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A review by makealongstorycourt
Dead in Long Beach, California by Venita Blackburn
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
This was really unique in its execution. Told through the perspective of unnamed narrators watching Coral’s descent into her grief, it speaks to the power of all-consuming grief. Coral is lonely and finds that the last person in her immediate family besides her niece has ended his life. Instead of telling anyone of her discovery, she delays spreading the news in both a selfish and selfless attempt to avoid the pain that comes with her new reality.
Interspersed with cut-scenes of Coral’s bestselling graphic, dystopian novel, Coral’s critiques of late-capitalism and consumerism within her novel bleed into her processing of her current predicament, her brother’s death, and the way she experiences the world around her.
This book was a quick and delectable read. It was lightheartedly sad, if that is something that can be true? It’s definitely a novel that is based on a common theme (grief) but speaks to it in its own unique way.
Interspersed with cut-scenes of Coral’s bestselling graphic, dystopian novel, Coral’s critiques of late-capitalism and consumerism within her novel bleed into her processing of her current predicament, her brother’s death, and the way she experiences the world around her.
This book was a quick and delectable read. It was lightheartedly sad, if that is something that can be true? It’s definitely a novel that is based on a common theme (grief) but speaks to it in its own unique way.