These Nameless Things by Shawn Smucker // Revell Reads Review

Dan escaped captivity from the mountain long ago, but believes his brother is still there and waits each day in a nearby town for his escape. What Dan doesn't realize is that the rest of the townspeople are also waiting--but for reasons he never imagined.

My Review 

This is not like any book I've ever read before. It's not the kind of books I usually read. I struggled to get into it and told myself that if it was this hard halfway through that I could stop. But it got interesting enough that I kept going. It really was always like that - I wasn't pulled back but when I did sit down and start reading, it was intriguing enough to keep going.

I was confused for most of the book. Even now, I understand the themes of forgiveness and guilt, but the execution was odd. Maybe if I'd read Dante's Inferno or knew more about it I would have gotten more out of the book. Here are a few examples of oddities:

•  We start in a village where there are hardly any people and no one has any memory of the past.
• There is hardly any dialogue.
• It's almost a purgatory-type story.
• The ending is anti-climactic and doesn't fit with the scene from the beginning.
• I was left with many unanswered questions.

I feel bad leaving a fairly negative review because I didn't really like the book but I don't think it's the book's fault. I think I am not the kind of reader for this book. It's a deep, thought-provoking book and that's not what I usually like in fiction. If you do like that, you might really like this book! I gave it three stars because it was interesting at points and intriguing enough that I persevered.


Many thanks to Revell for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own and a favorable review was not required.