Nathan H

Due to the high amount of characters, I sometimes felt like I was drowning in keeping track of who’s who. At times, it was tough to shake the repetitive nature of the story. Regardless, really great exploration of adolescence under tyranny, innocence, and sexual identity.

Damn… Tough read! Was not prepared for the utter hopelessness that ensues in this. Intriguing characters and mysteries that never fully blossom, though I guess that’s the point.

Updated Ranking:

1. The Shining
2. Finder’s Keepers
3. The Outsider
4. It
5. Holly
6. Mr. Mercedes
7. ‘Salem’s Lot
8. Carrie
9. Cujo
10. End of Watch
11. The Running Man
12. Later
13. 1922

There is a mental-barrier I have when I encounter political books between Trump's 45th and 47th administration... The events of January 6th-- as significant as they felt at the time-- had more precedence in 2022 than they did in 2025. Unfortunately, people didn't care then and they definitely don't care now. There's a naive innocence to many of these post-1/6/21 books that just loses all messaging and severity in the 47th administration.

This book, specifically, falls victim to that naivety. It focuses on the radicalization of the Latino population, but offers no insight to improve the situation. It uses January 6th as a morality check, despite the corrupt pardons that took place at the beginning of the year.

I think back to The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory, an excellent book by Tim Alberta that uses personal experiences to investigate the radicalization of the American Evangelical Christian community. That book carries personality and stakes, spanning the early '80s to beyond the 2024 Presidential race. Defectors does the opposite. It's solely focused on Trump-ism and lacks the personality and emotional depth that I was searching for, in addition to offering little insight to solving the problems it highlights.

Damn… Tough read! Was not prepared for the utter hopelessness that ensues in this. Intriguing characters and mysteries that never fully blossom, though I guess that’s the point.

Updated Ranking:

1. The Shining
2. Finder’s Keepers
3. The Outsider
4. It
5. Holly
6. Mr. Mercedes
7. ‘Salem’s Lot
8. Carrie
9. Cujo
10. End of Watch
11. Later
12. 1922

Not as good as the Titan's Curse but still better than the first two books of the series. For a penultimate finale, I was disappointed by the lack of stakes... The new characters in this one don't really get to shine due to the constant flip-flopping of timelines and locations.