Review of 'Ill will' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
“Ill Will” is a “literary thriller,” and it does the “literary” part extremely well — the “thriller” is where it falters. It explores interesting themes of identity and memory, and how we know what we think we know about ourselves. Hypnosis and the Satanic Panic of the 80s — where fake “recovered” memories were implanted in suggestible children — both figure heavily. As Chaon writes, “Most people seemed to believe that they were experts of their own life story. They had a set of memories that they strung like beads, and this necklace told a sensible tale. But she suspected that most of these stories would fall apart under strict examination — that, in fact, we were only peeping through a keyhole of our lives, and the majority of the truth, the reality of what happened to us, was hidden. Memories were no more solid than dreams.” That was all …
“Ill Will” is a “literary thriller,” and it does the “literary” part extremely well — the “thriller” is where it falters. It explores interesting themes of identity and memory, and how we know what we think we know about ourselves. Hypnosis and the Satanic Panic of the 80s — where fake “recovered” memories were implanted in suggestible children — both figure heavily. As Chaon writes, “Most people seemed to believe that they were experts of their own life story. They had a set of memories that they strung like beads, and this necklace told a sensible tale. But she suspected that most of these stories would fall apart under strict examination — that, in fact, we were only peeping through a keyhole of our lives, and the majority of the truth, the reality of what happened to us, was hidden. Memories were no more solid than dreams.” That was all very well-done. But the “thriller” side of the novel is disappointing — I don’t want to spoil anything, but the central mysteries kept me turning the pages until the disappointment at the end, where almost nothing was resolved in a satisfying way. If the ending had been better, I would have given it 4 stars.
