I hated almost every character in this book more than I liked them (except Hela) and even then, I loved this book. Baldwin’s writing is heartbreaking and intentional. Though David’s cynicism infects you throughout the pages, you can’t help but glimpse the slight hopefulness that I think is prevalent in the subtext. In the end,

David is still unlikeable, still running away from that which scares him, but he’s still changed in a way, though you can see that he has no plans to deviate from his habits.

I just really liked this book. It’s the first of Baldwin’s works that I’ve read and I’m now looking forward to reading some more.