BOOK REVIEW: Broken People

Broken People by Sam Lansky (#52 in 2020)

PUB DATE: 6/9/2020 Sam first hears about a shaman who can fix anything that's wrong with a person over the course of three days. Being a young man who's recently moved to California from New York in search of a fresh start, Sam considers how this shaman could help to cure his anxiety and depression. When Sam is pushed to confront the ghosts that lurk in his memory, he realizes that the shaman is digging deeper than he originally anticipated. My friends, this is exactly the healing sort of read I was looking for. Sam Lansky's writing is even-paced, and his dialogue is realistic. He creates characters with complex emotions and common stressors. Broken People brings up some serious topics aside from depression and anxiety as Sam struggles with accepting his sexuality and deals with memories from the past that force Sam to confront his pain. At first, there is a significant amount of skepticism regarding how the shaman will be able to "heal" the aspects of Sam that he wants to change. As the story progresses, the reader gets a firsthand glimpse into the memories that plague the recesses of Sam's mind - think Ghost-of-Christmas-Past-style - and it hits you right in the subconscious. I find that a lot of what Sam goes through is open to the reader's interpretation. This is important to know because I think some readers worry that they're "not getting it" when the author really intends for the reader to form his or her own conclusions. I, personally, felt like a lot of what Sam experiences in terms of the energy healing is similar to that of reiki, but there's also this aspect of regression therapy that comes into play. I, personally, have never tried regression therapy because the idea frightens me a bit too much. I did, however, start reiki when my (super) longtime bestie became a reiki master. I cannot even begin to tell you how special and rejuvenating this energy healing truly is. You can physically feel the heat radiate from your reiki master's hands and your body's energy gets redirected to where it needs to be.