All reader reviews posted here are attributable to readers who have bought Barbelo's Blood and submitted their reviews or comments.
"Fantastical storyline. One of best reads ever. A combination of darkness, humour, and mysticism with a sinister edge. Eagerly awaiting the next one; hope it comes soon."
Regards,
Joe S.
Thoughtful reader review of Barbelo's Blood below by Tristan Goodfellow of Galway Book Club.
"First of all, I’d like to thank everyone for coming to our BookClub discussion last night, and especially to Joe, the author, and Neil, the publisher of Barbelo’s Blood. I have never written a book but I can just imagine that it’s a very tough thing for an author to do, to attend something like this and face people who could potentially tear your work to shreds!It was a great night.
As hoped, Joe gave us a very good insight into the story itself and especially the main character Barbelo. This is not a word for word quote, but the author said that he tried to squeeze lots of concepts into the book in order to provoke thought amongst the readers; allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions to a certain extent…and there are lots of concepts to help stimulate those brain cells. I read the first 320 pages as normal but I have to admit that the last 120 were very rushed due to a lack of time.
This book can’t be rushed if you are to pick up on all the underlying details and nuances.The story is cyclical overall - but to me it seemed as though there were more discrete storylines within the main plot itself and this is why I think that you really need to take your time with it. It is obvious that the author did lots and lots of research for the book. The detail is very intricate in places and the dialogue between the characters is true to the area of London where the story primarily takes place, and from where the main character Barbelo hails.
Someone commented that the dialogue seemed unnecessary at times and that this made the book a tougher read than it should have been, and because of this, the impact of the dialogue (mostly between Sid and Barbelo) was lost as you progress through the story. The author commented that he was aware of this, but it was because he wanted to keep the characters as authentic as possible, and as this is the way that many of residents of this area of London speak amongst themselves and to others, it is true to say that in real life much of the impact of the language is lost and this is what the author was trying to convey.The character of Barbelo, I found to be very interesting.
There’s no beating about the bush with him. He’s straight to the point about everything and I think that the intense dialogue portrays this very well. I also like the idea that he seems to struggle with his emotions a lot. On the one hand, he’s very tough and thick-skinned. He tries to pass a lot of things off in the story as being idiotic or as being lunacy (especially many of the things that Brid tells him) but yet; he can’t seem to help himself paying attention to it and at least considering the possibilities. He finds himself questioning his own beliefs more and more…beliefs which he knows are often the product of his own brutal conditioning as an orphan and as a soldier.
There are lots of other interesting characters in the book which for me continuously peaked my interest in the story. There’s a lot of variation and the pace of the story is quick. If you don’t concentrate, you can miss out on important details quite easily. I would highly recommend it to anyone who’s interested in reading something different. Joe mentioned on a couple of occasions that he was very conscious of getting the overall balance of the story just right; leaving the story open to different interpretations whilst still not being flaky. I thought the balance was very good throughout and compared with some of the books I have read in the book club, including Booker Prize winners such as The Sea or DBC Pierre’s Vernon God Little; Barbelo’s Blood is easily on a par with them, and better than many of the books.
In a nutshell, I really enjoyed this book…just take your time with it Thanks again to everyone who showed up and congrats to Joe and Neil on the great achievement!"