“Desire can lead to good things, things that must be and should be pursued. Like love.”
Welcome back adventurers!
I know that I said I would post this review Sunday evening, but I have been awake since Sunday evening working on it, so that still counts, right? Anyways, today you are in for quite the strange trip, and I don’t think the writer intended it to be as strange as it was.
Michael Gryboski’s Thoughtreal tells the story of Detective Brittany Johnson as she investigates a seemingly impossible triple homicide in Washington, DC with few clues. In the process she meets a man with incredible powers, a tragic past, and a brother that he is scared to face but will ultimately have to, despite the danger.
I was so anxious about writing this review. You guys have no idea how long I debated with myself about whether or not I should even do it. You see, this would be my first ‘bad’ review on the blog, and I hate writing negative things about someone’s work. I know that this person put a lot of time and effort into their story and I don’t want to discourage that. The concept of this tale was really intriguing to me. The idea of two brothers going through the same terrible events and coping with them in completely different ways drew me in. There are a few gripping sequences in the book as well, including an armed shootout that was genuinely exciting. For the most part, though, this book turned out to be a disappointment.
At 299 pages, this book isn’t very long. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. When I saw the length, I was excited to read a succinct and fast-paced science fiction novel. I am a slow reader to begin with, so short and sweet is okay with me. But unfortunately, you don’t get a lot out of those 299 pages, in plot or character development. All we get to learn about Brittany is that she has trouble with men and she stopped going to church. All we learn about Adonijah and Absalom, the brothers at the center of this mystery, is that they had a specific tragedy in their past (that I won’t reveal here), they like books, and they have studied different religious philosophies. That’s it. The characters all feel flat. It’s hard to engage with them. There is more time spent on describing different physical locations and their rich history than on the characters’ inner life, motivations, and emotions, so its hard to care for them. There is an attempt at writing romance, but it feels forced, and you don’t feel enough for the characters to want to see it happen. Aside from the relationship between the two brothers, there is little emotional development in the book at all. This not only leaves you disconnected, but it also has you perplexed, wondering why characters choose to do or not do things that would easily get them what they want.
On top of that, very little actually happens in the book. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there is very little to spoil. There are some murder cases, a short and relatively uneventful investigation, a lot of discussion, and finally a big showdown. It feels like such a long journey to get to the end, but once you’ve gotten there, you realize that you haven’t traveled much at all.
On a smaller note, the language itself makes the book difficult to read. Gryboski takes more words than necessary to describe minute actions like swiping right or left on a dating app and details the same environments for us at length multiple times. Some of the word choices seem bizarre, and the ordering of scenes can be a bit disorienting, so it’s hard to develop a flow while you’re reading. Overall, it was quite a difficult read and took me longer than usual. Gryboski has some great ideas but they are not well fleshed out here.
Have you read Thoughtreal? Do you agree with me or was I too hard on him? Let me know in the comments below! See ya next time! -Cozie
Family Friendly Content Considerations:
Recommended for Older Teens and Adults
Violence
Mild Sexual Situations
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