A review by danielles_reads
Lakewood by Megan Giddings

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

A body is like outer space: The more you actively think about it, the smaller you feel, the more detached you feel from the business of living.

Lena’s grandma used to say the difference between us and them is they try as hard as possible to never think about us, and we have to think about them all the time.

I love this book, way more than I expected to. It packs such a punch in its commentary on racism, sexism, poverty, lack of healthcare access, capitalism, the corruption of the United States government and its history of unethical human experimentation, the dehumanization of marginalized peoples, etc… Seriously, this book has so many layers but if never felt overwhelming or forced since it just came naturally with the story Giddings was telling.

I really love Lena. She truly felt like a real person. Her love for her mother and how it was affected by her mother’s chronic illness was really powerful. I also liked seeing how her mother and grandmother compared in their views of the world and how they raised Lena. I especially liked Lena’s reflections on trying to come across as cute and kind and harmless as possible, both because of her experience as a Black woman, but also because of a lifetime spent caring for her ill mom. I was also glad to see the various relationships Lena had both before and after Lakewood, and it was great to see such a close female friendship with her and Tanya, and how their dynamic was affected by their different economic classes as well as the situation Lena was in. I also loved her sense of humor, and Giddings had the perfect timing of jokes vs tense situations vs deep reflections on society.
Lena imagining Dr. Lisa asking her kids at dinner how their school day went on a scale from 1 to 10, just like how she asked Lena, killed me 😭😭😭
I mean, any character that says, “Doesn’t it make you sad to think aliens would have all the same problems we do?” is one I’m gonna like.

The atmosphere was SO GOOD. It was tense and eerie and it felt like just waiting for the pin to drop.
Oh my GOD that scene with Bethany losing all her teeth was so uncomfortable and fucking visceral, I will never get over it. And how the other study participants could do nothing but stand there in shock as tooth after tooth fell out. And then how she was replaced by a woman who looked just like her. Oh my GOD. And then Mariah dying after taking the pill was by comparison so quick and sudden and shocking that led to everything turning upside down.
It felt like an American version of the show Squid Game, except more realistic (there was one scene in particular that especially reminded me of the show
when the observers watched that child kill her parents with a gun they apparently placed in her house and just responded like “hmm great results”. Oh my god!!!
). And even though some of the things that happened were a bit fantastical and over-the-top, the book remained grounded both via its commentary and Lena’s very understandable motivation for remaining in the study: her mother.

And wow, the ENDING! Some might consider this a spoiler, but others like to be warned: the ending is vague and doesn’t really explain anything. But honestly, I think it’s perfect. It also made the eerie atmosphere even more so, because we never know
who the other study participants were and whether they were real or not, or the purpose and history behind the study, or Deziree and Grandma Toni’s experience with the study, or what happened to the town after, or even whether anyone spoke out.
But we wouldn’t know that in real life either. Thank you to BookTuber My Name is Marines for her commentary on this book. She said that racism doesn’t have a neat and tidy ending, so it makes sense that this book doesn’t either. Life is more complicated than that, and this book is reflecting real life. And actual history can be scarier than fictional horror novels.

Do you think people really believe another person’s pain exists?

And the last line was stunning:
I will look at the brushstrokes, the sculptures gleaming under the light like well-tempered chocolates, the golden frames, black and white images of the long dead. I will force myself to remember, despite everything I know now, people are capable of making something wonderful.
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