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A review by melbsreads
The Reluctant Hallelujah by Gabrielle Williams
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Trigger warnings: disappearance of a parent, car accident, death of a friend, police shooting
I.......................... What in the actual FUCK did I just read?!
I picked this book up because between the cover and the blurb, I was getting cult vibes. And my students freaking LOVE books about cults, so I thought I'd check it out and potentially add it to the repertoire of recommendations. And then instead of a book about a cult (which, honestly, is my bad) I got.............Weekend at Bernie's but with Jesus??????
And it's infuriating because this captures Melbourne and the end of high school SO WELL in the early stages of the book. And then out of the blue, we get the dead (but still warm and not decayed) body of Jesus and we're roadtripping him to Sydney?!?!
I'm just... I'm very confused. I'm confused about how Williams came up with this idea in the first place, especially given that the protagonist and her family aren't religious. I'm confused about how this got published. I'm confused about why the hell the blurb and the cover feel so disconnected from the actual story. And I'm especially confused by the ending, which felt very..."So that happened! And now it's six months later tralala" somehow.
All in all, a baffling reading experience.
I.......................... What in the actual FUCK did I just read?!
I picked this book up because between the cover and the blurb, I was getting cult vibes. And my students freaking LOVE books about cults, so I thought I'd check it out and potentially add it to the repertoire of recommendations. And then instead of a book about a cult (which, honestly, is my bad) I got.............Weekend at Bernie's but with Jesus??????
And it's infuriating because this captures Melbourne and the end of high school SO WELL in the early stages of the book. And then out of the blue, we get the dead (but still warm and not decayed) body of Jesus and we're roadtripping him to Sydney?!?!
I'm just... I'm very confused. I'm confused about how Williams came up with this idea in the first place, especially given that the protagonist and her family aren't religious. I'm confused about how this got published. I'm confused about why the hell the blurb and the cover feel so disconnected from the actual story. And I'm especially confused by the ending, which felt very..."So that happened! And now it's six months later tralala" somehow.
All in all, a baffling reading experience.