5 Stars
This book....was out and out banana pants crazy.
In the best possible way!
I read and enjoyed Downing’s My Lovely Wife
earlier in the year so I was excited to see where she went
with her next book.
Well...
No need to worry about the Sophomore Slump with Ms Downing,
Because He Started It was by far one of the most
entertaining reading experiences I’ve had all year.
I tend to think it’s best to go into most books, especially
thrillers, knowing as little as possible about the plot.
It is especially true with HSI as I have noticed that some
blurbs have been giving away a key plot element that I think
can take away from the overall reading experience.
Having said that, He Started It is about a family road trip. A very
dysfunctional family road trip.
Grandpa has passed away, and his
last wish is for his grandchildren (and spouses) to re create
a memorable road trip from their childhood in order to claim their
Inheritance. But, major thing is missing from the previous trip and the siblings
just might be being followed across the country by a mysterious black pick up truck.
One of the best things about this book is Downing’s skill
at writing dialogue. There is a lot of it here and it just jumps right
off the page. The snark is real folks, and it is mighty fun to read.
I also loved the writing style. Without giving too much away, the
book is told in a very conversational way, and the way she reveals
The thought process of the character telling the story, is brilliant. I have never been a fan
of the unreliable narrator - it is far too overused and usually doesn’t work.
But here, it somehow fits. As a reader, you sense immediately that there is something
going on with this family, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. So the revelations that get
casually dropped into the middle of a paragraph succeed at being genuinely
startling and only make you want to read more. I have a nasty habit of figuring out most of
the twists and turns in a book well before the end. But here, I was just enjoying the
sheer craziness of the story so much, I didn’t even try to figure out where the story was going. I just went along for the ride.
I’m not going to lie, every single character here is a horrible person. Redeeming qualities are
few and far between. Instead of making this book a slog to read, the fact that these
Characters are so inherently unlikable, only make seeing their situation devolving into darker and
darker situations that much more fun. The last act of this book plays out like a movie that just gets progressively more insane...until the head spinning, truly brilliant ending. Which, I will state for the record right now — Favorite. Ending. Ever.
It’s been a while since I felt this enthusiastic about a book, and since I have slowly
been coming out of a months long reading slump, it feels really great to say that!
Is this book for everyone? Probably not. Will there be people who can’t get
past the fact that the characters are so shady? Yep. Do you have to suspend your disbelief
a bit....hell, throw your disbelief out the window entirely to accept some of the
twists and turns? Fo’ sho. Having said all that, I enjoyed every single bonkers moment of this
book and I can say with all honesty I will happily consume anything that
Samantha Downing releases from her crazy, brilliant brain in the future.
TW : mental illness, suggestions of child abuse
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