The Blood Orphans are the laughing stock of the music industry. Branded as racists, this group made an attempt at irony – to the point where it became offensive to most listeners. Now, on their last day of their last tour, each member of the band (and their manager) must come to grips with the fact that their plans at musical stardom have failed utterly.

There’s Bobby, the bass player with an extreme case of eczema; Darlo, the son of a porn king; Shane, Christian turned Buddhist, who preaches from stage every night; Adam, the only normal (and talented) one in the band; and Joey, their crackhead, alcoholic manager. Set in Amsterdam, over the span of one day, the book looks through the eyes of each person at their own lives, the lives of their bandmates and what is going to happen after their last show.

Typically, I am a character driven reader. If I hate the characters, I hate the book. It’s the reason why I hated both The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and Wuthering Heights. It’s also the reason I have never, though I have tried many times, been able to finish Vanity Fair. So the fact that I finished this book surprises me – I positively hated Every Single Character for the first 3/4′s of the book.

Starting off, the characters ranged from being all “I am the only normal one in this band, but I allow myself to be a doormat, but haha the rest of them are all so screwed up,” to “oh pity me, pity me, my life sucks so much,” to “it’s everyones fault but mine that this is all falling apart and I hate them all!” There were moments where I could empathize with them, but for the most part it was … highly annoying. Until the last few chapters where you can see how the events of the past day, and the fact that they will be performing their last show together ever, finally kick in.

For a good majority of the book, it felt like I was watching a train wreck happen. I honestly didn’t think this book would end well, but it managed to. And not in a cheesy sort of way – a way that was actually believable.

I actually (surprisingly?) really enjoyed Rock Bottom. It’s quite different from anything that I have read recently. And as much as I disliked the characters, I was completely drawn into their story – and that’s saying something for the book. If Shilling can make me actually want to read about characters I hate, then that man has got to have talent.

Summing it up: it is not a book I will reread, but it is a book that I will pass on to friends who may enjoy it.

Lastly, an interesting tidbit from the interview with the author that was included in the back of the book: he’s currently working on writing something that is “set at the crossroads of Regency and Victorian England – the late 1820s – involving some of the characters and incidents from Jane Eyre and set at Thornfield Hall, but existing in a completely different narrative context with a whole new cast of strivers, connivers, grotesques, and romantics.” Hum… Something to look forward to? I think so.