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danilanglie 's review for:
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
by Carol Rifka Brunt
Oh wow, this book actually ended up punching me in the gut a lot more than I expected in the earlier sections. It was more of a YA novel than I had known going in, I had heard it recommended and I knew it has a young protagonist but wasn't quite expecting how young adult it felt to read, but once I got over that adjustment to my expectations I was pretty blown away by this book.
I feel like I don't even know how to talk about this book except to say that I think I cried like 4 separate times in the last 25% of the novel, everything with Greta's cry for help and the final scenes with Toby, and June admitting her love for Finn, and GOD, the scene of June's mom putting a hand on Toby and saying "sorry"... only, maybe she didn't maybe that's just June's wishful thinking? And her adding to the painting, and her additions staying on the painting, and the light reflecting and Toby's buttons and oof oof oof this was all so moving!
I think what impressed me most was the way that I could sense the way other characters were experiencing things even though June's perspective was so narrow and specific. I knew that Greta was begging for help, and every time June reiterated that "Greta hates her" now, I would wince, because of course that's what a 14-year-old might think, but it's so obviously not what's going on now. And while I, like June, have a hard time forgiving her mom for her decisions, you also understand the fear and grief that a person would be going through when something really scary happens to someone you love.
And I admired this novel for how blunt and direct it was about the messy, unclear feelings that develop between people sometimes. You can't draw this clear bright line in the sand and just tell your brain not to have the feelings that it's having. I feel like if Finn hadn't gotten sick and died, then June would have grown up and been able to laugh lightly about how when she was little she totally had a crush on her cool gay artist uncle, and that would have been it. But because of the specifics of the scenario, a young person going through a very vulnerable stage in life is also learning about grief and responsibility and the way her parents aren't always going to be right, and of course things aren't as clear cut as you would want them to be in a simpler world.
The concept of June and Toby knowing each other through Finn, even though June never even knew he existed, was really moving to me. Every little bit, like the guitar picks, or Finn having learned the napkin folding from Toby, it just really tugged at my heartstrings. What a beautiful way to memorialize a person who is gone, and also what an interesting idea about what it means to know each other. When you know someone, they are made up of pieces of people you might not even know exists. It's beautiful.
I couldn't quite go to five stars on this one and the main reason was that there was a little bit of goofiness in the way Finn's art was discussed? His "self portrait" where he's holding out his own heart and his chest is sewn shut with the word "empty"... and it's written about like it's the most brilliant work of genius and it totally lit up the art world... come on, now. Little things like that did sometimes make me roll my eyes.
But all in all, I'm so glad I heard about this book and decided to read it, I was gripped the whole way through!
I feel like I don't even know how to talk about this book except to say that I think I cried like 4 separate times in the last 25% of the novel, everything with Greta's cry for help and the final scenes with Toby, and June admitting her love for Finn, and GOD, the scene of June's mom putting a hand on Toby and saying "sorry"... only, maybe she didn't maybe that's just June's wishful thinking? And her adding to the painting, and her additions staying on the painting, and the light reflecting and Toby's buttons and oof oof oof this was all so moving!
I think what impressed me most was the way that I could sense the way other characters were experiencing things even though June's perspective was so narrow and specific. I knew that Greta was begging for help, and every time June reiterated that "Greta hates her" now, I would wince, because of course that's what a 14-year-old might think, but it's so obviously not what's going on now. And while I, like June, have a hard time forgiving her mom for her decisions, you also understand the fear and grief that a person would be going through when something really scary happens to someone you love.
And I admired this novel for how blunt and direct it was about the messy, unclear feelings that develop between people sometimes. You can't draw this clear bright line in the sand and just tell your brain not to have the feelings that it's having. I feel like if Finn hadn't gotten sick and died, then June would have grown up and been able to laugh lightly about how when she was little she totally had a crush on her cool gay artist uncle, and that would have been it. But because of the specifics of the scenario, a young person going through a very vulnerable stage in life is also learning about grief and responsibility and the way her parents aren't always going to be right, and of course things aren't as clear cut as you would want them to be in a simpler world.
The concept of June and Toby knowing each other through Finn, even though June never even knew he existed, was really moving to me. Every little bit, like the guitar picks, or Finn having learned the napkin folding from Toby, it just really tugged at my heartstrings. What a beautiful way to memorialize a person who is gone, and also what an interesting idea about what it means to know each other. When you know someone, they are made up of pieces of people you might not even know exists. It's beautiful.
I couldn't quite go to five stars on this one and the main reason was that there was a little bit of goofiness in the way Finn's art was discussed? His "self portrait" where he's holding out his own heart and his chest is sewn shut with the word "empty"... and it's written about like it's the most brilliant work of genius and it totally lit up the art world... come on, now. Little things like that did sometimes make me roll my eyes.
But all in all, I'm so glad I heard about this book and decided to read it, I was gripped the whole way through!