Gallery Books Brother

Story that is very different from what you usually read. Disgust mixed with suspense mixed with terror.

I knew the premise of this book going in. It's no spoiler to say this book centers on a character, Michael, who is a member of a family of serial killers and that the story hinges on his struggle to reconcile his own thoughts with what his family does. As such, I expected a bloody and violent horror story. In that, I wasn't disappointed, but I'm immeasurably pleased that the book, while it is violent, while it is bloody, while it does have plenty of extreme horror, is also a surprisingly deep and often moving character study.The writing is simple and concise enough to fade into the background and allow the reader to fully immerse him/herself in a story that's gripping from beginning to end, both during scenes of truly horrific violence and during introspective interludes. But it's the psychology behind the story that really makes it shine. You will find yourself experiencing a lot of conflicting emotions as you struggle to reconcile the different sides of characters whose motivations are not always immediately clear (to the reader and sometimes even to themselves).Upon finishing this book, I found myself thinking about two of history's great thinkers. Tolstoy observed that all happy families are alike but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own unique way. Nowhere is that more explicitly on display than in the relationships between the family members in this book. What's particularly horrifying is that, though the acts of violence depicted are likely alien to the vast majority of readers, I suspect many of us see hints of our own familial dysfunction beneath the surface of these characters. The idea that characters whose acts are so monstrous bear any similarity to ourselves and our own families is terrifying, and that terror is at the heart of what makes this book so stunning and, indeed, haunting. You'll likely find these characters keep creeping back into your thoughts from time to time long after you've finished reading it.And then there's Aristotle, who told us that the endings of stories should seem simultaneously surprising and inevitable. And, moving on to a discussion of plot (as opposed to character), that's certainly what we find here. I won't spoil anything, but I will say that I was genuinely surprised by some of this book's turns, and often felt that they were SO inevitable that I should have seen them coming. That I didn't is a testament to the book's ability to pull the reader in. The author seems to have a magician's skill at misdirection, and the reader always feels on shaky ground when it comes to predicting the book's outcome. Admittedly, I got about a chapter ahead of the author on just a few of the twists and turns, but I was nevertheless both surprised and satisfied by most of the plot.I'll be the first to acknowledge that this isn't the book for everyone. Those of us who prefer "quieter" (or at least less bloody and extreme) horror could easily feel overwhelmed by some of the things that happen in this book, even if the focus is more on character than on the acts of violence themselves. That having been said, if you have the stomach for the more extreme scenes, you owe it to yourself to read this book.

I wanted to give this story a five-star rating. And if it possessed a little more gore and suspense, mixed with the psychological aspects of the story, it would've received a 5 star. I feel this got a lot of praise from the "extreme/splatterpunk" community, to which some people expected more extreme elements. It's about another southern family of cannibals, which, by now, is a cliche. That's my opinion. Ania gives us a well-written story about a cannibal family, while giving us a new perspective from within. I loved Ania's execution, showing us Michael's perspective. Wonderfully written!The story was entertaining and kept me engaged and invested in the characters, wanting to see where Ania would take them. She didn't disappoint in that regard. I felt a sense of relief at the end. I liked the characters in the story. Enough to root for Michael's redemption.Disclaimer: if you are one of those extreme horror fanatics, a fan of TCM, this might not be for you. If you love a psychological horror story about a disturbed family and if you saw the movie 'Chained' (2012) with Vincent D'Onofrio, then you'll love this book.

The quality of the book is very poor. The papers will not last very long. It's very very thin and feels very cheap

I went into this book thinking it was splatterpunk, and it really isn't. Still, it was an engaging read, with a really good balance of gore, tension, and psychological horror. Michael's character, conflicted but bound by family ties and pitted against older brother Rebel, was solid and I was really rooting for him throughout. There seemed to be a few inconsistencies in the timeline, but other than that the plot was tight, driven by Rebel's intricately woven plan and determination to witness Michael crumble.