Review by CJ

Page count:
419 [including credits, acknowledgements and Welsey Latsch’s List of Seventy-Four Seventy-Five Things That Cause Unnecessary Fatigue]

Format:
Hardcover

ISBN:
978-1-4516-7689-1

Sam Dolan has a strained relationship with his father, b-grade movie star Booth Dolan, due to the countless betrayals and disappointments Booth has enacted upon both Sam and his beloved mother.

After his own life-changing experiences, Sam is forced to re-evaluate relationships, his outlook and what his life has become.

My absolute favourite thing about Double Feature is the characters. Almost all of the main characters are deeply flawed, broken, and realistic. Sam is initially not a likeable character but as I learnt more about him, he became, if not likeable, certainly an understandable character. Booth shouldn’t be a likeable character, yet he is written with enough charisma and charm that I could relate to the characters who still adored him — despite his transgressions.

There’s a sizeable cast of characters in Double Feature and they all work together well. Every character’s story is weaved well into the greater story.

The plot of Double Feature jumps about its timeline with flashbacks popping up throughout the chapters which themselves are set in different years. The result is a controlled release of the characters’ different fates. There’s no big reveal at the end where everything is tied up with a bow. Instead, the reader has revelations rationed out to them throughout Double Feature. Because of this, I found it difficult to put Double Feature down once I was hooked.

Double Feature’s plot is another aspect of the novel that feels cemented in reality. It works well with the genuine feel of the characters to form a story that is believable and encompasses a wide array of raw human emotions. Betrayal, love, lust, forgiveness, anger, depression and angst are just some of the things experienced by the characters.

Overall Double Feature is an intellectually written literary novel with deep characters and an interesting plot. I recommend Double Feature to readers who enjoy reading stories about believable characters in unfortunate but equally genuine situations.

Rating: