Doomed
M**I
Crazy in Every Way, But a Ton of Fun!
Written in the form of blog posts from the afterlife, Doomed tells the tale of everyone’s favorite snarky thirteen-year-old, Madison Spencer, as she is caught between Earth and Hell in a sort of Purgatory. The voice is everything you’ve grown to love about Palahniuk, and Madison is delightfully sarcastic and pretty much pissed off for the length of the novel. But isn’t that how we all love her? Her witty observations about the world around her are what make these books so wonderful, and there’s no lack of wry humor and biting satire in this second installment of the Damned series.In classic Palahniuk style, the book opens with a bang and had me hooked right away. I’ll spare you the plot details because quite frankly it would be rude of me to spoil the fun. Nothing in this novel is what it seems and the twists and turns come rapid-fire. I planned on reading a few chapters before bed one night and ended up devouring the book in one sitting. It’s full of action and packed with deftly created characters that both intrigued me and rubbed me the wrong way. Everyone is flawed, but everyone is interesting. Nobody comes out on the other side unscathed.So, sit down, buckle up, and get ready for a wild ride. The book is crazy in every way, but it’s a ton of fun.
T**K
Product came corroded in filth
couldn't tell if blood or poop i did however wipe it down with a disinfecting wipe 10/10 nice touch
N**Y
Entertaining but difficult to connect as a sequel
To be fair, I read Damned about a year and a half ago, so all of the details were a little foggy. I love the way Palahniuk writes these books.. his Judy Blume inspiration is really entertaining. It's so over the top that it really makes for a good read.[Potential spoiler alert] However, I felt like a lot of the events that you learn about Madison's past in this book don't really connect to her character in the first book. For example, her Grandmother and Mother speaking to the telemarketer and her Grandfather telling her that they receive calls from a 'Guardian Angel' and that she will have to fight a battle between good and evil... you don't get the sense that she knew this in the first book even though she should. So it's a little hard to connect her character between the two books in that respect. But again... I read the books so far apart that maybe it's just my memory mistaking me.
L**R
Sequal That Departs From the Original But Fills in Back Story
Like many of the other reviewers have said, this book is very different from Damned. Many of the characters from the other story are not in it and the setting is totally different much of the story is told in a flashback. That being said it does give a lot of the background to explain why Madison ended up in Hell in the first place. Also knowing that Madison Spencer's story is ment to be a trilogy it makes sense that this story would take a departure from the first book. If you liked Damned you will like Doomed because though it doesn't have a lot of the characters from the first one it has the one that matters Madison and gives the reader insight into why she is the way she is.
M**L
Seriously? This is the follow-up to Damned? Shame on you Chuck.
I loved Damned. I read it in three days. Each and every scene of Palahniuk's Hell kept me turning pages, and Madison, although quirky, turned out to be a character that I enjoyed and even semi-cared about.Now, take everything there is to love about Damned, and burn it.In Damend, Chuck pushed the narrative to its absolute limit. The thirteen year old girl Madison was very clever, very intelligent, but she was still a thirteen year old girl. She narrated the story like a spoiled thirteen year old girl, had sexual tension like a thirteen year old girl, even told embarassing stories like a thirteen year old girl. She was, for lack of a better word, semi-believable.In Doomed, Chuck pushes the narrative over the edge. Madison no longer narrates like a thirteen year old girl. Instead, she feels like a female Chuck Palahniuk standing on a soap box, pulling out all his tricks in his literary bag. The narrative is so bogged down in B.S. that it's unbearable to read. And, It's also very, very, very, very, very repetitive.In Damned, Chuck made the story exciting with imagery, monsters, and clever parallels between the living and the dead. The comedy was top notch. Down and dirty, but funny.In Doomed, Chuck traps Madison back on earth, and fills the pages with B.S. back story that only has a few interesting paragraphs. The comedy is sub-par, and in need of a good swift kick in the pants.Honestly, I expected way more from Palahniuk than this heeping pile of useless paper. It seems most of his novels are very entertaining to read, and rarely do I find myself dreading to finish them. Doomed, however, falls into the latter category. As of right now I'm 155 pages in and can't wait for this to be over. At this point, I don't care what happens in the story. I just want it to be over so I can say I've read it.If you're a die hard Palahniuk fan, you'll have to read this to say you've read it. But if you're just starting out with Palahniuk, skip this until you love him so much that you can excuse his lesser work. Compared to his other, better novels, Doomed ranks as the lowest I've read thus far.And to think, there's one more novel in this trilogy. Yay...Update:I finally finished Doomed. All I can say is there is nothing memorable or unique about this story.After making it past the halfway point I realized what Chuck was doing. He was attempting to make Madison more real, to involve us emotionally (for once) with her in this story. However, it fell flat. Instead, it reads more like Chuck's attempt at pushing his social themes via a thirteen year old girl.In every scene, Madison is indifferent, passive. And every scene her parents' are in, is the same, over and over again: flat, insensitive, and boring.I could spend all day griping about how terrible this novel is. All I have to say is that this is not the same author that wrote Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, Survivor, or Choke. Not even Damned.No.Doomed reads like Stephen King and Chuck Palahniuk had a baby, and called it Madison Blowhard Info Dump Self Promoting Spencer.Clearly some people liked it. I for one hated it.
K**A
good as usual
Bom como todos os livros do chuck
A**A
Genial
Excelente
J**S
Your opinion may differ
I think Chuck P is a genius. This book, and Damned, were simply good reads, full of philosophical points, and good humour. Be warned this one is tough to read, very explicit. But I found it excellent and will re-read the series soon.
D**K
Not worth it
I am a big fan of Chuck so it pains me to write this. It is not often that I can't finish a book however, I made it 1/3 of the way and deleted it. Sadly, with his not so great more recent books, I will definitely have to wait and see before I purchase any future ones.
A**R
Loving it!
It's brilliantly blackly funny ! Only Palahniuk could think up stuff like this. I haven't finished it yet, but have enjoyed every chapter so far, and it rattles along. Wish I had thought of writing something like it.
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