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A review by lauriereadslohf
Crossroads by Laurel Hightower
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What’s there to say about this book that hasn’t already been said hundreds of times over by people far more eloquent than myself? I guess I can say that the thought of reading it scared me because when so many people promise a heart-crushing read my expectations sometimes ruin the experience for me. I was more worried about being let down than I was about any of the content I might find inside the book. And there’s some heavy stuff in this book. If you’re feeling low you might want to save this book for a day when you’re better equipped to get through it. Or keep a lighter book handy to read in-between chapters which is what I did because I don’t allow myself to sit with grief and suicide ideation for very long. It’s too easy to fall into a hole.
Anyhow, now that I’ve finished I can safely say that I was not let down by my high expectations. This story is a study in suffocating, all-consuming grief. It’s filled with desperation and crushing pain and you will have to sit in that pain from beginning to end. It’s about the lengths one woman will go to spend just another moment with her deceased son even if that moment is less than ideal, fleeting, and comes with a great cost attached. It’s emotionally grueling. I’m not even going to sugarcoat it, as if I ever do, haha. So get yourself ready to SUFFER as we have suffered before you!
I love the way these characters are written. They’re real and they’re flawed and can I also say how refreshing it is to read about men who aren’t dicks?! Men who are kind and loving and caring and sensitive and thoughtful and supportive. We need more of that in our books. Less dickery and more likeability, please. I’m so sick of men being villainous creatures so much of the time. I know some of them are born that way but not ALL of them!
Crossroads is a fantastic piece of bleak fiction with some intense moments of body horror, totally worthy of all five stars. When you’re finished you’ll be left feeling the pain of having salt thrown in all of your bits that have just been brutally sliced open by the story. I don’t want to say too much more and there really isn’t a point because it’ll spoil the book for you. Just read it, you know, if you want to.
Anyhow, now that I’ve finished I can safely say that I was not let down by my high expectations. This story is a study in suffocating, all-consuming grief. It’s filled with desperation and crushing pain and you will have to sit in that pain from beginning to end. It’s about the lengths one woman will go to spend just another moment with her deceased son even if that moment is less than ideal, fleeting, and comes with a great cost attached. It’s emotionally grueling. I’m not even going to sugarcoat it, as if I ever do, haha. So get yourself ready to SUFFER as we have suffered before you!
I love the way these characters are written. They’re real and they’re flawed and can I also say how refreshing it is to read about men who aren’t dicks?! Men who are kind and loving and caring and sensitive and thoughtful and supportive. We need more of that in our books. Less dickery and more likeability, please. I’m so sick of men being villainous creatures so much of the time. I know some of them are born that way but not ALL of them!
Crossroads is a fantastic piece of bleak fiction with some intense moments of body horror, totally worthy of all five stars. When you’re finished you’ll be left feeling the pain of having salt thrown in all of your bits that have just been brutally sliced open by the story. I don’t want to say too much more and there really isn’t a point because it’ll spoil the book for you. Just read it, you know, if you want to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Self harm
Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide