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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
It's 1987, New York City, and 14-year old June Elbus and her older sister Greta are sitting for a portrait painted by their uncle Finn. Finn is a very well-regarded artist and a real favorite of June, but he is dying of AIDS, which at the time was new, mysterious, and very scary.
June is an awkward budding geek, and feels that Finn is the only one who really gets her. He takes her to renaissance fairs and museums and generally encourages her nerdy interests. Her parents, on the other hand, are both accountants who basically abandon their children for a few months out of the year when it's tax season. Greta is an excellent student and star actress at her school, and when she and June were younger, Greta took great care of her little sister when their parents were too busy to. But lately, Greta has become a complete pill, surly to her parents and unkind to June. No wonder June feels so close to her cool uncle.
Finn passes away soon after finishing the portrait. June is devastated. But she is soon contacted by a man she had never met before, Finn's lover, Toby. Toby was enlisted by Finn to be there for his lonely favorite niece, but June's mother has told her children that Toby is a murderer, responsible for transmitting AIDS to Finn, possibly on purpose. June is wary of him, but sees him as a possible way to feel close to Finn after his death.
In addition to becoming close friends with a man that her parents think is a murderer, there are a few things that June has to unravel.
1) If Finn really cared about her so much, why had he never told her about Toby?
2) What's up with that portrait Finn painted?
3) Why did Greta suddenly start to hate her?
This book tackles an interesting subject that I don't think I've ever seen in a book before: a child having an inappropriate crush on a family member. That is, June's obvious crush on Finn, which she knows is wrong, but she tries to keep hidden and never acts on. June knows she shouldn't be feeling this way, but can't make it stop.
I also appreciated that there wasn't really a romance plotline for June, just her gross crush on her uncle, and a boy at school who has her pegged as a fellow nerd and keeps pestering her to play Dungeons and Dragons with him and his friends.
This book was completely excellent. It didn't fall back on the tired cliches I see in so many books, particularly books about grief. The buildup happened at a good rate, I never felt is was wasting time or ought to hurry up and get to the fireworks factory. And it paid off, too. Once the big climax happened, it was impossible to stop reading (I stayed up until 1 AM on a work night and felt like shit today). Everything was wrapped up to my satisfaction; nothing was too pat or neatly tied up. I was kind of expecting the little plot twist: But I really liked the way the author pulled it off.
June is an awkward budding geek, and feels that Finn is the only one who really gets her. He takes her to renaissance fairs and museums and generally encourages her nerdy interests. Her parents, on the other hand, are both accountants who basically abandon their children for a few months out of the year when it's tax season. Greta is an excellent student and star actress at her school, and when she and June were younger, Greta took great care of her little sister when their parents were too busy to. But lately, Greta has become a complete pill, surly to her parents and unkind to June. No wonder June feels so close to her cool uncle.
Finn passes away soon after finishing the portrait. June is devastated. But she is soon contacted by a man she had never met before, Finn's lover, Toby. Toby was enlisted by Finn to be there for his lonely favorite niece, but June's mother has told her children that Toby is a murderer, responsible for transmitting AIDS to Finn, possibly on purpose. June is wary of him, but sees him as a possible way to feel close to Finn after his death.
In addition to becoming close friends with a man that her parents think is a murderer, there are a few things that June has to unravel.
1) If Finn really cared about her so much, why had he never told her about Toby?
2) What's up with that portrait Finn painted?
3) Why did Greta suddenly start to hate her?
This book tackles an interesting subject that I don't think I've ever seen in a book before: a child having an inappropriate crush on a family member. That is, June's obvious crush on Finn, which she knows is wrong, but she tries to keep hidden and never acts on. June knows she shouldn't be feeling this way, but can't make it stop.
I also appreciated that there wasn't really a romance plotline for June, just her gross crush on her uncle, and a boy at school who has her pegged as a fellow nerd and keeps pestering her to play Dungeons and Dragons with him and his friends.
This book was completely excellent. It didn't fall back on the tired cliches I see in so many books, particularly books about grief. The buildup happened at a good rate, I never felt is was wasting time or ought to hurry up and get to the fireworks factory. And it paid off, too. Once the big climax happened, it was impossible to stop reading (I stayed up until 1 AM on a work night and felt like shit today). Everything was wrapped up to my satisfaction; nothing was too pat or neatly tied up. I was kind of expecting the little plot twist:
Spoiler
Toby didn't give Finn AIDS, it was the other way around. At least that was the implication of Toby's conversation with June about first loves, nicely understated and might even be missed by some readers.
could’ve done without the pop culture references i didn’t get plus the main character being in love with her gay uncle (ew she’s 15 there could’ve been the same impact if she loved him like an uncle) but overall it was good i liked it, didn’t like the lady’s vouce who did the audiobook
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Sad and beautiful. Love and loss and family dynamics. And lots of tears, of course.
I adore this book- the way Carol Rifka Brunt describes everything in this book is beautiful. June's world is far from perfect but in it's own way- it is perfect.
The style of writing is breath taking and the story is heart warming. Every character seems to glow with a certain charm and I just can't get over how much I love this book. I cannot wait to see more from this author!
The style of writing is breath taking and the story is heart warming. Every character seems to glow with a certain charm and I just can't get over how much I love this book. I cannot wait to see more from this author!
This helped heal my still grieving inner fourteen year old self