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A review by ghostlydreamer
Casually Homicidal by Olivia J. Bennett
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
This one wasn't for me. I don't think there is anything inherently bad about this book. I can see a lot of people really loving this one. But I don't think it was for me. Let that be a disclaimer for the rest of this review, because I don't think you should use this as a means to decided whether or not you should read the book.
I guess what it really boils down to is that I did not care about the main characters. There are two, with alternating chapters written in first person. I will give credit where credit is due: both had distinct voices, which is a hard feat in a book like this. But I cared for neither of them. And when I don't care for either protagonist, I start losing interest very quickly. I made it about 25% of the way through the book, so I feel like I gave each of them a good enough chance. But neither Hendrix nor Arden felt redeemable, and their thoughts had me more annoyed and put off than anything. I recognize that I am probably not the target audience. I think this is a new adult novel? There are certainly too many swear words and dark themes to be considered YA. Which is why I thought I MIGHT like this one. But we're still reading about teenagers. Two 18 year olds who impulsively go on a road trip. Both seem to come from shitty backgrounds, so I can understand why they behave and act the way they do, to a degree. But that's also why I didn't like them. I can only take so much of an 18 year olds mind, especially when they're acting so impulsively. I simply can't relate.
The other thing is I feel like this would have been an excellent place to explore antisocial personality disorder or sociopathy more. And granted, I did not finish the book, so maybe these things get explored later on in more depth. But given that Hendrix clearly suffers from at least one of those things, I was hoping to get a better glimpse into his psyche. Instead, some of his thoughts just came across as...repetitive. Edgy and dark for the sake of being edgy and dark. Not the mind of someone who is suffering from a real condition. I don't know. Topics like that are close to my heart, and I'm not saying the author didn't represent it well because I didn't read enough of the book to conclude that one way or the other. I just felt like from what I did read, it could have been written a little better, in a way that leaves the reader intrigued rather than put off. I think it started out fantastic, regarding Hendrix's reactivity when anger was involved. But once it started getting into Hendrix's homicidality, I was having a hard time feeling like these were the thoughts of someone who was suffering from a serious mental condition, and more about an annoyed teen who wants to come across as dark and edgy for the sheer sake of doing so.
I did like the road trip aspect of the book though, and I'm glad it didn't take long to get thrown into that. I think a longer buildup would have thrown me off. I like the idea of two people leaving behind their small town that's doing nothing for them, leaving behind their families who are not supportive of them. I love the sense of adventure and the unknown. But I guess a lot of the road trip vibes felt like they were missing for me. They may have increased if I'd read more of the book though, so again, don't let that deter anyone. Like I said, I think what did it was the characters. I could only take so much of them, so while there were certainly aspects that were done very well and would have been exciting to read about (like this road trip), I couldn't bring myself to care more for the characters to continue reading their story.
So I guess all in all, in the first quarter of the book I read, there were things I liked and things I didn't, and things that may have been well if I'd simply pushed on and continued reading. But since I lacked that interest in the characters, I didn't feel compelled to keep going, and that's okay. I can see a lot of people loving this book. It has a certain vibe to it that I can see a lot of people gravitating to, especially if they like darker books. It was just lacking certain qualities that would have made this book a better fit for me.
I guess what it really boils down to is that I did not care about the main characters. There are two, with alternating chapters written in first person. I will give credit where credit is due: both had distinct voices, which is a hard feat in a book like this. But I cared for neither of them. And when I don't care for either protagonist, I start losing interest very quickly. I made it about 25% of the way through the book, so I feel like I gave each of them a good enough chance. But neither Hendrix nor Arden felt redeemable, and their thoughts had me more annoyed and put off than anything. I recognize that I am probably not the target audience. I think this is a new adult novel? There are certainly too many swear words and dark themes to be considered YA. Which is why I thought I MIGHT like this one. But we're still reading about teenagers. Two 18 year olds who impulsively go on a road trip. Both seem to come from shitty backgrounds, so I can understand why they behave and act the way they do, to a degree. But that's also why I didn't like them. I can only take so much of an 18 year olds mind, especially when they're acting so impulsively. I simply can't relate.
The other thing is I feel like this would have been an excellent place to explore antisocial personality disorder or sociopathy more. And granted, I did not finish the book, so maybe these things get explored later on in more depth. But given that Hendrix clearly suffers from at least one of those things, I was hoping to get a better glimpse into his psyche. Instead, some of his thoughts just came across as...repetitive. Edgy and dark for the sake of being edgy and dark. Not the mind of someone who is suffering from a real condition. I don't know. Topics like that are close to my heart, and I'm not saying the author didn't represent it well because I didn't read enough of the book to conclude that one way or the other. I just felt like from what I did read, it could have been written a little better, in a way that leaves the reader intrigued rather than put off. I think it started out fantastic, regarding Hendrix's reactivity when anger was involved. But once it started getting into Hendrix's homicidality, I was having a hard time feeling like these were the thoughts of someone who was suffering from a serious mental condition, and more about an annoyed teen who wants to come across as dark and edgy for the sheer sake of doing so.
I did like the road trip aspect of the book though, and I'm glad it didn't take long to get thrown into that. I think a longer buildup would have thrown me off. I like the idea of two people leaving behind their small town that's doing nothing for them, leaving behind their families who are not supportive of them. I love the sense of adventure and the unknown. But I guess a lot of the road trip vibes felt like they were missing for me. They may have increased if I'd read more of the book though, so again, don't let that deter anyone. Like I said, I think what did it was the characters. I could only take so much of them, so while there were certainly aspects that were done very well and would have been exciting to read about (like this road trip), I couldn't bring myself to care more for the characters to continue reading their story.
So I guess all in all, in the first quarter of the book I read, there were things I liked and things I didn't, and things that may have been well if I'd simply pushed on and continued reading. But since I lacked that interest in the characters, I didn't feel compelled to keep going, and that's okay. I can see a lot of people loving this book. It has a certain vibe to it that I can see a lot of people gravitating to, especially if they like darker books. It was just lacking certain qualities that would have made this book a better fit for me.