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Juiceboxers
A powerful debut novel about four young soldiers serving in Afghanistan, and the devastating aftermath of war.
“An unvarnished, intimately informed dissection of war’s physical and emotional derangements.” – Omar El Akkad, author of What Strange Paradise and American War
Sixteen-year-old Plinko, attending basic training in the summer before high school starts up again in the fall, acquired his nickname when he happened to mention The Price is Right to another recruit. Feeling adrift from his own family after graduation, Plinko moves in with an older soldier, where he forges an unlikely group of friends: Walsh, who moves in shortly after Plinko does; Abdi, whose Somali immigrant parents often welcome the group of young men over for dinner; and the unpredictable and gun-loving Krug, who is brash and exasperating yet magnetic. The four are variously involved with the military – Plinko, for instance, works as a reservist on weekends and Wednesday evenings – and they fill their days with school, part-time jobs, watching movies, ordering pizza, playing video games late into the night.
And then – 9/11. As the military prepares to move into Afghanistan, the trajectories of the four friends’ lives are changed irrevocably.
Drawn from the author’s experiences as a soldier in Afghanistan, Juiceboxers tenderly traces the story of a young man’s journey from basic training, to the battlefields of Kandahar, to the oil fields of Alberta, braiding together questions of masculinity and militarism, friendship and violence, loss and trauma, ideology and innocence.
“An unvarnished, intimately informed dissection of war’s physical and emotional derangements.” – Omar El Akkad, author of What Strange Paradise and American War
Sixteen-year-old Plinko, attending basic training in the summer before high school starts up again in the fall, acquired his nickname when he happened to mention The Price is Right to another recruit. Feeling adrift from his own family after graduation, Plinko moves in with an older soldier, where he forges an unlikely group of friends: Walsh, who moves in shortly after Plinko does; Abdi, whose Somali immigrant parents often welcome the group of young men over for dinner; and the unpredictable and gun-loving Krug, who is brash and exasperating yet magnetic. The four are variously involved with the military – Plinko, for instance, works as a reservist on weekends and Wednesday evenings – and they fill their days with school, part-time jobs, watching movies, ordering pizza, playing video games late into the night.
And then – 9/11. As the military prepares to move into Afghanistan, the trajectories of the four friends’ lives are changed irrevocably.
Drawn from the author’s experiences as a soldier in Afghanistan, Juiceboxers tenderly traces the story of a young man’s journey from basic training, to the battlefields of Kandahar, to the oil fields of Alberta, braiding together questions of masculinity and militarism, friendship and violence, loss and trauma, ideology and innocence.
- GenresCanadaLiterary Fiction
300 pages, Paperback
Published September 3, 2024
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125 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 11, 2024
JUICEBOXERS can charitably be described as more journalism than fiction. Less charitably it might be called thinly veiled autobiography. Neither description really seems accurate since it is probably an equal measure of both.
Starting with the positives, the book is competently written, in swift moving prose that is obviously drawn from either vivid memories or detailed notes, very likely both. As an Alberta based Army reservist myself, the pop culture references all ring true and the behaviors exhibited by the characters are authentic, and often familiar, though I would hasten to point out I have no operational experience beyond a weekend in the 2013 floods nor have I ever been an infantryman myself despite being in and around them for decades. The writing is honest and raw without even the thinnest veneer of glorification. Hertwig is very good at setting scenes, building atmosphere, and giving detailed descriptions of even the simplest people, places and things in a convincing manner. And in places calling for chaos, he conveys that as effectively as a Sam Peckinpah movie, giving just enough information to keep the reader grounded while effectively conveying confusion, whether the troops are waiting for the word, or in the middle of a firefight. The strongest part of the book is probably where the last 90 pages begin and we see the survivors deal, or not, with their war experiences. Hertwig isn't afraid to dig into deeper emotions and motivations, though the characters themselves are rather shallow people who betray no real deep desires beyond basic survival - and that includes the third of the book that takes place before they even get to Afghanistan.
And therein lies why I had a hard time enjoying the book which from a structural literary standpoint is, to put it mildly, a mess. The main issue is that it is never clear who the book is about. Most of the story is told from the point of view of a young soldier named Plinko, and yet Plinko is so passive and unable to alter the trajectory of the story it is impossible to believe he is the hero. There are jarring point of view changes, such as a long conversation by two unidentified female soldiers Krug eavedrops on that has no relevance to anything else in the story. Hertwig would have been better to just stick with a single POV because the infrequent changes do nothing to build tension or create a coherent narrative.
And even in the sections in which Plinko is the focus, which make up the majority of the book, he has no agency. He moans about his parents not coming to his military events (I can relate, to be honest, and these feelings did have an emotional impact on me as I read them), but he never confronts them (I can relate to that too). Worse, when it is time to help his friend Abdi who is being harrassed by other members of the platoon, he balks for no apparent reason and the conflict is left to others to resolve with Plinko as a mere onlooker. Is this his story, or isn't it? Plinko is of the same stripe as Herman Wouk's Lieutenant Keefer - a spineless, literary onlooker whose lack of moral courage consigns his friends to suffering. At the end of the Caine Mutiny, Keefer gets his comeuppance with a memorable glass of champagne and a public mea culpa. Nothing about Plinko's story comes close to climax or resolution.
I am very aware this passiveness bordering on nihilism, and lack of resolution, may well be the point of the book, but with your main character unwilling to overcome adversity, it can't be called a story and by p.228, when we see Plinko go on HLTA and not even be able to talk to a fellow Canadian, I was starting to think that nothing about any of the characters was going to change and the book was really just a loose collection of vignettes. A few pages later Plinko is crying alone in the rain, and yet with what would seem to be a climax of sorts, the kind of revelation to kick him in the pants and take charge of the story and his life, it too comes to nothing and he limps through the rest of the story listlessly.
Those characters that do have agency are aggressively unlikeable, or to use Roger Ebert's description of Battlefield Earth, "unpleasant in a hostile way." Krug, the soldier the younger characters look up to, has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and is painted as a lost soul to whom the other characters gravitate, precisely because they are so weak and lost themselves. Abdi should have been an exception, and it's never made clear why he continues to hang around losers like Krug, Plinko or Walsh. The gun-crazy Krug meets a kindred spirit in Apfel and they unsubtly plan to become white supremacist revolutionaries. Sort of.
Which brings us to the dialogue. As a one time aspiring novelist myself, JUICEBOXERS reminded me of a vivid passage in Jack Bickham's "38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes." Bickham notes:
"Quite a few (writers I've dealt with) have been military veterans. Many of these guys wanted to write fiction based on their (military service). Inevitably, they brought me copy studded with (profanity) like that which is so prevalent in the military....I have seldom convinced them that dirty talk often looks dirtier on the page than it actually is. I have tried to convince them that such (language)...should be saved for those story situations where a strong word is really needed to convey the emotion. But I haven't convinced many of that viewpoint, either."
I can only agree with Bickham. While I'm no shrinking violet and have often been around worse language than Hertwig uses, I think he is very far off the mark by peppering the entire text with barrack-room crudities. As Bickham discusses, yes, soldiers really talk like that. Unfortunately, it doesn't translate to the page well, and only makes the characters more unlikeable and unrelatable, at the same time as making it that much harder to really ramp up the emotion by a well-chosen epithet when the worst words in our dictionary are splattered across every page. It loses its impact by the end of the first chapter.
And besides the swearing, the dialogue is often stilted and obviously being used to dump information unsubtly on the reader. Krug and Apfel's over the top "right wing whacko" conversations seem like left wing parody. And like the other vignettes, jump out of thin air to lead absolutely nowhere as far as the story goes.
The text is incompletely edited with a few bloopers like Cyprus being spelled correctly in one sentence on p. 299, and incorrectly as Cypress in the next sentence. There are a couple other examples, rare enough not to be a big deal but common enough to be noticable and weaken the effectiveness of some of the prose. The most major gaffe occurs on page 118, where a typographical error that resulted in "women" instead of "woman" appreciably changes the complexion of a sexual encounter until one sorts out the mess from context.
It is very likely I was not the target audience of the book. For Afghanistan veterans, or young men who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in Edmonton, it may well be a great a vehicle for reminiscences (though one wonders how fond they could possibly be). The pop references - Twix Bars and trips to Boston Pizza - are a treat for this reader unused to seeing Canadianisms splashed so liberally across the pages. But like the characters, they are thinly drawn, never explained, and I think ensure that the book will not stand the test of time. It would be as if I had written a novel thirty years ago and referenced Woolco and the Red Grille, Dollar-Forty-Nine Day or the Calgary Cowboys pro hockey team. Collective memory of these touchstones fade until they are just meaningless names on a page in the absence of explanatory or contextual prose.
Even the last 90 pages, which promised to paint a meaningful picture of the experience of veterans and the context into which society as a whole placed the war, was derailed by Plinko's inability to do a single impactful thing. None of the threads of the story seem to end up anywhere with the exception of one closeted character who turns up - surprise, surprise - with a same sex spouse and an adopted child, apparently the only character to find peace and happiness - coincidentally the character we learned the least about in the first three-quarters of the book.
Despite all these frustrations, Hertwig can be proud of his achievement - he is one of a very small number of writers to publish a novel about the Canadian experience in the War in Afghanistan. And for a first time novelist, he does quite a few things well. I would suggest he invest in Bickham's book about fiction writing mistakes and perhaps get involved in some of the veteran's writing groups that are becoming popular, or even invest in some fiction writing lessons (when I did mine through the Alexandra Writer's Society in Calgary, I loved it, learning at the hands of authors like Dwayne Clayden but mostly just bouncing ideas and support off fellow writers). The author page in JUICEBOXERS says this is Hertwig's "first novel" implying there are more to come from him. One certainly hopes so.
Starting with the positives, the book is competently written, in swift moving prose that is obviously drawn from either vivid memories or detailed notes, very likely both. As an Alberta based Army reservist myself, the pop culture references all ring true and the behaviors exhibited by the characters are authentic, and often familiar, though I would hasten to point out I have no operational experience beyond a weekend in the 2013 floods nor have I ever been an infantryman myself despite being in and around them for decades. The writing is honest and raw without even the thinnest veneer of glorification. Hertwig is very good at setting scenes, building atmosphere, and giving detailed descriptions of even the simplest people, places and things in a convincing manner. And in places calling for chaos, he conveys that as effectively as a Sam Peckinpah movie, giving just enough information to keep the reader grounded while effectively conveying confusion, whether the troops are waiting for the word, or in the middle of a firefight. The strongest part of the book is probably where the last 90 pages begin and we see the survivors deal, or not, with their war experiences. Hertwig isn't afraid to dig into deeper emotions and motivations, though the characters themselves are rather shallow people who betray no real deep desires beyond basic survival - and that includes the third of the book that takes place before they even get to Afghanistan.
And therein lies why I had a hard time enjoying the book which from a structural literary standpoint is, to put it mildly, a mess. The main issue is that it is never clear who the book is about. Most of the story is told from the point of view of a young soldier named Plinko, and yet Plinko is so passive and unable to alter the trajectory of the story it is impossible to believe he is the hero. There are jarring point of view changes, such as a long conversation by two unidentified female soldiers Krug eavedrops on that has no relevance to anything else in the story. Hertwig would have been better to just stick with a single POV because the infrequent changes do nothing to build tension or create a coherent narrative.
And even in the sections in which Plinko is the focus, which make up the majority of the book, he has no agency. He moans about his parents not coming to his military events (I can relate, to be honest, and these feelings did have an emotional impact on me as I read them), but he never confronts them (I can relate to that too). Worse, when it is time to help his friend Abdi who is being harrassed by other members of the platoon, he balks for no apparent reason and the conflict is left to others to resolve with Plinko as a mere onlooker. Is this his story, or isn't it? Plinko is of the same stripe as Herman Wouk's Lieutenant Keefer - a spineless, literary onlooker whose lack of moral courage consigns his friends to suffering. At the end of the Caine Mutiny, Keefer gets his comeuppance with a memorable glass of champagne and a public mea culpa. Nothing about Plinko's story comes close to climax or resolution.
I am very aware this passiveness bordering on nihilism, and lack of resolution, may well be the point of the book, but with your main character unwilling to overcome adversity, it can't be called a story and by p.228, when we see Plinko go on HLTA and not even be able to talk to a fellow Canadian, I was starting to think that nothing about any of the characters was going to change and the book was really just a loose collection of vignettes. A few pages later Plinko is crying alone in the rain, and yet with what would seem to be a climax of sorts, the kind of revelation to kick him in the pants and take charge of the story and his life, it too comes to nothing and he limps through the rest of the story listlessly.
Those characters that do have agency are aggressively unlikeable, or to use Roger Ebert's description of Battlefield Earth, "unpleasant in a hostile way." Krug, the soldier the younger characters look up to, has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and is painted as a lost soul to whom the other characters gravitate, precisely because they are so weak and lost themselves. Abdi should have been an exception, and it's never made clear why he continues to hang around losers like Krug, Plinko or Walsh. The gun-crazy Krug meets a kindred spirit in Apfel and they unsubtly plan to become white supremacist revolutionaries. Sort of.
Which brings us to the dialogue. As a one time aspiring novelist myself, JUICEBOXERS reminded me of a vivid passage in Jack Bickham's "38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes." Bickham notes:
"Quite a few (writers I've dealt with) have been military veterans. Many of these guys wanted to write fiction based on their (military service). Inevitably, they brought me copy studded with (profanity) like that which is so prevalent in the military....I have seldom convinced them that dirty talk often looks dirtier on the page than it actually is. I have tried to convince them that such (language)...should be saved for those story situations where a strong word is really needed to convey the emotion. But I haven't convinced many of that viewpoint, either."
I can only agree with Bickham. While I'm no shrinking violet and have often been around worse language than Hertwig uses, I think he is very far off the mark by peppering the entire text with barrack-room crudities. As Bickham discusses, yes, soldiers really talk like that. Unfortunately, it doesn't translate to the page well, and only makes the characters more unlikeable and unrelatable, at the same time as making it that much harder to really ramp up the emotion by a well-chosen epithet when the worst words in our dictionary are splattered across every page. It loses its impact by the end of the first chapter.
And besides the swearing, the dialogue is often stilted and obviously being used to dump information unsubtly on the reader. Krug and Apfel's over the top "right wing whacko" conversations seem like left wing parody. And like the other vignettes, jump out of thin air to lead absolutely nowhere as far as the story goes.
The text is incompletely edited with a few bloopers like Cyprus being spelled correctly in one sentence on p. 299, and incorrectly as Cypress in the next sentence. There are a couple other examples, rare enough not to be a big deal but common enough to be noticable and weaken the effectiveness of some of the prose. The most major gaffe occurs on page 118, where a typographical error that resulted in "women" instead of "woman" appreciably changes the complexion of a sexual encounter until one sorts out the mess from context.
It is very likely I was not the target audience of the book. For Afghanistan veterans, or young men who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in Edmonton, it may well be a great a vehicle for reminiscences (though one wonders how fond they could possibly be). The pop references - Twix Bars and trips to Boston Pizza - are a treat for this reader unused to seeing Canadianisms splashed so liberally across the pages. But like the characters, they are thinly drawn, never explained, and I think ensure that the book will not stand the test of time. It would be as if I had written a novel thirty years ago and referenced Woolco and the Red Grille, Dollar-Forty-Nine Day or the Calgary Cowboys pro hockey team. Collective memory of these touchstones fade until they are just meaningless names on a page in the absence of explanatory or contextual prose.
Even the last 90 pages, which promised to paint a meaningful picture of the experience of veterans and the context into which society as a whole placed the war, was derailed by Plinko's inability to do a single impactful thing. None of the threads of the story seem to end up anywhere with the exception of one closeted character who turns up - surprise, surprise - with a same sex spouse and an adopted child, apparently the only character to find peace and happiness - coincidentally the character we learned the least about in the first three-quarters of the book.
Despite all these frustrations, Hertwig can be proud of his achievement - he is one of a very small number of writers to publish a novel about the Canadian experience in the War in Afghanistan. And for a first time novelist, he does quite a few things well. I would suggest he invest in Bickham's book about fiction writing mistakes and perhaps get involved in some of the veteran's writing groups that are becoming popular, or even invest in some fiction writing lessons (when I did mine through the Alexandra Writer's Society in Calgary, I loved it, learning at the hands of authors like Dwayne Clayden but mostly just bouncing ideas and support off fellow writers). The author page in JUICEBOXERS says this is Hertwig's "first novel" implying there are more to come from him. One certainly hopes so.
October 1, 2024
This articulated a kind of loneliness that felt very familiar to me. I couldn’t put it down.
The characters and situations were very close to life for someone who also grew up in northern Alberta.
The characters and situations were very close to life for someone who also grew up in northern Alberta.
January 20, 2025
I’m just gonna quote the Quill & Quire review because I think it’s spot on:
Hertwig brings this combination of lived experience and keenly developed craft to Juiceboxers, creating a nightmarish world of toxic masculinity and blood sport. The language of the novel is simple and straightforward, and the attention to detail is akin to the writing of Tim O’Brien, yet Plinko’s life takes on an almost hallucinogenic quality that may remind readers of Denis Johnson.
Readers should note: Juiceboxers is, at times, a difficult reading experience, one capable of producing considerable unease and anxiety. This is to the novel’s – and Hertwig’s –credit (though the warning should be heeded). By immersing readers in this world, in Plinko’s fractured, limited awareness, Hertwig has created not only a thorough examination of the state of modern war and those drawn to it, but a rigorous revelation of contemporary male life and the questioning and failures of masculinity that go far beyond the military arena. At its core, Juiceboxers is an account of how a search for home and family can be subverted and shaped into violence and dubious conformity, and how that search can lead to tragedy. Juiceboxers is a difficult but radiant work – essential reading – for those able to face its bleakness.
Hertwig brings this combination of lived experience and keenly developed craft to Juiceboxers, creating a nightmarish world of toxic masculinity and blood sport. The language of the novel is simple and straightforward, and the attention to detail is akin to the writing of Tim O’Brien, yet Plinko’s life takes on an almost hallucinogenic quality that may remind readers of Denis Johnson.
Readers should note: Juiceboxers is, at times, a difficult reading experience, one capable of producing considerable unease and anxiety. This is to the novel’s – and Hertwig’s –credit (though the warning should be heeded). By immersing readers in this world, in Plinko’s fractured, limited awareness, Hertwig has created not only a thorough examination of the state of modern war and those drawn to it, but a rigorous revelation of contemporary male life and the questioning and failures of masculinity that go far beyond the military arena. At its core, Juiceboxers is an account of how a search for home and family can be subverted and shaped into violence and dubious conformity, and how that search can lead to tragedy. Juiceboxers is a difficult but radiant work – essential reading – for those able to face its bleakness.
October 6, 2024
4.5 stars. This is my cousin’s novel, a book he’s been working on for many years now. It’s such a strange thing reading his work, recognizing some of the allusions as memories I also share, while also being shown what exactly he was experiencing during those years I was growing up.
Benjamin is a poet and this book’s prose feels like poetry at times, but I was surprised by how quickly the story unfolded, how hard it was to put down. I have a few quibbles (I don’t think the foreshadowing works very well and struggled with the shift to multiple points of view), but those were swept aside by the book’s final section, in which our country’s official and sanctions acts of war violence take root into the everyday life of one who had to commit them. It’s a devastating, magnificent, compassionate, and wise-eyed conclusion to an already excellent book.
Benjamin is a poet and this book’s prose feels like poetry at times, but I was surprised by how quickly the story unfolded, how hard it was to put down. I have a few quibbles (I don’t think the foreshadowing works very well and struggled with the shift to multiple points of view), but those were swept aside by the book’s final section, in which our country’s official and sanctions acts of war violence take root into the everyday life of one who had to commit them. It’s a devastating, magnificent, compassionate, and wise-eyed conclusion to an already excellent book.
November 17, 2025
Sixteen year old Plinko and a few of his friends have no idea what is ahead of them when they head off to Afghanistan. Each of the boys, with different circumstances, has a desperate need to belong to something. And what they experience while in Afghanistan changes them all and follows them home.
At one point in the novel, I was getting so disgusted with the incessant use of the F___ word, I nearly put the book down. But I realized, grudgingly, that this is how these boys and soldiers would likely use the word -- constantly. So I forged on. The story itself is dark, the writing perfectly descriptive, providing a picture of the reality of boys at war.
You'll notice I keep saying boys because that is exactly what they were. The experience may make men of them to some degree, but the horrors, the racism & prejudices, the bravado, and brotherhood while at war infiltrates their very being, long after returning back home.
At one point in the novel, I was getting so disgusted with the incessant use of the F___ word, I nearly put the book down. But I realized, grudgingly, that this is how these boys and soldiers would likely use the word -- constantly. So I forged on. The story itself is dark, the writing perfectly descriptive, providing a picture of the reality of boys at war.
You'll notice I keep saying boys because that is exactly what they were. The experience may make men of them to some degree, but the horrors, the racism & prejudices, the bravado, and brotherhood while at war infiltrates their very being, long after returning back home.
October 3, 2024
WOW! I am not going to say much - despite that I took copious notes and lost track of the number of screenshots I took of pages along the way.
No big surprise that the author - a debut novelist and a male no less - is a poet in the first instance. The writing - the prose, the imagery, the word choices - are all so rich, and lush, and nuanced.
The contrast between this beautiful, gentle, poetic language and the harsh realities of war - and its aftermath - are what create this incredible tension here.
And that the cover blurb is written by Omar El-Akkad is so fitting. The last part of the book has this dreamlike quality to it - I’m still not really sure what is and isn’t real - much like Omar’s What Strange Paradise.
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital copy. Apologies for the delay in getting this post up.
No big surprise that the author - a debut novelist and a male no less - is a poet in the first instance. The writing - the prose, the imagery, the word choices - are all so rich, and lush, and nuanced.
The contrast between this beautiful, gentle, poetic language and the harsh realities of war - and its aftermath - are what create this incredible tension here.
And that the cover blurb is written by Omar El-Akkad is so fitting. The last part of the book has this dreamlike quality to it - I’m still not really sure what is and isn’t real - much like Omar’s What Strange Paradise.
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital copy. Apologies for the delay in getting this post up.
December 31, 2024
This was a difficult, and heavy read for the last one of 2024, but it was poetic, important, and immersive. This book takes an honest and unflinching look into the state of modern warfare, and the lives and experiences of soldiers who fought in Afghanistan in the Canadian Army. By no means does this book glorify or romanticize war or the military. It explores the violent and toxic culture surrounding the men in the army, the trauma and disillusionment experienced by them after the war, and the search for healing and belonging. This is a book that will stick with me for a long time.
CW: SA, graphic descriptions of violence and war.
CW: SA, graphic descriptions of violence and war.
May 29, 2025
This story about four young soldiers who end up serving in the war in Afghanistan was utterly engrossing, disturbingly honest, heartbreaking, enlightening ... and a lot of other things besides. It did a wonderful job of highlighting the soldiers' unrealistic expectations going into the war, their unpreparedness for what they ultimately found there, the tragedy of the war itself, and the challenges they faced once returning home. I remember one instance in which "juice boxes" were mentioned in the story -- and that made me reflect on the title "Juiceboxers". Very appropriate, I thought. An excellent debut novel.
December 12, 2025
My 3rd audiobook for Point Par Point.
Scary at times, to think of people who are in the military who shouldn’t be there, shouldn’t be allowed to be there.
Sad for Plinko who was happiest with people around him, even on his way to a war zone. Just a kid. And then coming home and trying to figure out life after war. I still think about Plinko and worry about him.
Some scenes made me uncomfortable to read because I felt like I was there, and I was nervous about what was going to happen next.
Insightful novel about military/war experience.
Scary at times, to think of people who are in the military who shouldn’t be there, shouldn’t be allowed to be there.
Sad for Plinko who was happiest with people around him, even on his way to a war zone. Just a kid. And then coming home and trying to figure out life after war. I still think about Plinko and worry about him.
Some scenes made me uncomfortable to read because I felt like I was there, and I was nervous about what was going to happen next.
Insightful novel about military/war experience.
October 14, 2024
Early reviews on this book are very, very high. This is because the book is that good! It is a very important message about the type of world that Veterans live in, having to deal with their history in war. Prior to that, the writing about the regiments daily lives in war was also intriguing. Hertwig does an excellent job of creating character development. We can all think about someone who could be Plinko, who could be Walsh and we definitely know a Krug or two.
Well done!!!
Well done!!!
July 22, 2025
This brutally honest story about young men in the Canadian armed forces is, at times, just that: brutal. It portrays young men on the edge of despair who finally find a sense of belonging while serving in Afghanistan. The story is hilarious, shocking, and deeply sad. The masterful writing in this novel, and the entirely human characters and their journeys, will stay with me.
January 12, 2025
A really honest and seemly non-judgmental portrayal of life as a lower middle class male, growing up in Edmonton. It was a substantive read, with many feelings, including satisfying early 2000s nostalgia. Good read.
A review written by my husband.
A review written by my husband.
August 10, 2025
This book is a new Canadian classic. Benjamin Hertwig is the most exciting voice I've read in a long time. Every sentence is a gem.
May 27, 2025
Probably one of the best books I've read in 2025.
This book focuses on our four young men from varying backgrounds from Edmonton who enlist in the military to fight in Afghanistan in the early 2000s. The book discusses the complex themes PTSD, trauma and racism.
This book focuses on our four young men from varying backgrounds from Edmonton who enlist in the military to fight in Afghanistan in the early 2000s. The book discusses the complex themes PTSD, trauma and racism.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews