The best novel about the new millennium, and one of the best of the new millennium.

Now I do consider this novel a masterpiece, but I still found there to be a lot of things wrong with it. I’m gonna get them out of the way here though so I can fully sink into the good stuff: there are awkward scene and section transitions, some of the figurative language doesn’t work, it was hard to keep track of who’s who in the long list of characters at times, sometimes the writing comes across as hackneyed and sometimes it was too much of a coincidence that almost all the characters are aware of the same things and care about the same things and are around the same level of intelligence. All of which is to say that Ohio feels like a draft: certainly not a first, and close to final, but definitely not final.

Now the good:

This is just a profoundly beautiful book about the angers of living in this age. We as humans have fucked up this world so much, and at its core OHIO is all about those anthropogenic atrocities—and the lowly everyday citizen’s reaction to them. We have a lot of systems in place that The Powers That Be have created and maintained to carry out their horrors, and this book takes aim at all of them. From the opioid crisis to climate change to imperialism, every major post-9/11 issue is on display here. Is it sometimes too stuffed and does Markley go on a little too long about what he thinks of these issues? Sure (the book could’ve easily been shaved by 50 pages), but if you’re as revved up as he is (which I am), you overlook this and just enjoy the soapbox. Sometimes he’s elucidating these problems better for you, sometimes he’s providing you a space to have a cathartic release.

Goethe is quoted in the novel: “The world at large, no matter how vast it may be, is only an expanded homeland.” The characters start in their Ohio hometown, drift out into the larger world with all these larger problems, but end up right where they started and see how the problems that started in Ohio didn’t seem to leave, and the problems they found elsewhere followed them back. This book deals a lot with the notion of Home and the things that threaten it. Home is where we grew up, but it’s also the people we know and love, it’s the big places we move to, it’s also the planet we live on. I love that these big issues happening to the world are brought into this small everytown of broken Middle America.

Another thing that’s so great about OHIO is that Markley perfectly marries a big political/social novel in the same vein as Franzen and Dickens with a small-town thriller in the vein of King or one of those thriller writers I don’t read. A lot of people compare this novel to Springsteen or one of those aforementioned white social novel guys, but I found Stephen King’s ribbon wrapped tightly around OHIO, in Markley’s dedication to plot and mystery (something not often found in these big literary tomes), and how he doesn’t get swept up in language, though his is so beautiful, instead opting to mine the vibrant emotions on display here. The way he harmoniously fused together disparate things (social commentary, small town interrelationships, existential character quests and mystery/thrills) also reminded me of Pat Conroy’s The Lords of Discipline, a novel that expertly sews together distinct moods and genres.

This novel isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t matter. If you’ve found yourself hurt or scared or scarred by the state of the world these past few years/decades, then pick up this book. You might find some much-needed poetic solace.

Being an native Ohioan, I was concerned about what this was highlight for my state. It shows a dark side but a truthful side of our area with a fictional spin. It is well written and allows you to really connect with the characters. it was slow at first but then as the different perspectives are start, you see how it will all weave together. The end brings such a different tone and surprise that which just adds to the storylines. Sadly, this is a dark, sad look at a community that does mirror the community of these years. However, I feel it is a great read and I look forward to this next novel.

This book was very difficult to get into. I was very disappointed because I was so intrigued by the synopsis and all the good praise I have heard. But sadly, it was not a good fit for me.

I regret not picking this book up right away, but the many discussions of its depressing vibe may have impacted that choice. Upon finally starting it and eventually finishing it, I was pleasantly surprised. It is a rough, grim look at America today, but it was an important discussion of the choices we make. It was a slow build, but everything came together at the end. I'm not surprised that I still hear this book talked about today.

I liked the premise of this - and the striking cover - but it was just too long-winded. You get the entire high-school career of the protagonists before you even finish the prologue! DNF

This book is a tough read. Well written and engaging, but so dark it was hard to keep picking it up...and my taste tends to lean to they dysfunctional in general. On average, I read a book a week. This book took me three weeks! Gritty I enjoy, but the level of hopelessness and cruelty, and the lack of redemption was a bit overwhelming for me. I picked it up because I am from Ohio. The mention of places in Ohio that I am familiar with were the only light moments in the book for me. I'm not sorry I read it (even though it made my heart heavy), but the nature of the book makes for a tough recommendation to others.. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing a digital ARC for review.

Thank you NetGalley for this copy of Ohio. I am not sure why it took me so long to read but what a beautifully written book. Word choices and sentence structure so well done. Topic is a pretty hard one told from the perspective of 4 classmate set in the Great Recession.
This is not a fast book - read a few pages and you have to put it down, but at its completion you are glad you read it. Markley is a great writer and his character's lives reaching back to childhood to present is so well done. Mostly the book is about how times in your life can have far reaching consequences and living or not with them.
So if you are looking for a nuanced, deep read by a very talented author this is your book. If you are looking for a fun beach read, keep looking!

This was a slow burn and a wild ride at the same time, as much as that is possible. Things start off "normal" and typical and slowly twist around into a horrifying, tragic story of how the lives and decisions of a group of high school friends and acquaintances play out over the years during and after their time together in small town Ohio. There were a LOT of characters, some of which ended up playing more of a role in the ultimate story than others, and at first it was difficult to keep them all sorted out in my head.

Having grown up in Ohio, the recognition of both the tangible (places, landscapes, weather) and the intangible (attitudes, stereotypes, mannerisms and behavior) added an extra layer of interest for me.

Ohio was not an easy read, but a beautiful dark novel about lost youth and returning to the place where you feel more like yourself. The author did a great job developing the characters and creating an atmosphere. Would recommend to those that like dark characters with a past.

One of the best books I read in 2018. I regret not including it in any Book Riot articles. I may do so in the future

This one was a slow starter for me but I found interest as the story found its pace. Stories with mixed points of view always lend an interesting dynamic in the interplay of the narrations. However, with so much going on in the writer's own narration, the extra aspect of POV might have hindered the readability of the story itself.

I recieved an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and will recommend it often to lovers of mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels!

Markely is an excellent writer and did a great job of reflecting life in the Rust Belt that is Northeast Ohio. I grew up there, and thought his portrayal of the place and the people was on point. So well-written, solid characters, and a well-developed story. Highly recommend!

This was a dark and depressing view of life in America. A story of the recession, wars, and political unrest, you will read about four former classmates who come together, along with their baggage. Just wasn't my cup of tea and I did not enjoy this book that much.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Schuster for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It took me a while to read this book. I put it down for a few months because I was having a hard time with the first few chapters in this book. Bill's memories and experiences were a little bit of a struggle. However, I finally picked it back up and finished reading the novel.

Ohio is full of the characters you might never meet if you have never lived in a small town. Small towns have a dynamic that big towns don't. I am not sure if there are more secrets, it just there are most secrets between people who might know you your whole life and can hold those secrets against you that you are never able to change, grow and become better than those memories the other people in town have of you. Ohio is a book that explores the secrets, the changes of some of its residents and the nature of America as it is now.

Stephen Markley has written rich realities that we can learn from whether or not we chose to grow from the realities that the characters represent is up to you. I am glad I pushed through and finished this book. It was worth the read and the growth that I myself had while reading it.

reminds me of the song People are People by Depeche Mode:
"People are people so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully?
So we're different colors, and we're different breeds
And different people, have different needs..."

Debut. Many, many words here. I love that about this book. It is raw and full of ordinary despair. Rust belt hopeless. Opioid disaster. Markle makes you feel the desperate measures humans take to barely survive. There are a few characters, Stacey, Dan, their parents who I had to care about. The scene where Dan’s comrade is killed in Afghanistan and each man puts his hand on him to ease his dying moments made me cry. There are also characters who are irredeemable. This is a great read, not light or easy.
#Ohio, #netgalley, #StephenMarkley

This is one of those books that is like watching a Polaroid develop. You see everything come about slowly and develop to a full vibrant picture. This will be talked about for years to come.

Oof, this was a rough one to get through. It's a grim look at the state of the US today- one that's not wholly unfamiliar, but has a "creepy carnival" feel that made me want to look away. Markley is demanding we keep reading, and read on we do. The book is broken into four sections, which alternate in their degree of brutality. Markley's characters came of age after 9/11, and have the scars to show it- some literal, some figurative. He's interested in showing readers how economic, ecological and political devastation are all rolled into one package in a dying town in the Midwest. Opioids and violence have affected all of characters, in one way or another, some with catastrophic results. This wasn't a pleasant book to get through, and although it's an important one, it wasn't exactly what I was looking for in summer reading. But that's probably Markley's point.

What a wonderful book! I found this book to be very original in thought and brilliantly written. This book definitely designated Stephen Markley as a must-read author. Four former friends converge on the town they grew up in: New Canaan, Ohio. Bound together for better or worse, each have their own reasons for returning and each person’s story intertwines in a way that is dark, evocative and simply jaw-dropping. This town is desolate, depressed and ravaged by war. They have nothing to give, except for their opinions and those are in abundance.

Ohio was a wonderful and engaging read.
It takes the reader through the lives of several individuals who grew up in New Canaan, Ohio. It is a look back at their 15-18 year-old selves a decade later as their lives again intersect in various ways. What makes the book so interesting is that it looks at the memories of these individuals from their separate perspectives and weaves their partially overlapping recollections into a coherent unified story about high school traumas, conflicts, secrets and hopes for the future against the backdrop of the opioid epidemic and its debilitating impact on small town America, It's certainly a timely and important read.