parasolcrafter's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-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
5.0
oh...this book truly is wonderful; its so sad yet so beautiful and full of hope. its a tragedy through and through - of everyone losing finn, of june losing toby - but its full of such love that it doesnt feel as heartbreaking as it could. and the love really is so rich in this book. june loves finn - i do have my issues with that, but i understand why she feels what she feels - and finn and toby loved each other and danni loved her brother and she loves her children and june loves greta and finn loved everyone and love...its everywhere in this book, for both the good and the bad. its the fuel for this book and the characters and it makes this book what it is. and thats why it hurts so much because love only does so much, only goes so far and then when you can no longer love that person it goes - where? you have to keep it inside yourself because the love you have one person is for them; you cant put it on someone else. so you keep it inside and you hold it close the way you held the person you loved close. and like...god. i could wax poetic about this book forever. its just so good. and the title...it hurts because at first to me it meant that june could tell the wolves about finn, she could tell that hes home but by the end of the book is dead, the wolves are dead, and now the wolves can tell finn that june is home. like...god. pain.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Homophobia, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Animal death
inirac's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Overall feels like the most accurate representation of making decisions as a teenager, so we’ll done there. But had to really convince myself to keep reading half way thru. I guess I’m glad I did? I don’t know how I feel yet
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, and Homophobia
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Eating disorder
lvjy's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
There is something so completely raw about this book that really caught me off guard.
The way June talks about her uncle, and Toby to an extent, made me deeply uncomfortable but i’m willing to be a bit forgiving because i remember being fourteen and having a messy family where i didn’t get to see people for years and that was a weird time. but it’s definitely something that marked the book down for me.
depiction of the aids crisis, however, and the way that it affected the people involved was beautiful in a terrible way. my heart breaks for those who we lost and whose stories have died with them.
The way June talks about her uncle, and Toby to an extent, made me deeply uncomfortable but i’m willing to be a bit forgiving because i remember being fourteen and having a messy family where i didn’t get to see people for years and that was a weird time. but it’s definitely something that marked the book down for me.
depiction of the aids crisis, however, and the way that it affected the people involved was beautiful in a terrible way. my heart breaks for those who we lost and whose stories have died with them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Incest, and Grief
relin's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
It was interesting enough to finish, but I don't think this book was for me. I struggled with some of the ways that the relationships and characters were shown especially.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Classism, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Deportation, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Confinement, Alcohol, and Abandonment
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.
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?
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?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness
Moderate: Incest, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Homophobia, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Gaslighting
Minor: Pedophilia, Racism, Ableism, Hate crime, Incest, and Adult/minor relationship
About 88% through the book it is mentioned that 'the wolves in the woods' were several feral dogs that ended up being shot. It was an unnecessary detail.nicoleme1212's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol and Homophobia
atamano's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Grief, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming, Alcohol, Drug use, and Medical content
buffy87's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
micklesreads's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Terminal illness, Grief, Alcohol, and Death