Book Review: Switch

Switch is the story of a world where time has stopped. People keep moving, the sun keeps turning, but every single clock in the world is seemingly stuck. Tru Beck lives in this world, and continues going to school on schedule, following N3WCLOCK.com, an artificial clock that keeps humanity on schedule through fake seconds and minutes and hours. Tru lives in a house where there is a switch in the center, that her father continues to build boxes around, boxes that engulf the whole house. Her mother left them. Her sister isn't spoken of. Her brother is hiding. And Tru recently realized that she can throw a javelin further than any human in history.
A. S. King is one of my favorite writers, and her writing doesn't make sense at all. Not as in "I can't follow the story" but as in "I genuinely can't tell what's real and what's not." Every story of hers has a strange fantastical element that is both meant to be an allegory and meant to be taken extremely seriously. Everything is a metaphor. Nothing is a metaphor. It's super confusing, but I adore it. For one, A.S. King's writing style is extremely distinct. While certain stylistic choices fluctuate from book to book, the writing puts you in a headspace of a strange, surreal, light melancholy that is utterly distinct from any emotion ever experienced, yet so strangely familiar. The best way I can describe it is like arriving somewhere after a long drive, and being fully aware of both where you came from and your new, strange reality. It can be confusing at times, and could be said to muddy the story, but the strange tone and feeling of this writing gives every story an entirely new depth and meaning. Also, the characters in this book are very intriguing. The main character contains this apathy that sits within each of us, and which she fully embraces. She knows that the N3WCLOCK is futile, and knows that its important that the boxes come down. She doesn't try to do anything she doesn't want to do, and learns throughout the novel how to harness her energy, and how to move on. Despite being a YA novel, she has an air of tiredness that is very relatable to teenagers. She's also stubborn, caring, and willing to stand up for herself. The audience immediately latches on to her, and wants to learn more about her. She instrumental to the theme of the story, of which there is only one, tightening up the story and making everything focused. All the supporting characters don't get nearly the same development, but all of them are fully fleshed out and given understandable motivations. The premise of the story is also interesting, and creates realistic reactions in the fictional world that force one to look closer at our own world.
All in all, I felt this was a very moving story about family trauma and how to flip a switch and move on. Despite the often confusing writing, this book is a pleasure, and I would recommend it to anyone looking to feel strange and strong emotions, as well as some fun confusion!