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peggyoliver's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Physical abuse
artemishi's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Typical of A.S. King novels, this one gripped me from the start. It's surreal (magical realism) which I generally find fascinating, but also Tru's voice is the most earnest, authentic, and wise of the entire cast (including adults)- a refreshing change.
Overall, I found it engaging even in its weirdness, and poetic.
Overall, I found it engaging even in its weirdness, and poetic.
Part of why this resonated with me is the broad pandemic parallels. It was published in 2021, and I'm not sure if King was writing like the wind for a year to get this to the world, or if this predated COVID-19. The premise is different (in the book, all time has stopped in June 2020) but people are handling a worldwide crisis by ignoring it/finding artificial ways to replace the thing they're lost, studying it/to replace it with something new or find out why it froze in the first place, and still being jerks to each other. And the majority of people are acting as if nothing monumental happened, trying to "get back to normal", and so on.
Tru draws on psychology (which makes sense, as time is an artificial human construct) but which blew my mind and required several long pauses of thought. I related to her in that, like Tru, it took the pandemic for me to actually acknowledge and fully feel my feelings (the option of avoidance and dissociation was taken from me). That's mostly where the parallel ended, but King does a lovely job of drawing you in and investing you in the book. So much of it is subtle, around the meaning of words (and relies on metaphor), from the fact that "sister" is never named to the slash used in nearly every paragraph to denote an either/or selection, which to me underscored the possibility for things to be always both options until the reader/receive makes their own interpretation in a Schrödinger's cat sort of situation.
The two primary themes are latent potential in every person (embodied by Tru) and the power of language to shape everything (embodied by her family and her situation). The first sounds trite, and to me it played backup to the second.
If this book had a moral, it would be: Once you break free from the limitations of language that others have placed on you, you can truly see the potential in the world and choose what you do- but if you don't make your choices with compassion for others and yourself, you'll cause damage and that will limit you again.
Content Warnings
Minor: Emotional abuse, Vomit, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, and Animal cruelty
betweentheshelves's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I'll just say, this was out there, even for A.S. King. Usually her books border on surrealism, but this one felt like it just went a little too far. Maybe I read it too fast? However, there are elements in this book that do connect to everything that happened in the last year. Maybe I just wanted a little more clarity by the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, and Mental illness
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, and Cursing
Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse
caleyk_1's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cursing, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicide
booksandbigideas's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Gonna hold this close to my heart as someone who has my own slow-down, time-stop moment and is a psychology nerd.
I highly suggest watching any of the book tour events if they’ve been posted (some have)...such a healing experience.
I highly suggest watching any of the book tour events if they’ve been posted (some have)...such a healing experience.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Physical abuse
Minor: Pedophilia
thesaltiestlibrarian's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. The opinions expressed herein are mine alone and may not reflect the views of the author, publisher, or distributor.
This book helped me figure out what I dislike most about the YA genre, simply by being everything that I do like. Switch starts on June 23, 2020 when time has ceased to move forward. Tru Becker and her father and brother all have to figure out how to live in this new world, and how to pick up the splintered pieces of their old lives, even as Tru’s father makes their house into a plywood maze to avoid those pieces.
Right away we can see parallels to how Tru feels as a teenager in this bizarre world, and how everyone is trying to figure out how to cope with the absence of time. A.S. King dedicates the book to the class of 2020, and she does a terrific job of not only understanding teens, but making them real on the page too. Almost ten years ago now, I read King’s Please Ignore Vera Dietz and haven’t been able to get it out of my head since. I’ve turned it over and over, dwelt on the issues in it, and can even remember some of it word-for-word. Something about it body slammed me, and I’m pretty positive now that it’s because King saw me, a teen on the sideline, even though we’d never met.
What this book does so, so well is present its characters and problems as real. Flesh-and-blood. When YA takes the dramatic approach and blows its problems out of proportion, the camp makes me itch. I can’t connect with any of the characters, especially when the problems stem from people simply not communicating.
“But, Caitlin!” you say. “In your review for When We Were Infinite , you said you can’t stand people not communicating!”
Here’s the thing. The noncommunication in Switch happens because the family is struggling to move toward communication and away from silence. The Beckers are actively chugging up a steep hill in an effort to learn who they all are again, together and separately. To say anything more is to ruin the discovery, so mum’s the word.
Switch proves, like so many books, that the absurd, science fiction, fantasy, surrealism, magical realism--all are perfect tools for exploring the hard issues in life. More so than literary fiction, I’d reckon. King killed it here.
This book helped me figure out what I dislike most about the YA genre, simply by being everything that I do like. Switch starts on June 23, 2020 when time has ceased to move forward. Tru Becker and her father and brother all have to figure out how to live in this new world, and how to pick up the splintered pieces of their old lives, even as Tru’s father makes their house into a plywood maze to avoid those pieces.
Right away we can see parallels to how Tru feels as a teenager in this bizarre world, and how everyone is trying to figure out how to cope with the absence of time. A.S. King dedicates the book to the class of 2020, and she does a terrific job of not only understanding teens, but making them real on the page too. Almost ten years ago now, I read King’s Please Ignore Vera Dietz and haven’t been able to get it out of my head since. I’ve turned it over and over, dwelt on the issues in it, and can even remember some of it word-for-word. Something about it body slammed me, and I’m pretty positive now that it’s because King saw me, a teen on the sideline, even though we’d never met.
What this book does so, so well is present its characters and problems as real. Flesh-and-blood. When YA takes the dramatic approach and blows its problems out of proportion, the camp makes me itch. I can’t connect with any of the characters, especially when the problems stem from people simply not communicating.
“But, Caitlin!” you say. “In your review for When We Were Infinite , you said you can’t stand people not communicating!”
Here’s the thing. The noncommunication in Switch happens because the family is struggling to move toward communication and away from silence. The Beckers are actively chugging up a steep hill in an effort to learn who they all are again, together and separately. To say anything more is to ruin the discovery, so mum’s the word.
Switch proves, like so many books, that the absurd, science fiction, fantasy, surrealism, magical realism--all are perfect tools for exploring the hard issues in life. More so than literary fiction, I’d reckon. King killed it here.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Grief
Minor: Physical abuse and Mental illness
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