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A review by stateofgrace
Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos by Nash Jenkins
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Really enjoyed reading this book! It was very The Secret History-esque in the sense that the reader starts off knowing the ending, and is led to that point over the course of the story. The setting is very dark academia, which makes it perfect for autumn. The format — a multimedia journalistic investigation into a prep school scandal — framed the story in a really interesting way. The characters were all complex — even when they were unlikeable they were compelling. The complex social politics within Kennedy and the feelings of depression and otherness that Foster felt as a student there felt very authentically high school, and reminiscent of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
While I’m sure the writing style isn’t for everyone (even I grew tired of the number of words I had to Google!), for the most part I enjoyed the prose. The only issue I had with this book was the ending — after all of the pages dedicated to fleshing out every little detail of life at Kennedy, I would have appreciated if there were more pages dedicated to life after Kennedy, for both Foster and the other students in his orbit.
While I’m sure the writing style isn’t for everyone (even I grew tired of the number of words I had to Google!), for the most part I enjoyed the prose. The only issue I had with this book was the ending — after all of the pages dedicated to fleshing out every little detail of life at Kennedy, I would have appreciated if there were more pages dedicated to life after Kennedy, for both Foster and the other students in his orbit.