A Good and Useful Hurt Audiobook

" This sounded like a decent idea for a quick little read, but it was terribly executed. It ended up being cliche and laughably predictable even with the addition of a fantasy element partway through the book. The characters all seemed like two dimensional stereotypes, and the dialogue was mostly filler words like "OK". The serial killer came off as a plausible alcoholic rapist, but I didn't think he was a very convincing serial murderer. I get the impression the author checked off most of the boxes on the Wikipedia "serial killer traits" list and then threw in a lot of profanity-laced misogyny and disturbing imagery and called it a day. He briefly mentions his delusions of grandeur, but never fleshes them out. He just keeps saying he loves power and hates women. He sticks around too long at crime scenes, yet never comes close to getting caught. I don't know, he just felt like a bad caricature of a serial killer. I wanted him to either be a more charming, clever, methodical guy like Ted Bundy, or make him a deranged maniac with some schtick, like John Wayne Gacy + the Joker or something and then tell me about his hallucinations of Satan. Half-assing it just felt inauthentic and the drawn out torture sequences felt really forced just for shock value. If I had read this at 14, I would've enjoyed it much more. I'm sure then I would've found the characters more engaging and the plot more compelling. As it stands, I just kept wishing a more proficient writer (with a better editor) had tackled this cool idea of magic ash tattoos. Oh well. "

" Wow. I got this on the Kindle deal page and didn't expect it to be half as good as it was. I am now planning on reading whatever the author has to offer. Serial killers, supernatural, tats and piercings all rolled into one book and done very well! "

" This book's cover attracted me at the local library and the story premise about a tattoo artist I thought unusual so I tried it. I enjoyed it. This book has one of my all time favorite first lines: "Fuck art, this is war." How can you not be intrigued by that? "

" A good read, something different than my usual go-to books. Honestly, I read it because it was $2.99 on Amazon and had decent reviews. It kept me interested and entertained, I finished it in just a few days. It felt like it was missing something overall, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I would usually hope for, especially in a book with such traumatic events. But overall, it was enjoyable...and now I can say I've read a book with a tattoo artist as the main character! "

" Just gave this book a try in a whim and it was truly a great read for me. The characters were interesting and kept me going throughout the complete story. It was dark in places but shone in others. I will read another from this author. "

" It was weird, even for me. A bit too far out there, but well written and kept me reading. "

" Not usually the kind of book I'm drawn to, but I really, really liked this one. "

" No words can describe how much I loved reading this book. "

" This was a wonderful surprise. Strong story character development. I will be reading more Aric Davis. "

" "A Good and Useful Hurt" was a bit more unrealistic than I was initially expecting. The plot seemed a bit forced; that being said, I kept reading addictively. This is the first book in a long time that has made me scared to go to sleep at night. "

" Slow to start with but then it really took off. An interesting concept. "

" Not what I was expecting, but really enjoyed it. A nice change of pace from my usual reads lately. "

" I really enjoyed this story, even though it was painful at parts. It is the best book I've read for some time now. "

" I really liked this book. The plot was very original and it kept me interested right up to the end. I read it in one night and couldn't put it down. "

" This is an awesome book filled with everything that I need in a great story! "

" Strange...sad...tragic...disturbing. But oddly appealing. Close to a 4 star, but the end was a little lacking for me. "

" This was a very interesting read. It's not something I would have chosen for myself, but I can pass a good deal. I'm glad I took a chance. It was definitely worth the read. It's a unique look at loss and how to deal with it. "

" I couldn't finish this book because I had a really hard time dealing with the language regarding women and the rapist serial killer storyline just wasn't my bag. Others might enjoy this book; it just wasn't for me. "

" Really interesting read, although the subject matter was disturbing in some ways. "