The Switched by Ryan Bracha Book Review)

 

Violence, more violence, sex, sex with yourself, face masks made out of real faces, , MENstruation (get it?) , shit,…… tons more shit, serial killers, celebrities, drugs, an ENOURMOUS COCK, the owner of said cock riding it, Love, Hate, betrayal, candles being stuck up arses, , octogenarian sex and death by dildo, …..this is just a tiny glimpse of what this story holds.

The Switched is Ryan Bracha’s latest novel and in case you didn’t know it he is one of the most vibrant writers the UK has seen in years. He is funny as fuck and no doubt, deeply disturbed. He pulls no punches in his writing and this latest tale is his best yet.

The switched explodes (pun intended) into life right from the start and the relentless pace is continued throughout as we learn of how the lives of set of five main characters, Charles, Jake, Helen Francesca and Leonard are changed beyond belief when each of them (as the story unfolds) wakes up to discover they have swapped bodies with a complete stranger. Yes, you may have seen multiple shitty Disney type films with the same body swapping premise, but believe me the similarity stops there.

Bracha goes for the jugular from the outset. As with his other works, he doesn’t waste words for the sake of his art. Every page and chapter feels vital, exciting and darkly, darkly funny. You can just tell that he had a ball writing this…any shackles that may have been there before (and there weren’t many) have been shattered and he has unleashed a literary assault on us that left me begging for more. I am not going to divulge any more of the plot, I am just going to recommend that you read this if you like your humour to be dark and your violence and conflict to be relentless and excruciatingly stark.

I have no doubt that many people will find the book too shocking and possibly gratuitous, I also have no doubt Bracha will not give a fuck about those people and will be pissing his pants laughing at any such criticisms.

Honestly, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. My favourite read since Trainspotting, back in the 90’s. Not for the feint hearted or easily offended. Brilliant.