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A review by moony_reads
The Boy I Love by William Hussey
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
ARC REVIEW
I have never hid the fact that William Hussey’s books are very hit or miss for me (The Outrage is one of my favourite books ever point blank, but some of his later works didn’t do anything for me) so when I was granted an ARC (twice over, actually) for The Boy I Love, I was nervous.
I had no reason to be.
It is a truly wonderfully written novel that delves into a side of the First World War that is missing from war literature, and it is presented in a way that is deft, gripping and so well researched.
It’s no secret that Hussey brilliantly crafts his characters so that it is easy for the reader to sympathise and root for them, and this work is no exception. The romance between Danny and Stephen is so poignant and captures how even in the darkest of times that love can prevail, but it is also written in a way that never once clouds the brutality of the period, and though it is at its heart a romance, it does not by any means make what the characters go through (and what real life men went through) okay, and there is a great skill and sensitivity in doing that.
Their story is one of truth for countless men during the war and Hussey is able to capture their story in a beautiful way.
The characters that we meet alongside Stephen’s journey are well developed and integral, leaving the reader aching for them, or seething at them. The trio of Danny, Percy and Robert, the respect shown to Ollie and Arthur, the slow break of the hardness Stephen carries. It is all so masterfully done.
Not to mention the way Hussey writes, almost inadvertently — in that the cast are not really aware that is what they are experiencing — about the soldiers PTSD and mental health is clearly so expertly researched and well handled.
A truly outstanding novel. Integral. Hussey should be proud.
Thank you to Andersen Press, Netgalley and Tandem Collective for the E-ARC and physical ARC respectively.
I have never hid the fact that William Hussey’s books are very hit or miss for me (The Outrage is one of my favourite books ever point blank, but some of his later works didn’t do anything for me) so when I was granted an ARC (twice over, actually) for The Boy I Love, I was nervous.
I had no reason to be.
It is a truly wonderfully written novel that delves into a side of the First World War that is missing from war literature, and it is presented in a way that is deft, gripping and so well researched.
It’s no secret that Hussey brilliantly crafts his characters so that it is easy for the reader to sympathise and root for them, and this work is no exception. The romance between Danny and Stephen is so poignant and captures how even in the darkest of times that love can prevail, but it is also written in a way that never once clouds the brutality of the period, and though it is at its heart a romance, it does not by any means make what the characters go through (and what real life men went through) okay, and there is a great skill and sensitivity in doing that.
Their story is one of truth for countless men during the war and Hussey is able to capture their story in a beautiful way.
The characters that we meet alongside Stephen’s journey are well developed and integral, leaving the reader aching for them, or seething at them. The trio of Danny, Percy and Robert, the respect shown to Ollie and Arthur, the slow break of the hardness Stephen carries. It is all so masterfully done.
Not to mention the way Hussey writes, almost inadvertently — in that the cast are not really aware that is what they are experiencing — about the soldiers PTSD and mental health is clearly so expertly researched and well handled.
A truly outstanding novel. Integral. Hussey should be proud.
Thank you to Andersen Press, Netgalley and Tandem Collective for the E-ARC and physical ARC respectively.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Outing