The Savages by Matt Whyman
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5/5
Book Blurb
My Review
I finished reading this book last
week and at that time I was actually in a reading slump –like literally, I was
poly-reading books from different genres, and most of them I read halfway. I had
this unsettling feeling embedded in the root of my heart that I need some
stories that really ‘wake’ me up. Stories that come out uncomfortable and aren’t
really sitting right with my reading preferences. So here it is, THE BOOK, that
successfully got me out of my reading slump.
The Savages by Matt Whyman is a
juvenile read that follows a family, The Savage, whose tradition is to feast on
human flesh yet still carrying on their daily life as usual. This book could
have passed as a dark thriller one if not for the author himself sprinkles it with
dark humour. For readers who have been familiarised with cannibalism, this read
might be like too easy and too plain for you to enjoy the cannibalistic parts but
for those readers who haven’t, it’s a little bit disgusting as there are some
vivid descriptions about how to cook human flesh in a ‘decent’ way. Either way,
this book might not sound right up everyone’s alley.
Pros:
- - It’s
problematic if you start rooting a family who practises cannibalism in the
house because yes, I’ve come to start liking them and I can’t wait to read the
second book.
- - Conflict.
The conflict starts when Sasha Savage, the daughter of The Savage suddenly becomes
interested in being a vegetarian when her vegan boyfriend starts coaxing her
into taking a month of meat-free without the knowledge of her
strict-to-the-tradition father, Titus Savage.
- - Family.
They are being supportive of each other. I love the chemistry amongst themselves. The
psychopathic brother, Ivan? Holy crap, his character is what I love the most
throughout the story. The Baby too! Come back here and comment down below what’s
her first word when you’ve finally read the book.
- - The
Private Investigator. His character can be cliche as he can, the one who finds a
possible link between the murder case of a renowned model with The Savage family.
I think his part I laughed the most and be thinking of ‘how stupid this man can
get’š¤£
- -
The
plot twist in the end though—I began questioning myself that it’s really problematic
to root for this family.
Cons:
- - The
story is narrated from the third point of view, and the story is more likely full
of narration instead of conventional dialogues. I disliked the first half of
the book but ended up liking the last half of the book.
- - The
history of cannibalism in this story stems from Titus’ father, who’s the Russian
Officer during the Siege whereby they devoured each other to stay alive. Since it’s
a true history, I find it a little bit distorting to be fictionalised in a dark
humour. But since it’s fictional and made up for pure entertainment, I’ll just
turn a blind eye on it.
I recommend this book for those who
want to read disgusting yet entrancing books.
About the Author
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