perfect

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction/fiction
Review: This is one of those books that just wow you.  Based on a true story, Whitehead tells us the story of a Elwood's experience in a Florida reform school in the 1960s.  Segregated and violent, Nickel Academy marks every boy who passes through.  As an adult, having made his way to New York City, he's created a good life for himself, but when the school is closed and archeologist's start discovering bodies of dead boys where they shouldn't be, he knows that it's time to confront his past.

It would be easy for this book to get weighed down with the brutality of the school and of the Jim Crow south in general, but Elwood's courage and dreams, and Whitehead's writing, lift the story above the mud.  The writing is very plain, but descriptive, allowing the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the characters to speak for themselves, making them that much more resonant with the reader.

As I read this book, I kept wishing it was longer, if only because it was so good that the ending was bound to be disappointing.  I can only say that I needn't have worried, as the ending was absolutely perfect.  Kudos to Mr. Whitehead.  This is a book that deserves to be read, and re-read, by everyone.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

like reading abstract art

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mokhtar and Max Gladstone
Rating: 1 star (out of 5)
Genre: science fiction
Review: Many time travel books are non-linear to some degree.  But this book charts a whole new path when it comes to non-linearity.  To be fair, the specifics of where are when are somewhat beside the point, but the places and times the characters go to have very few recognizable features, which leaves the reading without a hook on which to make sense of the narrative (if it can be called that).  It's kind of like reading abstract art.  Like abstract art, a very few things come into focus by the end if you stare at them long enough, but it requires way too much effort.  If you like that kind of thing, carry on, but it's really not for me.  And yes, I already know I'm a philistine when it comes to art.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

what exactly is the point?

Wilder Girls by Rory Powers
Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Genre: science fiction/horror
Review: Raxter.  The name of the island, and the small girls' boarding school on it.  And now, the Raxter Phenonomen, or the Tox, which is turning the island, and everything on it wild in various ways.  Nearly all of the teachers, and many of the students are already dead, and those who remain are holed up on the school grounds, waiting for the Navy and the CDC which are supposedly working on a cure.  Or are they?  It's clear that everything is not as it seems, and you'll keep reading this book to try to figure out what the real story is.  What is the Tox?  Where did it come from?  And is everyone actually on the same side?

Not all of those questions come with clear answers, although they're all answered enough to be satisfying by the end of the book.  But the one big question I was left with was, what was the point of this book?  Was it supposed to be something like Lord of the Flies where we see what happens to a society of adolescents when they're left on their own in dangerous circumstances?  Or was it supposed to be more about the Tox itself?  I just couldn't figure out what I was supposed to be getting out of this book.  Like I said, though, you will keep reading right to the end just to see who, if anyone, makes it out alive and whether they have any answers with them if they do.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

pieces of the puzzle

The Virtue of Sin by Shannon Schuren
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review:  Miriam was born and raised in New Jerusalem; her parents were among the first faithful.  She accepts her world at face value (strict male/female separation before marriage, weird rules of socializing after marriage, interpretation of dreams, etc.) but when the ordained Matrimony doesn't go like it's supposed to, she starts asking questions.  Interestingly, she's willing to accept the unexpected results, except that so many people, from charismatic autocrat Daniel on down, are clearly upset about the outcome.  Daniel even seems to think that what happened somehow puts the community in danger.  But once Miriam starts looking, she sees oddities everywhere.

"It's like a puzzle that's been jumbled.  Like someone tried to jam some pieces in where they don't belong," says Miriam.  I couldn't have described it better.  At first glance, this is yet another book about a religious cult, featuring a young woman who begins to question the garbage being fed to the faithful.  Except there's a lot to figure out in this book.  Like, who actually is a true believer, and to what lengths is Daniel willing to go to preserve his power?  To what lengths has he already gone?  And what in the world is Susanna up to?

There are definitely a lot of layers in this book.  In addition, I found Miriam to be a particularly good character, and her inner voice drew me in right away.  With elements of Vox, The Handmaid's Tale, and Educated, this book is an believable imagination of what the inside of a cult looks like to insiders.  I wouldn't mind if Schuren took the characters a step further and imagined how they adjust after the action in this part of the story ends.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

The Best Books to Read at Every Age

I'm both ahead of and behind my times!
The best books to read at every age, from 1 to 100