haylstormer's review
1.0
Not my favorite. I have a lot of follow up questions.... So, June was in love with her uncle? How does that work? She seems obsessive and jealous over him and I hate how the entire book they kept talking about AIDS as if it was typhoid fever back in the 1800’s. It’s 2018 now and I don’t understand why it’s dramatized from the characters POV so much and why the Mom hates Toby because he “killed Finn” with aids. Hmph. Guess I’m happy I checked another book off my reading list but I wouldn’t really recommend this read to anyone
guardyourhonor's review
3.0
I liked the idea of the story more than the book itself. I was often frustrated by June - she reads much younger than 14 to me, most of the time. There were so many times when the feelings or motivations of other characters was completely obvious, and June misread it all in a way that felt either forced to fit the plot or overly juvenile. And I found a lot of the characters fairly irredeemably unlikable (pretty much everyone other than Finn, Toby, and June). I mostly kept reading for Toby, Finn, and the plot.
ajworkman77's review
3.0
Reminds me of Extremely Loud and Incredibly close and the creation of a character who is grieving while leaving childhood. Beautiful story, real characters.
waaaaaaaif's review
5.0
The review on the back of this book claimed it was "heartwarming and heart wrenching," and I want to give due credit to whoever wrote that for hitting the nail on the head. The voice of the narrator was crystal clear, and the characters were incredibly vivid. It was the quality of writing you find in short stories, where you know every word was double and triple checked to ensure that it's doing its job properly, except that here the words felt like they hit their mark with no effort at all. [b:Tell the Wolves I'm Home|12875258|Tell the Wolves I'm Home|Carol Rifka Brunt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335450415s/12875258.jpg|18028067] is stunningly written and tugs on all the right heartstrings.
Since I usually choose fantasy over realistic fiction, it was great to step out of my norm and be rewarded with something this beautiful. I couldn't put it down. I didn't bother to write down any quotes from the library book (though that's something I often do), because I know I'll buy a copy and reread anyways. It's that good.
Since I usually choose fantasy over realistic fiction, it was great to step out of my norm and be rewarded with something this beautiful. I couldn't put it down. I didn't bother to write down any quotes from the library book (though that's something I often do), because I know I'll buy a copy and reread anyways. It's that good.
booksandchicks's review
4.0
Most of the way through I thought 3 stars. But the last 50 pages pushed me to 4. I completely enjoyed the gentle, kind and loving message of the story. I sat and read most of the book tonight in one sitting and that always makes me closer to the book. This book is gonna make me think about it for awhile. Gives me that serene feeling...
reading_rainy's review
5.0
"I sat on a bench and my mother stood in front of me, looking down the track. Her hair was cut short, and because it had all turned gray when she was twenty-three, she always had it dyed a deep chestnut brown. It was that color all over except for a super thin stripe at the top of her head, where the gray showed through. Sometimes I wanted to touch that place on my mother's head, that thin crack where her real self had forced its way through."
I don't have the words. I just don't. This book floored me.
“Don’t you know? That’s the secret. If you always make sure you’re exactly the person you hoped to be, if you always make sure you known only the very best people, then you won’t care if you die tomorrow.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, If you were so happy , then you’d want to stay alive, wouldn’t you? You’d want to be alive forever, so you could keep being happy.”
“No, no. It’s the most unhappy people who want to stay alive, because they think they haven’t done everything they want to do. They think they haven’t had enough time. They feel like they’ve been short changed.”
Sigh.
I don't have the words. I just don't. This book floored me.
“Don’t you know? That’s the secret. If you always make sure you’re exactly the person you hoped to be, if you always make sure you known only the very best people, then you won’t care if you die tomorrow.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, If you were so happy , then you’d want to stay alive, wouldn’t you? You’d want to be alive forever, so you could keep being happy.”
“No, no. It’s the most unhappy people who want to stay alive, because they think they haven’t done everything they want to do. They think they haven’t had enough time. They feel like they’ve been short changed.”
Sigh.
coboshimself_'s review
4.0
"Maybe I was destined to forever fall in love with people I couldn't have. Maybe there's a whole assortment of impossible people waiting for me to find them. Waiting to make me feel the same impossibility over and over again."
straystarlight's review
4.0
Not the kind of book I'd normally pick up -- and almost too sad for me because I knew exactly what was going to happen -- but I couldn't stop reading anyway. I like fun, and this wasn't fun. I like happy endings, and this made me feel like I didn't know what to feel. I like books that I want to read over and over and over again, and...I honestly don't think I could handle rereading this one.
It was beautiful, though. Beautiful and powerful and sad.
It was beautiful, though. Beautiful and powerful and sad.
nightwater32's review
3.0
It was a good story with some choice hallmarks of the 1980s within. The story and characters were compelling to read about, as well as the choices that were made. What it says about the nature of love and loving a person was well done.