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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
medium-paced
This book was... troubling for me. I think I liked it, but I can't be really sure. Let's put it this way. I enjoyed elements of the book, and felt confused on other fronts.
First, a summary. Scott Heim tells the harsh and tragic story of two boys bound together by a traumatizing event, but go on to remember it in completely different ways. Brian spends his entire adolescence dreaming about and obsessing over alien abductions. Neil realizes he's gay and becomes a teen hustler. Throughout the novel, their lives become intertwined through common acquaintances and that initial, horrible act, though they only meet at the end.
I respect Heim a lot for his sensitive portrayal of some really horrific events. He never demeans his characters, and passes no judgment upon them. The story plays out naturally in a very fluid, relaxed prose. However, I found it difficult to fully enjoy my reading experience because of the events that occured in the book. Maybe that's the point, though. Maybe I was supposed to feel uncomfortable and outraged.
First, a summary. Scott Heim tells the harsh and tragic story of two boys bound together by a traumatizing event, but go on to remember it in completely different ways. Brian spends his entire adolescence dreaming about and obsessing over alien abductions. Neil realizes he's gay and becomes a teen hustler. Throughout the novel, their lives become intertwined through common acquaintances and that initial, horrible act, though they only meet at the end.
I respect Heim a lot for his sensitive portrayal of some really horrific events. He never demeans his characters, and passes no judgment upon them. The story plays out naturally in a very fluid, relaxed prose. However, I found it difficult to fully enjoy my reading experience because of the events that occured in the book. Maybe that's the point, though. Maybe I was supposed to feel uncomfortable and outraged.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Book too personal, had to take breaks to regulate after ever few chapters, mentally draining
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The one thing I didn't expect to feel from this book was an uncanny connection with Brian over our remarkably similar childhood "UFO" experiences. Unfortunately, this was one of the only positive things I felt the entire latter half of the read. (Perhaps I am just riding on that aforementioned nutcase connection here, but I thought the book was fine, and even quite engaging, up until Brian and Neil reached adolescence) The writing in this wasn't bad at all; while I would hesitate to call it immersive in any way, it had a languid flow that made reading honestly pleasant. This was counteracted nicely by the tension being drummed up in Neil's parts - before his storyline was soured by an irritating emphasis on how edgy and rebellious he became into his teen years and beyond. I understand the purpose of this choice, but the effects of molestation could have been displayed in a much more tasteful manner, as crude as that sounds. The unnecessary dips into things like the genuinely awful and irrelevant snippets of poetry Neil's friend wrote not only made me question whether or not I really did have a legitimate paperback in my hands in place of a computer with a compilation of TikTok comment section writing open; they also took away from space that could have been better utilized for actual plot development, the lack of which made the entire premise of the book's storyline - which started off quite interesting - unreasonable and nonsensical. I am quite inexplicably mad at myself for reading this all the way through.
Wow. A hard read because of the very real issues it addresses. Highly recommend but not for the faint of heart.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No