A review by jayisreading
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

Jonny Appleseed is a messy and beautiful coming-of-age (of sorts) novel. This was such an unflinching reflection of the titular character’s understanding of his life, relationships, and identity. And all of this was at the forefront, while the story of him having to go back to the reservation for a funeral played out in the background.

I was really taken to how Whitehead explored gender and colonialism through Tias and Jonny, and how colonial ideas of the gender binary (especially masculinity) impacted these two young adults. I also enjoyed how so much of this was explored through Jonny’s life as a cyber sex worker, with Whitehead writing with such ease about sexuality and more. Something else I utterly enjoyed was seeing the amount of love and acceptance Jonny received from his mother and his kokum, especially.

Lots to think about in this book. It is messy in the emotional sense (it’s all over the place from funny to heartbreaking), but also that it’s not quite clear where Whitehead wants to take the reader at times. But, you know, sometimes not knowing is the journey. 
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