A review by low_keybookish
Whiteout Conditions, by Tariq Shah
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
WhiteoutConditions made me think of Crying in H Mart or On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous….authors who don’t waste any words and mix humor with grief and loss.
I was eating up every word! First of all, this is such a good description of the clusterf* that is O’Hare airport:
“I’m back home, braving O’Hare’s crowds—the holidays are through but concourse K is still a nightmarish glut of holly jolly backwash—slowpoke vacationers and duty-free shopaholics, Bing Crosby, and on-sale candy cane pyramid displays that all hound me faster for the exits.” 😂
And like this excerpt:
“I felt nausea like a cold tongue lick me.”
Just oohhh visceral vivid language! Tariq is a poet too, so not surprising how each word is so carefully chosen.
His novel also made me think of when I lived in Illinois and how thick and endless the snow storms would get. Just like the main character trying to navigate his grief of multiple family members, then intrigue and blasé of going to funeral viewings to then thinking about his childhood friends death.
Some images will stick with me for a while because they were so funny, like drunk juggling but the food items progressively getting bigger the more his mom would drink.
There were also themes of male friendships and literal rough housing instead of being able to verbally communicate (or escalating physical violence).
I was eating up every word! First of all, this is such a good description of the clusterf* that is O’Hare airport:
“I’m back home, braving O’Hare’s crowds—the holidays are through but concourse K is still a nightmarish glut of holly jolly backwash—slowpoke vacationers and duty-free shopaholics, Bing Crosby, and on-sale candy cane pyramid displays that all hound me faster for the exits.” 😂
And like this excerpt:
“I felt nausea like a cold tongue lick me.”
Just oohhh visceral vivid language! Tariq is a poet too, so not surprising how each word is so carefully chosen.
His novel also made me think of when I lived in Illinois and how thick and endless the snow storms would get. Just like the main character trying to navigate his grief of multiple family members, then intrigue and blasé of going to funeral viewings to then thinking about his childhood friends death.
Some images will stick with me for a while because they were so funny, like drunk juggling but the food items progressively getting bigger the more his mom would drink.
There were also themes of male friendships and literal rough housing instead of being able to verbally communicate (or escalating physical violence).