Rob

Easy five stars. I loved this book. Great characters, tight plot, genre elements (crime/mystery/coming of age), interesting setting, just on and on. Ticks about all my boxes.

Comparing this book to The Hunger Games is a massive disservice to potential readers. More apt comparisons are Kindred by Octavia Butler or even Beloved by Toni Morrison.

Curdle Creek is an abstract and experimental novel that isn’t about its plot or even really its characters as much as it is about its setting. It examines the cruelty and violence of societal systems that attempt to prioritize safety over freedom.

I think this novel could have been more effective for more readers with a more compelling main character. But I think the author intends to keep readers off balance and questioning.

Do I recommend this book? Not unless you like to read confusing narratives with no concrete answers. But this book is way better than a 2.7 aggregate Goodreads rating.

Loved the concept/twist/secret. But the writing was average pot boiler at best. Good summer vacation reading.

I made the mistake of listening to this as an audiobook. Without maps to refer to or a detailed knowledge of French, German, and Belgian geography, I was lost for most of the book. It would have been easier to follow all the people and place names if I was visually reading them, too.

I understand the hype. There’s a lot to chew on in this book. And it’s a page turner for sure. The ending is wild, but I don’t think it’s particularly successful at wrapping up all the themes of the novel. Is our narrator the victim or the perpetrator? Or both? She’s definitely unreliable (and unlikable).

This is an audacious debut novel, and I’ll be watching what the author does next.