Review: Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

Title: Compound Fracture

Author: Andrew Joseph White

Length: 339 Pages

Category: YA, Suspense/Thriller, Horror

Rating: 3 Stars

At a Glance: Compound Fracture offers a little wish fulfillment through vigilante justice, and while I agreed with its broader message in principle, it was too limited in world view and lacked enough nuanced critique for me to embrace it fully.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: On the night Miles Abernathy—sixteen-year-old socialist and proud West Virginian—comes out as trans to his parents, he sneaks off to a party, carrying evidence that may finally turn the tide of the blood feud plaguing Twist Creek: Photos that prove the county’s Sheriff Davies was responsible for the so-called “accident” that injured his dad, killed others, and crushed their grassroots efforts to unseat him.

The feud began a hundred years ago when Miles’s great-great-grandfather, Saint Abernathy, incited a miners’ rebellion that ended with a public execution at the hands of law enforcement. Now, Miles becomes the feud’s latest victim as the sheriff’s son and his friends sniff out the evidence, follow him through the woods, and beat him nearly to death.

In the hospital, the ghost of a soot-covered man hovers over Miles’s bedside while Sheriff Davies threatens Miles into silence. But when Miles accidently kills one of the boys who hurt him, he learns of other folks in Twist Creek who want out from under the sheriff’s heel. To free their families from this cycle of cruelty, they’re willing to put everything on the line—is Miles?

Review: Compound Fracture is approximately as subtle as a sledgehammer. It’s a YA story that doesn’t necessarily speak to a YA audience, apart from the fact that Andrew Joseph White’s characters are teenagers. This is a book written by an author with an axe to grind, and he uses miner strikes, socialism, regional politics, a Hatfields and McCoys style feud, and ruralism as his whet stones.

A century-long hostility between families, which stretches credulity, drives the violence that persists throughout the story. Those familiar with White’s backlist shouldn’t be surprised by the body horror in Compound Fracture, though this time it hits harder for some reason. Whether that’s on me or it’s genuinely more prolific and horrific, I can’t say. Suffice it to say that if you’re at all squeamish about detailed brutality, Miles not only suffers it but unintentionally metes it out himself. After Miles is beaten nearly to death by the town bullies, one of whom is the son of the absolute piece of shit of a sheriff, his mind turns to revenge after accidentally killing one of his abusers. Along with his boyfriend(?), Cooper, they plot to commit coldblooded murder against the rest. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was hoping for a dark Heathers style twist to Cooper’s character, but alas, he becomes a caricature of a villain, and a subsequent victim, to further the story.

I empathized with Miles and related to being a rural kid raised by parents who worked multiple jobs to keep the family fed and a roof overhead. That struggle is real and earnestly rendered in the story, along with the opioid addiction crisis that exacerbates the pain. Trickle-down economics is the most heinous lie ever sold to the middle and working classes, and painting all rural folks as dumb, gullible hicks is as unproductive and exaggerated as both-sidesing political parties as equally corrupt and repressive. It’s simplistic, naive, and a strawman argument made in Miles’ story, which skims over the truth that there are multiple demographics whose future is at risk under one of those parties. That message missed me in its lack of nuanced scrutiny.

Where this book truly shines is with Miles’ family and friends. His support system is critical to his success, especially an ancestor who materializes (literally) as inspiration when Miles is struggling, which he does frequently as he’s not only coming out as trans but is also giving name to his autism and asexuality. Why White is so brutally punishing to Miles is something I haven’t sussed out yet. Miles is both psychologically and physically durable; he’s also scared and vulnerable. Maiming him nearly to death to prove it seemed superfluous.

Compound Fracture offers a little wish fulfillment through vigilante justice, and while I agreed with its broader message in principle, it was too limited in world view and lacked enough nuanced critique for me to embrace it fully.