A review by wonderlantis
The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem

funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This was a kinda fun read because the characters were engaging (as you’d hope from such a dialogue heavy story), but it’s not really that substantive. It seemed very much a self insert type of story where the author references a lot of their favorite media just to do so without it meaningfully furthering the story and the real action of the story comes in only the very last chapters. A lot of build up for very little pay off in my personal opinion (especially for an apocalyptic sci-fi). They had a chance to explore a lot of heavy topics and set the stage to do so just to end up not doing so. The ending left me pretty disappointed. I did admire how the author inserted photos from pop culture that looked like the imagery he was trying to convey, it added a little color to what was a generally bland non-descriptive book and fit the theme of the story well. I also like the concept of Hollywood types in dystopia, but feel it could have been done much better. Lots of missed potential here.