#john fram

Here is what I read, posted, won, received, and bought in May. Let me know if you have read any of these books and what you thought of them. Books I Read: Books I Did Not Finish I did not finish this book (which is rare for me). I had a good reason not to. The author was involved in a scandal that involved review-bombing books that were similar to her and also written by BIPOC and Queer…

REVIEW

THE MIDNIGHT KNOCK by #JohnFram at The Reading Cafe:

' multi-layered, complex, reflective, edgy'

REVIEW

THE MIDNIGHT KNOCK by #JohnFram at The Reading Cafe:

' multi-layered, complex, reflective, edgy'

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet and share what you have been and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit, comment, and add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book…

Book #211 of 2020:

The Bright Lands by John Fram

There’s a thriving sub-genre of suspense novels about a protagonist returning to their childhood home in the wake of tragedy and uncovering old secrets, and in theory, I like the idea of mashing that together with something like Friday Night Lights. A small town in Texas that revolves around high school football is a great setting for exploring the corrupt underbelly of respectable society, and the hints of Lovecraftian horror further emphasize everyone’s cultish devotion to the team’s star players. Debut author John Fram is also utterly unafraid to take on the rampant homophobia at the heart of American sports culture, which I definitely appreciate.

I’m not really sold on the execution of all these themes, however. Although the gay representation is admirable, the narrative falls into the tired trope of all the worst bigots being closeted themselves, and it feels like we brush past the implications of that. I also lose track of the emotional truth to the characters as the story goes on, especially as the supernatural elements grow in stature. A late-stage burst of gun violence seems intended to shock, but since the relevant figures have long stopped resembling actual people by that point, I’ve greeted it with just a shrug instead.

There are still some interesting ideas here, but as a finished product, it doesn’t quite add up to a satisfying whole.

[Content warning for police abuse, sexual assault, racism, and various slurs.]

★★★☆☆

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