Elias Witherow

OK ELIAS WITHEROW I SEE YOU!

I'll start by saying this: this is a type of horror that I don't think most people will love. It is *gruesome* and graphic and basically anything horrible that can happen does happen. This isn't a spoiler, but the first few pages starts with a double suicide and that might be the least horrible thing that happens.

I love that the story drops you into a world and you are just as blind and dumb as the main character. It moves quickly and does not relent...an actual show more page-turner. Great book. show less

I did enjoy my time with this and find a lot working for it. Contrary to criticism, the story was well-paced with a few hiccups, notably the raft scene and Pudge. Perhaps 50 pages could be shaved off with the ceaselessly descriptive language used, but I do love me some adjective soup. The book tackles with the subject of suicide with unflinching criticism. Nick's thoughts harangue him for the weakness that led him to this place, and along with the situation where they began, the first third show more of the book tore me up.

The rest of the novel was a mixed bag with little highlights. Nick hardened into a Gary Stu and overcame obstacles at a power scaling only Goku could dream of. There weren't that many moments in the last 2-thirds were Nick was humbled and I found that disappointing. The closest was Nick and Jenny's reunion, which was a big highlight for me. They admitted their convictions as to why they committed suicide over any other option, and it was touching moment, showing their decision as a mutual, human fault. I will say I disliked how the side characters, especially Jenny, felt underdeveloped. Besides their reunion, she acted more as a placement for Nick's motivation rather than her own person capable of decisions. And lastly, while I won't give spoilers, for a book as disturbing as it was, the ending felt offsetting to what I just went through. The scene before was amazing simply for how thrilling it was. It got me excited for the book again.

Overall, it's a dark novel that uses the Doomer aesthetic for a thrilling survival-horror fantasy, but falls short of being good because of the lack of sense of being lived in. People are tossed chapter-to-chapter, and the later arcs were unrealistic compared to how vulnerable Nick was posed to be. I'll remember the world of The Black Farm, but I'm afraid I won't give it, or its sequel, a second chance. show less

Suicide—Nick and Jess think it will end their suffering: “There wasn’t anything to be afraid of. The monsters were all on this side of life. What awaited us was blissful nothing, an unaware existence of absolute emptiness. No more worries…no more stress…everything would float away like sticks in a river.” But unfortunately (for them, and for us readers as well) the suffering is only now about to begin because they reawaken on the Black Farm, which is where God sends suicides to show more be punished.
    It’s fairly tepid stuff though, mostly: horror-fiction without the horror. There are lots (lots) of fight-sequences, and the relationship between Nick and Jess (axe-wielding hero and near-helpless damsel-in-distress) is cringe-inducing. Some of the wording is poor too and, overall, this reads like the sort of thing a teenager would write, then self-publish it and, years later, wish to the same God they hadn’t. show less

Bleak, demented, gory, grotesque and full of creative dark horror, this was a splatter of unique horror fiction that I enjoyed a lot.