Review – Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Magical Realism
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books
Release Date: October 3, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-1101994900
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Sixteen-year-old Sarah can’t draw. This is a problem, because as long as she can remember, she has “done the art.” She thinks she’s having an existential crisis. And she might be right; she does keep running into past and future versions of herself as she wanders the urban ruins of Philadelphia. Or maybe she’s finally waking up to the tornado that is her family, the tornado that six years ago sent her once-beloved older brother flying across the country for a reason she can’t quite recall. After decades of staying together “for the kids” and building a family on a foundation of lies and domestic violence, Sarah’s parents have reached the end. Now Sarah must come to grips with years spent sleepwalking in the ruins of their toxic marriage. As Sarah herself often observes, nothing about her pain is remotely original—and yet it still hurts.”
Series Info: Stand Alone, borrowed from Library.
Characters (5/5): The characters in this book are amazing and complex. They give an excellent view into the minds of people dealing with abuse and living in households that just generally have issues. I particularly enjoyed the sections from Sarah’s mom’s POV; these really showed how a strong person can become a victim of long term abuse. This was also an interesting perspective on abusive families. Sarah herself is never physically abused but she suffers just as much because of the emotional toll the situation takes on her family.
Story (4/5): There is a lot of magical realism in this story (Sarah is visited by versions of herself from different points in her future and past). The story was very engaging, as you try to help Sarah piece together what she forgot about the trip to Mexico that changed her family forever. I enjoyed how this book was formatted, the chapters are very short and occasionally you hear from Sarah’s mother. I loved Sarah’s musing around originality and how nothing is ever original, or maybe everything is?
Setting (4/5): Typical contemporary urban setting.
Writing Style (5/5): King’s writing style can be a bit ambiguous at times. However, I thought this book formed a very well done and cohesive story. I loved the short chapters and how the story jumps into the past to slowly unravel events that took place then. A lot of these past events are seen through the eyes of 10 year old Sarah, while 23 and 40 year old Sarah give present Sarah hints that she will be okay one day. It sounds confusing, but King did an amazing job and it was an amazing story. This book was very engaging, easy to read, and hard to put down.
Summary (4/5): While this wasn’t my favorite AS King book, I thought it was still very good. There’s some interesting magical realism and I enjoyed the protagonists deep dive into what it means to be original. A lot of issues are covered in this book (abuse, art, friendship, family, originality). I enjoyed how the story was put together, it made for a quick and fast-paced read for me. I would recommend if you are an AS King fan or if you enjoy magical realism in a contemporary fiction setting that deals with abuse and family issues. This was creatively put together and very engaging.
