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carolinefaireymeese's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Hudson has and hasn't succeeded in equal measure portraying an Alabama where labels and religion and self-definition do and do not define everyone. By this, I mean that I (a South Carolinian) know well a queer South Carolina, an antiracist and diverse South Carolina, and a South Carolina with a dangerous, xenophobic, racist religious fervor. In Hudson's book, the fault lines of these countries edge and shake each other through proximity, which is somehow true and not true.
Max's perspective was essential. As another reviewer pointed out, his foreignness allowed for a closeness to the subject of poison-drinking and snake-eating religion that Pan's perspective wouldn't have brought. Growing up near a dangerous cult is one thing; being entranced by it is another.
I wanted more agency from Max, though. Until the very last pages, he effortlessly bridged the two Alabamas he inhabited with no consequences, with no thought to the future or his desires from it. Pan treated him terribly, to be sure, and he was taken advantage of by the entire football team as a new convert.
Max's perspective was essential. As another reviewer pointed out, his foreignness allowed for a closeness to the subject of poison-drinking and snake-eating religion that Pan's perspective wouldn't have brought. Growing up near a dangerous cult is one thing; being entranced by it is another.
I wanted more agency from Max, though. Until the very last pages, he effortlessly bridged the two Alabamas he inhabited with no consequences, with no thought to the future or his desires from it. Pan treated him terribly, to be sure, and he was taken advantage of by the entire football team as a new convert.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcoholism, Body horror, and Xenophobia
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