AHHHHH! I am so thankful to Simon and Schuster for sending me both a physical and digital copy of Not Forever, But For Now before this baby hit shelves. I'm a slut for horror books and this one absolutely slayed my expectations.

I really wanted to like this. I've read other books by the author and I can now accept that his writing style isn't for me. It was such a disappointing experience. The writing style was disjointed. The synopsis grabbed me and i couldn't wait to get into. I realize that suspension of disbelief occurs, but it just was too out of pocket for me. The book could have less chapters and still tell the story.

Not Forever But For Now is a weird combination of topics that one can only expect from Chuck Palahniuk. It will not be for everyone, that is for sure. It is just such a peculiar read that makes you slightly uncomfortable and very cringey, but you can’t stop reading.
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for my copies of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This one was a rough start for me in the beginning, but after about the first third it felt like a true Palahniuk read to me. Otto was the perfect character to feel disgust towards in the beginning, and almost understanding towards the end.

Not my favorite Palahniuk book but still the wild, crazy, and entertaining ride I love to read from him. 3.5/5.

I couldn't seem to find the proper pacing to this and the right footing to really get into it. It has the usual Palahniuk twisted and weird situations, but something seems off.

While this isn't appropriate for my high school library, it was great and I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't attend my high school! If you're a Palahniuk fan, you'll understand this is a very weird, very gory, very sex-fueled book. Non-Palahniuk readers might find it to be too much, but I enjoyed it.

Not Forever, But for Now, by Chuck Palahniuk is a very uncomfortable read by the author of Fight Club. Palahnuik is known for saying he likes making people uncomfortable, and this book is just that. The plot is about incestuous twins who are raised in a family of hitmen. The twins enjoy having a prepubescent look, the novel makes it creepier by never revealing their age. I usually hide my dislike for a novel towards the end, but I did not like this novel. Palahnuik is a gifted writer and writes an incredible opening about nature with no nurture, which is how the twins are raised, but this is almost the only bright spot in the novel. The characters barely develop or attempt to develop both literally and physically. There's so much repetition in the novel with one scene that gets repeated at least 10 times, the first time I was intrigued, but I grew to hate it. The scene rarely changes and doesn't change the impact of the scene. This book is short at 256 pages, but man is this a slow read. I'm a person who can push through, and rarely do not finish books but this one was close. I'm a fan of Chuck Palahniuk and liked his last novel The Invention of Sound more than most, but this novel is just not good. I was given a copy on the date of publication from Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for free in exchange for a review. Not Forever, But for Now was published on September 5, 2023.

Plot Summary: Otto and Cecil are two brothers who grew up in Wales. The boys are privileged and spend their time murdering the help and watching animal documentaries. The brothers come from a line of hitmen whose specialty is killing without anyone knowing they have been murdered. Their mother is now an addict and their father died in the ghost forest, so they raise themselves and spend the day sending letters to prisoners pretending to be their mom. Their grandpa is still working and wants to nurture the boys to become hitmen like him. Otto wants the world to die but Cecil is still figuring things out how ruthless he wants to be.

What I Liked: The opening scene where the nature documentary mirrors the boy's upbringing comparing it to how a kangaroo is born and has to survive. I do like the scene where Otto confronts the wildlife documentarian asking why he never saved the prey or got it to eat plant-based food. I did like some of the celebrity interactions before death like Marilyn Monroe and the first time with Judy Garland.

What I Disliked: The pacing was awful for this book. The repetitive scenes of Judy Garland's conversation before her death. Ten or so times is way too much, I would cringe every time someone stuck a cashew in their ear and pretended to be Grandpa. Otto and Cecil barely have any character development. The ending was set up to be exciting the author chose to not have a big showdown and end the book with a small moment. I don't know if the final moment was earned, I'm kind of on the fence about it.

Recommendations: Chuck Palahniuk's books are not for everybody I have been a fan of most of them but, but I would have to say this is the worst book he's ever written. His writing makes me uncomfortable at times, but I've always come away with a new perspective on the character that I had just read. Not Forever, But For Now, is a novel that I can not recommend any of my followers to read.

Rating: I rated Not Forever, But for Now by Chuck Palahniuk 2 out of 5 stars.

Chuck Palahniuk’s new novel does not disappoint, that is, if you’re a fan of his more disturbing work. And given the relationship between the main characters, I found it a bit difficult to stick with the story at times, but the ending made it worthwhile. And, realistically, if you’re a Chuck fan, you expect disgusting and disturbing situations you simply can’t look away from, right? And if you’re a fan, this is worth a read.

(2.5 rounded up to a 3)

Not Forever, But For Now by Chuck Palahniuk is an absurdist horror satire. The audiobook is narrated by Raphael Corkhill.

Otto and Cecil are brothers who belong to a family of wealthy, but sociopathic murderers for hire. Their father is missing and their mother is struggling with an opioid addiction when she's not away on business. Grandfather recruits Otto as his latest apprentice, but can he live up to his family's legacy?

I've enjoyed Palahniuk in the past, but this was a big meh for me. The point of view character, Cecil, grew very tiring to me, though I typically enjoy an unreliable narrator. The book is told in five parts, and my favorite was the last; it solidly held my interest. This may have worked a lot better as a novella; it needed a bit more editing.

Of course, there's the typical Palahniuk repetition, but it's dialed up to eleven here. It felt like the phrase "having a go" and/or "having it off" was on nearly every single page, and the book is only ~250 pages. The chapters are particularly short as well, adding to the disjointed feeling of the book. There are some phrases in the book that are written in binary or decimal code in addition to Greek and (I think) Arabic, so there's some homework to do.

This is horror satire, but I wish there was a bit more of the horror part. As for the satire, we're examining masculinity (toxic or no), brotherhood/community, queer culture, and wealth/privilege.

The biggest thing that annoyed me, though, was the repetition about Richard Attenborough narrating nature documentaries, when that was his brother, David. Unless the error is supposed to be a joke?

CW: incest, violence, murder, gore, body horror, animal death, sexual depravity, parental death

Published by Simon & Schuster on September 5, 2023

Chuck Palahniuk has a long history of writing dark stories about creepy characters. His novels have been described as twisted, disturbing, raunchy, and weird. Palahniuk doubles down on that tradition in Not Forever but for Now.

Otto and Cecil are brothers. Their ages are not quite clear. They think of themselves as “wee pre-male prey.” A nanny bathes Otto and they spend much of their time in a nursery. Yet they steal cars and frequently “have a go,” which in the context of the novel is a sexual reference. The age ambiguity is presumably part of the novel’s absurdist humor.

Cecil narrates the story. He uses “pre-male” as a synonym for gay. When the incestuous gay brothers did not meet his standard for masculinity, their father caved in the head of their pony with a brick “because he wanted his sons not to be always weak, twee, sentimental babies, but to face up to the grim realities of life . . . and to stop messing about with paper dolls.” Cringe-worthy yes, but with the obvious intent of ridiculing the notion that straight men can beat the gay out of their male children.

The brothers come from a family of assassins. The family has done away with Lady Di, Kurt Cobain, Elvis, and many other celebrities. The brothers particularly enjoy reenacting their grandfather’s murder of Judy Garland. Perhaps Palahniuk meant to mock the unlikely speculation that inevitably surrounds a celebrity’s death.

Otto also enjoys imitating Richard Attenborough as he narrates footage of predators stalking and devouring their prey. Taking their cue from Attenborough's dispassionate descriptions of violence in nature, the boys are natural born killers. Nannies, tutors, butlers, and other residents of and visitors to the manor house where they boys reside usually meet a gruesome end. The brothers lure predators to their home with the promise that they can “have a go” with Otto, who leads them on a chase through the woods before dispatching them (sometimes after granting their wish to have a go with him). The village is certain that the house is haunted, as well it should be. The house also seems to have hatched a monster with “extra limbs and breasts and peckers” that now roams the woods. I have no idea what to make of this fantasy element. Perhaps nonsense is its own reward.

Their grandfather is grooming the brothers for criminal enterprises other than homicide. He instruct them to steal expensive cars as part of an insurance fraud scheme. He launches an app that involves a suicide lottery and assigns the brothers to assist the suicides. Cecil's commentary suggests that the app will play a key role in plot development, but readers looking for a plot are likely to be disappointed.

To the extent that the novel has a plot, I suppose it develops in the last act. Much of the story is a family drama, complete with schemes by family members to kill other family members. Eventually the story moves to a prison and a plan to create an army of “fey, feeble pre-males with little education and no prospects,” calling upon them “to hold up chip shops and to monger whores.” This leads to a “twee” crime wave, a “pre-male revolution” that engulfs England.

Like much of Palahniuk’s work, Not Forever but for Now is primarily an exercise in describing violent and demented acts with clever prose. Perhaps Palahniuk intends to satirize people who view homosexuality as demented, but it is difficult to square that interpretation with grizzly depictions of murder and sexual encounters that are clearly nonconsensual. Perhaps he intended to satirize crime fiction, but if the reader needs to guess at the point of satire, the humor loses its punch.

Palahniuk more clearly satirizes the British empire (or its remnants), royalty, the ruling class, social media, and a prison system that supposedly “coddles” predators by housing them with an endless supply of prey. Those are easy targets, yet Palahniuk barely hits them.

The story has its funny moments. Stealing the queen’s debit card made me laugh (her PIN is 1234). She has billions in her account but can only withdraw three hundred pounds a day. Palahniuk combines the male complaint about emasculation with the female complaint about toxic masculinity to arrive at “toxic emasculation.” I laughed at that, but there are few other moments of inspired comedy.

When I was young I might have enjoyed the story for its shock value, but I am now too old to be shocked by much of anything. Palahniuk was fresh and original in Fight Club but hasn’t ever returned to that form. I can recommend Not Forever but for Now to readers who enjoy mockery for the sake of mockery, but the story lacks sufficient entertainment value to earn a full recommendation.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

I've read nearly every Palahniuk book since first reading Fight Club. I've always been excited to read Chuck's next adventure with every passing book. I was very excited to reading this book as well and unfortunately, I didn't understand it. The plot felt all over the place and it didn't ultimately make any type of sense to me. I won't give up on Palahniuk for one book that wasn't my cup of tea but this one was highly disappointing.

Know before going in that this is not Fight Club and you should read more of Palahniuk's work to decide if you like his writing style and just plain weirdness.
That being said, it's probably his weirdest book to date (mostly in how it's written) and I feel like he really just could not care how he comes across to audiences, which I love and appreciate.
I didn't mind the repetitive word choices and was just along for the read. Also may have helped I read it in a cockney accent 😆

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC ❤️

This book was entertaining. I kept waiting for everything to make sense and it never did. I felt like he got too wrapped up in the shock factor and lost the plot.

Maybe it's a book slump, maybe it's a short attention span, but I just could not get into this book.
I haven't read Palahniuk since college. I used to be his biggest fan. So it's not even that the content surprised me, truly I was mostly unfazed. I just didn't find the plot compelling enough to continue.
DNF at 65%

While Not Forever, But For Now was a little too out there for my personal tastes, I know fans of Palahniuk will love this as it is true to style. The satire is dripping and there is a whole lot of shock value to keep you turning the pages.

In “Not Forever, But For Now” Chuck Palahniuk brought the WTF and that almost made me DNF. I read the advanced review copy and didn’t like it. I felt it was too repetitive and parts of it made me uncomfortable. On pub day, I checked out the audiobook from my local library and my opinions changed. The narrator, Raphael Corkhill, brought the funny and it was easier for the satire to come through. I laughed and laughed. Be Gay, Do Crime. My favorite books by Chuck Palahniuk remain Invisible Monsters and Invisible Monsters Remix. Thanks to Chuck Palahniuk, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for the ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

You never know quite what to expect in a Palahniuk novel, except that they involve unusual characters living unusual lives. That is certainly true here: this is a family story about a family of professional killers and the two young brothers who are destined to take over the family business. These are not just any killers, either: over the course of the story they are revealed as the source of every celebrity who died of suicide or violent death (Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Lady Di), as well as major events like the Stonewall Riot and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Otto and Cecil are living a privileged life in the Welsh countryside. They could be normal rich kids, except they seem to be frozen at ages somewhere in their twenties; Otto has a tendency to murder the servants; and they are obsessed with sex (according to their world view, everyone is either "having it off" with someone, or wants to). When their grandfather tries to initiate them into the life he begins by giving them simple assignments: stealing cars, kidnapping sex dolls, killing animals (like champion dogs and horses).

They engage in many surreal adventures, which finally land them in prison. There Otto sets his apocalyptic vision into motion by assembling an army of perverted inmates and attempting to obtain nuclear launch codes. He means to literally burn the world down, and maybe he will. But his younger brother Cecil has a more humane vision in mind, aiming to improve the world instead of accepting it in all of its survival of the fittest glory. Any positive theme is largely lost in all of the brutal satire, which makes this a poor introduction to Palahniuk's work, but fans are likely to be drawn in.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Advance Reader's Copy.

Another over the top and satirical look at the horrors of the world from Chuck Palahniuk. Of course there are ridiculous numbers of murders and ridiculous numbers of all sorts of scandalous characters. You have to appreciate it for what it is-just funny.

Chuck P has done it again! This is a very funny and crude horror satire. I appreciated the look at the boys as babies and being infantalized.

This is definitely my first read of this kind. As a horror satire, I didn't know whether to be appalled or to laugh. I was caught off guard by the absolute brashness of Otto and Cecil. Definitely an entertaining book. I wasn't sure what to expect as I kept reading. The horrible things these brothers did and privilegee lives they lived could make a person sick. Palahniuk does a good job of throwing in something humorous to get your mind off the pure horrible things these boys did.