Welcome to Litsy!

Wow this was dark and tense to read. But really really good too!

Lynnette has not had an easy life. But she thinks she‘s about to be fully on her feet, buying a house and being able to take better care of her dependent brother. Then everything seems to go wrong.

Read for #12book12friends12months challenge, recommended by @RebelReader .

I‘ll look for more by this author.

Lynette is a struggling young woman desperate for a better life. Over the course of two days and two nights we follow her through the underbelly of a changing city where we find out how far she‘s willing to go for a shot at “The American Dream” (or at least owning a small house).

The novel is set in Portland, Oregon, but it could be anywhere that gentrification has significantly outpaced the means of most locals.

Gritty is the adjective to describe this novel. I liked it, but didn‘t want to like it, sort of the same way you do & don‘t want to see a train wreck. 😒 Life is really tough and when you start out behind the 8 ball it takes exponentially more effort to cultivate a comfortable life. There are no guarantees of success.

An amazing peek into how messy life can get and the lengths people will go to in order to make things right. Lynette has struggled through mental illness, depression and a suicide attempt, making life difficult for her mother and developmentally disabled brother. I loved this story and these broken characters. I didn't love the authors hard lines of good and bad. It made a great story feel immature but didn't take away from the story too much.

Totally unexpected Libby find but this book is amazing so far! Lynette has a checkered past, including violent outbursts, running away and a suicide attempt. She's trying to create stability for her mom and developmentally disabled brother but not through the most legal avenues.

Looks good, doesn‘t it?

Lynette has it rough. She lives with her mother and brother who has developmental disabilities. The family is dysfunctional and down on their luck. Lynette has been working multiple jobs in order to try to pull them out of their situation. When her plan to rebuild their lives falls apart things spiral downward. The author has a not-so-subtle comment about healthcare, wealth, and the various systems that shape life in America. Good, not great.

#realtalk

I think this book brilliantly captures the struggle of our modern times. It's a statement on the way the myth of the American dream has been perverted. How in the chase to reach that dream we often lose ourselves. This book is distressing & moving. It's an emotional approach to the failures of social policy, the health care & mental health system, & the financial system. There was some weird dialogue to provide the backstory but otherwise ⭐⭐⭐⭐.

Dark, gritty, and somehow unputdownable. Some of the writing style was weird and I almost felt like I was reading a play, with physical character descriptions and pages of dialogue. But a quick read and one I‘ll think about for a while.