A review by marywahlmeierbracciano
Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Andrew Joseph White just doesn’t miss.  Compound Fracture is yet another stunning, visceral novel from the absolute master of trans YA horror.  Miles is proud of his Appalachian heritage, but it ain’t easy being an Abernathy.  The brutal murder of his great-great-grandfather—an outspoken socialist, labor organizer, and coal miner—ignited a decades-long blood feud that has Miles beaten to within an inch of his life in the book’s first pages.  What follows is a bloody, beautiful story about finding power in family—past and present, touching on radical politics, the opioid crisis, and trans erasure and with much-needed undiagnosed autistic representation.  Dani Martineck’s narration is incredible.  Read this instead of Hillbilly Elegy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Murder, and Outing

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Hate crime, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Alcohol