Palahniuk’s prose is sharp and evocative, with each story presenting a unique lens through which to view the human experience. His characters often grapple with existential dilemmas, navigating bizarre situations that challenge societal norms and personal beliefs. The story is rich with vivid imagery and a sense of urgency, making them hard to put down.

After watching Fight Club a gazillion times and really enjoying the risque nature of the humor, I finally decided to give this author a shot. I picked the wrong book obviously. There was nothing redeemable here. I am not easily offended and admire edginess, but only when there is an underlying point and there was none with this book. I really struggled to maintain any form of interest here. The same phrases and statements are repeated time and time again. There is nothing to see here. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

Maybe my tastes have just changed too much to “get it”. I read Palahniuk for many years and have several of his books in my collection. Choke was a favorite for a very long time. I could not finish this book though. It’s full of words that don’t say much and the incest plot line is simply unappealing and holds no value other than edginess for the sake of edginess.
Choke, Fight Club, Lullaby, and Invisible Monsters are worth a read, but this one is not.

If you're familiar with Chuck's work, you know it's always a bit tricky to pin down. But hey, this one didn't let me down—it's classic Chuck all the way. Definitely one for the folks who can handle a wild ride without breaking a sweat. Way to go, Palahniuk, knocking it out of the park yet again!

This was a huge miss for me and I absolutely adore Chuck Palahniuk. It just missed the mark. It was just plain dull and I couldn't get through it.

I was not a big fan of Palahniuk most popular work, Fight Club but the story sounded interesting. But this was a little to weird for me. I enjoyed weird stuff but it was gross just to be gross without any reason. And the story managed to somehow be boring and weird. Was a disappointing read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. Whatever the appeal of this book might be it was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

First off, I am an out, proud gay man. I love horror in all shapes and sizes. And I like some pretty edgy, on-the-brink-of-bad-taste stuff. But this book went too far for even me. No likeable characters. There's casual pedophilia/incest thrown around, not to mention the undercurrent of the old trope that all gay men are pedophiles, twisted sexually, and criminal. I went as long as I could, but I was getting a bad taste in my mouth and had to set the book aside.

I had to DNF this one around 30%. I used to not enjoy Palahniuk, but I was interested in the stories and got something out of the plots even if things that happened were a bit much. Turns out, I'm not that reader anymore, and though I gave this one a chance, I just wasn't into it. I got so sick of the term, "having it off," and just couldn't suss through all the unpleasant sexual stuff to give the plot a real chance. This one just wasn't for me. I won't review it on my other platforms, because I don't enjoy giving things bad reviews, nor do I want to review things I didn't see to the end.

It took me a moment to slide into the unique and bold voice of this novel, but once I was in, I WAS IN. Loved everything about this book. Have lots of concern about myself now.

Chuck can do no wrong and he’s a favorite author of mine. The story and the characters are what you would come to expect from his work. I loved it.

Going into this, it should be known that Palahniuk is an auto buy author for me.

This book was just a little bit boring. I didn't care about any of the characters. Palahniuk books are usually filled with horrid people so that is expected but each of them has their own something that makes them likeable, this one had none of that. The story itself was slow and a tad bit confusing. Each development of the story was dull and trying too hard to be shocking.
I originally started reading this in August but I never found the desire to pick it up, I finished it with the audiobook. I was left a little disappointed with this book.

Meet Otto and Cecil. They are two young brothers growing up in the Welsh countryside. These boys are growing into a strange family business ..... Murder. They practice on the help. They are worried about being able to take over the family business, as there are threats coming for everywhere. Can they survive and carry on the family business?

This was my first time reading a Palahniuk novel and I did not know what to expect. Perhaps I should have started with one of his earlier works to better understand what I was in for…

Based on the synopsis, I thought I’d enjoy this book. “Imagine ‘Succession’ but the family is a group of assassins” was the way I remember the description, and while there is a fair bit of family drama and discussion of inheriting the family business, I struggled with the way this book was written and the content.

Again, I’m not sure if this was a new style the author was trying out or if it’s classic Palahniuk, but the repetition of phrases like “having a go” or “having it off” and other constant writing devices had me skimming by page 50.

Despite that there were moments of levity that I enjoyed and some bits of dark humor that I thought were funny. I wish the book had leaned more toward that than the direction it went it with the more sexual/explicit content as it felt especially gratuitous.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Otto and Cecil are two brothers growing up in the Welsh countryside. Their father has disappeared and their mother is struggling with opioid addiction. And their grandfather is pressuring Otto to step up into the family business. Despite the stress, or maybe because of it, they enjoy playing pretend and killing the help, among other depraved activities.

Alternating between hilarious and disturbing, this book was a quick listen. Told from Cecil’s point of view, while I could not relate to him really I found myself laughing out loud multiple times at the situations he and his brother were in, that he treated as completely normal (ie: when playing pretend, he would be “Judy Garland”). I was surprised by how much gore there was, but that doesn’t bother me so that was not a dealbreaker. It also felt very repetitive at some parts, almost like it was too long to get to the point of the story. But if you are a fan of dark humor like I am, this is a good one to read (especially for spooky season!) I would definitely check out other books from this author.

Check the trigger warnings on this one - it is not for everyone!

It would be irrational to expect anything from Chuck Palahniuk that is not half way crazy. Murder as family business? Check! Killing serving personnel for fun? Check! Communicating with uncorrectable inmates? Check! Sharing NSFW photos with them? Check!

This family was not okay. They were some sort of assassin crew that were involved with most controversial death we read on the papers. Otto, the older son, was expected to take on family business too. But compared to his predecessors, he was more interested in inflicting pain and enjoying it. His younger brother was his soundboard and accessory.

It was disgusting at times and cruel at others. It showed how psychopaths were nurtured in equally problematic families. But again, this is on brand for Chuck Palahniuk. He just shocks you, and makes you question yourself if you can go through his books.

I will always be a fan of Palahniuk, that being said, this was definitely more disturbing than what I was prepared for. While I loved the murderer/assassin aspect, the stuff Otto and his dear brother went through and then began to crave was a little much for me. Especially, the whole bar thing when Otto is looking for his dad and getting oogled himself. I really will never think of Attenborough or Whinny the Pooh the same. Like I said, huge fan. But this was too much, like a "how can I disturb people and make them hate me?" It's like he only wanted to make the most disturbing book the way that the folks in Pink Flamingos set out to be the dirties people ever. I'm sad I didn't like it more.

The description makes it sound like a fun horror satire about two incompetent, nepo, man-childs who will inherit the families legacy of murdering famous people. It had the disturbing horror part down but the fun satire went over my head. I think the story could have done without the constant rape & incest. I stuck through it hoping the ending will make up for the beginning, but I was disappointed. Overall, it made me feel icky.

While not a magnum opus, Chuck Palahniuk voice remains as sharp and jarring as ever. A really enjoyable read.

This was a DNF for me. I got a 1/3rd in before the constant sexual abuse of children shit got to me.