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American Delirium
From award-winning novelist Argentine Betina González comes a dizzying, luminous English-language debut about an American town overrun by a mysterious hallucinogen and the collision of three unexpected characters through the mayhem.
In a small Midwestern city, the deer population starts attacking people. So Beryl, a feisty senior and ex-hippie with a troubled past, decides to take matters into her own hands, training a squad of fellow retirees to hunt the animals down and to prove to society they’re capable of more than playing bingo.
At the same time, a group of protesters decides to abandon the “system” and live in the woods, leaving behind the demands of modern life―including their children. Nine-year-old Berenice never thought her mother would join the dropouts, but she’s been gone for several days, leaving only a few clues about her past for Berenice to piece together.
Vik, a taxidermist at the natural history museum and an immigrant from the Caribbean, is beginning to see the connections among the dropouts, the deer, and the discord. He’s not normally the type to speak up, but when he finds a woman living in his closet, he’s forced to get involved. Each of these engrossing characters holds a key to the city’s unraveling―despite living on the margins of society―and just as their lives start to spin out of control, they rescue one another in surprising ways.
In a small Midwestern city, the deer population starts attacking people. So Beryl, a feisty senior and ex-hippie with a troubled past, decides to take matters into her own hands, training a squad of fellow retirees to hunt the animals down and to prove to society they’re capable of more than playing bingo.
At the same time, a group of protesters decides to abandon the “system” and live in the woods, leaving behind the demands of modern life―including their children. Nine-year-old Berenice never thought her mother would join the dropouts, but she’s been gone for several days, leaving only a few clues about her past for Berenice to piece together.
Vik, a taxidermist at the natural history museum and an immigrant from the Caribbean, is beginning to see the connections among the dropouts, the deer, and the discord. He’s not normally the type to speak up, but when he finds a woman living in his closet, he’s forced to get involved. Each of these engrossing characters holds a key to the city’s unraveling―despite living on the margins of society―and just as their lives start to spin out of control, they rescue one another in surprising ways.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published February 16, 2021
73 people are currently reading
4021 people want to read
About the author
Betina González
25 books98 followersEs escritora e investigadora en medios y literatura.
Publicó "Arte menor" (Premio Clarín Novela 2006) y "Juegos de Playa" (una colección de relatos premiada por el FNA). En 2012 ganó el Premio Tusquets de Novela con "Las poseídas".
Para más información escribir a: betina@betinagonzalez.com
Publicó "Arte menor" (Premio Clarín Novela 2006) y "Juegos de Playa" (una colección de relatos premiada por el FNA). En 2012 ganó el Premio Tusquets de Novela con "Las poseídas".
Para más información escribir a: betina@betinagonzalez.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
December 18, 2024
This novel is a tale of generalized societal disintegration reverberating from echos of the hippie era told through three narrative voices underlaid by efforts to grow a hallucinogenic plant. If the preceding sentence oozes incoherence, that’s my intent. Perhaps the word “delirium” is in the title for a reason.
The following are brief descriptions of the three narrative voices. Vik and Berenice are told in 3rd person and Beryl is in 1st person voice:
1. Vik, a refugee from a Caribbean island destroyed by volcano years earlier who works as a taxidermist at the local museum of natural history. He discovers a “dropout” woman secretly living in his house while he’s at work who is hiding in a closet when he’s home.
2. Beryl, an aging former hippie with a turbulent past who is training local senior citizens to hunt because the deer have been behaving strangely lately—actually attacking people.
3. Berenice is a young girl who has been abandoned by her single mother, and she’s striving to find an adult willing to claim her as a relative so that she’ll not be ostracized by her classmates or sent to a government work farm for “left-behinds.”
All of the above characters live in an economically depressed town with numerous abandoned vacant houses. There are surrounding forests where “dropouts” live with nature. Berenice’s mother had a flower shop and there’s much discussion of growing plants—a plant named Albaria in particular which I presume to be a fictitious hallucinogenic plant. Odd deer behavior is apparently related to this plant's seeds which we learn from the story requires digestion by a ruminant animal to initiate germination.
The three storylines converge at the very end of the book. Optimistic people will find something positive, but others won’t feel so good about the end. Taxidermy, dropouts, and hallucinogens—is there a message here?
There are snippets of strange phenomenon scattered throughout the novel which are apparently loosely based on factual reports. The author leaves a note at the end of the book saying many of the more bizarre items in the novel were inspired by stories that appeared in the international press between 2008 and 2012. This includes a woman hiding in a stranger’s house and deer attacks. Apparently “sheep that committed suicide in Turkey, the time it rained frogs in Kansas, the zombie pigeons in Ukraine,” are also happenings that can be verified by Google search.
The author is from Argentina, and the setting of the novel is apparently in the USA. The novel is translated from Spanish.
The following are brief descriptions of the three narrative voices. Vik and Berenice are told in 3rd person and Beryl is in 1st person voice:
1. Vik, a refugee from a Caribbean island destroyed by volcano years earlier who works as a taxidermist at the local museum of natural history. He discovers a “dropout” woman secretly living in his house while he’s at work who is hiding in a closet when he’s home.
2. Beryl, an aging former hippie with a turbulent past who is training local senior citizens to hunt because the deer have been behaving strangely lately—actually attacking people.
3. Berenice is a young girl who has been abandoned by her single mother, and she’s striving to find an adult willing to claim her as a relative so that she’ll not be ostracized by her classmates or sent to a government work farm for “left-behinds.”
All of the above characters live in an economically depressed town with numerous abandoned vacant houses. There are surrounding forests where “dropouts” live with nature. Berenice’s mother had a flower shop and there’s much discussion of growing plants—a plant named Albaria in particular which I presume to be a fictitious hallucinogenic plant. Odd deer behavior is apparently related to this plant's seeds which we learn from the story requires digestion by a ruminant animal to initiate germination.
The three storylines converge at the very end of the book. Optimistic people will find something positive, but others won’t feel so good about the end. Taxidermy, dropouts, and hallucinogens—is there a message here?
There are snippets of strange phenomenon scattered throughout the novel which are apparently loosely based on factual reports. The author leaves a note at the end of the book saying many of the more bizarre items in the novel were inspired by stories that appeared in the international press between 2008 and 2012. This includes a woman hiding in a stranger’s house and deer attacks. Apparently “sheep that committed suicide in Turkey, the time it rained frogs in Kansas, the zombie pigeons in Ukraine,” are also happenings that can be verified by Google search.
The author is from Argentina, and the setting of the novel is apparently in the USA. The novel is translated from Spanish.
April 7, 2021
It sounded like a winner, a group of senior people decides to take action in their own hands when the deer population in their smal Town starts attacking people. It was an okay book to listen to but not much more then that. Don't have any strong emotions for this book neither positive or negative.
March 26, 2021
American Delirium is the translation of a book by Argentinian Betina Gonzalez. Set in the U.S., I thought I picked up a comedic tale of deer attacking a small town and said town's senior citizen population is forced to fight them off. Instead, I got a very flat tale (which wasn't funny to me) about a hallucenogenic drug that the deer are only a small part in.
The hardest thing for me about this book was keeping the characters straight. There is very little difference in the way each of the characters speaks. You would think Vic - the taxidermist from the Caribbean - would sound very different in both his word choice and phrasing. Especially compared to the young Celeste, or the aging hippie Beryl who takes it upon herself to turn the 4pm dinner crowd into hunters. But they don't. They all sound pretty much the same and the author transitions between them all (and a few more) so fast it's difficult to follow, and even harder to enjoy.
In the end the big reveal is just revealed without much explanation. The ending is very abrupt and left me unsatisfied. There's so many details in the book that just have no purpose to the story as a whole such as Vik's taxidermy and the disaster that causes him to leave his island, the abandon hotel, and many other. The setting is arbitrary to say the least, this book could be set anywhere and has no bearing to the story.
Give these characters some personality, give some build up to the discovery of the deer's role in the drug, and make the setting a part of the story and you may have something here. Instead, you've got a swing and a miss.
The hardest thing for me about this book was keeping the characters straight. There is very little difference in the way each of the characters speaks. You would think Vic - the taxidermist from the Caribbean - would sound very different in both his word choice and phrasing. Especially compared to the young Celeste, or the aging hippie Beryl who takes it upon herself to turn the 4pm dinner crowd into hunters. But they don't. They all sound pretty much the same and the author transitions between them all (and a few more) so fast it's difficult to follow, and even harder to enjoy.
In the end the big reveal is just revealed without much explanation. The ending is very abrupt and left me unsatisfied. There's so many details in the book that just have no purpose to the story as a whole such as Vik's taxidermy and the disaster that causes him to leave his island, the abandon hotel, and many other. The setting is arbitrary to say the least, this book could be set anywhere and has no bearing to the story.
Give these characters some personality, give some build up to the discovery of the deer's role in the drug, and make the setting a part of the story and you may have something here. Instead, you've got a swing and a miss.
February 12, 2021
AMERICAN DELIRIUM by Betina González translated by Heather Cleary is so good and funny! This is an intricate novel with a lot going on and I really enjoyed it! There’s three interconnected storylines. Senior citizen, Beryl, begins to train her fellow retirees to hunt deer to stop the deer from attacking people. Berenice, a young girl abandoned by her mother, tries to find her place in the world. Museum taxidermist, Vik, has to deal with a woman he discovers living in his closet. Their stories intertwined around this mysterious hallucinogenic plant and this whole book was a trip! I loved how the characters were so diverse spanning a large age range and living on the fringes of society. This book is so surreal and unique!
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Thank you to Henry Holt and Company for my advance review copy!
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Thank you to Henry Holt and Company for my advance review copy!
April 4, 2021
American Delirium follows the stories of Beryl, Berenice, and Vik whose paths cross in a small town when a mysterious hallucinigen takes over and the population of deer begin to attack people. The author, Betina González, is an award-winning Argentine novelist. This is the first novel of hers to be translated into English from Spanish and was originally published in 2013.
Unfortunately, I had to mark this book as DNF at the 40% mark. The different narrators confused me, and I didn't feel drawn to the story. I had high hopes for this one and may revisit and push through it in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt Books for the complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLXGVqmgY2d/
Unfortunately, I had to mark this book as DNF at the 40% mark. The different narrators confused me, and I didn't feel drawn to the story. I had high hopes for this one and may revisit and push through it in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt Books for the complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLXGVqmgY2d/
February 22, 2022
I am not surprised that this absurdist novel that gets at deeper truths about our consumerist society, family, aging, and individual choices does not get higher ratings. Its interwoven structure with 3 seemingly parallel stories (involving an aging taxidermist, a woman hunting crazed deer, and a girl abandoned by her mother...all linked in different ways to a fictional psychotropic plant in the salvia family called "albaria") unfolding in each chapter takes some getting used to. But we "know" the stories are related (if not quite parallel) and they are drawn tighter together as each chapter with its three sections spin off in different directions yet reveal more. I found relief in suspending disbelief (in accepting the absurdity) and enjoyed the skewed perspective that Betina Gonzalez's imagination provided.
March 19, 2023
Somewhere between a 3 and 4 stars, to be fair.
I’ve been reading this book forever. I’m gonna guess that it’s better if you just get into quickly and read it in a quick span of time. It’s takes getting used to to figure out which narrative you’re moving to and thru (there are three), which previous events are relevant, and who’s who in each.
But, ultimately, I’m rounding the rating up rather than down because I enjoyed the writing and the characters. Mostly.
If you enjoy a bit of “ok, how does that fit” when you’re reading, this one’s for you.
I’ve been reading this book forever. I’m gonna guess that it’s better if you just get into quickly and read it in a quick span of time. It’s takes getting used to to figure out which narrative you’re moving to and thru (there are three), which previous events are relevant, and who’s who in each.
But, ultimately, I’m rounding the rating up rather than down because I enjoyed the writing and the characters. Mostly.
If you enjoy a bit of “ok, how does that fit” when you’re reading, this one’s for you.
February 21, 2021
This is a really fun book that, despite some outlandish plot points, manages to feel grounded and immersive.
I recommend going in without much foreknowledge; there's a lot of satisfaction in watching the pieces come together.
The three storyline threads braid into each other, dropping just enough hints to keep you reading further. Each narrator has a distinctive voice that prevents the chapter sections from bleeding into the next. And it's funny.
Worth noting, I think, is that there isn't much for social commentary here, which I expected with a title like American Delirium. There's some nice bits about how we view ageing, but otherwise... if I squint, I might see a few conservative takes?
Overall, a fun time with some poignant moments.
I recommend going in without much foreknowledge; there's a lot of satisfaction in watching the pieces come together.
The three storyline threads braid into each other, dropping just enough hints to keep you reading further. Each narrator has a distinctive voice that prevents the chapter sections from bleeding into the next. And it's funny.
Worth noting, I think, is that there isn't much for social commentary here, which I expected with a title like American Delirium. There's some nice bits about how we view ageing, but otherwise... if I squint, I might see a few conservative takes?
Overall, a fun time with some poignant moments.
Read
May 9, 2022"Over the past year, I’ve been drawn to books that capture the soft magic of traveling: the electrifying particularities that make one spot on the planet different from any other. 'American Delirium' channels that woozy alienation better than any travelogue I’ve encountered." —Megan Garber
https://www.theatlantic.com/summer-re...
https://www.theatlantic.com/summer-re...
August 6, 2021
24 hours later and I'm still trying to figure out what I just read. I think the Sandman character, Delirium was the muse for this book whispering, "ooohhhh write this and this. And don't forget this....oh add something about morphine. Very good. Very good."
This book had the potential to be really great. It was interesting and I kept reading it. There are three main characters with different stories dealing with deers taking over and hurting people and people chunking their lives and children to live in the woods. The characters intersect at the end and things start to maybe make some sense, but it's literally the last couple of pages. My problem with this book is that with 208 pages with all these crazy plotlines (and I emphasize crazy), it's just not big enough and the details are missing. I didn't really understand the "Drop-outs" and their mission, including the origins 60s commune church thing, whatever that was. For instance, a character was referred to as Smithfield for three chapters and by multiple characters. Then, one of the characters randomly switched from Smithfield to Frank and it took a few more pages before it was revealed that Frank is Smithfield. The other bigger problem besides the lack of details is that the author added tangents, SO MANY TANGENTS. And there are no transitions. It's just someone talking or thinking and then bam, we are in the past or the present or maybe a dream.
I don't think I can recommend this book, but I do recognize that it has a good plot and could be so much more. Although, what Midwest allowed a deer population to get too large is beyond me since they are hunters. Oh and I have to point out that Southerners don't go around bludgeoning to death does. We have the strictest laws when it comes to deer hunting. So, whatever.
This book had the potential to be really great. It was interesting and I kept reading it. There are three main characters with different stories dealing with deers taking over and hurting people and people chunking their lives and children to live in the woods. The characters intersect at the end and things start to maybe make some sense, but it's literally the last couple of pages. My problem with this book is that with 208 pages with all these crazy plotlines (and I emphasize crazy), it's just not big enough and the details are missing. I didn't really understand the "Drop-outs" and their mission, including the origins 60s commune church thing, whatever that was. For instance, a character was referred to as Smithfield for three chapters and by multiple characters. Then, one of the characters randomly switched from Smithfield to Frank and it took a few more pages before it was revealed that Frank is Smithfield. The other bigger problem besides the lack of details is that the author added tangents, SO MANY TANGENTS. And there are no transitions. It's just someone talking or thinking and then bam, we are in the past or the present or maybe a dream.
I don't think I can recommend this book, but I do recognize that it has a good plot and could be so much more. Although, what Midwest allowed a deer population to get too large is beyond me since they are hunters. Oh and I have to point out that Southerners don't go around bludgeoning to death does. We have the strictest laws when it comes to deer hunting. So, whatever.
September 10, 2021
DNF before end of chapter of 2. Looking here now, I see I never should have started it in the first place with the current rating, so it is my fault. It sounded kind of quirky which works for me a lot. It occurs to me that I have written, “I’m not a prude but,” a number of times now in relation to certain sexual content, and after two chapters with some graphic female masturbation that I cannot imagine adding anything of value to the story, I am ready to call it quits under my new COVID exemption that lets me drop any book that doesn’t make me happy.
July 2, 2022
A strange, elliptical, and ultimately frustrating novel that didn't quite hang together for me, although I'm willing to concede that it is probably my fault. There are three main POVs, and for a relatively short novel, that means a lot of storyline and characterization compression. Unfortunately, I was distracted and distraught, searching for distractions, and it's possible, even likely, that I wasn't paying enough attention. Gonzalez is a gifted writer, and I'm definitely open to reading more of her work in the future--in fact, I might even reread this one when (if?) my focus improves.
December 21, 2021
I don't know why this book is so harshly rated. I have been in a reading slump for a while and this book was so interesting, quirky, and fun! It involves following the bread crumbs of the past to figure out what the heck is going on now. If you want something different from your normal reads, I highly recommend American Delirium.
June 18, 2021
This book was so, so strange. I feel like there was a good story in there somewhere, but I just never quite found it.
September 8, 2021
Such an absurd and psychedelic satire of American capitalism and the cult of individualism (and on a meta level, literary realism). I really enjoyed spending time with this one.
August 31, 2022
This book sucked. Beginning to end. Top to bottom.
March 24, 2021
This book is hard to recap because it's so odd and its occurrences are so heightened and unusual. It tells of the absurdities and wild happenings that result when a town falls victim to a hallucinogenic plant. First the local deer go crazy and begin attacking people. In response, Beryl, an energetic and determined senior citizen, gathers her fellow seniors together to hunt them and, in so doing, regain their pride and sense of worth. At the same time a group of protestors decide to become societal drop-out, leaving their children and civilization behind for an utopian life in the woods. Berenice is one daughter whose mother goes missing. She finds it hard to believe her mother would just leave her but the only clues to where she might have gone are hidden in the odds and ends found in her old scrapbook. The one person who seems to have figured out what links and caused this strangeness is Vik, a Caribbean immigrant who works as a taxidermist at the natural history museum but he's afraid if he says anything he would be the one to get in trouble. Throughout the novel the paths that Vik, Berenice and Beryl take to deal with their problems intertwine and in finding each other they find their solutions and salvation. This book's characters feel real and their actions are strangely believable. The events and goings-on are crazy but the issues the book deals with - issues of aging, love, loneliness, and death- are deep and impactful. This book was received as a Goodreads giveaway.
February 19, 2022
A man finds a woman living in his closet. Senior citizens band together to hunt down deer that are attacking people in their community. A young girl’s mother abandons her to join either a hippie commune or a cult — who knows? And that is one problem with this story.
It should’ve been right up my alley. It sounded so quirky and I love quirky reads. The problems stem from the narration — one of the three main characters narrated in first person. The other two had their stories told in third person. It had a jarring effect since each chapter jumped from character to character. Next problem — too many secondary characters, all tied together from a long ago past that never made much sense, especially because none of them knew they were connected. But worse, I couldn’t connect with a single character. Finally so many details were missing from the lives and stories of the main characters but details abounded about everything else. It’s no wonder I couldn’t find my way, and sadly, I just found American Delirium to be a very tedious read.
It should’ve been right up my alley. It sounded so quirky and I love quirky reads. The problems stem from the narration — one of the three main characters narrated in first person. The other two had their stories told in third person. It had a jarring effect since each chapter jumped from character to character. Next problem — too many secondary characters, all tied together from a long ago past that never made much sense, especially because none of them knew they were connected. But worse, I couldn’t connect with a single character. Finally so many details were missing from the lives and stories of the main characters but details abounded about everything else. It’s no wonder I couldn’t find my way, and sadly, I just found American Delirium to be a very tedious read.
January 28, 2022
This book had so many good things going for it but ultimately I wasn’t able to focus on any of them because of technical issues with the flow of the narration. The story transitions between a few different points of view but does so in a way that made me have to reread whole pages to figure out who I was current with. Even after the narrator is identified, the narration is slippery and I often felt at a loss to identify what was going on and how we had gotten there. It did feel like a delirium, reading this book, and while I appreciate the effect to an extent, I do think that it detracted from what the author was trying to say about society. Or the decline of society? Or humanity? I’m not sure, and I wish I knew!
July 21, 2023
this book took a while to get into for such a shorty— using three perspectives a chapter (two in third person surrounding a first person narrative) made me have to work harder to get fully immersed. i only found one of the narratives truly compelling— the first person (mostly flashback) and i wish that the author just wrote the flashback story more fleshed out instead of adding it to a strange modern world that didn’t pack as much punch. it was fun(?) once i got into it but i found the end to be bland and some of the revelations to be easily predictable. i wish it was just a tad more crazy or deeper— it was middling at both and neither was truly accomplished. silly lil read: cool concept meh execution. 2.5
February 11, 2022
I wanted to like this book so much, and certain parts I did. Others, however, I felt like I had to slog through. It's a fun story and I'm glad I read it, but I don't see myself going back for a reread.
March 25, 2022
This book made no sense and is nothing like in the description. If you are looking for a book with a lot of sex for no reason, this one’s for you. I would not recommend this to anyone, EVER. A total of 2 hours I will never get back.
January 3, 2022
Literally forgettable. I have absolutely no memory of this book.
June 6, 2024
Good prose, just couldnt get into it
October 29, 2024
I didn't like it 😔
May 26, 2023
I’m not sure yet what the message of this was, but it felt important. Almost wish it was 50-100 pages longer, I wanted a little more. The writing style is quite meandering but I personally kind of like that. It felt really real
January 29, 2018
3,5.
"América alucinada" pone sobre la mesa una propuesta interesante. El argumento resulta intrigante: al principio parece todo una especie de delirio que cobra absoluto sentido con el devenir de las páginas y, si bien resulta que la cuestión es en el fondo sencilla, lo verdaderamente delicioso, creo, es el manejo de la narrativa y la estructura de esta. La novela es narrada desde tres puntos de vista distintos, a veces en primera persona, en ocasiones por el propio narrador mediante los ojos de uno de los tres protagonistas principales. Estos tres personajes se relacionan entre sí sin saberlo, unidos por acontecimientos que no puedo mencionar por spoilers, pero, mediante las relaciones con terceros o bien por su propia historia, todos ellos están presentes en los relatos de los demás y, por ende, dependen los unos de los otros en un sentido estricto. A medida que uno progresa en la lectura es capaz de establecer las conexiones y se percata de la buena jugada de Betina. Vic, Berenice y Beryl me han parecido personajes muy interesantes, así como la mujer que se relaciona con Vic (no puedo decir mucho más al respecto) mientras que Gabi me parece una estúpida que, creo, era la intención de la autora.
Por otra parte, Betina buscaba originar cierta sensación de incomodidad e incomprensión con su novela, y parece ser que lo ha conseguido debido a las críticas obtenidas en Goodreads o en algunos blogs, mientras que en otros blogs, así como en prensa especializada, se alaba la novela como ese mensaje extraño que oscila entre la crítica social y distopía ecológica. En definitiva, me ha parecido una buena novela con puntos fuertes, quizá con ciertos puntos flacos, pero una satisfactoria incursión dentro de la narrativa de Betina, a la cual volveré en un futuro.
"América alucinada" pone sobre la mesa una propuesta interesante. El argumento resulta intrigante: al principio parece todo una especie de delirio que cobra absoluto sentido con el devenir de las páginas y, si bien resulta que la cuestión es en el fondo sencilla, lo verdaderamente delicioso, creo, es el manejo de la narrativa y la estructura de esta. La novela es narrada desde tres puntos de vista distintos, a veces en primera persona, en ocasiones por el propio narrador mediante los ojos de uno de los tres protagonistas principales. Estos tres personajes se relacionan entre sí sin saberlo, unidos por acontecimientos que no puedo mencionar por spoilers, pero, mediante las relaciones con terceros o bien por su propia historia, todos ellos están presentes en los relatos de los demás y, por ende, dependen los unos de los otros en un sentido estricto. A medida que uno progresa en la lectura es capaz de establecer las conexiones y se percata de la buena jugada de Betina. Vic, Berenice y Beryl me han parecido personajes muy interesantes, así como la mujer que se relaciona con Vic (no puedo decir mucho más al respecto) mientras que Gabi me parece una estúpida que, creo, era la intención de la autora.
Por otra parte, Betina buscaba originar cierta sensación de incomodidad e incomprensión con su novela, y parece ser que lo ha conseguido debido a las críticas obtenidas en Goodreads o en algunos blogs, mientras que en otros blogs, así como en prensa especializada, se alaba la novela como ese mensaje extraño que oscila entre la crítica social y distopía ecológica. En definitiva, me ha parecido una buena novela con puntos fuertes, quizá con ciertos puntos flacos, pero una satisfactoria incursión dentro de la narrativa de Betina, a la cual volveré en un futuro.
November 2, 2020
This book is well written and has good character development I just couldn’t personally get into the story and found it a little bit of a struggle to keep reading. In the end it does wrap up everything and answers the questions you have, just left a little lacking for me personally. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
February 22, 2021
I won this book as part of a giveaway.
This is a very bizarre book that had a lot of potential. I’ve read a few with strange plots or strange styles of writing so I was open to the idea of this book. Plus a bunch of murderous deer? Sign me up!
However, my biggest disappointment was that you get very very little moments with the deer. Most of this book is a character study of 3 main people. The people are interesting, but the constant jump around between them did make it difficult to follow. Best character goes to Berenice, the young girl whose mother abandons her to go live in the woods. The book also did have quite a few plot threads or anecdotes that are introduced then are either never resolved or referenced again. The overall plot was interesting but I felt like the most boring aspects of it were the focus instead of the more interesting elements.
There was also a lot of weird descriptions of people (mostly the ladies and how much whoever was narrating found them attractive/wanted to have sex with them). This was another big strike against my enjoyment of the book.
Overall, if you are looking for a bizarre character study that feels like it takes place in the 60s/70s, this may be the book for you.
This is a very bizarre book that had a lot of potential. I’ve read a few with strange plots or strange styles of writing so I was open to the idea of this book. Plus a bunch of murderous deer? Sign me up!
However, my biggest disappointment was that you get very very little moments with the deer. Most of this book is a character study of 3 main people. The people are interesting, but the constant jump around between them did make it difficult to follow. Best character goes to Berenice, the young girl whose mother abandons her to go live in the woods. The book also did have quite a few plot threads or anecdotes that are introduced then are either never resolved or referenced again. The overall plot was interesting but I felt like the most boring aspects of it were the focus instead of the more interesting elements.
There was also a lot of weird descriptions of people (mostly the ladies and how much whoever was narrating found them attractive/wanted to have sex with them). This was another big strike against my enjoyment of the book.
Overall, if you are looking for a bizarre character study that feels like it takes place in the 60s/70s, this may be the book for you.
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