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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
hated the narrator… also just a strange concept. If you want to read about the AIDS crisis - this isn’t the book to do it. The relationship between the main character (young girl) and her uncle (who dies from AIDS) is not normal.
I liked this book so much. I really liked the narrator, who is a "quirky teen" but in truly nerdy ways, and truly heartfelt ways. Brunt does such a good job of portraying sibling relationships and a teen who isn't written as a YA trope, and of using the earlyish stages of the AIDS epidemic in the mid-1980s in a clever but also emotionally resonant way.
This book surprised me. Not that I was expecting it to be bad. I just wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. On its surface, its the story of the tenuous friendship June and Toby build after June loses her uncle Finn to AIDS in 1987. But it is also the story of June and her sister Greta. And the story of Toby and Finn. And the story of Finn and June's mother, Danni.
Brunt did an wonderful job pulling all the threads of this story togethers. There were so many layers of complexity and themes being dealt with here: sibling relationships(Greta and June; Finn and Danni), romantic vs. platonic vs. familial love and where the line is between them, regrets and missed opportunities, jealousy, betrayal, growing up, loss, shame. And in spite of the complexity, none of the rich story-lines felt unfinished, or rushed, or forgotten about.
In fact, there was one detail introduced two-thirds of the way through the book having to do with a stack of paintings that I was particularly curious about. It was not mentioned again and as I was nearing the end of the book I figured we would never find out what happened to them. But you sneaky Brunt, there it was on the second-to-last page - the answer to my question.
The other thing I'll say about this book is that it contained some of the most raw moments, and alternately some of the most and tender moments, I've read all year. Other reviewers have confessed to having been reduced to sobbing piles by the end of this book. There were definitely moments were I had to blink the tears away to keep reading, but I think this one is going to be a slow burn for me. One of those stories that follows me around. And in a world over-flowing with stories and personal tragedies, its rare to run across a story so acute that it continues to haunt you long after you finish it.
Brunt did an wonderful job pulling all the threads of this story togethers. There were so many layers of complexity and themes being dealt with here: sibling relationships(Greta and June; Finn and Danni), romantic vs. platonic vs. familial love and where the line is between them, regrets and missed opportunities, jealousy, betrayal, growing up, loss, shame. And in spite of the complexity, none of the rich story-lines felt unfinished, or rushed, or forgotten about.
In fact, there was one detail introduced two-thirds of the way through the book having to do with a stack of paintings that I was particularly curious about. It was not mentioned again and as I was nearing the end of the book I figured we would never find out what happened to them. But you sneaky Brunt, there it was on the second-to-last page - the answer to my question.
The other thing I'll say about this book is that it contained some of the most raw moments, and alternately some of the most and tender moments, I've read all year. Other reviewers have confessed to having been reduced to sobbing piles by the end of this book. There were definitely moments were I had to blink the tears away to keep reading, but I think this one is going to be a slow burn for me. One of those stories that follows me around. And in a world over-flowing with stories and personal tragedies, its rare to run across a story so acute that it continues to haunt you long after you finish it.
Based on other reviews by friends I trust who LOVED this book, I think my mistake was listening to this one on Audiobook. The narrator was so whiney / breathy, I was annoyed with June early and had a hard time feeling much for anyone in the novel. If you’re considering checking this title out, stick to a written copy!
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was an enjoyable enough read, but no more than that. Sometimes I read a YA book and wonder why it was designated as such. Tell the Wolves I'm Home was not one of those books. This is standard YA, differing only in that the requisite life-altering event is not a family member or classmate suicide, parental abandonment, eating disorder/cutting, teen pregnancy, or a cancer diagnosis but rather the loss of a beloved uncle to AIDS.
I was drawn to this book by Brunt's choice to set this book in New York in the 80's in the AIDS killing fields. New York was the center of so much wasted potential. I was fewer than 10 years older than June when I buried 2 dear friends and many many acquaintances (most in their 20's) all lost to a disease the President did not think was important enough to mention or to try to cure. I can tell you Brunt missed the real story here. This story would have worked so much better if someone had struggled to get treatment, had been refused service at restaurants and had cashiers refuse to take money from them at the Duane Reed, had walked down the street and had people cross to avoid them. That experience would have helped the central narrative and made Finn and Toby more human. It would have also provided context for June's family's reactions for those younger readers who cannot begin to imagine what it would have been like to have a modern day leper in your family. Without that context I imagine June's mother and sister just look like assholes.
My other major problem here was that I did not much like June or Toby, and I am pretty sure I was supposed to adore them both. I generally don't need to like a character to find them interesting but neither one of these characters was interesting or complex so a little affection would have been good. Toby was sort of creepy. Regardless of the circumstances, even if one is a known and trusted family member, grown men do not lure out 14 year olds without their parents' knowledge, teach them to smoke and drink, and embroil them in the business of dying. Also, 14 year olds are sort of a mess, but that moment of having one foot firmly planted in childhood and the other in adulthood, where the pull of both is equal, happens well before 14. I try to imagine my own teen putting on costumes and prancing through the forest pretending to be in the middle ages and all I can do is laugh. Also, June is selfish and nasty to nearly everyone. She is downright unpleasant and insensitive to her sister, to the boy who appears to like her, to Toby, to Finn's memory, and certainly to her parents (though that seems pretty typical.)
All in all, if you are looking for typical YA this is fine though superficial and flawed. I should mention the prose is quite good, and Brunt might write a really good book some day.
I was drawn to this book by Brunt's choice to set this book in New York in the 80's in the AIDS killing fields. New York was the center of so much wasted potential. I was fewer than 10 years older than June when I buried 2 dear friends and many many acquaintances (most in their 20's) all lost to a disease the President did not think was important enough to mention or to try to cure. I can tell you Brunt missed the real story here. This story would have worked so much better if someone had struggled to get treatment, had been refused service at restaurants and had cashiers refuse to take money from them at the Duane Reed, had walked down the street and had people cross to avoid them. That experience would have helped the central narrative and made Finn and Toby more human. It would have also provided context for June's family's reactions for those younger readers who cannot begin to imagine what it would have been like to have a modern day leper in your family. Without that context I imagine June's mother and sister just look like assholes.
My other major problem here was that I did not much like June or Toby, and I am pretty sure I was supposed to adore them both. I generally don't need to like a character to find them interesting but neither one of these characters was interesting or complex so a little affection would have been good. Toby was sort of creepy. Regardless of the circumstances, even if one is a known and trusted family member, grown men do not lure out 14 year olds without their parents' knowledge, teach them to smoke and drink, and embroil them in the business of dying. Also, 14 year olds are sort of a mess, but that moment of having one foot firmly planted in childhood and the other in adulthood, where the pull of both is equal, happens well before 14. I try to imagine my own teen putting on costumes and prancing through the forest pretending to be in the middle ages and all I can do is laugh. Also, June is selfish and nasty to nearly everyone. She is downright unpleasant and insensitive to her sister, to the boy who appears to like her, to Toby, to Finn's memory, and certainly to her parents (though that seems pretty typical.)
All in all, if you are looking for typical YA this is fine though superficial and flawed. I should mention the prose is quite good, and Brunt might write a really good book some day.
Probably 3.5. I think that this was a bit too sad for me at the time that I read it (near the beginning of the pandemic). Sometimes I love the coming of age book and all of that angst, and sometimes I just feel sad about it. Also, I had recently read The Great Believers, so that was two books about AIDS at the same-ish time. That being said, we talked about it a lot at bookclub, so that means it was a good book to discuss!
gorgeous. gorgeous people and gorgeous, messy relationships.
“What about you?”
“Me?”
I nodded. “I mean … have you been shortchanged?”
He took a long drag of his cigarette and stretched his arm across the bed. “I suppose I’m in that very small group of people who are not waiting for their own story to unfold. If my life was a film, I’d have walked out by now.”
“Well, I wouldn’t,” I said. “I wouldn’t walk out.”
“That’s because you haven’t seen the first half.”
“Tell me, then. All of it.”
“What about you?”
“Me?”
I nodded. “I mean … have you been shortchanged?”
He took a long drag of his cigarette and stretched his arm across the bed. “I suppose I’m in that very small group of people who are not waiting for their own story to unfold. If my life was a film, I’d have walked out by now.”
“Well, I wouldn’t,” I said. “I wouldn’t walk out.”
“That’s because you haven’t seen the first half.”
“Tell me, then. All of it.”
I really did enjoy this book. It was different from what I usually read and I wasn't expecting not to like it but I did. She really grows in this story. She learn and accepts who she is. I hated and loved the ending. The book was written brilliantly. I would definitely pick up another book written by this author.