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The portrayal of people with schizophrenia is always in contention. They are often characters of criminal background or a quick solution to your murder mystery. So, for disclaimer purposes, I’m going to preface that I’m not sure how accurate the depiction is but there seems to be a lot of empathy as we’re made to follow Solomon’s adventure into his imagination. The relationship between him and Ash fuel this overarching mystery. While Solomon is spiraling further into his delusion, no one seems to be able to reach him.
I for the most part enjoyed the what Solomon calls the Otherworld. It’s a mix of clichés like Spiderman lore and X-Men power dynamics. Although sometimes it does get confusing to bridge the gap between Solomon’s fantasies and what is supposed to be happening in the physical world. There’s a lot of jumping back and forth and maybe that’s done on purpose to mimic his rapid flipping of realities. However, it is for sure disorienting. For the sake of clarity and storytelling maybe we could have put in key objects, characters, and events to ground it all. As it stands there’s just too much decoding and I felt that got in the way of me feeling for Solomon.
So this leads to the big reveal and it is definitely shocking as it presupposes trauma as an accelerant for Solomons hallucinations. We also have a greater narrative of a series of abuse Ash uncovers. Nearing the end, I consider the book to be tackling too much and not handling it with the proper care I would have appreciated. Maybe a secret society in the high school football team is a bit too much. Honestly, what the fuck would I know about football. Although I am impress with the ending and while it can be disheartening there’s a solidarity for survivors of abuse.
However everything seems to unravel and undermine itself with a very, again convoluted, ending. Solomon does a disappearing act. The photography angle doesn’t appeal to me because it clearly sounds like just inexperienced nonsense of someone who doesn’t know anything about photography. And while a happy ending would’ve been a neat bow, I think there could’ve been a lot more written in terms of what happens to people after the initial trauma. I recommend this book for representation but it doesn’t go where I would have wish it went.
It seems like they took a page out of young adult fantasy and made it into a vector from illustrator. I think the camera has a lot of visual appeal but the starburst lines are distracting and a little bit too thick. Maybe toning down the oapacity. I like the typography and the word “destroy” is satisfying the way it arches. Maybe a white background is what really makes me think that this book cover is under designed.
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