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hollymbryan 's review for:
Deposing Nathan
by Zack Smedley
I was excited when I first saw the announcement for this tour for DEPOSING NATHAN, as I really enjoy reading contemporary issue books that give me all kinds of feels. And boy did this book give me all the feels! It’s a compulsive read that took my emotions all over the place. I had about 10 notes on my Kindle that I wrote, about half of them at times where I got frustrated with one of the characters or furious at another and the other half where my heart either soared or broke. It’s a bit astonishing to me that this is a debut novel, and from such a young author; it feels like it was written by a seasoned, oft-published pro.
I really like the framing of the novel as a story being relayed via a deposition (which, if you don’t know, is essentially an interview/testimony in a legal proceeding that is done outside of court, either in lieu of actual court testimony or as a preliminary matter prior to court proceedings). It is a clever way of telling the story, and I promise it’s not boring or dry, as a deposition might sound :) The characters are all so strongly drawn, and I guarantee your feelings about them will be equally strong, whether good, bad, somewhere in between. My absolute favorite character is Cam, who we learn at the start is accused of stabbing Nathan (hence the deposition). But Nathan, our MC, is such a complicated and flawed character that I have nothing but praise for Mr. Smedley for making me care so darn much about him. There is so much that he does and says that frustrated me or pissed me off, but I also have so much sympathy for him, and as a parent I often wished I could reach through the pages and hug him and tell him he has worth, he matters, and he can be his own person. I think it’s relatively easy for an author to give us a character that we instantly fall in love with, one who is purely good or sympathetic, but I truly admire the skill and bravery it takes to write a character who is truly complex and has some serious flaws, all without alienating the reader and making us care deeply for them. This is precisely what Mr. Smedley has done with Nathan, and it is truly masterful.
In DEPOSING NATHAN, Mr. Smedley provides us with an unflinching portrait of a character who is struggling with questions about his sexuality, struggling to understand how his desires and actions impact his relationship to God and whether he is a “true” or “good” Christian, and struggling to figure out the line between being his own person and doing what his father and aunt expect of him. The ending of the book just about destroyed me, and yet it was the perfect resolution. DEPOSING NATHAN is an incredible debut, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary issue books and those who are hungry for diverse YA options.
RATING: 5 shining stars!
**Disclosure: I received an early e-copy of this book for purposes of this blog tour. This review is voluntary on my part and reflects my honest rating and review of the book.
I really like the framing of the novel as a story being relayed via a deposition (which, if you don’t know, is essentially an interview/testimony in a legal proceeding that is done outside of court, either in lieu of actual court testimony or as a preliminary matter prior to court proceedings). It is a clever way of telling the story, and I promise it’s not boring or dry, as a deposition might sound :) The characters are all so strongly drawn, and I guarantee your feelings about them will be equally strong, whether good, bad, somewhere in between. My absolute favorite character is Cam, who we learn at the start is accused of stabbing Nathan (hence the deposition). But Nathan, our MC, is such a complicated and flawed character that I have nothing but praise for Mr. Smedley for making me care so darn much about him. There is so much that he does and says that frustrated me or pissed me off, but I also have so much sympathy for him, and as a parent I often wished I could reach through the pages and hug him and tell him he has worth, he matters, and he can be his own person. I think it’s relatively easy for an author to give us a character that we instantly fall in love with, one who is purely good or sympathetic, but I truly admire the skill and bravery it takes to write a character who is truly complex and has some serious flaws, all without alienating the reader and making us care deeply for them. This is precisely what Mr. Smedley has done with Nathan, and it is truly masterful.
In DEPOSING NATHAN, Mr. Smedley provides us with an unflinching portrait of a character who is struggling with questions about his sexuality, struggling to understand how his desires and actions impact his relationship to God and whether he is a “true” or “good” Christian, and struggling to figure out the line between being his own person and doing what his father and aunt expect of him. The ending of the book just about destroyed me, and yet it was the perfect resolution. DEPOSING NATHAN is an incredible debut, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary issue books and those who are hungry for diverse YA options.
RATING: 5 shining stars!
**Disclosure: I received an early e-copy of this book for purposes of this blog tour. This review is voluntary on my part and reflects my honest rating and review of the book.