Reviews

The Angels of L19 by Jonathan Walker

sadiesargar's review

4.0

I've never read a book quite like this before, that so expertly and perfectly integrates the faith of its characters into their characterization. What I mean is that these teenagers live relatively normal teenage lives, but their view of those lives is conditioned through their faith in ways that they're both aware of not aware of. Many stories written from the perspective of evangelical characters present these characters as overly self-conscious of how they're constructing their worldview—of making choices to see the world in a certain way. Walker knows that, at least for his teenaged characters, even bouts of doubt are ultimately ways of joggling loose faith when it's stuck. It makes each of these characters so much more affecting and human, even though their perspective becomes increasingly alien over the course of the novel. Even when it turns into surprisingly graphic body horror, it remains one of the best (and, to be frank, most moving) explorations of evangelical interiority I've ever read. A book I'm certain I'll return to many times.