Miles Rockefeller is a troubled young man-raised in multiple foster homes-with no patience for the folly of other people, surviving from one moment to the next by numbing himself to oblivion. But when he meets another broken in-patient named Sawyer, his life is permanently altered by a senseless crime that shatters not just their own lives, and their unknowing victim, but everyone else in their path.
Assessment:
Plot: Rappaport crafts a tapestry of voices in this often moving, if at times wandering YA/New Adult novel about a protagonist struggling to find wholeness.
Prose: The voices of the various narrators--many of whom are in recovery or battling addiction--are solidly rendered and distinct. Small details and pivotal moments alike serve to create a slice-of-life story that also deals with fundamental issues of identity and redemption.
Originality: Rappaport's mosaic approach is unique, while the novel also offers an unusual blending of psychological rumination and plot-driven circumstances.
Character/Execution: Miles Rockefeller is a sympathetic, troubled character who evolves from challenged and splintered, to broken, to hopeful. Rappaport is ultimately successful in connecting the individual characters.
Date Submitted: July 20, 2020
"It's a novel very relative to our times, not only for younger readers approximately the same age, and of a similar mindset to Miles', for instance, but for any contemporary readers aware of the serious situations so many people are dealing with today."
"A deftly crafted coming-of-age story ... that is about grief, forgiveness, and human connection."
"Time and again, as they read Reckoner, readers will recognize themselves, tuning out what is going on in their immediate vicinity while their minds meander into other times, places and spaces ...and the trip is fascinating!"
"[A] very touching story filled with lonely characters all in search of the same two things: love of self and love of others."
