Slights by Kaaron Warren

Summary:  (from AngryRobot.com)  Stephanie is a killer. After an accident in which her mother dies, she has a near-death experience and finds herself in a room full of people – everyone she’s ever pissed off. They clutch at her, scratch and tear at her. But she finds herself drawn back to this place, again and again, determined to unlock its secrets. Which means she has to die, again and again.

And she starts to wonder whether other people see the same room… when they die.

And here's what I thought:   I had first seen this book on Angry Robot's website, and my eye was caught by the cover art (disturbing, yes?).  And then, I read what it was about and I was intrigued.   So, I asked Angry Robot for a review copy (if one was available).   And then I read an interesting review of the book on The Book Smugglers .   I would really encourage anyone reading my post to go over and see what the Book Smugglers wrote, because it's different from how I reacted to this book.  And, they always write kick-ass reviews.

Overall, I liked the idea of the story, but I just didn't fall in love with this book.  And maybe that's a good thing, because it's pretty disturbing.  It's not that it's badly written; on the contrary, I thought the writing was brilliant.   The main character is very dark, and this story is horrifying and sad, all at the same time.  Despite the fact that I was repulsed, I found that I just had to keep reading and reading, sort of like when you see something awful right in front of you, and you can't look away.   But I sometimes felt like I was off kilter in this story, not really sure what was going on.  Stevie's a complicated character, and maybe that was why: when you read this story, you're in Stevie's head, and it's a nasty place to be.  The reader's forced to experience things through Stevie at an unrelenting pace, and maybe that's also why this story didn't resonate with me --- I needed a break!    I didn't care much for Stevie, and at times, didn't care about her, either, which is probably why I didn't love the story.   However, as I mentioned, just because I didn't love this book doesn't mean it's not a good book; it's just personal preference.   I'm still very glad that Angry Robot sent me the book, and plan to revisit it at some other point in the future, just to see if my reaction to it is any different. 

If you'd like to read an interesting interview with this author, click on this link 

Where I got this book:  Courtesy of Angry Robot, in response to my request for a review copy.