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ttolbert915's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
shadowfaxlegacy's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
txchetg's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, Violence, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Self harm
lallie91's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
danab13's review against another edition
5.0
Favorite quotes:
No matter how strong a man was, there were moments in life that left him empty, things that could hollow his heart like a cavern in little more than an instant.
It’d be like finding Jesus. It’d be like stumbling drunk into heaven. He knew that the rest of that boy’s life he’d chase that feeling and never find it again, because you couldn’t ever get back to that place. There was the before and there was the after.
When the days grow shallow, there are only the memories, the stories that remain scattered like seed, the tales that bind us in this world. We can retell them, gather the remnants of souls that have exploded into the infinite, piece the shattered bits back to form and breathe life into the ones we've loved and lost. As we stare into the oblivion and slowly fade from the familiar, those stories will be the faces that surround us, and the voices we hear when we too come to pass.
Life was for the living and death was for the dead, and there was enough beauty and grace in both to mend the most tender and broken.
No matter how strong a man was, there were moments in life that left him empty, things that could hollow his heart like a cavern in little more than an instant.
It’d be like finding Jesus. It’d be like stumbling drunk into heaven. He knew that the rest of that boy’s life he’d chase that feeling and never find it again, because you couldn’t ever get back to that place. There was the before and there was the after.
When the days grow shallow, there are only the memories, the stories that remain scattered like seed, the tales that bind us in this world. We can retell them, gather the remnants of souls that have exploded into the infinite, piece the shattered bits back to form and breathe life into the ones we've loved and lost. As we stare into the oblivion and slowly fade from the familiar, those stories will be the faces that surround us, and the voices we hear when we too come to pass.
Life was for the living and death was for the dead, and there was enough beauty and grace in both to mend the most tender and broken.
hutchinskg's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
newtbullard's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
dmgentry79's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
novelvisits's review against another edition
5.0
Thanks to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for print and electronic copies of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.
David Joy is one of my auto-buy authors. His grit-lit fiction always touches me in unexpected ways. The Line That Held Us, his previous release (my review), was one of my Best Books of 2018, so my expectations were high for When These Mountains Burned. Taking place in eastern North Carolina in the fall of 2016, this is the story of a community ravaged by drugs, first by meth and more recently by heroin. They’re everywhere: on tribal lands, in small, quaint towns, in homes with wealth, in homes struck by poverty. At a glance, addicts recognize themselves in the faces of others; they get each other’s pain.
“It had never been that addicts didn’t care whether they lived or died, it was that the feeling you were chasing rested right against the brink and sometimes you just fell over.”
In this setting, Joy tells a story of a father’s grief and need for revenge as he watches his 41-year old son, unable to fight his life-long addiction. He introduces the reader to another addict who truly wants a different life, but has no idea how to escape his body’s cravings. Mixed in with these characters are a group of cops/DEA agents fighting an uphill battle, ruthless drug dealers, and fires raging all around. Even though I shed a few tears near the end of When These Mountains Burned, for me it didn’t have quite the emotional impact of The Line That Held Us. Instead, Joy’s powerful writing left me feeling haunted by the legacy of addiction that our country just can’t seem to kick.
Original Source: https://novelvisits.com/five-books-read-now-august-2020-books-reviews/
David Joy is one of my auto-buy authors. His grit-lit fiction always touches me in unexpected ways. The Line That Held Us, his previous release (my review), was one of my Best Books of 2018, so my expectations were high for When These Mountains Burned. Taking place in eastern North Carolina in the fall of 2016, this is the story of a community ravaged by drugs, first by meth and more recently by heroin. They’re everywhere: on tribal lands, in small, quaint towns, in homes with wealth, in homes struck by poverty. At a glance, addicts recognize themselves in the faces of others; they get each other’s pain.
“It had never been that addicts didn’t care whether they lived or died, it was that the feeling you were chasing rested right against the brink and sometimes you just fell over.”
In this setting, Joy tells a story of a father’s grief and need for revenge as he watches his 41-year old son, unable to fight his life-long addiction. He introduces the reader to another addict who truly wants a different life, but has no idea how to escape his body’s cravings. Mixed in with these characters are a group of cops/DEA agents fighting an uphill battle, ruthless drug dealers, and fires raging all around. Even though I shed a few tears near the end of When These Mountains Burned, for me it didn’t have quite the emotional impact of The Line That Held Us. Instead, Joy’s powerful writing left me feeling haunted by the legacy of addiction that our country just can’t seem to kick.
Original Source: https://novelvisits.com/five-books-read-now-august-2020-books-reviews/