What Amazon says:
“Once there was a widow with three sons, and their names were Black, Brown and Blue. Black was the eldest; moody and aggressive. Brown was the middle child, timid and dull. But Blue was his mother’s favourite. And he was a murderer’. “Blueeyedboy” is the brilliant new novel from Joanne Harris: a dark and intricately plotted tale of a poisonously dysfunctional family, a blind child prodigy, and a serial murderer who is not who he seems. Told through posts on a webjournal called badguysrock, this is a thriller that makes creative use of all the multiple personalities, disguise and mind games that are offered by playing out a life on the internet.”
What I thought:
This is probably one of the most difficult reviews I have written in a long while, for two reasons: 1) I am a HUGE Joanne Harris fan; I have read nearly all her books and just adore them - except for this one 2) I really had no idea what was going on for most of this book.
How do I even explain? Let’s give it a go: The story is narrated by B.B., a loner who spends most of his time on the internet either writing his own personal diary and telling the story of his life as he sees it and also writing fic (stories) on his badguysrock.com – a website that he created himself and attracts a whole array of misfits with their own problems. What is apparant from very early on is that B.B. had a particularly unconventional childhood with a very bizarre family around him. Switching between his private journal and the fiction he writes on badguysrock, we get to see B.B’s life played out before us in all its murderous glory.
Sounds simple enough, right? The thing is, I just didn’t get it. I read somewhere, before I picked this book up, that Harris started writing this and had no idea where it was going and how it would end up, and I’m afraid to say that that is the same feeling I got while reading it. I didn’t get any sense of a plot or purpose for much of it and at times it felt like I was watching someone vent their spleen about…..well, everything. It felt cynical, dark and even bitter but even then I got the sense of it being on the part of the author more than the protagonist.
There were other characters in this book, one of whom – Albertine – also shares her diary entries with us and they give this books some of the unexpected twists that appear more towards the end. Because of the tone and subject matter of the book there are naturally going to be one or two unsavoury characters, but I found that I didn’t like any of them. I couldn’t find a single redeeming quality in anyone who crossed the pages, which made for some uncomfortable reading for me.
It is with a sigh and a heavy heart that I write this review, as (as I said) I am a huge Joanne Harris fan but this book felt like such a departure from her other books that I love so much – even Gentlemen and Players which is also classed as a thriller but which I loved (it was very plot driven and had humour as well as some great charaters and twists).
To sum up: blueeyedboy is not a bad book, it is a different book than I am used to from Harris. There were parts of the book that I really enjoyed and felt that I was getting into, but unfortunately they were outweighed by the parts that were dark and cynical and uncomfortable to me. I do believe that this may have been the point of the book – afterall, can we really believe anything we read on the internet? No, necessarily – we can be anyone we want on the internet; we can invent a whole new persona. It’s just that for me, as a reader, it felt too chaotic, and too much dark with not enough light.
A good read, but not an enjoyable read. Liked it but didn’t love it.
I revieved this copy for review from Louise, publicist for Joanne Harris. Thank you, Louise.
aww, it’s just a disappointing day in reviews, isn’t it?
this book had caught my eye, too, but i’m wondering if i shouldn’t pick up a different harris book instead.
It is a disappointing day for us both, you’re right!
Have you read any Harris before? If not, then don’t start with this one. There are loads of others that are just great.
no, i haven’t. i’m thinking i’ll pick up Five Quarters of the Orange instead.
Yes!!! That is my absolute favourite! Wonderful book – I hope you enjoy
I ordered this from Amazon and it’s probably arriving with me tomorrow. I am a big Joanne Harris fan, love all her books apart from The Evil Seed which was rereleased a couple of years ago – it was about vampires and seemed very different from her other magical books.
I suppose authors get tired of writing the same type of books or do publishers advise them to diversify? Sarah Waters wrote a very different book in The Little Stranger and a lot of her fans seemed dismayed whilst I enjoyed it.
I’m not put off but even more intrigued – I do hope she reverts to more magical stories (especially food related ones!) with her next book.
Thank you for the review.
Teresa, I am really curious to hear what you think about it. So far I have only found one other review on the internet and it seems they had some of the same thoughts as me.
I want to know what other fans think too. I really hope you enjoy it though
I’ve had mixed experiences with Joanne Harris. I didn’t like Chocolat at all, whereas I thought Gentlemen and Players was very cool. I hadn’t heard of this one before, and I’m curious to see if I get on with it any better.
You might really like this Jenny as it is a total removal from her “foodie” books.
I am really interested to see what others think about it. Please let me know if and when you read it.
What is the book about then?
Why are they not likable are they bullies?
Or do you not like them because they are not like you?
What a strange comment.
1) I have said what the book is about in my review (and also the the synopsys from Amazon)
2) No, they are not bullies.
3) No I didn’t not like them because they are not like me. I have read hundreds of books where the characters are not like me – they don’t need to be for me to like them. In this particular case I, as I said in my review, I found it difficult to find any redeeming traits in any of their characters – there was too much dark and not enough light for me. Again, this is just my opinion and I am really interested to hear others views on this book.
I didn’t seem to enjoy Chocolat as much as other people did, but I have been meaning to pick up something else by Joanne Harris. I guess it won’t be this book though. Most of the time I like to know where a book is going.
Iris, try Five Quarters of the Orange. That book is in my Top 10 of all time. It’s a wonderful book.
Hi there! Just saw your comment on my review of blueeyedboy (sorry have been a bit uninspired with book blogging for the last couple of weeks and it took me over a week to read just one book!) and am glad that you feel the same too. I was left thinking ‘so what was that all about?’!
I’ve finally just finished a Katie Fford so will be back to blogging now and am about to start reading ‘Five Quarters of the Orange’ – is this one any better?
Hi Branka, I must amit that I was really relieved when I saw your review as I didn’t know if it was just me.
Yes, read Five Quarters of the Orange! It’s one of the most beautiful books I have ever read and if you like Chocolat you will love this!
Which Katie Fforde did you read? I love her books. Actually I could quite read a KF right now for some real comfort reading. I may go and peruse my shelves and pick one out
Well I’m now almost halfway through Five Quarters of the Orange and love it so far, only started it yesterday!
I read ‘Going Dutch’ – liked it, but find that Fforde’s writing is too simple and tries to justify itself a lot of the time. Cute plot though, and even more adorable subplots! <3
I’ve seen this advertised everywhere but for some reason I haven’t fancied getting a copy. Thanks for the review.
Hello again! Delighted to report that I loved this…yes, it’s a very different path for the author and I can see how Chocolat, Blackberry Wine and Five Quarters fans might be disappointed but I don’t think we can expect our favourite authors to stick to the same well trodden path. Sarah Waters did something similar this year with The Little Stranger and I think some of her fans are outraged that she hasn’t followed the same winning formula. There is an endless supply of books out there (thank God!) so we’ll still have enough to read.
I do empathise with your feelings though, Boof, as some authors are like a favourite jumper which one loves putting on and curling up on the sofa – I think Ms Harris intends to keep us on our toes!
Thanks for reporting back Teresa – I’m really glad you liked the book too. I think this book is turning out to be a marmite book (either love it or hate it) as I have seen quite a few mixed reviews now.
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Thanks Helen, that’s lovely to hear
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If I have a website I don’t know it. But I agree with you about Blueyedboy being dark and difficult. I just want to know who killed Brenan and Nigel. I understood about the wasp and Nigel, but what happened to Brenan? The mother was a witch. I also chose this book because I had read several of Harris’ books and had heard her speak several years ago. I am tryin to decide if I want to finish reading this book. I am stopped at Part 4.
It’s been ages since I’ve been so bogged down by a book as I am with Blueeyedboy! I’ve been reading it on and off for almost THREE WEEKS! I’ve read tedious books before, but there’s always that “just to the end of this chapter” clause, but with this book the chapters, or sections, I suppose, are so short it’s very easy to put the book down (and pick up something far more interesting!). The trouble is, it feels like a chore to have to pick it up and continue. It’s a bit like my ironing pile… I know I’ll feel better when it’s done, but it’s such an effort to get started. This must be one of the very few books I have met that I could quite happily put down and never finish – and I’m over three quaters of the way through.
There is not one single character that I care about. In fact, I’m still not sure who the characters really are. The author seems to rant on and on about nothing in particular – certainly nothing to do with plot or characters.
I’ve read a few other books by Ms Harris, all of which I enjoyed. I love her short stories as well – so fanciful, but this is a totally different experience.
The one question this does raise ….. am I the only person who finds it impossible to NOT finish a book once it’s been started?