Little Rot

I read one review of this book that said: “A very difficult read, but equally compelling.”

I have to agree.

I don't even know how I came across this book or how it ended up being checked out on my Libby app. I think it was a sample I compulsively downloaded, and then I couldn't stop reading it despite the tough subject matter.

It's hard for me to describe this book. I've heard it categorized as a thriller, which I think holds merit. It definitely has some thriller-esque properties to it. I feel like it's a book close in purpose to something like American Psycho (which I have never read but have heard about), where it's meant to act as a reflection of a dark part of society we don't want to acknowledge exists. It gave me the same kind of empty hedonistic pursuit. There's lots of drugs, sex, and partying in this book, but it's nothing glamorous. It's foul. Despite the difficult subject matter, the reason I kept going on was that I found the main conflict of the book between Kalu and Ahmed to be engaging enough to read on. The inner turmoil of the characters and how it reflected in their actions was intriguing to read.

I've read some people say that it sometimes feels like a laundry list of perversions in this book, which I have mixed feelings about. While I was reading, I never got any indication that the actions of the characters in the book were things to be celebrated. These were not characters you were supposed to admire. I admit, I get tired of hearing readers say that characters need to be “likable” or “relatable” to be good characters. It's something I strongly disagree with. Some of the most compelling books ever written feature the most unlikeable people ever to be crafted. These characters are not likable, in my opinion. Maybe some traits of them can be considered as such, and maybe they can be relatable, but for the most part, they aren't exactly heroes in a traditional sense. But their conflicts are still fascinating to read about because it's a reflection of the real world. People like this exist and make decisions like the ones these characters do in the book. Like I said before, it's simply a reflection of the real world.

The book does its best to wrap up everyone's conflict within one another so they're connected, and I feel it did with about 70% success rate. Aima's character arc seemed to have an unsatisfying and abrupt confusion. She was set up to seem like a major character, being the first character we are introduced to and have one-half of her conflict (her break-up with Kalu; not a spoiler since it's the very first chapter) act as a catalyst for the major event that drives a lot of the story. But it feels like right when her arc was getting ramped up, it dropped to focus on Kalu and Ahmed for 60% of the story before she comes back with a sudden conclusion. Focus in the latter half of the book felt like it was being put on other characters brought in late-game who suddenly felt like they commandeered the spotlight. In my opinion, the whole thing would have felt much less disjointed if the story perspectives were cut down to Aima, Kalu, and Ahmed, with the other characters being major secondary players.

Also, my usual complaint of the ending feeling very abrupt and unresolved. I feel like that's a complaint with 80% of the books that I read, so nothing to special there.

In the end, am I glad to have read this book? I mean, this is not the kind of book that brings you happiness. I feel like it has the same effect on me as Lolita by Vladimir Nobokov did. It was very hard to read, and it did not bring me any joy. This is not a book I read for enjoyment, but rather, for perspective. And despite the shortcomings in the book, I feel like perspective is always a valuable thing. Sometimes, we do need that mirror to be held up to our faces about the darker part of human living. I feel like Little Rot does a decent job of that.