What would happen if Quentin Tarantino took a blow to the head and started writing John Hughes-esque teen fiction? This book, that’s what. Welcome back to Evan Reviews for Chapter 16 of Killing Mr. Griffin. The names have been changed to protect me from getting bored.
The bricks are falling down on this wall of teenage murder. Nobody knows what the hell is going on, but murder is being hid and shit ain't getting pretty. Here we go.
******BEWARE THAR BE SPOILERS********
Summary
The Duckling household eats breakfast and talks murder. Again. Facts that we already know are regurgitated out by way of news story while Duckling just feels all bad and stuff.
Cut to the Beebop household were Ma is worried that Rocksteady is taking advantage of her son by making him store and paint the murder car. More vomitus of exposition that WE ALREADY KNOW, SOME OF WHICH HAPPENED LAST DAMN CHAPTER, and we get that the parents don't like Rocksteady cause he ain't no good and he ain't never gonna be any good.
We jump over to the Snape house where Preggo Snape is having a quiet moment remembering her husband. Then a woman comes in and breaks the moment by telling her about the newspaper story of her husband's death but will not show Preggo because that might upset her.
Swish pan over and we are looking at Gram Guapo playing with the ring she stole from her grandson who took it off of Snape corpse (haha, book, see, I can exposition dump, too!). Gram is sure the ring is not her son's because El Guapo told her that last chapter, which she recounts in detail. Does anyone else think this couch is stuffed with too much PADDING?! But alas, oh no, a mysterious boy arrives and Gram is afraid! End chapter.
Observations
1. I get that this exposition is just to build suspence as we head to all these dumbass kids getting caught, but man is this just a boring read. Two sections right in a row that basically cover the entire books worth of information. I would think that maybe some big twist is coming, but when you give out the really big freaking twist as the title of the book and everything else has been happenstance I just can not get behind you.
2. The scene with Preggo really is heartbreaking and well written. The small moment of her not remembering that he is gone is well done. That being said, it does not belong in this book. It adds little to the story outside of giving sympathy for a dead man that could have been given through interaction with the kids rather than the omnicient narrator letting us in on the sadness.
3. I don't wish anything bad to happen to the old lady, but man... about time something happened that was caused by one of our characters.
Thank you, this has been today's #evanreviews
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