Idlewild

12:00 am 10 August 2017

3.5 - 4.0

Two vulnerable men, in very different ways, with very different armor. One is young, one a bit older, one Detroit-raised, one Suburbanite, one light and one serious....both are acting the part.

Their story and development was ultimately successful. You really rooted for them, and I liked and appreciated both characters.

What kept this from a solid 4 star for me was the part that was preachy: the two different Detroits. I understand it was part of a mechanism to contrast characters and also an homage, a truly earnest one, on the city itself. Problem is, it failed a bit. These tidbits usually revealed themselves in conversation, and this is where no 1st person account hurt the book. These would be better sights and feelings than weird snipes and tension between characters.

It was easy to invest in the characters but less so in the attempt to intricately weave Detroit into the book as a another character. Kudos for trying.

Sam's Reading: A Work in Progress

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