A Fig for All The Devils - A Book Review from a BA in Creative Writing.
Before you send out the hounds, I know it has been way to long since I have successfully made a post here... or quite frankly anywhere. However, I am here now, let's start this party.
A lot of my time lately has been made up of side quests and reading... or a new found medium of audiobooks. As a die-hard physical book lover, admitting that I have found a soft spot for audiobooks is rather hard for me to admit. They are just so easy when you're trying to multitask between life and hobbies. I also understand why all of my fellow crafters listen to audiobooks while they're crafting. I swear it made my hands move faster, and I stayed in one spot for way longer.
The newly discovered enjoyment in audiobooks is important because C.S. Fritz was the gateway drug into that medium for me. It started with A Fig for All The Devils. Then I found myself on the floor with Adam covered in banana pulp listening to Banana Brain. I think the narrator for these books needs an award, I am usually really picky about narrators in audiobooks (which is usually why I steer clear of them... that and I get impatient rather quickly since I read at a faster pace), but Kevin Changaris is 10/10 and I will probably listen to any of the books he narrated.
Well... Let's get into it.
A Fig for All The Devils
by C.S. Fritz (Narrated by Kevin Changaris)
No wonder why this book recieved the IBPA Gold in 2021 for horror. This book had me fully encapsulated from the second it started. From just the prologue I was hooked and I knew it was going to be something that I devoured (or it devouring me) as quickly as possible, Following Sonny through the depths of his grief after losing his father was entirely relatable and at points I felt I was going mad alongside of him. As a young, prepubescient boy trying to navigate his life after loss and only having a shell of a mother while she is also trying to navigate her own grief as well. The twists and turns within the story are mind blowing. However, my favorite part has to be the reaper.
To create a character that this young boy initially meets as he having his last moments with his fathers body that is junkfood loving, wise and cigarette-addicted and completely comforting yet utterly terrifying at the start. Having the end or "death" be the comic relief, comfort-zone character was the perfect addition to this story.
The amount of collectable quotes from within this novel is mind blowing. Usually I might find one or two within a book, but the amount of times I thought to myself "this would make a lovely book-based tattoo" is INSANE. For examlple: when Death was explaining "a fig to all the devils" or even when he was compairing the stars to glimers of hope within a sea of darkness and doubt.
Overall this book was an immediate yes for me. The writing was well paced and even for a smaller novel (the audiobook is just over 4 hours), I didn't feel like I was missing anything for character development or plot.
My star rating would be... 5 stars!
★★★★★
I will say I was not displeased by the ending, but it definitely wasn't what I was expecting. It was very well rounded and finished the story off well, but I was expecting something more dramatic or spooky, I guess.
Would that stop me from recommending the book?
Hell no.
If you haven't found C.S. Fritz within your reading journey, or if you're new to horror this is an amazing place to start. The novel has many of the horror elements while also being able to carry the heavy coming of age story that is laced with trauma, grief and abuse.
I won't get into Banana Brain too much here since I am planning on reviewing that seperately, but I will say that is also a fun read! There are some great horror elements that Fritz handles with elegance that I will forever strive to achieve. I still recommend A Fig for All The Devils as the perfect starter book into Fritz's worlds.
Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the next review on Banana Brain!
xx,
Kylie Rose
Cover Image for this blog post was grabbed from C.S. Fritz's instagram... check him out (https://www.instagram.com/casey_fritz/?hl=en).
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