2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock.

Pages: 261 pages

Length: 1 Month (May)

Participants: SarahKat, Saha.

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Happy Buddy Reading!

Saha, and I think Dominique is joining us, when do you want to start this one? The library has both this and Good Morning Midnight on ebook so I could start either of those in a few days depending on your plans.

Hi guys! Yes I'll will be joining you!

Welcome Dominique!

I'm starting this today!

I'll start this weekend.

I will be starting this way later in the month, when I have a week-long house vacation planned, so probably May 15th!

I love house vacations! I usually take mine in December when my son is off of school so we can all sleep in and live like slobs for a week.

I finished chapter 9 part 1 today... (view spoiler)[wow so much happened in less than 100 pages. Reverend guy stabbed his wife in the neck with a screwdriver, Willard's wife died slowly and painfully of cancer while Willard went a little off the rails sacrificing every living thing he could find or kill to save her, fails, and kills himself.

I am planning on watching the movie after I finish the book and I just keep thinking I don't know how they are going to fit everything in!

I like it so far and I'm really feeling bad for Arvin. I sort of like that the author shows us little snippets into other side characters' lives like the bus driver that couldn't go to war and the lawyer Willard ends up killing. Gives it a certain amount of depth. But it is hard to keep track sometimes. When a new character is introduced it's hard to tell immediately if they will be a main one or not. (hide spoiler)]

SarahKat wrote: "I love house vacations! I usually take mine in December when my son is off of school so we can all sleep in and live like slobs for a week.

I finished chapter 9 part 1 today... wow so much happene..."

I agree (view spoiler)[ a lot of things happening. Can't believe Theodore was able to manipulate into making Roy kill his wife and make her come back and gelieved that he could. Willard going crazy with his prayer log, sacrificing animals and a human to make his wife get better. I find it weird that he told Alvin they were leaving to see his mother but kills himself right after.
Even though so far there's a lot of characters, we get a little backstory for each. (hide spoiler)]

Through chapter 30, part 4. I'm sorry I read so much without an update! I haven't been on a computer all weekend but I've been reading so I didn't pause for regular updates.

(view spoiler)[I am a bit disappointed that the story I was so invested in in the beginning (Arvin) is sort of secondary to Carl and Sandy's story now. I assume the two will cross paths at some point, and I'm really not looking forward to why or how because I'm worried for Arvin.

Carl and Sandy are just the worst. I don't even know what to say about them except they are just awful. I don't understand why they are together. I don't understand why Sandy is going along with this whole, hey have sex with these guys and we'll torture and murder them. I just don't get it. I'm intrigued but... ugh.

I much prefer Arvin's story line. Arvin is a character I can sympathize with at least. He stands up for his sister and he plays to his strengths. (hide spoiler)]

Finished the book! Here is my review. The spoiler part of it is just a synopsis for my own memory

(view spoiler)[I really liked Arvin's character, even though he wasn't super dynamic or anything. I just like how he was very cool and collected. Slowly taking his revenge on people who definitely deserved it. Never did anything out of anger.

It was interesting that most of the characters were actually not very dynamic but the story was so compelling anyway. I don't know that I would classify this as character-driven OR plot-driven. I liked how all of the threads of the story came together at the end. I don't like how much focus was paid to Carl and Sandy. They were so gross. I would have liked more in-depth Arvin than all the Carl and Sandy. (hide spoiler)]

I finished the book, I don't know how I feel about it.
(view spoiler)[ The Sandy and Carl was just plain weird, disgusting. To much focus on them. The story with Roy and Theodore was missing a lot of details, they disappeared and all of sudden the are back and it was quick quick, Theo dies and Roy bumps into Carl and Sandy and before he dies thinks of his child. Arvin was a great character and could've been more interesting to see where he might go after. I felt the book was too short, The Preacher's story felt rushed. It was well written but felt like too much was missing. So far it's a 3.5 stars. (hide spoiler)]

Dominique wrote: "I finished the book, I don't know how I feel about it.
[spoilers removed]"

Completely agree with everything you said! I wanted more Arvin and less Sandy/Carl

SarahKat wrote: "Dominique wrote: "I finished the book, I don't know how I feel about it.
[spoilers removed]"

Completely agree with everything you said! I wanted more Arvin and less Sandy/Carl"

Did you watch the movie?

I did! I thought it was really good. Still wasn't really enough Arvin for me, but I liked that they made it a little more linear and less complicated. Like wrapping up story arcs all at once instead of meandering back to them later. Did you watch it?