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A review by mbcovarrubias
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
4.0
I think this is probably one of [a:Chuck Wendig|17152|Chuck Wendig|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1294919586p2/17152.jpg]'s best books! It is extremely relevant to today, and this current era in humanity. However, I do not think that it has lasting potential. There are some very strong truths within the themes that speak to right here and right now, that may not be relevant in a few years, hopefully. I've had the pleasure of interacting with Mr. Wendig a few times on twitter, and it seems that our circles very much intersected in this novel and his thoughts.
I grew up in an extremely radicalized Evangelical Christian community. You never really know how radical a community is until after you are far removed from them. There are a lot of themes in this novel that I found ran through my own past as well as some other wonderful pop-culture icons of this era such as The Handmaid's Tale (TV Series), The Perfection (Netflix movie), and even intersecting his own common theme of the dangers of technology and the internet found in his other novels. I bring up my past because one of the major characters in the novel, Matthew Bird, read very familiar to me.
I was a "Progressive Christian" minister who still dabbled in speaking about prophecies and eschatology. This was so much of my identity that it didn't allow me to see what was right in front of me; my wife and my son. Though this was more of a Side plot, it very much helped to see how I also contributed to the division that Christianity is now experiencing. As I have since stepped out of that role and am very much working on being myself, and enjoying my life in myself. I saw a lot of the pain that this particular character endured, and would continue to endure.
I thoroughly enjoyed the themes of how religion, politics, and even reliance on technology can lead to radicalism. I'm not super happy with the twist at the end. Though I do see how it fits in with the themes, it just didn't feel right to me. There was something unsettling about how the story ended for me. Not sure why that was. It was due to this that I didn't give it a full 5 stars. Overall I was quite pleased with this read.
I grew up in an extremely radicalized Evangelical Christian community. You never really know how radical a community is until after you are far removed from them. There are a lot of themes in this novel that I found ran through my own past as well as some other wonderful pop-culture icons of this era such as The Handmaid's Tale (TV Series), The Perfection (Netflix movie), and even intersecting his own common theme of the dangers of technology and the internet found in his other novels. I bring up my past because one of the major characters in the novel, Matthew Bird, read very familiar to me.
I was a "Progressive Christian" minister who still dabbled in speaking about prophecies and eschatology. This was so much of my identity that it didn't allow me to see what was right in front of me; my wife and my son. Though this was more of a Side plot, it very much helped to see how I also contributed to the division that Christianity is now experiencing. As I have since stepped out of that role and am very much working on being myself, and enjoying my life in myself. I saw a lot of the pain that this particular character endured, and would continue to endure.
I thoroughly enjoyed the themes of how religion, politics, and even reliance on technology can lead to radicalism. I'm not super happy with the twist at the end. Though I do see how it fits in with the themes, it just didn't feel right to me. There was something unsettling about how the story ended for me. Not sure why that was. It was due to this that I didn't give it a full 5 stars. Overall I was quite pleased with this read.