Going Under (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Miss Polo, Grandma Kitty, Shards of Evil

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–This novel mixes themes of betrayal, independence, and psychological manipulation with recognizable ancient Greek myths in a modern-day setting. A conniving psychologist pits two gifted, home-schooled siblings against one another, the narcissist Ivan and younger, more vulnerable Hilly (likened to Persephone). In alternating chapters, carefully paced to escalate the tension, each one tells about the assaults on their formerly close relationship. Hilly grows and finds her inner strength while Ivan simply refuses to change until his self-image cracks. Well executed in its setup, in its foreboding aura, and in the feel of each person's voice, the end result is unfortunate; the underlying character motivations are unconvincing. With the exception of Ivan's urgently earnest psychobabble (sickness can…be utilized as a mode of defense, a deep moat of illness around the castle of personality), neither one of the siblings appears to be either extraordinary or worth the machinations of the villain, whose evil actions are themselves unbaked. Still, for some sophisticated readers, the sense of paranoia and mythological references will resonate with deeply felt significance.–Rhona Campbell, Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library, Washington, DC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Told in alternating chapters in the voices of a brother and sister, this harrowing, intense tale has a vividly drawn cast. Hilly and her older brother, Ivan, have been homeschooled by loving parents. To Ivan's great scorn, Hilly chooses to be part of a local high school's literary magazine; then a friend she makes there commits suicide. Pushed into therapy, Hilly is manipulated both by her brother and by her controlling therapist. Her voice is sad and loving and smart; his is equally smart, but self-centered. Both are near terrifying in the precise ways she recognizes her emotions, and he uses them as weapons. The therapist himself is a professional leech who publishes the work of the adolescent girls he treats and uses all kinds of emotional blackmail to get what he wants. The myths of Persephone and of Narcissus figure powerfully in the matrix of the story, which doesn't so much end as stop in a particular, possibly healing, place. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374303932
• ISBN-13: 978-0374303938
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,224,738 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For any other author, it would be the best book of their career. For Koja, it's just another day., October 16, 2006

By	Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Kathe Koja, Going Under (Frances Foster Books, 2006)

Kathe Koja excels at whatever she chooses to write. First it was horror (The Cipher, Skin), then human drama (Strange Angels, Kink). Then, a few years back, she turned her attention to the young adult novel, and immediately popped up with one of the best in the genre in a very long time, Straydog. She's stayed with the YA books since, and while they've all been very, very good, Going Under doesn't quite have the stay-up-all-night zing of Skin or Straydog. That doesn't make it any less good on a general level, it just means that when you compare it to other Kathe Koja novels, it's kind of midpack.

The story is told from two different perspectives, that of Hillary, who is dealing with the suicide of a friend, and her brother Ivan, who's watching his sister implode. Hillary is not a fan of therapy. When she refuses to go back to her first therapist, Ivan finds another thanks to a chance encounter, and both Ivan and Hillary are drawn into the new therapist's world-- but is he who he claims to be?

Koja flirts now and again with the existential horror of her first few novels in the YA world she's come to inhabit, most effectively in The Blue Mirror, and she does it here again. I'm not talking about "horror" in the monsters-and-supernatural-stuff sense here, but in the depravity inherent in the human soul. It's something she does very well, but she usually has a more compelling story in which to do it. It's still a fine novel, but it's not really up to the standard Koja has been setting for herself for the past decade and a half. *** ½

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, November 18, 2006

By	TeensReadToo.com "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

GOING UNDER by Kathe Koja explores the psychological angles of a faltering brother/sister relationship. Hilly and Ivan have always been close. Raised by what Hilly calls "semi-useless" parents, both brother and sister would probably argue they raised themselves.

Hilly is sent to a therapist to help her work her way through the emotional aftermath of a friend's suicide. The first therapist is unsuccessful in reaching Hilly, so her older brother helps to find a new doctor. But does the new doctor have Hilly's best interests in mind--or his own?

Kathe Koja uses the myths of Peresephone and Narcissus to illustrate the siblings relationship. Hilly's brother Ivan tells his parents and his sister he is attempting to save Hilly from being dragged into the darkness. At the same time Ivan's own warped self-image causes him to become entangled with the therapist's scheme to use Hilly's journal writings as material for his own book.

Readers with a knowledge of the ancient myths will be treated to an interesting twist on the meanings of the old tales. Koja's book would work well and provide fuel for discussion in a high school lit class focusing on different interpretations of these classical stories.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"