"Shelter in Place subverts the Manic Pixie Dream Girl by taking her to her extreme conclusion. The narrator, Joe March, tells the story of the summer 20 or so years ago that his mother beat a man to death with a hammer and became a feminist icon. It’s the same summer he met the love of his life, Tess, and first struggled with mental illness. This is a book about the women in Joe’s life– mothers and lovers, sisters and strangers– but it manages to be feminist, angry, and deeply moving. I was impressed with how well Maksik wrote the different women in this book and also how he charted Joe’s own personal, feminist, and familial awakenings."
Read the full review in Book Riot.
