“Beautiful You,” by Chuck Palahniuk

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 10
2. Prose 7
3. Plot 8
4. Characters 7
5. Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

I recently read in an online forum of a particular reader’s low opinion of Palahniuk’s prose. Having read only “Choke” and “Haunted,” my opinion had been rather high. This book, fascinating as it is, did fall a little short in that category. Worse, the characters were rather wooden, almost as if the author was going for an allegorical effect. The genius of Palahniuk is nevertheless, on display in full force as he gives us, yet again, a work of shocking originality. The premise is a little slippery, revealed gradually, but enticingly over the course of the plot, though morbidly mesmerizing throughout, as his books tend to be; exploring thorny philosophical issues with just the right seasoning of sardonicism. This is not the first Palahniuk book I would recommend to someone unfamiliar with his works, but for its originality alone, if nothing else, it is not to be missed.

Here’s the April line-up!

“Dragon Tears,” by Dean Koontz [4-1-17]

“Whose Little Girl Are You?,” by Bethany Campbell [4-8-17]

“Alice in La-La Land,” by Robert Campbell [4-15-17]

“Wolf at the Door,” by Ann Campbell [4-22-17]

“The Lost Stars: Perilous Shield,” by Jack Campbell [4-29-17]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for next month, please do so. Also, if you have already read one on our previous lists, you are invited to send your ratings and or comments for that book!)