SuitabookGrow
Luke Palmer
- Reading
- Read alongside opportunities to pause after intense scenes. Afterwards, discuss what changes, if anything, in Josh’s understanding of grief, belonging and responsibility; the book’s final resolution is not established here.
- Themes
- Grief and moving forward: Josh has lost his father and, two years later, has not dealt with the loss in a healthy way. The story follows the remaining steps towards moving on. Grief is presented as personal and without a fixed timetable, while Josh’s coping is shown as harmful rather than simply resolved by time.
- Belonging, hatred and responsibility: Josh finds himself among violent white supremacists who stir hatred towards asylum seekers and attribute social problems to them. The group is characterised as violent and as stirring hatred towards asylum seekers and blaming them for perceived social problems; how the novel ultimately treats its ideology is unclear.
- Family and friendship as connection: The story includes a love between mother and son and two best friends who need to reunite, within a wider account of loss and change. The book presents this favourably.
- Worth knowing
- Be ready for bereavement following a bomb attack, extremist rhetoric targeting asylum seekers, violence and blood, and a bleak emotional atmosphere. The ending and the extent of disturbing detail remain unclear.