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readbydusk 's review for:
The Bright Lands
by John Fram
4.5 stars rounded up! The Bright Lands is a bleak, claustrophobic mystery where the horror comes not just from otherworldly darkness but from the fear and repression of small-town living. Football is an obsession in Bentley where it chews up and spits out its players, and where status means everything. The book portrays homophobia, racism, and abuse in a grimly realistic view. There’s a loneliness that lives inside the characters, and I wish the book is written in the first person instead of the third because I wanted to know more about them. The whispers and nightmares that happen to them are unpleasant and added to their disconnection.
I thought the plotting is solid, and every puzzle piece fits. The ending is an explosion of sex, drugs, and violence, and I loved the haunting supernatural touch. In the chaos though, I felt the book’s message gets muddled. It portrays closeted gay teens, sexual predators, and old, powerful, white men, and the distinction between these groups could have been clearer. I also wish we get a conversation between Joel and Dylan because something felt missing in their relationship. But I suppose it shows that no matter how much you care for someone, you may never know who they really are. I found the book’s willingness to venture into the grief and loss, yet have its characters still emerging with hope, to be quite moving.
CW: homophobia, sexual assault, statutory rape, domestic violence, drug abuse, suicide
book blog | twitter | instagram
I thought the plotting is solid, and every puzzle piece fits. The ending is an explosion of sex, drugs, and violence, and I loved the haunting supernatural touch. In the chaos though, I felt the book’s message gets muddled. It portrays closeted gay teens, sexual predators, and old, powerful, white men, and the distinction between these groups could have been clearer. I also wish we get a conversation between Joel and Dylan because something felt missing in their relationship. But I suppose it shows that no matter how much you care for someone, you may never know who they really are. I found the book’s willingness to venture into the grief and loss, yet have its characters still emerging with hope, to be quite moving.
CW: homophobia, sexual assault, statutory rape, domestic violence, drug abuse, suicide
book blog | twitter | instagram