Hello Beautiful People! Welcome back to another review! For this review, we get into a bit of a more character-centred historical fiction mystery The Right Kind of Fool by Sarah Loudin Thomas.
Main Characters:
- Loyal Raines: A 13-year-old deaf boy growing up in 1934, one day he stumbled upon a sight and was pulled into something he could never imagine
- Creed and Delphy Raines: Loyal parents, are struggling in their marriage before Loyal life takes a turn, Creed is forced to face his issues when this happens
- Rebecca and Michael: Hearing kids that Loyal makes friends with when they are all pulled into a situation together
My review
I ended up enjoying The Right Kind of Fool by Sarah Loudin Thomas quite a bit. I didn’t go into it with much of an expectation, and it ended up being a lot different than what I usually read. I am being honest I am not sure how this book ended up on my to-be-read list to be totally honest. I often add things on and then don’t get to it for years and totally forget what the plot of the book is. Despite this being a bit of a slower-paced, not as dramatic or gory book than what I usually check out I ended up liking it quite a bit. While there is a big mystery at the center of the book I honestly found it to be more of a sweet coming-of-age book, that did have bits of darker parts.
I gave The Right Kind of Fool a 7.5/10 rating. The book follows the main character Loyal Raines and his parents Delphy and Creed. We learn that in 1934 Loyal is living a very different life than most of the kids his age. After getting an illness as a young boy when on a hunting trip with his father Loyal has grown up completely deaf. In 1934 growing up deaf was not easy. I mean it’s still not easy in 2024 so just imagine how it was in 1934. Creed takes on a lot of the guilt for Loyal’s loss of hearing and since he became deaf started to slowly separate from his family. Delphy on the other hand embraces and works with her son’s differences and teaches Loyal ASL or as they reference it in the book to speak with his hands. Loyal goes to a school for the deaf away from his family and is home for the summer. While Delphy and Creed are still technically married it seems like the two have been living apart for some time. Creed lives up in the mountains at a family spot and farms, while Delphy lives in the town in their home. While Creed acts like he lives in the mountains to earn money for his family, it becomes clear quickly that it’s not the only reason.
When Loyal is home for the summer he finds a body by a creek in the mountains. Knowing where his father’s cabin is, and despite their lack of relationship, he goes to his father for help. Creed has no ASL ability so he and his fear of Loyal has made it so the two don’t have much of a relationship. He fears that Loyal won’t be able to communicate with him but quickly realizes that his son is a lot more capable than he thinks he is. While the plot of the story does revolve around this body that Loyal finds and the chaos that ensues, the book is really about Loyal learning about his own abilities and strengths. Loyal has consistently been told by the world that his lack of hearing makes him incapable, and to a degree, he starts to believe it. With his mother’s belief in him, and his new friends Michael and Rebecca, Loyal sees that he is a lot more capable and strong than he thought.
I really enjoyed almost all of the characters in this book. They were very normal, which I liked. Loyal is a character who is hard to not like and root for. His ability to be positive even in terrible situations is an admirable one. Even though he sometimes worries his deafness will slow him down, he never lets it. He always tries to be involved and over time starts to see that his deafness doesn’t control him, nor does it define him. While it doesn’t define him it does make him a unique person with other skills and strengths than other characters in the book. When Loyal and his friends get pulled into this situation of murder and the body, he has the option to use his deafness as an excuse to run away and not deal with it. However, people’s lack of belief that they can do it is what pushes him to fight his own fears about his restrictions and push himself to limits he hasn’t before. I thought his relationship with Michael and Rebecca was really sweet. While the two are a bit uncertain at first they quickly embrace Loyal differences, and if anything take a huge interest in learning his language. It was sweet to see Loyal make some friends that he believed he would never have. It lightens his belief in humanity and opens up his own mindset to what he is capable of. I just liked the relationship as well because I find that stories which feature disabilities in older time frames often include a lot of bullying and harassment from able-bodied people toward them. While I don’t think that perspective is inaccurate at all it’s nice to see another side in which the people around Loyal take more in an interest of joining his world, rather than trying to force him to conform to theirs.
Delphy and Creed’s relationship was also very enjoyable to follow. I enjoyed how strong and real Delphy is. When Creed pulls away from their family she is hurt, but powers through for herself and Loyal. Despite Creed’s lack of involvement, she figures out ways to make sure all of Loyal’s needs are met and makes sure to give her son a language and voice when he loses the ability to do it like everyone else. When Loyal finds the body and brings Creed back into their lives Delphy is not quick to welcome him back in. She doesn’t trust that he won’t hurt them again and that he is really there for Loyal in the way he says he is. I respected her as a woman and her ability to put her own desires to the side and think of Loyal first. She doesn’t want to let Creed back in fearing that he will just hurt them again, and I understood her desire to protect the good thing the two had going. It was really sweet to see Creed and Loyal’s relationship grow throughout the book. Creed stayed away from his family because he believed he ruined his son, and would never be able to connect with him again. He finds that not only can Loyal adapt and find a way to communicate with him, but realistically he wants to learn Loyal’s language too. If he puts in the effort, there is no reason that he and Loyal can’t have a totally normal and healthy relationship.
This book really focuses on personal growth, and the ability to see outside of ourselves. While there is a terrible murder at the center it becomes clear that this is just the key to telling the Raines family story. Who the murderer is doesn’t really end up being a big factor in the book (I mean it kind of does but not in the way that it’s what we are focussing on it is more just a vessel to tell the story of the characters) and I found that I didn’t really end up caring much about who it was and just wanted to know what would happen with the other characters.
All in all, I would definitely say this is a bit of a softer read. I saw that this was a Christian Fiction book and tbh I honestly didn’t even think about that being a factor when I was reading it. Maybe it does mention Christian stuff but it honestly must have gone over my head. I guess that’s a good thing because generally I don’t read religious things since I am not religious so if it was very preachy I probably would have just avoided the book altogether. I don’t totally know what about this book makes it a Christian one but if that’s been deterring you from reading it in the past the religious tone isn’t super obvious so I say give it a go. Maybe other people will pick up on it better than I did but I honestly wouldn’t have coined it a Christian Fiction book if I didn’t see that being its tagged genre. It’s a softer read and a bit of a slower pace, but it’s a good read for sure. It kind of gave me Where the Crawdads Sing vibes, there is a darker theme to it, but it doesn’t overtake the main point which is to tell the story of the characters.
Have you read The Right Kind of Fool by Sarah Loudin Thomas before? What did you think? If not, do you think you’ll check it out?
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