You Suck: A Love Story
Christopher Moore
I hated Bloodsucking Fiends when I first read it – oh my god, is it really 11 years ago? Good christ. Anyway. The characters were hateful, the comedy was not very comedic, and I could tell the San Francisco Moore was writing about was a big imaginary San Francisco he was making up in his head even though at that point I hadn't even been to San Francisco -- there was just a sense of amorphous lies about the whole setting. The book was amorphous and kind of irritating, and it was a major disappointment after Coyote Blue, which was complex, and funny and weird and hilarious in a way Bloodsucking Fiends just never was.
So You Suck is a sequel about the vampires from Fiends and it is, generally, about as complex and nuanced as its title. Jody and Tommy are slightly less hateful – possibly because Tommy develops something of a personality and the major inequality in their relationship, which was squirmingly painful in the first book, is balanced out somewhat. Much of the plot is telegraphed early on, the goth girl who becomes their minion is Moore's opportunity to make very dumb jokes about goth teens and woe, the pain, and the ending is not particularly satisfying, but I liked this anyway, because it is Christopher Moore, and usually, even when he is not great, he is good, and engrossing, a fast and smart and fun read. Except for Bloodsucking Fiends, and also Fluke.
I hated Bloodsucking Fiends when I first read it – oh my god, is it really 11 years ago? Good christ. Anyway. The characters were hateful, the comedy was not very comedic, and I could tell the San Francisco Moore was writing about was a big imaginary San Francisco he was making up in his head even though at that point I hadn't even been to San Francisco -- there was just a sense of amorphous lies about the whole setting. The book was amorphous and kind of irritating, and it was a major disappointment after Coyote Blue, which was complex, and funny and weird and hilarious in a way Bloodsucking Fiends just never was.
So You Suck is a sequel about the vampires from Fiends and it is, generally, about as complex and nuanced as its title. Jody and Tommy are slightly less hateful – possibly because Tommy develops something of a personality and the major inequality in their relationship, which was squirmingly painful in the first book, is balanced out somewhat. Much of the plot is telegraphed early on, the goth girl who becomes their minion is Moore's opportunity to make very dumb jokes about goth teens and woe, the pain, and the ending is not particularly satisfying, but I liked this anyway, because it is Christopher Moore, and usually, even when he is not great, he is good, and engrossing, a fast and smart and fun read. Except for Bloodsucking Fiends, and also Fluke.
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