A review by thenerdyartivist
Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King

5.0

This was the weirdest, strangest, most fucked up, beautiful, confusing, literal, metaphorical, realistic, disturbing, thought provoking, truest book I've ever read. Did I mention weird?
My mind is a fucking tornado.
I don't know where to start.

Sarah is sixteen. She's an artist. She was an artist. She doesn't know anymore. She's having an existential crisis. Something happened when she was ten. She can't remember what. She can't see her future. Nothing ever happens. Nothing is original. Sarah is an artist who can't make art because something happened. But she'll get a bit of help from herself to find a way...

It took me so long to get into this book. This is not one you read without being profoundly concentrated.
I loved how weird it was, even though it could be very repetitive (repetition is nice but this was way too much, hence the minus half a star) and a bit confusing at times.

I think my brain was fucked up a few times from all the focusing and mind blowing ideas. It was also very well written. Nice sentences. Quotes which stick by you no matter what. The construction of the plot is one of the most complex I've ever read. Even more than Vicious by V.E. Schwab, and that's saying something.

I could relate to the main character, but then I hated her, the same way I hate myself. I think we were too much alike. Too much ruined. The characters felt so real it was disturbing.
It tackles a lot of very important and unimportant issues which are just as important as the important ones. Again, I love how realistic it was.
I dreamt of this book. Literally, after reading I had dreams about it. This is not the kind of book you forget.

I think it's the kind of book you either hate or love. I loved it.
It's hard to recommend it though. The MC is sixteen but I wouldn't recommend under eighteen.
On the back of the book, there's a review by The New York Times. It says: "Moving, unapologetically strange, skillfully constructed... Read this book, whatever your age. You may find its the exact shape and size of the hole in your heart."
It's a really good and accurate review. I have no other words.

This book is art. This book is life. Blunt, harsh, beautiful, true. Life. This book is a tornado with everything inside it.