Stacy (Gotham City Librarian)'s Reviews > One of Us

4.5 rounded up

I've been a fan of this author since my first Fiction Writing class in college. My professor introduced us to his short story collection, "Among the Missing," and used a couple of them to teach us technique. I've read everything he's published ever since, though that collection remains my favorite. It's incredible. As a side note, I still think about that professor from time to time and how helpful and encouraging she was. I hope that she's happy and thriving wherever she is now.

"One of Us" was a very strange and dark novel that I couldn’t stop reading. It was different from Chaon's typical material, both in style and content. But the quality was still top notch. I would describe this story as an adult version of "A Series of Unfortunate Events," only much more violent, and perhaps with a twist of Wes Anderson and told in the style of the Coen Bros. (All of these things are positive.) The basic plotline is a brother and sister, twins, who end up as orphans and are adopted into a travelling "freak show" as they try to evade a dangerous man claiming to be their uncle. There's more to it than that, of course, and the further you go the stranger it gets.

Charlie, the "Uncle," is a horrific, murderous villain who is a little bit Count Olaf and a little bit Patrick Bateman in the body of an old fashioned, mustache twirling monster. There’s a part where he’s literally crawling around on top of a boxcar train, spying on one of the twins from above, and I was picturing him like a big creepy spider. It felt sort of cartoonish and silly, but also for this particular story it worked? That wasn't even the weirdest thing that happened.

I liked learning the backstories of all of the carnival characters, though some of them were shorter than others. And many were tragic. The other side to this, also, is that I cared about these people and whenever harm befell them it was painful. Though I guess that was the point. As far as the twins go, Bolt was definitely my favorite of the two. Eleanor got on my nerves a little bit. She was interesting and complex, but also very selfish. Part of me related to her desire to just be alone with her books, though, and her hesitation to trust other people. And Chaon did give her character an arc that I didn’t fully predict. Bolt was just naturally a lot easier to love.

The title of the novel is a direct reference to the 1932 film “Freaks,” which isn’t exactly famous for a sensitive portrayal of people with disabilities. Chaon handles the subject in a more heartfelt way while also addressing the cruelty and narrowmindedness of the general population, mostly through the perspective of Uncle Charlie and the detailed backstories of the various characters. As a reader, you aren't there to gawk with the carnival goers. You are there to become a part of the family and feel their pain. And it's important to note that many of them are very happy to be who and where they are.

This ended up being a beautiful story about the good (and the bad) in people. I’m still not sure how I felt about the ending. I think I’ll say that I appreciated it, but I didn’t LIKE it. Many parts of this novel were oddly funny even amidst the darkness, and I appreciated the short sections in each chapter, which kept me reading for long intervals. "One of Us" is a bleak and bloody experience, with bright moments of respite and relief. It's well worth the journey if you, like me, appreciate a strange tale.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

Biggest TW: Domestic abuse/child abuse, Racism, Suicide, Self-harm, *Animal harm/death, Misogyny