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A review by thepetitepunk
The Year of Ice by Brian Malloy
3.0
The Year of Ice follows Kevin Doyle through the year of 1978. As the months go by, he must cope with his mother's death, deal with his father's lies, and figure out his own feelings.
This was an interesting story. To start, I loved Kevin's voice—he was sarcastic, he was conflicted, he was real. His actions reflected his personality and I felt that I had a good understanding of his character. I also appreciated that each person in the story had a purpose that connected with the plot. Everyone felt important and none of the characters bored me.
Even though I loved the characters and the writing was fantastic, the plot just didn't seem to interest me that much. I would have liked to see more change in the characters. Also, I know this isn't supposed to be the happiest of stories, but I would have liked to have a few more scenes where Kevin was at peace with himself. Kevin had so many things going wrong in his life that I think he deserved at least a small break.
This was an interesting story. To start, I loved Kevin's voice—he was sarcastic, he was conflicted, he was real. His actions reflected his personality and I felt that I had a good understanding of his character. I also appreciated that each person in the story had a purpose that connected with the plot. Everyone felt important and none of the characters bored me.
Spoiler
I also liked that Kevin didn't have some profound coming out moment like many other LGBT YA characters. Although an important theme in Brian Malloy's book is sexuality, Kevin does not need to tell everyone he knows I AM GAY. ACCEPT ME.Spoiler
He also never repairs his relationship with his father, which I found intriguing. The last part where his father goes missing really highlights the family's instability, but Kevin comes to accept that his father is not the man he wants him to be.Even though I loved the characters and the writing was fantastic, the plot just didn't seem to interest me that much. I would have liked to see more change in the characters. Also, I know this isn't supposed to be the happiest of stories, but I would have liked to have a few more scenes where Kevin was at peace with himself. Kevin had so many things going wrong in his life that I think he deserved at least a small break.