Review: Practical Jean by Trevor Cole

Title: Practical Jean

Author: Trevor Cole

Genre/Audience: Literary fiction, satire, adult

Publication: 2011 (in U.S.)

Source: For review, TLC Tours

Summary: Jean Horemarsh is a pleasant and content small-town woman. Married to a nice enough man, no kids, and owner of a ceramics business, Jean sadly just watched her mother die a slow and painful death from cancer. Now, she's decided to give her closest friends a "gift." She's decided to kill them to save them from the pain of growing old and ill like her mother...


My Thoughts: When I first heard about this book, I was SO excited to read it. Isn't the premise so bizarre and one of a kind?! Just my kind of book... no wonder Chuck Palahniuk is my favorite writer! It did not disappoint. It was as dark, strange, twisted, and somehow even funny, as I hoped it would be. You know what else? It also happened to be beautiful. The writing was subtle and gorgeous, descriptive and slow. One of my favorite descriptions was of the sun being fat and buttery (or something along those lines). Despite the fact that Jean is clearly not right in the head, and is violently killing off her friends, you won't dislike her. She isn't doing these things maliciously; she genuinely thinks she is doing them a favor. I also like that Jean is blunt, snippy, and even kind of rude. I wouldn't say she is likable or endearing at all, but I definitely never once hated her - I just knew she was demented a bit and I like quirky characters. I would classify this book as literary fiction, despite its strange topic, and thought it was a little bit slow moving at times, but mostly I appreciated the unique, dark, and strange story. It isn't the kind of book you can race through because of all the lengthy descriptions that you want to absorb. I'd definitely recommend it for fans of dark fiction, Chuck Palahniuk, and Dexter!

My Rating: 3.5/5