If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em on a multi-day, drunk-driving road trip in middle-class middle of America to find their missing father with a garbage goth girl named Yivi whom they met two weeks ago in an Airbnb basement.
That seems to be the mantra for “Make Sure You Die Screaming,” Zee Carlstrom’s debut novel from Flatiron Books. The first-person narration follows no-name Gunderson, nonbinary queer person, at what surely must be their rock-bottom. They stole their ex-boyfriend Clinton’s car to drive from Chicago to Arkansas. Also the protagonist has killed their best friend, lost their job, and took an oath of radical honesty.
So yes, if you were immediately skeptical about this fun, road trip adventure novel due to the clear lack of morals, you’d be right to hesitate. But it’s not all drunken rages and horrible decisions in a misguided attempt to punch back at late-stage capitalism.
The protagonist, while an exceptionally unlikable character at their worst — disrespecting everyone like it’s going out of fashion, in the name of honesty — is also full of heart. Sometimes a nasty, festering, raw-emotions heart; a self-destructive time bomb that is sure to embed shrapnel in those unfortunate people who dare to hang around. Still, Carlstrom manages to shine the light back on the protagonist’s humanity and salvage reader sympathy when it matters most.
And I must admit, I deeply related with the frequent use of the word “y’all” and the main character’s “ironic fashion mullet.”
The breezy narration contrasts delightfully with the heavy topics laden like buckshot throughout the book, set in the post-truth Now, and Carlstrom’s unique voice is a breath of fresh air with just the right mix of humor and resigned cynicism with a dash of hope.
“Make Sure You Die Screaming” is exceptionally well timed for the increasingly strange world we find ourselves in.
Carlstrom’s debut has almost everything: comedy, action, adventure, philosophical musings, banter, alcoholism, crimes, weird cult-y things, and even some modicum of closure. And while the ending is abrupt, it’s also comforting, as well as oddly convincing given the sheer absurdity that precedes it.
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AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews
Donna Edwards, The Associated Press
