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dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, Murder
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
This is fiction based on real life and it is tragic but gripping
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, Murder
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Wow, I don’t even know where to start with this review. I have such mixed feelings after having read this book and don’t know if I would recommend it but perhaps not for the reasons you may think.
It is gut wrenching and disturbing and full of trigger warnings. It gives both the viewpoint of victims of child sexual abuse and that of the offender. I normally wouldn’t put what might be a bit of a spoiler in a review but when this became known to me, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I felt ill.
Some of my notes from the first half of the book were that the author seemed to be trying to parse his thoughts through his writing, the repetition of an action sounded like mental illness and that one of the characters has the same initials as the author. I share these because we learn in the author’s note at the end of Johnston’s relationship to the story.
The story reminded me of a raindrop that falls into a puddle and creates concentric circles. There were ever expanding layers to the story. The main character of Rachel is obsessed with Anne Frank and another Anne that she writes about it in her coded language. Hans, the father, also claims to have a connection to Anne Frank-one that will both surprise and anger you.
While part of the story is told in the author’s typical setting of Newfoundland, it also has settings in South Africa and Amsterdam.
Told in both prose and verse, it was a bit difficult for this reader’s mind to switch back and forth but I was impressed by the rhyming.
The first half of this rather long book is a bit slow but knowing what I know now I see in part why the author chose to do this. The second half picked up significantly and threw a few surprises into the story.
Overall, I am impressed by this book as I have been with many of his previous books that I now need to go back and look at for hidden messages from this book, THE book as the author calls it.
Thank you to @netgalley and @knopfca for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. The Mystery of Right and Wrong publishes September 21, 2021.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault
Moderate: Antisemitism, Murder