I had to finally give in and dnf at 35%. I literally kept falling asleep every time I tried reading it.

This book was a whirlwind. I really enjoyed the writing style; it was quick paced and interesting. The voice fit the plot and the character as well. It progressed the story in such a natural way that I could read multiple chapters without noticing how long I had been reading. Additionally, I was sucked into a world of gangs and directors that I was subconsciously analyzing the book for its commentary on identity and social relationships.

The characters themselves were so interesting with distinct voices. The plot jumped back and forth between the present with the main character and the backgrounds of some of the side characters. I found this surprisingly easy to follow, and I know that it is thanks mostly in part to the individuality of the characters and Taylor's writing style.

If you enjoy struggling protagonists, a cast of crazy characters, and a plot reminiscent of a TV show, I recommend this book.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

“I found a cave in the base of a cliff. And when you find a cave, you have to go as far into the cave as you can.”

PLEASE LET ME DESTROY YOU is an exciting romp across continents that charts a protagonist’s search for a story to appropriate for his as-of-yet non-existent “Untitled Original Series on Multiple Continents”.

The title wonderfully conveys how the protagonist, Apollo, approaches every interaction through his self-absorbed lens of uncovering their trauma for his benefit. Not only does he mine their life stories for plotlines but feels guilty about his actions as he continues to exploit them. In fact, the vast majority of the tension in the novel stems from Apollo’s vacillation between his obsession with ‘making it big’, and his self-pity at being forced to steal others’ stories.

Unfortunately, the best element of the book is the cover, as the author, Rupert Taylor, seems to get caught up in his own excitement. The plot has a distinct lack of depth, as Apollo jumps from extreme high to extreme low. Taylor’s style really suits these drastic tones, as his writing takes on a visceral aspect, however, you begin to feel as though his evocative language becomes a crutch to allay the weakness of the plot. Though the characters recount their life stories to Apollo, they still mostly read as underbaked, two-dimensional representations. Nonetheless, his description of coming of age as a gay man conveys real nuance and demonstrates that elements of the mundane enrich the story.

Taylor’s depiction of the infectious Hollywood machine is certainly not boring, but the jagged peaks and troughs can become monotonous, even as they give you whiplash. Sadly, PLEASE LET ME DESTROY YOU is best read by its cover.

This was not my cup of tea. Felt like a weird fever dream. I wish some themes and ideas were more flushed out. I think this sorry could have benefitted from some more editing. Some parts felt very repetitive.

This was a really well done novel, it had everything that I was looking for from the description and enjoyed the overall concept of the book. The cover is what drew me in and it had that element of unhinged that I was hoping for. Rupert Taylor does a great job in writing this and leaving me wanting more.

The cover of this book has to be the most disturbing, yet eye-catching images I've ever seen. But it perfectly captures the essence of this novel. The main character was unhinged, obsessive, a little off his rocker. There were times I was reading this and I didn't know what was going on and I loved every second of it.

dnf at 30%

too slow and bland for me. although the cover art was great, i didn’t really feel invested in the story.

From the description, Please Let Me Destroy You by Rupert Taylor had everything I was looking for in a story: chaos, intrigue, and characters you couldn't forget. Apollo Jones is a filmmaker looking for his next big idea when one stumbles into his lap. The idea? Heist a casino. The problem? He has a panic attack that ruins the whole operation.

I thought I would for sure get sucked into this book, however I struggled with getting hooked into the story -- I started this book on February 20th and finally called it as a DNF on March 18th. Almost a month of not being able to get connected to the story in a way that actually made me want to finish the book. I'm really bummed because Apollo Jones seemed like a character I would love. I might pick this book up again in the future just to give it another shot.

If you like books that are more vibe centric vs. plot centric I think you might really like this book! It is very atmospheric! I'm not sure why it didn't work for me but like I said, I will give it another shot in the future.

This book takes you on the adventure that you couldn’t possibly prepare yourself for.

Please Let Me Destroy You is about an aspiring filmmaker, Apollo Jones, who seeks interesting stories that he can turn into a series which would probably finally earn him respect. When he fails to rob a casino for the sake of a story, he resorts to capturing stories lived by ordinary people.

I’ll start off by saying that I enjoyed reading about such different characters that Apollo meets along the way. Rupert Taylor includes hard-hitting details that made me feel like I had met and loved these people myself. Unfortunately, this was probably the best part of the book for me.

What bothered me the most was Apollo.

His character felt inconsistent and underdeveloped. When he narrated, he spoke immaturely, using phrases like “hit different” and “built different” as if he were a teenage boy, but was laconic in his dialogue, speaking more like an adult man. There were no details as to his age or even how he’d gotten into filmmaking. The closest we got was about his father, but even then, it didn’t feel relevant, believable, or that it added to our understanding of Apollo. Most of the time, I forgot he was even Australian without the occasional usage of “reckon” and “mate” which seemed like the only two indicators.

Some parts were just so profound that I was wowed by the writing, but I was always taken aback when the writing felt lazy. There were several occasions where the writing was “telling, not showing” in which conclusions that should be made by the reader were just flat out written in the prose—one of them relating to the title of the book, so that was disappointing.

Also, the usage of the homophobic f----- slur was unnecessary and distasteful.

Overall, it was anticlimactic and the inclusion of so many flat, seemingly irrelevant characters and inconsistencies took me out of the story. I struggled to finish it and properly enjoy it.

For people who enjoy adventurous stories where you don’t know where you’ll end up come the last chapter (in this case, Episode), you’ll definitely enjoy this book. As well as anyone who has read “Supermarket” by Bobby Hall (AKA Logic) because the main characters/narrators have similar voices.

Thank you to No Frills Buffalo for providing this ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Cool concept. I think the movtives of characters were clear and so was the writing. I think the pacing could have used some more work because there were times I felt the prose dragged on. However I did enjoy the book