The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke BolanderMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Brooke Bolander writes like a boxer. Punch, punch, punch. If you're ready for it, you can appreciate it. I wasn't ready when I read And You Shall Know Her By the Trail of Dead (and also I really don't think the story was that good). This time I was ready, and can appreciate what she's doing. It's a really searing look back at two unrelated historical cruel acts, one in slow motion (Radium Girls) and one faster (electrocuting an elephant). I know in my gut that this kind of lookback is coming for those of us living now (climate change, plastic, strip mining, etc, etc, etc). And in fact this take on history is supposed to make us think in just that way--how will our actions (and inactions) be seen 50 years from now. It's jumbled beyond what it needs to be to get the point across, so I can't give it 5 stars, but I'm glad I bought it.
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