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A review by longlost
Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff
3.0
one of the main reasons i started reading this book was to get a feel for the culture of Brooklyn, and i feel like the author did that here perfectly. i felt completely immersed in this urban world, and while i didn't particularly connect with any of the characters i wouldn't say that that's a flaw on the book's part because it IS hard for me to connect to most characters, especially in books. i did feel for Kid's arc throughout the book, and i was invested in their relationship with scout - i especially enjoyed the sort of 'detached' way, for lack of a better word, that the author wrote the relationships between these characters. you can feel the tenuousness between each character and how their environment is impacting their behaviour and their wellbeing.
the depiction of homelessness and its hardships was also done in a respectful and nuanced way in my opinion - it's never depicted as anything "glamorous" or "enticingly edgy" like some media can do with subjects as heavy as this, but it's also put into the story in a holistic way that doesn't make homelessness Kid's sole problem. sure, they're homeless, and this has an effect on them and how they behave, but there's more to their character than just being Some Homeless Kid. maybe an odd thing to mention, but i've seen a lot of media types make something like this into the sole defining problem for a character, and i'm glad it didn't happen here.
the characters also feel very defined and appropriately used. i was especially fond of Fish, as she felt particularly three-dimensional, and i very much appreciated the attention to the contrast of her wanting to help Kid and their friends, but also wanting to follow the law to keep her business safe. the relationship between Kid & Scout, despite feeling at times rushed and over-the-top, felt perfectly in place in a story about Kid's life-changing summer in Brooklyn. if it were in any other setting then it may not have worked for me, but here it felt like it captured the tone of the book perfectly.
all-in-all, a moving story about healing from pain and opening up. i'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who's looking for some nice prose and some character-driven story arcs. things don't so much happen to the characters in this book as the characters happen to it - you're introduced to this little corner of Brooklyn where the characters reside, and we're very much led to explore the consequences of their actions, and sometimes their inaction.
the depiction of homelessness and its hardships was also done in a respectful and nuanced way in my opinion - it's never depicted as anything "glamorous" or "enticingly edgy" like some media can do with subjects as heavy as this, but it's also put into the story in a holistic way that doesn't make homelessness Kid's sole problem. sure, they're homeless, and this has an effect on them and how they behave, but there's more to their character than just being Some Homeless Kid. maybe an odd thing to mention, but i've seen a lot of media types make something like this into the sole defining problem for a character, and i'm glad it didn't happen here.
the characters also feel very defined and appropriately used. i was especially fond of Fish, as she felt particularly three-dimensional, and i very much appreciated the attention to the contrast of her wanting to help Kid and their friends, but also wanting to follow the law to keep her business safe. the relationship between Kid & Scout, despite feeling at times rushed and over-the-top, felt perfectly in place in a story about Kid's life-changing summer in Brooklyn. if it were in any other setting then it may not have worked for me, but here it felt like it captured the tone of the book perfectly.
all-in-all, a moving story about healing from pain and opening up. i'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who's looking for some nice prose and some character-driven story arcs. things don't so much happen to the characters in this book as the characters happen to it - you're introduced to this little corner of Brooklyn where the characters reside, and we're very much led to explore the consequences of their actions, and sometimes their inaction.