A review by dbiggs2102
Mount Chicago by Adam Levin

challenging sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I feel I would have enjoyed this book much more were it 200 pages shorter than it is. It really started to drag on by virtue of 80 page tangents made unnecessarily long by a character refusing to use pronouns and, instead, for example constantly referring to “the shaking duckling” or “the previously shaking duckling.”

Also, there’s a lot of wet humor throughout the novel as well as sort of juvenile mentions of sex that feel shoehorned in because the author thought they were really funny and the editors gave up trying to convince him otherwise 

In the end, it doesn’t really matter though because this is a novel where you can randomly skip 50 pages and your odds of missing something critical are pretty slim.

That said, it is an emotional and challenging story, weaving together Apter and Gladman through their differences, similarities, and unknown tutelage. It’s interesting and worth a read if you enjoy maximalist novels.