A review by jordysbookclub
Cherry by Nico Walker

3.0

This was a fascinating read. It's a mess and it's all over the place and the story is crazy and at times an extremely frustrating stream of consciousness, but I loved so much about it. Walker's "fictional" story about the main character's drug-fueled early adult years and his time as a medic in Iraq is at times painful to read, yet the author has a deft touch at writing about subjects that are generally extremely difficult to read about (extremely graphic war inuries and death, hardcore drug use). I really enjoyed Walker's narrative point of view; his writing is at times poignant and other times it feels rushed and clipped...it's effective during the portions of the book when he's back at home and this frenetic energy feels appropriate when he's talking about drugs, but the writing style frustrated me and grew tiresome during the middle east portion of the book (i had trouble investing in characters or their deaths when they're barely introduced or developed, which might be the author's intent, but it lessened the impact of this section for me and became tedious). The book also comes across extremely misogynistic (the women are all sluts and bitches and drug addicts) to the point that it bugged me...however, even with these critiques, for a first-time novelist, this book is an entertaining mess and I'm glad i took the time to read it.