Book Review: The Swallows by Lisa Lutz

Note to Self: Do NOT send my daughter to boarding school.

This book was infuriating and intense and scary and it made me want to scream and throw it across the room and commit random acts of violence. In other words, it did exactly what it was supposed to.

Lutz is a very talented and variable (in the best way) writer. From The Spellman Files to The Passenger to this one, she has demonstrated a consistent ability to dive into the heads of her characters and tell an utterly compelling story that lives and breathes in their unique voice(s), be they funny, smarmy, mysterious, horrible, or endearing. Each of her books/series feels so unique; the only unifying factor is the quality of the storytelling, which is always excellent.

This time she takes on sexual politics and she does it with her usual take-no-prisoners style of blood, guts, and sarcasm. I don’t always like multiple narrators, particularly when they are all unreliable, but that format worked perfectly here in a world of he-said-she-said in which there is no truth, just perspective (in all its twisted, gory, horrifying, aggravating glory). Ms. Witt is by far my favorite of the characters in this one; she’s Izzy Spellman as an adult, full of just the right amount of self-awareness and ennui to provide the snarky take-no-prisoners tone that ties the kids together in all their twisted quirks and foibles.

This one is dark and angry. As it should be. And it’ll make you dark and angry while you read it. As it should. And it’s a story that has to be told and retold and reinforced after it’s been retold. Well done, Lisa Lutz – well done.

My review copy was provided by NetGalley.