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A review by frmeden
Stranger Things: Runaway Max by Brenna Yovanoff
4.0
CW: Child abuse, parental abuse, animal death, animal cruelty.
"The universe was very big. I mean, there were places where the fabric of reality opened onto whole other worlds!"
This novel is part Max prequel and part season two but from Max's point of view. Admittedly, the most interesting parts were Max's backstory and the times in which she's away from the party. During these moments Yovanoff takes the opportunity to explore where Max was and what she was doing when we didn't see her in season two.
What Yovanoff has created is a really wonderful character study for Max. Her relationships and how they've effected her, particularly her family dynamic with her parents and Billy, but the boys too (especially Lucas). Probably the most gut-punching part of this novel was seeing Max's attempts to come to terms with the abuse she suffers at the hands of Billy, someone she goes from hero-worshipping to fearing to hating. The cycle of abuse in her household is really horrifying. It's awful reading about the way Billy's Father treats him, but this book really shows how Max and Billy as step-siblings are on completely different paths and whilst Max is willing to overcome the cycle of abuse and realise her Mom isn't at fault, Billy becomes worse and worse (Plus, he is already a pretty shitty even if he wasn't the byproduct of an abusive household. This book really doubles down on his racism and sexism)
The California periods of this book are really great too, learning more about Max's childhood friends and her relationship with her Dad. Max does that classic child-of-divorce thing where she absolves her Dad of all his sins before slowly coming to terms with his shortcomings, and it's really well done considering he's absent for the entire novel.
The weakest parts of the book are definitely the periods retelling the events of season two. The dialogue is largely glossed over in favour of a sort of 'tell don't show' method, but it did give us some nice insights into Max meeting certain characters for the first time. Her descriptions of Will, Steve and Nancy are particularly cute.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one!
"The universe was very big. I mean, there were places where the fabric of reality opened onto whole other worlds!"
This novel is part Max prequel and part season two but from Max's point of view. Admittedly, the most interesting parts were Max's backstory and the times in which she's away from the party. During these moments Yovanoff takes the opportunity to explore where Max was and what she was doing when we didn't see her in season two.
What Yovanoff has created is a really wonderful character study for Max. Her relationships and how they've effected her, particularly her family dynamic with her parents and Billy, but the boys too (especially Lucas). Probably the most gut-punching part of this novel was seeing Max's attempts to come to terms with the abuse she suffers at the hands of Billy, someone she goes from hero-worshipping to fearing to hating. The cycle of abuse in her household is really horrifying. It's awful reading about the way Billy's Father treats him, but this book really shows how Max and Billy as step-siblings are on completely different paths and whilst Max is willing to overcome the cycle of abuse and realise her Mom isn't at fault, Billy becomes worse and worse (Plus, he is already a pretty shitty even if he wasn't the byproduct of an abusive household. This book really doubles down on his racism and sexism)
The California periods of this book are really great too, learning more about Max's childhood friends and her relationship with her Dad. Max does that classic child-of-divorce thing where she absolves her Dad of all his sins before slowly coming to terms with his shortcomings, and it's really well done considering he's absent for the entire novel.
The weakest parts of the book are definitely the periods retelling the events of season two. The dialogue is largely glossed over in favour of a sort of 'tell don't show' method, but it did give us some nice insights into Max meeting certain characters for the first time. Her descriptions of Will, Steve and Nancy are particularly cute.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one!