I love how no matter how you use it, it fits and has a different meaning.
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The author was really scared when it was announced she was next. I can't imagine why. Its not like I haven't done anything. I'm just a victim here! Excuse me while I get my... stuff.
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Next on the chopping block *cough* I mean in the spotlight is Murder, Porcelain.
Warning: There is LGBT later. and sex. and drug abuse... and I can't tell if the last chapter is incestuous rape or whatever that is but holy shit!
TLDR; The classic Man in the Iron Mask, the movie Saw, the movie Phonebooth, and this book have something in common. I'll leave you guessing what that is.
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Main Characterization: "Everyone is normal until you get to know them." - There is good characterization, and then there is good charactization while being so detail oriented I swear I can see every single pore on their face. At first it may not sound that appealing, kinda disgusting really. Ew. Who would want to see all the blackheads on my glorious nose? But where the author does right is in largely giving us information bit by bit, being consistent with their charcter, and showing us more and more details as the story goes, as the character makes more and more observations, and making it relevant to the moment and their actions. You don't know a guy has a tattoo until he extends his hand to pass something and his sleeve falls back, for example. The characters are distinct, rich, and stay consistent with every detail provided about them. The characters do not have powers or anything special and the plot doesn't go into some fantasy crap to give us a reason to like the characters. I liked the characters because they are normal without being bland. You relate to them.
Side Characters: Minimal but effective - Not much to say here. There aren't many side characters, but the few presented are used effectively, make sense in their roles and relations to everything, and help flesh out the scenes nicely. They are not kept around when they aren't needed, and are there when they are.
World Building: barely any - There is virtually no world building. It doesn't seem that necessary as the story involves a completely normal society and structure. What little bit of world building there is would be specific details about various characters, that are used in the story, and their place in the world. This is minimalism and works fine. There is not a single point where I felt more was needed, and from how the plot is done, it doesn't seem like there is much in the way of outside pressures needed. The characters have enough internal insanity to make up for it.
Grammar and word usage: Russian 'Enter' Routlette - I have never seen a story that consistently combines paragraphs and splits them up in this fashion. There are plenty of moments where it is slightly difficult to tell who is talking if you are not paying attention, but the biggest thing is definietely how the author seems to have a fetish for hitting the 'enter' button at odd times. Usually you see all paragraphs are combined into one giant block of text, like in written novels, or they will split each paragraph off with a single empty space. Just like this review. But nope. I can't tell if the author hits the 'enter' button at random times or if there is some kind of pattern to it. This is like Russian 'Enter' Routlette!
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Plot: What the TLDR all have in common - Been wondering what the movies and books have in common? Saw is entirely inside one room. Man in the Iron Mask is 50% in one room for 500 pages. Phonebooth is entirely at a phonebooth in a conversation with a guy on the other end of the phone. This story, in the same fashion, is one giant conversation broken up by brief moments of seperation for 80% of the chapters. Is that bad? No, not in this case, at least. And all because the author compensates with rich characterization. It is a story of completely normal things, crushes and getting to know each other, and beyond that lacks plot for a long time. There is no mcguffin, there is no outside threat, there is no big baddie. The main character isn't even grounded or nothing. The conflict is entirely internal as the main character wars within herself as she learns about her crush and has to make a decision based on who he is, who is acts like, and who the world sees him as because he is famous. At first it can sound boring, but again, the characterization is good enough to more than compensate. I could see this being a teen fiction movie staring any teen girl from disney movies, like Freaky Friday or Mean Girls or whatever, only it slowly devolves as the main character goes down the rabbit hole to the dark side of society. This can be summarized as "Normal girl meets famous guy and has a crush." Which if you look at how many fans Justin Bieber, One Direction, Fifty Shades of Creepy, and Still-Better-Than-Twilight had, is something a lot of people can relate to. One of the character's also sparks my inner theorist as I see signs of creepiness that leaves me wondering if something bad is going to happen. Which I love! And then when bad stuff happens, it is isnt that shocking because it follows the idea of a slow boil.
Despite the fact the main character is a vegan, I will still give this 4 smashing out of 5!
Filthy vegans. Do they want my food to starve? They're eating my food's food!
Overall, the characters are rich enough to compensate for the lack of world building or external plot. It is entirely a character study of corruption, pressure, and fall from grace. It has a slow burn because, as I said, most of it is a giant conversation getting to know them. But once it reaches boiling point then it just keeps turning up the heat.
I'm out with a smashing!
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If you are interested in learning to write, mastering the craft, want some really good reads, or just to chat and hang out with a mature group of adults, feel free to hit me up for a smashing discord book club that has lasted years.
