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A review by suppyguppy
Lakewood by Megan Giddings
3.0
Lakewood follows Lena, a young Black woman, as she volunteers for a medical research study in return for pay and benefits that seem almost too good to be true, including (most importantly to Lena) health insurance for her sick mother.
Based on the actual suffering and deception Black Americans have endured under the guise of "science" or "medicine" throughout American history, Giddings builds a fictional psychological thriller on a foundation of truth. The plausibility makes the story that much more terrifying and gutwrenching.
Far from a light and fluffy read, Lakewood is difficult to stomach at times and even made me feel physically ill. The content is heavy and depressing and the racism Lena faces is repulsive. I don't say this as criticism though, I think the heaviness of the book strengthens the power of its social commentary and leaves a lasting impression.
I admire the bold message this book sends, and that is why I gave it three stars, but there were too many things about it that detracted from my ability to enjoy the story for me to give it any higher of a rating.
My biggest issue was that I wished I could have had more insight into Lena's thoughts and really gotten to know Lena more. Sometimes, something happens that I would love to know Lena's thoughts or feelings about, but we don't get any indication of her reaction at all.
For example:
Non-reactions to things like this made Lena feel kind of robotic at times. I kept wondering "so is she just like.. okay with all of this??" I completely understand that she would go through with certain things because of her motivation for helping her sick mother, but I would've liked some indication that she had an opinion at all about some of these situations (whether it be positive, negative or complicated). Later, once things escalate, we do get to see some reaction and thoughts from Lena, so eventually I did get confirmation that she is not, in fact, a robot, but I still wish I could've had more insight into her thoughts and not just what was happening to her.
Another thing is that I wish the research study had been more deceptive and insidious rather than obviously and consistently evil from the start. I know this is personal preference, but this whole review is just my personal opinion anyways. I really like stories where everything is seemingly fine at first with slow revelation that something is not right and then a climax where it is confirmed that things are very wrong. Instead, the Lakewood research group is consistently evil and suspicious all the way through with no real climax and no possible doubt at any point that what they are doing is wrong and horrible.
Also, they do not try to deceive Lena about the purpose of the study, instead they just don't tell her anything (except for something vague about memory studies), so there isn't really any deception or cover story to debunk, which is less fun and satisfying for the reader. It's more like, "we are going to do all this senseless evil stuff to you, but you need the money so we don't need to bother making up a lie about why, we're just going to go ahead and do it." It was unsatisfying that
Ultimately, I don't regret reading this book, I think it is good social commentary, I just wasn't satisfied by it as a thriller or mystery.
Based on the actual suffering and deception Black Americans have endured under the guise of "science" or "medicine" throughout American history, Giddings builds a fictional psychological thriller on a foundation of truth. The plausibility makes the story that much more terrifying and gutwrenching.
Far from a light and fluffy read, Lakewood is difficult to stomach at times and even made me feel physically ill. The content is heavy and depressing and the racism Lena faces is repulsive. I don't say this as criticism though, I think the heaviness of the book strengthens the power of its social commentary and leaves a lasting impression.
I admire the bold message this book sends, and that is why I gave it three stars, but there were too many things about it that detracted from my ability to enjoy the story for me to give it any higher of a rating.
My biggest issue was that I wished I could have had more insight into Lena's thoughts and really gotten to know Lena more. Sometimes, something happens that I would love to know Lena's thoughts or feelings about, but we don't get any indication of her reaction at all.
For example:
Spoiler
in the initial sign-up process for the medical research study, the form Lena has to fill out has incredibly suspicious and invasive questions. Questions like, "What are the log-in credentials to all of your social media accounts?" and "What are some security questions and answers that you use often?" These aren't subtle red flags, they're absolutely ridiculous things to ask of a person. And yet, we don't get any indication of Lena's reaction to them, external or internal. If she thinks they're strange or suspicious, we aren't told. If she attempts to rationalize them to herself, we aren't told. We're just told that she continues to fill out the form.Non-reactions to things like this made Lena feel kind of robotic at times. I kept wondering "so is she just like.. okay with all of this??" I completely understand that she would go through with certain things because of her motivation for helping her sick mother, but I would've liked some indication that she had an opinion at all about some of these situations (whether it be positive, negative or complicated). Later, once things escalate, we do get to see some reaction and thoughts from Lena, so eventually I did get confirmation that she is not, in fact, a robot, but I still wish I could've had more insight into her thoughts and not just what was happening to her.
Another thing is that I wish the research study had been more deceptive and insidious rather than obviously and consistently evil from the start. I know this is personal preference, but this whole review is just my personal opinion anyways. I really like stories where everything is seemingly fine at first with slow revelation that something is not right and then a climax where it is confirmed that things are very wrong. Instead, the Lakewood research group is consistently evil and suspicious all the way through with no real climax and no possible doubt at any point that what they are doing is wrong and horrible.
Also, they do not try to deceive Lena about the purpose of the study, instead they just don't tell her anything (except for something vague about memory studies), so there isn't really any deception or cover story to debunk, which is less fun and satisfying for the reader. It's more like, "we are going to do all this senseless evil stuff to you, but you need the money so we don't need to bother making up a lie about why, we're just going to go ahead and do it." It was unsatisfying that
Spoiler
the purpose of the mysterious and strange things they did to Lena is never explained. Unless I was supposed to figure it out and I just didn't, which would be my bad.Ultimately, I don't regret reading this book, I think it is good social commentary, I just wasn't satisfied by it as a thriller or mystery.