LOWBOY

Author: John Wray

Genre: Fiction, Standalone

Published: 2009

Personal Rating: 3/5 (just okay)

Yearly Count: 15

From Publishers Weekly:

Wray's captivating third novel drifts between psychological realities while exploring the narrative poetics of schizophrenia. The story centers on Will Heller, a 16-year-old New Yorker who has stopped taking his antipsychotic medication and wandered away from the mental hospital into the subway tunnels believing that the world will end within a few hours and that only he can save it. It's a novel that defies easy categorization, although in one sense it's a mystery, as a detective, Lateef, is on the case, assisted by Will's troubled mother, Violet. As Lateef tracks Will and gains some startling insight into Violet, Wray deploys brilliant hallucinatory visuals, including chilling descriptions of the subway system and an imaginary river flowing beneath Manhattan. In his previous works, Wray has shown that he's not a stranger to dark themes, and with this tightly wound novel, he reaches new heights.

I found that some of this novel was extremely interesting - observing what goes through someone's mind when they have a mental disorder for one and the subway traveling as another. Even though the majority of the book was based on what I found to be interesting, I still didn't come away with a very enjoyable experience. Maybe too much of a mixed-up mind was too much for me or the fact that I simply didn't connect with any of the characters. Wray's writing kept me immersed in Lowboy's world, but sad to say, I didn't even develop any sympathetic feelings towards him, nothing worth counting anyway.

My thanks go to the Goodreads Firstreads Program and Picador for providing me with this book.