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beesher's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
amelia555's review against another edition
4.0
A drama with thriller and mystery elements is how I would describe this book. It's set mostly in the 00s (our present is 2013 but we go back in time very often) in the small town in American Midwest. The towers fell, the mood is sour, the unemployment rates are high, the drugs make their way into town. Our protagonists are former high school frenemies who happened to be in the same place at the same time. Bill, a former star basketball player turned junkie and yapper; Stacey, a former churchgirl who discovered something important about herself when in high school that changed the course of her life; Dan, a former bookworm turned army vet; Tina, a former school beauty turned Wallmart employee in another town. These are the characters who have chapters from their POVs, but there are many important folks who don't: Rick, another army vet, a former football star (the book starts with his funeral); Kaylyn, a mess of a person; Todd, evil incarnate.
The messages this book drives home are: 1) American high school is hell on earth; 2) Midwest is too, kinda. Or at least a purgatory. It's very dark, has some very violent scenes, and the trigger warnings list is pretty substantial: self-harm, sexual assault, murder, violence of different kinds. Don't pick it up if you like your books harmless.
What's interesting about it is looking at a whole picture as a reader, seeing what characters have what information and trying to figure out some answers. We the readers find out things our characters never did. This puzzle-like structure is fun in books for me. Also it gives us this whole "different perspectives on the same person or event" deal that's also very interetsing. For example, one character's memory of an eventful night is him being a hero, while in the eyes of the third party he was a pitiful loser that time.
It's a story about ordinary people with their ordinary failings: cruelty, disinterest in helping others, interest in helping others and punishment for it, addictions, delusions, childhood traumas that lead to brokenness, and love, which is a failing sometimes too. Not a light read by any means, and I doubt I'll ever see this book again, but I don't regret reading it.
The messages this book drives home are: 1) American high school is hell on earth; 2) Midwest is too, kinda. Or at least a purgatory. It's very dark, has some very violent scenes, and the trigger warnings list is pretty substantial: self-harm, sexual assault, murder, violence of different kinds. Don't pick it up if you like your books harmless.
What's interesting about it is looking at a whole picture as a reader, seeing what characters have what information and trying to figure out some answers. We the readers find out things our characters never did. This puzzle-like structure is fun in books for me. Also it gives us this whole "different perspectives on the same person or event" deal that's also very interetsing. For example, one character's memory of an eventful night is him being a hero, while in the eyes of the third party he was a pitiful loser that time.
It's a story about ordinary people with their ordinary failings: cruelty, disinterest in helping others, interest in helping others and punishment for it, addictions, delusions, childhood traumas that lead to brokenness, and love, which is a failing sometimes too. Not a light read by any means, and I doubt I'll ever see this book again, but I don't regret reading it.
beverllj's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Really great read. A little slow in the beginning and middle, and as others have said, a little long in the tooth with descriptions. But the pacing builds at a perfect pace and by the time I got to the fourth character story, I couldn’t put it down. The dramatic climax & harrowing ending made slightly slogging through the first part of the book completely worth it to me.
marie_blanc's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
emmeleprose's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
tagoreketabkhane31's review
4.0
Ohio is a complicated novel, at times a social critique of the small town found across the American Midwest, and the social/cultural dynamics that take place there. It touches upon race, politics, power roles, feminism, sexuality, substance abuse, and more all while placing four characters and their interactions all throughout the course of one day (with a prologue and coda to bookend the stories)
From the rich tapestry of characters, their nuances, and complex narrative, Ohio is indeed one of those great American novels that tells the story of what many believe to experience in the American Midwest. But it also inadvertently raises the question of why these stories shape into these silos of harsh ship, and how the changing of economies, globalization can cause fear in those that have very little power.
From the rich tapestry of characters, their nuances, and complex narrative, Ohio is indeed one of those great American novels that tells the story of what many believe to experience in the American Midwest. But it also inadvertently raises the question of why these stories shape into these silos of harsh ship, and how the changing of economies, globalization can cause fear in those that have very little power.
rachaelmcgovern's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
efenstermaker's review against another edition
1.0
This book was RANK. Like good prose, yes, but in the way that you know that Stephen Markley is so aware that it is good prose. This plot unfolds over the course of one night from four different perspectives (with 8,000 flashbacks along the way), and over and over again I felt like I just wanted to shower. It's very clear that Markley (Iowa Writer's Workship graduate ofc ofc) has a resoundingly bleak view of humanity, coupled with a performative need to extend a sympathetic eye to everyone ranging from rapists to military apologists to literal white supremacists, and it made me want to vomit. Markley cannot inhabit as many perspectives as he thinks he can, and while the final twist was wild, it is nowhere near enough to make up for the grueling journey through the absolute muck and grime that he drags the reader through prior to the reveal. Would not recommend to anyone; the book completely disintegrated in the chaos of my car and it is a fitting end.