SPOILERS AHEAD.
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley has so far been one of the strangest books I have ever read. Cullen Witter, a boy from small town Lily, Alabama begins telling this story by identifying his cousin’s dead body. Goes home, barely mourns, talks about how dumb his cousin was, and sleeps next to his little brother, Grabriel, who he admires for being able to be himself when Cullen remains awkward and self-deprecating.
His best friend, Lucas Cader is the total opposite. He is charming and popular. Everyone likes him and knows him. The reason Lucas is friends with Cullen is, in his words, “because they just are.” They are a very strange pair, and since Lucas’s older brother died in a car accident, he is very attached to Gabriel as well and kind of resides as another older, more protective brother for him.
There is also Ada Taylor, who is a Black Widow. Both of her boyfriends has died, and in the beginning she’s dating the bully, jock guy who she later leaves. Right after she leaves, he is an accident that leaves him paralyzed. Still, Cullen is “in love” with her. Weird.
So basically, a dude comes to Lily and see’s this woodpecker that is supposed to be extinct, and then the whole town goes crazy. It’s discussed that this is the first exciting thing to happen in the town in ages and it’s a symbol of hope. It almost becomes an obsession for everyone. Then, out of no where, Gabriel disappears. Reports go out, the family is falling apart. Lucas borderline starts losing his mind. A fifteen year old boy just disappears out of thin air. Cullen convinces himself that he’s dead. It’s a whole mess, but I notice that Cullen disassociates a lot. When something big is happening, like a spirit guide making them dig 10-feet under ground because she is convinced that Gabriel is dead and is buried in this certain spot, he begins to imagine the spirit guide performing a ritual that makes his brother appear covered in mud and blood. Or imagines bullies as zombies and him as a slayer or something. He is very… Creative.
Cullen has also went from messing around with a 19 year old who is in the middle of a divorce, and then she breaks up with her because it gets too serious (Dudes). All the while Lucas is in a very committed long-term relationship with this girl named Molly.
Then guess what, Ada Taylor and Cullen get together! Woah. Who saw that coming? okay literally, that was the only part in this book so far that was predictable, and that’s okay because everything else still has me puzzled.
At this point, I’m a little over half way done, but I have no clue what to expect next. It’s all so strange, and it carries this erry nostalgic anxiety to it. I really hope they find out what happened to Gabriel. I also want to know what is up with this woodpecker, is it real? Did that dude just claim to see it for fame? Is Cullen going to die now that he has bee with The Ada Taylor? I don’t know, but the author has me stumped and pumped to see where this goes.