Conclusion: I like the book. I recommend it.
I got the book locally but wanted to share my thoughts with Amazon since that is the easiest way to get the book.I ended up reading it straight through, so, suffice to say it held my interest.
I’m interested in what happens next in the trilogy. I am the type of person who “consumes” then has to ponder. I’m never quite sure whether I liked a movie or book, etc. until I’ve had time to think about it. Conclusion on the book is that I like it. I don’t like a lot of what happens, such as the violence and cruelty but the journey was interesting and had a realistic resolution. (I won’t comment on specifics of the ending for those who like to get there on their own.) I asked myself exactly why I enjoyed the book. Of course the music industry behind-the-scenes setting is interesting in a sort of Postcards from the Edge way, but I found myself comparing it to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The setting is more of a background, the action happens in the child’s journey and her own perception of what is happening around her. In both books there are uncomfortable things happening to a child, but these things are presented realistically not gratuitously. Both authors have a strong connection to literature and art (music) as an escape. Both have moments of fun with their otherwise challenging father figures that have a road trip feel and both even end up in Mexico for awhile and are changed by the experience. Both have some bad luck and some seriously bad timing with pregnancy. Both survive and look to the future with perhaps only themselves to depend on. (Of course there are major differences, not the lease of which being topics of race and Harmonie’s declaration that this book is purely a work of fiction…) I also recently read On The Road for the first time, so that road trip book is on my mind. Of course, I was surprised to discover what a hard time Kerouac’s character had on the road vs the support system he had available at “home”. Sort of a masochistic sense of personal adventure, I guess. I found some of that in ‘Natural Disaster. I like the style choices such as the thematic family names, especially Smoke’s family and their predisposition for pyromania. The characters are developed enough to avoid caricature and allow for empathy with some pretty narcissistic and mentally abusive characters. I ended up wanting to know more about each of the characters. I assume more back stories may be in the coming 2 books…
Thanks Harmonie for some interesting characters to think about.