Reviews

The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson

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christilee_'s review against another edition

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3.0

(3.5)
July is the worst

snaillydia's review against another edition

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2.0

DNF'ed at 70%

I don't give up on books often. I especially didn't expect to give up on a book with such an awesome sounding premise. Seriously, a boy discovering that his ex best friend has come back from the dead? That sounds straight up my alley.
Sadly, this didn't live up to my (admittedly not very high) expectations.

The problems with this book start with the story. Despite having a very interesting premise, the first half of this book goes by and not a lot happens. They are not curious enough about how July's, the not-dead person's, status came to be. A supernatural phenomenon is taking place and the characters choose to just drive around, hang out, go to a party. Even at 70% things don't pick up pace. It ended up getting quite boring, especially since I didn't end up caring much about the characters.

Even though I never ended up caring for the characters, I have to give this book props for having pretty realistic ones. July's an asshole, but reasonably so. Dino and his friends are realistically cringey (though I'm not sure that was intended). Other than the fact that they make some very dated references, they sound like real teens to me. Though, would a 17-year-old today really make a joke about Janet Jackson at the Superbowl? The character would have been 4 years old at the time of the incident, mind you.

One more major complaint I have about this book has to do with the writing. It wasn't horrible, but it felt amateur. At times, it got very expository for no real reason. It's like the author forgot about the golden rule of 'show, don't tell'.

On his nightstand is a stack of printer paper. A manuscript. Rafi's a writer. I pick up a few pages and read them. [...] Damn. He's not a writer--he's a good writer.

Not only was that an ultimately unnecessary detail about the character, you could have easily shown us this instead of outright telling us. Though that problem is pretty minor compared to the next one.

This book is so goddamn PREACHY. I don't have to disagree with the social politics of this author to be annoyed by the constant preachiness that's presented here.

"Anyone ever call you a fag?" Jamal asks.
"Or a dyke?" Gwen adds.
"No," I say.
"Then those jokes don't belong to you."

Like, holy shit, am I reading a novel or watching a BuzzFeed video? Stop this. We read books for fun, not to watch characters get lectured about very uncomfortable subjects. Because issues about gender, appropriation and political correctness are oh so relaxing topics to discuss and read about, right?

edit 2021: My views have partly changed since writing this review. I now understand what the author was trying to get at better. I actually agree now, when at the time I felt uncertain. Topics of gender and appropriation are extremely important to discuss in fiction. Still, that passage remains a preachy mess that fails to send any kind of meaningful message and seemingly exists so the author can vent through the mouth of a fictional queer kid in a shallow YA book.