Jesse Bullington

Folly of the World

Kirsten Simkiss

When you find yourself actually openly screaming at the last 100 pages of a book, it's either a really really good thing or a really really bad thing. In this case, it was a little bit of both. I went into the book grimacing and wincing at the characters and the violence and by the end being completely hooked into their well being and their life choices. And oh my god, those life choices.

I am going to preface the rest of this review by warning you now that if you are squeamish, homophobic, or don't like reading about violence or murder, this book is ABSOLUTELY NOT MEANT FOR YOU. Judging by other reviews, the author's other books are similarly violent. But, if you happen to be looking for a period drama that doesn't pull any of it's punches and follows three very flawed characters, you are absolutely in luck.

If you've ever heard the phrase, "Sometimes it's like watching a train wreck. You're uncomfortable, but you just can't help yourself." This is literally that book. I don't want to give anything away if you plan to read it, because not knowing what to expect made this train wreck of a story something that was very hard to pull myself away from. It was fantastic and it was horrible and I want an HBO miniseries because for once they might actually have to tone back some of the violence, craziness, and sex instead of adding it in.

When I first started reading, I found it difficult to attach myself to characters that are so foreign to me in their attitudes. A crazy thug, a manic 17-year-old girl, and a con man toddling around in flooded Holland? Not that easy. But as things progressed, I really got attached to these odd creatures of fiction. The book was also way more violent than most of the things I read. But, because it wasn't over the top, I found it bearable. Perhaps it was just me, but the violence plateaus off after a certain point for a while.

It was also very informative. I had never heard about St. Elizabeth's Flood at all, so I had to go look it up to understand it better. I can't imagine how crazy it was in those days to wake up one morning only to find that possibly 10,000 people had drowned due to failed infrastructure. It was also informative in another way: cursing. This book came up with more unusual curse words than I could probably list. My favorite was very easily shitbird, which is just a funny thing to call someone to me.

Ultimately, I would recommend this to a friend if I were sure they wouldn't be offended by how unusual the book is. (Because it really is that unusual.) It's not a book for the faint of heart or the easily offended, but gosh is it ever worth the read.

Folly of the World

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