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flowingleaves's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Suicide, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship
coffinfinite's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A cold and biting satire of middle-class America and all its pretensions, The Road Through The Wall may not be Jackson’s best work, but has become one of my favourites. Introducing us to a roster of characters who are all mundane and exhibit the casual cruelty of conformity, Jackson doesn’t hold the reader’s hand when etching out her vision of Pepper Street. I kept notes as I read to help me keep everyone - The Donalds, The Roberts, The Byrnes, and many, many more - straight in my head. The lack of distinction between each family save the number of children and religious identity feels very much a part of Jackson’s commentary.
The story itself - what there is of a story, as much of the book is simply observations, the reader eavesdropping on conversations, pacts and trysts along with children’s games - is told in a long series of vignettes, showing different members of Pepper Street going about their lives in various combinations, the whole while building up to a tragedy. Jackson lays false paths for the reader, who knows (as is described on the blurb) something terrible is going to happen, but not quite what. When it finally does happen, you realise it couldn’t have been anything else all along.
The story itself - what there is of a story, as much of the book is simply observations, the reader eavesdropping on conversations, pacts and trysts along with children’s games - is told in a long series of vignettes, showing different members of Pepper Street going about their lives in various combinations, the whole while building up to a tragedy. Jackson lays false paths for the reader, who knows (as is described on the blurb) something terrible is going to happen, but not quite what. When it finally does happen, you realise it couldn’t have been anything else all along.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Religious bigotry