This is one of the most tragic and sad books I’ve ever read. On the surface, it’s a simple enough story that, with no disrespect meant, could have been easily been avoided if the main character had an accountability partner. Having a trusted friend that he could talk to about the darkness he struggled with would have made all the difference.
That out of the way, The book is incredibly well written that grabbed me from the first paragraph. Even though I knew the ending from the start, I still wanted to know what exactly happened. The story contains many thought-provoking statements and themes like how we do what we don’t want to do (and often don’t know why we do what we don’t want to do), The nefarious combination of faith and national identity, how moralism and legalism destroy but do not restore, and many other themes.
This immediately earned its place on my shelf of top novels that I will be telling people about for years to come.
5 / 5 Stars
