Lakewood: A Novel

NPR Book of the Year 2020

Electric Literature: One of 55 Books by Women and Nonbinary Writers of Color to Read in 2020 | Lit Hub & The Millions: Most Anticipated Books of 2020 | Ms. Magazine: Anticipated 2020 Feminist Books | Refinery29: Books by Black Women We are Looking Forward To Reading | One of The Millions’ Most Anticipated Reads of 2020 | Amazon Book of the Month Pick | Audible Editor’s Pick | Essence’s Pick| Glamour’s Must Read | Ms. Magazine’s Anticipated Read of 2020

A startling debut about class and race, Lakewood evokes a terrifying world of medical experimentation—part The Handmaid’s Tale, part The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

When Lena Johnson’s beloved grandmother dies, and the full extent of the family debt is revealed, the black millennial drops out of college to support her family and takes a job in the mysterious and remote town of Lakewood, Michigan.

On paper, her new job is too good to be true. High paying. No out of pocket medical expenses. A free place to live. All Lena has to do is participate in a secret program—and lie to her friends and family about the research being done in Lakewood. An eye drop that makes brown eyes blue, a medication that could be a cure for dementia, golden pills promised to make all bad thoughts go away.

The discoveries made in Lakewood, Lena is told, will change the world—but the consequences for the subjects involved could be devastating. As the truths of the program reveal themselves, Lena learns how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the sake of her family.

Provocative and thrilling, Lakewood is a breathtaking novel that takes an unflinching look at the moral dilemmas many working-class families face, and the horror that has been forced on black bodies in the name of science.

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288 pages

Average rating: 6.14

77 RATINGS

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mica88

Apr 01, 2024

6/10 stars

There was so much momentum and I really wanted the ending to be full of plot twists and things that I didn't see coming, but in the end it felt quite incomplete with lots of things that weren't explained but maybe the author wanted a more open-ended ending because she didn't really explain how this organization came to be or what really were the experiments.

Anonymous

Mar 23, 2024

6/10 stars

I really liked the concept of this book, and I found it really interesting until about 3/4 of the way in, at which point it felt like the author lost the plot. The commentary on human experimentation, particularly the use of POC and/or impoverished bodies to do so is an important aspect of science to consider, but this felt like it started getting lost partway through the book because what was happening became less and less clear to me. Partly, I think the author was trying to show how the main character was losing a sense of reality because of what was being done to her, but it just made me very confused as well. It also started getting a little repetitive to the point where I just wanted things to move on.

There was also a very ~Welcome to Night Vale~ feeling to the entire second half of the book when the character is in Lakewood itself, which probably contributed to the feeling of unreality I had when I was at that part, and I don't know what it worked with the overall novel since the first part was very reality focused and present and grounded.

I agree with some of the other readers that the ending felt rushed and also incredibly confusing. I still don't completely understand what happened at the end of the novel to the research facility and all of that, and the parts that I did get felt pretty disappointing after all the build-up, which was unfortunate because I did love the premise of this book.

So really like 4 stars for the first half and then 2 stars for the second half, averaging 3 stars overall.

Jmaybay

Mar 08, 2024

6/10 stars

"𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒏𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆." 𝕃𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕨𝕠𝕠𝕕 - Mᴇɢᴀɴ Gɪᴅᴅɪɴɢs ⭐ ( 6 / 10) ⚠️⚠️🆃🆆 : 𝙳𝚎𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚣𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕-𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. ⚠️ ⚠️ When I first finished I said 💫 because honestly the authors preference for style over proper grammar is somethin... Also because of all the jumping around and yall know, i do not like time jumps. Anyway. The book starts off at a funeral for Lena Johnson's grandma. Then she discovers all the bills and past due notices piling up. Obviously she is overwhelmed by new responsibilities. Insert an clinical trial at Lakewood. I don't know who doesn't know this but black people back in the day do not have a great history with the medical field 🤧even today 🤧 but another story. This book tripped me so far out. It was very disorienting. Picture the movie Butterfly Effect and all the blackouts he got... But they never fill in the blackouts and confusion... Ever. At first I hated that Megan did this, but the more I think on it, it emersed you in it heavily. This gotta be what it felt like to be in that situation. I do warn some things are repetative but for reason. The time jumps everything makes sense afterward and at the same time nothing does. It's crazy. If you've read it tell me what you thought, if you haven't, do it. 𝕋𝕣𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕪 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝘑𝘢𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘖𝘶𝘵

Maddieholmes

Aug 28, 2023

6/10 stars

Content warning for medical abuse, body horror, manipulation, gaslighting, and related topics. This book is creepy. The setting is atmospheric and weird, and I think the book relies a lot on the protagonist not knowing what is going on. For that reason, it felt like everything happened to her, instead of her making any choices. I also thought it got to be repetitive and I would have liked to see more of what we got in the last quarter of the book. I didn't like that there wasn't any conclusion. I needed answers! I liked the reveal about the mom, but wish that we got more out of Lena's character instead of the focus on the confusion.

Anonymous

Jun 01, 2023

10/10 stars

This book was like a fever dream in the best way.