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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The disturbing aftermath, December 2, 1997
By A Customer
This novel focuses on what occurs after the infamous Chocolate incident. Trinity was scarred by the event, in which cancer-like distortions ripple through the students. The entire school corrupts, and time ticks toward multiple plots of revenge directed at the Vigils, the faculty, and Archie Costello himself. Cormier's characterizations are elaborated in this sequel, and you see different side to each student that you've never thought possible. Everyone has a dark side, a lust of blood. What made this book a winner was how Robert depicted everyone's mind. David Caroni's insanity was constructed in an absolute genius fashion. However, it's complexity decreased it's appeal, and the intellectual brooding after I read the Chocolate War didn't happen as long as it did here. Still, an excellent "what-happens-afterward" story, but not as powerful as it's predessesor.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well written, though ultimately unsatisfying sequel, March 27, 2006
This review is from: Beyond the Chocolate War (Mass Market Paperback)
Anyone familiar with Cormier's books knows of his pitch-black view of human nature, so the outcome of this follow-up to TCW will not surprise in that regard.
However, this predictability does not go far in making this book a compelling read, especially when you figure out the themes are pretty much identical to the first installment.
I had very high hopes for this book. Cormier's writing is top notch, as is his character development, and even by the first 3/4 of the book, you are primed for greatness. Even the back of the book leads you to believe that some monumental (no pun intended) retribution lies in wait for Archie and his evil minions. But, instead, we get the same old denouements in a different wrapper.
Now, I like dark books and don't particularly enjoy happy endings if they're not believable, but this book's unhappy endings are no more plausible. At the time and place of the original book --- before the horrific "showdown" on the athletic field --- it was somewhat imaginable that things would remain status quo at Trinity. But after those events, and the subsequent seismic rumblings that follow (which the sequel expends great effort at communicating to the reader), it is unimaginable that here be no real repercussions (aside from the suicide of one character that, while masterfully drawn, doesn't address the vileness of the school and it's roots of evil --- or where that evil comes from).
I would have preferred some interaction from the many mute parents (including David Caroni's parents or Jerry Renault's dad) that could have really ignited a powderkeg under the whole affair.
Good fiction contain lots of conflict, and there just isn't enough to warrent the amount of text here. It's a lot of energy to expend only to see the same scapegoats hauled out and abused again and again. Real people --- at least not all --- are seldom so cowed by tyranny, unless it's executed by a more omnicient force, such as goverment. And the Vigils aren't on that caliber, not even close.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Highschool Struggles, November 8, 2003
This review is from: Beyond the Chocolate War (Mass Market Paperback)
The novel, Beyond the Chocolate War, is the second of two books that provide riveting and heart-breaking stories that take place throughout the high school years. The novel is set in an elite, private, Christian high school for young men. Located within, is the secret society, the Vigils and their calm yet menacing leader, Archie Costello. The Vigils assign deadly tasks to meek students, which keep an undercurrent of discipline, evil, and extreme fear throughout the student body. In the beginning of the book, Archie realizes that his right hand man, Obie, is abandoning him and the Vigils, because Obie realizes that without Archie, his life wouldn't be falling into pieces. Thus, he sets up a plan to end Archie's life in front of the entire school. With the help of a new and lonely teen, by the name of Ray Bannister, and Ray's magic, fool proof guillotine, Obie cleverly is able to get Archie to put his head on the block during the last day of school before graduation. With the guillotine rigged, Obie confidently pushes the button to make the blade slice through human skin. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to teens. The novel touches on topics such as suicide, loneliness, depression, anger and jealousy, all of which are common problems in the high school years, and the reader is able to connect to it with his or her own past dilemmas.
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