This will likely be a short review, likely the shortest I have written. "Breeding Ground" is certainly a fun novel, but riddled with several issues, among them is the writing itself and characterization. I wanted to like Matthew Edge, but I wanted more.
The first issue with this novel is the over-saturation of detail. Granted, the devil is in the details, but when more time is spent on environmental detail, it takes away from the story. Pinborough, to her credit, does well creating environments that are alien yet familiar in the apocalyptic tale. However, she does take away from her own story. Where Pinborough does well is the beginning: the attention to detail coupled with the first person perspective, does create an atmosphere of dread. After the first few chapters, the over-attention to detail weakens her narrative. At times, her usage of language creates misdirection, I found myself deep in a word soup.
The second issue, and the greatest weakness, is characterization. I wanted to care for these characters whom fate has nearly crushed. They can certainly be forgiven for their weaknesses during a time of utter chaos and upheaval of their lives; their survival instincts are what drive them and under extreme stress, the less savory aspects of characters come out. This does take away from any sympathetic response I may have had. I wanted to sympathize with Matthew, but I just could not bring myself to do so. He was a cookie-cutter male.
With all due credit and respect to Pinborough, she does create a good foundation for her characters, but she came up short in generating a sympathetic response through development. She generated a great deal of fear. Fear versus sympathy in a Horror tale is a tricky balance to strike.
Rating: 2/5
No comments:
Post a Comment