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A review by salimah
Darling at the Campsite by Andy Abramowitz
4.0
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this title from Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Darling at the Campsite earned my investment right away. The prose reads effortlessly--without seeming to try to coax or convince the reader of anything. I found myself immersed in a tale where the stakes are obviously and immediately high, but with a narrator whose ease of telling made me relax into the story. This is a strength of Andy Abramowitz's. I recall the same easy, canter-like pace of writing in The Beginner's Guide to Freefall.
I am always a little wary of committing to stories that have at their center a protagonist's return to a place he or she left after a devastating betrayal because I know the pressure will be on for them to forgive said betrayal. Less capable authors can be heavy-handed with that plot point. But the craftsmanship evident in the structure, the sure-footed sentences and syntax, the subtle, deft humor and pathos of the central characters in this story were more than enough to make up for what can be a tiresome trope. Abramowitz rescues it by balancing the scales convincingly and leverages the trickster-like nature of memory to turn the concept of betrayal on its head. This forced me to rethink my loyalties and my own ideas about the protagonist, but not so much that I stopped rooting for him.
The story was ultimately redemptive and surprising. Every character was allowed complexity, no matter how minor or how seemingly incidental to the story. The resolutions felt real and earned while the overarching sadness was allowed to be there and accepted. I read this in one sitting and would happily read any other Abramowitz title on the strength of the writing in this one.
Darling at the Campsite earned my investment right away. The prose reads effortlessly--without seeming to try to coax or convince the reader of anything. I found myself immersed in a tale where the stakes are obviously and immediately high, but with a narrator whose ease of telling made me relax into the story. This is a strength of Andy Abramowitz's. I recall the same easy, canter-like pace of writing in The Beginner's Guide to Freefall.
I am always a little wary of committing to stories that have at their center a protagonist's return to a place he or she left after a devastating betrayal because I know the pressure will be on for them to forgive said betrayal. Less capable authors can be heavy-handed with that plot point. But the craftsmanship evident in the structure, the sure-footed sentences and syntax, the subtle, deft humor and pathos of the central characters in this story were more than enough to make up for what can be a tiresome trope. Abramowitz rescues it by balancing the scales convincingly and leverages the trickster-like nature of memory to turn the concept of betrayal on its head. This forced me to rethink my loyalties and my own ideas about the protagonist, but not so much that I stopped rooting for him.
The story was ultimately redemptive and surprising. Every character was allowed complexity, no matter how minor or how seemingly incidental to the story. The resolutions felt real and earned while the overarching sadness was allowed to be there and accepted. I read this in one sitting and would happily read any other Abramowitz title on the strength of the writing in this one.