I have a bad habit of going into bookstores and buying things at random without researching the content and/or author's bibliography, especially when the words "bargain" are involved. This is how I came to acquire May We Be Forgiven. As we drove home that day, I finally looked at the synopsis the author provided on the worn sleeve of the book, and it seemed interesting enough--a family ripped apart, a man struggling with existence and his past, and family secrets revealed throughout that made him question everything he ever thought he knew. I was intrigued, so as soon as we got home, I began to read.
I was so surprised when I finished the book about four hours later--it was one of the most captivating reading experiences I've ever had. I won't say it's the best book I've ever read, but it was extremely interesting and the story was one I had never heard before.
While this book had its flaws, my favorite part was the development of the main character. He was your average Joe, a man who did bad things but also did good things that he thought balanced out all the bad. He had an odd nuclear family, sure, but most of his life he dealt with it well and seemed pretty happy with how things were going. Then, tragedy strikes, and his brother becomes a nuisance that he just can't seem to shake. Throughout, Holmes does a great job of expressing the character's emotions and thoughts about everything going on without making the novel expressly about him. He is the main character, and you learn about him and his experiences, but the novel isn't consumed with him.
The other element of this novel I really liked was the way the author didn't leave you guessing, which, in a novel like this, is a good thing. You got all the details you needed without having to wonder about having missed anything important--it was not, in any way, ambiguous or left to the imagination. I usually like to be able to put the story together or finish it with my own interpretations, but with this one, it worked really well that the author was very detailed in all descriptions and all monologues/dialogues.
The one thing I really didn't LOVE about this novel was the unholy amount of profanity used--at times it was overwhelming and made parts of the story crude and almost cheap. There was a lack of grace in some of the passages that really didn't sit well with me. But, it didn't really ruin my reading experience, it just really made me stop and think about the abundance of profanity more than I should have. While it fits well in some parts, as some of the story points are really, erm, messed up, some parts lacked fluidity simply because of an obscenity stuck where it didn't belong.
All in all, this was a really good book, and I give major props to Holmes for tackling tough, unclean subject matter as well as was done. I was very pleased with the ending, and while it was more of an awakening experience for the main character, with no real climax or turning point, there were plenty of plot twists and interesting, albeit naaassstyyy, plot points that made it interesting and a real page turner. (I finished it in 4 hours, so..)
If you're a legal adult, this book is readable for you--don't let your preteens and immature counterparts NEAR it, simply because of the subject matter-- and did I mention the language? Hehe.
Read it though, it's really eye-opening, especially if your family is a little stranger than normal.
7/10 recommend.
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