whatabbysreading 's review for:

Fox by Joyce Carol Oates

4.0

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This is a really difficult book to rate. I've never read any of Oates works before, but I know she has a reputation for heavy emotional prose, and boy does she deliver that here. The content is undeniably disturbing, so a reader needs to be in the right headspace to digest it all. The shifting perspectives added a lot of interesting layers to the narrative, though there were some characters I wish we spent more time with (Demetrius, Genevieve) while some other characters I could have used a bit less of (Francis, Zwender). The writing itself is captivating and the mystery was compelling enough to keep the page turning, though some of the descriptions of pedophilia and child sexual abuse was a bit too vivid for me. There were other aspects of the plot that I wish were fleshed out a bit more, like the class imbalance between members of the community. Overall, this book was a decent introduction to Oates writing, and whether I like it or not, the story of Mr. Fox will stick with me for awhile.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing for providing me with an advanced digital copy via NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault