I have to give this at least 4 stars because it was so incredibly well done and uses language in such impactful, jarring ways. Very, very effective. But my God what a stressful, anxiety driven reading experience. I kept wanting to put the book down to come up for air, but I couldn't pull myself away. This is my 3rd Max Porter book and he will give you an emotional experience every time. He is a very interesting writer. ( )

Shy is one mixed up adolescent child who loves music, but gets frustrated easily. Goes for a night swim, encounters bloated dead badgers, and break windows. Style of writing much the same as Lanny. Easy to read, a short story, but lacks plot. ( )

Shy is a teen in 1995 Britain who has been placed in a home for troubled boys called Last Chance, and that's what it is, the last chance for violent boys to get help before being left to the streets. Shy has been taking drugs, assaulted his stepfather, created chaos at school and destroyed a friend's home. Now the counselors at Last Chance have been warning him that his behavior is exhausting them.
Stream of consciousness can be tough, and add to it Shy's mental illness and intensely disturbing dreams, and you have a book that is difficult to follow sometimes as it can be hard to tell what really happened and what is an episode. I think it was a good choice to make this a short book due to its difficult main character. ( )

Opnieuw origineel... meeslepend...mooi boek ( )

‘Shy’ by Max Porter is an incredibly uncomfortable, emotional and tense exploration of the inner world of a troubled (to say the least) young boy.

I’ve went back and forth trying to decide what to say… but let me start with, I believe this to be one of the most empathetic but honest depictions of this type of behavioral disorder I have ever seen. Moreover, this kind of story is not told. While we have seen great strides in our discussions on mental health, and a push towards understanding over stigma is in motion now, the is still underrepresented, under discussed, and even within the treatment and diagnosis behind the scenes little is known. It begins with an awareness, and Max Porter clearly has both awareness and understanding of the private pain that so many children live through. And in knowing this, he seems to be imploring society to know.

Shy, the child who’s mind we are in, is a complicated boy. He is so lonely, and impulsive, cruel and destructive, desperate and smart, imaginative, misguided and lost. He thinks, says and does horrible things, for seemingly no reason or for reasons that never merit the reaction. He acts this way meaning to be vile, and then is flooded by guilt and shame, which quickly becomes anger and even violence.

This is set in 1995 and while there was surely less known then, the solutions that are meant to help in 2023 are essentially non-existent. Running rampant in schools that are understaffed and under funded the accountability and structure that could temper these behaviors is, often, no where to be found. The research needed to explore treatment is severely lacking.

While it is difficult, I would implore anyone unfamiliar with disorders like Oppositional Defiance, Antisocial, or Conduct Disorder who would like to be either more empathetic towards those suffering with the disorders or to just understand this experience better, to pick up ’Shy’. Even if you are not invested in it, it sheds a light on the layers of feeling inside another human being.

This was powerful.

I have a child with ODD. Oppositional Defiant Disorder. I will not say their gender, age, or the ways in which it presents but it is an exhausting disorder for both the child (and eventual adult) and those that orbit the child. There is no cure. NONE. A dedicated effort by the child, which is an uphill battle, can help but they are neurologically wired to oppose. The treatment often centers support for family members in closest contact. It is believed that the cause is part genetics and part environmental, but it isn’t clear. Despite being extremely common (200,000+ cases a year in the US) it is under researched. As this child’s mother, and only present parent (I have a partner but their biological father is 100% absent) I face the brunt of the aggression. I work closely with a counselor, their counselor, and have for years. It presented in elementary school and has altered our lives and forever impacted their life, for the last year — the behaviors spilling into school, work and relationships with peers. It’s bad. And that is putting it lightly. Watching this, helplessly, from the sidelines has re-traumatized me and broken my heart and spirit, it has left me empty and numb. I have learned more about this disorder than I ever imagined and it has left me with such a ceaseless ache. I am devastated for the ways this will ruin this child’s, my child’s, chance at a “normal” life. It pains me to see the things that plagued their father fully visible and yet, utterly untouchable. Love is not enough to stop it. Time. Money. Hope. Medicine. It is, none of it, enough. And there is a child, a sad and lonely and confused and aware and desperate child there, just beneath the surface. Also—utterly untouchable. Max Porter used masterful storytelling, on a particularly bad day, to allow me a moment outside of my own hell, to be with my own child (in a way) inside of their hell. And while that sounds a bit horrific. I was grateful.

I was grateful.

I wanted to write to Max Porter and say thank you. For caring about these children, for seeing that they are children. And for seeing the people around them, desperate and fading, at the fringe. ( )