This was certainly not a book for everyone. I initially declined to review it but gave it another shot. I did not get any further than before. I was not drawn in the way I like to be, and by a certain point, I decided it may not have been the right book for me.

This was intriguing, but never really seemed to fully click into place for me. I left with more questions than I would've liked and found the pacing a bit odd. Not bad, though!

I loved the cover and that's what drew me to this book and I'm so glad it did. Interesting premise, interesting characters.

This was not the book for me. I had a hard time connecting to the characters and found the writing a little more disjointed than I usually like. I also was not anticipating the amount of gore this book has. There is nothing wrong with gore necessarily, but some of it felt unnecessary and I probably would have been able to enjoy it more without.

"Life is not lived in shoulds."

2 STARS

CW: loss of a loved one, car crash, animal death, gore, smoking, domestic abuse, child abuse, body horror, nudity, self-harm, suicidal ideation and suicide, alcoholism, underage drinking, violence (including gun violence)

Maybe, with a little more care, Minor Prophets could have been a better book. I was definitely intrigued by the premise, which seemed to promise murder mystery and fantasy in the same breath, and I do love a good story about characters choosing family t that's best for them rather than family that would treat them poorly.

And in some ways, I did get that. A question lingers over the death of Lee and Murphy's mother, one that takes the span of the novel to solve. Meanwhile, Lee in particular goes through a tumultuous journey of understanding what family means to him, what it means to him to be loved and accepted and cherished, and what forms that can take. Toss in the workings of a utopic cult, a hint of magic in an otherwise normal world, and the pressure of a small town, and you end up with Minor Prophets.

The problem is that you also have to add failure to interrogate power systems, flat characters, and an incredibly weak take on abuse. 

Starting with the characters is easiest, since it doesn't require spoilers in any shape, not even the vague kind. Unfortunately, no one beyond Lee, the first person narrator, really has any outstanding dimension to them. Murphy, his sister, is the rough and tumble gruff girl. Grandma is a spiritual, stubborn old woman set in her ways. The townsfolk are just bare sketches, caricatures of what could have been actual people inhabiting the town of Benign. Overall, it makes for a novel where Lee rambles on at length, and the reader can't bring themself to properly care about anyone at all. The supporting cast is too flat, and the main character too self-absorbed (and too self-pitying rather than proactive, in a lot of cases, it felt like).

When you couple flat characters with power structures like the ones that emerge in the latter part of Minor Prophets, you end up with characters you don't care for possessing power you don't think they should have, and it doesn't go well. Keeping spoilers to a minimum, I found that Lee's ultimate role in the book went straight to his head, and the last twenty-odd pages were full of internal "did I do the right thing" questions in order to pretend that there was any significant growth. I didn't see much change in character behavior, though, especially where I think it should have counted, in the relationship between Lee and Murphy (especially given what they learned about their own mother's familial relationships).

And to cap off family relationships, I'm incredibly irritated that this book gave us an on-the-page abuser (just because it wasn't physical abuse doesn't mean it wasn't emotional abuse; throwing out your child's possessions and destroying them is abuse, and treating them like less than dirt is also abuse), and then proceeded to justify his actions because he loved Lee and Murphy's mother.

I've seen a thousand apologies for Snape's behavior because he loved Lily Potter, and I've hated every one because they don't excuse the truly horrible things he did to her and her loved ones. This is a similar situation. The abusive character can say whatever he likes, but that doesn't change the way he has treated Lee and Murphy, doesn't change the way he treated their mother sometimes. And not only that, what the hell is up with your abusive character also being a product of abuse? That really doesn't sit well with me at all.

I think Minor Prophets could have been good if it had one more thing in spades: nuance. As it stands, though, it felt two-dimensional at best, with only halfhearted attempts to flesh out characters and really explore the uses and abuses of power present in the story. Maybe the finished copy will be slightly improved by the time it comes out on September 10th, but I doubt this is a book I will purchase for myself or recommend to anyone I know.

[This review will go live on The Words Gremlin around 10 am EST on 9/3/19.]

I enjoyed this book, it got off to a good start and I was instantly gripped. I was compelled to find out more about the visions and the death of Lee's mother.

Lee was a very well thought out character and the book is told from his perspective so you really get to know him along the way and you're finding out what is going on in his head.

The other characters were also written well and they were compelling too.

Although I enjoyed this book I didn't think it did anything ground breaking and it didn't seem like a fresh new idea as I'm sure that there have been similar stories written to this.

I did read it fairly quickly as it was easy to pick up and get back into. Not much thought had to be put into reading along.

Overall a good read.

Review: Minor Prophets
By Jimmy Cajoleas
Genre: YA Fiction/ Horror
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams Books
Release Date: September 10, 2019

I received a copy of this from the publisher and Netgalley(Thank you!) All opinions are my own.

This was one of those books that I like to call a “what in tarnation?” book, which happens to be my favorite type. The kind where you think you know what’s going on, but you also feel like you might be the only kid at the table that doesn’t get the joke.

It centers around teenage siblings Lee (our narrator) and his spicy sister Murphy.
Lee has always been a bit odd, plagued with visions that “only sometimes” come true, spending most of his time alone and feeling misunderstood by the world as a whole.

After their mother’s untimely death, they’re forced to flee to a place their mother NEVER talked about: their grandmothers place, “The Farm”.

They’re welcomed with open arms, and Lee questions why their mother kept this part of her life from them.

This is where the plot starts taking us on what I can only describe as akin to watching a car crash in slow motion.

The tables have turned here for Lee. The town welcomes him with what can only be described as reverence. Grandma dotes on him, encouraging him to hone in on his visions, he has a purpose, she says. Murphy is no longer the golden child, and a rift begins to form between the two siblings.

As each day passes, you begin to see Lee’s thoughts cloud (or is it clarity??) as the truth of The Farm, its past events, and Lee’s true “purpose” are revealed.

I myself was constantly questioning what was reality vs. delusion. (Remember, the only narrative we have is from Lee’s own mind.)
If you’ve ever been someone that’s struggled to fit in or find a purpose, you’ll find Lee a very relatable character, even as things turn bat-s*it crazy.

This book was a ride! I loved the contrast of Lee’s amicable personality against the sinister undertones throughout.

If you feel like cracking open a dark, occult undertoned, supernatural, cult-like vibed great read, this is it. Here it is.

Jimmy Cajoleas also wrote The Good Demon in 2018, which I haven’t had a chance to read. But I want to now!

Review will also be posted on my
Blog (linked)
Instagram (linked)
Goodreads linked)
Edelweiss
And Amazon

Holy heck what a whirlwind! I love creepy books with magical realism and Minor Prophets definitely delivered on both of these. Cajoleas writes creepy scenes with suspense that keep building and redirecting the narrative in such interesting ways. Some of it was predictable but I found myself not actually caring and saying “HA! I knew it!” I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and want to go check out his first book now.

I'll post a longer review on my blog closer to publication (Mid- to end of- August most likely).

Lyrical, haunted, and strange, this book had me riveted from the first page. I read it all in one sitting, anxious to resolve the mysteries at this book's eerie, suspenseful core. I loved it!