Thorn in My Side

(Review originally published at Red Adept Reviews)

Overall: 4 ?? stars

Plot/Storyline: 4 ?? stars

This is a very quirky and dark story. It's also nearly impossible to review without mentioning a certain detail, and yet I'll try, because it's only hinted at in the two descriptions on the page. I think people will probably figure it out from there alone, but I won't be the one to “say” it.

While the story is very darkly funny - the last line might as well be called a punch line - it's also just plain dark. It's also thought-provoking in a Wisdom of Solomon way, when you consider the issues of justice here.
I think this story will bother people - perhaps be seen as too dark, too quirky, too out of the realm of most people's existence. I enjoyed it though and it made me think.

Characters: 4 ?? stars

The author makes the characters distinct from one another, which I believe is crucial here, while not taking it too far.

There is a good brother and a bad brother, but Ms. Slaughter never went the campy route of making them absurdly different in surface ways, but rather she went deeper to the nature of identity.

Writing style: 4 stars

I laughed, I considered the issues, I laughed, I admired the skill in characterization and storytelling, and the use of language that was both interesting and accessible.