Ben H. Winters really ticks me off.
Reading this book has been a painful experience.
Not only have I extended my reading timeframe with this book, but I have felt like I was pulling teeth just to attempt to finish reading it.
Not that it was exactly painful. But I couldn’t quite seem to work up the nerve to do it. And when I did try, hard as I might, unusual things started happening.
Bedbugs starts out following a young, married couple located in New York City. And within the first few pages, the author goes into way too much depth concerning minor details. After a few typos, Susan is described as a paranoid wife and she is overexerted, overstressed at her underwhelming nanny, monetary woes and a possible ruined marriage. And that’s before her family moves into a haunted house. Or is it infested with bedbugs? Whatever the cause, it’s there, nearby. Within reach, but untouchable. Just under your skin… but you can feel it.
And under your skin is just where this book goes. It literally drove me crazy. First by the author’s inordinate use of unnecessary soap opera-worthy details. And if that wasn’t off-putting enough, then we are welcomed into Susan’s world. A world where there may (or may not be) a blight of bedbugs which only affect one person, ignoring everyone else. Causing extreme irritation, itching and an irrational behavior, all of this after an exterminator deems their house clean and a doctor rules her paranoid.
I just couldn’t get up the nerve to finish reading this book. I started it months ago. And as soon the itty bitty creatures worked themselves into the storyline, I started to bug out. Just reading what Susan goes through, constantly scratching through her forearms, shoulder blades, cracked, bleeding lips… all of this made feel itchy.
After giving the stink-eye to the book many times, which lied idly nearby, I finally picked up the book and gave it another shot. It began to drive me buggy. Literally. I read a few chapters, then a spider fell onto my arm. I put the book down. I picked it up again, today, and after reading a few more chapters, I spot a gnat on my leg. An ant crawls up to me. And then a tick drops down next to me. Whether these were signs or not is up to speculation, however, I was adamant on finishing the book. And… I did. So, I hope I can stop the unnecessary itching and twitching I’ve been recently experiencing.
All the while, in the back of my mind, reading this book, I’m haunted by my one experience with dust mites and the painful reaction I received from them.
So, Mr. Winters, what type of book is this? A horror story with a tinge of unexplained supernatural? Or one based in real life, revolving around an unexplained unreported insect genus? I hope Winters’ next book doesn’t try to teeter-totter between genres. Maybe have him write a loosely based story on the haunted house I grew up in? That would be worthwhile!
Bedbugs was an incredible let-down for me. I had such high hopes, after being enthralled by Ben H. Winters in his wildly imaginitive Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. I yearn for more original stories by Mr. Winters, however, I hope he wasn’t a one-trick pony, having shared his lone, enjoyable writing credit with Jane Austen.
Strength:
The ability to actually get under your skin.
Weakness:
The ability to get under your skin and not care about the ending. I just wanted it to end!
WTF Moment:
The moment when all sorts of insects rained down upon me as I reached the book’s climax.
Noteworthy Quotes:
– “I am under assault from an army of demonic insects, and Mrs. Roper is here for tech support.”
– “The badbugs bit unceasingly, scaling Susan’s body, climbing happily in and out of folds of her flesh, latching themselves on, biting her over and over.”
– “Some nights, when she performed this ritual, studying her flesh inch by inch, Susan allowed herself to believe that it might be over. Some nights she believed it, and some nights she didnt.”
Review: 2/5