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justabean_reads's review
5.0
Two Nova Scotia teenagers tentatively return to high school after separate shattering events the year before. Both were captured on social media, both teens have to navigate who they are now, and how to cope with how others treat them. Alternating chapters show what happened the year before, and how they're dealing with the first school year After.
I'm not familiar with the author, and wouldn't have looked at this if it wasn't on the Canada Reads longlist: I normally am not into books about teenagers, and I'm not usually hot on male writers taking on sexual violence against women. I sat down and read it in an afternoon. Then handed it to my wife, who stayed up all night to finish it in one sitting.
McKay's writing is an charge against all those male authors who treat female characters as some sort of large-breasted alien. ("I think of a man, and then I take away reason and accountability.") Both main characters are flawed and vivid and are treated with incredible tenderness. They're both struggling every minute, but find space for kindness, and still see other people. I wanted to hug them and cheer them on, and couldn't stop reading to see what happened next.
(I appreciated that McKay included trans and Miꞌkmaw characters who are important to the story, and have a sense of having their own thing going on, rather than being props for the main plot. I feel like I shouldn't have to praise this, but enough books fail to clear that very low bar, and I think it's worth noting.)
I really wish this one had been on the Canada Reads shortlist.
I'm not familiar with the author, and wouldn't have looked at this if it wasn't on the Canada Reads longlist: I normally am not into books about teenagers, and I'm not usually hot on male writers taking on sexual violence against women. I sat down and read it in an afternoon. Then handed it to my wife, who stayed up all night to finish it in one sitting.
McKay's writing is an charge against all those male authors who treat female characters as some sort of large-breasted alien. ("I think of a man, and then I take away reason and accountability.") Both main characters are flawed and vivid and are treated with incredible tenderness. They're both struggling every minute, but find space for kindness, and still see other people. I wanted to hug them and cheer them on, and couldn't stop reading to see what happened next.
(I appreciated that McKay included trans and Miꞌkmaw characters who are important to the story, and have a sense of having their own thing going on, rather than being props for the main plot. I feel like I shouldn't have to praise this, but enough books fail to clear that very low bar, and I think it's worth noting.)
I really wish this one had been on the Canada Reads shortlist.
ilovebeets's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Blood, Addiction, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide
njw13's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
sankitch87's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
amanova's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
This is damn good. Well-written and compelling. Difficult subject matter, but ultimately hopeful and totally worth it.
andreabarrett's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
jp_riemersma's review
dark
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Murder, Self harm, Rape, Suicide, and Blood
birdykinsreads's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
I don’t often read a book in one day, so when I do it’s something special. What Comes Echoing Back is a story of teenage trauma and resilience in the age of social media and then also the way music has the ability to help us connect and heal.
I was completely drawn in to the very different yet equally devastating stories of Sam who with her two best friends suffers a brutal assault and Robert (nicknamed Robot) who accidentally kills someone in a fist-fight gone wrong and then how they must live in the special hell created by both their traumas going viral and living forever on the internet.
When Sam moves to Truro (hi, my town!) and meets Robot in music class they strike up an unexpected, tentative and touching friendship as two struggling outsiders learning to play the ukulele. One growing quieter and making space for calm, the other finally finding her voice again.
I fell in love with both of these tender-hearted souls and the care with which Leo McKay Jr (a beloved teacher himself for 30 years) handled the dark brutality of their stories with delicate care. This is a book that will break your heart and then fill it back up again with hope. A moving reflection of the ways both good and bad echo through life—and how we move through that, reinvent ourselves and find peace.
A really great read, highly recommend.
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