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The Triflers
Mario Quintanilla is ready to die, and he plans to go out in a blaze of glory. It'll be a school shooting for the record books, his "Bloody Monday." "The Triflers" is the story of a young man's rampage told from three perspectives: The killer's, his best friend's, and a popular jock's. This is the debut novel of YouTube satirist Mumkey Jones.
370 pages, Paperback
Published January 9, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
December 16, 2019
Walk-in freezers are required by law to have an interior release mechanism in case someone gets locked inside.
July 17, 2017
The story behind another school shooting; a story of damaged and disaffected teens. The Triflers warrants its own disclaimer "not for the faint of heart" and carries it with pride, gazing into the deep dark fissures of human emotions and relations. The author often skirts the border between satire and naturalism, but on the whole, the encountered characters are not only believable, but all too familar. Those familiar with his Youtube work will know that The Triflers is not only a work of fiction, but also an effort on Mumkey's part to raise awareness; he draws heavily on Elliot Rodger's manifesto and asserts that such a viewpoint as Rodger's is by no means singular. Mumkey's school shooter novel is as edgy as necessary and as earnest as possible. Highly recommended debut!
November 8, 2019
Good book
Would love too see a film adaptation/sequel
Interesting psychology
Underrated
Would love too see a film adaptation/sequel
Interesting psychology
Underrated
August 8, 2018
The biggest strength of this book would have to be the way it's structured and how it builds anticipation using that format. (Switching perspective between the three main characters' journals.) This ended up making it quite an engrossing story that made it a quick read for me. Being aware of the coming events announced at the start of the book naturally makes you curious what must happen in order for things to eventually end up that way.
However not every perspective came across equally as authentic. (Mario's manifesto was way more convincing than Dawn's letter, which paints her motivations as being rather unmotivated.)
The story also lost me somewhat when the Triflers started upping their game, which is when the events became rather unrealistic in the context of the story. (Dawn had many conveniences that worked in her favor.)
Still had an good time plowing my way through this book. It's an easy read and I could recommend it to most people.
(Edit: After thinking some more about this book and listening to a discussion of it, I ended up appreciating it a bit more.)
However not every perspective came across equally as authentic. (Mario's manifesto was way more convincing than Dawn's letter, which paints her motivations as being rather unmotivated.)
The story also lost me somewhat when the Triflers started upping their game, which is when the events became rather unrealistic in the context of the story. (Dawn had many conveniences that worked in her favor.)
Still had an good time plowing my way through this book. It's an easy read and I could recommend it to most people.
(Edit: After thinking some more about this book and listening to a discussion of it, I ended up appreciating it a bit more.)
August 16, 2018
In complete honesty, I wasn't expecting this book to be good. Youtuber books rarely are. But this book absolutely shocked me in it's greatness.
There was a point about midway in this book where I simply could not put it down. Each perspective was uniquely gripping, the suspense was almost perfect, and every sentence in this book built up to the very end. Each character was beautifully constructed, and every aspect of this story was unpredictable. The plot was original, nothing was left unfinished, and it absolutely blew me away.
Every second I was away from this book while I was in the middle of it was torture. The ending was so intentionally and perfectly unsatisfying, frustrating in a way only true talent can be. Please give this book a chance. It's unsettling, gruesome, unrelenting, and completely unapologetic. There is nothing about it that doesnt work.
There was a point about midway in this book where I simply could not put it down. Each perspective was uniquely gripping, the suspense was almost perfect, and every sentence in this book built up to the very end. Each character was beautifully constructed, and every aspect of this story was unpredictable. The plot was original, nothing was left unfinished, and it absolutely blew me away.
Every second I was away from this book while I was in the middle of it was torture. The ending was so intentionally and perfectly unsatisfying, frustrating in a way only true talent can be. Please give this book a chance. It's unsettling, gruesome, unrelenting, and completely unapologetic. There is nothing about it that doesnt work.
April 8, 2019
This is my favorite book.
June 28, 2020
I'm pretty disappointed. I've been a fan of Mumkey's channel since the start of his Anime Review Series (which was great) and I recently thought, "screw it, I'll buy the book and if it happens to be bad then at least I'll get a good laugh out of it." Oh boy, I couldn't have been more wrong.
I find it difficult to even find amusement in it, which I didn't think would be possible. How can someone as eDgY as Jimmy mess up a book centered around a school shooting and a gang of psychopathic teens? I honestly don't know.
I think what bothered me most was Dawn 'not like the other girls' Bracken, probably the worst edgelord character I've encountered since Sigourney Weaver in Tomboy, except at least pretentious Ripley was fun to watch.
The second star is out of pity.
I find it difficult to even find amusement in it, which I didn't think would be possible. How can someone as eDgY as Jimmy mess up a book centered around a school shooting and a gang of psychopathic teens? I honestly don't know.
I think what bothered me most was Dawn 'not like the other girls' Bracken, probably the worst edgelord character I've encountered since Sigourney Weaver in Tomboy, except at least pretentious Ripley was fun to watch.
The second star is out of pity.
October 4, 2025
Recently, I've been reminiscing about Mumkey's Anime Reviews. While rough around the edges and padded in a few areas, the webseries stands as one of my favourites for it's irreverent tone, mid-2010s YouTube charm and how well it captures the spirit of online video creation. Despite my familiarity with the Mumkey mythos, there's always been one piece of the puzzle which has been missing - The Triflers. While I've only heard unanimous praise for this book, I know nothing about it beyond it being a story of dirtbag teens. Now that I'm interested in reading, I figured it would be worthwhile to bridge that gap.
The Triflers presents itself in a dynamic way, alternating between the perspectives of it's three main characters: Dawn, Mason and Mario. The context, tone and motivations for which these characters write differ between the three, adding a commendable level of variety and friction to the story.
Dawn is the most enigmatic of the main characters. Despite being the lead antagonist of the story, I never had much of a feel for her as a character. She writes about having big ideas and looking down on the common man, yet doesn't seem to have many goals or a plan beyond doing what she wants in the present. This contrasts with how put-together and methodical she is, such as when she survived a night locked in a freezer. For all the psychopathic traits that she embodies, she appears to be lacking the biggest component of psychopathy - a superficial charm. All of Dawn's dialogue is jarring and unnatural. It's difficult to describe, but she often comes across as tepid, yet verbose, which makes it difficult to believe that she has the Triflers in the palm of her hand. It's worth mentioning that Dawn is an unreliable narrator and deliberately lies in one key part of her letter, so it's possible that her dialogue could also fabricated in an attempt to sound normal.
Mason is the moral center of the story and writes with extreme angst despite having a successful social life. The majority of his entries are concerned with his abusive homelife and love troubles. I enjoy these entries for how true-to-form they are, though I'd be lying if I said these subject matters didn't start to drag after a while. I would have also liked to hear about how Mason navigates his regular life at school despite his association with the Triflers, though in all fairness it's obvious that Mason is writing about his abusive homelife to keep himself from losing his mind. Mason is dramatically altered by the end of the story, being left with nothing and strongly motivated by revenge. I appreciate this change in his character - it sets up a continuation pretty well.
Mario is my favourite character of The Triflers, being the most believable. While far from sympathetic, his habitual self-saboutage and low self esteem gives him a degree of pathos as a character. He presents himself as a misunderstood genius yet has an infantile and superficial view of the world, which is accurate to a lot of shooter manifestos. The way he patronises his audience by defining Internet terms which have a clear-cut meaning adds to this realism in a humourous way. I started getting mixed signals from his character as the story neared its end, which could either be a good or bad thing. He's convinced that his life is meaningless and is acutely aware of his shortcomings, yet he ascribes an incredible level of importance to his act of retribution. I know the 'beta uprising' has been a common talking point amongst incels, though from what I know of it, it's ill-defined and mostly used to vent frustration, so I find it hard to believe that Mario would believe in such a prospect. It's also possible that he's just being provocative, as he is already known to be.
One of the more surreal moments of the book came from reading Mario's musings on depression and suicide. Sections of these chapters would later be used verbatim in the Mumkey's Anime Reviews episode for depression - one of my favourites of the series. It's been years since I watched that video, though I remember its wording vividly. The appeal it has in this book is obviously dampened by Mario's quirks and mannerisms, though I still think it still works pretty well. The section of Mario's manifesto where he talks about the beta uprising was also reused in the Mumkey's Anime Reviews episode about incels.
The book has a gripping conclusion. The way that the character entries slowly fizzle out until they're exclusively coming from Dawn gives the narrative a good level of dramatic tension. The retelling of Mario's shooting is gripping on it's own, though seeing how Dawn reacts to being put in a position where she has no control is what makes the explosive finale truly thrilling. The downfall of the Triflers is intriguing with how muddied Dawn's recount is, and the surprise reveal that Truman survived is a great twist. For the entire story I was hoping that there would be more input from the rest of the Triflers. I had already resigned myself to the fact that these characters weren't together out of friendship, so I was firmly unprepared to hear from another character by the time I reached the end. What makes Truman's entries great are the mystique surrounding them. There isn't much of a timeline as to when they were written, the first six entries are missing, their inclusion in this book would seem to imply that Truman got caught and there's also the implication that Truman is writing these entries behind Dawn's back. The juvenile way in which his logs are written, Truman's tragic love of Dawn and the incredibly difficult circumstances he now finds himself in would make for a strong continuation were one to ever materialise.
For all the strengths that this book has there are, unfortunately, some weaknesses. The biggest one for me is the pacing and overall direction of the narrative. The Triflers falls into a heavy slump midway through the story and only really recovers at the very end. The aforementioned Ricardo's saga adds little to the plot and Mario is lost in his own thoughts at around the same time. The only character driving the narrative forward is Mason, and that's regularly interspersed with his discussions about his home life.
A noticeably weak aspect of the book is Lilly - Mason's sister. While mostly transcribed by Mason, her few bits of dialogue are incredibly stilted and jarring. I imagine this is done to give her a degree of childlike innocence, though her wordliness paired with her overly-emotional responses make her come off as alien instead. Fortunately, her dialogue is relegated to a very minor portion of the book.
Mason being sent to prison doesn't make much sense to me given that his accusation of rape can be easily traced to Dawn. Mason says that he was blinded by his love of Dawn, though I'm unsure of how he could spend four months in a prison cell and not begin to think about how he was framed.
This is a niggling criticism, though I was never sold on the authenticity of the letter/manifesto/journal format of the story. Dawn's meticulous attention to detail aligns with her character, though I find it hard to believe that she would lay all of her motivations bare like she does in her letter (assuming that what she's saying is the truth). There are also times where I feel her recollections are too overly-detailed, such as her pointless retellings of when she worked at Ricardo's. Mason's journals have the most opportunity to be detailed as they're written on a day-to-day basis. That being said, his relaying of dialogue edges into the territory of being too overly-detailed, much like with Dawn. Mario's manifesto is, fortunately, quite believable. His obsessive retelling of his life events fits with his self-absorbed and defeatist attitude. The way in which he communicates is heavily rooted in incel and /pol/ lingo which, while authentic, presents a bit of a conflict with the narrative. I'm not entirely sure when and how incel discourse has evolved, though I imagine the concepts in this book solidified themselves a few years after 2012. Ultimately, having this level of detail makes for a better read, so I can't complain.
The Triflers is an easy recommendation to fans of Mumkey Jones. Mumkey writes well, and that panache for writing is captured within this book. For those fascinated by the dark corners of the Internet and true crime, this is also a decent recommendation. The self-published nature of the book allows for a candid and realistic discussion of the many dark themes it contains. For everyone else, this gets a weaker recommendation. The quirks within the writing and the moments where the narrative falls into a slump are clear indicators of where an editor would have been beneficial. Ultimately, I enjoyed my time with The Triflers. While it's unlikely for there to be a continuation of the narrative at this point, the story culminates into a satisfying climax and presents a good dynamic for a sequel.
The Triflers presents itself in a dynamic way, alternating between the perspectives of it's three main characters: Dawn, Mason and Mario. The context, tone and motivations for which these characters write differ between the three, adding a commendable level of variety and friction to the story.
Dawn is the most enigmatic of the main characters. Despite being the lead antagonist of the story, I never had much of a feel for her as a character. She writes about having big ideas and looking down on the common man, yet doesn't seem to have many goals or a plan beyond doing what she wants in the present. This contrasts with how put-together and methodical she is, such as when she survived a night locked in a freezer. For all the psychopathic traits that she embodies, she appears to be lacking the biggest component of psychopathy - a superficial charm. All of Dawn's dialogue is jarring and unnatural. It's difficult to describe, but she often comes across as tepid, yet verbose, which makes it difficult to believe that she has the Triflers in the palm of her hand. It's worth mentioning that Dawn is an unreliable narrator and deliberately lies in one key part of her letter, so it's possible that her dialogue could also fabricated in an attempt to sound normal.
Mason is the moral center of the story and writes with extreme angst despite having a successful social life. The majority of his entries are concerned with his abusive homelife and love troubles. I enjoy these entries for how true-to-form they are, though I'd be lying if I said these subject matters didn't start to drag after a while. I would have also liked to hear about how Mason navigates his regular life at school despite his association with the Triflers, though in all fairness it's obvious that Mason is writing about his abusive homelife to keep himself from losing his mind. Mason is dramatically altered by the end of the story, being left with nothing and strongly motivated by revenge. I appreciate this change in his character - it sets up a continuation pretty well.
Mario is my favourite character of The Triflers, being the most believable. While far from sympathetic, his habitual self-saboutage and low self esteem gives him a degree of pathos as a character. He presents himself as a misunderstood genius yet has an infantile and superficial view of the world, which is accurate to a lot of shooter manifestos. The way he patronises his audience by defining Internet terms which have a clear-cut meaning adds to this realism in a humourous way. I started getting mixed signals from his character as the story neared its end, which could either be a good or bad thing. He's convinced that his life is meaningless and is acutely aware of his shortcomings, yet he ascribes an incredible level of importance to his act of retribution. I know the 'beta uprising' has been a common talking point amongst incels, though from what I know of it, it's ill-defined and mostly used to vent frustration, so I find it hard to believe that Mario would believe in such a prospect. It's also possible that he's just being provocative, as he is already known to be.
One of the more surreal moments of the book came from reading Mario's musings on depression and suicide. Sections of these chapters would later be used verbatim in the Mumkey's Anime Reviews episode for depression - one of my favourites of the series. It's been years since I watched that video, though I remember its wording vividly. The appeal it has in this book is obviously dampened by Mario's quirks and mannerisms, though I still think it still works pretty well. The section of Mario's manifesto where he talks about the beta uprising was also reused in the Mumkey's Anime Reviews episode about incels.
The book has a gripping conclusion. The way that the character entries slowly fizzle out until they're exclusively coming from Dawn gives the narrative a good level of dramatic tension. The retelling of Mario's shooting is gripping on it's own, though seeing how Dawn reacts to being put in a position where she has no control is what makes the explosive finale truly thrilling. The downfall of the Triflers is intriguing with how muddied Dawn's recount is, and the surprise reveal that Truman survived is a great twist. For the entire story I was hoping that there would be more input from the rest of the Triflers. I had already resigned myself to the fact that these characters weren't together out of friendship, so I was firmly unprepared to hear from another character by the time I reached the end. What makes Truman's entries great are the mystique surrounding them. There isn't much of a timeline as to when they were written, the first six entries are missing, their inclusion in this book would seem to imply that Truman got caught and there's also the implication that Truman is writing these entries behind Dawn's back. The juvenile way in which his logs are written, Truman's tragic love of Dawn and the incredibly difficult circumstances he now finds himself in would make for a strong continuation were one to ever materialise.
For all the strengths that this book has there are, unfortunately, some weaknesses. The biggest one for me is the pacing and overall direction of the narrative. The Triflers falls into a heavy slump midway through the story and only really recovers at the very end. The aforementioned Ricardo's saga adds little to the plot and Mario is lost in his own thoughts at around the same time. The only character driving the narrative forward is Mason, and that's regularly interspersed with his discussions about his home life.
A noticeably weak aspect of the book is Lilly - Mason's sister. While mostly transcribed by Mason, her few bits of dialogue are incredibly stilted and jarring. I imagine this is done to give her a degree of childlike innocence, though her wordliness paired with her overly-emotional responses make her come off as alien instead. Fortunately, her dialogue is relegated to a very minor portion of the book.
Mason being sent to prison doesn't make much sense to me given that his accusation of rape can be easily traced to Dawn. Mason says that he was blinded by his love of Dawn, though I'm unsure of how he could spend four months in a prison cell and not begin to think about how he was framed.
This is a niggling criticism, though I was never sold on the authenticity of the letter/manifesto/journal format of the story. Dawn's meticulous attention to detail aligns with her character, though I find it hard to believe that she would lay all of her motivations bare like she does in her letter (assuming that what she's saying is the truth). There are also times where I feel her recollections are too overly-detailed, such as her pointless retellings of when she worked at Ricardo's. Mason's journals have the most opportunity to be detailed as they're written on a day-to-day basis. That being said, his relaying of dialogue edges into the territory of being too overly-detailed, much like with Dawn. Mario's manifesto is, fortunately, quite believable. His obsessive retelling of his life events fits with his self-absorbed and defeatist attitude. The way in which he communicates is heavily rooted in incel and /pol/ lingo which, while authentic, presents a bit of a conflict with the narrative. I'm not entirely sure when and how incel discourse has evolved, though I imagine the concepts in this book solidified themselves a few years after 2012. Ultimately, having this level of detail makes for a better read, so I can't complain.
The Triflers is an easy recommendation to fans of Mumkey Jones. Mumkey writes well, and that panache for writing is captured within this book. For those fascinated by the dark corners of the Internet and true crime, this is also a decent recommendation. The self-published nature of the book allows for a candid and realistic discussion of the many dark themes it contains. For everyone else, this gets a weaker recommendation. The quirks within the writing and the moments where the narrative falls into a slump are clear indicators of where an editor would have been beneficial. Ultimately, I enjoyed my time with The Triflers. While it's unlikely for there to be a continuation of the narrative at this point, the story culminates into a satisfying climax and presents a good dynamic for a sequel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2021
I borrowed this book from my brother. He is a fan of Mumkey and really enjoy this book, so I thought I would give it a try, even though I don’t know anything about Mumkey and the videos that he makes.
I read a lot, and can be kind of a critical reader at times. I think that’s the main reason I didn’t enjoy this book as much as he did.
It’s not as well written as books written by authors with editors and years of experience, but that’s not really that surprising. My brother told me this was a school project, Mumkey wrote it all by himself without an editor and ended up getting a B+. That’s not a bad grade, and the book is not bad at all for being a school project. But when compared to books that have gone through a lot of editing before being published, it’s flawed.
The story is intriguing. It’s one of those books without a clear plot line, and you understand more and more the more you read. You don’t want to put it down because you want to know what is going on.
You’re not meant to sympathise with the characters, but it’s interesting being inside their heads nonetheless.
If you are a Mumkey fan like my brother, you will probably love this book as much as he did. If you are a critical reader like me, you probably won’t enjoy it that much.
I read a lot, and can be kind of a critical reader at times. I think that’s the main reason I didn’t enjoy this book as much as he did.
It’s not as well written as books written by authors with editors and years of experience, but that’s not really that surprising. My brother told me this was a school project, Mumkey wrote it all by himself without an editor and ended up getting a B+. That’s not a bad grade, and the book is not bad at all for being a school project. But when compared to books that have gone through a lot of editing before being published, it’s flawed.
The story is intriguing. It’s one of those books without a clear plot line, and you understand more and more the more you read. You don’t want to put it down because you want to know what is going on.
You’re not meant to sympathise with the characters, but it’s interesting being inside their heads nonetheless.
If you are a Mumkey fan like my brother, you will probably love this book as much as he did. If you are a critical reader like me, you probably won’t enjoy it that much.
July 31, 2019
A very nice read with great characters and an interesting plot. It's an overall great take on teenage mental health. However, the plot seems to make little sense from time to time. There are reasonable questions that need to be answered. For instance: How did Mario get two firearms and a grenade? How was Dorianne okay with the human experimentation? (I get that it was because of manipulation,
but manipulation can only stretch so far), and how was Mason alright with leaving her sister with their abusive father just for teenage sex? Like I said: I found it engaging and cleverly structured, but there are many glaring problems that could have been explained better. I'm definitely looking for a followup with this author.
but manipulation can only stretch so far), and how was Mason alright with leaving her sister with their abusive father just for teenage sex? Like I said: I found it engaging and cleverly structured, but there are many glaring problems that could have been explained better. I'm definitely looking for a followup with this author.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2018
My boyfriend recommended this book to me and I have to say I'm so glad I read this book. This book managed to capture my attention and I was completely enthralled by the story. This book was incredibly hard to put down and I would be so excited for when i could pick it up again. I would definitely recommend this book if you're more into edgier books.
July 4, 2017
Full review at rustyspoonssite.wordpress.com **HEAVY SPOILERS**
July 15, 2023
I don't exactly remember why I had this book (I downloaded a PDF of it off some website), but I finally decided to read it.
I like the way it was structured, and Mumkey Jones (I still don't know who he is) did a fairly good job at keeping the entire thing suspenseful. I really liked Mason and was not a fan of everything that happened to him, but there were reasons behind why it happened, so I guess. I'm glad he got as close to a happy ending as he could get. I do think it is hard to believe that he (and Dorrianne would just willingly participate in the group meetings) It's also weird that courts and police would believe anything Lilly (who was nothing more than a plot device) said with no evidence. And why would he leave his sister with their abusive father to have sex with someone? Hornyness does things to people, I guess.
I fucking hate Mario, though. I know that's the entire point of his character, but god damn it. I hated having to read through his 'manifesto' to understand things. I was really hoping he would just end up shooting himself so his entire storyline would be over. Everything Dawn wrote about his manifesto is greater than the truth. Also, his plan for the shooting was nowhere near realistic. At the beginning of his 'manifesto', he references Eric Harris and Cho Seung-Hui. I would think that he knew or researched school shootings enough to know nothing he planned would have worked, no matter what or how much he prepared. Schools and police are trained for that shit. Even if Dawn joined him, it wouldn't have gone as he had hoped. How did he even get the guns and grenade?
Dawn was great. It's like Jones thought of all the fucked up traits a person could have, multiplied everything by 10, then made Dawn. I loved chapter 17. Maybe more than anything else, especially in the context of everything after. A problem I have with her and part of her storyline is that freezers are supposed to have internal opening things in case someone gets stuck. I know basically everything in this is unlikely, but apart from Mario's plan for the shooting, this was the most unlikely thing to actually happen in real life. Dawn is a pretty great villain. I can't say I expected how her story ended.
Dorrianne really had no effect until the end. Dorrianne was a weird character. I know manipulation does things to people but to that extent? Really? She never once thought to call the cops or whatever while the group wasn't holding their meetings. She had all the chances in the world.
Truman was also okay. I kind of hope he and Dawn lived kind of happily in the end. As much as two people running from the law and someone who wants to kill one of them can be happy. I rank him third in my favorite characters. (Mason, Dawn, Truman. I don't care for the others.)
Chao and his uncle play like no part. Apart from the videos. I hardly remembered they existed throughout the entire thing.
Maybe by chapter 15 or 16, I was fully ready to give it just two stars. Everything after and the plot twist ending made the entire thing better. I still don't think it's worth anything above three stars. The characters all seemed so one-dimensional and edgy (this is coming from a self-aware edgy teenager), but it was a fairly enjoyable book. I wouldn't recommend it to most people. It's a nice material to read before bed. Maybe on a train ride.
I like the way it was structured, and Mumkey Jones (I still don't know who he is) did a fairly good job at keeping the entire thing suspenseful. I really liked Mason and was not a fan of everything that happened to him, but there were reasons behind why it happened, so I guess. I'm glad he got as close to a happy ending as he could get. I do think it is hard to believe that he (and Dorrianne would just willingly participate in the group meetings) It's also weird that courts and police would believe anything Lilly (who was nothing more than a plot device) said with no evidence. And why would he leave his sister with their abusive father to have sex with someone? Hornyness does things to people, I guess.
I fucking hate Mario, though. I know that's the entire point of his character, but god damn it. I hated having to read through his 'manifesto' to understand things. I was really hoping he would just end up shooting himself so his entire storyline would be over. Everything Dawn wrote about his manifesto is greater than the truth. Also, his plan for the shooting was nowhere near realistic. At the beginning of his 'manifesto', he references Eric Harris and Cho Seung-Hui. I would think that he knew or researched school shootings enough to know nothing he planned would have worked, no matter what or how much he prepared. Schools and police are trained for that shit. Even if Dawn joined him, it wouldn't have gone as he had hoped. How did he even get the guns and grenade?
Dawn was great. It's like Jones thought of all the fucked up traits a person could have, multiplied everything by 10, then made Dawn. I loved chapter 17. Maybe more than anything else, especially in the context of everything after. A problem I have with her and part of her storyline is that freezers are supposed to have internal opening things in case someone gets stuck. I know basically everything in this is unlikely, but apart from Mario's plan for the shooting, this was the most unlikely thing to actually happen in real life. Dawn is a pretty great villain. I can't say I expected how her story ended.
Dorrianne really had no effect until the end. Dorrianne was a weird character. I know manipulation does things to people but to that extent? Really? She never once thought to call the cops or whatever while the group wasn't holding their meetings. She had all the chances in the world.
Truman was also okay. I kind of hope he and Dawn lived kind of happily in the end. As much as two people running from the law and someone who wants to kill one of them can be happy. I rank him third in my favorite characters. (Mason, Dawn, Truman. I don't care for the others.)
Chao and his uncle play like no part. Apart from the videos. I hardly remembered they existed throughout the entire thing.
Maybe by chapter 15 or 16, I was fully ready to give it just two stars. Everything after and the plot twist ending made the entire thing better. I still don't think it's worth anything above three stars. The characters all seemed so one-dimensional and edgy (this is coming from a self-aware edgy teenager), but it was a fairly enjoyable book. I wouldn't recommend it to most people. It's a nice material to read before bed. Maybe on a train ride.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2024
An excellently written look into the mind of some very unique characters. Millard writes what I found to be quite realistic depictions of personality archetypes that I feel like I have not seen in media prior. Dawn Bracken, who I would argue is the central character, is particularly engaging- feeling at times like a bizarre blend of a girl who would've fit in better during the 1950's, far too mature for her age and the type of crazed gore-obsessed teenager anyone growing up in the 2000's probably encountered in high school.
Mason Elliot, the most sympathetic, kind-hearted character by design was also a terrific depiction of how a teenage boy operates. I just love the simple trope inversion of making the "jock" of high school a nice, reasonably intelligent human with flaws and a traumatic home life. The way Mason writes about his crushes on girls is so painfully naive, the way they run these neurotic scenarios back in their head like; "What if I offer to drive her home... and then I confess how I truly feel!", thinking they're in some teenage love story when the book is the exact opposite- it's all just so heartwarming and at the same time, soulcrushing, especially when you see how Mason is viewed by the other characters.
Mario Quintanilla was my least favorite character to read. I enjoyed that you could view and understand their perspective, it wasn't purely a bashing on these "incel" types who are often the perpetrators of school shootings like the one planned in the book. But Mario was so deeply unlikable it made it hard to connect, the manifesto was also a slog to read most of the time. I was bored by the lack of depth behind the thoughts and ideas explored. This is of course somewhat intentional, being that the character is a riff on Elliot Rodger who wrote a similarly boring and hypocritical manifesto. I think making Mario less sociopathic and moreso troubled would've been better for the novel.
My other main gripe with this book is that we hardly get insight on Dawn's relationship with their mother, despite the format of their portions being a personal letter addressed to them- I would go as far as to say I have no idea what Dawn's family are like. This is kind of interesting, as it adds more mystique to Dawn's psychology by not disclosing some Freudian explanation to the behavior and way of thinking exhibited throughout the book- there's certainly a theme throughout where the reader is meant to tackle whether these twisted character were nurtured or born this way. But the frequent addressing of Dawn's mother in the letter all while we have no clue how they act or even what the parent-child relationship looks like, was disappointing.
It's closer to five stars than four. And despite what Millard has said, it would make for an amazing film with the right script.
Mason Elliot, the most sympathetic, kind-hearted character by design was also a terrific depiction of how a teenage boy operates. I just love the simple trope inversion of making the "jock" of high school a nice, reasonably intelligent human with flaws and a traumatic home life. The way Mason writes about his crushes on girls is so painfully naive, the way they run these neurotic scenarios back in their head like; "What if I offer to drive her home... and then I confess how I truly feel!", thinking they're in some teenage love story when the book is the exact opposite- it's all just so heartwarming and at the same time, soulcrushing, especially when you see how Mason is viewed by the other characters.
Mario Quintanilla was my least favorite character to read. I enjoyed that you could view and understand their perspective, it wasn't purely a bashing on these "incel" types who are often the perpetrators of school shootings like the one planned in the book. But Mario was so deeply unlikable it made it hard to connect, the manifesto was also a slog to read most of the time. I was bored by the lack of depth behind the thoughts and ideas explored. This is of course somewhat intentional, being that the character is a riff on Elliot Rodger who wrote a similarly boring and hypocritical manifesto. I think making Mario less sociopathic and moreso troubled would've been better for the novel.
My other main gripe with this book is that we hardly get insight on Dawn's relationship with their mother, despite the format of their portions being a personal letter addressed to them- I would go as far as to say I have no idea what Dawn's family are like. This is kind of interesting, as it adds more mystique to Dawn's psychology by not disclosing some Freudian explanation to the behavior and way of thinking exhibited throughout the book- there's certainly a theme throughout where the reader is meant to tackle whether these twisted character were nurtured or born this way. But the frequent addressing of Dawn's mother in the letter all while we have no clue how they act or even what the parent-child relationship looks like, was disappointing.
It's closer to five stars than four. And despite what Millard has said, it would make for an amazing film with the right script.
April 30, 2025
Disappointing. I've followed Mumkey since the first few episodes of his anime reviews and had always been looking forward to reading this.
Sadly, his lack of writing experience shows in almost every chapter. I did enjoy the Mario Pov's even though they were painfully edgy at times (quoting Death note).
Dawn was an entirely unlikeable character with misplaced motivations and her Povs were littered with superfluous adverbs that made the text close to unreadable. A good editor could have done wonders for this book.
I feel like Mason was just here to make a point about how women can sometimes make false rape allegations and missed his point at providing us a jock/popular kid standpoint.
All in all I think this could have been better as a satirical piece of fiction instead – Diary of a supreme gentleman was a 5/5.
Sadly, his lack of writing experience shows in almost every chapter. I did enjoy the Mario Pov's even though they were painfully edgy at times (quoting Death note).
Dawn was an entirely unlikeable character with misplaced motivations and her Povs were littered with superfluous adverbs that made the text close to unreadable. A good editor could have done wonders for this book.
I feel like Mason was just here to make a point about how women can sometimes make false rape allegations and missed his point at providing us a jock/popular kid standpoint.
All in all I think this could have been better as a satirical piece of fiction instead – Diary of a supreme gentleman was a 5/5.
May 3, 2021
New favorite book. It was incredibly good. I'm a fan of Mumkey's channel, but
his writing is just on a whole other level. This book is gruelling. It's about disgusting, vile subjects and two of the three narrators are disgusting, vile, sadistic psychopaths. This book is not for the faint of heart, but if you can handle it, it's a must-read. It makes you think. It makes you think about human nature... How can people like this exist? And yet there are good, lovable characters in the book too. Lily, the impressionable young girl that Dawn manipulates for her own gain. Mason, the third narrator, a popular boy that for some reason hangs out with social outcasts. I was blown away by the ending.
his writing is just on a whole other level. This book is gruelling. It's about disgusting, vile subjects and two of the three narrators are disgusting, vile, sadistic psychopaths. This book is not for the faint of heart, but if you can handle it, it's a must-read. It makes you think. It makes you think about human nature... How can people like this exist? And yet there are good, lovable characters in the book too. Lily, the impressionable young girl that Dawn manipulates for her own gain. Mason, the third narrator, a popular boy that for some reason hangs out with social outcasts. I was blown away by the ending.
October 7, 2021
I think you have to like Mumkey Jones to read this book.
It can really only be seen as a continuation of his video projects, and to me, an outsider it just feels like a rather mediocre novel.
The writing, characters, plot is all sort of unremarkable.
It's not as visceral as a book like this should be.
It's themes are interesting, but only to the extent that too many novels deal with nothing of remark at all.
Read it if you like Mumkey, if you don't, I'd skip. A better school shooter book will eventually be written. Wait and read that.
It can really only be seen as a continuation of his video projects, and to me, an outsider it just feels like a rather mediocre novel.
The writing, characters, plot is all sort of unremarkable.
It's not as visceral as a book like this should be.
It's themes are interesting, but only to the extent that too many novels deal with nothing of remark at all.
Read it if you like Mumkey, if you don't, I'd skip. A better school shooter book will eventually be written. Wait and read that.
February 8, 2025
there’s definitely parts of this i really like, and ultimately i enjoyed its ending, but i thought so much of this was just not well written. many times where i thought the way information was revealed did not feel natural in the context of how they are written within the plot. tis a shame bc i like Mumkey’s videos, as well as his Diary of a Wimpy Kid/Elliot Rodger parody, but i did not really vibe with this. more of a 2.5 than a 2 but still would not recommend
April 23, 2023
When I initially heard of this I thought it was an interesting story concept but the execution was not great to put it lightly. There were some Pros, but not enough to warrant more than one star. I would list out the pros and cons but I don't really want to waste any more of my time on this book.
The only type of person I'd recommends this to is a sadist who has bad tastes in literature.
The only type of person I'd recommends this to is a sadist who has bad tastes in literature.
October 6, 2023
It was overall an interesting story. Sometimes the characters all felt too much like the same person speaking, with the same language and I found it too exaggerated sometimes but I also understand it was mostly satirical, I enjoyed the story
August 23, 2024
The characters felt real and believable. It really feels like these kids could’ve been plucked out of any modern American high school. I enjoyed how the story was told through a collection of journal entries, manifestos, and letters. I was pleasantly surprised at the twist at the end.
March 25, 2025
10/10
And I seldom say that. It's 350 pages, but felt like 50. I could have read the entire thing in one sitting, but I wanted to spread it out. I'm sad now that it's over. If you enjoy reading about dark topics, read this, it's not a question.
And I seldom say that. It's 350 pages, but felt like 50. I could have read the entire thing in one sitting, but I wanted to spread it out. I'm sad now that it's over. If you enjoy reading about dark topics, read this, it's not a question.
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November 12, 2020good
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2024
Not what I expected, did a good job at writing the mind of an incel and a psychopath.
August 8, 2024
Awesome book :D is mumkey jones cut or uncut???
February 19, 2023
A good book for Mumkey Jones, greatly interweaves 3 different Points of View (even though I would have personally preferred it to have been from one more focused POV). Great chemistry between characters make the fictional clique seem like a real group of High Schoolers however the book does jump the shark a lot.
May 4, 2021
This book was a bit better than I was expecting. I used to be a big fan of Mumkey Jones' videos a few years ago so I read it out of morbid curiosity in order to see what this book was like. It turned out to be a very entertaining and twisty tale. I don't have any major complaints except that there were some plot contrivances that made the story a bit less believable than I feel it could have been. For one, Mason and Dorrianne willingly being a part of the club where they watch snuff films is a tad hard to believe. Especially since Dawn was a total bitch to Dorrianne basically the entire book. It was a little ridiculous that the court and police just believed the word of Lilly that she was being raped cause one used condom without further investigation. Though I guess worse things have had happened with the justice system in America so it's not that far fetched. Once the story reached the point where they started to torture real people I felt that was too big of a shift for the group as a whole to just accept. Especially Dorrianne. Also I felt that Chao and Truman were jusut sorta...there during the Trifler meetings and during the book as a whole. They didn't feel that fleshed out or important.
Beyond this minor gripes was very pleasantly surprised by this book and would recommend it. It was certainly more emotionally earnest than I was expecting.
Beyond this minor gripes was very pleasantly surprised by this book and would recommend it. It was certainly more emotionally earnest than I was expecting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2025
While I have since stopped watching Mumkey at the time of this writing. The Triflers is a well done tale of a high school student who has made the irrational decision of casually engaging in domestic terrorism with a list of people he wants to kill and has specific targets in his high school. We also follow the point of view of a psychopathic girl who is telling her side of the story and how manipulative she can be and does not seem to care. The last point of view is actually a popular sporty jock who is secretly friends with these two in a group of friends they have and we follow his feelings and the decisions he has to make based upon those feelings.
This book is a fantastic read but does not have the 'it' factor to be considered a five star book. If you want a tense reading experience that will have you on the edge of your seat, I recommend The Triflers.
This book is a fantastic read but does not have the 'it' factor to be considered a five star book. If you want a tense reading experience that will have you on the edge of your seat, I recommend The Triflers.
October 29, 2023
While the use of dramatic irony is well done and the character of dawn has to be one of the better villains I've read I will say the books tendency to go into rants is annoying. And I get why for Mario section, he's easily distractible mind is part of his character. I don't get it for dawn or Manson. And by far my biggest complaint is that lilly feels like plot Device not a character. She is one of the worst written children I've read. Ironic that the book with the best written villain I've read has the worst written child I've read. Guess it's not Kyle's strong suit.
July 19, 2021
It was good, but flawed. It was not perfect, but it skillfully blends dark thematic elements with excellent dark comedy. Makes for a fulfilling read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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