I’ve read many Chuck novels before so I know what to usually expect in terms of the plot; however, this was impossible to keep up with. I often felt bored and my mind wandered, then I’d have to go reread it and get bored all over again

I love Chuck - my favorite book of all time is Invisible Monsters by him, but at the same time one of my least favorites is his novel Rant. This book was very similar to Rant. I felt like there was quite a few non sequiturs, and nonsense, which did not help the plot along. Around half way though, I realized I didn't know anything about the book I was reading.

I read pretty much all of Chuck Palahniuk's books when I was in high school and was so, so obsessed with his work. Unfortunately I'm not sure if his signature writing style really entices me anymore. Half the time I felt like I didn't understand the purpose of what I was reading and how it related to the overall story. It wasn't until about 40% into the book where I actually understood what the plot was going to be. I do think the plot was a really interesting concept but it was hard for me to keep track of what was happening.

Thank you for the EArc. I usually really enjoy Palahniuk’s works but this one was just too far out there for me. I think it was the strange cut backs every chapter or so that I had a hard time keeping up. This one wasn’t for me unfortunately.

This was a very interesting book but a little more difficult to read which seems to be the case with this author. I found the topic very interesting but had a hard time staying engaged.

There’s something about reading a Chuck Palahniuk book that has me saying “Oh Chuck” about a thousand times and the first page had me cackling so much that I had to stop and read it aloud to my partner. I am always enthralled and perpetually floored by the technique and style choices Palahniuk uses to get a point across and that’s the epitome of Shock Induction.

I’ve been a fan of Palahniuk since reading Invisible Monsters Remix and have been die hard ever since, I’m a genuine believer that Palahniuk is a genius writer that few are able to actually grasp. With that being said, especially in comparison to Not Forever, But For Now, this is his most accessible read that he’s released in years.

The plot is easy to follow, the main character is loveable and the stylistic choices are hilarity built out of pure chaos and satire. For fans, Palahniuk pulls no punches but he’s also reigned in enough that the masses can enjoy and follow his commentary on the billionaires that seem to rule our world. Also that cover!!

Some of my favourite quotes:
“Clarity is paramount. Even when the goal is to create confusion.”

‘“You’re competent but not complacent.”’

“Change one story with another, and you can change all of human reality.”

“… love taken to the next level with gin and melancholy.”

“You can spend your whole life waiting for the pattern to repeat. Jay Gatsby did.”

I’m a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan but this one had me more confused than anything. Its breakneck speed and weird dream sequences left me unsure of what was actually happening and what wasn’t. Not my favorite of his.

It’s abrupt in it’s presentation. The description of the story has a hard time meshing with what I read mentally. Following the story was difficult. Came accross as instructions and observations from an outside perspective. It is dark and some of his descriptions were excellent. Like when Sam gets glasses for the first time, seeing everything clearly for once was spot on. Some dark humor was sprinkled in. The concept of being observed as a person to be sold would be bewildering to me. Very high creep factor. Unsettling to say the least.

Nobody does satire as Brilliant as Chuck these days.
This book breaks the fourth wall and gives a future that, while a tad "black pill"
could come to pass with a world destined to lower the standards.

This book was the best since Adjustment Day and beats that book.

Highly Reccomend

I don't think I have the words to properly describe the emotions I experienced reading this book. Mainly revulsion and confusion as I couldn't exactly distinguish between what was really happening and what was imagined. I had to see it through to the end. It had been so long since I'd read a Chuck Pahlaniuk book I forgot about the extreme shock factor. Overall it wasn't my favorite but this premise of a future organization that buys the most intelligent children to run society doesn't seem all that far off from what could actually happen. If you have a weak stomach heed the trigger warnings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my ARC!

I chose not to publicly review this book because I DNF'ed it. It seemed unfair to rate it without finishing it, due to it being based on my own uncomfortable feelings with the topics. I have enjoyed Palahniuk books in the past, so I know they can be hit or miss with me. This one was simply a miss. Thank you for the opportunity to read it, and I hope to read more in the future.

I’ve anxiously awaited getting to read this and was ecstatic to be approved for an advanced copy. To start-this is one of my favorite Palahniuk covers (behind Invisible Monsters) and loved the connection with the scene in the book.
In typical Palahniuk fashion, the story is filled with satire, dark humor, dark situations in general, vivid imagery and leaves you absolutely confused on more than one occasion. There are also big Alice in Wonderland vibes, which Palahniuk noted was an influence for this novel, among other classic pieces of literature.
At one high school, the biggest overachievers are disappearing and lost to apparent suicides, and no one seems to know why. But at the underbelly is a dark surveillance organization grooming these kids as the next leaders, from CEO to Queen to Pope. Raised to be sold off by their parents to billionaires and royalty, these students are committed to their futures for life. And young Samantha is sucked into the middle of it with a destiny no one may have guessed.
This is a departure from Palahniuk‘s past novels, adopting a more fragmented writing style that alternates between what story is being told and ranging from short punchy paragraphs to long passages. While Samantha’s story quickly grabbed my attention, the fragmented additions did leave me wondering what the heck was happening more than once. A trippy experience that I recommend reading in physical form (ie hardcover over kindle/audio) as there are some major plot points that physically manifest and involve the reader, as well.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

First and foremost, thank you for allowing me to read this book from one of my all time favorite authors.

Like many Palahniuk works I spend a bit of time asking myself repeatedly what the heck is going on. This one included. Reading this felt like a fever dream. Dark and atmospheric, but not atmospheric in the way you just imagined atmospheric when you read that.

A brief rundown of what’s in this book without giving anything away: Students at a prestigious school are dropping like flies. An evil corporation that employs Truman Show-esque tactics. World leaders and billionaires. Books with literal drugs in (on?) them.

If you’re like, “None of that makes sense.” Yes, you’re right. But you’re also wrong. Welcome to a Palahniuk book.

It was fun. It was confusing. Then it made sense. I learned some new things. If you like weird, you’ll like this.

3⭐️

I read a lot of Chuck Palahniuk books in high school and loved them, so I was really excited for this one. I don’t even know how to summarize the book because I felt so lost during portions of it.

There are some great satirical lines in regard to our country’s education system, but overall I struggled to get into this book. Palahniuk definitely has a unique writing style and, while I knew that going in, this book just didn’t work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy of this book.

I have read a few Palahniuk books so i was aware of the unique style he has. This book continues in this way and has an interesting storyline but at numerous points i felt lost while reading. With these quirks it did become slightly difficult to read. Overall I would rate this a 3.75/5.

I received a free advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Shock Induction by Chuck Palahniuk is a satirical novel about high performing high school students who are recruited by "Greener Pastures" for very high sums of money to live a life of intellectual servitude. The book focuses on the lives of a few young adults at the time that they are recruited and get their first glimpses of life in the world created by "Greener Pastures."

The premise of this book is very unique. While I enjoyed the details about the characters that Palaniuk focused on, I would have liked to see the book go into more detail about more of the characters. Described as a "parable," Shock Induction is very cynical and leaves the reader with a lot to think about.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been a fan of Chuck’s for years. I subscribe to his newsletter, attended several live events and met him a couple of times. He’s always been very fan-oriented and a cool guy in general, and he’s inspired a lot of us to write our own stuff. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I was honored to get an ARC of this for early review.

“Shock Induction” is a bit of a new writing style for Chuck, this one laid out in passages of varying lengths, many of which are only short paragraphs. (Which to me made them punchier and more effective.) I think it’s great that he’s trying more experimental things with his writing these days, but personally I think I will always prefer his more straightforward narratives. There were gems in this book for sure, classic Palahniuk quotes, vivid visuals, dark dark humor and some wonderful ideas. Overall, though, I was mostly lost. I wanted so badly to love it the way I loved his books from “the old days,” but unfortunately this one I think was too over my head. It’s one of those “It’s not you, it’s me” situations.

I can’t go into a lot of specifics for the sake of spoiling things, but I’ll elaborate some. For a large chunk of this book I was thinking, “Where the Hell is this going?” But I couldn’t stop reading it. (Until about halfway through, when I had a tougher time.) I really liked the scene that was referenced by the cover art. (An excellent choice for the cover, BTW, and the narrative even circles back to it later.) As with most of Chuck’s books, many screwed up “facts” were presented that made me wonder if he was making them up or if there might be some truth to at least a couple of them, but I wasn’t about to Google any of that shit. I always “learn” so much from him!

The midpoint of the book was where the problem started, as it stopped making much sense to me. This is essentially a novel about mind control techniques that tries to also demonstrate those techniques in a meta way, but that section of the narrative completely lost me. Many sections of this story were written in a prose that was meant to invoke a certain feeling, either sleepiness or hyper focus or something else, based on how he used language and repeated words/consonants, etc. (IF I’m understanding correctly.) But the problem was that doing so sacrificed the logic of the sentences. (In the afterword Chuck himself mentions a strong “Alice in Wonderland” influence and it definitely shows!)

Related: Chuck was also going for a sort of fever dream/drug trip quality at times, which I’m not opposed to in any way, but the narrative pieces were too scattered. My focus was pulled in too many directions from one passage to the next. (I get that the various methods of “Induction” were being demonstrated, but this didn’t help me understand the story.) There’s also a plot element involving drug infused paper. Reading this on Kindle might have lessened the psychological effect that was supposed to have on me as the reader. (Though that’s a pretty neat idea for anyone reading a physical copy.)

My biggest compliment for the book was that I really liked the main character, Samantha. There’s a line early on about how it’s important that we, the reader, love Samantha before we hate her. Was I supposed to hate her at some point? Because I never did. In fact, despite this being one of my lesser favorites from Palahniuk’s catalog, I’d say that Samantha is one of the most memorable characters!

In the editor’s intro it says that “Passages from classic novels hide in plain sight.” I sort of get why this technique was used given the overall literary themes, but also, these sections just contributed to my overall confusion with the plot. (In case it isn’t clear yet, I kind of felt like a fucking idiot during parts of this. I don’t THINK it was the induction technique…)

Sadly, I clearly struggled with a lot of this. It might be easier on a second read. There is a really cool concept here, but it also seemed as if a couple of different core story ideas were at play and the one that I really liked was barely explored, and also not resolved at the end. At times the different plot points seemed so far apart from each other that they could’ve been separated into different books. The more I thought about it, also, the plotline that I liked kind of negated the other plotline altogether.

This one was definitely a headscratcher. I’m still a Palahniuk fan, but I have so many questions after reading this. I just realized it’s probably weird that I’ve been calling him “Chuck” in this review, but I don’t think he would mind.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

*Normally I try to mention the biggest trigger warnings in my reviews. If you have any triggers at all, I typically wouldn’t recommend Chuck’s books in general and this one has so many that to list them would take a very long time. There’s definitely some VERY ugly stuff in here.

Chuck Palahniuk has been one of my favorite author's for years, though I have not felt that his more recent works have lived up to his earlier writing, so I was both excited and apprehensive when I received this ARC. Especially coming off from his previous novel, Not Forever, But For Now, which I would rank as one of my least favorite, I wasn't sure what to expect here.

But I'm happy to say that I did enjoy this book very much. This felt more akin to his earlier books; while I was reading it brought to mind Invisible Monsters, Rant, and some echoes from his short story Zombie. Definitely this writing style won't be for everyone, but I liked the fast pace and there were some moments of striking imagery that I think will remain in my mind for a long time. I would not say this is a new favorite of mine, and it would probably benefit from a reread, but it was overall good and I would recommend it to other fans of his writing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

3.5 stars

You really never know what you’re gonna get with Chuck. This one was definitely better than his last.
It was classic Palahniuk, weird, experimental, fun, and as always very well written.
It will be divisive as they all are but I enjoyed it, so that’s what counts here…right?

Oh, I was SO excited for this one ever since Inread the description. Imagine this in the hands of Palahniuk: the best students at a seemingly good high school are being lost to suicide. Clearly something is going on.

Turns out these kids have been getting “The Truman Show” treatment since birth from an online service for a bunch of billionaires….and then they go up for auction.

Oh, it sounds so great. And it turned out to be so very underwhelming. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t great, and I was so hoping for great. I felt like it could be great.

You’ve got the usual questions about what is real…is anything real? Nice line, “now that the familial bond is based on market value…” (I think it already is in some homes.) Like I said, decent, but I wanted more.