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A review by chris10b
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez
3.0
If you like living with the feeling of impending doom and waiting for the other shoe to drop, then you're going to love this book.
This is a work of historical fiction, although very loosely based on the 1937 New London School explosion in Texas. Although none of the characters are real, much of Perez's depiction of life in Texas and the South in the 1930s rings true.
Be forewarned that there is no hope in this novel. And I get that if the author wanted to maintain realism, there was no hope to offer, but this book covers some pretty heavy stuff--violence, alcoholism, child abuse, sexual abuse, rape, incest (sort-of), an attempted lynching, murder. It was a hard read. You almost need some kind of hope, even small, to get through it. If I hadn't needed to read it for class, I don't think I would have finished...or honestly, even started it.
And I can't imagine how this is considered YA literature. I mean, I'm all for letting young adults read what they want to read--but if I, as a 29 year history major struggled with the content of this book, then I'm really not sure about the whole marketing it to teenagers thing.
I don't know--I'm struggling with this. It's a well written book. There is a lot of truth in the society in portrays. I just feel like I could have done with out it.
This is a work of historical fiction, although very loosely based on the 1937 New London School explosion in Texas. Although none of the characters are real, much of Perez's depiction of life in Texas and the South in the 1930s rings true.
Be forewarned that there is no hope in this novel. And I get that if the author wanted to maintain realism, there was no hope to offer, but this book covers some pretty heavy stuff--violence, alcoholism, child abuse, sexual abuse, rape, incest (sort-of), an attempted lynching, murder. It was a hard read. You almost need some kind of hope, even small, to get through it. If I hadn't needed to read it for class, I don't think I would have finished...or honestly, even started it.
And I can't imagine how this is considered YA literature. I mean, I'm all for letting young adults read what they want to read--but if I, as a 29 year history major struggled with the content of this book, then I'm really not sure about the whole marketing it to teenagers thing.
I don't know--I'm struggling with this. It's a well written book. There is a lot of truth in the society in portrays. I just feel like I could have done with out it.