Review: Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig

  

Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig

Del Rey

Publication Date: September 26th, 2023

Hardcover. 544 pages.

About Black River Orchard:

"It’s autumn in the town of Harrow, but something else is changing in the town besides the season.

Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard, seven most unusual trees. And from those trees grows a new sort of apple: Strange, beautiful, with skin so red it’s nearly black.

Take a bite of one of these apples and you will desire only to devour another. And another. You will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But then your appetite for the apples and their peculiar gifts will keep growing—and become darker.

This is what happens when the townsfolk discover the secret of the orchard. Soon it seems that everyone is consumed by an obsession with the magic of the apples… and what’s the harm, if it is making them all happier, more confident, more powerful?

And even if buried in the orchard is something else besides the seeds of this extraordinary tree: a bloody history whose roots reach back the very origins of the town.

But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. And a stranger has come to town, a stranger who knows Harrow’s secrets. Because it’s harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown."

Black River Orchard is horror story that will make you both love and fear something you would never expect: apples. It's a wild ride from start to finish that is sure to keep you turning the page as if your life depends on it. Chuck Wendig has a very specific style to his horror books, and if you like his style, then you will certainly have a fantastic time Black River Orchard. 

Black River Orchard is basically about a town where some apple trees start bearing magic apples that people eat, become addicted to, and weird shit starts happening. That's honestly all you really need to know going into this book. Also, you will learn a lot about apples, probably more than you really need to know, but honestly I enjoy having this excessive apple knowledge at this point. I also want to go try a lot of apples now. Anyway, let's get to the review! 

We largely follow Dan, developer of the problematic magic apples, and his daughter, Calla, who consistently puts up with her dad's apple obsession. We also meet some additional POV characters, such as: Meg and Emily, a married couple who recently moved to town; Graham and Joanie, another married couple that live in town, though they actually rent their house out fairly often and also live in a nearby city; and lastly, a man named John Compass who ends up having quite a history that ties in well with other events in the town. It's a pretty large cast, as most of Wendig's novels tend to be, and we spend plenty of time getting to know all of them. A cast this large can often feel overwhelming and hard to keep track of, but Wendig works his magic and somehow creates individual, unique characters with distinct storylines and personalities that makes it easy to follow along. 

When Dan's magic apples start making the rounds, people in town start losing their minds a bit (and by "a bit," I mean absolutely, completely going crazy). Calla is one of the few who hasn't eaten an apple and it stuck trying to figure out what is going on, as well as how to stop it. This is a pretty intense story at times, and there's plenty of gore and gross things that happen along the way as people become more and more addicted to the apples, which leads to a culmination of events that are difficult to comprehend. In addition to the present day apple issues, there are additional layers to this story including past events that combine John Compass' storyline with the present. Everything happening in this town has a long history that goes back to intertwine with the indigenous Lenape peoples that previously lived on the land, and I really love how Wendig managed to tie all of this together. 

Wendig has a very verbose style of writing and pacing that really takes its time to set up the story, allow characters to develop, and build tension, which all works really well creating a slow burned and complex horror story that never leaves a moment for boredom. I love how much time and effort Wendig puts into developing his characters, as well as how much detail is put into developing history and background for both them and the setting. There's an ever-present creepiness that permeates the entire atmosphere of the story and really leaves the feeling of not knowing what to expect. 

Black River Orchard is a very "on brand" story for Wendig when compared to his other work, and while part of me really loves that, I also somehow felt as though I'd read this book before or parts of it just felt very familiar. I always have a great time with the crazy stories that Wendig takes us on, but I find I really have to be in the mood for a lot of side journeys and what feels like a bit of rambling at times (it's not actually rambling because everything plays into the plot, but it just feels like a lot of digressions) in order to fully appreciate his work. If you've read Wendig before and know whether you like his style or not then you'll probably have a good idea if this book will work for you or not. 

If you like a slow burn horror that unleashes creepiness at every corner and has a constant sense of unease, then Black River Orchard is the perfect fit. For me, it didn't end up clicking as much as some of his other books, but I still had a great time with it and will certainly be giving all of my apples a suspicious glance before I eat them now...

*I received a copy of Black River Orchard courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org

Review: Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Del Rey

Publication Date: July 2nd, 2019

Hardcover. 800 pages

Wanderers is an enormously ambitious novel that really took me by surprise. I had extremely high hopes for this book and I was not disappointed in the slightest. In all truthfulness, Wanderers is the first book that I have ever read by Chuck Wendig--and it certainly won't be the last. I didn't really know what to expect from his writing, but I was extremely pleasantly surprised by what I found.

Wendig has a very clear writing style; it's descriptive without being overboard and is entirely entertaining with plenty of interesting background tidbits given about various characters, locations, and events. I genuinely enjoyed every single page and minute I spent reading this book. Usually in an 800 page book, you're likely to feel bored at some point for a period of time, even if the writing is fantastic. It just feels inevitable to happen--except, somehow, for Wanderers. That feeling of a slowdown in pacing or a bit of boredom creeping in truly never happened in any sense that I can recall. I was hooked from page one all the way until the last.

The characters in Wanderers are remarkably well-written and developed. Wendig really dives into the background and history of each character, as well as their present day internal conflicts and frustrations with themselves and others, all of which lead to a plethora of interesting and unique characters to explore. There are characters that are easy to love, others that are easy to hate, and even more that straddle the line of love and hate and leave you feeling unsure how exactly you should feel about them. He also includes a large variety of people from all walks of life that really add some strong, unique perspectives to keep the story lively, realistic, and relatable The best part is that none of the characters were added in just to have another character; rather, each character had an important, vital role that fully expanded and developed.

A few of the major characters include: Shana Stewart, whose younger sister Nessie was one of the first sleepwalkers; Benji, formerly an employee of the CDC who becomes tangled up in the sleepwalker fiasco despite being let go from the CDC years prior for morally questionable actions; Sadie, creator of the all-knowing, god-like Black Swan AI that is possibly the most crucial component to this book; Arav, a young member of the CDC who stays with the flock; Matthew, a pastor from a small town in Indiana who ends up on a journey in a role he never anticipated and can't seem to stop; and lastly, Pete, an out-of-time former rock god who wants to hold onto his youth and significance for as long as possible. Together, these character make up the general misfit cast of characters that have the most impact throughout this story and who truly make this book as memorable and incredible as it is. I really wanted to go into more detail about each of these characters in this review, but I have a feeling it's going to be a longer one so I'll leave it with those brief tidbits about each, leaving you to discover more about them and their journeys.

As mentioned, Wanderers is truly epic in scope and covers a myriad of themes and elements that are relevant to our daily lives even now without some unknown potentially apocalyptic flock of sleepwalkers present. He touched heavily on issues such as race and religion and how they can be amplified in various ways during crises and even turned into weapons and threats that can lead to even bigger and more terrifying outcomes than the main crisis itself (something that is not exactly  unheard of throughout history, which we all know tends to repeat itself). He also explores many moral-related quandaries, including an exploration of empathy and compassion and how they both factor into a situation such as this one. Do you solely look out for yourself and your family in this scenario, or do you continue helping the others around you no matter whether you know them or not or how you feel about them? Is there a right or wrong way to treat people affected by the 'sleepwalking' epidemic? All of these questions and so many more are explored throughout Wanderers, which is part of what makes it so compelling.

As far as stylistic notes go for this book, the most notable component that I loved was the inclusion of small epigraph-like excerpts at the start of each chapter. Most of these seemed like a 'throwaway' sort of thing, but I loved the social commentary that was able to be conveyed through these. Wendig includes random excerpts from imagined posts on Reddit, excerpts from made-up podcasts or quotes from random Tweets on Twitter, and together all of these really added some unique depth and insight into how the public were reacting to the flock of sleepwalkers and the shepherds following them. I particularly liked this component since the majority of this novel follows those who are on the inside of the entire state of affairs, rather than being an average member of the public watching this occur.

Obviously I can't go into any details regarding the ending of the book, but I would just like to throw out there how much of a shock it was and how consistently unpredictable this book is. Sure, you can maybe hazard a guess about a few things here or there, but in the big picture Wendig keeps you guessing and completely unprepared for what he's about to throw at you. There are some incredibly impressive and unexpected plot lines and ideas about things that blew my mind and that I loved, and he continued to pull the rug out from under me through--quite literally--the last few pages.

Overall, there's nothing I could give Wanderers other than five stars, which it wholeheartedly deserves. If you like your books epic, imaginative, impossible to put down, and full of incredible characters, then you have to pick up Wanderers. 

*I received an ARC of Wanderers courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment of the novel.*

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