At its best, this book is a horrifically atmospheric, Southern Gothic fever dream centred around the theme of crime and how one (or many) can become complicit through their silence. 

At its worst, this book feels…rushed. Normally, when I read books that lean on the shorter side, most of my disappointment is linked to an anticlimactic ending. With The Bayou, my opinion is different. I’d argue that the ending is the strongest section of the book and that the beginning and middle didn't work hard enough to earn it. 

The individual character work for Eugene and Mary Beth was great and the overall arc of their relationship was gut-wrenching. It was so well done, in fact, that when I compared it to the character work surrounding Johnny Walker it was clear that the latter was lacking. 

I understand that Walker is meant to be an other-wordly figure so shrouding him in mystery makes sense, but we didn't even get to explore enough interactions between him and Eugene outside of them having sex so the overall arc of their relationship felt hurried,  unbelievable even. I also would've loved to also see more from the crime duo. They have a interesting dynamic that we only got one or two sips of before the drastic event at the end of the book; we saw so little between the two of them that their whole relationship also failed in being unsatisfactory.