Trust Greenwood to bring to life another intriguing situation with unique characters.
I love love loved Bryn Greenwood's character of Gentry. I don’t have a sense of whether he is a plausibly realistic reflection of a man on the autism spectrum or not, but Greenwood has built him to be a dedicated, solid, fierce, funny, practical dreamer. One of the best characters—voices and all—I’ve read in ages.
I would have read an entire book about Gentry just walking around, but the book weaves together internal struggles, times of waiting, emotional anguish, and action and danger.
Zee is tough, sometimes cutthroat, emotionally distant by necessity, and often desperate, but always ambitious—especially regarding helping those she cares about.
It was tough to read as Zee made questionable choices throughout The Reckless Oath We Made and as many of the joyful elements of the book unraveled. Gentry’s mom is a wonder, but her ability to keep things in perspective and forgive after the crescendo of damaging events felt so angelic as to make me question how realistic it all was. Clearly I’m jaded. But it didn’t make a difference since I was all in anyway.
I’m glad I didn’t know a lot about this book going in, just that I was fascinated by Greenwood’s All the Ugly and Wonderful Things and that I trusted Greenwood to bring to life another intriguing situation with unique characters, which she did.
I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam in exchange for an honest review.
What did you think?
Did you think Gentry's black-and-white point of view and hyperfocused attention to embodying the characteristics he admired allowed him to actualize the role of a hero?