Book Review: Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

Earlier this year I read my very first Helen Oyeyemi book -- White is for Witching -- and fell in love. I love the way Oyeyemi portrays her characters. The characters themselves pull me in more than anything else. Add a bit of a creepy plot, some creepy things, and a bit of moral ambiguity, and quite a bit of ambiguity in general, and there you have a masterpiece (for me at least). Well, that was White is for Witching. Right after reading that book, I picked up Mr. Fox. I suppose I was in the mood for creepiness galore, and I wasn't having that with Mr. Fox. So, I had to stop reading midway through (although I have all the intentions of picking it back up one of these days when I'm more in the mood for a bit of weird fuzziness). So, anyway, couple of days ago I was pondering over which book to read next, and I randomly picked out Boy, Snow, Bird from the library, and read it within a day. Did I love it? Well, not quite as much as I loved White is for Witching, but Boy, Snow, Bird still had the elements that are so Oyeyemi... the edgy characters, mischievous characters, smart ass characters, pained characters... the ones that give you the creeps, and the ones that makes you want to hug them and kiss them, and sing them a lullaby. OK, that was too much, I know... but oh well...

Here's what I thought of Boy, Snow, Bird. The characters -- I loved them all. Even the not so lovable ones? I loved them. Not necessarily the characters themselves, but I loved the roles each character played in this book, however big or small, and how these characters shaped the story. This book is very much about the tension between class and gender and race, but not much else. Driven by fascinating characters, this book makes for a really good read. But if you're looking for a plot, or twists in plots, then there are those too, but somehow, they are more accessories than the meat of the book. They do not serve a grander purpose in telling a whole story, rather they serve the purpose of bringing out isolated social and anthropological issues that existed in the United States back in the mid-twentieth century. So, if you're set out to read a great book with a grand plot, put down Boy, Snow, Bird, for the time being and pick up something else. If however, you simply want a great read that transcends plots, then give this book a go.

I liked this book quite a bit. Not as much as White is for Witching, but I still liked it a lot. And that all has to do with the way Oyeyemi writes. It's full of quirky prose and off-beat humor, and the characters are just as flamboyant as they are realistic, and very, very smart! One of these days I will most likely pick up What is Not Yours is Not Yours, Oyeyemi's latest book, a collection of short stories, because I have a feeling I'm going to love Oyeyemi's short stories.

Have you read anything by Helen Oyeyemi? If so, which one(s) and how did you find them?

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Boy, Snow, Bird
By Helen Oyeyemi
Hardcover, 308 pages. Riverhead Books. March 6, 2014.
Literary Fiction