Friday, March 18, 2022

3.18.2022 - Ocean State

Ocean State by Stewart O'Nan 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for gifting me an audio ARC of the newest book by Stewart O'Nan, narrated by Sara Young.  4 stars!

From the opening sentence, we learn that Marie's sister has helped kill someone.  From that opening, we hear the story from the perspectives of Angel (Marie's sister); their mother, Carol; the victim, Birdy; and Marie.  Birdy and Angel are both obsessively in love with the same boy, Myles.  

There's no mystery in this book since we know what happened from the beginning, but there is so much character study to delve into.  The pervasive feeling of struggle and sadness running through these families in this small town feels like a character as well.  The book studies the impact this crime has on all those involved.  You'd like to think that as a society we would have taught women that no man or boy is worth this kind of fighting for, but teenage girl hormones are a beast themselves.  It was a compelling read, made more so by excellent narration.

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