A review by onetrackmind77
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

3.0

This was a good book, but I feel like it could have been an extraordinary one. The book lacked the substance and weight that it deserved, and the author should have stretched things out beyond the 210 pages we get here. While I empathized with the characters, there was very little work done to help define them and help the reader connect to them...they were just there. Also, while we were told that the Nickel School was an evil place, and we read about some of the disturbing practices, I felt like we were really only shown the briefest of glimpses into all the shit that was going on, and it was delivered in such a disconnected manner that it didn't make your gut clench with disgust...it was shoved at you, and before you could sit and reflect on it, you were bounced to something else. This story deserved more heart and detail.