Rick B. (bup) - , reviewed on 12/23/2015 + 166 more book reviews

Oh, people, I do not get it. You all give it 5 stars. Explain to me why. A friend and I decided to read this together (we both loved The Book Thief) - we thought we'd read and discuss every few days. We discussed once and gave up. We agreed - this isn't worth discussing.

There's no believability, the protagonist's motivations aren't convincing, but he acts motivated, and his quests don't make sense, and I don't buy that his actions 'heal' the situations they purport to heal. But everyone in the story buys that they do.

And the writing - a young author finding his voice (even though this is maybe his 4th book), but leaving too much evidence of the writer in love with his own words. Description that calls out, "hey! I'm imagery!" Metaphor that sweeps in like so many tiny newborn spiders on the breeze of a new morning's hope.

Fragments of. Sentences. They communicate bittersweet...

Loss.

Do they not?

Loss.

(OK, here's a real snippet.)

"Fear is the street.
Fear is every step.
The darkness grows heavier on the road and I begin.
To run."

Really, dude?

The resolution is way too much the work of a first-time novelist, and felt like the work of a collegiate pretension generator who's pretty sure he's blowing your mind. It shouldn't have been published. Although I'm glad he did get published (later).

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