Elliot

I didn't realize until I came to add this book here that it was in the middle of a multi-author series (there were signs I just didn't pay attention because that's how I roll), it was still easy to follow and I didn't feel like I was missing anything crucial. The experiment side was the weakest part of the story in my opinion because it just didn't really seem even remotely plausible, maybe there's a reason for that given in the previous installments though. I really liked the way the religious aspect was done. There were a lot of “surely it won't go THERE” moments with this book and yet it managed to never come across as over the top and goofy (a problem I routinely find with gore heavy stories), Robitaille really managed to effectively keep a sense of dread and anxiety going which made for a surprisingly quick reading experience.

I don't know why Goodreads has this book listed as having France as a genre since it's set entirely in Quebec and the author also appears to be a Québécoise, if you're looking for something about France you won't find it in this book (even the type of French the book is written in is pretty darn typical of Quebec).

On a side note, last week I read 3 Québécois books all featured pretty darn unflinching bleakness and this is a book that I would consider to be under the extreme umbrella (spoiler ahead: it features detailed on page animal and human torture that most EH I've read does not rival in terms of viscerality) and yet I first encountered it in the small book section or my drugstore all of that got me thinking about the way Quebec's society approaches gore and violence in the context of the whole “extreme horror should be behind the counter” idea that just refuses to go away which I so vehemently dislike. Sure, we've had our share of contested stories but, on the whole, I have this feeling that we are more uncomfortable with censorship of literature and film than with violent content. Could it be that Québécois culture more so than who I am as a person has made me so “comfortable” with the presence of extremely graphic content in my reading material?