As a literary scholar absorbing the works of upcoming writers, Holmes' work is the type of prose that reminds me of David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest", and Wallace's work I could never finish. I did finish Holmes' work.The tone of this book happens in waves. There are a few artful lines sandwiched within many sections of dialogue but then the framing of each story wears thin upon the reader.

As a African-American literature student, I wanted to connect with the story layout and the grief of each character. Of all characters presented, I found the most commonality with Gio.

Gio seems sequestered in-between family and friends, while grieving over the lack of connection with those he left behind to save himself. After Gio saves himself, he still has to fight the demons and triggers from a past that has left immovable scars.

I found myself re-reading and revising some portions of text aloud to discern the author's messaging. The rhythm and meter of each prose piece was disjointed. And these structural problems have me wondering what age group this novel targets. Many hip-hop metaphors are scattered in places that seem inappropriate. Sometimes they work to set the scene and push forward culture, other times they make other parts of an otherwise fantastic story, esoteric.

Had the character plots been slightly more nuanced, the story line might have had more power.

I'm interested to know if some readers were confused about how story format should have been... Were we dealing with vignettes or essays?

Hopefully, his next effort is a bit more evocative. I wanted the book to be far better than it was. ( )