Review by solenophage - Compound Fracture

solenophage 's review for:

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

3.0

I was excited about this one and thrilled to get an advanced copy. The history and culture of Appalachia interest me a lot, in part because of my proximity to it. There’s been a history of socialist movements and worker solidarity in many areas that still permeates the culture, but also a strongly conservative lean in the impoverished rural communities that could (and have in patches of history) benefit most from these movements. The book description seemed to promise a nuanced exploration of these elements without glorification or erasure of the bigotry just because the people perpetuating it are victims in their own right. The cycle of violence, and the lofty ideals struggling to manifest in a dirty reality, all weaved through a thriller/horror plot line literally haunted by the bloody, cyclic history (not to mention the bonus of exploring trans and queer culture and identity in this environment through a gay, aromantic trans protagonist), what a pitch.

It just didn’t fully stick the landing in my opinion. While Miles has a strong sense of his principles, politically, and awareness of the large-scale issues in his community, the morality and motivations for the violence done in the story proper by him and his generation were shallower. A lot of complexity was left to the past and to infodumps about history, culture, and ideologies, rather than deeply integrated into the narrative.

It came to a head with the ending where I felt the underlying problems of Miles’ community that went beyond the sheriff and his abuse of power were somewhat brushed off.

All the handful of bad people who were really seduced by violence (unlike Miles who only liked it a little) were gone and so the conservative populace would rally behind the socialists and queers? I know that’s not exactly what the ending wants to say. It’s trying to be a hard-won, but hopeful look at the cycle of violence finally ending and a marginalized person being able to carve out space for himself in a home he cares for. But (despite the literal gore and death) it was maybe too clean for a story that paid lip service to many complexities.

There are acknowledgments of the racism, misogyny, queerphobia, and all the hatred, trauma, and pain that go far beyond and far deeper than the feud that gets the main focus and the resolution in the end. With all that put out in the open earlier in the story, but not worked on, I’m wondering where it all went.

Sometimes I think I’m asking the wrong thing from a story when I’m unsatisfied with the direction or the ending, but in this case, I do believe I wanted mostly the same thing the story was trying to give, I just wanted it to go deeper and to give more.

There was a lot to like — the portrayal of the setting, the political awareness, Miles’ journey to understanding himself as autistic, his pride in his home and insistence on making it better, the realistic writing of his family’s imperfect yet unconditional love — but also potential left untouched.

Content Warnings