The Sentence

I didn't like this novel as much as I have liked the author's previous books, but I'm still giving it 5 stars because there is so much about it to admire. First, I congratulate the author for owning an independent bookstore and her main character in this book, Tookie, for working in the novel's version of that store. Books are central to the plot and the message here, and I am most appreciative of that as a writer and book-lover. Second, the book does an admirable job of addressing so many important topics–the historic and present injustices perpetrated against Indigenous People, the Black Lives Matters movement, climate change, COVID19–moreso than just about any novel I can think of. Third, the characters are stunningly unique. Okay, I'm not a fan of ghost stories, and at its core that's what this is, but the story makes sense for these characters, if not for me.