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A review by slichto3
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
5.0
Wowza, Trust Exercise blew me away! I started it off SUPER skeptical, but the longer I read the more I found myself immersed in the story and guessing that the reality behind the stories. A very cool, very powerful book.
The story is basically about three different students pursuing theatre at a fancy high school arts academy called CAPA: David, Sarah, and another character I don't really want to name because of spoilers. At CAPA, they have a weird theatre class called Trust Exercises taught by Mr. Kingsley. Starting in this class, a romance starts to bloom between David and Sarah, but it fizzles because of mixed love styles and lack of communication - they're teenagers! At some point in the middle of the school year, CAPA hosts a handful of English high school actors and their teacher, Martin. There's quite a bit of hooking up between the CAPA folks and the English folks. The book looks at these events themselves, then also looks at the impact of those events on our main characters in the future.
What results is a fascinating look at the subjective experience of our main characters on what we think is objective reality. It's an incredibly engaging puzzle with a powerful emotional punch that feels very relevant to today.
To anyone reading this: have patience! I started Trust Exercise by rolling my eyes a bit. The prose feels excessive and overdramatic. It's annoying but (a) you get used to it, and (b) there is a meaning and a reason behind it. If you're patient and read this book all the way through, you'll get answers and you'll get more wrapped up in the story.
My favorite element of Trust Exercise was the characters. You get such a strong sense of the characters, their viewpoints, and their experiences. I just finished reading The Hunger Games, which I very much enjoyed, but hated the flatness of the characters. Trust Exercise felt worlds apart. I felt I really got to know Sarah, David, and this nameless character. They aren't always likable, they don't always do the best stuff, but I ultimately felt a strong connection, understanding, and affection for all of them. But I didn't feel that right away!
I also loved the way the subjective experience of the characters played into the story. No character seems completely honest, but, by the end, you understand why the characters are duplicitous. It felt so real, too, and satisfying as a puzzle.
While the writing frustrated me at first, I really grew to appreciate what the author was doing. The style changes as the book progresses, and I enjoyed and was impressed by what the author did with that style shift. A very enjoyable book to read.
Most powerfully, there was the exploration of sexuality and, specifically, sexual misconduct. Holy moly, that blew me away. Just getting the perspective of female characters dealing with sex with some unsavory people was eye-opening and painful but also important. There were times where I thought "I don't want to exist in this character right now" because of how painful some of the depictions of the way women are treated and experience society. It's tough, but that's what makes the message of the book so strong. There are depictions of some powerful men, powerful through age/position/experience, taking advantage of young girls. It's hard to read sometimes as it's happening, but Trust Exercise also shows you the affect that abuse takes on characters well into the future. It changes people's lives, even when it sometimes feels like no big deal. Some spoilers:
I absolutely loved Trust Exercise. It's been nominated for the National Book Award, and it feels very deserving to me. I'd recommend this to anyone. Be warned: it takes some patience. Sometimes it will feel overdramatic. It's also a potentially painful or triggering read. But it's worthwhile and engaging in the strongest possible way.
The story is basically about three different students pursuing theatre at a fancy high school arts academy called CAPA: David, Sarah, and another character I don't really want to name because of spoilers. At CAPA, they have a weird theatre class called Trust Exercises taught by Mr. Kingsley. Starting in this class, a romance starts to bloom between David and Sarah, but it fizzles because of mixed love styles and lack of communication - they're teenagers! At some point in the middle of the school year, CAPA hosts a handful of English high school actors and their teacher, Martin. There's quite a bit of hooking up between the CAPA folks and the English folks. The book looks at these events themselves, then also looks at the impact of those events on our main characters in the future.
What results is a fascinating look at the subjective experience of our main characters on what we think is objective reality. It's an incredibly engaging puzzle with a powerful emotional punch that feels very relevant to today.
To anyone reading this: have patience! I started Trust Exercise by rolling my eyes a bit. The prose feels excessive and overdramatic. It's annoying but (a) you get used to it, and (b) there is a meaning and a reason behind it. If you're patient and read this book all the way through, you'll get answers and you'll get more wrapped up in the story.
My favorite element of Trust Exercise was the characters. You get such a strong sense of the characters, their viewpoints, and their experiences. I just finished reading The Hunger Games, which I very much enjoyed, but hated the flatness of the characters. Trust Exercise felt worlds apart. I felt I really got to know Sarah, David, and this nameless character. They aren't always likable, they don't always do the best stuff, but I ultimately felt a strong connection, understanding, and affection for all of them. But I didn't feel that right away!
I also loved the way the subjective experience of the characters played into the story. No character seems completely honest, but, by the end, you understand why the characters are duplicitous. It felt so real, too, and satisfying as a puzzle.
While the writing frustrated me at first, I really grew to appreciate what the author was doing. The style changes as the book progresses, and I enjoyed and was impressed by what the author did with that style shift. A very enjoyable book to read.
Most powerfully, there was the exploration of sexuality and, specifically, sexual misconduct. Holy moly, that blew me away. Just getting the perspective of female characters dealing with sex with some unsavory people was eye-opening and painful but also important. There were times where I thought "I don't want to exist in this character right now" because of how painful some of the depictions of the way women are treated and experience society. It's tough, but that's what makes the message of the book so strong. There are depictions of some powerful men, powerful through age/position/experience, taking advantage of young girls. It's hard to read sometimes as it's happening, but Trust Exercise also shows you the affect that abuse takes on characters well into the future. It changes people's lives, even when it sometimes feels like no big deal. Some spoilers:
Spoiler
Mr. Kingsley and Martin are such pieces of shit. They abuse their position and their position as mentors to completely take advantage of their students. It's disgusting. Sometimes, you don't even see this abuse directly, but you see how strongly it gets to the emotions and thoughts of your main characters. It's really messed up, but I'm glad that this book illustrates it. It at least helped me to better understand what women in general go through, but also what women who have been abused by these powerful men go through.I absolutely loved Trust Exercise. It's been nominated for the National Book Award, and it feels very deserving to me. I'd recommend this to anyone. Be warned: it takes some patience. Sometimes it will feel overdramatic. It's also a potentially painful or triggering read. But it's worthwhile and engaging in the strongest possible way.