Victim by Andrew Boryga
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Victim is a book about a young Puerto Rican male who decides to capitalize on his disadvantages by embellishing them to get ahead.
Victim is written as a memoir where the main character is reflecting on his choices and where they ultimately landed him.
This is the second satirical novel I have read recently where other people thought they were brilliant, creative, and funny and I disagreed. It may be that satire is no longer a genre I can enjoy but for me this book was very flat. I read it quickly enough, but I definitely didn’t find much humor, though I did roll my eyes a time or two.
The main character is very unlikeable. As a matter of fact, none of the characters are likeable. There are a few parts, especially earlier in the book where the characters speak Spanish with no translation. Sometimes I was able to use context clues to translate but other times not. I’m curious why the author chose to use that strategy.
I completely understand what the author was trying to do. To get us to examine the way as a society we capitalize on victimhood and sob stories, as well as to delve into issues like tokenism and surface diversity. Also, the author wants us to introspect on the current societal needs for validation and social media recognition. The premise is interesting and the author’s goals noble. However, for me, this satirical novel did not fully deliver.
IF you are someone who usually likes satire, I would encourage you to check this one out despite my lukewarm reaction because I can understand why others might love this story.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
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