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A review by devydude1020
Inspection by Josh Malerman
5.0
Josh Malerman has created a brilliantly twisted coming-of-age story, highlighting the importance of truth, at any age, and the devastation misinformation can cause. From the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box comes a world of secrets, lies, and dangerous revelations.
In the forests of Northern Michigan stands two towers being operated by an organization of scientists and ex-felons. The Parenthood, as they call themselves, have an underlying theory about the human condition that they are putting to the test. They believe the opposite gender is a distraction from genius, so by separating twenty-six boys and twenty-six girls and raising them in facilities closed off to the outside world, they hope to breed geniuses.
J studies at the school meant for the boys, the Alphabet Boys, and they have no idea about the school for girls nearby, or the fact that females exist at all. He has spent his entire life at the Turret with the twenty-five other boys he calls his brothers, all of whom think of the founder of the school as their father, or D.A.D. They are all being trained to be prodigies of art, science, math, and athletics, and this is the only life they’ve ever known—and all they are allowed to know.
But when J suspects that D.A.D. hasn’t been entirely truthful, his ignorant bliss quickly begins to unravel, leaving him with so many questions. What is beyond the pines? What is the purpose of this place? Why can the students never leave? What secrets have their father been hiding from them?
This novel does an outstanding job of portraying an unimaginable perspective of the world through characters that are innocent and undeserving of such extreme censorship. Inspection would make a great book club choice, with many social topics worth discussing within its pages.
In the forests of Northern Michigan stands two towers being operated by an organization of scientists and ex-felons. The Parenthood, as they call themselves, have an underlying theory about the human condition that they are putting to the test. They believe the opposite gender is a distraction from genius, so by separating twenty-six boys and twenty-six girls and raising them in facilities closed off to the outside world, they hope to breed geniuses.
J studies at the school meant for the boys, the Alphabet Boys, and they have no idea about the school for girls nearby, or the fact that females exist at all. He has spent his entire life at the Turret with the twenty-five other boys he calls his brothers, all of whom think of the founder of the school as their father, or D.A.D. They are all being trained to be prodigies of art, science, math, and athletics, and this is the only life they’ve ever known—and all they are allowed to know.
But when J suspects that D.A.D. hasn’t been entirely truthful, his ignorant bliss quickly begins to unravel, leaving him with so many questions. What is beyond the pines? What is the purpose of this place? Why can the students never leave? What secrets have their father been hiding from them?
This novel does an outstanding job of portraying an unimaginable perspective of the world through characters that are innocent and undeserving of such extreme censorship. Inspection would make a great book club choice, with many social topics worth discussing within its pages.