A review by lokasreads
Schroeder by Neal Cassidy

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 The story is shared exclusively from Schroeder’s first-person perspective - technically, he’s an unnamed protagonist until the very end. As such, we get a detailed glimpse into the workings of his mind, and I must say that at the beginning of the book, maybe to the halfway point, this perspective makes it hard not to like him. 

Schroeder possesses a haunting empathy in so many ways. But then the reader is graciously reminded just where his empathy ends as he reaches one of his next victims, several of whom aren’t given the luxury of a quick death. 

Woven between his acts of violence are astute observations of the world around him and the way he’s been treated throughout his life that will be achingly familiar to many readers, myself included. Cassidy writes his character and settings with so much detail, I could see it all so clearly in my mind’s eye as I read. 

Each chapter is marked by word art forming a letter of Schroeder’s name. I really enjoyed this detail and found it clever and unique. The words chosen are from the chapter’s text; it made me wonder whether it was showing the parts of the experience that Schroeder would remember or think about later. 

Schroeder is written, painfully obviously if not stated outright, to be neurodivergent, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about this until the end. I wondered if the book would reveal itself to be a critique of how we treat neurodivergence, or just give bigots more reason to bully “the weird kid”. 

In my opinion, it is clearly the former. While Schroeder - notably - doesn’t think much about why he’s doing what he’s doing, thoughts slip through about how alienated he felt despite his best efforts. Nothing excuses Schroeder’s horrific acts of violence, but it is impossible not to sympathize with his pain, especially as a child lost to the reasons the people around him treat him so horribly. 

In a fascinating way, however, I found myself less sympathetic of Schroeder as the book continued. Maybe the acts of horror turn the reader jaded. Maybe the uglier parts of the character’s personality - the parts that lead him to commit such violent revenge, and rarely even take the expected joy in it - become more apparent over time, bits and pieces of a somewhat insufferable attitude sprinkled between other, more relatable statements. 

I struggled with the stream-of-consciousness narration style, though I’m so unfamiliar with it that I can’t rightfully blame the book for it. I sought out this book to try something new and found I didn’t enjoy it, simple as that. If you already know you enjoy that style of writing, or you want to give it a try like I did, I do recommend this book. 

I will leave you with one of my last notes as I was reading: How can Schroeder write such long lists of things that make him happy, yet still feel so unsatisfied? Is it the human connection, or lack thereof, that’s so important? 

Yes. Yes it is.

Many thanks to NetGalley and M & S Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.