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A review by sarahanne8382
We'll Fly Away by Bryan Bliss
3.0
Luke is writing letters to his best friend, Toby, from death row. This is interspersed by narrative of the week leading up to the events that sent Luke to death row. As Luke begins to bare his soul, we're left wondering how a kid with such a promising future ahead of him could end up on death row.
Early on I correctly suspected the general turn of events that sent Luke to prison, but the specifics of how we got there kept me reading when little else did.
I thought I'd get into the story because my brothers were really good high school wrestlers (not quite Luke's caliber, but close enough that I know exactly how much of a golden ticket a scholarship to Iowa is), but ultimately, I was not the main intended audience of this book, and that's okay.
The sheer volume of parental neglect in this story also made it very hard to continue. I just kept waiting for a responsible adult to show up and give these boys the support they so desperately needed. But obviously, it wasn't that kind of story.
A thousand times, it seemed like Luke had missed the danger, that everything would turn out all right, that the crisis had passed, that he'd remain the voice of reason to Toby's lack of self-regard, that an adult would finally step up and step in to save the day. These twists and turns really drove home the point that also came out in Anthony Ray Hinton's book - your worst act doesn't define you.
I thought the book was a bit too long, but again, that may be my lack of interest in much other than answering the specifics of how Luke earned his fate. I think readers who want a boy-focused book about growing up under rough circumstances will find a lot more to appreciate than I did.
Early on I correctly suspected the general turn of events that sent Luke to prison, but the specifics of how we got there kept me reading when little else did.
I thought I'd get into the story because my brothers were really good high school wrestlers (not quite Luke's caliber, but close enough that I know exactly how much of a golden ticket a scholarship to Iowa is), but ultimately, I was not the main intended audience of this book, and that's okay.
The sheer volume of parental neglect in this story also made it very hard to continue. I just kept waiting for a responsible adult to show up and give these boys the support they so desperately needed. But obviously, it wasn't that kind of story.
A thousand times, it seemed like Luke had missed the danger, that everything would turn out all right, that the crisis had passed, that he'd remain the voice of reason to Toby's lack of self-regard, that an adult would finally step up and step in to save the day. These twists and turns really drove home the point that also came out in Anthony Ray Hinton's book - your worst act doesn't define you.
I thought the book was a bit too long, but again, that may be my lack of interest in much other than answering the specifics of how Luke earned his fate. I think readers who want a boy-focused book about growing up under rough circumstances will find a lot more to appreciate than I did.