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Review of The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

April 16, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

This is the first book in a new trilogy by Philip Pullman. It’s actually the prequel to the His Dark Materials series, which included The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. I read them many years ago and to be truthful, I remember almost nothing about them. I do remember that I enjoyed them, however. From what I gather, the main character in the His Dark Materials series is Lyra. Again, I don’t remember. Well, in The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage, Lyra is just a babe.

Story

The story follows 11-year-old Malcolm Polstead who helps out at The Trout, the inn that is owned by his parents. Malcolm and his daemon Astra tend to hear all of the local gossip, including scandals and intrigue, including news about the oppressive religious authority which has, as of late, become more powerful and perhaps more deadly. A creepy Hitler-Youth-like organization called the League of St. Alexander that enlists children to spy on their parents and teachers begins to take hold in the school, and as it becomes stronger, teachers begin to disappear along with some students’ parents.

So one day, Malcolm comes across a strange message in an acorn and eventually discovers the person for whom the message was intended. This person, who we can think of as kind of a spy, asks Malcolm to keep his eyes and ears open and report anything of interest to her – in other words, she enlists him as a spy.

Malcolm also spends a good amount of his time running errands for the nuns directly across the river. It’s at the Priory that Malcolm encounters the baby Lyra, who had been given to the nuns for safekeeping. There is an entire scandal that goes along with Lyra’s birth. Anyway, Malcolm is immediately taken by Lyra and become increasingly attached to the infant as the days progress.

But as he soon learns, there are dark forces afoot and they seem to be centered on the baby Lyra. One of these include the CCD – a branch of the Magisterium which is an oppressive religious sect vying to be the dominant religion which doesn’t seem to have any problems with making people disappear; and the other including villainous scientists who have their own agenda in regards to Lyra, which we are not yet privy to. I found it interesting that we had both villains and heroes on both the religious side and the secular side so, in this way, neither of them was singled out.

What follows then is a harrowing and gripping adventure as Malcolm and Alice (a scullery maid) along with their daemons try to stay one step ahead of their enemies to keep the infant safe (especially from the malevolent scientist Gerard Bonneville and his hyena daemon). Without giving too much away, let me just say that a good part of the novel took place in Malcolm’s trusty canoe, which he had named “La Belle Sauvage”, hence the title of this volume. So in this way, the book is part spy novel, part adventure novel, part coming-of-age story which revolves around two children and one infant, all of which are in true peril.

What I Liked

Now Daemons are one of the coolest part of Philip Pullman’s novels. If you’re unfamiliar with Pullman’s daemons, they are a kind of a supernatural creature — like part of your soul — that appear as talking animals and accompany you where you go. In fact, if you wander away too far from your daemon, it results in severe physical pain. I’m not sure if it would kill you if you move away too much, but I think so. In this world, everyone has a daemon but children’s daemons can shape-shift into other animals.

For instance, Malcolm’s daemon Astra switches into a cat, a bird, a month, an owl, just to name a few. I kind of thought of the daemons as an extension of a person’s soul. It’s also interesting to note that if a person is asleep or unconscious, so is their daemon. Once people become an adult, however, the daemon settle down into a permanent shape, which is a reflection of the individual’s personality, much like our personality settles down once we reach adulthood. The primary characters of Alice, Malcolm and Lyra are young enough that their daemons often change form, which made the story extra interesting.

I thought Bonneville was the ultimate terrifying villain. He was absolutely chilling — the kind of evil mastermind that gives little kids nightmares, especially as he, along with his equally frightening daemon, relentlessly pursued Malcolm, Alice and Lyra over the course of several days. I thought he was perfect for this story.

I also felt that Malcolm was a marvelous protagonist: brave, protective, loyal, resourceful, and wise beyond his years. Though only a child himself, I was especially impressed with his overpowering need to put Lyra above everything else and do whatever was necessary to ensure his safety.

It’s funny, after one especially harrowing part of the book, I recall Malcolm saying something to the effect of, “I’m way too young to be going through all this.” I had to agree. But he was definitely up to the task, and he was always ready to fiercely protect the baby. This eleven-year-old boy ended up being a larger than life characters in this book.

I also really liked the theme of conflict between the oppressive religious authoritarianism and the basic right of human freedom, a recurrent theme, if I’m not mistaken, in other Pullman novels. I thought this conflict was well presented in the book and liked the fact that Pullman presented both the good and the evil sides of it.

What I Didn’t Like

The first part of the novel consisted of heavy world building and backstory, so it did seem kind of slow at the get-go. But once the setting was laid out, then things really take off as we move from one nail-biting experience to another.

Another thing I didn’t care for was the abrupt ending. I’m not a fan of cliffhangers, and this book did kind of end on one. Not terribly so, but enough that I found it annoying. For instance, we really don’t find out the reason that everyone is after Lyra. All we know is that it has something to do with this illusive Dust. The ending scene felt more like a momentary reprieve rather than the conclusion of a book, which didn’t feel all that satisfying to me.

Final Verdict

This is a remarkable addition to the His Dark Materials series, and I’m looking forward to seeing where this series is going to go. La Belle Sauvage was one of those books that had my heart racing on more than one occasion and that I just couldn’t put down. Pullman’s storytelling ability is unsurpassed, in my opinion, and I found this a thrilling ride.

I loved the strong world-building and character development, and felt that this story really came to life for me with the vibrant characters, the exciting adventures and the beautiful narrative. Well written with strong characters and a marvelous sense of place, La Belle Sauvage is a captivating story of good and evil that will linger long after the last word is read.

This book had it all: spies, devastating floods of biblical proportions, life-and-death boat races, gentle nuns, intolerant and inquisition-like religious organizations, brave heroes and heroines fighting for freedom and liberty, brave heroes and heroines fighting for their lives, creepy mausoleums, nefarious villains, mad scientists and even supernatural creatures such as witches and faeries.

I ended up loving this book, in spite of the rather abrupt ending and will definitely be reading the next installment in the series. I just hope we don’t have to wait too long. I ended up giving this book 4 stars.

You can check out the book here at Amazon or at The Book Depository.

Review of The Wicker King by Kayla Ancrum

April 14, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

The Story

The Wicker King follows two boys, August and Jack who have been friends since they were little and are like brothers. They also both come from neglectful, dysfunctional family. August has to sell drugs for money because his sole caretaker, his mother, has pretty much given up on life and August needs the money he earns to take care of her. And Jacks parents, who travel extensively for work, leave him alone for weeks at a time.

When younger, they often created games where Jack played the role of the benevolent king with August being the faithful knight or champion.

So as the novel progresses, we learn that Jack begins experiencing hallucinations from an alternate reality – similar to the games they used to play – that is blending in with everyday life. August knows that Jack needs some sort of help but feeling that he owes a life debt to Jack, decides instead to stick by Jack’s side, keep the hallucinations a secret, and accept the visions as reality.

Jack is confident that once he fulfills a sort of a quest, the hallucinations he’s experiencing will disappear for good. So August plays along, even putting his life in danger as Jack draws him more and more into his fantasy world, straddling the world between reality and madness. August willingly follows Jack, though he himself sees no otherworldly elements himself. As the novel progresses, Jack and August alienate themselves from everyone around them: parents, friends, and teachers as Jack’s visions become the primary focus of their existence.

Now as a reader, we can’t help but wonder whether Jack is actually, in fact, experiencing an alternate reality of some kind, as his instance that what he’s seeing is real become increasingly convincing. So as I read along, I began to wonder whether this book is going to turn into a YA fantasy novel. I liked the fact that I knew nothing going into this book, so it was a fun journey as I didn’t know where this novel was going to take me.

Now I don’t want to get too spoilery here, but I will say that things get a whole hell of a lot worse for our heroes before they get better, and this book does deal with a lot of intense, hard-hitting subjects such as child neglect, toxic codependent relationships, and mental illness.

What I Liked

I’m glad that I got the physical copy of this book as it’s cool how the pages are initially white but has Jack descends further and further into is fantasy – or perhaps madness — the splotches of black intrude more and more on the page until finally, the pages are completely back with white print which I thought was a brilliant device and an excellent metaphor for the direction in which the novel was heading.

Additionally, there are numerous drawings, doodles, photocopies of arrest records, copies of detention slips, newspaper clippings, school suspension forms, medical records and still frame photographs which really add to the story.

I’m not sure how all this would translate to an ebook, as that format doesn’t always work with a lot of different multimedia and images in a book.

There aren’t any full-on chapters; instead, we get a page or a page and a half of snippets for which we piece together with the story. Now I don’t mean to say that the format is confusing. It’s not. In fact, not only do the snippets and multimedia do a great job of portraying the events in Jack and August’s lives, but they also succeed in setting the tone of the novel, and I really enjoyed this type of storytelling. Taking together the short vignettes along with the multimedia, we can easily figure out what’s going it as the story unfolds. If I’m not mistaken, I think this format is called “Micro Fiction.”

Oh, it’s worth mentioning that the entire story is told from August’s point of view because no doubt of the two, he’s a more reliable narrator. However, the extra multimedia snippets gave the reader a separate point of view for the various events we read about, which helped to fill in the gaps.

Another thing that I liked about this story was that it wasn’t just the difficult subjects, the complicated relationships, and the intricately woven narrative that made this book great – it’s the characters. Jack and August are vivid and wonderfully rendered — and these people really came to life for me – in all their complexity, cluelessness, willful blindness, and, ultimately, human realism. Oh, so many terrible decisions were made — but that’s what rendered them all the more human and all the more real.

What I also liked about this novel is the lack of a clad-tight, simple, happy ending. With the way these two characters were developed, it would have not only been unreal for them to skip off into the sunset, it would have been a disservice to all Jack and August had been through, dealt with, and accomplished. That being said, the story did end with a satisfying conclusion that felt perfect to me.

What I Didn’t Like

There’s not too much I didn’t like about this book except for the fact that it will hurt your heart in places — but that’s the purpose of this book, I think. I don’t think it was intended to evoke positive emotions of unbridled joy, so the dark subject matter may not be for everyone. There are plenty of triggers in this book so sensitive readers be warned. This is the kind of book that will break you in places.

Initially, the short snippets and the sometimes non-linear storytelling felt a bit disjointed to me, and it took a bit of getting used to. But once I got the hang of it, it was fine and had no problems immersing myself in the story.

Also, though the character of Jack and August were extremely and meticulously well-developed, we are only given bits and pieces about the other characters in the book. I wouldn’t have minded knowing a bit more about the Roger and Peter, the twins who repeatedly offered their assistance (though it was never accepted), Gordie and Rina.

Final Verdict

Though this was an eerie and haunting read that was at times disturbing and cringe-worthy, it is also poignant and beautiful, and is very much also about friendship and unconditional love. It was one of those addicting reads that I just couldn’t put down. It was dark, weird, looming, heart-wrenching and utterly bewitching — I loved every single moment of it. I’m so happy that I came across The Wicker King and I ended up giving it book 5 stars.

By the way, there’s an accompanying novella to this story entitled “The Legend of the Golden Raven: A Novella of the Wicker King” which I just picked up but haven’t had the opportunity to read yet. I’m looking forward to it. Just to let you know.

You can buy the book here at Amazon or at The Book Depository

This review was transcribed from the video review on my YouTube channel “Roger’s Reads”

Review of Cloaked in Shadow by Ben Alderson

April 12, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

This book, Cloaked in Shadow, is by a fellow book tuber, Ben Alderson and this is his debut novel. I’ve watched Ben’s BookTube videos for quite awhile now and was excited when I learned he was publishing a novel.

The story follows Zacriah Trovirn, a young elven man who is taken to the Elven capital of Thessolina, where he is forced into King Dalior’s new army of shapeshifters. But Zacriah isn’t a shapeshifter. In truth, he doesn’t know what he is. But he does have magic — he knows that — but it’s the kind of magic no other elf has and Zac is well aware that it’s something he should keep from everyone. So he does.

Fearing that the king and others will discover Zac’s strange magic, he attempts to escape and meets the King’s handsome son, Prince Hadrian. Hadrian later agrees to take Zac under his wing and train him for an upcoming duel.

We soon discover that War is brewing between the elven nations with the peace between the kingdoms is crumbling apart. There is also something dark going on within the kingdom — and we learn that not everyone is who we think there are.

The book is a fast-paced — part fantasy, part adventure story and part LGBT romance with plenty of suspense, intrigue, and twists and turns. I felt that the characters were well-fleshed out and the beautifully written and vivid descriptions and stunning imagery were especially evocative.

I’ve read LBGT fantasy romances before: vampires, werewolves, ghosts and even ghouls – but I think this is the first gay elf book I’ve read. The romance was sweet and didn’t dominate the story, once the characters started getting involved. I was happy that it wasn’t Insta-Love but was a rather slow burn.
This book had it all: elves, shifters, elemental magic, healers, empaths, magic, battles, evil schemes, and even a handsome prince.

Now I will warn you that the book takes off to a slow start — the first two chapters were a tad on the boring side, as they mainly consisted of Zac sitting the wagon on the way to Thessolina observing his fellow passengers and the countryside. But once you get past that, the book really takes off and the actin is non-stop.
My only huge niggle with the book was that the last scene ended rather abruptly and with a cliff-hanger and for those of you who’ve watched my videos, know that I hate cliffhangers.

There were also a couple of instances where the characters used modern language which kind of yanked me out of the story. One of characters said something was “fucked up’ and in another chapter said something was “bullshit” which was not only out of character, but seemed out of place to me in this setting.

But regardless, this was a compelling story with a unique plot, snappy dialog, fun creatures and an interesting cast of diverse characters that kept me turning the page. I felt that the author did an excellent job with the world building and I felt Zac was a complex and multi-faceted character. I enjoyed Ben’s writing style and look forward to reading more by him.

You can check out Cloaked in Shadow here at Amazon.

Review of We Now Return To Regular Life by Martin Wilson

April 9, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

“We Now Return to Regular Life” by Martin Wilson is another book that made the Lambda Literary Award’s list of finalists in the Young Adult category and that has been on my wishlist, which I finally got around to reading.

The blurb is as follows:

Sam Walsh had been missing for three years. His older sister, Beth, thought he was dead. His childhood friend Josh thought it was all his fault. They were the last two people to see him alive.

Until now. Because Sam has been found, and he’s coming home. Beth desperately wants to understand what happened to her brother, but her family refuses to talk about it—even though Sam is clearly still affected by the abuse he faced at the hands of his captor.

And as Sam starts to confide in Josh about his past, Josh can’t admit the truths he’s hidden deep within himself: that he’s gay, and developing feelings for Sam. And, even bigger: that he never told the police everything he saw the day Sam disappeared.

?As Beth and Josh struggle with their own issues, their friends and neighbors slowly turn on Sam, until one night when everything explodes. Beth can’t live in silence. Josh can’t live with his secrets. And Sam can’t continue on until the whole truth of what happened to him is out in the open.

For fans of thought-provoking stories like The Face on the Milk Carton, this is a book about learning to be an ally—even when the community around you doesn’t want you to be.

The Story

The book “We Now Return to Regular Life” revolved around one evil act: the abduction of 11-year-old Sam Walsh. So when the story begins, Sam has been missing for three years and assumed by most people to be dead. His childhood friend Josh, with whom Sam had earlier been bicycling that day, was the last person to see him. His older sister Beth, who assumed Sam was dead, is dealing with some heavy, heaving guilt from the day of his disappearance.

But now Sam has been found and he’s come home. Beth wants to know what happened to Sam but her family refuses to allow anyone to discuss the topic. All we know is that he was kidnapped and held captive for three years by a man named Russell, who did unspeakable things to the boy.

Unable to speak with his family, Sam rekindles his friendship with Josh and begins to confide in him about what he went through during his captivity. But Sam’s sister isn’t the only one who’s feeling guilty. Josh is holding onto a horrible secret about that day — a secret with which he should have gone to the police but didn’t and because of that, he’s been plagued with pain, confusion and haunting “what-ifs”. But since their reunion and as Josh and Sam grow closer, Josh finds himself falling in love with his childhood friend.

Of course, as a reader, we want to know where Sam was, what happened to him, and who he was with. The rest of the book alternates between Josh and Beth’s point of view as the story slowly unfolds. Through their eyes, we not only see their struggles but also experience the difficulty and the challenges Sam is facing trying to once again fit into everyday life.

What follows is a heart-wrenching depiction of what it means for the victim and the victim’s family to survive trauma and it’s not an easy journey.

Pros – What I Liked

I liked how each person’s point of view encompassed not only the present and how everyone involved is dealing with Sam’s return but also consisted of flashbacks to the day of Sam’s kidnapping and the subsequent days that followed. But not only are we privy to their emotions and perspectives on the kidnapping, we also get a glimpse of Sam’s recovery, through the points of view of Beth and Josh. In this way, I enjoyed experiencing the story all these different angles. Beth and Josh really made me feel like a part of their world as they struggled themselves with Sam’s reemergence and attempted to process their feelings and work through their emotional turmoil in the process.

I also felt that the dynamics between Sam, his sister Beth, their mother, and their stepfather Earl seem very realistic, and I could relate to each of them. There is a range of emotions experienced by each of them: guilt, anger, confusion, anxiety, uncertainty, and fear, rendering the story heartbreaking in places. So in essence, this isn’t just Sam’s story, but it’s also the story of those who are closest to him.

An even though we never experienced the story from Sam’s point of view, his desperate need to talk about what happened as evident and in opposition to those closest to him who couldn’t bear to hear it — and instead of supporting Sam, move away from him. Though Sam is hurting deeply, he isn’t willing to burden anyone with his pain, which I found heartbreaking. We really get a feeling for his struggle to find some sort of normalcy in his life after three harrowing years of abuse by his kidnapper, as he tries to get his life back.

I also really enjoyed the slow unraveling of the story. Each time we moved from one character’s perspective to the other, we learned a little bit more, like puzzle pieces slowly being snapped into place. I felt that the male/female, big sister/friend perspective also provided a nice balance to the story.

Cons – What I Didn’t Like

Though Sam was the main character and revolved around him, I didn’t get to learn or understand as much as I would have liked. I would have liked to have learned a bit more about how Sam was feeling and perhaps even know in more detail what he went through. In fact, I felt that each character has much more story to tell and some things are left unspoken.  I also found that the abrupt change in the point of view could be jarring at times — especially when the character was just beginning to open up and then we suddenly switch to the perspective of the next character — and to a different point in the story. I also found some bits of Beth’s narrative a tad boring, especially in regards to high school dynamics.

There was also a minor non-graphic sex scene that was a bit disturbing and mind you, I’m no prude. I felt that this story may have been better with this scene being left out.

Final Verdict

This is a powerful story packed with emotion and I really loved this book. I read a lot, and this year alone, I’ve have read some phenomenal books and without a doubt, We Now Return to Regular Life is one of those. It was a fast-moving, page-turning read and I felt the pacing of the story to be spot on.  But this is a dark and heavy story in places, the nature of which can make it disturbing for the more sensitive reader. It’s always difficult reading about the abuse of children whether it be fiction or nonfiction and this book is no exception. Thus, sensitive readers should be forewarned about child abuse, sexual abuse, and kidnapping triggers. However, I felt that the subject matter has handled in the most delicate way possible and the author didn’t give us any horrifyingly graphic scenes. That being said, though the book does handle Sam’s situation with sensitivity, it also does it with a sense of realism.  Still, this isn’t an easy topic to read about and was definitely an intense, gut-wrenching story and in my opinion, will be unforgettable.

Mr. Wilson has written a very realistic, fast-paced and beautiful story about survival, family, friendship, and love that will touch anyone’s heart. This sucker punch of a book was most certainly an experience and well worth the read, in my opinion. I can understand why it’s a finalist for Lambda Literary awards. This is the kind of book that will seep into your soul.

There’s so much more I could say about this book. I could probably talk about it forever, but I’ll stop now before I get spoilery. All I can say is that I heartily recommend it and give it 4.5 stars.

You can check out the book here at Amazon or at The Book Depository

This review was transcribed from a video review on my “Roger’s Reads” YouTube channel

Review of the Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden

April 5, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

I recently finished a book entitled “The Bear and The Nightengale” which I absolutely loved. This is a novel based on Russian Folklore and is a dark fairytale based on a variety of creatures, gods, and household spirits. The story takes place in the 14th century and follows Vasilisa Petronova, a spirited young girl who has the “Second Sight” as did he mother, who passed away when Vasya was born.  The girl is a bit of a rebel and not one for following rules. She is also able to see a variety of household guardian spirits such as the Domovoi who helps clean the house and assist with the mending, spirits of the forest, and spirits of the stables.

Oh, she can also communicate with horses. People in the story regularly comment on her wildness, some villagers calling her a wood sprite, others a witch.

One day her father returns from Moscow with a new wife, Anna, who is extremely devout and strict. Anna forbids her family from honoring and providing offerings for the household spirits.

Once the people of the village stop making offerings to the spirits, bad things begin to happen: Crops fail, food sources dwindle, children of the village sicken and then die, and evil creatures of the forest begin to draw nearer.

Soon we learn that a beast, known as the bringer of storms, has awoken and is escaping from the control that his brother, Morozko, Lord of Winter has over him. Morozko is also referred to as “The Frost Demon.” Soon a battle will take place between the two brothers and Vasya has to call upon her innate gifts — gifts that she has hidden from everyone — in order to protect her family and her village from the newly awakened threat.

I found it fascinating to read Vasya’s interaction with the spirits and how she integrated herself more and more into their world. Vasya was badass! I loved the strong, bold, rebellious heroine and found myself falling in love with her more and more as the story progressed.

Headstrong, confident and a bit rebellious, I feel that she provides an excellent role model for young women. Though she wants to please her family and tries to do what’s “proper” for a young lady, she is also not big on rules and desires freedom above all else — freedom to be the person she is meant to be, which of course, create some major conflicts in the story. In so doing, this amazing character succeeds in outsmarting both men and demons.  She did not allow anyone to harness her into a stifling domestic life typically required of a young noblewoman, nor put her behind the walls of a convent which was where those who didn’t “fit in” were sent — especially those who refused a life of subservience to a husband.

Another thing I liked was the world building — it was was amazing! I felt that the world that Ms. Arden created in this story was magical, captivating and compelling and also dark and dangerous. And the detail that went into the storytelling made it real for the reader — or at least it did for me.  The prose is beautiful, incredibly imaginative with vivid descriptions, a truly magical plot and a huge array of interesting and complex characters. This was a perfect fairytale, complete with spirits, demons, a wicked stepmother, tensions between modern religion and the old gods, Russian History and even the walking dead.

Now I will warn you that the first half of the book is basically heavy world-building and backstory so there is not a whole lot of action that goes on. In fact, I almost bailed about 20% of the way in. I listened to this book on audiobook and I was about 2 hours in and I considered DNFing this book as not a lot was happening. However, I’m so happy that I stuck it out.

This bewitching novel was a pure joy to read. This is a captivating and haunting story, dark at times, humorous in others. This is a combination of a historical fiction, fairy tale, Russian mythology, Russian folklore and a coming of age story, and in my opinion, was exemplary storytelling.  I really loved the otherworldly, fairytale aspect to it and found it enchanting in every way. I was completely and totally enthralled by this book. I’ve heard people refer to this book as a fairytale for grownups, which really nails it in my opinion. I’m also glad I read this in the middle of winter because this was a perfect winter read.

It was an enticing story with a complete and gratifying conclusion. I understand that there is a second book that continues this story, which I definitely will be reading. Recommended!

You can check out The Bear and The Nightingale here on Amazon or The Book Depository

Review of The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis

April 5, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

“How was your afternoon?”

“No one died, so it was a big improvement on my morning.” Will Kostakis, The Sidekicks

The Blurb:

All Ryan, Harley and Miles had in common was Isaac. They lived different lives, had different interests and kept different secrets. But they shared the same best friend. They were sidekicks. And now that Isaac’s gone, what does that make them?

Will Kostakis, award-winning author of The First Third, perfectly depicts the pain and pleasure of this teenage world, piecing together three points of view with intricate splendour.

The Story:

The Sidekicks is set in Northern Sydney and revolves around three friends, Ryan, Harley and Miles whose good friend Isaac just died. The thing with these three is that they are not friends with each other – but they were each close friends with Isaac. In fact, they really don’t like each other at all, and the couldn’t be more different from one another. The only thing they have in common is their grief over Isaac’s death.

So the book is broken down into three sections, each told from a different boy’s perspective. The three sections are named “The Swimmer” which is told from Ryan’s point of view, “The Rebel” which is told from Harley’s point of view, and “The Nerd” which is told from Miles’s point of view.

Each section starts out with the boy being called to the school deputy’s office — Miss Evan’s where they are told the news: Their friend Isaac was killed when he dove into the water at a party and hit his head on the boat.

What follows is an exposition of each boy’s reflections and flashbacks about their relationship to Isaac and their relationship to each other.

Pros:

I enjoyed the fact that each section built upon the previous section, so we saw a progression as we moved from one character’s point of view to the other. Though there was some repetition of events, we were able to revisit it through the unique perspective of the new character.

I also loved how relatable the characters were. They were so human and so real, complete with flaws, self-doubt, personal struggles and personality clashes which lent a strong realism to the story. I also liked how Isaac’s death affected each one of them differently, illustrating how grief affects all of us in different ways. This was apparent in the depiction of the different emotions each of the three experienced in the days following Isaac’s passing. I also was impressed by how distinct and unique each character’s voice and personality was. Each section had a markedly different writing style based on the character’s personality.

While the book does deal with heavy subject matter, there were also plenty of humous moments in the book, many of which made me laugh out loud. It also stressed the importance of family relationships and friendships, and both were wonderfully portrayed. In so many YA book, the parents are either absent or despised by the characters, which was not the case here. The relationships between the boy and their parents are positively portrayed and were present figures in the boys’ lives.

The ending was so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes as the three boys discovered the threads that tied them together, finally realizing that with some endings come new beginnings. In this way, it wasn’t only about grief, but it was also about acceptance.

One thing that struck me was how the book moved away from stereotypes often found in gay-themed novels. I liked that fact that it wasn’t the uppity, snitty, overly-particular, sports-hating character who was gay, but rather the Olympic hopeful jock.

Cons:

Initially, I found the story a bit confusing and slow moving. To be truthful, there isn’t a lot of action in the book – it’s definitely a character driven story as we delve deep into each character’s head as they revisit their friendship with Issac.

I also found certain parts of Mile’s section challenging to get through as it consisted of bits of dialog from a film that he was revisiting – a film in which Isaac was starring. Though it was jarring at times, these sections did end up being poignant and relevant to Miles’s growth as a character.

At first, I found it somewhat off-putting that there were no chapters in the book. As I mentioned, it’s divided into three sections. They are several sections breaks which provided stopping points which I eventually got used to.

Verdict:

This is a gem of a book, and I ended up loving it and all three characters. This novel is an excellent exploration of grief, resulting in each character’s growth by the end of the book as they reexamined the boxes into which they placed themselves and each other. I also felt that it was an excellent portrayal of teenage life.

This was a heavy-hitting book, that was both heart-wrenching yet uplifting at the same time and may make you cry throughout the story, especially during the end which in my opinion, was absolutely beautiful. It’s a bittersweet story that I’m guessing will stay with me for a long time. I’m giving it 4.5 stars. Recommended!

You can check out The Sidekicks here at Amazon or at The Book Depository

This review was transcribed my video review of this book on YouTube.