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A review by not_another_ana
Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind by Molly Mcghee
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher
Jonathan Abernathy is trying his best, but with an insane amount of debt and no job he's drowning. When he's offered a job in a dream, auditing the dreams of American workers to make them more productive, he jumps at the opportunity to tackle his problems and maybe even make something of himself, unaware of what really lurks underneath and the specifics of his job.
An interesting critic of capitalism and the American Dream, this book sucked me in. Earnest, quirky and touching, this is one of the more intriguing and different books I've read in a while. Jonathan Abernathy is such a delight of a character, I found myself relating a lot to him. His situation is one that many of us have been in, with his sincere way of thinking and his lack of self confidence ringing true and so very human. He wants to do good, succeed, improve, but the system he's trapped in needs him to stay down.
The dream auditing was a captivating idea. As someone who dreams a lot, having someone in there judging and cataloging sounds like such a violation of my privacy and my existence that did alarm me. I do wish that the author had dug deeper into the mechanics of it, perhaps showing more dreams and the process of auditing them. While I gushed about Jonathan, he did get on my nerves a bit. I understand his naiveté and its importance to the plot but it got to a point where I was rolling my eyes a bit. The pacing could have been improved, it took a little too long for my taste to get to the meat of the plot.
Jonathan Abernathy is trying his best, but with an insane amount of debt and no job he's drowning. When he's offered a job in a dream, auditing the dreams of American workers to make them more productive, he jumps at the opportunity to tackle his problems and maybe even make something of himself, unaware of what really lurks underneath and the specifics of his job.
An interesting critic of capitalism and the American Dream, this book sucked me in. Earnest, quirky and touching, this is one of the more intriguing and different books I've read in a while. Jonathan Abernathy is such a delight of a character, I found myself relating a lot to him. His situation is one that many of us have been in, with his sincere way of thinking and his lack of self confidence ringing true and so very human. He wants to do good, succeed, improve, but the system he's trapped in needs him to stay down.
The dream auditing was a captivating idea. As someone who dreams a lot, having someone in there judging and cataloging sounds like such a violation of my privacy and my existence that did alarm me. I do wish that the author had dug deeper into the mechanics of it, perhaps showing more dreams and the process of auditing them. While I gushed about Jonathan, he did get on my nerves a bit. I understand his naiveté and its importance to the plot but it got to a point where I was rolling my eyes a bit. The pacing could have been improved, it took a little too long for my taste to get to the meat of the plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, and Death