A review by lightsnack
Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

I’m biased because I’m from southern Appalachia, and from coal mining families, so I was already all in on this book the moment I read the summary. That said, HOLY SHIT! This book was GOOD! I got whiplash from some of the twists and turns, and unexpectedly heartbroken (but in a good way??) by one of the backstories we get throughout the book. PLEASE be aware of some TWs for this book (transphobia, homophobia, violence, gore, gun violence….there’s more detail on the authors website but I try to avoid spoilers as much as possible for ARCs), but this book kept me up until 4 am with how gripping it was. It’s rare that Appalachia gets representation, especially rep that feels true to my experience and honest to reality (looking at you, Hillbilly Book written by someone who has never actually been a Hillbilly but wanted to make up a story about how he pulled himself up by his bootstraps and into a presidential race)…this book hits close to home (minus the like….blood feud and murder and stuff) in a way that was unexpectedly and strangely heartwarming. That’s probably going to be a me thing though, please don’t go into this book expecting “heartwarming”.

But please DO go into this book!