The Blood Poetry [Kindle Edition]

Review:

Obscenely unique to say the least! When I read the blurb, I was oddly intrigued, yet confused by the seemingly evasive premise. I was not quite sure what a "grotesque" was, or why the mentioned characters appeared to be circling the drain of madness, but I knew that I was interested in figuring it out. Upon receiving the eBook, I was surprised by the story's abrupt start, Epstein and Sylvia were the first characters I met, and their relationship, as well as their inner dialogues, were quite putrescent - dark and boorish, with an abundance of corkscrewed humor. I am not used to reading books that play back-and-forth between streams of consciousness, so I had to get used to Leland Pitts-Gonzalez's interesting writing style, however, after the first couple of sections I actually started to enjoy the gritty and off-kilter nature of the plot-line and characters, particularly Astor and Fester's role in the unearthly bedlam. Epstein is a very strange and complex character, I spent most of my time attempting to figure out his personality and queer behaviors - cringing at the overly descriptive prose that tended to be offensive, but not entirely off-putting. The back-story was just as demented, proving to be a challenge - which may have been the intention - nevertheless, it added another layer of convoluted imagery to the already tangled series of events. I will admit, I did have a bit of trouble comprehending a few sections, whether it was the wording or the grammar, I do not know, but I felt that it was easy to get lost in text itself; I even had to get out the dictionary a few times. That said, the crude, off-the-wall, and untamed content still presented itself as well-constructed and highly original. I do recommend this book to adult readers, although - be warned - the strong language and subject matter is definitely rated "R". I do consider the perverse style of The Blood Poetry an acquired taste, but it was very interesting reading experience indeed.

Rating: On the Run (4/5)

*** I bought this eBook on Amazon.com in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

"The Blood Poetry," for the most part, is the inner monologue of a rather unpleasant man named Epstein. The stream-of-conscious tale chronicles the life of Epstein, his daughter Sylvia and his vampire mother. I liked this book for the twisty-turny style of storytelling, but it was a bit too long for my taste. The author takes too long to tell the story, which rendered the climactic points ineffective for me. Still, I enjoyed the prose and plot overall. I just wish that it had been condensed a bit.