Man oh man. I was super excited about this one. I was
introduced to Odentz’s writing back in March when I received his short story, “Snow”,
through Netgalley.
More recently, I was going through some of the authors I
really like. I realized I never looked into anything else Odentz had written, and I
really reeeeaaally liked “Snow”. It's one of those stories that stick with you, and makes you smile from time to time. The writing style is smooth, and the story is
fun and upbeat (well, as upbeat as a horror story can be. Ha). These are two
traits that Odentz’s most recent novel, “What We Kill”, has as well.
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it as much, and it all boils down to one major
issue. Repetitiveness.
The beginning of this book was great. Four kids wake up in
the middle of the woods: one covered in blood, another missing his glass eye,
another not wearing any pants, and the last has been branded on his arm. They
don’t remember anything from the night before, and soon after they wake up they
hear sirens in the distance. What in the hell happened last night? And good
lord, why is everyone so nauseous? Either they all got really, really wasted,
which we’re told isn’t likely, because they’re not those types of kids and
Marcy (the only girl in the group) would never drink because of the meds she’s
taking, oooooor….they were abducted by aliens?
Seriously though, it was a great start, and you’re right
there with the kids trying to figure out what the heck is going on. The author
does a mostly great job of introducing us to not only the characters and plot,
but the town as well. We get a feel for it rather quickly. We’re riding right
along, and I’m thinking to myself with a smile on my face, “OK, this has gotta be
a 4 or 5 star read.”
*sigh* and this is why we always wait to delve deeper into
the book before rating it. About 150 pages in I was ready to drop the book to 2
stars.
Rather than unraveling what really happened the night before,
we’re given hardly anything at all to satiate us, and information we already
know is rehashed again and again. We’re told more than once Marcy takes meds
that make it highly unlikely that she would drink or do drugs. We’re reminded
again and again that our character used to be fat (I could have forgiven this
one, because it does shape who the character used to be and still is, but it
wasn’t the only thing we kept being told again and again). We are reminded
numerous times that the main character woke up branded, that Myers is missing
his glass eye, and that Anders is a jock and it’s weird that he hangs out with
a group that’s a bit loserish (I do like the breakout from stereotypes, but I
didn’t need to continuously be told that he was “different” from the norm). We’re
told in as many ways as I think are possible that Myers’s mom likes to cuss and
yell, that Anders’s mom is a slut, that our main character’s mom is pretty much
crazy and doesn’t care in the least about her son. Oh, and Marcy is beautiful.
Did I mention that Marcy is beautiful? No, like I thought she was just pretty,
but she’s really reeeeeaaally beautiful. Especially when the light hits her
hair just right…
I could actually go on about what we’re told time and again.
None of these things have ANYTHING to do with the mystery THAT WE ACTUALLY CARE
ABOUT!!! OK, the Marcy being pretty one I can forgive as well. Still, all of things
got old so fast. My memory’s not perfect, but it’s good enough that I didn’t
need all these things reiterated to me again and again and again…and again….
I understand that all of this information is supposed to
help us as readers feel like we really know the characters, but did it really
need to be stated 20 times that Marcy has a thing for Anders and that EVERYONE
knows about? I personally don’t think so. We really didn’t need to be “told” a
lot of these things even once. Odentz, you’re a good enough writer that you
showed us all of these things, I promise. Most of your readers aren’t dumb
enough to miss the hints here and there. Most…and that most is who you’re
really shooting to please.
Moving on to the end when everything FINALLY comes together,
it comes together fast and hard like a guillotine of epic proportions, and I’m
enthralled yet again. A lot of the mystery we’ve probably already figured out,
but some of it makes you go “huhwhaaaaa?”
The end was superb, my friends. It left a little smile on my
face, and I instantly wanted to tell someone about it.
While there were times I had thought I wasn’t going to be
able to finish the book, because it got so boring there in the middle, I am so
happy I did. There’s so much to like about this book. It’s about more than just
the mystery. It’s about what the town’s going through. It’s about what the kids
are going through. You really get to know them. If the story hadn’t dragged so
much you could really start to care about all of them.
I liked two-thirds of this book. I liked two-thirds of this
book A LOT, but it wasn’t enough to pay back for the wasted time spent on the
middle. I am taking into account that I read the unedited proof of the book,
and hoping against all hopes that there will be more edited out than just the
typos. This book could seriously be cut down at least 50 pages, and be so much
better. I’d even dare to say 100 pages of fluff could be cut out. Seriously,
there’s that much extra right now.
In terms of writing style it was a joy to read. Another fun
read, that makes me curious about other things this author has written. I will
be on the lookout for more, because gah, the ending and premise of this one
were golden. Please, please write more, and edit the crap out of all this extra
fluff!
Oh, solid 3 out of 5 star rating. Which means, yes, it’s
probably worth a read.
**I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
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