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A review by kaje_harper
Elephant Shoe by J.S. Edge
4.0
Mikey lost a lot of things the day his parents' car crashed into a tree. Not just his parents, both killed in the crash, but also his best friend Tate, who was injured and never close to him again, and his whole way of life along with his older brother. David was 21, but he refused to take custody of Mikey and sent him away to live with grandparents he hardly knew, in a distant and unfamiliar town.
Mikey came to love his grandmother dearly, and to respect his now-deceased grandfather, but both loss and bitterness at his brother have been a poison at the core of his soul, making it hard to be really content. He has a good female friend (and once - only once, now ex - girlfriend) but she's a bit flighty and not a good emotional support. His beloved Gran is sliding deeper into dementia, and despite good neighbors stepping in, it's becoming unsafe to leave her on her own, and sometimes she gets angry and hostile at those who care for her. Mikey's doing a herculean job, putting the rest of his life on hold for her. Deep down, he knows he can't be enough, but he's still outraged when brother David strolls back into his life, and swoops them both up back to his hometown, and his family house.
Mikey is angry, and frustrated, scared about losing his only really beloved family to her own illness and confusion, bitter because brother David doesn't seem to recognize the damage he's inflicted on Mikey's life twice. I liked that he was a believable teen in this, holding grudges, not always wise, clinging to impossible hopes of going back to a simpler time, not seeing the stresses other people were coping with. It made him real, and my heart ached for him even when he was being a brat. (And also for those around him, perhaps doing the best they were able.)
Going back to school is part of the transition too, and when he does so, there is Tate. But not the Tate he remembers. This guy is glum, isolated other than one female sidekick, with a reputation for both outbursts of violence and for having kissed a guy who maybe didn't want it (or says he didn't.) Tate won't even look at Mikey, and this boy who was once closer than a brother treats him like a stranger.
But in a world where all the good things seem lost, Mikey is determined to break through Tate's reserve. He needs a friend, and he wants his old friend, the one who was the sunshine in his days as little kids. And as he pushes his way into Tate's notice, slowly things begin to change. But Mikey also has a girl who is interested and chasing him, whom he likes too much to brush aside, and the beginnings of a social circle that doesn't like Tate. Trying to balance out the people in his life is hard.
I really loved a lot of things about this book, most of all the characters. I loved that the motivations for painful actions were complicated, that no one was a real villain, that things that looked bad changed shape when you found out the motivations behind them. The only reason it wasn't 5-stars for me was that I had a very, very hard time believing Tate's big reveal had convincingly been kept a secret for that long. It felt contrived, and the cooperation of his parents in keeping that secret, and thereby making his life practically a lot harder, didn't work for me. It also felt unnecessary to the story - there was enough going on that something less, or less secrecy, would have worked.
Having said that, I loved these guys, cheered for them to find their good ending, wanted to smack Mikey and hug him in almost equal measures, and will read this one again. Well written, with very natural emotional impact, and warmth at the end.
Mikey came to love his grandmother dearly, and to respect his now-deceased grandfather, but both loss and bitterness at his brother have been a poison at the core of his soul, making it hard to be really content. He has a good female friend (and once - only once, now ex - girlfriend) but she's a bit flighty and not a good emotional support. His beloved Gran is sliding deeper into dementia, and despite good neighbors stepping in, it's becoming unsafe to leave her on her own, and sometimes she gets angry and hostile at those who care for her. Mikey's doing a herculean job, putting the rest of his life on hold for her. Deep down, he knows he can't be enough, but he's still outraged when brother David strolls back into his life, and swoops them both up back to his hometown, and his family house.
Mikey is angry, and frustrated, scared about losing his only really beloved family to her own illness and confusion, bitter because brother David doesn't seem to recognize the damage he's inflicted on Mikey's life twice. I liked that he was a believable teen in this, holding grudges, not always wise, clinging to impossible hopes of going back to a simpler time, not seeing the stresses other people were coping with. It made him real, and my heart ached for him even when he was being a brat. (And also for those around him, perhaps doing the best they were able.)
Going back to school is part of the transition too, and when he does so, there is Tate. But not the Tate he remembers. This guy is glum, isolated other than one female sidekick, with a reputation for both outbursts of violence and for having kissed a guy who maybe didn't want it (or says he didn't.) Tate won't even look at Mikey, and this boy who was once closer than a brother treats him like a stranger.
But in a world where all the good things seem lost, Mikey is determined to break through Tate's reserve. He needs a friend, and he wants his old friend, the one who was the sunshine in his days as little kids. And as he pushes his way into Tate's notice, slowly things begin to change. But Mikey also has a girl who is interested and chasing him, whom he likes too much to brush aside, and the beginnings of a social circle that doesn't like Tate. Trying to balance out the people in his life is hard.
I really loved a lot of things about this book, most of all the characters. I loved that the motivations for painful actions were complicated, that no one was a real villain, that things that looked bad changed shape when you found out the motivations behind them. The only reason it wasn't 5-stars for me was that I had a very, very hard time believing Tate's big reveal had convincingly been kept a secret for that long. It felt contrived, and the cooperation of his parents in keeping that secret, and thereby making his life practically a lot harder, didn't work for me. It also felt unnecessary to the story - there was enough going on that something less, or less secrecy, would have worked.
Having said that, I loved these guys, cheered for them to find their good ending, wanted to smack Mikey and hug him in almost equal measures, and will read this one again. Well written, with very natural emotional impact, and warmth at the end.