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djbobthegirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Racial slurs, Death, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Sexual assault, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, Ableism, Antisemitism, and Sexual violence
emtees's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
First, the plot. The book opens in 1972, with the discovery of a body hidden in an old sewage tunnel in what was once the mixed Black and Jewish neighborhood of Chicken Hill, Pottstown, PA. The mysterious dead man is clutching a medallion with a Hebrew inscription, so the detectives go first to a local, nearly abandoned temple, where the Rabbi refuses to tell them anything useful. The narration helps us understand that the man’s death was justice for people who rarely get that, and then the story flashes back decades to very, very slowly explain what happened. I’ll admit, by the time the book, in its final chapters, explained why there was a dead guy in the tunnel, I’d completely forgotten that’s what we were leading up to. I had to go back after I finished to reread the introduction. But that doesn’t mean the plot was badly written. Actually, the way McBride weaves together the different storylines, including several that seem completely unrelated - what does a temple’s quest to fix a water supply problem have to do with a young Black boy unjustly locked in a mental institution? - is masterful. Some mysteries end up making their world seem too small by having everything fit together too neatly, but by keeping the disparate elements of the plot just that, mostly unrelated to each other but touching on each other in the way the lives of people in a small community do, McBride ends up crafting something that feels believable. But it is also a very, very slow build-up and ultimately I’m not sure “dead guy in the well” should have been the centerpiece of it.
Mystery aside, the book is also a depiction of a community and that is where it shines. McBride has a gift for crafting unique characters. Some of them feel so real it’s like you know them, others are quirkier, bordering on unbelievable, but all of them are memorable and specific. Chona, a young Jewish woman, was my favorite. A passionate thinker and believer in social justice, Chona is the kind of woman who writes letters to the paper and makes her elders roll their eyes - but she’s also the kind of person whose actions match her convictions, whether that’s maintaining a grocery store in a Black neighborhood when the other Jewish families begin to move away to better areas, or protecting a young boy from the long arm of the state. There’s Moshe, her ambitious and loving husband; Paper, the beautiful town gossip; Fatty, a quick-witted eternal entrepreneur and Soap, his huge, dimwitted but loyal best friend; Nate, the most mysterious figure in the book, a gentle man with a deeply buried violent streak whose mysterious past is a running thread; and of course Dodo, a young deaf boy who the state wants to institutionalize and who a community comes together to protect.
Speaking of community, McBride does a fantastic job not just with the unique characters of Chicken Hill but with the different, overlapping communities that make up its population. This isn’t an idealistic portrayal of a world where differences don’t matter in the face of outside oppression; the Black, Jewish and other communities in Chicken Hill have the places where they overlap, and those were they keep their distance. Religion, class, immigration status, racism and the ways they are differently perceived by the outside world are never forgotten and sometimes they create barriers to friendship or solidarity, but at other times those lines are crossed in immensely satisfying ways so the people of Chicken Hill can help one of their own.
A final strength I have to mention is the depiction of disability. McBride mentions in an author’s note at the end of the book that it was heavily inspired by the time he spent working at a camp for disabled kids and the life of the man who ran it. I’m glad I didn’t have that information before I read the book, because it might have put me off reading it - too often, that kind of starting point can lead to inspiration porn. But McBride works the theme of disability into his story carefully and without ever dehumanizing his disabled characters. There are many of them, and they are all complex; some are heroes, others just regular people trying to get by; one is a villain. McBride manages to balance their normal, flawed humanity with a sense of the way they are underestimated and dismissed, giving the impression that he is uncovering stories that haven’t been told without turning them into paragons of inspiration. I appreciated that a lot.
And, to balance, a final weakness, probably the only thing I didn’t like about the book: occasionally, the narration wanders away from the plot to rant about some subject or another, and while it works when the rants are about historical injustices (or even contemporary ones) that fit thematically with the story, occasionally these rants appear to be barely related to the story at all. The one where he goes off on modern technology - in a book sent in the 1930’s - was especially jarring.
Graphic: Mental illness and Ableism
Moderate: Racism, Antisemitism, and Rape
The main plot contains a scene of sexual assault. It is only vaguely depicted. The story focuses on Jewish and Black characters in the 1930s, so period-typical racism and antisemitism play a significant part. One of the main characters is a disabled child who experiences extreme ableism, including institutionalization.ewillreadit's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Racism, Terminal illness, and Slavery
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Child abuse
aggie2010's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Excrement, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Mental illness, and Murder
clarkg's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Ableism, Child death, Death, and Excrement
Moderate: Classism, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infertility, Death of parent, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Xenophobia
Minor: Slavery, Infidelity, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
abigalelouise12's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Rape
hawksquill's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Racism, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia
shottel's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
The writing style is immaculate as well, with perfect balance and flow and a dry sense of sarcasm. The presentation choices (font, spacing, etc.) present this book like great work of literature, like a fancy looking Bible, and it manages to earn these dressings. The plot is well-paced, with just the right amount of twists and turns. I couldn’t suggest a single phrasing or word choice or paragraph restructuring that I feel would be better.
The sole reason this is not a 5/5 review is that for all its excellence in depicting numerous different ethnic groups and people of different ages and abilities, the identity of the author as a straight man comes through. It’s the sole mark against the book’s virtual universality, an impressive feat given it’s situated very firmly in interwar-period Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, the repeated references to women’s breasts and buttocks and the greater priority men have in the story, among other things, was hard for me to miss.
Nevertheless, this book is still very close to a must-read. If you can manage the lengthy list of heavy topics the book covers (it pulls absolutely no punches with regards to the difficulties of life) and you think you even might possibly be interested in the setting and style, it’s worth your time.
Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Mental illness, and Racism
Moderate: Excrement, Rape, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and Hate crime
Minor: Colonisation, Medical content, Classism, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Slavery
wackydopamine's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, and Child abuse
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Hate crime, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexism, Death, Mental illness, and Excrement
zombiezami's review
4.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Excrement, Sexual assault, Confinement, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Child death, Pedophilia, Antisemitism, Cancer, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Medical content, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Violence, Stalking, Grief, Cursing, and Outing
Moderate: Mental illness, Colonisation, Infertility, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Alcohol, and Misogyny
Minor: War and Slavery