This Book is Full of Spiders | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Review

---

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This Book is Full of Spiders

Written by David Wong

Published October 2012 by St. Martin's Press

#Horror, #Thriller, #Surreal, #Humor, #MagicalRealism, #Paranormal

---

As far as sequels go I think that this definitely keeps the tone of the first book, it is equally terrifying and hysterical.  However as far as structure goes this book is completely different.  Where as the first book was more or less chronological you knew that the story was progressing linearly even if it was more like two lines that you jump back and forth between you had no idea what was going to happen plot wise.  Events were happening left and right that kept you feeling completely overwhelmed much like the characters were.  In this novel the events are very straight forward and make sense but the timeline of the novel is all kinds of messed up.

You jump forward and back in time to meet with different characters as they travel which I think is how you are able to get a handle on what is going to happen next in the story.  There is a very clear trajectory here you just might not read it in order per say.  That isn't to say that you read something that happens days earlier, its more a few hours but still enough to give you a handle on what is going to happen while keeping you slightly off balance.

I think that part of the charm of these books are the characters.  They are so delightfully flawed.

These are not heroes, they aren't really antiheroes, they are just normal guys who have been given some sort of higher purpose and they muck up so much that you kind of watch all of these events occurring with a sense of dread settling into your stomach the entire time.  They swear and fail and freak out in all the right ways.

It somehow manages to feel completely plausible while being completely outrageous and I sort of love it.

Plot wise you wouldn't necessarily have to have read the first in the series because it isn't so much a continuation of a line of events as another snap shot in David and John's lives.  However I think that both are outstanding books and should be given a chance.  If you think the structure of this book is more to your liking then by all means read it first.

There will apparently be another installment in this series next year some time and I honestly can't wait.  While these books will never make it into the literary cannon of classics I think that they have a firm place among the cult classics.  One of the best contemporary series I have read.  Go pick up these books if you haven't already.  Seriously!  Go do it!