Reviews and Comments

Abandoned

Audiobook from DCPL

Audiobook from DCPL

This book was a collaboration between Jodi Picoult and Jenny Finney but you wouldn't know it based on the Goodreads entry... makes it sound like it's all Picoult. It's a shame, because it's one of the more effective collaborations I've read, and I appreciated the authors' notes at the end that explained their process.

I'm deliberately not sharing details about the plot or any of its twists (which anyone who has read a Picoult book knows to expect) because I don't want to spoil the surprises, but I appreciated this book and the issues it took on. I hope it lands in many small town libraries and cultivates a bit of empathy and compassion among those who read it.

Calling it now: this is going to be my top read for 2023. Lit classes are going to study this book for Kingsolver's ability to craft an authentic voice, tease out the most telling details, and somehow keep a book that should be wholly depressing (TW: drugs! addiction! orphans! death! abuse!) moving along at a break-neck pace with incisive, laugh-out-loud observations and dialogue. Any curriculum that is still using (fraudulent loser) JD Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy" to teach about Appalachia should go ahead and upgrade to this book, stat!

The magic of this book is that you root for Demon even though you know the odds are stacked (and STACKED) against him. He's lovable despite his flaws, and you just want to see him beat the system.

3.5 rounding up for originality. A compelling picture of a girl who does her best with limited options. So often, it's easy for people to read a headline and jump to conclusions about the decisions that led to the outcome. Mottley does a good job showing how circumstances can pile up and one simple move can have consequences beyond anything imagined or intended. There were aspects of the story that felt a bit stilted to me, but that might have been (or likely was) a product of my own inattention rather than any fault of the author. I especially appreciated that this book highlighted another aspect of police violence, and one that's often under-reported. Infuriating.

3.5 rounding up. Some aspects of the plot and character development are a bit lumpy in execution, but I'm giving the author points for crafting a fast-paced mystery with an unlikely protagonist.

3.25, rounding to 4 because I like coming of age stories about misfits who find their thing. While I enjoyed this book, I didn't feel deeply connected to any of the characters. There were some fun and clever moments, and some sentences that really showcase Wilson's skill as a writer. My challenge is that I still felt arms-length to the players, rather than fully immersed in their story.

I love a coming of age story set on a college campus – or so I thought. I wonder if I couldn't get into this one because it was too similar to my own college experience so I found myself cringing and bored instead of appreciative? Maybe. Ir struck me as the book I might have written when I was 23 and still overly-fascinated by myself... there's a lot of self-important navel-gazing, sexual exploration, bad romance, and Big Questions. Now that I'm twice that age, it's a yawn. I will say, however, that there are some LOL and poignant moments that suggest this author will be one to watch.

If you're in the mood for a legal thriller a la John Grisham, this is a solid pick. It includes all branches of government, multiple states and countries, and both the legal and medical fields, demonstrating that Stacey Abrams is no slouch. As someone who lived in DC for 25 years, I found the local references (Kramerbooks, anyone?) especially fun – especially since Avery (the SCOTUS Clerk) lived four blocks from my old place. :)

I saw another review that characterized this as hilarious and horrifying, and I think that nails it. As a white person, regardless of how much time you've spent trying to educate yourself on racism and how many stories you've heard, something about seeing this collection (incomplete and partial as it is) really drives home how prevalent racism is and how much energy Black people must expend enduring these encounters. While the stories are enraging, outrageous, and heartbreaking – somehow they also manage to tell them in a way that's funny. I appreciated the incongruence of shaking my head in disgust at our society one minute, then snorting out loud in the next. I highly recommend this as an audiobook, because the delivery is next-level. Bravo. Can't wait to listen to their next book.

When I borrowed this from the online library, I got the audiobook because I didn't realize it was a graphic novel. I was about 30% into it before I realized I wasn't consuming it in its intended format. That said, it still worked incredibly well as an audiobook, so I can only imagine its full impact if I had been able to see the illustrations as well. I now need to find the graphic novel so I can see how/what that shifts or deepens for me. All that aside, this book does a great job creating empathy for the refugee experience – living in a crowded refugee camp, being separated from family, going to school, waiting for news of acceptance into a new country – and ultimately the persistence and triumph of the human spirit. I'd love to see this book in all middle school and high school libraries.