Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by bookwormlukas
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
2.0
For me, ‘Jonny Appleseed’ is a book that fell right down the middle when it came to its final score, and the reason for that is that it’s also a book that can be split down the middle thematically.
On the one side of the story we have with the main character leaving (and then returning to) the reservation where he grew up and experienced several traumas, while the other half deals with him running a cyber sex business (a la onlyfans) to make money. I actually quite enjoyed one of these sections but grew to absolutely hate reading about the other - meaning that I had a very split reaction while reading this one.
Having a book about a two spirit, indigenous and queer person certainly checks a lot of boxes if you’re playing diversity bingo - and it certainly created an interesting and fresh perspective on the more standard coming out narrative here. I enjoyed the sections detailing our main characters childhood and his connection to the ‘Rez’ and the people in it, whether they have left like him or remained behind - the characters generally felt weighted and developed and there was enough raw emotion coming through the writing that I was able to over look one or two inconsistencies in plotting.
The problem for me came with the cyber sex business and the overly indulged, trying to hard to be ‘edgy’ writing that went with this section - meaning it was a lot of fluid this and dick/holes that. I’m not quite sure if the author intended/was trying to be shocking with these sections - but it loses its edge quickly with the repetitive nature of the story and left the narrative feeling like it was jumping around all over the place instead of flowing naturally along to a conclusion.
Overall, while I enjoyed some of this, it was generally just too inconsistent to make much of an impression on me - feeling more like a draft as opposed to a fully realised and thought out novel.
Reviews in general seem to be rather glowing though - so if this one does interest you, don’t let me dissuade you from trying it out
On the one side of the story we have with the main character leaving (and then returning to) the reservation where he grew up and experienced several traumas, while the other half deals with him running a cyber sex business (a la onlyfans) to make money. I actually quite enjoyed one of these sections but grew to absolutely hate reading about the other - meaning that I had a very split reaction while reading this one.
Having a book about a two spirit, indigenous and queer person certainly checks a lot of boxes if you’re playing diversity bingo - and it certainly created an interesting and fresh perspective on the more standard coming out narrative here. I enjoyed the sections detailing our main characters childhood and his connection to the ‘Rez’ and the people in it, whether they have left like him or remained behind - the characters generally felt weighted and developed and there was enough raw emotion coming through the writing that I was able to over look one or two inconsistencies in plotting.
The problem for me came with the cyber sex business and the overly indulged, trying to hard to be ‘edgy’ writing that went with this section - meaning it was a lot of fluid this and dick/holes that. I’m not quite sure if the author intended/was trying to be shocking with these sections - but it loses its edge quickly with the repetitive nature of the story and left the narrative feeling like it was jumping around all over the place instead of flowing naturally along to a conclusion.
Overall, while I enjoyed some of this, it was generally just too inconsistent to make much of an impression on me - feeling more like a draft as opposed to a fully realised and thought out novel.
Reviews in general seem to be rather glowing though - so if this one does interest you, don’t let me dissuade you from trying it out