Ash Wednesday

But just because something's your destiny doesn't mean it's gonna be any good.

This is Hawke's way of both speaking to the reader and confusing them all in one self-loathing line. In Ethan Hawke's follow up to his acclaimed novel The Hottest State, Ash Wednesday tells a story about one couple's road trip toward their future.

Jimmy and Christy are a couple whose love is self-scrutinized, a rocky relationship and now Christy is pregnant so after abandoning the army, Jimmy and Christy begin a road trip from Albany to Texas with an unborn child and plenty of hesitancies. Through a basketball scrimmage with teenage boys, quick church wedding, and a miscarriage scare, they grow both equally together and apart. This is not a naive couple looking blissfully into the future. In both their lives, they have seen fathers commit suicide and cheat on their wives. Their cynical approach to marriage is both scary and refreshing.

Hawke successfully puts the reader into the mind of each character. Every chapter switches points of view so it's easy to follow what each character is feeling. Hawke's writing makes the character's scares and aspirations easily understandable and the reader can relate to their numerous feelings. Eloquent would not rightfully describe Hawke's writing abilities. Hawke is able to make his characters talk to us and reveal feelings that also plague our minds. Thought provoking and easy to read, Ash Wednesday may not be as good as his first novel, but it still challenges the reader to dig deep inside and find the Jimmy and Christy in all of us.