The Truth of Right Now by Kara Lee Corthron, 276 pages. Simon
Pulse (Simon & Schuster), 2017. $17.99
Language: NC17 (209 swears, 29 “f”); Mature Content: R;
Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS – NOT RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW
Lily is not proud of what she’s done, but no one at school
will let her forget what happened while they still treat her as untouchable.
Dari feels helpless as his family members desert him and leave Dari alone with
his demanding father. These two abandoned and forgotten teenagers come
together, trying to find reasons to live again, but no hurt can be healed
overnight—even with new, empathetic friends.
Confusion blurred my view of this book as I tried to
understand what Corthron was trying to say with this novel. Even now, having
finished the book, I have no idea what the point was of Lily’s and Dari’s
stories, and I am taken aback by the bad examples these characters set for
their readers. Both Lily and Dari were able to find solace in each other, but
they could have made a thousand different choices that would have given them
better outcomes despite their difficult circumstances. Lily, Dari, and Corthron
could have all made better choices with this book.
I rated the language at NC17 for two uses of the c-word on
top of the already heinous swear count. The violence is PG13 for details
surrounding abuse and suicide attempts, and the mature content is rated R for
sexual content and adult activity.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment