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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.2/ So much action packed into 208 pages. I love a story that takes place over one night or day, in this we follow Lynnette as she ping-pongs around Portland, OR through the late hours of the night and early hours of the day. This is part Tracy Jordan's "Hard to Watch"-- some truly brutal moments and dark aspects of many characters' stories. It's propulsive and "fun" to read despite the trauma and gritty look at the underbelly of a rapidly gentrifying city. One of two character monologues became a hair didactic, but otherwise I enjoyed.
I would give this book 3.5 stars. It's definitely a commentary on American life for the middle class. It's a quick, but somber read. Sad, frustrating, heartbreaking, maybe also hopeful to a certain degree. Writing is really good. Read it if you want a quick read and don't mind being sad and hating some characters.
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Abortion, Gaslighting, Alcohol
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ctrl+F: “And you know it”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse
Minor: Body shaming, Cursing, Drug abuse
I couldn’t put this down. A new classic of American noir, filled with desperate struggle against impossible odds and heartbreak around every corner. Lynette is a believably tough and emotionally resilient character: her darkness could be my own. You root for her even when what she does is horrible because underneath her hardened exterior is a heart that is good and determined to survive and provide for her developmentally disabled brother. Too many modern American noirs get wrapped up in the violence and criminal elements and forget to create characters the reader can relate to and grow attached to. They also forget that noir, like most genre fiction, is not just a vehicle for relentless plotting and action beats. It can also provide an avenue for social critique and this novel has a lot to say beneath its gritty surface about the conditions these characters find themselves in and why — woven throughout this story is a deep love for its setting of Portland, OR and how, like many great cities, income inequality and gentrification is eating it from the inside out. The author’s use of Portland as a character is akin to how George V. Higgins wrote Boston or Walter Mosley writes L.A.: the city becomes a living, breathing entity whose struggles against a more nebulous and insidious evil become your own. I give this novel my highest possible recommendation.
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No