Scan barcode
A review by cloreadsbooks1364
Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
"Monsters don't get to be innocent. Monsters don't get to beg for mercy. They don't deserve it."
I began this book without even reading the blurb, so I was delighted to be thrown into a heart-racing action scene with that amazing writing style I've loved in AJW's past books.
This book is set in a county in West Virginia called Twist Creek in 2017. Its been ruled by the same horrible family of sheriffs for a century, who are willing to hurt others to keep their dirty secrets. For example, as the blurb will tell you, Miles is seriously injured by Sheriff Davies's son at the very beginning because he had photo evidence of the sheriff causing Cooper's mother's death. It's also fiercely far right-wing, hating all diversity. Every single family is white American. So yeah, definitely not the ideal place for any member of a marginalised community to live.
Our protagonist is Miles, a sixteen-year old autistic trans boy. He's a socialist, and he loves his state of West Virginia. He is honest, unafraid of his opinions unless they stand a physical threat to his family. Also sensible, brave, wary. I absolutely adored him as a protagonist, he was relatable in some ways, and had a strong personality. He also had the best dog, Lady.
Cooper, Miles's old friend, immediately stood out as an important character to me. Through his kindness in the opening chapters, I assumed he was a good guy. Well, that opinion changed. I won't say anything more because of spoilers.
Dallas, the brave enby who wasn't afraid to share their political views openly in a community that opposed them, was easy to love as a character.
Miles's father and mother were kind, caring, resilient. I love reading about supportive parents, who care fir their children no matter what.
Sheriff Davies, the man who made an entire family fear for their safety due to his and his ancestors' brutality, was the antagonist of this story. He was also sexist, at one point assuming Miles's mother had been cooking when it had been his father upon barging into their house unannounced. It's safe to say I loathed him. And Noah, he was also pure evil.
This book is, overall, about a family who have for a generation been harmed by their society because of an ancestor's rebelling actions and their fate of being harmed by the sheriff. This is how that stops.
There was a paranormal aspect, if it can be called that. Miles sees the ghost of his great-great-grandfather, Saint Abernathy, but even at the end he isn't sure if Saint was real or not (though one event proves it, which I can't mention).
The trans rep was perfect, as was the autistic rep. Thank you, Andrew Joseph White, for providing the trans autistic protagonists we need in literature.
Overall, I think this book is something else. Something unique, brilliant.
Brutal is the word I'd use to describe it, purely brutal, both the things that happen in this novel and its affect on the reader.
It is clearly a 5-star read.
Listen, this book is very heavy. There is a lot of violence, multiple murders, the transphobia is quite harsh, and if any trigger listed below is something you can't read, please don't force yourself to.
TWs: violence, transphobia, outing of a trans person, gun violence, abelism, murder, bullying, torture, kidnapping, blood, injuries, drug use, deadnaming, hate crime, death, emotional abuse, police brutality, gore, classism, child death
The next TWs occur before the events of this book, but are still mentioned: pedophilia, car accident, death of a parent, fire, animal cruelty, animal death
Queer rep:
Transmasc protagonist
Queer sc
Transmasc sc
Non-binary sc
Aromanic (questioning) character (won't spoil who as it's near the end)
Other rep:
Autistic protagonist
ADHD side character
Side characters with PTSD x2
Autistic background character
I began this book without even reading the blurb, so I was delighted to be thrown into a heart-racing action scene with that amazing writing style I've loved in AJW's past books.
This book is set in a county in West Virginia called Twist Creek in 2017. Its been ruled by the same horrible family of sheriffs for a century, who are willing to hurt others to keep their dirty secrets. For example, as the blurb will tell you, Miles is seriously injured by Sheriff Davies's son at the very beginning because he had photo evidence of the sheriff causing Cooper's mother's death. It's also fiercely far right-wing, hating all diversity. Every single family is white American. So yeah, definitely not the ideal place for any member of a marginalised community to live.
Our protagonist is Miles, a sixteen-year old autistic trans boy. He's a socialist, and he loves his state of West Virginia. He is honest, unafraid of his opinions unless they stand a physical threat to his family. Also sensible, brave, wary. I absolutely adored him as a protagonist, he was relatable in some ways, and had a strong personality. He also had the best dog, Lady.
Cooper, Miles's old friend, immediately stood out as an important character to me. Through his kindness in the opening chapters, I assumed he was a good guy. Well, that opinion changed. I won't say anything more because of spoilers.
Dallas, the brave enby who wasn't afraid to share their political views openly in a community that opposed them, was easy to love as a character.
Miles's father and mother were kind, caring, resilient. I love reading about supportive parents, who care fir their children no matter what.
Sheriff Davies, the man who made an entire family fear for their safety due to his and his ancestors' brutality, was the antagonist of this story. He was also sexist, at one point assuming Miles's mother had been cooking when it had been his father upon barging into their house unannounced. It's safe to say I loathed him. And Noah, he was also pure evil.
This book is, overall, about a family who have for a generation been harmed by their society because of an ancestor's rebelling actions and their fate of being harmed by the sheriff. This is how that stops.
There was a paranormal aspect, if it can be called that. Miles sees the ghost of his great-great-grandfather, Saint Abernathy, but even at the end he isn't sure if Saint was real or not (though one event proves it, which I can't mention).
The trans rep was perfect, as was the autistic rep. Thank you, Andrew Joseph White, for providing the trans autistic protagonists we need in literature.
Overall, I think this book is something else. Something unique, brilliant.
Brutal is the word I'd use to describe it, purely brutal, both the things that happen in this novel and its affect on the reader.
It is clearly a 5-star read.
Listen, this book is very heavy. There is a lot of violence, multiple murders, the transphobia is quite harsh, and if any trigger listed below is something you can't read, please don't force yourself to.
TWs: violence, transphobia, outing of a trans person, gun violence, abelism, murder, bullying, torture, kidnapping, blood, injuries, drug use, deadnaming, hate crime, death, emotional abuse, police brutality, gore, classism, child death
The next TWs occur before the events of this book, but are still mentioned: pedophilia, car accident, death of a parent, fire, animal cruelty, animal death
Queer rep:
Transmasc protagonist
Queer sc
Transmasc sc
Non-binary sc
Aromanic (questioning) character (won't spoil who as it's near the end)
Other rep:
Autistic protagonist
ADHD side character
Side characters with PTSD x2
Autistic background character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Gun violence, Gore, Death, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Medical content, Alcohol, Car accident, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent