Reviews

Subduction by Kristen Millares Young

realityczar's review against another edition

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5.0

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I don’t know what else to say. 5 stars, would read again.

silodear's review against another edition

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3.0

I found the writing of this novel exquisite and I would definitely read more of this author, to see how her skills develop. That being said, I found the characters in this book to be decidedly unlikeable. I need a decent amount of character development to connect with a book, and this one lacked that for me which made the reading a bit of a trudge at times.

amydavid's review

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3.0

This was not at all what I was expecting -- the blurb gives it more of a murder mystery or thriller vibe, and it was NOT that. In fact, much of it was very slow, and it was definitely not plot-driven. I'm also not sure how I feel about a Cuban-American journalist writing about a Mexican-American anthropologist's adventures in an Indigenous community. The setting was, in fact, the best part of this book, I'm just not totally convinced this was the right story for it.

lisagray68's review

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reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

itacuz's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

The living influence of all things, animate or otherwise, drives the core of this novel. Beginning with a ferry to Bainbridge and ending in a community auditorium, the settings of Subduction are as important to the plot as its characters. Kristen Millares Young uses every inch of the page to tell this story. I was constantly falling into the descriptions of rooms in trailers and houses, while fascination took me in the very real conversations happening between characters the characters living in Neah Bay. From the first moments on the Puget Sound, this book became cement in my mind, creating a base that I will compare other stories to. 


The major hurdle a reader might stumble upon in Subduction is the not-entirely-likable main characters. As people, they’re pretty bad, but in the toxic stew of their internal navigation and outward behavior, is a reality that can often get lost in a novel. Claudia and Peter never falter from their path to appear as better people to the reader. Their redeeming qualities are sincere, never coming to the page for the sake of counterbalancing, instead existing just as their lesser actions, as the plain and simple truth of their character. Claudia’s self-serving debate between being the thieving colonizer and preserving cultural heritage, coupled with her ultimate decision at the end of the novel was not played up for plot. It reinforced who she was just as Peter’s internal misogyny lived alongside his, albeit reluctant, kindness. There was never another decision either of them would make, even when every cell in my body begged for it.


In my role as Event Staff at one of my day jobs, I get to meet really interesting people. Kristen Millares Young is someone I met several times. We’ve talked for maybe an hour in total, and I can say she’s a very kind and generous person, speaking with such interest in what we were chatting about, that I believed she cared more than some of my friends might in the same conversation. At the most recent event I saw her at, I mentioned that I was reading her book, that I was really enjoying it. We talked at length about writing and books we were reading, but there were two things she mentioned about Subduction that I began to see immediately. Fractals, and traditionally western plot being shaped like a male orgasm. 


Fractals are fascinating and show up naturally in most writing anyways. Allegories and metaphors are often fractals, or at least fractally ways of writing. What I enjoyed so much about seeking them out in Subduction was how they seemed, much like the characters, as natural as anything you’d find in real life. The retelling of folklore that imitated Peter or Claudia, Claudia’s reflection on famous cultural observers she would unintentionally step in the same footsteps of as she continued her stay in Neah Bay, familial tendencies passed along unintentionally and playing out unexamined. It’s something more than allegory or metaphor, though a lot of these moments could still be fit into either category. I’m fascinated by the slight, intentional difference  these moments have in Subduction, though they are not the only literary device that stands out.


It doesn’t take much looking at any Freshman Lit. Narrative Structure Diagram to see what Young means about traditionally Western plot being shaped like the male orgasm. She cited Jane Alison’s Meander, Spiral, Explode as a different path to take. I can’t say without reading that book how exactly Young pulls it off in Subduction, but it was clear even before our interaction that her book was doing something different than what I was used to reading. It was fascinating to read the rest of the book with that in mind, watching for the spiral and anticipating the explosion; seeing how aspects of the plot that I thought required resolution could just exist as features of the characters lives. Existence is brutal, it’s wonderful, it’s mundane, it’s magical, but is rarely neat and tidy for you to look at like a preserved insect. The novel ends with questions that the characters themselves may never find answers to, why should we as the reader have something that they do not?

juliebuckles's review against another edition

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4.0

I found the storyline and characters frustrating at times—they are so human!—but I can't stop thinking about them, so my 4-star rating. It's a story about family, loss, colonization, history, love—and academia, anthropology and the relationship academics share with the people they study. In this case, the Makah people. It's definitely a book that made me think about my life as a reporter—and the relationship and responsibility you have to the people who are trusting you with their stories. And the responsibility to save stories when you can for future generations. I guess the frustrating part for me was I don't know how the anthropologist does feel about all of this in the end. I like it enough, that I'm considering this book for the bookstore's BOM club because I think it could generate good discussion.

readrunsea's review against another edition

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5.0

SUBDUCTION is one of the most compelling novels I’ve ever read. Following a Latinx anthropologist named Claudia from the ruins of her marriage in Seattle to the site of her research, Neah Bay, the book embodies its name: shifting tectonic plates under the surface.

Claudia’s closest connection/primary research subject in Neah Bay is Maggie, a Makah elder who has dementia and a hoarding habit. Her son Peter returns home for the first time since his father’s death when he was a teenager, just as Claudia arrives. The two form a complicated relationship as Maggie tries to convince Peter that his heritage is more than the trauma mother and son share, and his participation in his family and culture is crucial.

SUBDUCTION raises more questions than it answers, which is exactly what a story like this requires. Who gets to tell what stories, and why? What is an identity in a polylithic America? What does it mean to belong, or be an outsider? Exploring ethics; the roles of gender, race, and place in forming identities; and all the different ways the earth can shift inside and beneath us, this book is a powerhouse of storytelling. Also, there’s some breathtaking descriptions of the PNW landscape.

I highly recommend this book. Thank you Red Hen for the ARC!

mcurry1010's review against another edition

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5.0

This novel takes off quickly: "The shore pulled away. Froth churned from its feet to hers. The engines hummed through her bones." Right away I experienced a distance from what had been "...until her westward passage split the horizon into expanses of gray demarcated into sea and sky by hue alone. Puget Sound opened in fathoms below the ferry." Millares Young brought me & Claudia to the land of the Makah tribe. Claudia is struggling with betrayal and she is vulnerable when she encounters Peter. They both have a reckoning with their past and dangerous tendencies. Peter's mother, Maggie, is losing her memory but has the strength to make an effort to steer Peter toward a future where he can rely on his past.

ancaszilagyi's review against another edition

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5.0

I was lucky to read an early version of Subduction. I was struck by the rich complexity of each of the characters—their grit, passions, flaws—and the gorgeous depiction of the dramatic Neah Bay landscape. The supernatural elements intersecting with mythology and Claudia's psychological unraveling created a reading experience that was at times harrowing, at times eerily beautiful.

dellegeller's review against another edition

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5.0

This book has entered a special place in my heart, and if you're nerdy about place-based writing and like to give anthropology the side-eye, I think this book is also for you.