John Dies at the End by David Wong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When a book starts out with two young dudes fighting a monster made of deli cuts and spewing sausages, you know you’re going to have a good time. From the first few pages, John Dies at the End had me repeatedly laughing out loud and always kept me on my toes. There’s no way to predict what batshit direction the book is going to go next, because I’m not even sure David Wong knew when he wrote it. The strength of the inconsistent narrative and bizarre acid-trip-like turns taken in this adventure are both some of the highlights and lowlights.
The first half of this book is hands down my favorite, and feels like the most coherent portion of the story. Things get off the rails towards the back half when Wong dives into some Lovecraftian, interdimensional, jellyfish-slinging blood baths, but even when it was confusing, I was still enjoying it. No matter how muddled the narrative got, I always wanted to know what was going to happen next, and I cared about the well-being of these misfit characters.
In the end, David Wong has a unique voice and I’ve never read anything quite like this book. Is it perfect? No, but GoodReads doesn’t allow for half stars, so take a 5/5, David, you earned it.
Would recommend for fans of dark comedy, horror, and bizarre sci-fi.
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Are you a fan of adventure, drunk anti-heroes, or adventuring drunk anti-heroes? Maybe you should check out my books! Whiteout is the first in a planned trilogy, starring Nick Ventner, drunk monster hunter extraordinaire. Whiteout sees Nick pitted against the mythical yeti and a merciless mountain in a race against time with enemies hot on his heels.
More info on Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15019448.Ashton_Macaulay
Ashton Macaulay 