always_carry_a_book 's review for:

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

3.75

emotional funny hopeful 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: Complicated

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 Coming of age story that perfectly captures a white middle class New York adolescence (mine, it's my adolescence) of wanting to belong and be wanted,  fearing being abandoned or supplanted, and being just shy of the kind of understanding that only comes with age. Captures sister and family dynamics beautifully. A little ham handed in some elements towards the end (the portrait’s defacement magically undone, the saving of the older sister in the pouring rain...). Expectedly devastating in its relation to the AIDS crisis. Sobbed at the end. Not revolutionary, but skillfully done.