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Compound Fracture
On the night Miles Abernathy—sixteen-year-old socialist and proud West Virginian—comes out as trans to his parents, he sneaks off to a party, carrying evidence that may finally turn the tide of the blood feud plaguing Twist Photos that prove the county's Sheriff Davies was responsible for the so-called "accident" that injured his dad, killed others, and crushed their grassroots efforts to unseat him.
The feud began a hundred years ago when Miles's great-great-grandfather, Saint Abernathy, incited a miners' rebellion that ended with a public execution at the hands of law enforcement. Now, Miles becomes the feud's latest victim as the sheriff's son and his friends sniff out the evidence, follow him through the woods, and beat him nearly to death.
In the hospital, the ghost of a soot-covered man hovers over Miles's bedside while Sheriff Davies threatens Miles into silence. But when Miles accidentally kills one of the boys who hurt him, he learns of other folks in Twist Creek who want out from under the sheriff's heel. To free their families from this cycle of cruelty, they're willing to put everything on the line—is Miles?
The feud began a hundred years ago when Miles's great-great-grandfather, Saint Abernathy, incited a miners' rebellion that ended with a public execution at the hands of law enforcement. Now, Miles becomes the feud's latest victim as the sheriff's son and his friends sniff out the evidence, follow him through the woods, and beat him nearly to death.
In the hospital, the ghost of a soot-covered man hovers over Miles's bedside while Sheriff Davies threatens Miles into silence. But when Miles accidentally kills one of the boys who hurt him, he learns of other folks in Twist Creek who want out from under the sheriff's heel. To free their families from this cycle of cruelty, they're willing to put everything on the line—is Miles?
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First published September 3, 2024
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About the author
Andrew Joseph White
13 books6,281 followersAndrew Joseph White is the trans, autistic, and bestselling author of Hell Followed With Us, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, Compound Fracture, and You Weren't Meant to be Human. Born and raised in the Shenandoah Valley, he received his MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University, and lives in Virginia with his wife and their antisocial cat.
He can be found at andrewjosephwhite.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @AJWhiteAuthor.
He can be found at andrewjosephwhite.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @AJWhiteAuthor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,228 reviews
February 1, 2024
Got to read this early on account of the fact that I literally MARRIED THE AUTHOR LAST FALL so take the review with a grain of salt, but I wouldn’t lie even for him, it’s a damn good book.
This one is more thriller than horror so if that aspect of my husband’s previous two books turned you off: this is the one for you. It’s still brutal, battered and blood soaked, full of rage, but it’s also surprisingly funny. It’s got one hell of a heart to it, one buried under layers of scar tissue and chips of bone but it’s a book about family and love and the people you want to fight for. It’s got a damn good dog as well, and Demi romantic rep (even if that word isn’t used exactly on page, I’m demi and I married the guy I’m allowed to say that) and if you need a rallying cry, pick this one up. Then go out and fight.
Also yes, the dog makes it to the end. Lady is a good girl who does a big Bite and she is perfect.
This one is more thriller than horror so if that aspect of my husband’s previous two books turned you off: this is the one for you. It’s still brutal, battered and blood soaked, full of rage, but it’s also surprisingly funny. It’s got one hell of a heart to it, one buried under layers of scar tissue and chips of bone but it’s a book about family and love and the people you want to fight for. It’s got a damn good dog as well, and Demi romantic rep (even if that word isn’t used exactly on page, I’m demi and I married the guy I’m allowed to say that) and if you need a rallying cry, pick this one up. Then go out and fight.
Also yes, the dog makes it to the end. Lady is a good girl who does a big Bite and she is perfect.
April 15, 2024
Compound Fracture is a love letter to Appalachia and the working class told through a trans and autistic lens. It’s an incredibly brutal, horrific tale of a century-long feud to free the working class from the jaws of the elite who profit off of them. It’s about community and carving out a space for yourself under inhospitable conditions. It’s about fighting for yourself when you’re unwillingly to leave your home. With the use of both sides, White discusses how young people can be moved to violence when facing hopelessness and shows just what some people are willing to do to survive. It’s unsettling and heartbreaking but leaves the reader with a feeling of hope by the end.
thank you netgalley and peachtree teen for the arc
In depth review to come on release (09/03/2024)
thank you netgalley and peachtree teen for the arc
In depth review to come on release (09/03/2024)
April 17, 2025
I originally didn’t really know what to make of this book. I’ve been wanted to read this author for a while and with how everyone talks about this book I was a bit underwhelmed when I first started it.
But the more I read it the more I absolutely loved it. At some points I legitimately forgot I was reading a story, a fictional one at that! Miles was a super realistic and amazing character cause he’s still figuring stuff out and is confused about how he feels about somethings, which I found super refreshing!
Amazing book, definitely recommend!
But the more I read it the more I absolutely loved it. At some points I legitimately forgot I was reading a story, a fictional one at that! Miles was a super realistic and amazing character cause he’s still figuring stuff out and is confused about how he feels about somethings, which I found super refreshing!
Amazing book, definitely recommend!
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November 30, 2023Hey y'all - this contains content warnings for COMPOUND FRACTURE.
COMPOUND FRACTURE is about Appalachian history and blood feuds. While it isn’t as gory as my other work, there are still topics that may be difficult for some readers. These include:
*Graphic violence, with a focus on politically motivated, cyclical feud violence involving law enforcement and/or children
*Queerphobia and transphobia: deadnaming, misgendering, family conflict regarding trans identity (resolved), internalized queerphobia from a character on the aromantic spectrum (resolved)
*Opioid dependency and its effects on family; main character uses opioids after surgery and undergoes withdrawal after quitting without medical supervision
*Physical force and emotional manipulation by intimate partner
*Animal harm (butchering deer, off-page revenge killing of a dog)
*Discussions of ableism, including internalized ableism; brief mention of disfiguremisia
*Emetophobia (vomiting) warning
The dog named Lady is fine, I promise.
These content warnings can also be found on my website, with a more general version included in the author's note at the beginning of the book.
If you've read the book and believe anything else should be included here, please do not hesitate to contact me.
COMPOUND FRACTURE is about Appalachian history and blood feuds. While it isn’t as gory as my other work, there are still topics that may be difficult for some readers. These include:
*Graphic violence, with a focus on politically motivated, cyclical feud violence involving law enforcement and/or children
*Queerphobia and transphobia: deadnaming, misgendering, family conflict regarding trans identity (resolved), internalized queerphobia from a character on the aromantic spectrum (resolved)
*Opioid dependency and its effects on family; main character uses opioids after surgery and undergoes withdrawal after quitting without medical supervision
*Physical force and emotional manipulation by intimate partner
*Animal harm (butchering deer, off-page revenge killing of a dog)
*Discussions of ableism, including internalized ableism; brief mention of disfiguremisia
*Emetophobia (vomiting) warning
The dog named Lady is fine, I promise.
These content warnings can also be found on my website, with a more general version included in the author's note at the beginning of the book.
If you've read the book and believe anything else should be included here, please do not hesitate to contact me.
September 8, 2024
Every time I read an AJW book I’m struck by how lucky young, queer neurodivergent people are to have an author who sees them so clearly and treats them and their experiences so seriously and doesn’t condescend to them, cause when I was growing up it just did not exist at all. It also makes me appreciate the importance of ‘Own Voice’ stories and I would be curious to hear a perspective on this book from somebody with autism cause being in Miles head was a lot at times.
I really enjoy AJWs narrative voice and writing style, so I definitely still had a great time with this, but it was also not my favourite AJW book (TSBIT still holds that title). I personally found that I enjoyed the first half of this more than the second half (mainly cause there was a storyline that came up that I didn’t really enjoy and didn’t think was necessary- but that’s personal preference for you) but it still ended strong.
I did have a moment where I wondered if this book was trying to provide commentary on perhaps a few TOO many big meaty political/societal issues in current day America and if the strength of commentary on these topics kind of gets a bit lost because of that? Although it’s kind of bleak that the cultural critique of the MAGA insanity was in the context of 2016 and yet here we are still.
I’ll admit that as much as I enjoyed it that it still felt like it didn’t quite live up to all the potential that was there in the building blocks. Also comparatively mild in AJW trademark barf inducing gore scenes 😂 I kept waiting for it cause I knew it was coming and there was only really one scene that made me pull an ick face.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book
I really enjoy AJWs narrative voice and writing style, so I definitely still had a great time with this, but it was also not my favourite AJW book (TSBIT still holds that title). I personally found that I enjoyed the first half of this more than the second half (mainly cause there was a storyline that came up that I didn’t really enjoy and didn’t think was necessary- but that’s personal preference for you) but it still ended strong.
I did have a moment where I wondered if this book was trying to provide commentary on perhaps a few TOO many big meaty political/societal issues in current day America and if the strength of commentary on these topics kind of gets a bit lost because of that? Although it’s kind of bleak that the cultural critique of the MAGA insanity was in the context of 2016 and yet here we are still.
I’ll admit that as much as I enjoyed it that it still felt like it didn’t quite live up to all the potential that was there in the building blocks. Also comparatively mild in AJW trademark barf inducing gore scenes 😂 I kept waiting for it cause I knew it was coming and there was only really one scene that made me pull an ick face.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book
August 21, 2024
This is the fourth book by Andrew Joseph White I've read, and the second of this year alone. And in the most complementary way, I've reached a point with his work that writing a review is hard because I've already said it all. It's hard to find new ways to say that White is revolutionizing YA and writing some of the most important social horror stories of our modern age. Once again, AJW writes a brutal, unflinching and poignant story that pulls absolutely no punches. Once again, he writes brilliant and complex characters that make me feel seen and loved amidst (and because of) their struggles. Once again, he absolutely crushes it.
White shoots to kill and has never once missed the mark. And this bullseye is a stunning love letter to the Southern working class about class warfare, systemic oppression, generational trauma, and family.
Thank you so much to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
CW: violence, blood & gore, gun violence, injury detail, fire, immolation (past), addiction and withdrawal, child death, police brutality, animal death (not the dog on the cover, I promise), death, outing, transphobia, deadnaming, midgendering, bullying, hospitalization, emesis, medical content, car accident (past), underage drinking, internalized ableism, death of family members
White shoots to kill and has never once missed the mark. And this bullseye is a stunning love letter to the Southern working class about class warfare, systemic oppression, generational trauma, and family.
Thank you so much to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
CW: violence, blood & gore, gun violence, injury detail, fire, immolation (past), addiction and withdrawal, child death, police brutality, animal death (not the dog on the cover, I promise), death, outing, transphobia, deadnaming, midgendering, bullying, hospitalization, emesis, medical content, car accident (past), underage drinking, internalized ableism, death of family members
September 22, 2024
Absolutely brutal as always with Andrew Joseph White, but don't worry: the dog is fine.
April 30, 2025
3,5*
Yet another great, well-written book by AJW, let me preface my review with that. Trans and autism rep shines again, just like in his previous books (aromanticism also mentioned, yay!). I loved the dog (of course I did, it's a DOG), and the main character's family? Damn. Many kids wish for that kind of love and support and it was heartwarming to read about their dynamics.
Unfortunately, the book failed a bit in the theme for me. For one, it's the least fantastical out of the three AJW books, there's only one slight supernatural element to it. And more importantly, it's very politically charged, Miles (the MC) is a bit obsessed with the topic, and it bleeds through the story. This isn't the problem because it fits his character, even the constant repetition was fitting. It's just that politics is NOT for me. I barely have tolerance (and attention span) for politics in my own country, nevermind American (foreign to me), nevermind in my fiction. So really, that's on me, but it definitely affected my enjoyment. I have my own opinions about communism (let's just say my country has an ✨️experience✨️ with that particular system) I won't get into, so there's also that...
Otherwise, the story may lack the gore we learned to expect and love from AJW, but it's still downright brutal in a slightly different way. Here, I felt there's no completely "right" and "wrong" party (well...mostly), just a bunch of people in an atrocious situation trying to change it, and means justify the ends for all of them. That's probably why I felt no real satisfaction after finishing Compound Fracture.
Still, I already can't wait for the next book AJW graces us with.
Yet another great, well-written book by AJW, let me preface my review with that. Trans and autism rep shines again, just like in his previous books (aromanticism also mentioned, yay!). I loved the dog (of course I did, it's a DOG), and the main character's family? Damn. Many kids wish for that kind of love and support and it was heartwarming to read about their dynamics.
Unfortunately, the book failed a bit in the theme for me. For one, it's the least fantastical out of the three AJW books, there's only one slight supernatural element to it. And more importantly, it's very politically charged, Miles (the MC) is a bit obsessed with the topic, and it bleeds through the story. This isn't the problem because it fits his character, even the constant repetition was fitting. It's just that politics is NOT for me. I barely have tolerance (and attention span) for politics in my own country, nevermind American (foreign to me), nevermind in my fiction. So really, that's on me, but it definitely affected my enjoyment. I have my own opinions about communism (let's just say my country has an ✨️experience✨️ with that particular system) I won't get into, so there's also that...
Otherwise, the story may lack the gore we learned to expect and love from AJW, but it's still downright brutal in a slightly different way. Here, I felt there's no completely "right" and "wrong" party (well...mostly), just a bunch of people in an atrocious situation trying to change it, and means justify the ends for all of them. That's probably why I felt no real satisfaction after finishing Compound Fracture.
Still, I already can't wait for the next book AJW graces us with.
October 27, 2024
4.0 Stars
This is the kind of young adult horror novel that completely subverts my expectations of YA fiction. This is easily one of the darkest horror books I read all year. The story was brutal and unforgiving. Easily one of the best opening chapters that I have read in a long time. The narrative is tightly written and pulls no punches. I highly recommend this book if you can stomach it. Such a fantastic horror author.
This is the kind of young adult horror novel that completely subverts my expectations of YA fiction. This is easily one of the darkest horror books I read all year. The story was brutal and unforgiving. Easily one of the best opening chapters that I have read in a long time. The narrative is tightly written and pulls no punches. I highly recommend this book if you can stomach it. Such a fantastic horror author.
September 1, 2024
E-ARC generously provided by PeachTree Teen in exchange for an honest review! Thank you so much!
4 stars. Gritty, harrowing, and containing all of the edge-of-your-seat gore and horror you'd expect from Andrew Joseph White, Compound Fracture is a searing socialist manifesto of a YA novel.
4 stars. Gritty, harrowing, and containing all of the edge-of-your-seat gore and horror you'd expect from Andrew Joseph White, Compound Fracture is a searing socialist manifesto of a YA novel.
October 27, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House/ Peachtree/ Pixel + Ink for providing a digital review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Let me start this off by saying the dog doesn’t die.
Ok… what a crazy ride this was. I was sick to my stomach in the first twenty pages and it just kept up until the very end. That might sound awful, but that was exactly what I was looking for when I started this. My compliments to the chef because I am not a horror girly, but I want to be, and I think Andrew Joseph White does a fantastic job writing horror that is still palatable for people like me. There were some scenes that made me put my phone down, run my hand down my face, and dramatically make retching noises.
Aside from the horror aspects, the writing was beautiful. The story itself digs into themes of identity, resilience, and the complexities of human relationships. It was so interesting to see Miles coming out as trans to the people in his life and watching them try to adjust and react through the entire book, all while the rest of the plot is unfolding. Also, as someone who is autistic, I related a lot to Miles. There aren’t a lot of protagonists with the same kind of inner dialogue as him, so I felt very seen. Overall, this was an excellent book and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.
Let me start this off by saying the dog doesn’t die.
Ok… what a crazy ride this was. I was sick to my stomach in the first twenty pages and it just kept up until the very end. That might sound awful, but that was exactly what I was looking for when I started this. My compliments to the chef because I am not a horror girly, but I want to be, and I think Andrew Joseph White does a fantastic job writing horror that is still palatable for people like me. There were some scenes that made me put my phone down, run my hand down my face, and dramatically make retching noises.
Aside from the horror aspects, the writing was beautiful. The story itself digs into themes of identity, resilience, and the complexities of human relationships. It was so interesting to see Miles coming out as trans to the people in his life and watching them try to adjust and react through the entire book, all while the rest of the plot is unfolding. Also, as someone who is autistic, I related a lot to Miles. There aren’t a lot of protagonists with the same kind of inner dialogue as him, so I felt very seen. Overall, this was an excellent book and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.
Want to read
March 27, 2024Kinda really wanna read this because I love the author, kinda wanna avoid it with a 1o-foot-pole because I'm scared of horror books with dogs on the cover 🥲 (*cries in dog lover*)
edit: nvm the author is a wonderful human being who already addressed the dog's fate in his goodreads review! 🥹
edit: nvm the author is a wonderful human being who already addressed the dog's fate in his goodreads review! 🥹
September 3, 2024
. . . . . ╰──╮
✰ ✰ ✰ ✰
∞ ↺ this guy continues to write the most unhinged unapologetically queer stories and i eat them up every single time;
∞ ↺ our mc was so compelling, fighting back against bigotry in their small town as well as being in a century old family feud, i'm not trans so i have no first hand experience, but the reactions of family members/ignorance felt so very real;
∞ ↺ trans rep, autism rep, and general queer rep - with fast paced plot
thank you netgalley for the arc :D
✰ ✰ ✰ ✰
∞ ↺ this guy continues to write the most unhinged unapologetically queer stories and i eat them up every single time;
∞ ↺ our mc was so compelling, fighting back against bigotry in their small town as well as being in a century old family feud, i'm not trans so i have no first hand experience, but the reactions of family members/ignorance felt so very real;
∞ ↺ trans rep, autism rep, and general queer rep - with fast paced plot
thank you netgalley for the arc :D
May 23, 2024
White has an unquestionable knack for writing bad parents convincingly, here he proved that he can also write parents who are actually trying too. The autism representation was also absolutely on point .
I got Ozark Dogs (different locale similar vibes) meets Depart, Depart! (different settings but ) vibes from this one.
I liked that Miles' reading habits were worked into the story as semi-subtle "further reading" suggestions, just another thing that made me go "damn I wish I had had access to a literary voice like this guy's when I was a teen".
Miles was an endearing character but his relationships with people outside of his family didn't quite work for me even in that particular lawless small-town setting and that's where things fell a little flat for me.
I loved a lot of what White did with this book and I wonder if I'm not being unfair to it because I loved Hell Followed With Us and The Spirit Bares its Teeth so much and therefore had extremely high expectations.
I received a digital ARC of this book through Netgalley, many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley.
I got Ozark Dogs (different locale similar vibes) meets Depart, Depart! (different settings but ) vibes from this one.
I liked that Miles' reading habits were worked into the story as semi-subtle "further reading" suggestions, just another thing that made me go "damn I wish I had had access to a literary voice like this guy's when I was a teen".
Miles was an endearing character but his relationships with people outside of his family didn't quite work for me even in that particular lawless small-town setting and that's where things fell a little flat for me.
I loved a lot of what White did with this book and I wonder if I'm not being unfair to it because I loved Hell Followed With Us and The Spirit Bares its Teeth so much and therefore had extremely high expectations.
I received a digital ARC of this book through Netgalley, many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley.
April 29, 2024
Nothing is more frustrating than one of your most anticipated reads ending in just being okay.
Hell Followed With Us was a powerhouse of a book, and I loved The Spirit Bares Its Teeth even though the gore made me nauseous, so I had to get off the operating table at times. And then came Compound Fracture, a thriller instead of horror, a genre that fits me much better. Until it didn’t …
Don’t get me wrong, I liked Compound Fracture; I just didn’t love it. The writing is still awesome, I wanted to pat Lady so many times, and I really enjoyed the autism and aro rep. And I loved Amber. But I didn’t connect to Miles as much as I wanted to and felt the plot was a bit … too much? It felt too black and white to me, or overdone, or too f*cked up, or … I actually haven’t got a clue because usually I like f*cked up stories. What I know is that I started to shift in my seat in discomfort and couldn’t shake off my disbelief about everything that happened.
I’ve seen raving reviews and am pretty sure many people will love this story, but sadly, I just found it okay.
Thank you, Peachtree and NetGalley, for this ARC.
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Hell Followed With Us was a powerhouse of a book, and I loved The Spirit Bares Its Teeth even though the gore made me nauseous, so I had to get off the operating table at times. And then came Compound Fracture, a thriller instead of horror, a genre that fits me much better. Until it didn’t …
Don’t get me wrong, I liked Compound Fracture; I just didn’t love it. The writing is still awesome, I wanted to pat Lady so many times, and I really enjoyed the autism and aro rep. And I loved Amber. But I didn’t connect to Miles as much as I wanted to and felt the plot was a bit … too much? It felt too black and white to me, or overdone, or too f*cked up, or … I actually haven’t got a clue because usually I like f*cked up stories. What I know is that I started to shift in my seat in discomfort and couldn’t shake off my disbelief about everything that happened.
I’ve seen raving reviews and am pretty sure many people will love this story, but sadly, I just found it okay.
Thank you, Peachtree and NetGalley, for this ARC.
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April 19, 2024
”And it’s hard trying to bridge the gap between me and everyone else. To do all the work, mold yourself into what you think people want, only to have it fall apart when you’re too tired to keep it up anymore. People are exhausting, and frustrating, and so much work. Fake eye contact, stay still, stop chewing on things, stop being so goddamn weird. Why is it so hard for me? How come everyone else seems to handle it fine?”
4 stars
wow, the autism representation was AMAZING. i relate to miles so much and i absolutely loved this story and miles and his family and friends. i cant speak for the trans representation as a cis person, but as an autistic person i thought that the autism representation was very well done and very relatable. i almost felt like i was reading about myself at points.
”Ain’t it hard remembering to smile and say the right thing and look everyone in the eye?”
i will read anything this author writes, even his grocery list
so really, if andrew joseph white has no fans, i am dead
4 stars
wow, the autism representation was AMAZING. i relate to miles so much and i absolutely loved this story and miles and his family and friends. i cant speak for the trans representation as a cis person, but as an autistic person i thought that the autism representation was very well done and very relatable. i almost felt like i was reading about myself at points.
”Ain’t it hard remembering to smile and say the right thing and look everyone in the eye?”
i will read anything this author writes, even his grocery list
so really, if andrew joseph white has no fans, i am dead
January 26, 2026
Different from his other books but equally insightful and thought-provoking with complicated characters. This time shining a light on the often overlooked rural working class leftists who don't fit expectations. Compound Fracture is a YA horror novel following a trans, neurodivergent boy attacked and left for dead by classmates and then threatened into silence about who did it. But he wants revenge. It's a nuanced story of violence, revenge, and trans people trying to just live their lives. Harrowing at times, it ultimately ends well for the characters. Utterly riveting.
July 17, 2024
i did not like it 👍
to be fair, i also didn't like white's last book, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth. i found it morally and politically shallow. but there were some really cool ideas there, an interesting and admirable approach to horror, and i hoped that the shallowness i observed was function of that book's protagonist's particular personality, rather than a fundamental quality of white's writing.
so that egg is on my face, i guess! because in compound fracture, white doubles down on everything that i found grating in spirit -- the shallowness, the hamfisted morality, the absolute refusal to dwell on complexity or allow his protagonists to be wrong in even the most minor of ways. and layered on top is this obnoxious affectation of country-isms that could make tom sawyer seem a subtle depiction of the american south. maybe it's just that it's closer to home (literally) for me since i'm from a nearby area myself, but while i understand from white's introduction that he is himself from west virginia (or his family is?), in style and substance it felt more characteristic of the kind of twitter progressive posturing than anything i recognize from my own experiences. all of that is to say -- lesson learned! no more andrew joseph white for me.
that being said, if you enjoy the idea of a "john brown did nothing wrong uwu" t-shirt i'm sure this is the kind of book that will really appeal to you.
thnx anyway netgalley!!
to be fair, i also didn't like white's last book, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth. i found it morally and politically shallow. but there were some really cool ideas there, an interesting and admirable approach to horror, and i hoped that the shallowness i observed was function of that book's protagonist's particular personality, rather than a fundamental quality of white's writing.
so that egg is on my face, i guess! because in compound fracture, white doubles down on everything that i found grating in spirit -- the shallowness, the hamfisted morality, the absolute refusal to dwell on complexity or allow his protagonists to be wrong in even the most minor of ways. and layered on top is this obnoxious affectation of country-isms that could make tom sawyer seem a subtle depiction of the american south. maybe it's just that it's closer to home (literally) for me since i'm from a nearby area myself, but while i understand from white's introduction that he is himself from west virginia (or his family is?), in style and substance it felt more characteristic of the kind of twitter progressive posturing than anything i recognize from my own experiences. all of that is to say -- lesson learned! no more andrew joseph white for me.
that being said, if you enjoy the idea of a "john brown did nothing wrong uwu" t-shirt i'm sure this is the kind of book that will really appeal to you.
thnx anyway netgalley!!
July 16, 2024
Compound Fracture is such a hard book to review because it shows AJW's greatest strengths and flaws. I was an early reviewer for HFWU (one of the earliest GR reviews actually) and TSBIT and I love all AJW has to offer. Compound Fracture is a book that deals heavily with socialism/communism (the book does not make the distinction between the two) in West Virginia especially as it relates to miner strikes in the 19th century. I'm mostly familiar with miner strikes in Europe especially France through Zola's Germinal, a French classic (Miles should read Germinal) but it doesn't surprise me that they were similar movements in the US. This is a topic very close to home for AJW as we understand that some of the family characters are based on his family and likely family history in the region.
I deeply believe that it is a fundamentally important book to publish in the US, especially for a Young Adult audience. This is a book where the protagonist reads the Communist Manifesto and engages with in-text labelled anarchists and fellow radical leftist movements. It is explicitly pro-strike and against the police, especially in the form of the sheriff. That being said I'm not American I've just heard about the Red Scare. For an American audience (who is of course the intended audience, I'd even say the audience is Southern Americans) this is extremely radical, especially for teen literature and I expect it to be banned in some schools. However, as I said I'm not American and where I'm from we have a Communist Party, a Worker's Party and an Anticapitalist Party (those are their names) and while they get pushback especially right now and have been bleeding members for decades but leftist infighting is so proeminent here that it's jarring to see a self-labelled socialist (here the self-named socialists are considered the soft, useless left), despite reading the Manifesto and being called a commie I don't remember Miles labelling himself as a communist, being tight with anarchists (anarcho-communists often just called anarchists in the book) without some kind of ideological fight. That being said it's probably what people should strive for. Like Dallas said (and I'm paraphrasing as to not quote an ARC) : why are we worrying about identity politics in the middle of a class war?
You know what let's talk about it. It was a small issue I had with HFWU that I did not have with TSBIT due to its being historical fiction. Compound Fracture falls into the trap of "preachy" YA. (I don't like the term preachy, I'm not sure what to use instead). You know those YA contemporary books (adult romances can be guilty of it too) that have way too many paragraphs that are just the author lecturing you about what they want you to know and that sounds like Twitter thread. Like Dallas doesn't look androgynous and this is subtly brought up when the mother (endearing character that we see try to understand trans identities and it takes her a few tries but she tries) says they don't look like a they to which Miles is like what does a they look like and end of the conversation. But no we need another conversation between Dallas and Miles where this is explicitly stated by the characters that nonbinary doesn't have a look. And again and again. So many topics are brought up and over-explained with the delicacy of an elephant in a porcelain store. And I know AJW is doing it on purpose because it's aimed at teens but I believe that teens don't always need cringy over explanations. I do think their next adult novel will have a lot less of that.
And you know I do think it's a shame because the plot is great. It's strong and so are the characters. It's threatening although not too much, there is plausible deniability for the supernatural element. It delves into family feuds and history, revenge, and violence and is a fascinating exploration of masculinity among rural southern communities (without telling it to you explicitly, like subtlety is alive and well). Very interestingly the book never really brings up toxic masculinity because it's not a concern, men are harsh in the way they need to be but can get lost in the violence. Toxic masculinity is irrelevant here in the face of class violence (although I can't help but think about the lack of exploration of misogyny in the story experienced by characters who are not Miles besides a few quips, ie Miles' mom is assumed to be the one cooking when it was actually his dad). We know what the cycle of violence can do to people. While writing this review, it has come to me that after his dad's accident Miles is acting as the de-facto father of his family and it's something I relate to a lot. He tries to be a provider, a defender, to bring justice to his family. When we are without a father figure, it is up to us to be the father figure to be better than him. Maybe I see this in Miles' forced sobriety, the desire to be better than his father in this way so he can keep fighting for his family. I do think it's paralleled with Saint's fatherhood; what he did was for his family, he was the father, and he had a family to fight for and avenge (and I guess in a wider way, miners are family in strikes).
For all its ACAB/anti-MAGA messaging, I do think it's easy to see the Sheriff and his family (His family has been harassing and killing Miles' people for decades) as the bad apples terrorising the town. AJW explicitly wants to focus on the good people in the South, the we're not like that people but besides the trio villains (one of them is somehow forced into it) + sheriff, most people we see are Miles' community and therefore good people. The comments are about faceless MAGA neighbours (yet we learn that the only Black family has been driven out of town, that Dallas who has burn scars would have been harassed to hell and back but the school has a gay association with a he/they lesbian). I do think AJW was aiming for something and missed the right balance. ACAB but the police is one man and if we root out the corruption we can elect good people and it will be better. You know.
I was expecting a lot of the book's depiction of an arospec protagonist and I found myself disappointed? I felt like I was expecting more than what I got. Sometimes I was reading a scene and was expecting something that never came. Maybe I found it too surface-level. Miles is uncomfortable in his blossoming relationship with a guy but that is also attributed to said guy's behaviour, then spends some time with Dallas and suddenly there's a QPR at the end because now Miles has figured himself out, off-screen? i guess it makes sense because AJW suggests in the author's notes that it wasn't initially planned but it felt out of nowhere for a book that spoon-feeds you a lot about marginalised identities.
I feel like a harsh critic for a book I enjoyed and will keep thinking about. AJW is an excellent writer who knows how to adapt to various genre conventions. Compound Fracture can be a gruesome but cathartic thriller with an exploration of violence, masculinity and community.
Here i am months later with more thoughts:
I still wonder what to make of Cooper and the treatment of violence in this book. As a friend pointed out, Cooper and Dallas are stuck in this manichean dichotomy of the bad vs good love interest. Cooper is cis, somewhat hetero man, who is twisted up and ultimately destroyed by violence and revenge. While he is initially painted as a good dude who respects Miles' identity, helps him hide a body and save him at the beginning, he later doesn't respect Miles' boundaries regarding his autism, and likely his aromanticism. Whereas Dallas doesn't have the cishet, abled baggage that Cooper has. They already know about the right politics and vocabulary and most importantly their past hasn't turned them violent. This is what I mean when I say that the book is inconsistent when it comes to violence: it admires the miners' strikes where violence was a necessary tool of protest, it admires Lucille's arson, Miles' family doesn't condamn his violence. But every violent act, Miles commits is justified by the book as self-defence and against people painted over and over as terrible. But when Cooper becomes "blood-thirsty" it is terrifying, it is too far, it is ultimately wrong, twisted and he can only be a martyr in death. It may be my perception but when Cooper was found, I read this as a form of pity and relief from the narrator "at least he's free now." THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT MINING STRIKES.
I went back to Germinal which was written based on real events and testimonies from French miners in the 19th century. It is of great violence. Most characters do not make it. They die from hunger during the strike, shot by soldiers (before the modern day police was formed), from the mine itself, from an anarchist blowing up the mine. The military reppression (again today the police took over) of the strike in Germinal is the closest to what is related in Compound Fracture in regards to Saint. As I write this, I realise that Compound Fracture did not delve into the mining strike aspect as much as I thought it would. Without calling it set dressing, Saint's potential transness was explored so much more than actual mining life and strikes. For a book that centers on leftist politics and wants to follow the footsteps of 19th century leftist movements, it lacks of lot context on what they were for.
I do wonder if AJW would have been allowed to publish a Young Adult book with an apology of radical leftist violence in the US. Probably not, I'm not naive. But I'm not here to review the book that could have been but the one I read.
I deeply believe that it is a fundamentally important book to publish in the US, especially for a Young Adult audience. This is a book where the protagonist reads the Communist Manifesto and engages with in-text labelled anarchists and fellow radical leftist movements. It is explicitly pro-strike and against the police, especially in the form of the sheriff. That being said I'm not American I've just heard about the Red Scare. For an American audience (who is of course the intended audience, I'd even say the audience is Southern Americans) this is extremely radical, especially for teen literature and I expect it to be banned in some schools. However, as I said I'm not American and where I'm from we have a Communist Party, a Worker's Party and an Anticapitalist Party (those are their names) and while they get pushback especially right now and have been bleeding members for decades but leftist infighting is so proeminent here that it's jarring to see a self-labelled socialist (here the self-named socialists are considered the soft, useless left), despite reading the Manifesto and being called a commie I don't remember Miles labelling himself as a communist, being tight with anarchists (anarcho-communists often just called anarchists in the book) without some kind of ideological fight. That being said it's probably what people should strive for. Like Dallas said (and I'm paraphrasing as to not quote an ARC) : why are we worrying about identity politics in the middle of a class war?
You know what let's talk about it. It was a small issue I had with HFWU that I did not have with TSBIT due to its being historical fiction. Compound Fracture falls into the trap of "preachy" YA. (I don't like the term preachy, I'm not sure what to use instead). You know those YA contemporary books (adult romances can be guilty of it too) that have way too many paragraphs that are just the author lecturing you about what they want you to know and that sounds like Twitter thread. Like Dallas doesn't look androgynous and this is subtly brought up when the mother (endearing character that we see try to understand trans identities and it takes her a few tries but she tries) says they don't look like a they to which Miles is like what does a they look like and end of the conversation. But no we need another conversation between Dallas and Miles where this is explicitly stated by the characters that nonbinary doesn't have a look. And again and again. So many topics are brought up and over-explained with the delicacy of an elephant in a porcelain store. And I know AJW is doing it on purpose because it's aimed at teens but I believe that teens don't always need cringy over explanations. I do think their next adult novel will have a lot less of that.
And you know I do think it's a shame because the plot is great. It's strong and so are the characters. It's threatening although not too much, there is plausible deniability for the supernatural element. It delves into family feuds and history, revenge, and violence and is a fascinating exploration of masculinity among rural southern communities (without telling it to you explicitly, like subtlety is alive and well). Very interestingly the book never really brings up toxic masculinity because it's not a concern, men are harsh in the way they need to be but can get lost in the violence. Toxic masculinity is irrelevant here in the face of class violence (although I can't help but think about the lack of exploration of misogyny in the story experienced by characters who are not Miles besides a few quips, ie Miles' mom is assumed to be the one cooking when it was actually his dad). We know what the cycle of violence can do to people. While writing this review, it has come to me that after his dad's accident Miles is acting as the de-facto father of his family and it's something I relate to a lot. He tries to be a provider, a defender, to bring justice to his family. When we are without a father figure, it is up to us to be the father figure to be better than him. Maybe I see this in Miles' forced sobriety, the desire to be better than his father in this way so he can keep fighting for his family. I do think it's paralleled with Saint's fatherhood; what he did was for his family, he was the father, and he had a family to fight for and avenge (and I guess in a wider way, miners are family in strikes).
For all its ACAB/anti-MAGA messaging, I do think it's easy to see the Sheriff and his family (His family has been harassing and killing Miles' people for decades) as the bad apples terrorising the town. AJW explicitly wants to focus on the good people in the South, the we're not like that people but besides the trio villains (one of them is somehow forced into it) + sheriff, most people we see are Miles' community and therefore good people. The comments are about faceless MAGA neighbours (yet we learn that the only Black family has been driven out of town, that Dallas who has burn scars would have been harassed to hell and back but the school has a gay association with a he/they lesbian). I do think AJW was aiming for something and missed the right balance. ACAB but the police is one man and if we root out the corruption we can elect good people and it will be better. You know.
I was expecting a lot of the book's depiction of an arospec protagonist and I found myself disappointed? I felt like I was expecting more than what I got. Sometimes I was reading a scene and was expecting something that never came. Maybe I found it too surface-level. Miles is uncomfortable in his blossoming relationship with a guy but that is also attributed to said guy's behaviour, then spends some time with Dallas and suddenly there's a QPR at the end because now Miles has figured himself out, off-screen? i guess it makes sense because AJW suggests in the author's notes that it wasn't initially planned but it felt out of nowhere for a book that spoon-feeds you a lot about marginalised identities.
I feel like a harsh critic for a book I enjoyed and will keep thinking about. AJW is an excellent writer who knows how to adapt to various genre conventions. Compound Fracture can be a gruesome but cathartic thriller with an exploration of violence, masculinity and community.
Here i am months later with more thoughts:
I still wonder what to make of Cooper and the treatment of violence in this book. As a friend pointed out, Cooper and Dallas are stuck in this manichean dichotomy of the bad vs good love interest. Cooper is cis, somewhat hetero man, who is twisted up and ultimately destroyed by violence and revenge. While he is initially painted as a good dude who respects Miles' identity, helps him hide a body and save him at the beginning, he later doesn't respect Miles' boundaries regarding his autism, and likely his aromanticism. Whereas Dallas doesn't have the cishet, abled baggage that Cooper has. They already know about the right politics and vocabulary and most importantly their past hasn't turned them violent. This is what I mean when I say that the book is inconsistent when it comes to violence: it admires the miners' strikes where violence was a necessary tool of protest, it admires Lucille's arson, Miles' family doesn't condamn his violence. But every violent act, Miles commits is justified by the book as self-defence and against people painted over and over as terrible. But when Cooper becomes "blood-thirsty" it is terrifying, it is too far, it is ultimately wrong, twisted and he can only be a martyr in death. It may be my perception but when Cooper was found, I read this as a form of pity and relief from the narrator "at least he's free now." THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT MINING STRIKES.
I went back to Germinal which was written based on real events and testimonies from French miners in the 19th century. It is of great violence. Most characters do not make it. They die from hunger during the strike, shot by soldiers (before the modern day police was formed), from the mine itself, from an anarchist blowing up the mine. The military reppression (again today the police took over) of the strike in Germinal is the closest to what is related in Compound Fracture in regards to Saint. As I write this, I realise that Compound Fracture did not delve into the mining strike aspect as much as I thought it would. Without calling it set dressing, Saint's potential transness was explored so much more than actual mining life and strikes. For a book that centers on leftist politics and wants to follow the footsteps of 19th century leftist movements, it lacks of lot context on what they were for.
I do wonder if AJW would have been allowed to publish a Young Adult book with an apology of radical leftist violence in the US. Probably not, I'm not naive. But I'm not here to review the book that could have been but the one I read.
June 16, 2024
Miles, a trans autistic teen finds evidence of injustices in his Appalachian small town perpetrated by the local sheriff. After being nearly beaten to death, he and his friend Cooper, whose family has also been affected by the crime, must reckon with a generational family feud with the Sheriff.
The representation of autism and anxiety was handled so well. Everyone experiences things differently, but Miles was such an authentic character and the stream of conciseness we sometimes got provided such a solid and convincing realistic portrayal and character.
I'm not autistic. I'm weird and socially inept and a picky eater and had to be taught how to smile and made to stop chewing my hair and can't spend more than a few minutes around people before I want to crawl out of my skin and can't take a shower without losing my shit over it and I don't understand people at all.
I'm not autistic. I'm some unsocialized dog.
White has such an addictive way of writing. It is raw. It is brutal. It is honest.
You can feel the rage dripping from their writing that makes it thrilling, pulse-pounding, and enraging.
This has a heavy theme of communism and socialism. It is basically a huge ‘F you’ to the Trump movement and the two parties dictating American politics. In this sense, beware. This is a very timely, heavy, relevant piece that could induce stress and anxiety for the current climate and future. As I don’t live in America, I don’t think this hit me as hard as it might other readers. But I could still feel the impact.
Books that make you think about the world we live in are very powerful and needed to reflect on how we are evolving as society.
I don't got anxiety or nothing. No more than I need to stay in one piece around here, at least. I just-
I don't know. People are too much work, and I don't like most of them.
This begs the question: how do we stop the cycle? Is it okay to get revenge, to strike back, if it’s to further a cause? To hurt others as you were hurt?
I think the ending was slightly over-the-top and rushed which took away some of the impact.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for a review!
Bookstagram
The representation of autism and anxiety was handled so well. Everyone experiences things differently, but Miles was such an authentic character and the stream of conciseness we sometimes got provided such a solid and convincing realistic portrayal and character.
I'm not autistic. I'm weird and socially inept and a picky eater and had to be taught how to smile and made to stop chewing my hair and can't spend more than a few minutes around people before I want to crawl out of my skin and can't take a shower without losing my shit over it and I don't understand people at all.
I'm not autistic. I'm some unsocialized dog.
White has such an addictive way of writing. It is raw. It is brutal. It is honest.
You can feel the rage dripping from their writing that makes it thrilling, pulse-pounding, and enraging.
This has a heavy theme of communism and socialism. It is basically a huge ‘F you’ to the Trump movement and the two parties dictating American politics. In this sense, beware. This is a very timely, heavy, relevant piece that could induce stress and anxiety for the current climate and future. As I don’t live in America, I don’t think this hit me as hard as it might other readers. But I could still feel the impact.
Books that make you think about the world we live in are very powerful and needed to reflect on how we are evolving as society.
I don't got anxiety or nothing. No more than I need to stay in one piece around here, at least. I just-
I don't know. People are too much work, and I don't like most of them.
This begs the question: how do we stop the cycle? Is it okay to get revenge, to strike back, if it’s to further a cause? To hurt others as you were hurt?
I think the ending was slightly over-the-top and rushed which took away some of the impact.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for a review!
Bookstagram
October 15, 2024
“If your leftist queer space leaves no room for me, the most mean aggressive annoying anti social person you can imagine so I can constantly make everyone walk on eggshells around me as a sign of moral superiority, is it really a safe space at all?” ~ the Internet.
I think that some people rate this book higher than it deserves because it was written by a transman so if they don’t like the book, then does that make them transphobic?
But I’m trans. So I’m free to say that this book sucks without fear.
I have so many thoughts about Compound Fracture. I think the concept of the book is fantastic: the idea of reclaiming Southern Queer history is so great. I think it’s great to see a trans character grapple with the aftermath of coming out.
I think the characters, the plot, the villians, the time setting, the delivery, and the writing style were terrible. I think Miles himself sucks, and needs to get out of the house and touch grass. I was so angry at the way he treats his parents. One minute, he’s mad that they’re not calling him by his new chosen name immediately after he sent them a coming out email; the next, he’s spitting mad at his dad for trying to make jokes about his identity with him. Like, sir, my parents ignored me when I came out… your parents actually acknowledge your queer identity, that’s so big! So incredible! Miles also said that the person who kisses him later in the book OWES IT TO HIM TO COME OUT AS QUEER, IN ORDER TO VALIDATE MILES’s IDENTITY.
“The least you can do is come out as queer, because you’re attracted to me” is such a wild philosophy.
Not all trans people are like Miles, folks. Miles’s character feels like he’d scream at a barista for misgendering him at the store - most trans people I know just want to come out at work and not be fired.
I might add more thoughts later, but this is all I got for now.
I think that some people rate this book higher than it deserves because it was written by a transman so if they don’t like the book, then does that make them transphobic?
But I’m trans. So I’m free to say that this book sucks without fear.
I have so many thoughts about Compound Fracture. I think the concept of the book is fantastic: the idea of reclaiming Southern Queer history is so great. I think it’s great to see a trans character grapple with the aftermath of coming out.
I think the characters, the plot, the villians, the time setting, the delivery, and the writing style were terrible. I think Miles himself sucks, and needs to get out of the house and touch grass. I was so angry at the way he treats his parents. One minute, he’s mad that they’re not calling him by his new chosen name immediately after he sent them a coming out email; the next, he’s spitting mad at his dad for trying to make jokes about his identity with him. Like, sir, my parents ignored me when I came out… your parents actually acknowledge your queer identity, that’s so big! So incredible! Miles also said that the person who kisses him later in the book OWES IT TO HIM TO COME OUT AS QUEER, IN ORDER TO VALIDATE MILES’s IDENTITY.
“The least you can do is come out as queer, because you’re attracted to me” is such a wild philosophy.
Not all trans people are like Miles, folks. Miles’s character feels like he’d scream at a barista for misgendering him at the store - most trans people I know just want to come out at work and not be fired.
I might add more thoughts later, but this is all I got for now.
Read
August 29, 2024Andrew Joseph White's third novel continues his upward trajectory into the hallowed halls of American horror fiction. Like his first two books, Compound Fracture sees him exploring the trans-masculine narrative with nuance and dynamism. But what elevates this one even further is the ways it tangles its queer themes nicely with those of generational violence and working-class masculine struggles (reminiscent of Selva Almada's Brickmakers).
My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/modern-horror...
My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/modern-horror...
June 29, 2025
Did I finish this book or did it finish me? I mean, it took me just about one page to realise that Compound Fracture was going to be the story for me, and then it got me so hooked that I ended up devouring this book in a single day. Which... emotional turmoil to the max, but also zero regrets.
On the surface, Compound Fracture might seem like just another (supernatural) YA thriller, but it is SO much more than that. It's both a beautiful love letter to and a searing diss track of Appalachia (and the US as a whole) in all its messy glory, and it's filled with SO much heart and hurt. It's a very politically and emotionally charged story of survival, otherness, community, and rebellion that explores just how far people are willing to go to protect their loved ones, to get revenge, and to break the vicious cycles that are tearing down everything and everyone they love.
I absolutely adored Miles as a MC, and the queer (trans & demiromantic) and autism rep was so beautifully and authentically woven into his personal journey. Also really appreciated that the side characters (be they loveable goofballs, hateable asshats or something altogether more complicated in between) all popped off the page, even if Miles absolutely stole the show with his loud and bold voice. Especially loved my non-binary babe Dallas, and I was also so moved by the eventual growth and support of Miles' parents.
AJW's writing is just so incredibly raw, visceral, unflinching, addictive, and so damn real, which really made me feel all the feels (for better or worse.) Absolutely zero punches are pulled, and I was completely enthralled by this disturbing, violent, and tragically beautiful trainwreck of a story. Like, there were multiple times where I thought: "no, surely AJW won't go there", and then he absolutely did and my flabbers were gasted.
Compound Fracture is one of the darkest and boldest YA books I have ever read, and it single-handedly raised the bar for YA storytelling to a whole new (unattainable?) level for me. No, nothing about this story is subtle, but I love it all the more for it. This book both broke and healed me, and now I want to read anything and everyting that AJW has ever written and will ever write. Hello new favourite!!
On the surface, Compound Fracture might seem like just another (supernatural) YA thriller, but it is SO much more than that. It's both a beautiful love letter to and a searing diss track of Appalachia (and the US as a whole) in all its messy glory, and it's filled with SO much heart and hurt. It's a very politically and emotionally charged story of survival, otherness, community, and rebellion that explores just how far people are willing to go to protect their loved ones, to get revenge, and to break the vicious cycles that are tearing down everything and everyone they love.
I absolutely adored Miles as a MC, and the queer (trans & demiromantic) and autism rep was so beautifully and authentically woven into his personal journey. Also really appreciated that the side characters (be they loveable goofballs, hateable asshats or something altogether more complicated in between) all popped off the page, even if Miles absolutely stole the show with his loud and bold voice. Especially loved my non-binary babe Dallas, and I was also so moved by the eventual growth and support of Miles' parents.
AJW's writing is just so incredibly raw, visceral, unflinching, addictive, and so damn real, which really made me feel all the feels (for better or worse.) Absolutely zero punches are pulled, and I was completely enthralled by this disturbing, violent, and tragically beautiful trainwreck of a story. Like, there were multiple times where I thought: "no, surely AJW won't go there", and then he absolutely did and my flabbers were gasted.
Compound Fracture is one of the darkest and boldest YA books I have ever read, and it single-handedly raised the bar for YA storytelling to a whole new (unattainable?) level for me. No, nothing about this story is subtle, but I love it all the more for it. This book both broke and healed me, and now I want to read anything and everyting that AJW has ever written and will ever write. Hello new favourite!!
August 23, 2024
Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.
Life has been days and months and years of dread interspersed with seconds of sheer terror. Honestly, I can’t think of any other way for us to exist.
The first non-romance I’ve read in a long time, and what a good time it was. I used to love reading all kinds of thrillers, and this might be one of my favorites. The entire story felt like nothing I’ve read before. It was like I could see and smell the rural West Virginia environment with every page, and I could feel every character’s frustration and hopelessness.
The main character, Miles, is a transgender boy and neurodivergent, and it is written so well. One of the most interesting stories I’ve read in a long time, and all of the characters felt original and distinct, no matter how big or small part they played in the story. Everyone was flawed. The exploration of generational trauma, structural poverty, abuse of power, capitalism, etc. might sound like a lot, like it would feel forced to drive the political thriller side of the plot, but it felt so natural and seamless.
It’s unnerving to see your entire personality reflected back at you under the symptom list of a developmental disorder.
There’s no romance in the book, but it does explore Miles’ sexuality and gender identity, which I thought was done well in the middle of all the violence and plot.
This book is graphic and brutal. It’s honest and unromantic, and I loved it. Highly recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & content tags ⚠️
Trans character
Queer fiction
Neurodivergent character
Thriller
Political themes
Political thriller
Rural America
Self-discovery
Themes of gender identity
Themes of sexual identity
YA novel
Aromantic character
⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Graphic details of murder (past, family member)
Deadnaming of main character (on page)
Misgendering of main character (on page)
Detailed mention of dog being killed (past)
Alcohol consumption
Details of past severe injury (parent)
Mentions of compulsions resulting in self harm (picking at skin, past)
MC physically assaulted (off page, detailed)
MC hospitalized (detailed injuries)
Corrupt police
On-page death of side character (bad guy)
Graphic description of murdered SC
Discussions of drug addiction (OxyContin)
Mentions of child being filmed in the shower (past)
Opioid withdrawal (on page)
Vomiting
Structural poverty
Underage drinking
Homophobic slur
Gun violence
Detailed skinning and processing of animal (deer)
Graphic murder of SC (on page)
MC forcibly outed as trans against their will
Insecurities related to facial and body disfigurement (SC)
SC eviscerated and killed (off page, detailed)
MC injured (gunshot wound, on page)
⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: N/A
Other person drama: N/A
Breakup: N/A
POV: 1st person, single
Genre: YA, queer fiction, thriller
Pairing: N/A
Strict roles or versatile: N/A
Main characters’ age: 16
Series: Standalone
Kindle Unlimited: No
Pages: 416
Happy ending: Hopeful
When a good chunk of your emotions are expressed manually—when you have to actively decide to frown, or grimace, or whatever’s expected at the moment—there’s hardly any point in expressing the negative ones. Showing pain or exhaustion on purpose feels manipulative.
The physical part of it sounds like fun, but the rest? I don’t get the appeal. Still, I memorized the symptoms. It’s all stereotypical. Butterflies in the stomach, an adrenaline rush at the idea of whoever, getting nervous and stammering, that sort of thing.
I dunno. That sounds like a fear response to me.
You can find most of my reviews on Instagram as well: https://www.instagram.com/booksafety?...
Life has been days and months and years of dread interspersed with seconds of sheer terror. Honestly, I can’t think of any other way for us to exist.
The first non-romance I’ve read in a long time, and what a good time it was. I used to love reading all kinds of thrillers, and this might be one of my favorites. The entire story felt like nothing I’ve read before. It was like I could see and smell the rural West Virginia environment with every page, and I could feel every character’s frustration and hopelessness.
The main character, Miles, is a transgender boy and neurodivergent, and it is written so well. One of the most interesting stories I’ve read in a long time, and all of the characters felt original and distinct, no matter how big or small part they played in the story. Everyone was flawed. The exploration of generational trauma, structural poverty, abuse of power, capitalism, etc. might sound like a lot, like it would feel forced to drive the political thriller side of the plot, but it felt so natural and seamless.
It’s unnerving to see your entire personality reflected back at you under the symptom list of a developmental disorder.
There’s no romance in the book, but it does explore Miles’ sexuality and gender identity, which I thought was done well in the middle of all the violence and plot.
This book is graphic and brutal. It’s honest and unromantic, and I loved it. Highly recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & content tags ⚠️
Trans character
Queer fiction
Neurodivergent character
Thriller
Political themes
Political thriller
Rural America
Self-discovery
Themes of gender identity
Themes of sexual identity
YA novel
Aromantic character
⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Graphic details of murder (past, family member)
Deadnaming of main character (on page)
Misgendering of main character (on page)
Detailed mention of dog being killed (past)
Alcohol consumption
Details of past severe injury (parent)
Mentions of compulsions resulting in self harm (picking at skin, past)
MC physically assaulted (off page, detailed)
MC hospitalized (detailed injuries)
Corrupt police
On-page death of side character (bad guy)
Graphic description of murdered SC
Discussions of drug addiction (OxyContin)
Mentions of child being filmed in the shower (past)
Opioid withdrawal (on page)
Vomiting
Structural poverty
Underage drinking
Homophobic slur
Gun violence
Detailed skinning and processing of animal (deer)
Graphic murder of SC (on page)
MC forcibly outed as trans against their will
Insecurities related to facial and body disfigurement (SC)
SC eviscerated and killed (off page, detailed)
MC injured (gunshot wound, on page)
⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: N/A
Other person drama: N/A
Breakup: N/A
POV: 1st person, single
Genre: YA, queer fiction, thriller
Pairing: N/A
Strict roles or versatile: N/A
Main characters’ age: 16
Series: Standalone
Kindle Unlimited: No
Pages: 416
Happy ending: Hopeful
When a good chunk of your emotions are expressed manually—when you have to actively decide to frown, or grimace, or whatever’s expected at the moment—there’s hardly any point in expressing the negative ones. Showing pain or exhaustion on purpose feels manipulative.
The physical part of it sounds like fun, but the rest? I don’t get the appeal. Still, I memorized the symptoms. It’s all stereotypical. Butterflies in the stomach, an adrenaline rush at the idea of whoever, getting nervous and stammering, that sort of thing.
I dunno. That sounds like a fear response to me.
You can find most of my reviews on Instagram as well: https://www.instagram.com/booksafety?...
September 11, 2024
3.5 stars rounded up.
This could've been more brutal tbh 🥲 (feelings wise and story wise) (speaking as a person who loves anything dark and grim and painful)
This could've been more brutal tbh 🥲 (feelings wise and story wise) (speaking as a person who loves anything dark and grim and painful)
Read
December 9, 2024i’m not autistic. i’m weird and socially inept and a picky eater and had to be taught how to smile and made to stop chewing my hair and can’t spend more than a few minutes around people before i want to crawl out of my skin and can’t take a shower without losing my shit over it and i don’t understand people at all.
i’m not autistic. i’m some unsocialized dog.
i’m not autistic. i’m some unsocialized dog.
March 31, 2024
andrew joseph white truly never misses
February 2, 2025
I received an ARC from Edelweiss
TW: referenced fatal car crash & immolation, deadnaming & transphobia, referenced murder of a pet (dog), referenced child pornography, gun violence, outing, referenced torture & kidnap, police corruption & brutality, vicious dog attack, throat trauma, eye trauma
4
Another autistic trans boy from AJW! We do love to see it.
And I did like Miles a lot. His journey felt his own, instead of mixing too much with Silas or Benji. I also love that this was a story of reaching back to your ancestors instead of allowing a "this is the way it is" numbness to set, and a story of being pushed and puppeted.
The community in this book was great. I love that even in a place painted so bleak, so easy to be trapped and broken in, people support and rally around Miles. The lighting of a spark towards revolution was cathartic, and the desire to root out the rot felt great to watch.
Cooper is a well done semi-antagonist, and I hate him but I do find the relationship between him and Miles so fascinating. I love to see a toxic friendship explored, and we get that in droves here.
I did expect, and hope, for the paranormal part of this to feel more pressing. Saint was not the driving force I thought he'd be, and it began feeling like this story would be pretty much exactly the same had there never been a hint of a ghost in it.
For me, I just felt like everything was weirdly easy. Obviously Miles went through tough situations, but in terms of the murders and coverups, all the tension was simply on Miles making himself so easy to catch. But the murders don't have a lot of weight to them, and the revenge in general- and even the moments of identity questioning and exploration- as very straightforward and thin. I wish there were few more layers here, with more messiness.
Pre-review comments below
" an Appalachian teen survives an attempted murder with the help of an ancestor who died in the West Virginia coal wars, only to get drawn into a struggle between the rural poor and those who exploit them. "
HOOOO BOY DOES THIS SOUND GOOD
Update: I GOT AN ARC!!!!!!!!!!!!
TW: referenced fatal car crash & immolation, deadnaming & transphobia, referenced murder of a pet (dog), referenced child pornography, gun violence, outing, referenced torture & kidnap, police corruption & brutality, vicious dog attack, throat trauma, eye trauma
4
Another autistic trans boy from AJW! We do love to see it.
And I did like Miles a lot. His journey felt his own, instead of mixing too much with Silas or Benji. I also love that this was a story of reaching back to your ancestors instead of allowing a "this is the way it is" numbness to set, and a story of being pushed and puppeted.
The community in this book was great. I love that even in a place painted so bleak, so easy to be trapped and broken in, people support and rally around Miles. The lighting of a spark towards revolution was cathartic, and the desire to root out the rot felt great to watch.
Cooper is a well done semi-antagonist, and I hate him but I do find the relationship between him and Miles so fascinating. I love to see a toxic friendship explored, and we get that in droves here.
I did expect, and hope, for the paranormal part of this to feel more pressing. Saint was not the driving force I thought he'd be, and it began feeling like this story would be pretty much exactly the same had there never been a hint of a ghost in it.
For me, I just felt like everything was weirdly easy. Obviously Miles went through tough situations, but in terms of the murders and coverups, all the tension was simply on Miles making himself so easy to catch. But the murders don't have a lot of weight to them, and the revenge in general- and even the moments of identity questioning and exploration- as very straightforward and thin. I wish there were few more layers here, with more messiness.
Pre-review comments below
" an Appalachian teen survives an attempted murder with the help of an ancestor who died in the West Virginia coal wars, only to get drawn into a struggle between the rural poor and those who exploit them. "
HOOOO BOY DOES THIS SOUND GOOD
Update: I GOT AN ARC!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 28, 2025
(2025 Re-read)
I am so glad I re-read this. I enjoyed it even more this time around, and the things that felt a little clumsy to me, a little didactic, felt less so this time around. Similarly, I think I appreciated the supernatural elements more this time around just as they were instead of wanting something else from them, as I did last time around. I think it is more important than ever for books like this to be read and celebrated, it was an emotional and utterly satisfying (re)read.
(2024 Review)
Andrew Joseph White is not interested in your comfort, as a reader. Let’s get that out of the way right now. His novels, this one included, go right for the jugular. They draw you in and implicate you and liberate you and force you to look at your mind, habits, motivations, and behaviors. I love them for that.
I have so many thoughts, I don’t know how to condense and formulate them for a review. Let’s try, together. It is important to know that this novel skews far more thriller than horror, especially in comparison to his previous two novels. There is a supernatural element, but it is not at the heart of this story, nor my favorite part. If you go in expecting some of the apocalyptic body horror of HFWU or the Victorian, gothic horror of TSBIT then you will be disappointed. If, instead, you are looking for an emotional thriller that is about inherited trauma and violence, class solidarity, and what it means to define and defend your self, home, and family, then you will be ensnared from the first page. This story is graphic and gut-wrenching, but with moments of incredible joy and solidarity, filled with perseverance and hope against all odds.
This is White’s least metaphorical book. There are explorations of socialist ideology/class solidarity, neurodivergence, and queer & trans identity and experience that are very straightforward, and almost didactic at times. White doesn’t give us any fantastical elements to hide behind; there is an immediacy, a refusal to let you look away. Sometimes this felt a little more preachy and a little less interesting than the way similar things were explored in his other novels. I always appreciate the ways genre can let you hyperbolize something to make a salient point more resonant and immediate in our real lives, but while the emotional journey and violence here can be overwhelming at times, there is no hyperbole. So that wasn’t my favorite. But the more I thought about it, after finishing the story, the more I came to appreciate it. Because I am reading this novel as an adult who has already studied a lot of these things. I already am invested in anti-capitalism and class solidarity, I already know a lot about queer experience and visibility and identity, and I have done work studying neurodivergence and disability politics. This is technically a YA novel, and the narrator is a teenager that is overwhelmed with these ideas, they are the super-focused center of his life. It makes sense for there to be an almost didactic feel to the way he explains some of these things. And there is a huge audience who won’t come in with my experiences, and to have a character be so bluntly explaining how even victimizers are victims caught in a web of capitalism and severe wealth inequality can actually be quite powerful. As I read the book I wanted more metaphor and less preaching, but as I contemplate the book I realize there was a huge benefit to the tone, approach, and structure. It was made jagged and sharp on purpose, and I have come to appreciate it.
The character work is, as usual, incredible. I feel invested in not just the protagonist but the whole bevy of ancillary characters, too. I see myself and people I know in them, they feel genuine and personal and complicated. And, importantly, there is growth and change and journey. There were a few small character moments, specifically related to family (and found-family) dynamics that made me literally tear up in public as I was reading this, because they are sometimes overwhelming in their simplicity, in how easy they should and can be but are far too often not. I also thought the plotting and timing was, for the most part, good. The story kept me invested and wanting to keep going the whole time—I devoured this novel in less than two days. Occasionally the plotting was a little stunted feeling, but it was always done for the sake of developing character moments, and so I never felt pulled away or distracted.
There are some things that I didn’t love, which I suppose worth noting. The supernatural element to this story felt like an afterthought. I liked the way it resolved, and the inherent ambiguity even in the resolution (I have already read other reviews that interpreted it differently than me), but it felt like it existed in this weird peripheral place that was frustrating. If the supernatural element had been either more prominent (without changing the resolution) or not there at all, that would have been better. I appreciate the narrative journey it facilitated for our protagonist, so I am glad it was there, I just wish it were more there. Secondly, this story is set in a very specific time and place. I understand why, given there is a family history and legacy that plays a big role in the story. It just felt like locking it to a specific presidency and time period penned it in a little. There is an explicit recognition that the violence experienced exists through bloodlines, spanning hundreds of years, and it isn’t new or unique to a Trump presidency, but still it felt more isolated, and less explosive, then maybe it could have been.
This story is confrontational, and makes no attempt to hide its bloody knuckles or battle scars. While there were some elements that I didn’t love, the intense passion, and compassion, at the center of this story kept me engaged. It was heavy-handed at times, but was doing so in such a way as to always offer an invitation to the reader, wanting you to be a comrade, to work for justice for all oppressed, marginalized, and victimized people. The story was visceral, intimate, and showed a different set of strengths to White’s writing. Even after having been given an eARC to read I have already pre-ordered a physical copy, because I want to make sure there is a copy easily available for my siblings and niblings and friends and even myself to return to, White has given us an immersive experience and I definitely recommend it.
(Rounded up from 4.5 stars)
I want to thank the author, the publisher Peachtree, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I am so glad I re-read this. I enjoyed it even more this time around, and the things that felt a little clumsy to me, a little didactic, felt less so this time around. Similarly, I think I appreciated the supernatural elements more this time around just as they were instead of wanting something else from them, as I did last time around. I think it is more important than ever for books like this to be read and celebrated, it was an emotional and utterly satisfying (re)read.
(2024 Review)
Andrew Joseph White is not interested in your comfort, as a reader. Let’s get that out of the way right now. His novels, this one included, go right for the jugular. They draw you in and implicate you and liberate you and force you to look at your mind, habits, motivations, and behaviors. I love them for that.
I have so many thoughts, I don’t know how to condense and formulate them for a review. Let’s try, together. It is important to know that this novel skews far more thriller than horror, especially in comparison to his previous two novels. There is a supernatural element, but it is not at the heart of this story, nor my favorite part. If you go in expecting some of the apocalyptic body horror of HFWU or the Victorian, gothic horror of TSBIT then you will be disappointed. If, instead, you are looking for an emotional thriller that is about inherited trauma and violence, class solidarity, and what it means to define and defend your self, home, and family, then you will be ensnared from the first page. This story is graphic and gut-wrenching, but with moments of incredible joy and solidarity, filled with perseverance and hope against all odds.
This is White’s least metaphorical book. There are explorations of socialist ideology/class solidarity, neurodivergence, and queer & trans identity and experience that are very straightforward, and almost didactic at times. White doesn’t give us any fantastical elements to hide behind; there is an immediacy, a refusal to let you look away. Sometimes this felt a little more preachy and a little less interesting than the way similar things were explored in his other novels. I always appreciate the ways genre can let you hyperbolize something to make a salient point more resonant and immediate in our real lives, but while the emotional journey and violence here can be overwhelming at times, there is no hyperbole. So that wasn’t my favorite. But the more I thought about it, after finishing the story, the more I came to appreciate it. Because I am reading this novel as an adult who has already studied a lot of these things. I already am invested in anti-capitalism and class solidarity, I already know a lot about queer experience and visibility and identity, and I have done work studying neurodivergence and disability politics. This is technically a YA novel, and the narrator is a teenager that is overwhelmed with these ideas, they are the super-focused center of his life. It makes sense for there to be an almost didactic feel to the way he explains some of these things. And there is a huge audience who won’t come in with my experiences, and to have a character be so bluntly explaining how even victimizers are victims caught in a web of capitalism and severe wealth inequality can actually be quite powerful. As I read the book I wanted more metaphor and less preaching, but as I contemplate the book I realize there was a huge benefit to the tone, approach, and structure. It was made jagged and sharp on purpose, and I have come to appreciate it.
The character work is, as usual, incredible. I feel invested in not just the protagonist but the whole bevy of ancillary characters, too. I see myself and people I know in them, they feel genuine and personal and complicated. And, importantly, there is growth and change and journey. There were a few small character moments, specifically related to family (and found-family) dynamics that made me literally tear up in public as I was reading this, because they are sometimes overwhelming in their simplicity, in how easy they should and can be but are far too often not. I also thought the plotting and timing was, for the most part, good. The story kept me invested and wanting to keep going the whole time—I devoured this novel in less than two days. Occasionally the plotting was a little stunted feeling, but it was always done for the sake of developing character moments, and so I never felt pulled away or distracted.
There are some things that I didn’t love, which I suppose worth noting. The supernatural element to this story felt like an afterthought. I liked the way it resolved, and the inherent ambiguity even in the resolution (I have already read other reviews that interpreted it differently than me), but it felt like it existed in this weird peripheral place that was frustrating. If the supernatural element had been either more prominent (without changing the resolution) or not there at all, that would have been better. I appreciate the narrative journey it facilitated for our protagonist, so I am glad it was there, I just wish it were more there. Secondly, this story is set in a very specific time and place. I understand why, given there is a family history and legacy that plays a big role in the story. It just felt like locking it to a specific presidency and time period penned it in a little. There is an explicit recognition that the violence experienced exists through bloodlines, spanning hundreds of years, and it isn’t new or unique to a Trump presidency, but still it felt more isolated, and less explosive, then maybe it could have been.
This story is confrontational, and makes no attempt to hide its bloody knuckles or battle scars. While there were some elements that I didn’t love, the intense passion, and compassion, at the center of this story kept me engaged. It was heavy-handed at times, but was doing so in such a way as to always offer an invitation to the reader, wanting you to be a comrade, to work for justice for all oppressed, marginalized, and victimized people. The story was visceral, intimate, and showed a different set of strengths to White’s writing. Even after having been given an eARC to read I have already pre-ordered a physical copy, because I want to make sure there is a copy easily available for my siblings and niblings and friends and even myself to return to, White has given us an immersive experience and I definitely recommend it.
(Rounded up from 4.5 stars)
I want to thank the author, the publisher Peachtree, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
September 22, 2024
That was brutal as fuck dude. Yet again AJW makes me question how the fuck his stuff is for young adults. I need an adult novel by him so desperately because I know it would be gruesome as hell. But anyway, this book was so gritty an atmospheric when it came to the setting and the family dynamics were a pleasant surprise. I would read this author's grocery list and beg at his feet to need more groceries if it meant i got to read another word. AJW has such a truly perfected writing style and he's so good at making very fleshed out unique characters that live in your heart months after finishing his books. I need m o r e.
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