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I have a love/hate relationship with Max Porter. I couldn’t stand his debut GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS (yes, I’m the only one lol; that book has always struck me as coming off as profound when it’s merely flaky; an opinion I’m aware most don’t share). However, I fell hard for his sophomore novel LANNY —that book to me on the most magical ride. Unfortunately, his third novel THE DEATH OF FRANCIS BACON lost me again; I felt it was almost too niche and impenetrable. But with his new one, I can say I’m back on the Porter train because oh my, my, my, I adored this one.

With SHY, Porter accomplished something that was similarly done with LANNY: He made me care very deeply for the title characters and the worlds they inhabit. Although the vibes are totally different. In this new novel, Porter ditches the whimsical, fairy-tale-esque tone and gives us something angsty, dripping with rage and anxiety, and steeped in harsh reality. His literary tricks (bouncy prose, non-linear narratives, fragmented sentences) are still present, but they’re not used to enhance the supernatural that was present in his first two novels. Here, they’re used to emphasize and enhance the chaos and hyper-anxious headspace of our protagonist.

To be honest, we’ve read several stories like this: troubled self-destructive teenage boy who lashes out at everyone around him, but Porter’s unique writing style took that premise to refreshing places and territory. His “quirks� made the character (and the book) feel so alive. The book ends in a way that felt so cathartic (and something I imagined myself doing many times while reading). This novel is a character study like no other. I adore.