Run - Kody Keplinger

Kody Keplinger is known for her excellently gritty high-school mean-girl novels, including The DUFF, which was recently made into a film. So my thoughts on beginning Run were that it would probably read along the same lines. However, to say it surprised me is an understatement. Run genuinely blew me away.

Set in a small town in Kentucky, it transports the reader to an intense, beautiful but very flawed world which, as the book covers a year, we see in every season. Issues tied to the US South such as religion, family loyalty and the want for education versus a simple life are all held up to the light. Keplinger is clearly proud of being a southerner and has huge affection for her own small hometown, yet she also captures perfectly the frustration of the protagonists who just want to “get out of Mursey” and see something else of the world.

Who are our protagonists? The narrative is split between Agnes, who tells the past, and Bo who brings us the present. Agnes is a kind, gentle, slightly naïve girl, who has been mollycoddled by her family due to her being legally blind, despite the fact that she manages her disability very well. Bo comes from a family with a bad reputation, though what Bo herself has actually done wrong is somewhat of a mystery. She is taunted and snubbed every day yet ploughs on, until she meets Agnes one day in the woods and they make friends. From then on, each helps the other and Bo’s personality shines more and more brightly.

The novel explores LGBT relationships as well as ideas surrounding first love and sex, and how these can fit in with someone’s religious beliefs. This is something that isn’t seen enough in YA literature, so it was very heartening to encounter it in Run. Colt, Agnes’s love interest, is a fascinating character and the scenes between them are incredibly well done and free from clichés.

One thing that slightly jars is Agnes’s friendship with Christy and its abrupt ending. I can understand how Agnes might need a not-that-great friend to start with so that when she meets Bo she can see how much better she is. But for Christy and Agnes to have been friends for so long when they are so mismatched is just not believable, and their fight and the following events feel a little “off”. Christy is made out to be in the wrong much more than she probably is. Another issue is that the blurb of my edition says Bo’s mother is an alcoholic, when actually she is a meth addict. We should know that going in, as it makes for extremely difficult reading at times.

Overall, however, Run is a powerful and striking tale of friendship and coming-of-age, and I seriously recommend it. Both main characters are wonderfully written but Bo will stay with me for a long time.


*This review was originally written for Cuckoo Review (New Writing North) and is reprinted with permission*