Book Review: The Darkest Path, by Jeff Hirsch

Book Review: The Darkest Path, by Jeff Hirsch

“Overall, I give The Darkest Path a 3.0 and a half out of 5.0 stars rating. I enjoyed reading it, and found myself thoroughly immersed in the world Hirsch designed.”

!Trigger Warning!

This review contains sensitive topics such as death, animal cruelty, suicide, and war.

~ There are no spoilers in this review ~

Photo by Shelby Salerno, 2020

The Darkest Path, by Jeff Hirsch, is a 320 page dystopian YA novel set in North America. America has been divided for almost a decade by the self-righteous “Paths” and the governmental “Feds”, both of whom have resorted to violence in order to dominate various states across the country. The more states under Path or Fed control, the more likely one side is to win the ultimate prize: loyal subjects.

Fifteen-year-old Callum Roe has been under the careful eye of the Paths for 6 years, forced to work within a merciless militant lifestyle and worship their leader, Nathan Hill, whom preaches the light of the Path. Callum has always had his eyes set on Ithaca, New York to keep hope alive, however, and nothing will stop him from getting there, not even his brother.

Callum sacrifices his integrity and physical wellbeing in order to provide him and his brother with proper medicine and living quarters, but when Callum discovers that the promises made to him weren’t real, he grabs his brother and runs from the life he had worked so hard to build up.

Along the way Callum gains allies, loses friends, and is forced into a multitude of dangerous and near impossible situations.

The basic narrative question is clear: Will Callum get home?

The underlining questions behind this proves more complex and intriguing: Will Callum be able to find peace? And how long can a war-torn society divided by two extremist groups sustain a functional and purposeful way of living?

Ouch. Too real.

This novel is incredibly intense from start to finish and I highly suggest being in a healthy mental state before diving in. This does not mean, however, that this book is too difficult to read; the content is just consistently heavy.

I was skeptical at first as my eyes roved about the first few pages. With more popular dystopian novels in mind, such as The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Gone by Michael Grant, I felt as if I was unable to be impressed as easily due to the explosion of apocalyptic type stories over the last five years.

I was proved wrong.

The Darkest Path is nowhere near a perfect novel, there are a few minute issues I had as a fellow writer that I will note in the next paragraph, but overall I was captivated by and invested in Hirch’s work. Isn’t that what a good writer is supposed to do?

Though I do not believe that this was necessary, Hirch decided to break down his novel into 3 parts. Part 1: the inciting incident. Part 2: the bulk of the drama (the conflict). And part 3: the resolution. All stories should contain these three elements in order to be coherent and suspenseful so I am not entirely sure why Hirsch chose to do this. Even so, this did not detract from Callum’s journey. This structure choice is simply a curious element I believe should be taken out.

But now let’s dive into the story itself!

Part 1:

The desire to root for Callum Roe took no time at all. I was invested in his story from the beginning. Hirch thrusts the reader into the heart of Callum’s adventure without delay, and creates a foreboding tone that gave me cause to move on to chapter 2. Within the first 3 pages of the book, I was asking questions and desiring answers. I also got a taste of the violence, devastation, and emotional and physical hunger that lay ahead of Callum and myself as a reader. I knew what kind of story I was stepping into.

The remainder of the first section, chapters 2 through 8, provided me with a visual in order to better understand the world Callum has been living in. Information is revealed gradually, and though I was a bit confused about the Path a bit longer than I wanted to have been, by the middle of the book I knew exactly what was going on and I didn’t mind the confusion much.

Part 2:

The thickest section of this book is in part 2, both in page numbers and in action. To avoid spoiling anything, I will simply comment that chapters 9 through 20 are incredibly active and real. The only thing that bothers me just a little is how Callum is boarder line super human with his ability to persevere despite being constantly beaten up, blown aside, starving, and walking in various terrain with a broken arm from the beginning to end. Either this boy is so determined to get home that his strength is enhanced by sheer will or he’s a mutant.

Part 3:

The ending of the novel is satisfying, but neither happy nor terribly upsetting. I haven’t look up whether or not there is a second book, but I can guess from the final chapter that there has to be. I want to read that second book. I am now committed to Callum and the world he lives in and, as a reader, I feel compelled to give this character his dues by completing the entirety of his story.

Thank you for surprising me Hirsch.

Overall, I give The Darkest Path a 3 and a half out of 5 stars rating. I enjoyed reading it, and found myself thoroughly immersed in the world Hirsch designed.

I recommend giving it a read!

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