This almost qualifies as a retelling. While I didn't know that going in, this book hit me like a ton of bricks.

When I first finished the book, I grappled with it as a stand alone piece of art. I loved it but didn't completely understand it. We follow a main character nicknamed Pew who has no discernable identity. Pew was found sleeping in a church pew and is shuttled from family to family who try to get information about who Pew is in order to know how to treat them. Some characters relate to Pew and become vulnerable; others show a distinct attitude of "We are different from You". And all this in the week leading up to the Festival. And the tension rises along with hints about the nature of the festival.

I assumed it was inspired by Jackson's the Lottery. I found the way that the tension mounted paralleled that story really beautifully and was masterfully done. But the ending made no sense to me. I'd enjoyed the journey, but the destination was confusing.

Lo and behold, turns out the work cited at the beginning was important. And it was an Ursula LeGuin short story I had been meaning to read for years but putting off. My library had a digital copy available, so I read it and then stared at the ceiling for an outrageously long time.

And that's how this review shot from a "3.5 idk if I should round it up or down" to a staggering contender for one of my top books of the year.

Pew is in direct conversation with The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, and it shines when seen from this light. This story focuses on a simple question: is the lonely excruciating suffering of one worth it if it maintains the happiness of everyone else?

Pew expands on themes found in the original story and asks some questions more explicitly: - does it matter who the child is? How old they are? If they're male or female? Does race matter? How, and to who? How do we see the child when conceiving of this thought experiment?

We get answers along the lines of "yes, to some, in different ways". When viewed from this angle, every character interaction may as well be a manifesto of their personal answers to these questions.

I kinda wanna reread it now. I wanna annotate it. I wanna enroll in an English course so I could write an essay about this book.

Highly recommended reading alongside the LeGuin story. You'll like enjoy this if you've felt the stifling atmosphere of organized religion, have struggled with identity yourself, and are interested in moral philosophy.