Blitzball

🔴Review!!🔴

Thank you to @netgalley and @heartlabpress for this free advance readers copy of Blitzball in exchange for my honest review.

“They think they’re God. No, all they are are people who think they can control me but they can’t. I control me.”
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This. Book. Is. Crazy. It’s crazy in a good way. The first paragraph drew me in. This is a coming of age story about an angry young man who is realizing things about his life that he never knew before. Is it him? Is it a conspiracy? That’s what he’s trying to find out.
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He goes out of his comfort zone to work with people that he (thinks he) hates. He eventually learns to like and work together with these people and it changes his outlook on what he’s always known. The outside influences such has his classmates and his family essentially tear his emotions in two.
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There are so many parallels between Reichfield and 1930s-40s Germany. I’ve always had an obsession with learning about WWII and German occupation of other lands. Little did I know how much of a parallel this book would have with that era.
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There is so much anger in the book and it is portrayed in such an interesting way. I felt along with the characters; the rage, the sadness, the love. I highly recommend this book, however there are instances of death, thoughts of suicide, and sex.
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The ending was just phenomenal. It blindsided me and I was intrigued until the very last word.
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Advanced reader copy provided by Heartlab Press in exchange for an honest review

I had a professor who told me that history does not repeat itself but it is we who repeat history. Blitzball is a coming of age story on how our past does not have to define us and how we are the masters of our own fate.

I read this book in just two days and I have to say, this is one of the strangest coming of age stories I have ever read and I love it. The concept in itself is already insane yet it's worth venturing into. At first, I was quite doubtful especially considering the fact the book is told in the perspective of a teenage boy growing up in a facist and racist environment yet this was actually the reason why I was so hooked into the book. Addie's perspective is humorous and at times, chilling. The conflict in him regarding drawing himself away from the identity he was given and from the people he grew up with or choosing to remain with them is quite relatable in a way and the added sci-fi twist to it makes it such a unique book that I'm still not over it.

It wasn't just Addie's growth that kept me reading but I really liked the parallelisms of Reichfield and 1930s-40s Germany. This book was just really well thought of from the characters and Addie's life to the events happening in the story. The narration, once again, puts the reader not only into a state of disturbance (which I believe to be quite important as the book sheds light on the mindset of white supremacy) but also into a state of shock and bewilderment as the plot unfolds and starts to connect. Here we watch Addie grow up and learn things that are new to him and there are times where his commentary is just utterly disturbing but amusing at the same time.

The book however could improve on developing the other characters. I would have liked to see more development on the citizens of Lower Reichfield, especially on Shaylee. It's stated that she's Filipino and Mexican and as a Filipino, I really couldn't identify with her since I could barely find my culture in her. The word "Filipino" is mentioned throughout the story yet I couldn't even feel my culture at all.

Overall, this book is an enlightening read and an ingenious coming-of-age story that doesn't just focus on becoming an independent person but also gives us a haunting perspective on the white supremacy that could still be seen to this day.