Summary (From back of book):
When unthinkable tragedy strikes, at what point must a family turn away from the past and move forward into the future? The extraordinary new novel from the critically acclaimed author of Love in the Asylum and The Mermaids Singing is a darkly absorbing, deeply realistic portrait of adolescence, family, and grief.
Review:
I picked up this novel entirely by chance. I'm a big believer in covers selling the novel, and it caught my eye on the way out of the library. From the very first paragraph, I was hooked:
Lena's favorite part of kindergarten is the end, when her brother comes to pick her up. At two PM on the clock where she is learning to tell time, Hugh descends from the second floor where they keep the fifth graders, and her class is let loose to gather coats and clean out their cubbies. The kindergarten is not a room with desks, but an open pit with massive read-carpeted stairs leading down, each one as high as Lena's waist. Her brother likes to run down to the center of the pit and back up again, because he remembers, when he was in kindergarten, climbing these stairs like she does now: as if they were mountains.
The book switches perspective between the two main characters: teenage Lena and her younger brother Owen. Each sibling tells the story of their older brother's disappearance differently, with an honest, believable voice. They each have their own sub-stories: Owen battles his feelings for a boy in his class, resulting in many dangerous encounters, and Lena furiously searches for clues to her brother's disappearance by developing his old film and hanging with a dangerous crew of people.
Lena's and Owen's parents also have their stories, told through the eyes of their children. While they aren't a major part of the novel, the breakdown of the family starts and ends with them.
As the book moves on, the reader travels with Lena, whose obsession with her missing brother turns into a drug-filled escapade, complete with dying her hair and dressing like a boy to fit in. The reader also follows Owen as his sexual experiments lead him down a road that there is no way back from. The book's conclusion is at once terrifying and heartbreaking. This book will stay etched in your mind and soul long after you have finished reading.
My Thoughts & Rating:
It is hard to review this book without giving away major spoilers, but I will do my best. This book is so richly crafted, as if incredible thought and intention went into every line. However, it is not a labor to read like many beautifully-written books can be. There is a distinct ebb and flow to the words, creating beautiful images into the reader's mind.
Usually, excessive swearing in novels makes me angry, but in this book I barely noticed it. It did not seem forced in any way, nor offensive, and it never took away from the story. Yes, there were a few f-bombs and a lot of others, but after awhile it seemed like any other word.
It is hard for me to pick a favorite part of this book. It was an interesting read for me, who not only has never known a "goth" kid but never read about them. I've also never experienced any parties with drug use, especially not when I was fourteen. I half-expected to not get it, to write it off as a stereotypical teen novel, but it was so much more.
The final point I will make is that I have never cried when reading a book, until this one. The last ten pages made me cry like a baby. By the end, I was so attached to the characters that I could feel their pain - even the pain of the parents.
Rating: 5/5 stars *****
Another Author's Perspective: (Which I agree with 100% and wish I could put it so eloquently)
"What I love about Lisa Carey's books is the way she manages to interweave magical elements without the story ever, for a moment, seeming contrived or strained. Her characters are absolutely real; it's a rare writer who can depict the voices of children and teenagers with such pitch perfect accuracy. Everything that happens to them, even the most fantastical, the most gut-wrenching and tragic, seems inevitable and true...And the book has lingered in my imagination ever since I finished it. It is a remarkable feat." - Ayelet Waldman
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