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A review by jbellomy
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Wow. I haven't read a book that resonated with me on this level -- the one that I'm on right now, approximately a minute after reading the last page -- in a really long time. I've been raving about this book to everyone who'll listen.
For me, someone with firsthand experience with mental illness, to read this book was to feel seen. It shone a light on places in myself that I'd never been fully conscious of. While my mental illness is vastly different from Caden's, what Shusterman (and his son!) convey felt true. Regardless of your experience with mental illness, you will take something profound--maybe a sense of acknowledgement, maybe a deeper understanding of another--away from this book.
The main character is brilliantly rendered, the world building is (at risk of sounding super dramatic) thrilling, and the extended metaphor works ridiculously well. There were times when I thought it'd all fall apart from the sheer weight of layered meaning (what if metaphor, but too much?!), but not only did he somehow hold it all together, with each addition of a fantastical element, he does some sneaky MacGyver magic trick and BOOM, you're more invested in both parallel stories (and their relationship to each other) than ever before. This is a Jenga tower of a book, yall. Each new reveal is like a twist of a knife. (You'll know what I mean when [not if] you read it.) ("Heads will roll." And then you get to the next chapter and... ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!) (That one blew my mind. Couldn't get through this review without mentioning it.)
Challenger Deep kept me guessing. It kept me on the brink of tears. It made me laugh out loud. To anyone who hasn't had the unfathomable (see what I did there?!?!) pleasure of reading this for the first time, I am jealous of you.
For me, someone with firsthand experience with mental illness, to read this book was to feel seen. It shone a light on places in myself that I'd never been fully conscious of. While my mental illness is vastly different from Caden's, what Shusterman (and his son!) convey felt true. Regardless of your experience with mental illness, you will take something profound--maybe a sense of acknowledgement, maybe a deeper understanding of another--away from this book.
The main character is brilliantly rendered, the world building is (at risk of sounding super dramatic) thrilling, and the extended metaphor works ridiculously well. There were times when I thought it'd all fall apart from the sheer weight of layered meaning (what if metaphor, but too much?!), but not only did he somehow hold it all together, with each addition of a fantastical element, he does some sneaky MacGyver magic trick and BOOM, you're more invested in both parallel stories (and their relationship to each other) than ever before. This is a Jenga tower of a book, yall. Each new reveal is like a twist of a knife. (You'll know what I mean when [not if] you read it.) ("Heads will roll." And then you get to the next chapter and... ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!) (That one blew my mind. Couldn't get through this review without mentioning it.)
Challenger Deep kept me guessing. It kept me on the brink of tears. It made me laugh out loud. To anyone who hasn't had the unfathomable (see what I did there?!?!) pleasure of reading this for the first time, I am jealous of you.