3 out of 4 stars
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The mind is a fascinating place. Reality has often been theorized to be a concept each individual creates for themselves. Although we can come to a general consensus about the world around us during our waking moments, things like dreams, visions, and the functions of the subconscious is often in debate. Throw in the use of hallucinogenic and mind-altering drugs and what a person experiences can range from euphoria to a living nightmare. Benjamin Thierfelder's Trip is a terrifying read about a man stuck in the hellish nightmare of a bad drug experience for days, although it may be much longer than that.
The story starts the day after the main character, Daniel, has taken an unknown drug intravenously. A prolific drug user, Daniel is always chasing a bigger and better high and thus is more than willing to give the weird brownish fluid in a glass vial a chance and being his newest escape. Unfortunately for Daniel, the escape is not the pleasant experience he was hoping for. He finds himself dipping in and out of reality, more out than in, as he tries to figure out what is happening, what he took, and how to make it stop.
Daniel's history and the horrors of his actual life are slowly revealed throughout the story as some of the insane visions force him to face things he had long since tried to forget or ignored. There is the hatred between him and his parents and the reasoning behind the strong feelings he has against his father. A former girlfriend is still haunting him after their roller-coaster relationship. Dark days long since past rear up to intertwine with new fears and a world of disgusting self-realization. His only reprieve is in the presence of his most recent girlfriend, Mandy. In facing his past and fears, he realizes his own disastrous decisions have had the heaviest hand in manipulating the terror he seems to be stuck in.
The imagery in this book is best described as the weirdness of John Dies at the End mixed with the worlds of Lovecraft and Poe and then melted into the Renaissance paintings of Hell by Giovanni Canavesio with splashes of Dante's Inferno. Though some of Daniel's trip do become a bit repetitive, the author reveals a bit more behind the reason for each vision each time it is experienced. The creatures, death, gore, vulgarity, and taboo of the book are pretty out there none of it comes off as unnecessary or strictly for shock value. There is a purpose for all of it and a source for each baffling scenario.
There were only two issues that I had with the book. The first was that there were points where the visions and manipulations get so outrageous and then start to drag on and on and I would find myself struggling not to skim through the paragraphs. I think some of the scenes could have been a bit shorter or arranged differently to keep the interest up, especially with the repeating scenarios. My second problem was actually my biggest problem with the book. There were a plethora of spelling, grammar, and structural errors as well as sections where something didn't convert correctly causing the rectangle symbol to muck up the paragraphs by filling in every space between words and letters. I wish this had been edited as I feel many people may not give it a chance after trying to get through the first chapter. This second reason is why I feel this book gets a solid 3 out of 4 stars. I believe with a good edit and a few tweaked sections, this book could easily have rated even better. Overall, it really was a twisted and fun read.
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Trip
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