I’ve skimmed other reviews on Goodreads and I agree…

This book could’ve been such a cool concept but wasn’t executed well.
There was so many shock value moments that it took away from the overall story.
I’m not sure how the writers of the musical read this book and took out the good parts to tell their story… because I guess the skeleton is there but they certainly improved it.

I initially planned to read the rest of the series because I was enjoying the section where everyone is at Shiz but I’m going to pass.

In summary: it’s gritty and too wordy but not in a good way. I’d skip it and enjoy the musical instead.