2023 Nastolgia Reads: The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
Genre: Fiction: Fantasy Age level: Middle grade Format: Novel
Summary: A pregnant calico cat is abandoned. A dog is chained to a house by the abusive man living in it. Together, they live in the underneath of the house, where their stories intertwine with the world around them as the past bleeds into the present and an old story reaches its end.
Thoughts: I came back to this book years after my English teacher read it to our class, only really remembering bits and pieces. I was surprised to see a lot of my own writing style in it! This book definitely impacted younger me, and I'm glad I took the time to reread it. It's one of those stories that has a lot going on at once, and then everything comes crashing together in the end. I really enjoyed that aspect and think it was done well!
The writing style is definitely hit or miss though, and I can understand why some people wouldn't be into it. The author frequently utilizes lengthy + run-on sentences, which didn't work well with the fact that I read this by listening to the audiobook. I didn't feel like the narrator leaned into it enough- I think reading something like this is an experience you have to play with, if that makes sense? Like speeding up your reading every now and then to have the emotional impact of the repeating words hit you. I don't know! It was definitely annoying at times. I'd be interested in reading this again with a physical copy like I usually do, to see if that feels better for me.
Overall, this is a great story for young readers, and it was great for me as someone who likes fantasy but also gets overwhelmed easily. Heed the trigger warnings though since it often gets dark!Â
Rating: 4/5 Trigger warnings: Animal abuse, animal death, alcoholism and child abuse. Rep: Indigeonous SCs.
