This review has spoilers. I simply cannot write it without them. If you intend to read this novel, I'd skip this review because I have to talk about the writing, and considering it has an unreliable narrator, it's impossible to not spoil something. Before I get started, Black Helicopters is not a dystopian novel. It is a contemporary novel. A very disturbing contemporary novel. With a majorly unreliable narrator. Valley keeps you confused the entire time, wondering what is really going on. Thing is, it's really not that complicated. Whatever you think is probably going on is actually probably going on. There are very few surprises here. But living inside Valley's mind while she narrates can be a very confusing place regardless, not to mention, she is a little hard to like because of her viewpoint. I actually didn't mind her though because in most cases you really aren't supposed to like unreliable narrators. Valley was raised in a cabin in the wilderness away from people. She lived a very sheltered life with a very unstable man who influenced and brainwashed every thought and feeling she had. Because of this, everything she does and says after she gets out into the real world is colored by her experience. She thinks everyone and everything is out to get her. She is afraid of these black helicopters that killed her Mabby. This is not a novel that will get you a lot of answers. It is very literary in scope. The writing was lovely, but also a bit simple for me. You will finish reading with so many questions. Do the black helicopters really exist? Are they truly bad? What happened to Mabby? Even the ending is not concrete. It is assumed what happened, but you have to kind of lead yourself there. It's sort of open ended. There is some tough subject matter here, and with the things that have been going on in our world lately, utterly relevant and difficult to read at times.I did like this book. But it was disturbing and I lacked the emotional connection to it that I think I was supposed to feel. So often, reading is influenced by our own personal experiences, and more often than not, the really tough contemporaries don't make me feel as much I I should. I was just left feeling uncomfortable and cold. That said, it does pack a punch and I do think the right reader will enjoy it quite a bit. It just wasn't the right book for me at this time.
