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A review by corky12
Garvey in the Dark by Nikki Grimes
2.0
This reviewer was given a copy of the book by the publisher on NetGalley.
TLDR: A novel-in-verse that deals with heavy topics too quickly to let them sink in. With a mix of out of context poems and more telling than showing, I did not connect to the characters or their struggles.
Garvey in the Dark is a novel-in-verse about living through 2020, the year of a pandemic, murder wasps, and the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The book touched on some understandably dark and crucial issues, but none of them were fleshed out to satisfaction. With only 91 (mostly half-filled) pages, I finished the story in less than an hour. This was not enough time to discover anything about the characters to make me like them. (Apparently, this novel is a sequel to a book I did not read, which may have had an impact; I treated this as a standalone title.) The characters do not feel developed, even though Garvey is the narrator. I could not see his image in my mind or really get a feel for him as a person. His friends were shown only in snippets.
Most of the book felt like showing instead of telling. I wanted to see their interactions, especially him and his family, but almost everything was his descriptions alone. The poetry aspect did not work in the narrative's favor, as it made the chapters very short. Some of the poems felt disjointed while others flowed together like a typical prose novel. I would have preferred one or the other – a book of poetry or a novel-in-verse – instead of trying to mesh the two together. I understand the author was using a very specific style of poetry, and the style worked. The poems themselves just felt like they didn't always flow.
Finally, this is a more subjective take on the issue. COVID-19 was a horrible time, but most of the families I personally knew were never this affected. They didn't wipe down all their groceries or worry about their perfectly healthy family members dying overnight. My essential husband never lived in another room when he got sick (we've both had COVID twice) or bagged his clothes after leaving the store. Garvey is a child, so the anxiety is understandable. However, more context of the family would have helped me understand the panic. This was not my experience, so it felt unrealistic to me. I'm not saying every book needs to be relatable to every reader. However, I wanted to understand why Garvey's family specifically felt the need to act in this manner. Were there immunocompromised people in the home? Was there a previous scare of a family member getting sick? More information and more showing, as opposed to telling, would have really helped me out in that aspect.
TLDR: A novel-in-verse that deals with heavy topics too quickly to let them sink in. With a mix of out of context poems and more telling than showing, I did not connect to the characters or their struggles.
Garvey in the Dark is a novel-in-verse about living through 2020, the year of a pandemic, murder wasps, and the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The book touched on some understandably dark and crucial issues, but none of them were fleshed out to satisfaction. With only 91 (mostly half-filled) pages, I finished the story in less than an hour. This was not enough time to discover anything about the characters to make me like them. (Apparently, this novel is a sequel to a book I did not read, which may have had an impact; I treated this as a standalone title.) The characters do not feel developed, even though Garvey is the narrator. I could not see his image in my mind or really get a feel for him as a person. His friends were shown only in snippets.
Most of the book felt like showing instead of telling. I wanted to see their interactions, especially him and his family, but almost everything was his descriptions alone. The poetry aspect did not work in the narrative's favor, as it made the chapters very short. Some of the poems felt disjointed while others flowed together like a typical prose novel. I would have preferred one or the other – a book of poetry or a novel-in-verse – instead of trying to mesh the two together. I understand the author was using a very specific style of poetry, and the style worked. The poems themselves just felt like they didn't always flow.
Finally, this is a more subjective take on the issue. COVID-19 was a horrible time, but most of the families I personally knew were never this affected. They didn't wipe down all their groceries or worry about their perfectly healthy family members dying overnight. My essential husband never lived in another room when he got sick (we've both had COVID twice) or bagged his clothes after leaving the store. Garvey is a child, so the anxiety is understandable. However, more context of the family would have helped me understand the panic. This was not my experience, so it felt unrealistic to me. I'm not saying every book needs to be relatable to every reader. However, I wanted to understand why Garvey's family specifically felt the need to act in this manner. Were there immunocompromised people in the home? Was there a previous scare of a family member getting sick? More information and more showing, as opposed to telling, would have really helped me out in that aspect.