There’s no time to argue. No time to plead or beg. A deer can’t negotiate with a bullet once it’s been fired.

COMPOUND FRACTURE reads like a story told around a campfire; you listen to it with your heart racing as it progresses, the breath stolen from your lungs at every turn in time, when you think that it can't get any more fervent than it already is. White's voice is a living, breathing thing; and his depiction of the trans and neurodiverse experience in the most unforgiving landscapes always makes me want to scream and cry and pull the characters right off the page to protect them from whatever he's going to put them through next. I can only thank him for leaving Lady be. Truly the best girl.

There is nothing to remember, because it’s not allowed to be a memory yet. You can’t reminisce over a scar if it’s still an open wound.

From the perspective of an Australian reader who is very withdrawn from the complexities depicted in Miles' world—and how it mirrors that of the past and current state of time—there's very, very little critique I can offer on the weighty political and geographical elements that make up a substantial part of this story. Nonetheless, in no way does that take away from the hauntingly emotional experience that White builds, both within Miles as a character, and Twist Creek as a place. I'm constantly enthralled by the skill he has at making you care so deeply about the intricate histories he presents, pulling you along by the collar as you descend further and further into this sort of all-consuming darkness; all the while, still managing to slot in the softest moments between the characters, giving them a bittersweet balance as we watch them grow and fight and fall.

The content warnings on this one are severe, and for good reason. But if you can stomach it, please grab yourself a copy of this story. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

Wow. Andrew Joseph White has managed to write yet another amazing story that empowers queer teens.

We see both Miles, his friends and his family grow throughout the story. They are confronted with situations noone should ever have to go through, forcing them to not only react, but to take actions of their own. No character is portrayed as purely good or evil.
This emphasizes the humanity of all the characters and makes readers reevaluate their idea of morality.
With the modern setting, this book opens up a conversation about relevant political topics in America.

an ambitious novel with an interesting premise that tackles a plethora of important issues. it’s super bleak and gory (the visuals of the railroad spike being thrust into a mouth was fucking insane!!) so things could get very intense very quickly. this seemed different from ajw’s previous books, a little less focus on the supernatural although i do wish in this insistence, the supernatural element was either taken out of the story or hammered (pun not intended) better because it felt flimsy to me.

many thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an early reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

As a big fan of Andrew Joseph White's other books, I had high expectations for Compound Fracture. It lived up to all of them and more! This book is angry, raw, tough, and visceral. It's got a few things in common with Hell Followed With Us and The Spirit Bears Its Teeth, but also feels very different. Mind the content warnings though, because Compound Fracture goes a lot harder in a few significant ways.

On the night Miles Abernathy—sixteen-year-old socialist and proud West Virginian—comes out as trans to his parents, he sneaks off to a party, carrying evidence that may finally turn the tide of the blood feud plaguing Twist Creek: Photos that prove the county’s Sheriff Davies was responsible for the so-called “accident” that injured his dad, killed others, and crushed their grassroots efforts to unseat him. Miles becomes the feud’s latest victim as the sheriff’s son and his friends sniff out the evidence, follow him through the woods, and beat him nearly to death.

Miles recovers, but at what cost? He becomes torn between the need for his family's safety and his desire to fight the system. Everything gets more complicated when he starts seeing the ghost of his great-great-grandfather, killed by law enforcement after a miner's rebelli0n. It all spirals out of control from there.

Compound Fracture explores the relationship between power and safety, the strength of community, and the lengths one will go to get all three. It questions who is complicit in matters of injustice and how far you're allowed to go to protect what you love. It makes for a tense, thrilling read. I could hardly put the book down once I started. I thought I was going to end up with nightmares because it's all so scary and feels so real. The violence and gore is truly present, but not gratuitous.

The Trans rep was fantastic. I especially enjoyed the reactions of Miles' friends and family to his coming out - mixed and messy, but very realistic. Miles as a character was very fun to read. He makes stupid decisions, but you can understand why. I also adored the anger shining through in every page. As much as this story is a love letter to Appalachia, it's a hate letter to the corrupt systems thriving in America, and makes for a cathartic read.

This book was a very fun read. I loved how it was again completely different in tone & style than AJW’s first two books. The opening lines of the book? Absolute banger.

I liked Miles as a point of view character and especially the way his autistm affected the entire narrative. Autistic characters are something AJW always does well imo, but Miles was definitely his most in-depth autistic character yet. I can imagine that reading about a character like this 5 years ago would have been big for me, and it definitely will be for a lot of people now.

Another thing AJW does well is emotions - both depicting emotions & making the reader feel emotional (especially angry). One thing that I related to on an autism level was how Miles often felt confused about his emotions - not knowing how he feels and what exactly he wants, as well as suppressing them - and I feel like this isn’t something that is explored often in autistic narratives, so that was great to see.

What I didn’t like was, for one, that the villains felt two dimensional. Take everything evil in the world and roll it up into a single cop, and you have Davies. And as if getting rid of Davies would magically resolve all the issues the community had, when a lot of the problems the characters face are systemic. Davies’ son? Carbon copy of his father. Other bad guy? Yeah he’s a pedo & (sexually) abuses his kid sister. This might have to do with the book being YA and therefore more black-and-white in certain aspects than I’d like.

Similarly, I wasn’t a huge fan of how the writing overexplained a lot of things, for example in relation to politics, and certain sections read a bit like a twitter rant. But I think I’ll forgive AJW for that because the book is meant to be narrated by an autistic 16 year old, so I guess it kind of works style-wise. This wasn’t much of an issue with AJW’s previous book but it really stood out in this one - probably because TSBIT was historical fiction and therefore had less specific political statements to make. For the above two reasons I’m really excited for AJW’s adult debut - I’m hoping that it’ll comtain all the stuff he’s great at while being more nuanced.

This book is about the southern, rural American perspective, especially when it comes to politics & poverty, and as a European I’m not as familiar with the dynamics to fully comment. From what I regularly see online, people often dismiss southern & republican states as backward and essentially a doomed cause, and this book is pushing back by writing about queer, trans and neurodivergent characters from the south. It’s really great that a book on these topics is being published, and especially targeted at younger readers. One thing that stood out to me in relation to all this though is that except for one comment about the only Black family in the town being chased out, it doesn’t really address race - the above comment implies an inherent racism in community, but that’s just kind of left alone afterwards, even though the overall message of the book is that southern communities are not inherently bad. The single offhand comment about race felt weirder than if race hadn’t been addressed at all.

Finally, and this is more of a personal thing, I hate to say but I didn’t really like Dallas. They appeared quite abruptly and their relationship with Miles developed so quickly that I never got to feel anything for them. It’s almost as if they were there mainly as a plot device to move along Miles’ self discovery (for example the way he realised he was aromantic) and to be everything that Cooper is not, providing Miles with a neat happy ending. The thing between Miles and Cooper was complicated but it felt organic, and Cooper as a character was flawed but interesting, whereas Dallas felt more like the ideal queer anarchist partner for the main character.

Tl;dr: I had a great time reading this, it’s still one of the best YA books I’ve read lately, but there were quite a few things that bothered me about it. Also I was very gay for Saint Abernathy.

♡ Trans Rights
♡ Family History
♡ Angst with a Happy Ending

First off, the aesthetic of this book was to die for, it fit the vibe of the story perfectly! I loved the blacked out pages at the start of each chapter. I loved this book so much, the writing was amazing, the plot was tense and thrilling and dark, the characters were well thought through. Miles and Dallas being in a queerplatonic partnership made me so happy to read.

The trans rep was absolutely stunning as usual, it showed the raw and ugly sides of being trans and living in the world right now but it also showed the good. The friendships and even the sense of family even if they didn’t quite understand it at first. All the mentions of Miles grandfather being trans was almost healing to read, comforting to see the of it even if this book is fiction. The about of trans people to exist in that time should always be mentioned more. The autism rep was also written so well. The road of discovery with it and realizing things along the way. Looking back and thinking about all the things that finally make sense now that there is a word to describe it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Peachtree Teen, and the author for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I can’t wait to buy the physical copy!!

Spice Level: n/a
Angst Level: 💧💧💧💧💧 (5/5)
POV: First Person
Release Date: 03, September 2024
Rep: Autistic Transmasc (Main Character), ADHD Non-Binary (Side Character), Asexual/Aromantic (Main and Side Characters), Queer (Main and Side Characters)

⚠️ Content Warnings:
Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Cursing, Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Drug use, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Medical content, Animal death, Addiction, Acephobia/Arophobia, Car accident, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Incest, Misogyny, Child abuse, Child death, Vomit, Torture, and Pedophilia

This book will be banned I expect, and hell if that isn't the thing I'm most proud about. This might be the best book by Andrew J White as of the Time I'm writing this.

I'm impressed with White's ability to communicate these viewpoints, I already agreed with them but it seems like they would be easy to digest for people who are less radicalized.

The characters were very understandable in their actions; for instance, when Conner got mad at Miles. While unwarranted and unjustified I understood why a person would do this.

The history and de-stigmatization of Appalachian people/people in red states as all conservative bigots despite the trans people and people who are supportive living in them. I saw myself in miles, a trans person in a red state who's forgotten by the liberals and hated by the conservatives.

A perfect 5/5 in my opinion and I will be doing a literary analysis of miles character soon, thank you Andrew J White for this amazing novel and for seeing us trans people trapped in conservative states.

Completely worth the nightmares.

To be completely honest, I just saw trans and autistic in the summary and blindly plunged into the book. And looking back, this isn't a setting that I would care about.
But I was absultuly intregued. The plot, horrifying as it is, kept me hooked and before I knew it, I had already finished the book. I cared about Miles and his story. The interactions with the other characters were great and I admire his willingness to fight for a better world.
I love that the plot wasn't fully predictable. There were multiple instances where I thought something would happen, but it took a different turn. And the parallels—and the differences—between the past and present completed the story.

The representation was even more than I was looking for; navigating the world as a trans teen and not realising that you're autistic until it stares you right in the face and suddenly who you are finally makes sense. I loved the take on disfigurement. It sucks but it's not the end of the world. And the worst part is other people.

So unless you're unable to handle the possibly triggering topics, I strongly recommend this book.

The best Andrew Joseph White to date!
Move over HFWU and TSBIT, a new kid is in town, and it’s angry, autistic and wants to burn down the system!
Miles lives in a small Appalachian town and comes from a family that has been caught in a blood feud with the local Sheriff for more than 100 years. When Miles gets put into the hospital, just barely escaping death and starts seeing the ghost of his ancestor, things are about to change rapidly.
As a neurodivergent non-binary person myself, I connect with Andrew Joseph White’s books on another level. I’ve enjoyed the first two immensely and was pretty thrilled to have access to an ARC, so thanks to Peachtree Teen for that!
I'm usually not a person to read thrillers, so I was shocked at how much I enjoyed myself. There was a brief episode of 20 pages between page 40 and 60 that the book felt like it was dragging on. Having read the whole book, that was the only real breather one gets, before getting thrust head first into the storm!
In a world experiencing late-stage capitalism, people will need this book to put a name to the helplessness they are feeling in a system that prioritizes money over human lives.
This book is an angry, grim look at the American class system, especially in poor communities. The setting? Superb! The questions asked about the system we all are stuck in? Immaculate. White’s ability to shape such vivid characters and sceneries is unrivalled, and the way in which his sentence craft underline the atmosphere drags in the reader even more.
Compound Fracture is an important book, discussing pressing matters when it comes to family, gender, class structure and capitalism.
Be sure to put it on your TBR for this year!

This book is... It has been a while since I've read a book like this. It's horrible and beautiful.
Miles is an Abernathy, which in his town means a lot, it means his family has to be careful around town, especially around the sheriff. And this is because of a family feud, the miners' riot against the sheriff's family, from 100 years ago.
The night Miles comes out to his parents, he gets almost beaten to death by the sheriff's son and that's where all the new trouble starts.
One thing leads to another and suddenly there are two deaths and a very angry sheriff and son.
Like I said, this book is horrible, not because it's bad, but because it's grotesque, angsty, and gory. The level of detail can be a bit overwhelming. But it's also beautiful because it's about being trans and autistic, finding yourself and love and coming out, finding community, and fighting for yourself, your future and your family.
It's beautiful, I loved it, I was hooked since the beginning and couldn't put it down.

Compound Fracture's coverage of Appalachia and the deep roots of generational feuds, small- town politics, and how history can connect to the present is authentic, brazen, and a must read. The twists and turns of this story are phenomenal and engaging. Andrew Joseph White never fails to entertain and challenge the comfortable.

Andrew Joseph White has done it again. What an amazing and intriguing story. It's like nothing I have read before.
Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White tells the story of a queer autistic teen in West Virginia fighting against the system just as his grandparents and their grandparents before them have always done. This book had me hanging on every word with all of its twists and turns. I will continue to list Andrew Joseph White as one of my favorite authors.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink for the ARC of Compound Fracture!

As a trans person, I always think it’s important to read stories with trans characters, written by trans authors. Especially with the stigma going around at the moment. I loved Miles as a character, I thought he was a believable person, his actions and his motivations felt grounded and true and I enjoyed seeing how he developed through the story.
For a thriller/paranormal story, there was definitely a lot of oh SHIT moments that made me frantically read to see what happened next. It was the kind of book I couldn’t stand to put down and be away from for long I NEEDED to know what happened next.
This is my first Andrew Joseph White book but now I’m so hyped to read the rest of his stuff if they all live up to this level of storytelling. I’ll definitely be buying a physical copy of this once it’s out just as an excuse to read it again.

After reading "Hell Follows With Us" last year, and sitting on "The Spirit Bares It's Teeth" for a while now because I just didn't have the time to read it yet. I was very excited for Andrew Joseph White's new book. I knew nothing about it beforehand and only read the blurb slightly because I wanted to go in mostly blind.

The setting of this book and the whole vibe it gave me intrigued me immediately. I connected to the main character very quickly and could identify with him very well. I also am a big fan of the writing style, because it comes across as very authentic and immersive. I was no stranger to the descriptions of gore the author mostly uses in his books so I wasn't really surprised by all that and it personally didn't bother me, though I would always ask people whether they have a problem with that, before I recommend it. The story was very tense and well written, a bunch of twists I didn't see coming and it had a good ending that wasn't too sweet for the whole athmosphere of the book. I liked the characters a lot and they were very multidimensional, but I have to say I had to put it down for two hours at one point because one decision of the characters upset me a lot and I had to take a break from reading. That is probably due to the fact that I am autistic as well and could due to that identify very well with the main character. All in all the book had a good outcome and the upsetting bits were handled well later on, so in retrospect it is not that big of a deal that I would rate this book lower because of it. I was also a big fan of the ghost story that is built into this and how it was portrayed.

I am very excited for when this book comes out and will defenitely recommend it further to customers as well as friends. Compound fracture is my favourite book by Andrew Joseph White so far and it is also my favourite book of 2024 as of right now. It took me three days to get through it which makes it the book I read fastest this year.

ARC reading from Netgalley.

Offfff what can I say apart from, you have to read this book.

This is my first dip into Andrew Joseph White's World and it won't be my last.

Described as a “queer Appalachian thriller”: it’s a love letter to Appalachia and a ghost story, involving class war, politics, and acceptance.

I could not put this book down! Got to the 80% on the first day and it occupied my thoughts the next day, until I could finally get home to read it.
Andrew Joseph White did a phenomenal job: the overall writing, Miles’ unique voice as a narrator, and the well-fleshed out characters.

Without any spoilers, one of my favorite moments in this book (which will likely continue living rent-free in my mind) was when a character’s beliefs serve as a foil to the main character’s. The concept of defiance rooted in individualism (“don’t thread on me”) vs defiance as a community (“we keep each other safe”).

Additionally, the cover art is absolutely amazing!

Andrew Joseph White has done it again! This story is drenched in Appalachian style. The author perfectly captures the setting and saturates the plot with issues for the audience to chew on like: class, gender, sexuality, disability, community, and tyrannical power structure.

The main character is Miles. An autistic, trans boy with a powerful love for his community even through it needs changing. He is trying to figure himself out with the help of his friend, all while a generations-long blood feud is starting to boil over again.

If you’ve ever read one of White’s books, you know the gritty, gory, and heartbreaking way he writes. This book is no different. Be ready to be grabbed by the hand and led into a hurricane of suffering under the world’s boot.

Please check the trigger warnings!

(netgalley e-arc) I tried SO hard to take my time reading this and then did what I always do: flew through the back half of the book like I was on a timer. AJW's pacing and ability to create a fully-formed world with seemingly minimal effort has always been my favorite part of his books. I had a few "oh, that was easy" moments and occasionally felt restricted by the POV (though that just may be me and my on-again, off-again with 1st person), but otherwise loved the gore, loved the exploration of historical queerness even if it did feel too-brief, and loved the all family units roving around, the frayed and the trying and the cruel.

TSBIT > CF > HFWU

might be my best read of the year so far. holy shit. brutal and gut wrenching. ★★★★★

I’ve read one other book by AJW and liked it pretty well, but not nearly so much as this one. because holy shit, I really really liked this book.

this book is about family loyalty, and solidarity in small towns, and people generally being good at their core once you get past the fear, and socialists and labor movements and union strong, and about resistance through violence when needed, and about seeing people as they are and who they tell you they are. it’s the queer trans autistic socialist resistance story we all need this year. it made me cry several times throughout and want to talk to so many people about it even though they haven’t read it yet

miles is one of those main characters that I inhabited the mind of effortlessly. I started reading this book in the evening and didn’t come up for air until I was done. I’m not sure if that says more about my brain or the writing: the writing is pretty darn good, and the character is one you’ll root for so so hard. he cares so much, and tries so hard, and is just one of those characters who is /good/ in an interesting, compelling way.

there’s a lot of injustice suffered in this book, and while miles is the one you see experience it most directly, it impacts a lot of the characters throughout. however, even with the brutal oppression depicted, the author manages to turn this story into a hopeful one, in which people stand up for themselves and each other. the bonds of solidarity between people in this book were incredibly heartfelt: family, friends, and even neighbors working together because it’s what needs to be done. at the same time, these relationships are realistic in their accidental cruelty, in their flaws, and in their effortfullness.

this is a ferocious book that features a lot of violence (threatened and executed- though the execution is largely offscreen). however, it’s all in service of the story and its argument, rather than gratuitous. I cried, and I winced, and I skipped ahead a page to make sure things turned out okay, but the overall experience of the book was just terrific (saying this as someone who is fearful and hates descriptions of injury).

this is a reading experience where you’re mostly just rooting for one side to win, because they’re fighting against the most clearly villainous villain to ever villain. at the same time, that villain looks incredibly similar to the evil in our day-to-day, so it’s not like it’s unrealistic. but the catharsis of reading how the good prevails is such an exquisite payoff. I’m not sure what else to say, but I recommend this book highly. I think either the premise of the book will sell you, in which case you’ll love it, or you’re someone who would benefit immensely from reading this. either way, read it.

I’ll be featuring this book on my Instagram in the future weeks, and will updated here with the link when completed

Compound Fracture throws you into the complex intersection of class, gender, and ability in ways that are often left out of conversations about the North American south. As a queer person born and raised in Appalachia (southeastern Kentucky specifically), it was so special to read a novel featuring the good, the bad, and the ugly of what can come along with that reality. To read about resilience and community even when you’re up against the people in power. This is what so many depictions of the south miss completely, but also what makes it such a unique place and Compound Fracture so engaging.

There were times reading this book that I wanted to look away from the page because I was so deep into the tense and visceral story of Miles and Twist Creek. Make no mistake, this novel is full of horrors. White does not shy away from showing you every bloody reality of unchecked power and corruption. But even though it is not always easy to read, it is so compelling that I had to hold on and take each turn to see what would come of this generations-long feud.

One word to summarize the story and writing of Compound Fracture would be “layered.” Much like the coal mines so essential to the plot, there is always more to the characters and the story being told than at first glance. Characters that seem “backwards” in their thinking are more open than seems possible. Even those who appear unredeemable can be understood under the right light. These layers feel so true to the real work of navigating these issues in the world.

While I think southern, queer, neurodivergent folks like me will eat this book up, I believe Compound Fracture has the chance to speak to anyone who finds themself in battles against the systems of power intent on making the rich richer. It is for anyone who could benefit from a reminder of how powerful and healing community can be.