A review by jonwesleyhuff
The Nix by Nathan Hill

3.0

I am a bit conflicted about this book. On one hand, by the end of it, I thought it was a really good portrait of a mother and son (and a grandfather, to an extent) and how their lives and pasts interweave and repeat. The overall arc of the whole book is good, and I enjoyed the characters, especially Faye. On the other hand, the book did flag at times. The amount of time we spend with characters like Laura and Pwnage is fairly justified by the end, although these passages were made somewhat wearying in the audiobook by the reader's affected voices for both of them. But there is still a sense that maybe getting to know them isn't REALLY necessary, as the commentary the author makes on both feels a little obvious. But, when you zoom out and look at them as part of the larger whole, it's not so bad. Even if the things being said here aren't wholly original, I like the context in which they are said, even though there's something chilling about reading it in 2016 and feeling the light sense of optimism presented at the end of 2011 feels unfounded and we're cycling back into some old traps, at least as whole. I think it's a really great debut novel, though, and overall I found it an enjoyable read.