ezichinny's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book and I thank the author for sharing it through the Library Thing Member's giveaway.
This story appealed to the mother in me and just tugged at the my heart strings. The issues it dealt with such as incest, child abuse/neglect etc are such delicate subjects, but the author approached them with a tender hand and with sensitivity. Leslie DuBois did a fine job in making this story relatable.
First of all, I don’t think the author’s/publisher’s description of the book does it justice. In fact, I found it quite misleading. I would have named this book “Keeping Secrets” or the “Past Revisited”. This is a book about how the past shaped and continued to shape a family’s future.
In this book, we are introduced to Garrett Anthony, a young man who is struggling to find himself in addition to taking care of his sister Eden. Garrett is seventeen, but with all life experiences he is more like forty years old. Their mother Holly was a recovering substance abuser but she just lacked serious parental skills. Also, Holly was just a lost soul. She lacked the mental fortitude to deal with anything. So at a young age, Garrett began to parent himself and Eden. It was clear that Garrett had emotional and psychological issues because all that responsibility was traumatic. The two kids are forced to go to counseling by Child Protective Services case worker, which doesn’t seem to have a positive effect on Garrett.
But he starts to find happiness with Madison McPhee, a young girl who works at his school’s newspaper. They were outsiders who seemed to connect, except for the fact that he is a black boy and she is a white daughter of a US senator.
Garrett’s mother Holly meets a photographer Corbin, and finally they seem to have a normal family life. But then Garrett meets his biological father, who is in prison. Garrett starts learning about his father’s past as well as his mother’s past. The wall of secrets begins unraveling and a new tragedy is set into motion.
The author did a great job developing the story and the characters, peeling layer after layer until we got to the heart of the issue plaguing this family. The story was sad but realistic. I wish Holly had developed more as a mother and had been strong enough to fight her demons in order to protect her children. I would love a follow-up novella to see how the family coped after the tragedy.
This story appealed to the mother in me and just tugged at the my heart strings. The issues it dealt with such as incest, child abuse/neglect etc are such delicate subjects, but the author approached them with a tender hand and with sensitivity. Leslie DuBois did a fine job in making this story relatable.
First of all, I don’t think the author’s/publisher’s description of the book does it justice. In fact, I found it quite misleading. I would have named this book “Keeping Secrets” or the “Past Revisited”. This is a book about how the past shaped and continued to shape a family’s future.
In this book, we are introduced to Garrett Anthony, a young man who is struggling to find himself in addition to taking care of his sister Eden. Garrett is seventeen, but with all life experiences he is more like forty years old. Their mother Holly was a recovering substance abuser but she just lacked serious parental skills. Also, Holly was just a lost soul. She lacked the mental fortitude to deal with anything. So at a young age, Garrett began to parent himself and Eden. It was clear that Garrett had emotional and psychological issues because all that responsibility was traumatic. The two kids are forced to go to counseling by Child Protective Services case worker, which doesn’t seem to have a positive effect on Garrett.
But he starts to find happiness with Madison McPhee, a young girl who works at his school’s newspaper. They were outsiders who seemed to connect, except for the fact that he is a black boy and she is a white daughter of a US senator.
Garrett’s mother Holly meets a photographer Corbin, and finally they seem to have a normal family life. But then Garrett meets his biological father, who is in prison. Garrett starts learning about his father’s past as well as his mother’s past. The wall of secrets begins unraveling and a new tragedy is set into motion.
The author did a great job developing the story and the characters, peeling layer after layer until we got to the heart of the issue plaguing this family. The story was sad but realistic. I wish Holly had developed more as a mother and had been strong enough to fight her demons in order to protect her children. I would love a follow-up novella to see how the family coped after the tragedy.
jch2022's review against another edition
3.0
A contemporary tragedy, Guardian of Eden, is the tale of Garrett Anthony, 17 years old and burdened with being the sole responsible member of his family. A neglectful mother with a history of substance abuse and relationships with abusive men have taught Garrett not only how to keep himself alive but also to care for his young half-sister Eden.
Over time we witness Garrett’s growth into a young man who is trying to overcome all the childhood neglect and abuse while still caring for the now 11 year old Eden. While Garrett still struggles with issues of anger and fear of abandonment his priority is young Eden and caring for her. In counseling, his mother is apparently reformed and happily married, life is beginning to look good to young Garrett. When he finally begins to relax and notice things and people around him he meets beautiful, young Madison McPhee.
Now things begin to become more complicated as issues of race, class and status are introduced to the mix. You see, Ms. McPhee is not only wealthy and white, she is the daughter of an aspirant to the Presidency. Garrett feels inadequate and the relationship suffers because Madison also has trepidations about introducing the young man she loves to her father. Eden, fearing the loss of her brother, begins to act out. The repercussions resound throughout the remainder of the novel.
There is a lot to admire in this novel and I would like to thank the author for the complimentary copy to read and review. Overall, it was a good reading experience. The characters were well drawn but I thought that so many sub-plots, while it kept things moving, detracted from exploring more detail in other relationships like Madison’s relationship with her father, and the relationship between Holly and Corbin. What could have been lacking that made a man with no prior history of his acts suddenly become a predator? In some ways it felt implied that once he got internationally recognized he became less morally sound. While I wasn’t stunned by the revelation it didn’t feel as genuine as it could have.
Over time we witness Garrett’s growth into a young man who is trying to overcome all the childhood neglect and abuse while still caring for the now 11 year old Eden. While Garrett still struggles with issues of anger and fear of abandonment his priority is young Eden and caring for her. In counseling, his mother is apparently reformed and happily married, life is beginning to look good to young Garrett. When he finally begins to relax and notice things and people around him he meets beautiful, young Madison McPhee.
Now things begin to become more complicated as issues of race, class and status are introduced to the mix. You see, Ms. McPhee is not only wealthy and white, she is the daughter of an aspirant to the Presidency. Garrett feels inadequate and the relationship suffers because Madison also has trepidations about introducing the young man she loves to her father. Eden, fearing the loss of her brother, begins to act out. The repercussions resound throughout the remainder of the novel.
There is a lot to admire in this novel and I would like to thank the author for the complimentary copy to read and review. Overall, it was a good reading experience. The characters were well drawn but I thought that so many sub-plots, while it kept things moving, detracted from exploring more detail in other relationships like Madison’s relationship with her father, and the relationship between Holly and Corbin. What could have been lacking that made a man with no prior history of his acts suddenly become a predator? In some ways it felt implied that once he got internationally recognized he became less morally sound. While I wasn’t stunned by the revelation it didn’t feel as genuine as it could have.
aritrow's review against another edition
3.0
Misleading book synopsis but a good read, until the ending, which felt rushed. And I was disappointed by the epilogue. Meh.
pandora8655's review against another edition
4.0
I won this book through goodreads first reads. This book was really good up until the ending. It starts off with Garrett finding out that his sister was raped and then goes back in time and tells the story of their whole history growing up. so throughout the book you try to figure out which man was going to be the one that commited this crime. The part I did not like about the ending was that I dont think it sounded real. I think if a crime is committed in real life the police would have found more evidence.
librarylove4eva's review against another edition
4.0
Guardian of Eden is a story of familial love, revenge and murder. Having never known his incarcerated father and having to have lived with his addicted (and mostly absent mother), Garrett Anthony, the main character in this book is extremely intelligent and has had to be extremely responsible from a young age. He loves and takes care of his beautiful half-sister from infancy. Just when things seem to come together for Garrett, his life splits apart as he finds out his baby sister has been raped. He confronts the rapist, but cannot remember if he murders him. He really, really wanted to. There were actually a few suspects and that kept the story from being cliche.
Sometimes, the main character's intelligence is written a little self importantly and the timeline sometimes comes under question (the grandparents are against an interracial relationship, the parents sent each other email?), but the story holds together well and is interesting.
There is a happy ending and I would recommend this book as a YA read.
Sometimes, the main character's intelligence is written a little self importantly and the timeline sometimes comes under question (the grandparents are against an interracial relationship, the parents sent each other email?), but the story holds together well and is interesting.
There is a happy ending and I would recommend this book as a YA read.
reasek's review against another edition
3.0
This book reads like a Young Adult novel but the content is not suitable for that age group. The synopsis of the novel really intrigued me, I was ready for a dark, intense read. However, I found it to be fairly light and overly romanticized. I also felt like things were over-explained, I was not left to connect dots or pick up tension and innuendo, it was always right there in the text. I got bored of the Garrett and Maddie love story and found the issues caused by it predictable.
I will say that the novel picks up towards the end, but it wasn't enough for me to deem this worthy of more than 3 stars. I loved the ideas, I just wish they were executed a bit better.
I will say that the novel picks up towards the end, but it wasn't enough for me to deem this worthy of more than 3 stars. I loved the ideas, I just wish they were executed a bit better.
jkh107's review
3.0
A boy who sees himself as his sister's protector kills for her--or did he? Some pacing and plotting problems but overall an OK read. Set locally, with a real feel for the local geography. I found the Senator's actions near the end unrealistic.
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