Official Review: Billy Tabbs & The Glorious Darr...

[Rachaelamb1]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Billy Tabbs (& The Glorious Darrow)" by Michael Paul Michaud.]

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Billy Tabbs (& The Glorious Darrow) by Michael Paul Michaud is a philosophical story that deals with heavy topics about the value of life, hypocrisy, violence, and equality.

Billy has been alone for a long time, ever since his mom disappeared one day. He is recruited into a hidden community of homeless people and introduced to their glorious leader, Darrow. For various reasons Darrow has earned the admiration of each of the members in their group and now they all work together for a common goal; equality. They are ready for society to finally see them as equals. Billy agrees with their message and helps spread the word. Soon people are flocking to them and as their team grows, so do a number of issues. Many in the group feel like they are sending too soft of a message to society and are hungry for violence. Billy is not sure if violence is the answer, but then what else will wake up society?

I can not say I enjoyed reading this book. For the most part, I found it depressing, frustrating, and slightly disturbing. While I did enjoy some of the characters, I had a hard time with their skewed mentality. Very little good occurs and there is always an underlying feeling that something even more terrible is just about to happen.

For me, the pacing is a little slow. A lot of the story consists of telling rather than showing and there are areas that feel repetitive. For a good portion of the book nothing much happens, but we are told of the same problems over and over. For example, there are two people who disagree about whether or not to commit acts of violence. We are told numerous times about their arguments to the point where it became annoying. That is not the only repetitive area, but a prominent one.

Although this book is not my cup of tea, I can not help but be amazed by the way this book ended. There is a huge twist at the end that completely changes the entire book. Certain things I found disturbing were suddenly slightly humorous. Areas of the book that I thought were unrealistic or out of place all of a sudden made sense. I love that I did not anticipate the twist. I love that there were plenty of opportunities to figure it out, yet I really had no clue. This author is incredibly talented to be able to pull off something like that. Some people may hate having their entire perception of a book altered at the very end, but for me it was amazing.

Because of the well-executed twist at the end, Billy Tabbs (& The Glorious Darrow) has earned 3 out of 4 stars. Aside from a few slow parts, the book is well written. I only noticed one error where a paragraph was repeated.There is some sexual content as well as violence which may be disturbing for some people. I do not think it quite fits into the young adult genre because of this, but that’s just my opinion. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about revolutions and does not mind a tale that is a bit dark.

******
Billy Tabbs (& The Glorious Darrow)
View: on Bookshelves

Like Rachaelamb1's review? Post a comment saying so!

[bookowlie]

Excellent, balanced review! Although the book wasn't your taste, you were still able to give an objective set of opinions. Nice job.

[Rachaelamb1]

Excellent, balanced review! Although the book wasn't your taste, you were still able to give an objective set of opinions. Nice job.

Thank you! Aside from the few things I mentioned, like repetition and pacing, the book was very well written. I know others will enjoy it more and the twist at the end did change a lot of my negative feelings for the book....the only problem is that you have to wait until the end for that to happen!

[bookowlie]

Excellent, balanced review! Although the book wasn't your taste, you were still able to give an objective set of opinions. Nice job.

Thank you! Aside from the few things I mentioned, like repetition and pacing, the book was very well written. I know others will enjoy it more and the twist at the end did change a lot of my negative feelings for the book....the only problem is that you have to wait until the end for that to happen!

I had a similar experience with a review book a few months ago. There were a lot of things I didn't like about the story, but the ending was really good.

[Heidi M Simone]

I would be put off too if I felt something terrible would constantly be happening next. However, I'm glad that you were able to enjoy certain aspects of the book!

[Rachaelamb1]

I would be put off too if I felt something terrible would constantly be happening next. However, I'm glad that you were able to enjoy certain aspects of the book!

Thank you! After several bad things happening, I got the feeling that nothing is off limits for this author and I was afraid the book would end poorly but I am glad it didn't.

[kimmyschemy06]

As a former student activist, I think I'm going to like this book. Your review piqued my interest especially about the ending. Great job on the review.

[ananya92]

Nice, well written review!

[Rachaelamb1]

As a former student activist, I think I'm going to like this book. Your review piqued my interest especially about the ending. Great job on the review.

Let me know what you think of it!