Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Tell the Wolves I'm Home

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Tell the Wolves I'm Home, by Carol Rifka Brunt

15 reviews

madanxiety's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The most impressive aspect of this book in my opinion is the strength of the narration and characterization, particularly in their faithfulness to the character's ages. June had such a present voice; it truly felt like hearing a teenager's thought process, but not just any teenager - a very unique, and lonely girl. The way she rationalized things and her self-consciousness and shame resonated with my own teenage experience.

Even though I really loved the way the novel captured siblinghood, jealousy, loneliness, grief, and adolescence, I do have some problems with it.

Spoiler

For one, June's crush on Finn disturbed me from the beginning. I was hoping it was just a weird detail, but it ended up being pretty central to the plot. I just found that so... bizarre. Sure, I suppose it's in the realm of possibility, especially for such an isolated girl, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth, especially when Toby began relating it to his gayness. It perpetuates this Freudian idea that gay people are "deviants" or perverse in the same way that incestuous people are. I think it's pretty safe to say that being gay is far more common than being in love with your relative, so I thought it was a bit weird (to say the least) that the novel seems to put them on an even playing field.

Honestly, I leave the novel a little disturbed at the fact that it has essentially convinced me that sometimes it's okay 1) to fall in love with your uncle, and 2) for a strange adult and a teenager to meet and drink and smoke together behind the backs of their parents. It's a well-told story, but are these things not troubling?

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melodyseestrees's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

June's crush on her gay uncle, and later his boyfriend, was not handled super well. Every adult in her life pretended to not see it or treated it in a very "oh ho ho she'll grow out of it" way. This inappropriate crush on adult figures is a way neglected children reach out for attention. As June and her sister are left to their own devices during tax season you can really see where the susceptibility to substance abuse (alcohol and cigarettes) and need for adult attention comes from. This acceptance/ignorance of the crush gives the story an incest or 'attraction to minors' feel when it was June primarily reaching out for romantic attention and the adults around her redirecting her but not outright rejecting her.

Spoiler

There is a scene where she kisses an adult on the mouth or fantasizes about doing so. June pretends Toby is her lover when she takes him from the hospital via taxi to her home, where he dies.

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nicoleme1212's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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atamano's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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buffy87's review against another edition

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sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The first half of the book I really was confused about where the plot was heading. I felt pretty uneasy reading it... almost like I was expecting a jump scare of SA trauma. But as the story unfolds things become a bit clearer.

Plot wise, I wasn't too invested. I kept getting jarred out of the flow by June's confessions towards Finn. It made me want to stop.

However, the writing makes you want to keep going. There are some beautiful moments of prose dangling throughout this book that it was a pleasant surprise.

I enjoyed the conversation between the sisters via art. In fact the sister relationship was intriguing for me to read as it was complicated but also wholesome.

Suitable for junior high and up.

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micklesreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book was unbelievably good. Through June's eyes, I felt like I was a teenager again, when everything is changing and everything is life and death, except for June and Finn and Toby, it really is. This was an incredibly moving book that I'm going to be thinking about for a long long time.

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shoelady523's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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carlytenille's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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cgoiris's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This book ripped my heart out of my chest, tore it to pieces, stomped on it and then glued it back together again more than once. The author does a wonderful job of observing and envoking some of those feelings of what it's like to grow up and how your relationships change, it's hard not to feel it to the core.

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readingbooksbcwhynot123's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was truly an...interesting book, is probably the right choice of words. I really did like it. I could barely let go of it, because it was so intriguing. A little disturbing and off putting, yes, but I read this book at 14 and I say that I could definitely relate to the mindset of a young person, especially since she was my age. Beautiful book, truly.

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