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A review by hannahcolechin22
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
4.5
“You can change the law, but you can’t change people and how they treat each other.”
That was more hard-hitting than I expected it to be. I knew it was going to be a rough ride, but I wasn’t expecting it to have as much of an impact on me as it did. Colson Whitehead’s ‘The Nickel Boys,’ follows the story of an African American boy, Elwood Curtis, in the early 1960s. After being unjustly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory (Nickel Academy), Elwood is forced to experience the cruel and abusive environment of the institution. Along the way, Elwood befriends another boy, Turner, and together they face the racism, corruption, and dark secrets of Nickel Academy, things found in most American juvenile systems during this period.
Without ruining the plot, this book includes a very well-placed and shockingly good narrative twist – my mouth was literally hanging open when it was revealed. This twist (which gave details about the fate of a certain character) truly deepened the impact this novel had on me.
One very harsh criticism I have of this book was the order of events. The narrative unfolds over different time periods and is divided into several parts. Although I thought it was a clever structural choice, especially when it came to the twist, jumping between the present day and the 60s was hard to keep up with at points.
That was more hard-hitting than I expected it to be. I knew it was going to be a rough ride, but I wasn’t expecting it to have as much of an impact on me as it did. Colson Whitehead’s ‘The Nickel Boys,’ follows the story of an African American boy, Elwood Curtis, in the early 1960s. After being unjustly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory (Nickel Academy), Elwood is forced to experience the cruel and abusive environment of the institution. Along the way, Elwood befriends another boy, Turner, and together they face the racism, corruption, and dark secrets of Nickel Academy, things found in most American juvenile systems during this period.
Without ruining the plot, this book includes a very well-placed and shockingly good narrative twist – my mouth was literally hanging open when it was revealed. This twist (which gave details about the fate of a certain character) truly deepened the impact this novel had on me.
One very harsh criticism I have of this book was the order of events. The narrative unfolds over different time periods and is divided into several parts. Although I thought it was a clever structural choice, especially when it came to the twist, jumping between the present day and the 60s was hard to keep up with at points.