Ravenous Things by Derrick Chow is insightful, imaginative, unsettling, beautifully written, and more of an emotional rollercoaster than you might expect. It is my favorite young adult novel that I have read in a long time and one that caught me completely off guard in an unprecedented way.
What is Ravenous Things about?
Twelve-year-old Reggie Wong has a quick temper that’s always getting him into trouble at school, while at home his mom struggles to get out of bed–let alone leave their apartment. That’s why Reggie desperately needs his dad back. One problem: His dad is dead.
Enter the Conductor, a peculiar man who promises to make Reggie’s wish to see his father just one more time come true. All he must do is climb aboard the man’s subway train, which leaves St. Patrick Station promptly at midnight. Desperate to have his dad and happy family back, Reggie takes him up on the offer, only to discover the train is filled with other children who have lost a loved one, just like him. As he speeds through the wild, uncharted tunnels beneath the city, Reggie meets Chantal, an annoyingly peppy girl obsessed with lists and psychiatry, and Gareth, his arch-nemesis and bully since the fourth grade. As each kid steps off the train and into the arms of their lost family member, Reggie can’t believe his impossible wish is about to come true.
But when Reggie comes to the end of the line and sees his father waiting for him, he soon discovers all is not as it seems. He and his unlikely new friends have been ensnared in a deadly trap. Together, the three must find a way to foil the Conductor’s diabolical plot and find their way out of the underground subway where horrors worse than they have ever imagined lurk around every corner. The rats of St. Patrick Station have taken over and they’re absolutely ravenous.
Ravenous Things is a heroic journey through grief, loss and love
I had no idea what Ravenous Things was about before I started reading it, and it unfolded into a story like none I have ever read before. Spooky rats and a few heroic kids, I initially thought. I wasn’t entirely wrong, but there is so much more to this story.
Ravenous Things is a stunning debut novel for author Derrick Chow which reimagines the tale of the Pied Piper. Both terrifying and hauntingly beautiful, Chow masterfully uses literal and figurative monsters to explore themes of grief and how we handle loss. The writing is simple, effective, and charismatic – the reader feels like they are a friend of Reggie’s, attempting to hold his hand as he deals with his father’s passing. The story is deeply sad in parts. Not only has Reggie lost his dad, but he has lost him mom too – she struggles to face each day without her husband and never leaves the house. It takes its toll on her, but also on her son. I teared up a few times at how raw and real Reggie’s struggle is, and how he would do anything to spend another day with his dad. It is something almost all readers will relate to, and it is an imaginative journey unlike any other. Rats and all.
The Conductor is that stranger we all pray we never meet. Someone who lures you to your demise with your greatest weakness as his one-way ticket. He is also symbolic of vices and “the easy way out” which may not always be what is best for us. While rats taking over the city may initially sound absurd and perhaps a bit childish at first glance, the story and its execution is anything but. The spooky themes tie in exceedingly well with the helplessness that one can feel when experiencing grief. Loss can be terrifying. The rats in this story are terrifying. They are familiar – almost human-like – but distorted enough to be truly scary. Fear takes many forms, and the way grief can manifest is interestingly explored in this way in this book.
The characters share a great dynamic. Reggie, Chantal and Gareth, while being a motley crew, are bonded together by loss (Reggie’s dad, Chantal’s sister and Gareth’s grandmother). Saving the city from the rats is ultimately up to them, and their team-up gives them each a sense of purpose, restores hope, and builds (and re-builds) relationships. Their personalities are also “real”. They are imperfect characters who need each other’s support. Reggie has a quick temper, Chantal is working on herself through therapy and Gareth is the school bully. There is much more to them than meets the eye, and they are ultimately not defined by their grief. They are the heroes of the story and they triumph over what is perhaps life’s greatest challenge – loss and all the doubt, insecurity and fear that comes with it.
A moving and powerful novel about losing someone special framed in a most imaginative scenario, Ravenous Things teaches readers about more than monsters. I not only recommend this book, but strongly encourage young readers to befriend Reggie and muster the courage to go on the journey with him.
Ravenous Things was released on July 26, 2022.