Reviews

Furnace Creek by Joseph Allen Boone

nxnw4321's review

slow-paced

3.25

larade's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

2.75

I will start off by saying this could easily have been a 5 star read for me. I loved the general layout of the story, I loved the writing style. Both places and characters were described in an extremely vivid way and I thoroughly enjoyed the detective story sprinkled in there as well. The atmosphere evoked, especially in the case of the Brewster house, and later the streets of Rome, was marvelous. 

That being said, there were a few things that ruined the book for me beyond repair:

Let's start with the graphic sexual abuse - I am particularly referring to that of Mary Jo as a child. I understand why it had to be mentioned, but what's up with the explicitness? I think any reasonable adult would've already been shocked enough by a less vivid description, especially keeping in mind that this is a minor. In general, the women in this book suffer. And suffer. And suffer. But, and I want you to read this with as much sarcasm as possible, it's 'all good' because it 'makes them stronger' in the end, which is both mentioned in the case of Newt's mother (who is assaulted and later victim blamed) as well as Mary Jo (who cannot catch a break with all the trauma being imposed on her). Social criticism or not, it was too much in too quick a succession for me, making it feel sensationalist and borderline ridiculous, this reaching its height when after a passionate love confession Marky dies. Right after Julian died. Right before Newt's dad dies. Well, that is, the latter dies in ONE version of the last chapter, which also did not work for me at all and left me entirely confused - especially because the rest of the book was so straightforward.

 

I really wanted to enjoy this. Parts of it I absolutely devoured. But in the end, given what I have mentioned above, it turned too sour for me to leave a good impression. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Incest, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Sexism, Toxic friendship, War, Emotional abuse, Biphobia, Car accident, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion and Animal death

nookandcrannyseattle's review

emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

This 👏 Book 👏 Wrecked 👏 Me 👏 ​​​​​​​​
​​I mean, I figured it would be good. Adaptation of Great Expectations, check. Set in the American south in the 1970s (prime southern gothic material), check. Queer protagonist, check. But the writing is also exquisite -- Dickensian without the melodrama. So intensely human (and humane) that it's a little hard to bear. Funny, poignant, tragic in the way the human experience is tragic. Like if Charles Dickens and Cormac McCarthy had a love child. Make of that comparison what you will. Points off for the choose-your-own-adventure ending, but I think I understand what the author was trying to accomplish, so perhaps I'll change my mind once I've sat with it for a while. It is otherwise one of the most perfectly constructed novels I've read in recent memory.