Aiming for profound but hit soap opera sullen

In high school and college creative writing classes, you inevitably read stories written by your peers that attempt profundity through impossibly hard-luck circumstances, deeply unhappy people, relentless tragedy, and prose that seems determined to take the scenic route before getting to the point.

That is what this book is.

What About the Bodies tells the story of three people living in a rundown Pennsylvania town. One is a single mother with a shy but intelligent son who makes an innocent mistake with potentially devastating consequences. Another is an autistic young man who loves language and is bullied by nearly everyone around him, all while trying to keep a promise he made to his recently deceased mother. The third is a young woman with dreams of building a career in music, despite being surrounded by a string of ne'er-do-well boyfriends.

Each of them is beset by tragedy after tragedy, to the point that it eventually becomes difficult to take seriously. One character slices their hand open, get a flat tire, run afoul of a biker gang and almost get caught by the cops all while trying to hide a dead body. All in one night. How many close calls can any one of these people survive and still continue their story? In the end, only one protagonist seems to have any real agency, making a choice that would damn them. The others simply get lucky too many times to be believable or entertaining.

The characters' paths also cross and nearly converge during the final quarter of the novel. I suspect this was intended to be meaningful, but to me it felt both cliché and inevitable given the circumstances and size of the town.

Without getting too deep into spoilers, one character receives not only an unsatisfying conclusion but also has doubt cast upon the last meaningful relationship in her life, despite having little evidence to justify that suspicion.

The prose was fine, but nothing to write home about. The plot felt contrived, and the characters were difficult to root for.