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A review by lukenotjohn
Let's No One Get Hurt by Jon Pineda
3.0
Honestly, this book hurt me a bit, which makes the title (intentionally?) ironic. I tend to really enjoy meloncholic and dark books and movies, so I'm a little surprised how much this affected me, but I just found myself feeling so heavily burdened by the unrelenting bleakness of Pearl's life. And I'm struggling to review the book without feeling like I'm dictating what choices Pineda "should" have made, because obviously it's his book! But I honestly just became angry with him, especially at the book's climax, because it felt like an exercise in sadism. I could see what ended up happening from a mile away (which made Pearl's anticipation all the more dreadful) and I felt like the only way it would feel merited is if my expectations ended up being subverted, but it was actually more vile than I'd anticipated. I guess I don't know why the book was written? Here's a young girl enmeshed in cascading tragedies, surrounded almost entirely by neglectful if not evil men...watch her suffer? We get glimmers of hope and love, but they're so fleeting, so minor. I just wanted more for her. And I'm not someone who generally needs a happy ending! There was just something that felt cruel for the sake of cruelty to the crafting of this story, even though I'd also say Pineda told it with care.
I enjoyed the first third most, perhaps because I was still hopeful at that point for an upswing in the story, a trajectory towards redemption or vindication of some sort. The dynamic between Pearl and Main Boy was hard to read, but compelling...and I was eager for a recompense that never came. The voyage to the hospital demanded so much time without seeming to really lead to anything in the story, and the final third felt expected in a way that felt like a disservice to Pearl. I think we'd been shown that she was too wise, if not cynical, to walk right into that –– even despite her agonizing loneliness and longing. The saving grace was Pineda's writing, which is genuinely striking. Much of this reads as a poem anthology that happens to be telling a story (though not in an [a:Ellen Hopkins|2821144|Ellen Hopkins|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1317081848p2/2821144.jpg] way), and many of those "poems" are very good.
I enjoyed the first third most, perhaps because I was still hopeful at that point for an upswing in the story, a trajectory towards redemption or vindication of some sort. The dynamic between Pearl and Main Boy was hard to read, but compelling...and I was eager for a recompense that never came. The voyage to the hospital demanded so much time without seeming to really lead to anything in the story, and the final third felt expected in a way that felt like a disservice to Pearl. I think we'd been shown that she was too wise, if not cynical, to walk right into that –– even despite her agonizing loneliness and longing. The saving grace was Pineda's writing, which is genuinely striking. Much of this reads as a poem anthology that happens to be telling a story (though not in an [a:Ellen Hopkins|2821144|Ellen Hopkins|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1317081848p2/2821144.jpg] way), and many of those "poems" are very good.