lucasgarner's review against another edition
3.0
This is the best book that I won’t ever finish. I read about 75% of it, and truly enjoyed most of what I read. However this is one dense fucking book, with hardly any plot, and I was struggling to get through it and found myself uninterested in picking it back up to try to sludge further along. If this book was about 200 pages shorter, I would probably rate it 5 stars, but as it is, I just couldn’t justify trying any more.
leannaaker's review against another edition
5.0
If you're into some really rich character development, this book is a winner! Sad story, though.
steve_sanders's review against another edition
4.0
I’m torn. I was ready to give this one five stars. The writing is first rate with fluid movement between past and present that never becomes confusing and prose that effortlessly intertwines landscape, detail, and character.
But the epilogue left a really bad taste and not just because of the incredibly depressing revelation about the fate of Lisa, the book’s most endearing character. It felt like an inorganic attempt to graft a murder mystery plot onto a story that fundamentally didn’t need it. I might change my mind on a second read. And I do want to read it again because what does work here works so very well.
But the epilogue left a really bad taste and not just because of the incredibly depressing revelation about the fate of Lisa, the book’s most endearing character. It felt like an inorganic attempt to graft a murder mystery plot onto a story that fundamentally didn’t need it. I might change my mind on a second read. And I do want to read it again because what does work here works so very well.
bookishjess02's review against another edition
4.0
This book was captivating and also tragic. Markley really had you empathizing with his characters and mourning the deterioration of the fictional town New Canaan. An amazing debut novel!
amy_da1sy's review against another edition
4.0
It was actually a good book, not my favourite book I've read lately but it was good
callikat's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I love a good novel that's all character analysis and no plot, but it has to be written extremely well and this was not. It is so strange, as it's 500 pages of character study, but each character felt so shallow to me -- none of them had any stand-out personality trait besides insanely depressed. Even the "intellectual" moments felt like they were copy+pasted from a dictionary. I didn't get a good grasp on any character, and the central plot felt so random. They're all connected by Rick, but the ending was all about Lisa. I think he's a good writer, but just not a strong novel.
jessie_lewis's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
beatsbybeard's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This beefy, 482-page, deliriously descriptive novel could be distilled to a simple yellow sign, scattered generously along its title’s borders with bold, black letters warning onlookers to STAY FAR AWAY.
Set in a small town experiencing the depths of post-industrialization, war frenzy, and the opioid crisis, I was somewhat excited to read this because it focused on people only a little older than me reflecting on their high school experiences in this dismal place. It’s plenty dark, with varieties of addiction and emotional/physical abuse haunting each character in depressing ways. One of the book’s four sections is a particularly well written introspection from an Iraq/Afghanistan war vet, and there are luscious passages throughout that belie the author’s MFA writers workshop background.
My quibbles with the book unfortunately dogged the whole thing – the author is too often wordier than he needs to be (which ends up deadening the impact of some genuinely good writing), and his female characters seem hopelessly lost to his high school brain (in that they express/think little beyond social machinations, romantic prospects, and illicit sex). One particular character speaks only in Manic Pixie cringe and her Asian identity is examined only as a one-off thud of a joke at her own expense. (And none of the characters in high school speak like high schoolers!)
Although the book takes too long to get there, its climax hooked me. It reaches a double peak of cathartic violence, righteous on one hand and depressing on the other. High school can be ruthless, teenagers uniquely cruel as the looming slam of adulthood awakens them to their own power, and some people never escape that ghost. This book captures how much of a waking hell that is.
Set in a small town experiencing the depths of post-industrialization, war frenzy, and the opioid crisis, I was somewhat excited to read this because it focused on people only a little older than me reflecting on their high school experiences in this dismal place. It’s plenty dark, with varieties of addiction and emotional/physical abuse haunting each character in depressing ways. One of the book’s four sections is a particularly well written introspection from an Iraq/Afghanistan war vet, and there are luscious passages throughout that belie the author’s MFA writers workshop background.
My quibbles with the book unfortunately dogged the whole thing – the author is too often wordier than he needs to be (which ends up deadening the impact of some genuinely good writing), and his female characters seem hopelessly lost to his high school brain (in that they express/think little beyond social machinations, romantic prospects, and illicit sex). One particular character speaks only in Manic Pixie cringe and her Asian identity is examined only as a one-off thud of a joke at her own expense. (And none of the characters in high school speak like high schoolers!)
Although the book takes too long to get there, its climax hooked me. It reaches a double peak of cathartic violence, righteous on one hand and depressing on the other. High school can be ruthless, teenagers uniquely cruel as the looming slam of adulthood awakens them to their own power, and some people never escape that ghost. This book captures how much of a waking hell that is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship