & the way the characters react about it takes away from the serious moment. It just feels goofy instead of shocking.
I think the author was trying too hard to sound intelligent, by the overuse of medical terminology in segments. Between that & the slang that would be used throughout. Things like that will take your reader out of immersion.
I could ramble on & on, but I feel like I’ve said enough already…
So yeah, those are my thoughts on this one! If you actually enjoyed this one, then I won’t stop ya! This one personally just wasn’t for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Violence
jakewritesbooks's review
4.0
While Horror Month 2023 has been a minor disappointment, it did encourage me to finish books I would have otherwise put off reading. That includes this little ditty, which I greatly enjoyed.
I’ve worked and lived in Baltimore. I love the city so much. But it is a city of heartbreak. Violent crime, racial disparity, income inequality, a paucity of resources for young people, drug overdoses everywhere. It’s not the citizen’s fault, it’s the city’s for being so inept, the state of Maryland for being so indifferent, the United States for being so morally bankrupt, the world for being so militantly anti-Black.
David Simmons taps into all of this as only a native can. While the horror stuff (violence, weird magic drugs, hallucinations, creepy villains) is all entertaining in its on right, this is very much a Baltimore Book for Baltimore Folk. I could feel the eastside at my feet, the sun soaked streets near Hopkins, the rowhomes facing Patterson Park, the urban expanse creeping out past Greektown and onto I-95 for those foolish enough to leave the city.
Our protagonist, Worm, wants to do just that but he knows he can’t. He knows he has to defend this city despite its bullcrap, to love it even when it won’t love him. And even with Charm City lore and horror gore, Worm’s story is what really moves the narrative, as I found myself rooting hard for him to beat the bad guys in time for his halfway house curfew.
I didn’t know until looking for a cover photo that David Simmons’ has written a sequel set in West Baltimore. I will most certainly check it out.
I’ve worked and lived in Baltimore. I love the city so much. But it is a city of heartbreak. Violent crime, racial disparity, income inequality, a paucity of resources for young people, drug overdoses everywhere. It’s not the citizen’s fault, it’s the city’s for being so inept, the state of Maryland for being so indifferent, the United States for being so morally bankrupt, the world for being so militantly anti-Black.
David Simmons taps into all of this as only a native can. While the horror stuff (violence, weird magic drugs, hallucinations, creepy villains) is all entertaining in its on right, this is very much a Baltimore Book for Baltimore Folk. I could feel the eastside at my feet, the sun soaked streets near Hopkins, the rowhomes facing Patterson Park, the urban expanse creeping out past Greektown and onto I-95 for those foolish enough to leave the city.
Our protagonist, Worm, wants to do just that but he knows he can’t. He knows he has to defend this city despite its bullcrap, to love it even when it won’t love him. And even with Charm City lore and horror gore, Worm’s story is what really moves the narrative, as I found myself rooting hard for him to beat the bad guys in time for his halfway house curfew.
I didn’t know until looking for a cover photo that David Simmons’ has written a sequel set in West Baltimore. I will most certainly check it out.
vicwritesbooks's review
3.0
The book started out great.
Worm's character is well written and the whole scene of him getting out and thinking about a new beginning, no matter how hard it would be to achieve was all great. Then he starts talking to Simone and I get lost a bit. All those big fancy, or maybe not fancy but definitely very specific words he uses in the conversation made me wish I had a dictionary. But then again, needing a dictionary to decipher what is supposed to be a normal conversation seems like an overkill.
For quite a long time Worm just wonders the streets of Baltimore and you'll get the whole history of the city. I believe I might be a bit too young to have enjoyed the recount.
I'm sure Worm's childhood flashbacks were important in shedding the light into his past. The way it connected to his current situation was rather well done. But the whole flashback itself included a whole lot of words I did not understand, again.
I expected Worm to get in trouble a lot sooner than he did, and meanwhile I was already stumbling through conversations and memories that were hard to follow to begin with. When he finally did get in trouble it was a sort of relief.
As of the writing style itself, it was definitely well written. And I think I'm simply not the audience this book is intended for.
Worm's character is well written and the whole scene of him getting out and thinking about a new beginning, no matter how hard it would be to achieve was all great. Then he starts talking to Simone and I get lost a bit. All those big fancy, or maybe not fancy but definitely very specific words he uses in the conversation made me wish I had a dictionary. But then again, needing a dictionary to decipher what is supposed to be a normal conversation seems like an overkill.
For quite a long time Worm just wonders the streets of Baltimore and you'll get the whole history of the city. I believe I might be a bit too young to have enjoyed the recount.
I'm sure Worm's childhood flashbacks were important in shedding the light into his past. The way it connected to his current situation was rather well done. But the whole flashback itself included a whole lot of words I did not understand, again.
I expected Worm to get in trouble a lot sooner than he did, and meanwhile I was already stumbling through conversations and memories that were hard to follow to begin with. When he finally did get in trouble it was a sort of relief.
As of the writing style itself, it was definitely well written. And I think I'm simply not the audience this book is intended for.
jack_iwashyna's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Pulpy horror show fun
aliseaymcmahon's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.0
obenn's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
hilaryb's review
3.0
I feel like this whole book is an epic mindfuck acid trip.
I'm a Maryland girl. So when I saw this ARC pop up I had to snag it. Plus it's horror! In October! I've been looking for some creepy, horror type books to get into the Halloween spirit.
This book is a whole trip. And honestly I didn't know what I was even reading half the time. But the artestry of the authors words alone deserve a few stars. True artistic freedom.
This is the story of Worm, kinda, who gets out of the pen and is trying to make it to the halfway house by 9pm. That's it. That's the whole book. Him trying to get from point A to point B. But holy horrific happenings occur in between.
Thank you to Book Sirens for the ARC and the opportunity to give an honest review of Ghosts of East Baltimore by David Simmons.
I'm a Maryland girl. So when I saw this ARC pop up I had to snag it. Plus it's horror! In October! I've been looking for some creepy, horror type books to get into the Halloween spirit.
This book is a whole trip. And honestly I didn't know what I was even reading half the time. But the artestry of the authors words alone deserve a few stars. True artistic freedom.
This is the story of Worm, kinda, who gets out of the pen and is trying to make it to the halfway house by 9pm. That's it. That's the whole book. Him trying to get from point A to point B. But holy horrific happenings occur in between.
Thank you to Book Sirens for the ARC and the opportunity to give an honest review of Ghosts of East Baltimore by David Simmons.
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