Sandra reviewed Anthem by Noah Hawley
Review of 'Anthem' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
2 1/2 stars
There were parts of the book I liked and other parts seemed very silly and full of plot holes. I kept going back and forth... I like this, I want to find out what happens next---this is ridiculous, what the hell?
All in all, though the book is ok and keeps you reading I think it ultimately fails and basically says nothing at all. The silly part was it was based off of real events happening right now in America. The political division, covid, weirdos like "the boogaloo boys" anti-government types and trumpers, mental health struggles of our kids, climate changes, opioid epidemic etc... It tried to shoe-horn in every major topic which is cool, I guess, I mean this is our reality in America right now, but it basically went nowhere. These societal ills are complicated and not easily solvable so of course a mere writer …
2 1/2 stars
There were parts of the book I liked and other parts seemed very silly and full of plot holes. I kept going back and forth... I like this, I want to find out what happens next---this is ridiculous, what the hell?
All in all, though the book is ok and keeps you reading I think it ultimately fails and basically says nothing at all. The silly part was it was based off of real events happening right now in America. The political division, covid, weirdos like "the boogaloo boys" anti-government types and trumpers, mental health struggles of our kids, climate changes, opioid epidemic etc... It tried to shoe-horn in every major topic which is cool, I guess, I mean this is our reality in America right now, but it basically went nowhere. These societal ills are complicated and not easily solvable so of course a mere writer of fiction will not have the answers, so uh, why go there? Maybe just choose ONE and examine how it affects the average American family. There is a compelling story there- you don't need to pile all of these problems in one story. Especially if they cannot be resoved in a believable fashion.
The main focus of the book, teenagers trying to save a young girl from a Jeffery Epstein type character was so unbelievable as to be silly. Come on... these psychologically damaged kids from a psych ward suddenly become superheros? Hmmm... And what was with the whole interlude with the witch? That made absolutely NO SENSE and did nothing to further the narrative. Storylines went nowhere and weren't resolved, just "And they lived happily ever after".
the end
