Science and Faith (and Murder, Oh My!)

I went back and forth about whether or not to blog about the third book in my library stack, The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman, but by the time I finished it, I knew I had to. It was just so crazy and intense and dark and also not what I was expecting in multiple ways. I don't feel like writing some in-depth introduction so that's all you're gonna get before the actual review.

Actually, it's not. See, I wrote that paragraph when I first attempted to blog about this book a few months ago, and now a few months have passed and there's a lot more that I need to say.
First of all, yes. I'm a total fail at this. I said I was back on this blog and I didn't follow through. There are a few different reasons for this, only two of which are worth mentioning: A) There were a fair number of activities on which I was--to my great shame--more interested in spending my time than this blog. B) The idea of blogging about this book was very... daunting.
Second of all, this book affected me a lot more than I originally realized. I noticed within the first chapter that the relationship between two of the characters was startlingly similar to the relationship between two of my characters--my original characters. As the book continued, the similarities grew, enough so that I felt a very strong emotional attachment to that relationship--and that strong emotional attachment eventually led to me having dreams about it. I dreamt multiple times about the two characters from this book and my own two characters, sometimes with all four of them together and sometimes with just two characters who were sort of fusions of the book's and mine. This is, of course, what made--makes--blogging about this book daunting. Since finishing it, I've found myself thinking about and re-exploring it quite a lot, and I've realized that it's actually pretty important to me. I don't want to not do it justice.
But I want even less to not share it with the world, so here I am. Hopefully my second attempt at this post will be more successful than my first.

The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman

...Okay, here's the hard part. There's a reason I stopped before the summary last time. How on earth do I summarize this book??? Seriously???
Okay.
On one day, in just a few hours, five citizens of Oleander, Kansas become killers. For no discernible reason, these seemingly normal members of this community kill everyone around them and then themselves. Only one of the five fails in her attempt at the latter, but even she can provide no explanation for the reeling town.
One year after the Killing Day, a storm hits Oleander, and everything falls apart. The town is ravaged and then quarantined--a precaution necessitated by the storm's destruction of a nearby "facility"--and previously upstanding citizens begin to take the law into their own hands. Only five survivors of the Killing Day seem immune to the bloodlust that is infecting the town, so only these five can save it--as long as they can save themselves.
And that's all you get, because I don't know what else to say.

As I explained previously, this book had a surprisingly significant affect on me. Even excluding my personal attachment to certain characters and relationships, it's kind of really incredible. The writing is seriously compelling, the characters are all very real and relatable and impossible not to feel for, and the twists are some of the most shockingly unpredictable that I've ever read. Robin Wasserman builds the suspense and real darkness in this book masterfully; this is a true psychological thriller if I've ever read--or seen--one. Honestly, some of the acts committed by the inhabitants of Oleander are actually breathtakingly horrifying. Also, the question-themes of science and faith (hence my title) are so interesting to explore, especially in the ways that they affect each character differently, and have the potential to irrevocably affect so much more.
On all counts, this book is stunning: stunningly dark, and just plaining stunning in general.

There is no sequel to The Waking Dark, of which I am very glad. It ended well, and any attempt to continue it would seem false. Robin Wasserman has written a fair number of other books, however, which will definitely be going on my to-read list. I hope more of them are in this same genre, because she is a master of it.

No news of a movie so far, which is a shame. Assuming they did it justice, this book would make a brilliant movie. Of course, it would probably be rated R for violence and sexual themes (and definitely language), but if it weren't, it wouldn't be true to the book... Which leads me to the realization that I should probably have a warnings section in this post, if not all of my posts. After the recommendations section, I think.

Recommendation: This is a very, very dark book. So beware. But if you like dark books, and horror, and psychological thrills, and really twisted people doing really twisted things (and getting really twisted things done to them), then do not miss this book! I've not read much horror, but a lot of people on Goodreads say that The Waking Dark is in the same vein as Stephen King's writing, so if you're a fan of him, you should definitely give this one a try. Seriously, though. It's... just, wow.

Warning: This book contains a lot of violence--a lot--and much of it seems pretty senseless (within Oleander, not within the book; all the violence in the book is definitely there for a reason). And this book is, in nearly all areas, explicit. The violence is primarily--but not only--executed with guns and knives. There is a lot of blood, some creepy sexual themes, the on- and off-page murders of many innocent (and not innocent) people including one infant, violence committed by and against a child, at least six cases of suicide/attempted suicide, at least two cases of rape/attempted rape,  two instances of people being burnt alive, references to military occupation and violence, martyrdom, hate crimes, beatings, a fair amount of drug usage, strong and suggestive language, slut-shaming, both internalized and violently externalized homophobia, both implicit and explicit insanity (and institutionalization for it), bad weather, nonconsensual experimentation i.e. the violation of agency... and more. IF ANY OF THESE THINGS COULD BE POTENTIALLY TRIGGERING FOR YOU, I URGE YOU TO AVOID THIS BOOK. If you're unsure about anything I've mentioned here, feel free to comment on this post/message me/whatever and I'll be happy to provide clarification.

I've also decided to include an actual ratings section in my posts, and I'll go back to at least some of my past posts to add this. You'll find an explanation of my system at the top of the right sidebar. Ergo:

Rating: Five stars. Originally I gave it four stars, but the lasting affect it had on me was cause for a promotion.