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OLDER FICTION
Forman, Gayle

We Are Inevitable

288 pp. | Viking | June, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-0-425-29080-4 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-425-29082-8 $10.99
(2) YA Since "the asteroid hit"--Aaron's term for when his brother died of an opioid overdose--the only book Aaron can bring himself to read is one about the extinction of the dinosaurs. He's sure the catastrophes that have befallen him are as inevitable as that asteroid strike had been for the dinosaurs: the breakup of his parents' marriage, the decline of his family's bookstore in rural Washington State, his own stagnation. But as Aaron, who took ownership of the store on his eighteenth birthday, gets ready to sell the building, he finds new friends (notably Chad, a classic "bro" type who's newly a wheelchair user after a snowboarding accident) and unexpected help (as a group of unemployed lumberjacks starts repairing the store despite his protestations). Aaron is an observer, deeply cynical and highly literate, regularly making assessments of friends and family (his father is "the human incarnation of The Giving Tree"). His close narration leaves readers nearly as in the dark as the protagonist about the angles he's missing (the options available to him, and others' efforts and willingness to help him), which allows for a surprising emotional payoff. ­Forman (I Was Here, rev. 1/15; I Have Lost My Way, rev. 5/18) excels at pacing, and the rich cast of well-defined secondary characters lends plenty of depth.
Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

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