A. S. King

Five white teenage cousins who are struggling with the failures and racial ignorance of their dysfunctional parents and their wealthy grandparents, reunite for Easter.

A.S. King

A searing and dynamic novel from YA master A.S. King about tangled family secrets and white supremacy in suburban Pennsylvania, for readers of Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give

Jule

This was the most unexpected 5 star read I have had. Story is so weird and vague until it isn’t — this is what it‘s like to be taken on a journey.

Alexa M

this was very odd but very interesting and i enjoyed my time reading it.

Rachel Kanyid

Jeannette Ordas

Wow. An incredible book about generational trauma and systemic racism and it's effects on the lives of one (well two) family/ies. This book could seem hopeless and a bit of a bummer, but it's not. The kids, with some insight and a bit of work, will be alright. Read this!!

Kailey Rios

this was definitely a very weird book but i kind of loved it??

Lauren Tabor

I have to start out by saying I really wish I didn't listen to this in audiobook format. I think reading it in its physical form would have drastically changed my views on this book. There were a lot of characters and storylines to keep track of and it was really hard to do while listening. I should've stopped the audiobook but I was so excited to just get to read it I wanted to push through. 

Knowing myself I think this would've been a 4 or 5 star book for me if I didn't listen to it and that's on me. This was such an interesting book. The characters were so unique and wild and their whole family was a hot mess. The twist got me good...and looking back I'm not even sure it was supposed to be as shocking as it was or if I was just so confused because I was listening to it that I didn't catch important things. Either way I really enjoyed it. I kind of wish the ending was fleshed out a bit more. It felt abrupt to me, I wish we got a little more, I think.

Fraser Simons

Well written and different. Interesting metaphors and symbolism tackling difficult to discuss topics and features nice, trim prose. Though not particularly evocative, the structure and devices more than make up for it.

emily allen

Potato farming extended metaphor aside, this book has the OH moment when you have to put it down and just bask in the way that everything clicks together.

Amanda Kordeliski

Some of the most brilliant YA I've ever read was written by A.S. King. Sometimes though, the stretch from realistic fiction to speculative is so far that I think you lose the audience you're writing for. This is one of those. For my own personal reading, this is a four star book. It was a struggle to get into, but once I began to see how each of the characters were connected I really liked it. For my high school kids, this is a near impossible sell. I don't feel this is really a book that is written for teens, but adults who read YA lit.

mia ¿

** spoiler alert **
           i gave this a 4.75 on storygraph but that's not possible here so it gets a very nice 5 stars :)

dig. may actually deserve 5 stars. i'm not sure. i need to think about it more. i just finished it today while i was working at the library and the last 100 pages really turned this book around. i had genuinely no idea what was going on until the end, when all the cousins were finally reunited. being confused usually makes me hate a book, but everything felt so odd and strange that i felt compelled enough to keep reading this book despite my confusion.

and, wow. the ending of this book!!! fuck. i've owned this book for just over a year and always felt bad for putting it off. i honestly think i read it at the perfect time tho. if i had read it last year while i was still living at home, i wouldn't have realized how relatable the story is to my own life. there are certain issues with your family that you can only really begin to process when you have moved out and are living with people who had different upbringings. and moving out and living away from your family for the first time can be the first time you are really given the space to unlearn all the damaging behaviors/beliefs/opinions of your family.

i seriously want to make everyone in my family read this book now because it's so important!!! the discussion of intergenerational trauma! the importance of trying to address this! the bond shared by the youngest generation! the discussion of mental health issues being hereditary! the acknowledgement that families do shitty things and this just creates a cycle in which the children do shitty things to their children! what the fuck! i'm still so fresh off reading this book that i have absolutely no coherent thoughts about this book!

basically, what i took away from this book is that the sins of the past can be healed, and it starts with you. you can't wait for the older generation to fix things. they won't. you need to fix things, now. or we're all screwed.

also, i love the message that your family can fuck you up in a such vastly different ways, but ultimately your family has shaped you so much that you will never truly escape from them. wild shit.

now i just wish i owned the original hardcover edition of this book. the colors! the art style! i'd die for a copy of it truly.

Cameron Austin

I think this would be a better read if I had a physical copy compared to an audiobook

Jayarna La Bozzetta

This should be studied in schools. There is so much to unpack here. Wow, just wow.

Lena

Zoe Murphy

Wow, this really hurt. Please pick up this book and then learn to help fight the systematic racism in our country (America). Or vice versa. Just do both.

Ariel Himboi

A.S King is an author raved about by a couple reader's I have seen and have related tastes to, and for the life of me, I never thought I'd pick one up until I heard about Dig.

I understood the underlying theme was about white privilege, this checked all I needed to read it, I was interested in seeing it in this novel about three generations of a family, five cousins meeting for the first time since their families have separated due to drama, relationships and racism. 

I thought this novel would be a lot different than what it was and that was the reason I was hesitant. I want to thank my soul for picking it up at Barnes 'N Noble and bringing it home, because this is a new favorite book as well as a start to a new favorite author. This novel deserves a million stars, not just five, I am terribly upset I can't give it more.

This is the story of five cousins who barely know each other, only that they are all estranged and dealing with poverty, abuse and racism passed down from their grandparents. It is a hopeful story about righting your wrongs, making better mistakes and being true to yourself while fighting the system and the lies in society. 

This story was gorgeously written, six! weird cousins and their upturned lives coming together in a harmony that burns. I loved King's writing style, her play on repetitive words and the theme of privilege in each family and history. I wasn't expecting to fall for each character and to understand them as much as I did. There were moments where I was so emmersed I would wake up from a chapter having felt like I was THERE, feeling it with the character, such as CanIHelpYou (or Katie). This brought me back to my strong feelings in high school about my life, my privilege and my family. This brought me so many hard but kind feelings and memories and I have to say that it is the perfect heart-felt book about changing. 

I cried! I damn well cried reading this 400 page book in ONE sitting! I finished it in less than.. what... 3 or 4 hours? I need everyone to read it NOW.

The plot is so enthralling, the characters motivating you at every turn and surprising you with tears, laughter and anger, and it makes you question everything. What are you doing differently? What are you doing with your life to make it better?

This book felt like it was carved into me when I least expected it. It was STUNNING. Absolutely incredible and I can't think of another book as flawless and intelligent as this. 

Read this book immediately and share it with everyone. This needs to be heard.

Megan

????? I'm really not sure what I just read???? but I think I loved it??????? wtf?????????

*when you think a book is gonna be about potato farmers but it's actually about white supremacy*

Dani C

This book is very intense and HEAVILY political. Not my jam, but I can see how others may enjoy this. I kept getting annoyed by the white characters talking about race and the rich characters talking about poverty. Irony tool, sure. But also defeating the purpose of the message a bit.

Dig

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