jenisreading 's review for:

Flashlight: A Novel by Susan Choi

4.0

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This is a powerful book that I kind of didn’t like, but still appreciated its execution. It is so well-written: traveling through time (mostly linear but unevenly spaced) and POVs, she skillfully captures disdain, arrogance, helplessness, resolve, fear, and the complicated relationships of deeply unlikable characters. It’s cleverly divided into parts: the immediate aftermath, the history, the after, the realization, the resignation, and the reckoning (they’re not titled as such but this is how I interpret them). The action amps steeply up in the last third after an uneventful and laggy middle. Dense text, but vibrant and evocative; somehow it felt too long, but also like every part was necessary. Likewise, some things seem carelessly discarded or inadequately explained while others are belabored.