Exile from Eden: Or, After the Hole by Andrew SmithMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
"That's why all boys go away: to chase endlessness."
Ahhh, the long-awaited sequel to Grasshopper Jungle, aka my favorite Andrew Smith novel - even if it's overly reliant on the Cheating Bisexual trope and is a go-to example of how much Smith is, by his own admission, not good at writing women. Then again, Shaun David Hutchinson loves the shit out of it, which I'm sure most of YA Twitter would tear him apart for. Lol.
Did Grasshopper Jungle need a sequel? Ehh, not really.
Am I glad Exile from Eden exists? Yes. Especially because it not only emphasizes Austin really embracing his bisexuality as an adult, not only condemns religion in the style of Stephen King (God but could Wendy just, you know, NOT?), but also brings up themes of a boy in need of escape that I relate to even more than with Austin's story in the first book. I even sent that line at the top of this review to my best bro Koda, whom I sent Rabbit & Robot last year - he'd get a real kick out of all the Andrew Smith books too, I'm sure. But yeah, Koda and I can both understand that urge to chase endlessness - it's why he and I wanna move in together and make music. God I hope that happens soon, before an apocalypse like the kind in this duology happens...
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