I’ll be honest, the opening paragraph and to a degree the opening page had me worried. It was not immediately obvious that we were seeing things through Brio’s point of view and so the confused and garbled prose was off putting. The fact that it read like poetry was also concerning but it quickly becomes obvious that this is a coping mechanism for Brio and so having the prose read like poetry too is actually pretty clever. I think it is a risk starting the novel in this way and whilst you would hope most people would give a new book more than a page before judging, there will be those that will be put off straightway. It is difficult to know what to say for the prose. The language and turn of phrases are very good as is the research into the various mental techniques. However, at times, I found it difficult to fully grasp what was going on. Partly, this could be attributed to being inside Brio’s mind, other times I simply struggled to follow the scene. This was especially apparent when it came to the scenes with the Hoggit. Brio is a complex and erratic character whose thoughts, emotions and motivations are often inconsistent. In other words, his mental state has been captured well but it’s hard to empathise with him as it is difficult to understand what he is thinking half the time. Having said that, I found myself have a lot of compassion for Brio and cheering him on. His rapid mood swings from hating everyone to then latching onto someone coupled with his inconsistent thoughts on whether he is gay or trans or not I found unsettling. I appreciate this is part of his personality and the whole reason for the book, but like the psychologists, I spent the book trying to understand him rather than knowing what he was about and rooting for him. I understood how each of the characters were supposed to resemble characters in Brio’s world but overall I found the execution of this part of the story did not stand up. I liked the premise of dipping in and out of the Hoggit’s story and who he discussed where the Hoggit was and what he needed to do with the psychotherapists, but without those conversations I would have been at a loss to describe what was going on. The Hoggit’s scenes are made up of characters babbling on (often in a comical way), but it was hard to get a handle of what was going on. By the time the scenes started to make sense, we were brought back to Brio’s world. I like the imagination and I think the Hoggit’s world and story could have been a really strong element of the story, but for me I just found it difficult to follow. I think the final part of the novel is the strongest. I had no idea which way the ending was going to go and was hooked. I have reviewed hundreds of books and this is the first book I am flummoxed about how I feel about it. Normally, I have strong feelings as to whether I like or dislike a book or where it needs obvious improvement. With The Making of Brio McPride, I am not sure how I feel. I would say I am more positive than negative towards the book but I think it needs to be, dare I say it, “dumbed down” a little for the casual reader in places. I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it, but nor would I discourage others from reading it either. The idea of seeing the story through Brio’s point of view is a great one and I appreciate the execution, I am just not sure I liked it. I think others will love what you have accomplished here though.
