A gentle, poignant and age-appropriate story.
In a conversation he has with Shosh, Evan tells her: “There’s truth in every story. Even the made-up ones” and I certainly found that the author’s reflections on love, loss, grief, trauma, family and friendship in this YA novel encapsulated the essential veracity of this, something which added layers of thought-provoking depth to this teenage-love saga, helping to make it a poignant rather than an overly-sentimental story to read. I thought he very effectively captured the intensity, insecurity and passions of late adolescence and imagine that this, along with the lyrical nature of his prose and his inclusion of references to modern culture, will ensure that his story will appeal to its target readership.
I admired the ways in which he so sensitively and compassionately explored issues such as family breakdown, sudden death, life-threatening illness, neuro-diversity, alcoholism and the consequent mental health challenges each of his main characters was facing. His depictions of their struggles to overcome their fears and to begin to change their dysfunctional patterns of behaviour felt credible, particularly as he made no attempt to suggest that the process was an easy or a straightforward one. What he showed was that there are times in our lives when we need to acknowledge that we need the help and support of others if we are to be able to recognise what we need to do to enable us to move on with our lives rather than remaining stuck in a dysfunctional situation.
Although I could recognise the concept behind the thread of magical realism he used to explore the idea of soulmates, of relationships transcending time and space, thus ensuring that Shosh & Evan were destined find each other, I found that the periodic insertions of accounts of their ‘in another life’ relationship sometimes disrupted my engagement with their developing ‘here and now’ relationship. On a more positive note, the thread of the story which followed Evan’s relationship with his seven-year-old brother Will never failed to delight me … and also made me want to re-watch ET!
I admired the ways in which he so sensitively and compassionately explored issues such as family breakdown, sudden death, life-threatening illness, neuro-diversity, alcoholism and the consequent mental health challenges each of his main characters was facing. His depictions of their struggles to overcome their fears and to begin to change their dysfunctional patterns of behaviour felt credible, particularly as he made no attempt to suggest that the process was an easy or a straightforward one. What he showed was that there are times in our lives when we need to acknowledge that we need the help and support of others if we are to be able to recognise what we need to do to enable us to move on with our lives rather than remaining stuck in a dysfunctional situation.
Although I could recognise the concept behind the thread of magical realism he used to explore the idea of soulmates, of relationships transcending time and space, thus ensuring that Shosh & Evan were destined find each other, I found that the periodic insertions of accounts of their ‘in another life’ relationship sometimes disrupted my engagement with their developing ‘here and now’ relationship. On a more positive note, the thread of the story which followed Evan’s relationship with his seven-year-old brother Will never failed to delight me … and also made me want to re-watch ET!