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A review by wchereads
Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White
challenging
dark
tense
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the e-arc. I feel genuinely honoured that I got to read an ARC of an Andrew Joseph White book not once but twice.
Compound Fracture is BRUTAL. Synopsis says this book is not for the faint of heart and... yeah! They were not kidding!
The moments of tenderness and unconditional love, as a result, are even more of a breath of fresh air.
There are many things I loved about this book: the unbridled and unapologetic queer joy from Dallas; the fact that their entire family (their brother plus the coolest sister in law) exists, really, Amber is just so cool and the way she takes care of Miles makes me WEEP; the way Miles' grandparents rallied around himafter he was outed despite not exactly understanding the identity of transgender, but enough to know that it was a violation and that their grandchild NEEDED their love and support; Miles' journey of learning and self discovery. He does have a good point about resiliency: it is overrated, because why is there morality associated with pushing through a godawful circumstance when they shouldn't have to in the first place. Nonetheless, I am happy for him, for Dallas and family, for the this journey that led to him discovering a community that is there for one another and the joy and love that comes from having it.
As is typical of an Andrew Joseph White book, it has amazing autism representation. Like abolition / anarchism, it is also something I have been learning more about since my partner understood that he is on the autism spectrum. While reading CF, I'd recognize things that my partner also does and show it to him while giggling. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth was his first Andrew Joseph White book btw and he sobbed for a moment after finishing it, saying he felt so seen. I am sure that he will love this one too.
I am not sure if I love this one as much as TSBIT but mostly that is just because I don't do very well with gore and injury details. I appreciate this book deeply and especially the anarchist message.
I look forward to whatever Andrew publishes next!
Compound Fracture is BRUTAL. Synopsis says this book is not for the faint of heart and... yeah! They were not kidding!
The moments of tenderness and unconditional love, as a result, are even more of a breath of fresh air.
There are many things I loved about this book: the unbridled and unapologetic queer joy from Dallas; the fact that their entire family (their brother plus the coolest sister in law) exists, really, Amber is just so cool and the way she takes care of Miles makes me WEEP; the way Miles' grandparents rallied around him
As is typical of an Andrew Joseph White book, it has amazing autism representation. Like abolition / anarchism, it is also something I have been learning more about since my partner understood that he is on the autism spectrum. While reading CF, I'd recognize things that my partner also does and show it to him while giggling. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth was his first Andrew Joseph White book btw and he sobbed for a moment after finishing it, saying he felt so seen. I am sure that he will love this one too.
I am not sure if I love this one as much as TSBIT but mostly that is just because I don't do very well with gore and injury details. I appreciate this book deeply and especially the anarchist message.
I look forward to whatever Andrew publishes next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence and Outing
Minor: Addiction and Kidnapping
About animal death/cruelty: there is graphic description of how a minor character's dog was abused by Noah and friends and the abuse was filmed. This character's family moved away afterwards. As a result, the main character is often concerned for his own dog Lady. nothing ever happened to Lady, though.