This is one of those books where you should understand what you're getting into before reading it. When I first started reading, I didn't know what to make of it. My husband read it beforehand and was able to let me know it was a cross between a mystery and a coming of age story.
That description was helpful. Because as a mystery, it was lacking. As a coming of age story, it was lacking. But together, it was good. I did find it hard to connect to the main character, seeing as he's a 13 year old boy. As I've written before, I have 3 sisters. I have 4 daughters. I have no idea how to relate to a 13-year-old boy. Thankfully, there were sweet moments in the book between the friends that redeemed the crudeness of the boys.
This plot itself is about a 13-year-old Native American boy who lives on the reservation. The author pulls the reader into the book quickly. The tragic event that becomes the mystery starts within a few pages. The ending was interesting and had depth in some way. But, really it's just a coming of age story.
The narrator is the boy, but as an older man. He's looking back to the summer of 1988, when he's 13 and a tragic event happens. I enjoyed the complexity of the characters and how it was narrated. Louise Erdrich wrote the book without quotations marks around the dialog, which adds an interesting note to the book.
It was a well researched and written book. But if you don't like crude language of 13-year-old boys, skip this read.
No comments:
Post a Comment