A review by thissagreads
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

A solid historical fiction, based on a reform school for boys, back in the 1960’s. It was tough to read sometimes, due to the violence and messed up, unjustifiable things that happened to the boys at the school, but the ending was a solid surprise <spoiler Turner ends up surviving the getaway/escape but Elwood dies, so Turner (once at a diner safely away from the school) takes Elwood’s name and lives for Elwood essentially. It’s really fucking sad that the both of them didn’t make it out alive. This book had me thinking and reflecting about the world and the evils in it, including the people, and and the broken and racist systems in play still today.
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