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The Dog Days of Youth by Matthew Jon Smith


Rating:

3 Stars


Themes:

Horror, Short Stories, Serial Killers


Thoughts:

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I really appreciated the author's note at the beginning vaguely warning everyone what was to come as it is seen by some as a writing sin so we can choose whether we are able to read the book or not. It did take quite a while to get into the book though with reviews and comments being in the beginning and the story not actually beginning till page 18. I think the chapter breaks being a slug considering the series being called Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs is a great touch. The story itself flows well and outlines the triggering of Mike's bloodlust well. However, the book was quite descriptively gorey which I didn’t mind, although I thought it wasn’t necessary to be as explicit as it was, but it may not be for everyone so definitely read trigger warnings and themes in reviews before jumping in. 


Favourite Quote:

“He hated everyone and everything. Most of all, himself. He wanted everyone dead, whether they deserved it or not, and to this rule, he was the only exception Hatred had poured from his being with little to no discretion for as long as he could remember. The face he wore for the world, like the faux walls of this condo was completely for show and hiding something hard and unforgiving that you could smash yourself to death against”


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