3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
A finalist book in both the 2011 and 2012 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition, Guardian of Deceit was written by William H. Coles. The illustrations in the novel were by Betty Harper and Peter Healy. Coles weaves a story about seventeen-year-old Darwin Hastings, who was born to wealthy parents. An oddly secure and mature protagonist who is a wise companion. Years earlier, his parents had died in a car accident. After his aunt's health begins to deteriorate, she sends Darwin to live in New York with his cousin, Luther Pinnelli. Luther a famous and wealthy football player, denies Darwin access to all of his inheritance. Luther believes he is doing right by Darwin who should learn to fend for himself in life. However, Darwin soon discovers life riddled with profit motivation and deficient moral standards. Leaving him to figure out who is really there for him and who is not.
This coming of age story that spans across many years, does a fantastic job of conveying believable characters to its readers. The way many of the relationships develop feels very authentic. I enjoyed the writer’s style and descriptive nature.
I fully enjoyed the realistic feel of the dynamic between the characters. Many times it would seem that Darwin was the adult, where the adults were actually the children. The author did a great job at switching up dialects between characters. He would use certain dialect for one character and an extremely different one for another.“From a stage darkened to a black hole, hundreds of lights blazed and blue-and-white laser-like spots crisscrossed. With the band simultaneously starting, Sweeney was catapulted through a trap door from below stage with fog, so she seemed to magically emit from another dimension.”
This story contained two sets of illustrations. One is a black and white set displayed at the beginning of each part of the story. I liked the pictures displayed in the novel, as they were references to the different stages of Darwin's life. The second set was very colorful and better drawn out but still equally important, at the moment.
This book's listed as a work of Literary fiction. I fully believe this is an accurate depiction, as it falls into the fiction genre but is similar to a biography styled book. This book is something that a lot of readers can connect with. However, upon completion of this novel, I did have some negative feelings. The character of Luther is a very bad example for any reader, as he is arrogant and very promiscuous. His tendency towards anger is very potent throughout the novel. Luther’s views about women will also leave a bitter taste in your mouth. A quote from Luther about women:
By the end of the novel I felt confused, Coles had seemed to have forgotten his purpose in telling this story. The overall nature in which the characters are written left little room for development or growth. The chapters seemed to skip around in a back and forth direction. If the chapters had flown together more, the story would not have felt as if the reader was missing important information. Also, key details seemed to be missing throughout the book, leaving the story all over the place. Furthermore, I found the book seems long and boring in segments. I would have liked to of seen more of Luther, Sweeney, Mrs. Thomas and Laszlo towards the end of the novel as they were important characters in Darwin’s life.“Where’s the snatch?” Luther said.
While I enjoyed the style in which the stories wrote, I felt let down at the book’s conclusion. The ending wrapped up too neatly, leaving more questions than answers. I never reached a point where I got the book’s point. Though interesting, the plot twists removed the reader from the theme of the story. This could have also attributed to the lack of purpose in this story. Darwin while an easy character to connect with, it seemed as if he was only a pawn in his own life. You get the feeling he's just letting things happen and waits for the outcome and not taking matters into his own hands. I had some difficulty with the wording at first. Sometimes I would re-read and would have to consider what the author was trying to say. As the story progressed, it became easier to read and understand.
The women in the story all appeared outwardly strong, however not long into the story they would dissolve into insecurities. Darwin the knight in shining armor would swoop in and quickly offer a band-aid for the situation. One after another would fall on his shoulder. In many cases, women are characterized as an adulteress. One part even told the story of a precocious girl who had been beaten in a hotel room by Luther. The girl was later discovered when Darwin went to deliver money to her in the room. As a woman, this was by far the most difficult parts to read. This made me question the author's standpoint on women. Besides a few plot issues, I didn’t find any typos and the grammar was good.
Overall, I rated this novel 3 out of 4 stars. The descriptive writing, realistic feel of the dynamic between the characters, and good grammar are what earned this story it's 3-star rating. The plot issues, adult language and a poor depiction of women is what hindered this story from receiving 4 stars. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy real-world characters, biography style fiction stories and a bit of mystery. Idea audience for this book would fall from New adult readers to Adult book readers. I would not recommend this to anyone below young adult readers, as the content and language could be too strong for them to digest. Merry Reading!
******
Guardian of Deceit
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
Like Jfoust1988's review? Post a comment saying so!
