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A review by ablotial
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book was really well done, which maybe should surprise no one given that it won the Pulitzer Prize, but often I do not end up loving the prize winners. In this case, though, I think it is warranted. Initially, the writing felt a bit stiff for me given the setting and characters of the book, but over time I didn't notice that anymore and fell into the story.
For those of you who don't know, this is a work of fiction but it is based on a real "school" for juvenile delinquents that existed called the Dozier Boys School. I guess it was in the news a few years ago but it was a first-heard-about for me, although sadly I was unsurprised by the conditions and injustices faced by Elwood and his fellow students. It's so sad how someone like Elwood, with so much promise and a future that indicated he was going to get OUT of there, ended up as a result of racial profiling (he committed no crime!) and the ineptitude of anyone caring about the boys at the school. Of course, Elwood's exact situation was fictional -- who knows if there really was such a promising boy who ended up there on such crap charges? -- but sadly it is fully believable that it absolutely could have happened.
When the book flipped back to section 3, I didn't love it. After the intro section in the present day, I thought we would only return to find him going to visit and call it good. But then it was going on, with his relationship and his job and the guy he ran into on the street and I just ... it was hard for me to find it in me to care about these kind of crappy adults, aside from feeling bad that they ended up this way through no real fault of their own. I wanted to get back and hear about the kids, come to a resolution! But of course, I kept reading, and it all became clear. I'm not sure all that's really possible this day and age but I like the idea of it. And maybe it is, given the circumstances and timing of when it all went down.
Overall, good book, although not five stars for me. I enjoyed it and was invested in Elwood and Turner and their situation. I went back and forth on the formality of the writing style given the setting. And I kind of felt like he tried to cram *too* much in... I'm sure all these things happened in one way or another, but probably not all to the same person. Or maybe they did. But I suppose it makes for a better novel to be able to throw it all in. It did inspire me to add We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys to my TBR.
For those of you who don't know, this is a work of fiction but it is based on a real "school" for juvenile delinquents that existed called the Dozier Boys School. I guess it was in the news a few years ago but it was a first-heard-about for me, although sadly I was unsurprised by the conditions and injustices faced by Elwood and his fellow students. It's so sad how someone like Elwood, with so much promise and a future that indicated he was going to get OUT of there, ended up as a result of racial profiling (he committed no crime!) and the ineptitude of anyone caring about the boys at the school. Of course, Elwood's exact situation was fictional -- who knows if there really was such a promising boy who ended up there on such crap charges? -- but sadly it is fully believable that it absolutely could have happened.
When the book flipped back to section 3, I didn't love it. After the intro section in the present day, I thought we would only return to find him going to visit and call it good. But then it was going on, with his relationship and his job and the guy he ran into on the street and I just ... it was hard for me to find it in me to care about these kind of crappy adults, aside from feeling bad that they ended up this way through no real fault of their own. I wanted to get back and hear about the kids, come to a resolution! But of course, I kept reading, and it all became clear. I'm not sure all that's really possible this day and age but I like the idea of it. And maybe it is, given the circumstances and timing of when it all went down.
Overall, good book, although not five stars for me. I enjoyed it and was invested in Elwood and Turner and their situation. I went back and forth on the formality of the writing style given the setting. And I kind of felt like he tried to cram *too* much in... I'm sure all these things happened in one way or another, but probably not all to the same person. Or maybe they did. But I suppose it makes for a better novel to be able to throw it all in. It did inspire me to add We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys to my TBR.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Child abuse
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual violence