Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Кажи на вълците, че съм си у дома

Jesus Christ. At first I thought everyone was being dumb when they said the book was a bad representation of AIDS. All I was seeing was period typical Seraphobia, and then I got to the part where one character equated an incestuous relationship with homosexuality. I should've stopped when the FMC started saying she was in love with her uncle, but foolishly, I continued on. Their whole family dynamic was fucked up. And you're telling me that after falling in love with her uncle, she fell in love with his gay widow? His gay widow who stalked her, encouraged her to drive at the age of 14, gave her cigarettes and alcohol, and made many allusions to them being in a relationship together?

Her mother was fucked up, making her brother keep his lover in the basement so she wouldn't have to see him, her sister treated her like she and it was alluded to that she was not only suicidal but sleeping with her drama teacher, and her father was just there.

And in the end, there's an unnecessary death and a monologue about how much she loved (was in love with) her uncle and also her uncles widow.

Go get therapy girl!! In fact, send your whole damn family to therapy!!

I do not understand now this book is so highly accoladed.

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gerrakay's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Gorgeous, deftly-written reflection on all of our complexities and how we weave into each other's lives.

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bellascho's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

June is a 14 year old girl in New York during the 1980s. Her uncle, famous painter Finn Weiss, has AIDS and in his last days is choosing to paint a portrait of her and her older sister Greta. Every Sunday they drive out to his apartment and sit while he paints them. The family doesn’t receive the painting until Finn has succumbed to his illness and a mysterious man calls to inform them of his passing. When the painting is unveiled June notices buttons have been painted onto her shirt and the clearly inexperienced hand tells her it was not Finn who added them. When heading into the funeral June see an unknown man waiting outside and when questioning who he is, is told he is the man who killed her uncle. June decides she will hate the man, Toby, but first she must get every scrap of Finn that he has. Over the course of the next few months June gets to know Toby and decides to take care of him like her uncle asked her to while he also slowly fades away from AIDS.

I went into this book really expecting to like it. I feel like the AIDS epidemic is often ignored today, many kids are never even taught about this point in history when so many people were dying because of it’s association with a “taboo” topic. Hearing about this illness from the point of view of someone losing a close family member seems like a great way to introduce such a thing to young readers. The execution did not do this. June’s uncle and boyfriend dying of AIDS is secondary

to the fact that she is in love with him.

This addition and ENTIRE FOCUS of the story is completely unnecessary.

In no world would I choose to read a book about a 14-year-old girl learning to accept that she was in love with her now dead uncle and is currently in love with his grieving boyfriend.

AIDS as a topic is an incredibly important one and something the author could have done so much and instead she decided to

write about incestuous love

for a bunch of teenagers to read. In the end Greta, the character the audience is actively supposed to hate for most of the story, has a for more interesting and digestible story than the main character.

I have never thought incest

was a much needed addition to the topics to be explored in YA novels and this book definitely proved my point. Some of the banter throughout the story is really well written and enjoyable to read, but it always loops back to fact that June

has feelings for these grown men, one who is related to her. Overall I am really disappointed in this story, especially because I was really looking forward to reading it and now it feels like I wasted however many hours it took.

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bearbutch's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

Incredibly written book with so many layers and meanings to discover within each page. It takes a lot to make me cry at a book these days, but this one did at the end. however I will say that the crush June had on her Uncle Finn and the way it’s handled doesn’t quite sit right with me, and makes me feel conflicted. I do recommend it highly, but be aware of that weird detail.

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jefferz's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Edit 3/23/24: Bumped the ratings up a star. Having gotten back into reading regularly and reflecting on books completed last year, this one really stuck with me and is one I often remember. Based purely on it's ambition and its lasting impact, this should be up to a 4 / 4.5 at least. Also kind of want to rewrite this review as it doesn't highlight the nuanced and excellent character relationships that are not always pleasant to read about.

This one is difficult to rate as I found the first 2/3 of the book trying to get through and every character insufferable, though that's not a dig at the writing or plot which is well done. I found the tone to be overall off-putting in a first-person perspective from the eyes of a very emotionally volatile 14 yr old (granted that's on me reading this when I'm over twice the age of June and her sister) and every character to be insufferable. The one bright spot and redeeming factor that kept me going was Toby, the only character that's bearable to read about. Toby and his character arc is by far the best aspect of the entire book and one I empathized with a lot.

However once the book gets to the last 1/3 of the story, I got very invested partly thanks to June managing her feelings less ridiculously (we love character growth) and the book following through on its premise of finding out just who this unknown man that shows up at Finn's funeral is. The way this book handles concepts of love (both romantic and familial), loss, prejudice (particularly bigotry given it's setting in the 80's at the start HIV/AIDS epidemic) is well done, the delivery was just not to my taste. Most of the book I struggled through at a 1-star but the last 100 pages or so is a solid 4-4.5. However if you're interested in flawed (and petty) personalities and all the emotions of preteen discovery herself, your mileage may vary and go a lot farther than mine.

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elisa26's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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filipacmiranda's review against another edition

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4.5

Tell the Wolves I'm Home is a story on the complexity of relationships and the inadequacy that, as teenagers, we often feel. As a main character, the book introduces us to a 14-year-old girl, described as a "lone wolf" without much concern for what others think of her, as having complex family relationships, and as someone with a passion for the Middle Ages.

In many ways, June Elbus was a character I found easy to identify with. The way Carol Rifka Brunt wrote her allowed me to see her point of view. Therefore, her emotions frequently became mine, making the whole experience unique. At the end of the book, I was left somewhat disconcerted.

Despite all the times June takes reprehensible positions and acts inadequate, she does not simply feel victimised by circumstances. When the time comes, she admits different perspectives on the events that have marked and defined her. She understands her role in situations that have shaped and defined those around her - namely, her older sister, Greta. Thus, sincerity is ultimately one of her greatest strengths in this book.

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parasolcrafter's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

oh...this book truly is wonderful; its so sad yet so beautiful and full of hope. its a tragedy through and through - of everyone losing finn, of june losing toby - but its full of such love that it doesnt feel as heartbreaking as it could. and the love really is so rich in this book. june loves finn - i do have my issues with that, but i understand why she feels what she feels - and finn and toby loved each other and danni loved her brother and she loves her children and june loves greta and finn loved everyone and love...its everywhere in this book, for both the good and the bad. its the fuel for this book and the characters and it makes this book what it is. and thats why it hurts so much because love only does so much, only goes so far and then when you can no longer love that person it goes - where? you have to keep it inside yourself because the love you have one person is for them; you cant put it on someone else. so you keep it inside and you hold it close the way you held the person you loved close. and like...god. i could wax poetic about this book forever. its just so good. and the title...it hurts because at first to me it meant that june could tell the wolves about finn, she could tell that hes home but by the end of the book is dead, the wolves are dead, and now the wolves can tell finn that june is home. like...god. pain.

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