Engines of the Broken World

by Jason Vanhee

Merciful Truth and her brother, Gospel, have just pulled their dead mother into the kitchen and stowed her under the table. It was a long illness, and they wanted to bury her―they did―but it's far too cold outside, and they know they won't be able to dig into the frozen ground. The Minister who lives with them, who preaches through his animal form, doesn't make them feel any better about what they've done. Merciful calms her guilty feelings but only until, from the other room, she hears a voice she thought she'd never hear again. It's her mother's voice, and it's singing a lullaby. . . .
Engines of the Broken World is a chilling young adult novel from Jason Vanhee.

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Fantasy, Dystopia, Teen, Post Apocalyptic, Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 2011

About the author

Jason Vanhee was born and raised in Seattle, Washington and still calls it home. He writes in several genres and styles, including contemporary fiction, historical fiction, young adult, fantasy and horror. He once drank at every bar in the city of Seattle in a year in order to get out more often. He has worked around the world on Semester at Sea, which still amazes him.

Reviews

[Giselle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh my word this was weird. Like, disturbingly weird. Talking minister cat/squirrel/dog, deadly fog, walking corpses and all! Fortunately it was the kind of weird that was so weird it was creepy. Unfortunately, the weird turned into the religious which is almost always a complete turn-off for me.

In simple terms, this story is about the end of the world. We don't understand exactly what's going on at first. Everything is kept very cryptic with a constant ominous vibe. Little by little we learn about the earth's condition, about what happened to bring it to this point including bizarre happenings that makes us wonder just how crazy it all is. The creepy definitely was my favorite part of this novel. When their dead mother's corpse started walking about, it had my full attention. Then the more explanations we were given, the deeper my eyebrows furrowed. It went from a creepy paranormal into a religious experience.

The end of the world in this plot is based on God's punishments for people's greed etc, and that stuff just doesn't fly with me. It's not unusual in post apocalyptic stories to have mentions of God and people either blaming or accepting that it was God's will and such, however with this one it was more than that. I felt like it was a book right out of Sunday school. It doesn't leave much room for alternate interpretations either Everything from the walking corpses, their mother's illness, to the minister cat turned dog turned squirrel turned prophet is explained with a strong Bible-based theology. With that said I think your views on religion and feelings toward spiritualism will likely have a big say on what you make of this book.

Religious aspect aside, it excelled in being disturbingly creepy with touches of horror and a vibe that makes you shudder. I was enjoying it immensely before the real premise showed it's head. The book is also written with a hint - albeit an obvious one - of dialect. Some passages read as if the narrator is uneducated - which she is - and that adds to the book's somber atmosphere.

In the end did I enjoy this book? At first I thought it was a yes - the creepy dominating over the unfortunate (for me) religious aspects. But after sleeping on it… no I just can't say I would answer this question in the affirmative. I'm not saying you shouldn't try it, but it's definitely not for everyone.

--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.

For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

[Dear Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this book fucked my mind inside and out.

Like post-apocalyptic fiction, I love apocalyptic ones, too. I love reading about the sense of urgency that goes along with it, that kind of emergency where everyone is scrambling and panicking about an event that would end the world as we know it. I've read a few good ones, but more often than not, a lot of them use the same old formula that a new, refreshing voice in these genres is in order. I think I've found that voice in Jason Vanhee. Oh boy, Engines of the Broken World may not be the best apocalyptic fiction out there, but it's definitely one of the more interesting ones that didn't just give me that feeling of urgency, but that feeling of dread as well.

Merciful and Gospel Truth live in a village far away. Their mother just died, and everything else seem to be dying as well. They only have themselves to turn to, save for a talking squirrel named the Minister, who is one of God's many instruments to guide the people to be good so they go to Heaven, and a Widowed woman named Esmeralda Cally and another woman over the hills named Jenny. They discover a mysterious fog closing in on them, getting nearer and nearer by the day, and find out they may be running out of time before the world completely disappears. The Minister seems to be keeping secrets, the spirit of their mother seems to be haunting the house, they are trapped and don't know what to do.

Usually in apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, religion is there, but it's usually in the form of something evil, like sacrificing people for a made-up god, or it being a sanctuary for those clinging to hope. I don't always mind either way despite being Christian, because it's just part of the story, and I try to keep an open mind as much as possible. But what makes this book so different from others is how the apocalyptic event is very closely tied to religion and makes it work.

It's funny how a book with a God punishing the people for the second time around for their greed and corruption became the most unsettling book for me to ever read. This is the first apocalyptic book that really, really, REALLY gave me a sense of dread of the inevitable end. There is no cop out. There are no aversions to the crisis. The end is coming, and there's nothing to be done to reverse it. I tried to read the book in a neutral point of view, casting aside my Christian reservations, and loved every second and every page of it. It has an absolutely haunting voice, and the narrator, Merciful, is successful in giving me that looming feeling that there's nothing to be done and we can only prepare for the end however we can in the context we're stuck in. Every time she would have flashbacks of the happier times, it gave me a lonely feeling deep in my heart. Every time she'd face the "ghosts" of the house that have their own agendas, I felt a disturbing sense of suspense and I felt scared for her. Every time she'd be confused with who to trust, what choice to follow, my heart would break for her. It really gives you that feeling of bleakness, but this sense of trepidation was so enchanting as well.

I really applaud the author how she was able to nicely tie this with a well-known religion and not make it preachy. I'm Christian, and I admit I may be a bit bias in this aspect, but the religion part in this book showcases more of the spiritual side of it. It reminded me of many of my Theology classes with my Jesuit professors about faith and accepting we can never understand God, and God is just is. Usually, in an apocalyptic event, I see characters cursing their gods and asking them why does this have to happen, why do these people have to die, etc. etc. and while that is shown here as well, there is also that acceptance and welcoming of the end despite being so afraid and scared. I absolutely recommend this, but it is recommended with reservations. I recommend reading the book for what it is even if you're an Atheist, or a follower of another religion, etc., and I guarantee you'll enjoy it as long as you read with an open mind.

Also, that ending. God, that ending. It's still on my mind up to this day and I can't forget about it. I loved how it didn't cop out. I loved how beyond the pages, it scared me, made me feel alone, made me feel insanely claustrophobic. I don't think I can ever be as strong as the main character here. It's so haunting and chilling.

High 4.5/5

[Alicia Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that blends science fiction and horror in a wonderful way. Philosophical and head-spinning, the story will have the reader trying to distinguish truth from lies, all while silently planning their own escape route. Excellent read!

[Jyanx · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elspeth and I have decided to move our blog, and in honor of my first blog post on our new site I have written a different review for our blog.


http://asharedbraincell.blogspot.com/


I received this book as an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

When I started this book I was a little thrown off by the writing style. Something about it was a little jarring in the beginning, but once I got a little ways into the book I became more used to it, and saw how the author was using it to set a tone and mood for the story. I thought the setting for the story was interesting, and well done. I found the world building to be strong, and interesting.

I loved the relationship between the brother and sister, and I liked seeing the tension, the love, and the anger and resentment. It was a nice change from some of the simpler and sappier family relationships found in books for younger readers. My problems arise from Merciful. I found her hard to understand. I know she is fairly uneducated, but her simplicity grated on my nerves. When events started unfolding she seemed unable to process information she was given, and form opinions on her own. She would talk to one character and believe what they told her only to talk to someone else and then believe whatever they told her. I understand she is supposed to be naive and trusting, but it seemed a bit too much for me.

The religion never felt like it fit to me, and the characters, especially Merciful, seemed to move from belief to skepticism to belief, and then back with no real motivation. I understand that Merciful is supposed to be questioning what everyone has been telling her, but it seems fractured, and incomplete. It’s one of those stories I can see where the ending came from, but it just never quite came together in my mind. The pieces were all there, but they just didn’t add up right, or feel quite as scary as they should have. I respect what the author was trying to do, but it just fell short of what they were reaching for in my mind. It wasn’t a bad story, but I didn’t feel as invested as I should have been, so that when the ending arrived instead of feeling for the characters I had mostly stopped caring. Good ideas, and underlying theme bogged down by mediocre characters, and disjointed storytelling, and world building. Could have been much creepier and haunting.

[Angelina Justice · Rating 2 out of 5]

This nihilistic approach to a post-apocalyptic world, is definitely horrifying. I suspect it is science fiction in nature, but I wouldn't characterize it as dystopia. It is lacking in the explanatory markers. It has the hopeful rebel, but even she is obliterated.

Perhaps the only thing worse than having one's parent rise as a mindless zombie, is to have them rise as a fragmented version of their previous selves. A version of the mother that is selfish and frightening in pursuit of life that is already over.

The story is written in such a way that you spend much of your time questioning almost every character and element.

I enjoy foreshadowing and plot twists, but I don't enjoy leaving a story with a sense of too much unresolved.

Does this world exist at all? Is it in the mind of a person? Is it a computer program? A war precipitated a split in the "realities", but what created the differing realities?

And I don't know that I would suggest this book to many people. The nihilism is frightening, since it doesn't have any explanation beyond a vague and abstract one. And it ends with absolutely no hope.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bizarre book. Came across it at my local library and picked it up based on the title alone. Every word of this debut is contained within the immediate surroundings of the two main characters, brother and sister Gospel and Merciful Truth. For real. Scuttling around the narrative is a "made thing" called Minister. Again, for real. If there is supposed to be hidden layers of meaning on those names, that are indeed "hidden." A story unfolds involving gluttonous clouds of mist, endless cold and snow, two people that are dead ... maybe, and lots of "the end is coming" bluster. Only it really is coming. And the slog toward inevitability is mostly meaningless. For what good is all the brotherly love and coming-of-age drama if it's too late anyway and there is no escaping the whims of the gods. Or God. With a capital G. The writing saves this effort.

[Misha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A creepy debut that keeps the surprises coming. Felt like a Southern Gothic dystopian. The two main characters have great, Gothic names: Merciful and Gospel Truth. They grow up with a crazy mother and creature/pet/caretaker called the Minister. A well-told chiller of a story.

[J.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ungrateful Children

The winter is getting colder and 12 year-old Merciful Truth's mama just died after a long illness. Her 15 year-old brother, Gospel, says that they can't bury her because the ground is frozen. The minister tells them it's not right to leave the dead unburied and castigates them for being ungrateful children to the mother that birthed them - but he's just a cat. But as the storm worsens and the world outside shrinks they can't possibly go dig a hole, and so they put her under the kitchen table. But then Merciful hears the lullaby her mother used to sing to her before the sickness got too bad... and it's coming from their mother.

This is an incredibly creepy story as the two children try to understand what's happening around them, and readers will be mystified at the minister. Vanhee tells the story with cleverness in the voice of Merciful, with - I think - an Appalacian feeling and dialect, and I found it nearly impossible to put down, finishing the last couple hundred pages in an evening. But not being able to put down a book might make it "compelling," but doesn't necessarily mean it's an enjoyable read. It's a bleak and lonely world, and although Vanhee skillfully wrings every last drop out of a small and limited setting and brings characters to life (in more ways than one!) with amazing "voice," I just found myself reading to finish and be done with it. It's certainly a well-crafted story and I "liked" it, but I wanted to like it more than I did. Still, if you want a creepy "end-of-the-world" tale and don't mind a stiff dose of darkness, you'll find yourself clinging to this one right to the last page.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got my hands on an ARC of this, so I guess it's possible there could have been changes made to the final copy.

I really was not sure what to make of this. On the one hand, it moved quickly and was certainly disturbing or scary enough for the age group it's for, I think. On the other...it didn't make a whole lot of sense. There were times I struggled to follow it, so I question how a younger audience might. The main problem I had was that when explanations were given, they just did not make sense. Why was God doing these things? There seemed to be no point to them, the amount of time that passed before the end of the world(s) had no relevance that I could see, the reason for the world(s) in the first place was not very well explained. I get that it's fun to play around with the idea of God and the end of the world, but there was no point to it and no reason beyond it that I could see, and I expect something more than just a level of coolness. I expect the author to be saying something--like maybe the concept of God as some people see it is ridiculous, which is the closest I could get to anything on this story, but it was more down to me speculating why the author would have written this in the first place and nothing I could back up with text, which really renders the idea meaningless, just something I made up.

In the end I was left with a weird and cool-sounding story with nothing behind it that I could see. For the sake of fun it was fine and probably worthy of three stars if that's the sole thing you're judging it on, but overall I found it a bit disappointing.

[Christal · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

See this review and others like it at BadassBookReviews.com!

Engines of the Broken World is a hard book to review. On one hand, it was undeniably readable; the pages just zipped along and I enjoyed the narrative style. On the other, the story was just... weird and the ending was somewhat unsatisfying, even though I understand why it had to be that way. This will definitely be a decisive book. I think readers will either love it or hate it, no real in between.

This book is even difficult to summarize. Engines of the Broken World starts with two siblings, Merciful and Gospel Truth, trying to decide what to do with their dead mother. She has just passed away, but it is too cold outside to bury her. The are constantly accompanied by an entity they refer to as The Minister that preaches gospel and gives them guidance, all the while in the shape of an animal. He changes from a cat to a dog to a squirrel at different times, and I'm still not sure what the significance of this was. Any who, the children decide to leave their mother in the kitchen because it is very cold. Everything seems to be okay until Merciful wakes up the next morning and her mother's body is gone and she hears her singing a lullaby. Merciful soon finds out it is not her mother in the body anymore. Instead, it is an alternate version of her mother that has managed to cross over somewhat from another timeline. She tells Merciful that the world is ending and Gospel ends up confirming this randomly when he tells Merciful about the devastating fog he has seen and how it has wiped everything out around them. The children feel like the only people still alive and must decide who to listen to, the Minister or their not-Mother, because the fate of the world might rest with them.

From the book's synopsis, I had thought this would turn out to be some kind of zombie or vampire story. That was not it at all and what Engines of the Broken World turned out to be was much stranger. From here on out there will probably be slight spoilers, but I can't think of how to discuss this book without them.

Merciful and Gospel were pretty much opposite characters. Merciful was the hard-working, dutiful daughter that resented her brother for leaving her alone so much and Gospel was the difficult, willful child who ran amok in th surrounding forests to escape his home life. Though they had their underlying tension, they eventually came to an understanding about one another and realized how much love they had and how they really did depend on one another. While Gospel remained a little one-dimensional, Merciful was a fascinating character. She seems so small and weak on the outside, but she had an enormous amount of determination and mental strength. She spent a lot of this book being uncertain and did flip-flop in her trust quite a bit, but I was happy to see her make her own decision and stand firm in the end.

As for the secondary characters in Engines of the Broken World, the Minister was very strange. He was sent as spiritual guidance for the town but no one really knows why or from where. He did show himself to be a good and true character in the end, but there were quite a few times during the story where I was wondering just what exactly he was up to. The entity possessing the children's mother, whom Merciful begins to refer to as Auntie, was way out of left field. Her character threw this story for a loop and was one of the weakest aspects for me. She was apparently a research scientist in what I am assuming to be our current world, and somehow figured out a way to transfer her consciousness to Merciful's world. Auntie was an alternate version of their mother from another timeline basically, and the connection between Auntie and the children's mother was what ended up driving their mother insane and eventually to her death. Got all that? I still could not tell you how she was actually able to transfer her consciousness to the mother's body and to actually control it. This aspect was explained hazily and relied on the minute notion that Auntie and the mother were the same person just in divergent timelines. There were a couple of other characters in this story like Jenny Gone and the Widow Cally, but the story mainly focused on Merciful, Gospel, the Minister, and Auntie.

So, like I was saying, I expected Engines of the Broken World to be a zombie/vampire story when the mother started to come back to life. Instead, it became an apocalyptic story because God had decided it was time to end the world and start over again. Auntie came through to Merciful's world because she thought there was something there that could stop the apocalypse. She tries to talk Merciful into helping her while the Minister tries to convinces her to remain faithful to God and to accept her fate.

Christianity was a very large part of this story and even after thinking about this book for a few nights, I'm still not 100% sure of the message the author was trying to impart. Apparently the Minister was sent to them to make the people good again and to help prepare their souls for acceptance into heaven. I have a really big problem wrapping my head around that. So, God wants to wipe out the world because the people are wicked, but the Ministers convince him to delay the apocalypse. Instead of an abrupt flood, it will be a gradual winding down. During this winding down time, the Ministers preach to their flock and help the people to become truly good again. They also eliminate almost all sin and wicked deeds. People live simply and in peace. But, even though this is what God wants and is pretty much his hope for when he starts over, he still decides to wipe everyone out and take a shot on a whole new Creation? I just don't buy it. Throughout Engines of the Broken World, Merciful and Gospel have to make this same decision on what they buy into. At times it seems like they do believe it is not for them to question the will of God but then at others it seems like they feel a God who would eliminate them for the sins of others was not a worthy God. They go back and forth between following the guidance of the Minister, his words being those of acceptance of the end, and listening to Auntie to try to stop the apocalyptic fog. In the end, Merciful finds herself alone and she must decide what her last actions will be. The ending was a bit anticlimactic for me, going out with a whimper instead of a bang. I do understand why the ending was written that way, but I still wanted it to be different.

Religion is such a personal choice that I don't really want to talk too much about it in my review, but it plays a huge part in this book. I just want readers going into Engines of the Broken World to be aware of how much of the plot surrounds it and the questions it inherently brings. Overall, this book just left me with too many questions and feeling unsatisfied. There seemed to be a lot of plot holes surrounding Auntie and her ability to connect with Merciful's world as well as the mission of the Minister. While I felt this was a completely original idea and I am looking forward to the next book by Jason Vanhee, this particular book just did not work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Henry Holt and Co. for providing an ARC copy of this book!

[Neil McCrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've known Jason for 28 or so years. There have been large periods of time with no contact, but 28 years none the less. He has been writing for as long as I've known him, and no doubt a significant amount of time longer as well. When he was 16 he had finished writing a fantasy novel, and as I was a peer with similar literary ambitions he let me read it. I don't remember much of the novel itself, but I do remember being quite jealous that he had a completed, coherent novel under his belt while I was still noodling around with my own writing. I don't recall if my critique of his novel had any merit to it at all, but I do remember saying some particularly shitty thing out of pure jealousy. The memory is a strong one, as I've revisited my guilt over it through the years as a sort of hairshirt or flail to prevent me from indulging in similar shitty behavior.

Here we are years later, Jason has a YA novel with Henry Holt and I have some modest efforts with Neo-Poiesis Press and elsewhere. I'm still a wee bit jealous, but I have nothing but praise this time around.

Engines of the Broken World may be a YA novel, but unlike my other recent experiences with the genre it doesn't feel like a watered down version of a more sophisticated novel. It's an apocalyptic novel in a TS Eliot mode, more whimpers than bangs. Claustrophobic is the operative word, as all we get in the novel is a tiny slice of a tiny village that may in fact be all that is left of the world. The cast is equally modest in scope: a twelve year old girl protagonist, her "wild" older brother, a shapeshifting "Minister" purporting to speak for God, a dead mother reanimated by an otherworldly force, an elderly neighboring widow, and a wilderness dwelling recluse.

Religious themes and imagery are at the forefront here, and the entire novel has a Manichaean feel to it, in that even the tiniest moral decision may be the one that decides the fate of the universe. Other reviewers have described the novel as preachy, which I find curious as there is plenty of criticism of the religious impulse to be found here, but no easy answers of any sort.

Despite the small scope, the novel moves quickly and the tension is unrelenting. The ending is both inevitable and open to a lot of different interpretations, and is all the better for it. I'd recommend this for just about anyone.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review written for WASHYARG (Washington Young Adult Review Group).

Teen siblings Merciful and Gospel Truth’s mother has died, and it’s too cold to bury her. The winter is colder than usual, and there isn’t really anyone left in the small rural area where they live to help out. People have been disappearing more and more, and the only people left are the Widow Cally who lives across the field, and Jenny Gone, but she’s too far away to walk to in the frigid weather. There’s also the Minister, of course, but how can a talking animal (who is really only there for spiritual guidance and protection, anyway) help with this problem? So Merciful and Gospel do the only thing they can do – they leave their dead mother under the kitchen table and wait. Unfortunately, it seems that their mother doesn’t really want to stay dead. And there’s also the mysterious fog of nothingness that begins to close in around the Truth house. In this bizarre and atmospheric debut novel by Jason Vanhee, unnerving energy pervades. The mixture of religion, shape shifting animals, re-animating bodies, and apocalyptic events combine to create an offbeat horror story. Teens who enjoy cerebral and psychological horror will be intrigued by the atmosphere and the setting, though the bizarre plot may be confusing and off-putting to some readers. There is no question that Vanhee is an inventive and unique new voice, and a master at creating a creepy atmosphere.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Merciful and her older brother Gospel live in a tiny village in the hills, where no stranger has come in six years. People in the village have been dying, and when Mama dies, there are only four people left. It’s snowing too hard to bury Mama, so they leave her under the kitchen table, though the Minister—a "made" thing in the shape of a cat, who urges them to be righteous in the name of God—objects. It turns out he’s right to; Mama doesn’t seem to want to stay dead. Then Gospel tells Merciful something even worse—something he’s seen coming towards the village, from every direction. Will God save them?

Oh geez, this book made me want to swear off anything but sweet Elizabeth Enright titles for life. It’s slow, horribly creepy, and devoid of hope. To be objective, the world is well-built, the characters are layered and interesting and sympathetic, and while the plot moves slowly, you want to read on to find out what horrible thing will happen next. If there’s any message here, it seems to be that free will is pointless, choices are pointless, and it doesn’t matter who’s telling the truth and who’s lying. Oh, and God is vengeful and ruthless and the world is ending. Very cheerful message for the kiddies, no?

[TheSaint · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Mr. Vanhee's version of the world's demise, it ends with both a bang and a whimper.

Merciful and Gospel Truth are quickly becoming the last two people in the world. It is literally closing in on them and slowly killing the last few neighbors they have -- and their mother, who's been none-too-stable in the waning days. Trouble is, she won't stay dead. Neither will the Widow.
When mom and the Widow come together for a final deciding battle for the soul of the world, the children just don't seem up to the task. And what about the Minister?

On the plus side, this YA novel is 100% romance-free. On the minus side, the world (un)building might have been a little more clear and forthcoming.

Two final words: Dis. Turbing.

[Emmanuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
Umm this book was very bizarre and weird... but I definitely felt the "horror" genre in it. It was eerie and somewhat disturbing. At first I didn't like the fact that religion was deeply embedded in the book, but then I realized that without it, it wouldn't have the same plot or storyline. I could definitely see this as a movie, a really weird one, but a movie nonetheless. The "minister" took a lot to get used to. I didn't particularly like the ending. It didn't really end, although it was implied. I think it should have had some type of written closure, like an epilogue. Overall, this was an interesting read and I can definitely say that I somewhat enjoyed it.

[Jannah mohamed · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book wasn't one I enjoyed reading. It was a interesting story, but I hated how I knew that minister was the one who was going to end the world. It might just be my opinion, but I enjoy a book with good surprise at the end. It was a book not for me, but everybody has their own thoughts on what books they like not everybody is the same.

[Nathalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels like the young adult dystopian trend channeled through Samuel Beckett. Claustrophobic and bleak, but surprisingly captivating.

[Pop Bop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ending and Chaos in a Broken World

This is the kind of book - original, literate, thoughtful, and a bit unnerving - that leads many to conclude that some of the most intriguing and thought provoking work being published today is being produced for the YA as opposed to "adult" markets. The cover of this book and the blurb promise a "chilling" experience, but that only hints at the depth and the rewards of this reading experience.

ALERT THAT VERY GENERAL SPOILERS FOLLOW: Our narrator is a young girl who is trapped in an isolated cabin with the body of her recently deceased mother. Her older brother has just returned to the cabin from his wanderings. The only other occupant of this claustrophobic environment is the Minister, a "made thing" in an animal form that occasionally favors the two siblings with bits of scripture and religious advice. There are a few scattered neighbors, but the general sense is that the rest of the world has somehow "broken down", and there may not actually be anyone else out there.

The title of the book is perfect. "Engines of the Broken World" is taken from a poem written by Lucan and first and famously translated by Christopher Marlowe. Lucan's Pharsalia, ("Civil War"), was written around 50A.D. and has been called the weirdest and craziest epic poem ever written. The poem addresses the civil war that followed upon Caesar's return to Rome to become emperor. The most famous quote is "So when the world's compounded union breaks, Time ends and to old Chaos all things turn;...Dissolve the engines of the broken world. All great things crush themselves, such end the gods..." This quote appears as an epigram to the book, but is more than just a little nod to the writer's erudition. This quote serves as an almost literal plot summary. The book is about breaking, ending, chaos and the perhaps literal dissolution of this broken world. Now, really, if you were an advanced and fairly sophisticated YA reader would that not capture your imagination? END OF MILD GENERAL SPOILER.

Because of its uniqueness, the most useful way to describe this book, at least that I've come up with, is by comparison. Our narrator is sort of like Scout from "To Kill A Mockingbird" - self-aware, wise and mature beyond her years, patient and empathic, but still a young girl. We follow the story through her, but perhaps we see or hear or understand a bit more than she does. The feel of the story is a bit over-the-top southern gothic - a touch of decay, vaguely, (or obviously), weird characters, an odd juxtaposition of the genteel and the bizarre. There is a story and there are events, and there's a plot, but it isn't exactly linear and it doesn't lend itself to tidy resolution. It's much more like some of the more abstract and atmospheric "Twilight Zones" , with elements of creepy wonder and family conflict, as though H.P. Lovecraft and Eugene O'Neill had collaborated on the script.

All of this is handled delicately and efficiently. The book is neither dense nor heavy handed nor showy - the writing is supple, understated and elegant, which complements the innocent voice of the narrator heroine and balances the darker themes.

So, a very happy find. A challenging and rewarding YA read. Not necessarily suited to everyone's tastes, but maybe just right for an adventurous young, or adult, reader.

Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book

[cari♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was...not what I expected. I was expecting something like ghosts or even zombies, and instead I got possession by people from another...dimension, I guess? Not that this was a bad thing; in fact I found this premise rather fascinating. The idea that there could be a sort of alternate world or reality that sometimes links up with ours, driving people insane, allowing a person's counterpart to take them over, is all very interesting.

The reasons this didn't get a higher rating than 3 stars from me are 1) the writing style was often difficult to read. I understand that Merciful and Gospel were meant to be simple mountain folk and talked as such, but the language was hard to deal with. Also I don't know if the author just wanted to showcase that their world was vastly different from ours, or if he was simply wanting to portray religious people as sounding painfully uneducated. Regardless, I had a hard time with it. And 2) I never felt like the story was truly complete. I know some people like having things left to the imagination, and sometimes I do too, but not with books. Especially not books like this. For all the doomsday phenomenon occurring, I was hoping there would be a little more concrete explanation of what the hell was going on, and I felt like there were holes.

This was likely intentional; I know some writers prefer to not fill in all the gaps and leave it to us the readers to speculate on it. That's just not my preference, so for these reasons I couldn't really rate it any higher. Still, the concept took me by surprise and caught my attention. I feel like this would translate well to a movie. A really, really weird movie.

[Danny Jacobs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This damn book is as weird as people have been commenting. This book felt like someone got a bad trip and tried to write a book while under said bad trip.

This book has a deep religious tone but this isnt some weird religion porn / propaganda that people are making it sound; if you try to take in the main plot of the story, the religious parts make sense to the characters and the plot; it even manages to make it better because of it. Ending was admitingly written beautifully which to me is one of the hardest things to write.

I was going to give this story a 2 but the ending popped it to a 3. I feel like this book had an interesting idea behind it but it fell very very short to what it could of been.

I dont regret reading this book but its not going to stand out compared to my other books in my collection except for the god forsaken cat dog squirrel fucking angel robot.

Goodluck and godspeed

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightfully weird, dark little book this is.

At the beginning, it seemed like one of the creepiest horror books I'd ever read. It then evolved into something bigger and weirder. I read the entire thing in a day, which I never do. Since the whole thing takes place in the span of a day or so and is limited to one location, it felt almost like a play to me, and I had to see it through as quickly as possible.

When there's so much YA literature that's either formulaic, didactic, or both, it's really refreshing to read a book that is resolutely neither. It's dark, sad, and ultimately ambiguous.

Not for everybody; definitely for me.

[Sam Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really disappointed in how this book panned out. For me it was rather slow and boring, despite the interesting and creepy things going on in this book. The blurb and cover drew me in but it didn't live up to my expectations

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of falls apart in the last 25% or so, but there's some deeply creepy moments and an interesting concept at the heart of it. Too bad it unravels at the finish line, though the last page is pretty great.

[Marion Lougheed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the writing in this book, and the story was the right amount of creepy. Well-developed characters and a well-structured plot. The ending left me wondering, so if you don't like ambiguity, maybe don't read this one. But I'd definitely read more of Jason Vanhee's books.

[Cayleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

How disturbingly creepy. I can’t make heads or tails of what I just read. It almost feels like I’ve pick up the second book in a series with how confusing it felt. Has a horror aspect in it that leaves you uneasy.

[Erykah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much in middle school that I've spent years trying to find it. I loved Merciful, and I felt so bad for her. I know how this book ends, and I still want to read it again.

[Cheyenne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was amazing!!! I found it really interesting to know that Jason Vanhee is not religious at all, but is able to write so passionately about religion.

[K Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy, weird and enthralling. Unfortunately it was also aimless.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright, I don't write reviews pretty much ever but wow, this book... Wow, its just, I was not prepared, at all, not in the slightest, nope

[Silvino Sieben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my type of reading. I recommend it for the ones who like fantasy.