Take a photo of a barcode or cover
mollyzor 's review for:
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
by Carol Rifka Brunt
Meh. Unfortunately, I think this one really suffered in audiobook format. Whoever the narrator is, well, I hope they have a day job. It sounded whiny and robotic. And don't get me started on her British accent for Toby. I could have done better. Half of the time he had one and half the time he didn't. I feel like I may have appreciated this book more had I read it :( but I definitely did not enjoy it enough to give it a second chance.
This book deals with some big issues-a quirky teenage main character dealing with loneliness and puberty to boot, throw in some family issues (her parents are always gone during tax season...oh, and her perfect sister, who...wait for it...isn't as perfect as she seems...), death of the only one who understood, and some big social/political issues of the time (her uncle dies of AIDS and there is a lot of hatred towards the gay community and the disease itself). It's a lot. And I wanted to like it, I really did. But I honestly felt like the book bit off more than it could chew. The writing just wasn't up to snuff. I did not empathize with June. Her and her sister Greta came off as brats most of the time. Even though I was supposed to feel sorry for them having just lost their beloved uncle to a horrible disease, it just didn't come. Because the book was from June's point of view, everything seemed simple and immature. Sometimes that can help a book (Room, for example) but I thought it detracted from the complexities of a lot of the issues the book was trying to address. There was the added problem that I don't think I really understand the AIDS epidemic and the fear people had-so every time characters talk about "the gays", "the AIDS", etc with such fear and disdain it kind of makes me hate them. June's mom refused to let her brother's partner at HIS FUNERAL because she hated him/blamed him for the disease. It just seems so petty and a little sick to me.
I also think I missed the deeper meanings. The wolves, the painting, the additions the girls and their mother put on the painting, June's romantic love for her uncle (seriously...did not understand this one at all...)-all of these just seemed like odd fillers to me (oh and I forgot about Toby getting a 14 year old drunk...WTF?!?). The AIDS epidemic and the feelings about the gay community at the time would actually be interesting to read about/to try to understand. Unfortunately, I don't think this book does a very good job of actually portraying this.
This book deals with some big issues-a quirky teenage main character dealing with loneliness and puberty to boot, throw in some family issues (her parents are always gone during tax season...oh, and her perfect sister, who...wait for it...isn't as perfect as she seems...), death of the only one who understood, and some big social/political issues of the time (her uncle dies of AIDS and there is a lot of hatred towards the gay community and the disease itself). It's a lot. And I wanted to like it, I really did. But I honestly felt like the book bit off more than it could chew. The writing just wasn't up to snuff. I did not empathize with June. Her and her sister Greta came off as brats most of the time. Even though I was supposed to feel sorry for them having just lost their beloved uncle to a horrible disease, it just didn't come. Because the book was from June's point of view, everything seemed simple and immature. Sometimes that can help a book (Room, for example) but I thought it detracted from the complexities of a lot of the issues the book was trying to address. There was the added problem that I don't think I really understand the AIDS epidemic and the fear people had-so every time characters talk about "the gays", "the AIDS", etc with such fear and disdain it kind of makes me hate them. June's mom refused to let her brother's partner at HIS FUNERAL because she hated him/blamed him for the disease. It just seems so petty and a little sick to me.
I also think I missed the deeper meanings. The wolves, the painting, the additions the girls and their mother put on the painting, June's romantic love for her uncle (seriously...did not understand this one at all...)-all of these just seemed like odd fillers to me (oh and I forgot about Toby getting a 14 year old drunk...WTF?!?). The AIDS epidemic and the feelings about the gay community at the time would actually be interesting to read about/to try to understand. Unfortunately, I don't think this book does a very good job of actually portraying this.