Trust Exercises by Susan Choi is the literary equivalent of a Rubik’s Cube.
It is a story told in parts.
At its outset, Trust Exercises is a love story: high-school students Sarah and David fall in love in the summer between freshman and sophomore years at a prestigious performing arts school in 1980s Houston.
The language is beautiful and strikes nuanced insight into first love, disappointment and hurt.
But Sarah and David are only the fulcrum around which the story starts to turn.
Choi masterfully crafts an ensemble of characters that are interesting, complex and vibrant, including the talented though unconventional drama teacher Mr. Kingsley.
She also deconstructs the story in beautiful, painful, brilliant ways, resulting in the reader reevaluating what is the true story and what truth means to each individual affected.
As Choi describes it: “Thoughts are often false. A feeling’s always real. Not true, just real.”
