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All Saints Hotel and Cocktail Lounge
Murder. Mayhem. Millennials.What was supposed to be a night of hope and change unwittingly launches an adventure into chaos as five friends uncover a dark past, a secret society, and a sinister plan. Leo, Joy, Shane, Clementine, and Nick have known each other since high school, but life has taken each of them in vastly different directions. Our story begins as they all gather together to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama. In Nathan Monk's latest novel he weaves together a story that spans decades set against the backdrop of friendships built around a neighborhood bar. Using his powerful storytelling and immersive characters he transports us through the troubles of the millennial dilemma.The All Saints Hotel and Cocktail Lounge is a stunning story of collective trauma. The book travels through time looking at major events from 9/11 and the Columbine Massacre to the technology boom through the lens of an unsuspecting cast of characters who are simply attempting to survive a world that doesn’t seem built for them.This Southern Gothic tale confronts some of the darkest parts of our modern history and takes the reader on a journey through the perils of the Great Recession, the Occupation of Wall Street, and right up the edge of a global pandemic that will transform the world as we know it. Who will survive the unprecedented events that unfold?Not even student debt is as perilous as the adventure you are about to embark on. No amount of cutting back on avocado toast and caramel lattes can save you from the dangers ahead.In his unique style, Nathan creates characters that are at times hard to like but impossible not to love. This tale is full of betrayal, romance, and kitchen grease as this rag-tag group of friends attempt to make the world a better place and are confronted with the question, “Do we even have the power to make any meaningful change at all and if not, is there even hope?”Pull up a barstool, light ’em if you got ’em, and pour yourself a tall glass of suspense and romance masquerading as casual sex as you journey into the seedy halls of the All Saints Hotel and Cocktail Lounge.
283 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 30, 2021
307 people are currently reading
917 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
January 21, 2022
I like Nathan Monk and I admire his activism and I follow him on social media with delight. I was over the moon when he published his book, especially as an audiobook, and I admire that he read it himself. I appreciated the moments of intimacy with the author, and as a neurodivergent person myself, I admire the bravado of not editions minor stutters and slips of the tongue.
As for the story, I have very mixed feelings. It touches on many issues which are dear to me too and I would really love it had it been a manifesto or personal memoir. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for me as a novel. There is way too little plot for all the (great and appreciated) inner dialogues and ruminations of the narrator, the characters are cool, but the action is scarce and I don't feel happy about the non-closure of the criminal/political part and focus mostly on the romantic at the ending parts of the book.
I'd love to appreciate the great thoughts about the generation gap, the sagacious insights into America's heart and mind, but I don't feel I enjoyed the novel part, which I regret. I hope for more books from Nathan where he might balance the activism and literature differently.
As for the story, I have very mixed feelings. It touches on many issues which are dear to me too and I would really love it had it been a manifesto or personal memoir. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for me as a novel. There is way too little plot for all the (great and appreciated) inner dialogues and ruminations of the narrator, the characters are cool, but the action is scarce and I don't feel happy about the non-closure of the criminal/political part and focus mostly on the romantic at the ending parts of the book.
I'd love to appreciate the great thoughts about the generation gap, the sagacious insights into America's heart and mind, but I don't feel I enjoyed the novel part, which I regret. I hope for more books from Nathan where he might balance the activism and literature differently.
January 8, 2022
This was an odd book. It felt more like the authors own political story rather than a fictional character story. I wish it stuck with the story of the main characters rather than going off on so many tangents.
Honestly I felt like I barely even knew the characters. I don’t even recall ever getting physical descriptions of them. What did they look like?
The writing was ok but filled with too many cliches.
I assume Leo = Nathan? Seems like it. He’s way too hard on himself for being normal.
Still a fun read but obviously I had issues with it.
Honestly I felt like I barely even knew the characters. I don’t even recall ever getting physical descriptions of them. What did they look like?
The writing was ok but filled with too many cliches.
I assume Leo = Nathan? Seems like it. He’s way too hard on himself for being normal.
Still a fun read but obviously I had issues with it.
January 13, 2022
For those of you who don't know me IRL, I am a late GenX hardcore progressive and a democratic socialist; I believe in UBI, M4A, living wages, and student loan forgiveness. I agree with Nathan Monk that our economy has been rigged to benefit those who are already the richest, and that Millennials have indeed been fucked over the hardest. For really real, and I am 100% always willing to throw down over it, too. I also find Nathan Monk hilarious and insightful, and I adore him as a human. I purchased this via audiobook that he narrates himself and I had no issue with the style of narration, which is very much being told a story by a nice uncle rather than by a polished actor.
That said, I didn't hate this book, but I also couldn't finish it; I just felt like it was too heavy-handed. There were real moments where I enjoyed his prose and his characterizations, and I'm willing to give him another chance, but it was hard to listen when he waxes on about the bullshit state of our MC's lives.
That said, I didn't hate this book, but I also couldn't finish it; I just felt like it was too heavy-handed. There were real moments where I enjoyed his prose and his characterizations, and I'm willing to give him another chance, but it was hard to listen when he waxes on about the bullshit state of our MC's lives.
January 15, 2022
I'm not sure what I expected with this book. Having read "The Miracle", I guess I was expecting the same healing read. I was wrong and I'm glad I was. "All Saints Hotel and Cocktail Lounge" is a story of millennials trying to figure it all out. Trying to live past a fear, trying to live up to what is expected and trying to find their way in a world that just keeps pushing down. While not my normal read, and yes I read it because I support the author where I can, I'm so glad I did read it and can't wait to see what else comes out of the mind of Nathan Monk.
January 15, 2022
This book is hopeful and angry and bewildering.
It will take you to the peaks of euphoria, the depths of true grief, and the darkest places of incandescent rage.
It broke my heart and made me feel seen in a way nothing else has.
It perfectly encapsulates all that it is to be born into this exhausting generation.
Side note - fans of The Miracle should keep an eye out for a cameo from an old friend
It will take you to the peaks of euphoria, the depths of true grief, and the darkest places of incandescent rage.
It broke my heart and made me feel seen in a way nothing else has.
It perfectly encapsulates all that it is to be born into this exhausting generation.
Side note - fans of The Miracle should keep an eye out for a cameo from an old friend
October 29, 2021
I follow Father Nathan on Facebook and always relate to what he writes about and posts so I decided to support his new book and see what it was all about. I was born in 1983 and this book was so spot-on in terms of the world through a millennials eyes. It was difficult to read some parts, mostly because of how painfully true they are.
October 30, 2021
He told my story.
This story felt very real to me. I experienced the love of a strong group of friends in my early twenties.Our relationships mirrored the ones outlined here. It gave me a chance to relive the most important events. Nathan Monk is a storyteller with strong characters and soulful thoughts.
This story felt very real to me. I experienced the love of a strong group of friends in my early twenties.Our relationships mirrored the ones outlined here. It gave me a chance to relive the most important events. Nathan Monk is a storyteller with strong characters and soulful thoughts.
January 20, 2022
I feel bad because I love his Facebook posts but I really struggled with this one. The writing just didn't resonate with me like his posts do and I was bored for a good chunk of it--just found a lot of the story to be predictable? The whole millennium theme was pretty relatable, though. Just wasn't for me.
February 15, 2022
Leo, the protagonist of this book, has diarrhea of the mouth. The 300+ pages of his whiny, delusional pontification are pitifully edited to boot. There is absolutely no reason Joy, Clementine, or Alexandria had to fall in love with possibly the most passive and flat main character I’ve ever encountered.
April 11, 2022
Let me start by saying that I really enjoy Nathan Monk's nonfiction writing on Facebook and elsewhere. This felt like an extension of it that fell flat because it was wrapped around a story.
The main character is prone to long-winded internal monologues that drag the book into boredom territory very quickly. I nearly decided not to read it after all because it started with one of those long-winded internal monologues. I agree with most of what he says, but I don't want to have it shoved at me by the bucketload in a work of fiction. Also, the lack of a decent editor was very noticeable, particularly in the second half of the book.
The story itself was rather light. Five very close friends start an internet newspaper to reveal some of the things the local high and mighty have been up to. One is murdered, another commits suicide, and a third betrays them all. The whole thing is set against a backdrop of poverty and boomer parents who think their children's only problem is they're all too lazy to pull themselves up by their bootstraps the way they did at their age. Much is made of the fact that things are very different now than when their parents were their age. All of the major events from Columbine to the impeachment of Trump find their way into the narrative, including some lines that were all but ripped word-for-word out of various popular movies.
I really wanted to like this book because I think the author is brilliant, but I think the author's real strength lies in social philosophy and non-fiction.
The main character is prone to long-winded internal monologues that drag the book into boredom territory very quickly. I nearly decided not to read it after all because it started with one of those long-winded internal monologues. I agree with most of what he says, but I don't want to have it shoved at me by the bucketload in a work of fiction. Also, the lack of a decent editor was very noticeable, particularly in the second half of the book.
The story itself was rather light. Five very close friends start an internet newspaper to reveal some of the things the local high and mighty have been up to. One is murdered, another commits suicide, and a third betrays them all. The whole thing is set against a backdrop of poverty and boomer parents who think their children's only problem is they're all too lazy to pull themselves up by their bootstraps the way they did at their age. Much is made of the fact that things are very different now than when their parents were their age. All of the major events from Columbine to the impeachment of Trump find their way into the narrative, including some lines that were all but ripped word-for-word out of various popular movies.
I really wanted to like this book because I think the author is brilliant, but I think the author's real strength lies in social philosophy and non-fiction.
April 7, 2025
I started following the author on social media before I ever read his books and I love his authenticity. This book is agonizing in parts and so full of truth. It’s so descriptive and you feel part of the surroundings. The hopelessness and the heartache with some bright spots show exactly how it feels to be part of this human experience right now
March 30, 2022
It has been a long time since a book has disappointed me this badly. I follow Father Nathan Monk on social media and his posts, especially the Unholy Shit: A Table Flippin’ Bible Study posts, are as lovely, heartfelt, and nuanced as I expected this book to be. Instead the political aspect felt like getting hit with a sledgehammer. This is not a “parents just don’t understand” thing. I am a liberal who is exactly the age of the in-between Gen X and Millennial characters, but I am sorry, the Boomers are right—Leo, the main character, is an insufferable whiner. I think Monk’s political points are valid but they are unpleasantly shoehorned into the action of the story.
We start out with four twenty something friends—Leo, a restaurant worker, Joy, a free-spirited student, Shane, an aspiring journalist, Nick, a priest, and Clementine, a bisexual plus size model. They form an online newspaper to expose corruption in their town and their big scoop leads to the murder of one friend and the masterminded suicide of another. These characters are obviously stand-ins for people in the author’s life. They’re so under-developed and wooden that it’s impossible to care that Leo is madly in love with Joy or when one of them dies.
Time skips ahead ten years and we lose any semblance of plot. The only thing I was rooting for was for Leo to please get some therapy for his Daddy issues. Joy has an abortion and Leo has a transgender girlfriend with very little reflection on what this means to the characters simply because Monk is trying to cram every Millennial issue into this book. It’s heavily implied that one friend was involved in the murder and suicide of the other friends and this is left completely unresolved. I did not want Leo’s rants on the Occupy Wall Street movement; I wanted an actual ending to the story.
I honestly hope that someday Monk publishes a book of political essays or sermons because he seems like a great person, but his fiction writing needs serious work. I don’t think that you can intentionally write the novel of a generation like he is trying to do here. This is not a four or five star book by the most generous stretch of imagination.
We start out with four twenty something friends—Leo, a restaurant worker, Joy, a free-spirited student, Shane, an aspiring journalist, Nick, a priest, and Clementine, a bisexual plus size model. They form an online newspaper to expose corruption in their town and their big scoop leads to the murder of one friend and the masterminded suicide of another. These characters are obviously stand-ins for people in the author’s life. They’re so under-developed and wooden that it’s impossible to care that Leo is madly in love with Joy or when one of them dies.
Time skips ahead ten years and we lose any semblance of plot. The only thing I was rooting for was for Leo to please get some therapy for his Daddy issues. Joy has an abortion and Leo has a transgender girlfriend with very little reflection on what this means to the characters simply because Monk is trying to cram every Millennial issue into this book. It’s heavily implied that one friend was involved in the murder and suicide of the other friends and this is left completely unresolved. I did not want Leo’s rants on the Occupy Wall Street movement; I wanted an actual ending to the story.
I honestly hope that someday Monk publishes a book of political essays or sermons because he seems like a great person, but his fiction writing needs serious work. I don’t think that you can intentionally write the novel of a generation like he is trying to do here. This is not a four or five star book by the most generous stretch of imagination.
October 14, 2021
Fantastic! An accurate account of the way in which the younger generation of Americans are surviving the devastating effects of the last 40 years of apathetic parenting, global and local devastation in politics, and the way in which they are surviving the economic repercussions. Makes me proud to see it spoken to in such a sincere and passionate way. I loved it!
October 2, 2022
I wish I could give it more than 2.5 stars, but there just wasn't a story there. And though I'm Gen-X myself and agree with much (if not all) of the political messaging in here, that's really all it was. It was more of a very long essay on everything that's wrong in the world than a fictional story.
I never really felt I got to know the characters. I'm not sure I even know what their story was all about? All I really know is that they drink a lot; I guess to escape the harsh realities of the world, but other than that and the narrator apparent hatred toward his parents, I don't know anything about them.
So yeah. I really wanted to love this, because I love reading Nathan Monk's Facebook posts, it just doesn't work as a novel. Sorry...
I never really felt I got to know the characters. I'm not sure I even know what their story was all about? All I really know is that they drink a lot; I guess to escape the harsh realities of the world, but other than that and the narrator apparent hatred toward his parents, I don't know anything about them.
So yeah. I really wanted to love this, because I love reading Nathan Monk's Facebook posts, it just doesn't work as a novel. Sorry...
February 24, 2022
I went with 2 vs 3 stars because the story often goes off the rails into sermon-like monologues where memes are the source material. Granted, at first found myself in the choir yelling 'PREACH!' but after a chapter or two it got old.
When the story is being told, it is done really well and I wanted more. However the majority of the book is not 'story' so much as.. whatever the opposite is of subtext.. overt-text?.. using major events over the past 20yrs to explain why these folks are the way they are. No real payoff to the mystery either.. it's like that was forgotten midway through.
Maybe I am too jaded though. (Probably) Give it a try and see what you think.
When the story is being told, it is done really well and I wanted more. However the majority of the book is not 'story' so much as.. whatever the opposite is of subtext.. overt-text?.. using major events over the past 20yrs to explain why these folks are the way they are. No real payoff to the mystery either.. it's like that was forgotten midway through.
Maybe I am too jaded though. (Probably) Give it a try and see what you think.
November 15, 2021
Made me cry
Not quite what I expected, but what is? It is a page-turner. Gets a little preachy at times, but the sermon is good so preach on, baby!
Not quite what I expected, but what is? It is a page-turner. Gets a little preachy at times, but the sermon is good so preach on, baby!
July 9, 2024
A little bit of a mixed bag of a book, for me.
There were long stretches that were much more of a rumination on the world at large rather than anything plot-specific, and this sort of introspective and cynical outlook on the world is something that I would have absolutely devoured as a 15 year old. As a 30 year old it sort of hit me differently. There were more than a handful of occasions where these stretches became a little sanctimonious, and felt like common online left-wing talking points stretched out to fill a 370 page book. Points that I do agree with, but I just didn't feel like it was necessarily the mind-blowing revelatory experience that the character/author was perhaps intending. Or maybe I'm just not the target audience.
Saying that, there were parts that hit quite hard and I did really enjoy and felt were verbalised quite nicely. So... maybe a more thorough edit would have increased my enjoyment.
Plot-wise, I'm once again a little bit mixed. In some ways it felt like just attempting to throw all the darkest and most cynical events into one novel to really drive home the near-dystopian feeling of millennial life, but sometimes it also just felt a bit... much.
Saying all of that - I did enjoy reading the book, and it does still get my 4 stars. I just think that with a bit of a clean-up it could have maybe hit 5 stars for me.
There were long stretches that were much more of a rumination on the world at large rather than anything plot-specific, and this sort of introspective and cynical outlook on the world is something that I would have absolutely devoured as a 15 year old. As a 30 year old it sort of hit me differently. There were more than a handful of occasions where these stretches became a little sanctimonious, and felt like common online left-wing talking points stretched out to fill a 370 page book. Points that I do agree with, but I just didn't feel like it was necessarily the mind-blowing revelatory experience that the character/author was perhaps intending. Or maybe I'm just not the target audience.
Saying that, there were parts that hit quite hard and I did really enjoy and felt were verbalised quite nicely. So... maybe a more thorough edit would have increased my enjoyment.
Plot-wise, I'm once again a little bit mixed. In some ways it felt like just attempting to throw all the darkest and most cynical events into one novel to really drive home the near-dystopian feeling of millennial life, but sometimes it also just felt a bit... much.
Saying all of that - I did enjoy reading the book, and it does still get my 4 stars. I just think that with a bit of a clean-up it could have maybe hit 5 stars for me.
October 16, 2023
I follow the author on social media, and really enjoy his posts. The blurb set up for this book is very misleading. I expected a kind of millennial noir, cozy, sarcastic humor, mystery caper. It would have worked better as a collection of political essays, rather than trying to shoehorn in a plot that really didn’t exist. I’m sorry to feel so disappointed.
January 11, 2022
Four friends have known each other since at least high school and during Obama’s inauguration, they make a plan while at the local bar they hang out in. What they didn’t know was what they’ve started would change their lives forever.
Nathan does an excellent job of not just narrating, but showing the hardships, dichotomy, and hypocrisy of growing up a millennial in a world that boomers can’t possibly understand despite evidence being right in front of them.
Nathan does an excellent job of not just narrating, but showing the hardships, dichotomy, and hypocrisy of growing up a millennial in a world that boomers can’t possibly understand despite evidence being right in front of them.
January 10, 2022
Sadness
I started out reading the book because I really enjoy Nathan's work, then we got into the Millennial whining. I hate that part as a Gen X.
Then mayhem and I was reminded why I enjoy his writing so, I find little pieces of myself that had gotten lost in all the growing up.
Thank you again for your excellent work
I started out reading the book because I really enjoy Nathan's work, then we got into the Millennial whining. I hate that part as a Gen X.
Then mayhem and I was reminded why I enjoy his writing so, I find little pieces of myself that had gotten lost in all the growing up.
Thank you again for your excellent work
January 5, 2022
This isn’t my normal genre, but I follow Nathan Monk on social media and was intrigued by the premise. While I would be considered part of the proverbial “choir,” I still found this book to be insightful. It took on a lot of political themes while still being entertaining. As a millennial, it felt like it spoke right to me.
May 15, 2022
I was intrigued by the story and since I like non-linear stories (My favorite is Moon Tiger) I knew this would be fun. I love the way the author breaks up the main story plot by tossing in the history and the issues of the timeframe. He then also weaves in the protagonist's history during that time frame.
I almost gave this a 4-star. Why? My only issue was that I felt like a lot of the plot got completely lost in those historic/social/cultural flashbacks. I would have loved to get to know the characters a bit more. I would get hooked into a character's story only to be jolted out of it and into a much longer commentary about the outside history of the timeframe the author was into at that time. I feel like that is important to the flow of this particular book, but there wasn't a balance between the two. It was to the point that my mind would get into a "skim" mode (yes, neurodivergent reading can be problematic). But since that's partly on me and my brain... I went with 5 stars.
As a GenX reader (born in 75), I find myself relating to a LOT of the problems that the characters in this book face and my children (millennials) are definitely facing these issues in their life right now. I don't think we talk about them enough. I've heard so many older people from my generation and the boomer generation play the blame game and not even look at facts. My kids work their asses off and can barely get by. All of them live with roommates and have grandparents wondering why they don't have kids yet - ????
Otherwise, the characters are relatable and likable. You wind up feeling heartbroken for, angry with, and also rooting for the protagonist at the very same time. I really wanted to kick Leo in the ass more than once.
I want to thank the author for including realistic polyamory in this book. I wish I could see that version of love represented more often in a way that is not as fetishized as so many authors make it. He really captured the essence of how such a relationship can develop.
Another note is on abortion - the fact that so many women in the South are shamed into keeping it a "dirty little secret" when it's just a medical procedure. Even Joy, with her unwavering bravado, faces this situation in a manner that is similar to how women in the South would treat this. Otherwise, we face being ostracized from our family and community.
And that leads me to the portrayal of life in the South - specifically the coast. I grew up in Alabama and we spent a lot of our lives on the gulf coast. The portrayal is spot-on. Especially this quote, "...we remain the punchline of Southern twang and hillbillies so that America never has collectively address that the blood of enslaved people and the genocide of Natives fertilized every crop and dug every road from sea to shining sea. It just becomes easier never to address our collective and universal sin when you can point your fingers southward and say, 'Look at those backwoods rednecks' while your knee is on the throat of a black man in Minneapolis. Fortunately, the rest of the Union is able to forget their hatred of the South long enough each year as they flood our beaches and national forests."
I'm southern and I feel no guilt over pointing out the hypocrisy and racism I grew up with, but the rest of the country really can get on my nerves with too many stereotypes and not enough looking in the mirror. So when I saw this pointed out, you won some more respect from me.
Anyway, if you're a reader thinking about buying this book - go for it. I would highly recommend it, even if there are parts that get slow. And if you are a boomer or GenXer wanting to know why millennials and generations beyond that are so pissy - this is a good book to read with an open mind. It'll tell you.
I almost gave this a 4-star. Why? My only issue was that I felt like a lot of the plot got completely lost in those historic/social/cultural flashbacks. I would have loved to get to know the characters a bit more. I would get hooked into a character's story only to be jolted out of it and into a much longer commentary about the outside history of the timeframe the author was into at that time. I feel like that is important to the flow of this particular book, but there wasn't a balance between the two. It was to the point that my mind would get into a "skim" mode (yes, neurodivergent reading can be problematic). But since that's partly on me and my brain... I went with 5 stars.
As a GenX reader (born in 75), I find myself relating to a LOT of the problems that the characters in this book face and my children (millennials) are definitely facing these issues in their life right now. I don't think we talk about them enough. I've heard so many older people from my generation and the boomer generation play the blame game and not even look at facts. My kids work their asses off and can barely get by. All of them live with roommates and have grandparents wondering why they don't have kids yet - ????
Otherwise, the characters are relatable and likable. You wind up feeling heartbroken for, angry with, and also rooting for the protagonist at the very same time. I really wanted to kick Leo in the ass more than once.
I want to thank the author for including realistic polyamory in this book. I wish I could see that version of love represented more often in a way that is not as fetishized as so many authors make it. He really captured the essence of how such a relationship can develop.
Another note is on abortion - the fact that so many women in the South are shamed into keeping it a "dirty little secret" when it's just a medical procedure. Even Joy, with her unwavering bravado, faces this situation in a manner that is similar to how women in the South would treat this. Otherwise, we face being ostracized from our family and community.
And that leads me to the portrayal of life in the South - specifically the coast. I grew up in Alabama and we spent a lot of our lives on the gulf coast. The portrayal is spot-on. Especially this quote, "...we remain the punchline of Southern twang and hillbillies so that America never has collectively address that the blood of enslaved people and the genocide of Natives fertilized every crop and dug every road from sea to shining sea. It just becomes easier never to address our collective and universal sin when you can point your fingers southward and say, 'Look at those backwoods rednecks' while your knee is on the throat of a black man in Minneapolis. Fortunately, the rest of the Union is able to forget their hatred of the South long enough each year as they flood our beaches and national forests."
I'm southern and I feel no guilt over pointing out the hypocrisy and racism I grew up with, but the rest of the country really can get on my nerves with too many stereotypes and not enough looking in the mirror. So when I saw this pointed out, you won some more respect from me.
Anyway, if you're a reader thinking about buying this book - go for it. I would highly recommend it, even if there are parts that get slow. And if you are a boomer or GenXer wanting to know why millennials and generations beyond that are so pissy - this is a good book to read with an open mind. It'll tell you.
December 28, 2021
Great!
One of the best I’ve read in a while! Definitely recommend everyone read as soon as possible. Buy it now!
One of the best I’ve read in a while! Definitely recommend everyone read as soon as possible. Buy it now!
October 13, 2021
Resonates
Everything Nathan wrote in this book resonated with me. The relationships, the anxiety, the fear, the doubts, being baffled by the church, politics, and my fellow citizens. The growing understanding of love is a journey I hope never ends.
Everything Nathan wrote in this book resonated with me. The relationships, the anxiety, the fear, the doubts, being baffled by the church, politics, and my fellow citizens. The growing understanding of love is a journey I hope never ends.
October 25, 2021
Not what I was expecting
This book is so much more than what I thought it would be. This story really hit home with how myself and some many others feel about the ways of our world. This is a story about love, loss, anger and finding yourself in the midst of everyday life.
This book is so much more than what I thought it would be. This story really hit home with how myself and some many others feel about the ways of our world. This is a story about love, loss, anger and finding yourself in the midst of everyday life.
November 17, 2021
Everyone between the ages of 35 and 45 should read this book! It’s an honest, raw, and riveting story set In the times and culture we grew up in and the issues only our generation will truly relate to.
February 18, 2022
These characters’ stories are my story. Their identities are my identity. The author is someone whose work I’ve been enjoying for ages.
This should have been right up my street, but I just cannot get into this book. I’ve given it another chance three times now, and every time I do, I end up eventually closing the book in frustration.
Another reviewer (ROB on Amazon) characterizes the writing as “tangents describing bleak corridors of existential angst while the characters continue their story without the reader coming along for the ride”. This is exactly how I feel, too.
As others have mentioned, the plot is slow. The first time I set this book aside, I was a quarter of the way through and the only thing that had happened was the main characters decided to start a paper. And yet, it’s not like it was filled with scene setting or character description. If I hadn’t have seen a photo of the location that inspired the book, I’d have no idea what the bar might look like. Where the author does attempt to paint a picture, it’s of irrelevant or repetitive topics, using awkward, and sometimes contradictory, metaphors that go on for paragraphs.
The characters are irritating in their dreariness. Yeah, I get it, I’ve lived it too, and then some. I know the feeling of hopelessness and I related at first, but then it just became monotonous and repetitive.
The story jumps around, sometimes without telling you. For example, the characters all come across this big bombshell of a story. They vow to reveal it to the world and hold this group of bad, powerful people accountable and then? They… go to college. Just out of the blue, they scatter to the four winds. And just a few pages after that, as abruptly as they departed, suddenly they’re all back at the bar together. What happened? Did they all drop out? Are they visiting each other on spring break? Nope. Turns out, the story has jumped 4 or 5 years into the future, but the author doesn’t let you know this for *seven pages*. I’m still not even sure what the point of it was.
There are what I at first assumed were editing errors. When I gave some examples in my Amazon review, however, the author complained about my review on his Facebook page and said those “errors” were actually “intentional plot points”. But here’s the thing… the examples I gave made no sense in context, even after multiple reads. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, figuring something must have been left on the cutting room floor and that’s why it was so confusing. The fact that this was intentional actually makes it *worse*. It means it wasn’t an honest mistake… that’s just how he writes.
I made it a little under halfway through the book and just couldn’t keep going. The jarring jumps, the confusing writing, the characters so absorbed in their own misery… although there have been a couple bits I’ve found rewarding, it’s just not worth the frustration.
This should have been right up my street, but I just cannot get into this book. I’ve given it another chance three times now, and every time I do, I end up eventually closing the book in frustration.
Another reviewer (ROB on Amazon) characterizes the writing as “tangents describing bleak corridors of existential angst while the characters continue their story without the reader coming along for the ride”. This is exactly how I feel, too.
As others have mentioned, the plot is slow. The first time I set this book aside, I was a quarter of the way through and the only thing that had happened was the main characters decided to start a paper. And yet, it’s not like it was filled with scene setting or character description. If I hadn’t have seen a photo of the location that inspired the book, I’d have no idea what the bar might look like. Where the author does attempt to paint a picture, it’s of irrelevant or repetitive topics, using awkward, and sometimes contradictory, metaphors that go on for paragraphs.
The characters are irritating in their dreariness. Yeah, I get it, I’ve lived it too, and then some. I know the feeling of hopelessness and I related at first, but then it just became monotonous and repetitive.
The story jumps around, sometimes without telling you. For example, the characters all come across this big bombshell of a story. They vow to reveal it to the world and hold this group of bad, powerful people accountable and then? They… go to college. Just out of the blue, they scatter to the four winds. And just a few pages after that, as abruptly as they departed, suddenly they’re all back at the bar together. What happened? Did they all drop out? Are they visiting each other on spring break? Nope. Turns out, the story has jumped 4 or 5 years into the future, but the author doesn’t let you know this for *seven pages*. I’m still not even sure what the point of it was.
There are what I at first assumed were editing errors. When I gave some examples in my Amazon review, however, the author complained about my review on his Facebook page and said those “errors” were actually “intentional plot points”. But here’s the thing… the examples I gave made no sense in context, even after multiple reads. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, figuring something must have been left on the cutting room floor and that’s why it was so confusing. The fact that this was intentional actually makes it *worse*. It means it wasn’t an honest mistake… that’s just how he writes.
I made it a little under halfway through the book and just couldn’t keep going. The jarring jumps, the confusing writing, the characters so absorbed in their own misery… although there have been a couple bits I’ve found rewarding, it’s just not worth the frustration.
February 1, 2022
Nathan Monk makes outrage hilarious, but politically he nails the essential inconvenient truth about the USA--we are running relentlessly toward fascism. His one critical error is his insistent belief that boomers alone have caused this existential crisis; in fact, boomers, as the world's biggest and wealthiest population to date, while selfish indeed, have also been victims.
Climate change was revealed in 1847. Big Oil is right now defending its enduring corporatist lies in denial as a First Amendment right. But it is illegal to yell "Fire" in a crowded theater, and it makes a mockery of the First Amendment to use it as a ploy permitting the continuation of death-dealing lies. It has precedent, however--Fox News basically won a right to lie in a federal appellate court with the same ludicrous argument. And the Supreme Court in Citizens United gave unrealized, merely expected, corporate profits a First Amendment right, conking logic into unconsciousness.
Nothing has replaced the combustion engine in more than 100 years. After Ford made his Model T almost entirely from hemp, including its fuel, Hearst, the newspaper magnate, lobbied to ban hemp because he had a monopoly on wood pulp manufacturing and believed fast-growing hemp would eclipse a primary income source. The Dupont family (of "Better Living Through Chemistry" fame), realizing that hemp could also be used to make recyclable plastics, also lobbied against the plant that George Washington had required to be grown by all farmers. Wealth won, as it does.
Boomers merely took what they were given. They did betray their children by failing to object when THEY were not given--anything in the way of human rights. Boomers relinquished the power they had as the nation's most enormous voting bloc ever, lulled by the creature comforts government first gave them in the 1940-'50s, then took away as the wealthy elite grew inequality so that a small dozen or so of people now wield the wealth and power of more than half the human population, and privatization made corporations the new government system--the very definition of fascism.
In fact, humanity was doomed from the first moments of the Industrial Revolution.
Climate change was revealed in 1847. Big Oil is right now defending its enduring corporatist lies in denial as a First Amendment right. But it is illegal to yell "Fire" in a crowded theater, and it makes a mockery of the First Amendment to use it as a ploy permitting the continuation of death-dealing lies. It has precedent, however--Fox News basically won a right to lie in a federal appellate court with the same ludicrous argument. And the Supreme Court in Citizens United gave unrealized, merely expected, corporate profits a First Amendment right, conking logic into unconsciousness.
Nothing has replaced the combustion engine in more than 100 years. After Ford made his Model T almost entirely from hemp, including its fuel, Hearst, the newspaper magnate, lobbied to ban hemp because he had a monopoly on wood pulp manufacturing and believed fast-growing hemp would eclipse a primary income source. The Dupont family (of "Better Living Through Chemistry" fame), realizing that hemp could also be used to make recyclable plastics, also lobbied against the plant that George Washington had required to be grown by all farmers. Wealth won, as it does.
Boomers merely took what they were given. They did betray their children by failing to object when THEY were not given--anything in the way of human rights. Boomers relinquished the power they had as the nation's most enormous voting bloc ever, lulled by the creature comforts government first gave them in the 1940-'50s, then took away as the wealthy elite grew inequality so that a small dozen or so of people now wield the wealth and power of more than half the human population, and privatization made corporations the new government system--the very definition of fascism.
In fact, humanity was doomed from the first moments of the Industrial Revolution.
February 5, 2024
All Saints Hotel and Cocktail Lounge seems to be two different books. It introduces itself as a look at the state of society as seen through the eyes of Millennials. Essentially, they're screwed by the generations ahead of them. Then it settles in as a kind of thriller set in a tourist town on the Gulf of Mexico, where the enemies are the establishment--government, law enforcement, and the church. Corruption is everywhere, and it is up to a ragtag group of Millennials to uncover and expose the truth by means of an underground newspaper. The cast of characters is engaging and likeable, and you can't help but root for them. Then, after a few developments that accelerate the plot but can't be disclosed without spoilers, it suddenly jumps ten years and drops the thriller plot almost entirely. It becomes more of a character drama, but keeps *most* of the main characters and leans heavily into the Millenial point of view.
If I had to guess, I'd say that the sudden shift in the center of the book happened due to the writer's response to life in quarantine during the pandemic. Whatever the reason, the book he has fashioned is fascinating and succeeds in spite of this shift. Everything he says about the Millennial worldview rings true to me, though I am not part of that generation. (Gen X, if you must know.) The characters are written with great heart and sympathy, and I'd definitely recommend it. Just not to conservatives.
Four solid stars.
If I had to guess, I'd say that the sudden shift in the center of the book happened due to the writer's response to life in quarantine during the pandemic. Whatever the reason, the book he has fashioned is fascinating and succeeds in spite of this shift. Everything he says about the Millennial worldview rings true to me, though I am not part of that generation. (Gen X, if you must know.) The characters are written with great heart and sympathy, and I'd definitely recommend it. Just not to conservatives.
Four solid stars.
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