Really unique idea, well-executed YA.
The premise for THE SKIN FACTORY by Lucas Pederson is certainly a unique one: a teenage boy is killed when his abusive father accidentally hits him a little too hard in the wrong place, and he’s put on his “path” to the afterlife. But an entity steals him off his path and takes him to the factory, where souls are kept as slaves to build human bodies they call “units” to be possessed by other creatures to silently take over the world. Then he escapes and sets out to find his sister and mother and protect them from a coming apocalypse.
At first, I’ll admit, it took me a bit to get used to the writing style here. This wasn’t Pederson’s fault, it was my own, as I went in having never read him before and assuming this was going to be an extreme horror novel based on the title and cover only. That was my bad. What it actually is is more of an after-life-coming-of-age, dark fantasy, Young Adult novel. Once I got past my preconceptions, I really fell into the groove of the story. The main character says a lot of silly things throughout like “holy poop-nuggets!” and “donkey-nipple” and the like, and while they seemed jarring at first, the father into the story I got, the more it really seemed to fit this sixteen-year-old boy.
The dialogue is good, the pacing is steady and never lets you breathe for too long, and the characters are pretty well drawn. The backstory and the mythos of the tale are both unique and set the stage nicely for things to play out. It seems like there might be more to the story, though I’m unsure if the author is planning this to be the start of a series. I hope he does, as I’m interested in where it’s all heading.
The only real critique I’d give here is that the climax seemed slightly rushed, but let me add a caveat: I listened to the audible version of this book, and right before we get to the climax, I went on a trip out of state for a few days and didn’t get to continue on the book until I returned, so it’s entirely possible that could have added to that feeling that it rushed a bit towards the end.
That aside, this was still an entertaining diversion and I’m glad I checked it out. Pederson is a solid writer I’m eager to read more from. I think you’ll dig this one, and the audiobook (if that’s your thing) is well-produced and finely narrated. I’d recommend this one to fans of dark YA fantasy and those into non-extreme horror. Find it in print, digital, and audio here.
Chris Miller 