Grey Liliy reviewed The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott
Review of 'The Pilo Family Circus' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I have rather mixed feelings about this book. I picked it up mostly interested in the premise of two split personalities fighting each other, but realized fairly quickly that part wasn't coming up for a while (it actually took until Part 3, half-way through the book...).
We'll start with the not-so-good:
Language. When I first picked this book up it was almost painful reading the first half. I'm no stranger to cursing, but it seemed a little excessive. But that's mostly nit-picking at seeing the same four letter word on near every page (or that's what it felt like).
Jamie's plight was interesting, being hounded by Gonko and the others, but it never quite grabbed me. By the time he actually put on the face paint for the first time, I had set the book down and literally not touched it for a few years.
The good:
I was able …
I have rather mixed feelings about this book. I picked it up mostly interested in the premise of two split personalities fighting each other, but realized fairly quickly that part wasn't coming up for a while (it actually took until Part 3, half-way through the book...).
We'll start with the not-so-good:
Language. When I first picked this book up it was almost painful reading the first half. I'm no stranger to cursing, but it seemed a little excessive. But that's mostly nit-picking at seeing the same four letter word on near every page (or that's what it felt like).
Jamie's plight was interesting, being hounded by Gonko and the others, but it never quite grabbed me. By the time he actually put on the face paint for the first time, I had set the book down and literally not touched it for a few years.
The good:
I was able to pick the book back up where I stopped about 40% of the way in with no problems, so that's got to count for something. Years later and I still remembered Jamie and his audition and the clowns, so it definitely left an impact.
I did enjoy myself immensely when Jamie and JJ started to acknowledge each other. Winston in particular was also a treat, with his caring ways and understanding. Even Gonko started having his moments as he played parent to his clowns, moving him up higher on the favorite character list (Which Mugabo stole, btw, I loved that magician~ "Glow").
So, it's safe to say I enjoyed Part 3 quite a bit. Good character interactions, development and lots of good fun. Couldn't put it down.
Then Part 4 happened. It wasn't bad, but it definitely felt like it was lacking that spark in Part 3. Maybe because it dropped back down to the 'Jamie' show (save for one disturbing prank involve Goshy & the last ditch run). Either way, lots of chaos and stuff happening saved mostly by a few "crowning moments" for a few of my favorite characters (Mugabo, Gonko, & Winston). Things seemed quick and frantic, which was probably what the author intended but it still felt disjointed.
Overall?
Fun, crude, horror novel. Did it's job to disturb and had enough moments that I really loved to even out the parts I couldn't get myself interested in or like.
Glad I read it, probably would reread Part 3 by itself.
