A review by seullywillikers
Lakewood by Megan Giddings

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

4.0

Okay, so I LOVE this book. The atmosphere, the tension, the ambiguity, it is an absolute fever dream. In a similar style to Yoko Ogawa's "The Memory Police" this story gets more and more crazy, more and more intense, more and more psychedelic, until it hits an abrupt end, not answering any of the questions that it asked. What happened to Bethany? Who was the body buried in the woods? Was the entire town in on it? What was the experiment about, really? What was up with the animals? What happened to the rest of the test subjects? Why did the 'observers' behave the way they did? Why did the lake get poisoned? What is up with the three different Judys? What permanent effects will this have on Lena? Was that what happened to Deziree?

This is an ambitious story that wonders about the lengths that the poor and oppressed will go through to protect and save their families, while exploring the history of government experimentation on Black and Indigenous people.

It would be hard to recommend this to someone. Not everyone will like it, enjoy it, or understand it. I'm not sure that I understand it, really. People who don't enjoy it still may find it profound. I'm glad that I've read it.
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