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A review by mjwerts
An Untamed State by Roxane Gay
3.0
An Untamed State tells the story of Mireille, a young Haitian-American wife and mother, who is kidnapped while visiting her parents in Haiti. What follows is 13 days of hell that reshape Miri and her family.
This is not an easy book to read. Miri's experience is described quite graphically, and her subsequent psychological pain is equally gut wrenching. Despite the reader's potential unease, the book and subject matter are important, as too many individuals around the world have suffered similar ordeals or live in fear of the possibility.
Do not confuse "important" for "well-done," though. The book has its strong parts, but suffers from some weaknesses as well. The "flashbacks" to Miri's romance with her husband often ring false. The purpose of the backstory is to make you fall in love with Miri and Michael as a couple so their subsequent travails after her kidnapping are more heartfelt. Instead, the reader is left wondering how these two individuals were ever happy in the first place with wildly different temperaments, world views, and goals.
In addition, every male character is treated with only one or two notes: the loving, but inept husband; the miserly, reserved father; and the sadistic kidnappers. The result is a book that is captivating at times and very uneven at others.
This is not an easy book to read. Miri's experience is described quite graphically, and her subsequent psychological pain is equally gut wrenching. Despite the reader's potential unease, the book and subject matter are important, as too many individuals around the world have suffered similar ordeals or live in fear of the possibility.
Do not confuse "important" for "well-done," though. The book has its strong parts, but suffers from some weaknesses as well. The "flashbacks" to Miri's romance with her husband often ring false. The purpose of the backstory is to make you fall in love with Miri and Michael as a couple so their subsequent travails after her kidnapping are more heartfelt. Instead, the reader is left wondering how these two individuals were ever happy in the first place with wildly different temperaments, world views, and goals.
In addition, every male character is treated with only one or two notes: the loving, but inept husband; the miserly, reserved father; and the sadistic kidnappers. The result is a book that is captivating at times and very uneven at others.