A review by karissabubble
The Knowing by Carolyn Mitchell Boykin

dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


SPOILER!!!!!
So, I had a different interpretation of what this book would be about, and if I knew it involved crazy extremist Christianity and the whole deformity=evil trope, I wouldn't have picked it up personally.

The writing is well done of course for a debut novel, powerful even, but I think adding the concept of deformity was unnecessary. It drags out the first 9 chapters, with constantly calling this character ugly, deformed, a monkey...We could have still made him have evil aspects without it being tied to his "deformities" being a result of his conception (via cheating and SA). 
I didn't really want Cora to succeed after the whole wanting to unalive the baby with an umbilical cord at birth. I felt like if she could unalive Clyde with or without justification, than Clyde also had that right considering the fact that the whole town is out to get him, and he essentially wouldn't have been liked by anyone regardless of it he was nice. They basically gave him mental health issues on top of an already possessive darkness that could have been harnessed better under supportive conditions...which is not present in a healthy way in this book. 

I was also expecting to know more about The Knowing and the search for balance between light and dark. Based off the synopsis, I was expecting Cora, the healer, to help Clyde balance his darkness...not just seek to unalive him. She's more of a hunter at that point. Instead, the whole balance concept is ignored, the "healer" thinks unaliving an infant is justified-so she isn't any "lighter" than anybody else. The whole town is actually horrendous, so I couldn't love any of the characters. 

What I got from this book, is that the environment people are raised in matters and without reforming that, nobody develops or gets to achieve balance. 

I do think the author has amazing writing, the scenes were very strong, I also liked the overall vibe matching the time period. I'd like to see what they come out with next, but this was just not for me. 

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