A review by invisibleninjacat
Heat and Light by Jennifer Haigh

2.0

I expected a novel about fracking, which I did get. I did not, however, expect it to be wrapped in the apparently existential creeping despair and toxic masculinity of small-town Rust Belt America. There were queer characters, which was nice, but one of the lesbian couple was referred to as "basically a man" the entire time, which was less nice. To be fair, there was a vague mention that she might be nonbinary or trans, but she never encountered those terms, so it's hard to say. Women are largely viewed as sex objects first, incompetents second, and maybe people if they're lucky. Infidelity is rampant, as is drug use. The ending is unsatisfying. Overall, a depressing read.