Twice Bitten, Still Bitter: A Double Feature Disappointment
I finished this two days ago, and it has officially sent me into a reading slump. I’ve picked up a few things since, but nothing is enjoyable because the frustration of this ending is still lingering. I really need to learn that not finishing a book is okay; but until I’m comfortable with that, this is a firm one star.
I actually watched the movie first and found it baffling. I turned to the book specifically hoping it would provide some clarity or a more satisfying payoff—spoiler alert: it didn’t. It was just as bad, if not more frustrating because I invested the time to read it.
The premise starts so strong: an unnamed protagonist travels to a remote farm to meet her boyfriend’s parents while secretly thinking of ending their relationship. The tension is delicious for about fifty pages—creepy parents, dead livestock, and the “deliciously mounting wrongness” of it all. But then, the logic evaporates. The “we need to drive down this dirt road in a snowstorm to throw away these cups” scene made me absolutely frantic.
What could the twist be? What did the Dairy Queen girls mean? In the end, it just… ended. Having now failed to enjoy this story in two different mediums, I am officially done. This was gifted to me two Christmases ago, and I am very happy to finally un-haul it.
