In response to animal death TW: **UPSETTING

DOG

DEATH**

I picked this up, resonating with the feeling to losing my parents to right-wing media, always feeling solidarity with others who have experienced this. I think this story did a good job highlighting all of the seemingly harmless ways that people can be indoctrinated, sometimes without even knowing.

This book is very graphic and gory. It also won't leave you feeling good.

I think this is more like a 3.5/5 star read which is such a bummer because when I first started this book, I really thought that it was going to end up being a 4 or 5 star book for me. I think I’m going to round down though to 3 stars to keep it consistent with my GR rating.

This starts off pretty action-packed and immediately the concept gripped me. If you didn’t pick up on the not-so-subtle hints, this book is a political satire on MAGA and Fox News. I thought this aspect was great, I loved the absurdity of the brainwashing and insanity that overtook these characters. I’m also sure that if the audience that this book is written about reads this, they are going to absolutely hate this book.

The main reason I knocked off points for this book was that it felt incredibly repetitive and almost became tedious in the middle chunk of this story. The first part was fantastic, I was completely zoned into the story, but once I got to the middle, I found my mind wandering because I just didn’t feel as though I was reading anything ground-breaking. The story felt like it stalled for me. The ending did pick back up a bit but it wasn’t as strong as the start.

I did enjoy the humor in this too and there were certainly a good amount of “WTF” moments and gore. I think this is probably a book that a lot of people would want to check the trigger warnings for. For example, there is a family dog in this book. The dog does

not live. And to take it even further, the family eats the dog. It’s not incredibly graphic, it’s more so mentioned instead of described. There is no detailed scene about the killing of the dog or anything like that.

There’s also some pretty graphic scenes about child deaths and school shootings.

I do think this book was worth reading even though it lost some of its appeal to me in the middle.

This book would be great for someone who doesn’t have a weak stomach. Even I had trouble eating dinner after reading some of these chapters. The first chapter will shock you, but once you get through that it slowly brings in the absolute chaos that is this book. It’s vivid and morbidly entertaining narration will keep you coming back for more.

I was made aware of the explicit dog death and I do not wish to finish at this time

DNFing at 85% I just can’t do it anymore. I should have dnf at the part with the dog. No actually I should have DNFed at 13% when the first mum jumped her son, and tried do the nasty! He got away, but I just shouted have give up sooner.
This book just wasn’t for me.

4⭐️

⚠️ They Ate The Dog!!!
Child mutilation, sexual horror, graphically gross, political horror

This book has no conventional chapters. There are some paragraph headings. Different dates, Povs, activities, and social media posts that are used as a placeholder. Some go on and on for pages. If you like short, easy chapters, this isn't the book for you.

This book highlights the differences between liberals and conservatives. It is a country divided by politics. It pokes fun at society and the news. Fox News is here Fax News. Providing false narrative to the nation. Indoctrination. All the horrors and travesties in this book seem to be perpetrated by the non-liberals/conservatives. Neither side is presented in a good light. Librals/democrats are weak, victims living inside little bubbles, hoping the world will protect them just because of their values. If you have firm political beliefs, this might not be the book for you.

Gross. Absolutely abhorrent. I couldn't tare myself away. Even in disgust, I read on. Transfixed by the narrative, I gagged my way through. The horror here is everything and the kitchen sink. Body horror, sexual parental horror, social horror, psychological horror, apocalyptic horror, splattering, and extreme. It's over the top and, at times, offensive. If you have a weak stomach, this might not be the book for you.

This is a possession story. Possession by media. How exposure to view points and ideas can possess who you are and how you function, much like a demon. This is a zombie story. Brainwashed to brain dead. The old adage of too much screen time zombifying.

This is fear and propaganda, conspiracy theories, and terrorism drawn out and twisted into a novel. Falsified school shooting to pass gun reform laws. Viruses started in labs in China.

I found the switching between third - and second person narratives a bit jarring. I understood the point the author was conveying. I just had a hard time with the second person, pov. I don't read a lot of YN stories.

This book really doesn't have that many bad reviews. This is mostly due to the fact that it is so incredibly well written that no matter your views, beliefs, or your gag reflex, you have to recognize that this is a phenomenally well written book. The other reason it doesn't have many bad reviews is that it seems to have an incredibly large number of DNFs. I can only surmise that this is due to the political nature of the book, along with its wildly disgusting content.

Many times, I wanted to DNF due to the revolting and nauseating themes presented in this novel. In the end, I'm glad I soldiered through it. The ending was phenomenal. I don't think I have the constitution to read another of his tales, but I'm satisfied with having read this. To those who DNFd before the halfway point - Try Again! It really truly does get better.

The onomatopoeia is hilarious in the book, though. 

This is an interesting commentary on how people end up on the far right political spectrum. It also comments on leftists/liberals too and how/why they are ineffective and what they could do better. A lot of body horror and descriptions. 

Noah begins to worry about his parents when his mom leaves a series of alarming voicemails about how he should be prepared for the Great Reawakening. When he gets several messages in one day, his parents won’t answer their phone, and he can’t get ahold of his brother Asher, Noah makes the trip from New York to Virginia to check on them. He finds his parents both in a  trance, unbathed, unfed, the house in shambles, with the conservative news station blasting on every TV. Noah knows they need help and he’s considering calling the police when his parents attack him. He escapes the house and realizes this is happening at other homes.  People across the country are being turned into zombies by particular channels, apps and websites they access on their screens. Like Noah’s sister-in-law Devon, who has been brainwashed by a “wellness” influencer on social media. Folks are violently attacking their families, engaging in disturbing sexual behaviors and rioting. Noah is unaffected, and he finds himself fighting to get back to his wife and daughter in New York without becoming infected or the victim of the possessed mobs. 

CW: Brutal body horror, disturbing sexual content, child death, animal death, school violence, politics… there’s probably more.

—

I picked this up knowing it was social horror and satire, yet it was still surprising to me 1) how deeply disturbing it was and 2) how I absolutely could not look away. While I’m making lists of two, there were two things that really stood out to me. First, the description of Asher’s downward spiral into conservative media. He started out as someone who kind of side-eyed those channels, and quite quickly got sucked into the fear mongering tactics. Second, how Devon and Asher’s older son became ensnared through stealthier means - wellness influencers on Instagram and bots on Twitter. I mean, this is literally how people get sucked in, and the brainwashing is just as terrifying as the body horror. What wasn’t my favorite: The social media and news clip transcripts did not add to the story in my opinion and added unnecessary length to the book. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5