Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Crown (2013), 322 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. Suspense. Thriller. HTML: A gripping novel full of suspense and pathos that Dennis Lehane calls an "electrifying, tomahawk missile of a thriller." Patrick Cusimano�s father killed a boy while driving drunk. Now Patrick is working at a grubby convenience store, and he and his brother, Mike, are the town pariahs. Caro, Mike�s girlfriend, is running from her own painful past, with no idea what she�s running toward. Layla Elshere is a goth teenager who befriends Patrick for reasons he doesn�t understand and doesn�t trust. And Layla�s little sister, Verna, tortured by her classmates, finds unlikely solace with Layla�s dark tribe of outcasts. As their fates become entwined, everyone is set down a terrifying and twisted path�leading them all toward a collision where loyalties will be betrayed, fears exposed, and lives shattered. Now with Extra Libris material, including recommended reading and bonus content.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member bsquaredinoz
Based on the number of times I’ve seen it done badly, I assume it’s very difficult to achieve the right tone when populating your novel with life’s more downtrodden people. But with her pitch-perfect tale of people trying desperately to play the poor hands they’ve been dealt, Kelly Braffet
Set in a small town in the US (officially Ratchesburg, Pennsylvania but atmospherically it could be any one of a thousand similar places) it is told from the perspectives of three young people whose family histories and life experiences weigh them down in unusual ways, and almost soul destroying, ways. Patrick is in his mid-20′s and lives with his older brother while their father is in prison after having committed a crime the whole town hates him for. Verna is just starting high school where, from day one, she is bullied and abused because her Father, a fundamentalist Christian, was responsible for the sacking of a favoured teacher and her older sister Layla, once literally the poster child for her father’s religious group, has gone ‘off the rails’ rather significantly. Caro is Patrick’s brother’s girlfriend and is running from her own demons, including a genetic legacy that terrifies her.
While I wouldn’t recommend SAVE YOURSELF if you’re feeling depressed already Braffet does give her tortured characters a whole lot of heart which lifts the story even when the events it depicts are crushingly sad. The opening passage in which Patrick’s father’s crime is revealed and Patrick makes an impossible choice is indicative of the way things stand in this book: bad things are going to be done and you’re going to care because the people doing them aren’t doing so lightly. It’s tearing them apart and making them look in all the wrong places for a way out.
For me both Verna and Patrick were quick to get to know and to feel for even if I didn’t always like them. With Caro it took me longer to get a sense of what she was all about but when her past starts to be revealed her earlier behaviour makes sense and fits within the context of the story. On reflection I think perhaps I was just holding out – not wanting three young people to feel so sad for. Ultimately they’re all well developed and stuck in my head when I’d put the book down. Am I the only one who worries for the fictional people I’m in the midst of getting to know? Even the minor characters, such as Verna and Layla’s parents, have a very realistic feel to them and are not the one-dimensional depictions a lesser novel might make of them.
For her narrative structure Braffet plays with the perspectives, sometimes offering a single view of a particular event while at other times re-telling a scene from multiple points of view. I liked the unpredictability this offered and the way it stopped me from ever thinking “I’m dead certain what’s going on here”. Of course I shouldn’t presume to know what’s in an author’s mind but I have an idea that was one of the themes she was exploring: that rarely is there a definitive account of any of life’s major (or not so major) events.
About the only thing that surprises me about the hype around this book is its marketing as any kind of thriller. It certainly doesn’t come within cooee of my definition of that word and I’m not even convinced it’s a broader crime novel but such labels should be irrelevant. SAVE YOURSELF is a bloody good read whatever shelf of the bookshop it belongs to.
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makes it look easy.Set in a small town in the US (officially Ratchesburg, Pennsylvania but atmospherically it could be any one of a thousand similar places) it is told from the perspectives of three young people whose family histories and life experiences weigh them down in unusual ways, and almost soul destroying, ways. Patrick is in his mid-20′s and lives with his older brother while their father is in prison after having committed a crime the whole town hates him for. Verna is just starting high school where, from day one, she is bullied and abused because her Father, a fundamentalist Christian, was responsible for the sacking of a favoured teacher and her older sister Layla, once literally the poster child for her father’s religious group, has gone ‘off the rails’ rather significantly. Caro is Patrick’s brother’s girlfriend and is running from her own demons, including a genetic legacy that terrifies her.
While I wouldn’t recommend SAVE YOURSELF if you’re feeling depressed already Braffet does give her tortured characters a whole lot of heart which lifts the story even when the events it depicts are crushingly sad. The opening passage in which Patrick’s father’s crime is revealed and Patrick makes an impossible choice is indicative of the way things stand in this book: bad things are going to be done and you’re going to care because the people doing them aren’t doing so lightly. It’s tearing them apart and making them look in all the wrong places for a way out.
For me both Verna and Patrick were quick to get to know and to feel for even if I didn’t always like them. With Caro it took me longer to get a sense of what she was all about but when her past starts to be revealed her earlier behaviour makes sense and fits within the context of the story. On reflection I think perhaps I was just holding out – not wanting three young people to feel so sad for. Ultimately they’re all well developed and stuck in my head when I’d put the book down. Am I the only one who worries for the fictional people I’m in the midst of getting to know? Even the minor characters, such as Verna and Layla’s parents, have a very realistic feel to them and are not the one-dimensional depictions a lesser novel might make of them.
For her narrative structure Braffet plays with the perspectives, sometimes offering a single view of a particular event while at other times re-telling a scene from multiple points of view. I liked the unpredictability this offered and the way it stopped me from ever thinking “I’m dead certain what’s going on here”. Of course I shouldn’t presume to know what’s in an author’s mind but I have an idea that was one of the themes she was exploring: that rarely is there a definitive account of any of life’s major (or not so major) events.
About the only thing that surprises me about the hype around this book is its marketing as any kind of thriller. It certainly doesn’t come within cooee of my definition of that word and I’m not even convinced it’s a broader crime novel but such labels should be irrelevant. SAVE YOURSELF is a bloody good read whatever shelf of the bookshop it belongs to.
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LibraryThing member nomadreader
The backstory: Years ago, I used to discover new authors by browsing the new releases in the library and seeing which covers grabbed me. I had as many successes as failures, and my shift toward finding life-minded readers has certainly improved my success with books. Yet I still think fondly of
The basics: Save Yourself is the story of two sets of siblings: Patrick and Mike Cusimano are still reeling from their father's arrest and conviction for killing a child while driving drunk. They live in their father's house, along with Mike's girlfriend, Caro. Across Ratchetsberg, a tiny town outside Pittsburgh, Layla Elshere, the oldest daughter of a local church leader has turned Goth and tries to befriend Patrick because of what his father did. Her little sister, Verna, begins high school and is tormented.
My thoughts: Save Yourself is filled with both unlikable characters and characters making self-destructive, yet understandable, decisions. Braffet shifts the narration among the main characters beautifully, and I welcomed the opportunity to better understand these complicated, well-developed characters. As I read, I always had the sense that anything could happen and it would work with these characters and their choices. As a reader, I love to place my entire trust in an author. The characters and their world were so well-formed, and their behavior was so often reckless, I read with a sense of foreboding. There's an eeriness to this novel I adored.
Favorite passage: "She often prayed for the strength to stop eavesdropping, but God never gave it to her. Maybe because the things she learned left her less baffled by the mysteries around her."
The verdict: Save Yourself is a captivating character-driven novel. Braffet is a brave and bold storyteller, and both are on full display in her latest novel.
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those authors I discovered my old-fashioned way, and Kelly Braffet is one of those authors. I recall bringing home Last Seen Leaving and sitting down on my the screened-in porch to read it before dinner. I was up until the wee hours of the morning finishing it, and when I returned it to the library the next day, I picked up her first novel, Josie and Jack. Imagine my delight when I saw that seven years later, there's finally another Braffet novel to read!The basics: Save Yourself is the story of two sets of siblings: Patrick and Mike Cusimano are still reeling from their father's arrest and conviction for killing a child while driving drunk. They live in their father's house, along with Mike's girlfriend, Caro. Across Ratchetsberg, a tiny town outside Pittsburgh, Layla Elshere, the oldest daughter of a local church leader has turned Goth and tries to befriend Patrick because of what his father did. Her little sister, Verna, begins high school and is tormented.
My thoughts: Save Yourself is filled with both unlikable characters and characters making self-destructive, yet understandable, decisions. Braffet shifts the narration among the main characters beautifully, and I welcomed the opportunity to better understand these complicated, well-developed characters. As I read, I always had the sense that anything could happen and it would work with these characters and their choices. As a reader, I love to place my entire trust in an author. The characters and their world were so well-formed, and their behavior was so often reckless, I read with a sense of foreboding. There's an eeriness to this novel I adored.
Favorite passage: "She often prayed for the strength to stop eavesdropping, but God never gave it to her. Maybe because the things she learned left her less baffled by the mysteries around her."
The verdict: Save Yourself is a captivating character-driven novel. Braffet is a brave and bold storyteller, and both are on full display in her latest novel.
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LibraryThing member TheLostEntwife
Folks, Save Yourself by Kelly Braffet just did not work for me. Now, before you jump at me for beginning a review with that statement, let me just say a few things. First, I did read the entire book, which is why this is getting a full review and not just a short explanation on my DNF board on
Read the rest of my review at The Lost Entwife on August 14, 2013.
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GoodReads. Second, I sat here for thirty minutes trying to think of something that I learned while reading this book and I could not come up with a single thing worth anything. I realized that when I began to make excuses and really pull things (painfully) out of nothing, that this one just did not do it for me.Read the rest of my review at The Lost Entwife on August 14, 2013.
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LibraryThing member karieh
“Save Yourself” is a novel about people trying to escape the confines of their lives. Patrick, a young man whose father is in jail for killing a young boy while driving drunk, is trying to go on with what remains of the life he once knew. His father is gone, jailed after Patrick notified the
“…Patrick had read a sudden wariness in people, as if bad luck was catching and he was a carrier. The sidelong glances and pauses in conversation that stretched just a beat too long; the police cruisers that seemed to drive past their house on Division Street more often than they once had, or linger in the rearview a block longer than was reasonable; the weird sense of disengagement, of nonexistence, when cashiers and waitresses and bank clerks who saw his name on his credit card or paycheck couldn’t quite seem to focus their eyes on him. Like he was nonstick, made of Teflon, and their gazes couldn’t get purchase.”
Patrick is constantly trying to figure out how to do the right thing – even as he tries to figure out what the right thing is. His last major decision, the one to turn his father over to the police, resulted in such a cataclysm, that at times he seems paralyzed.
As hollowed out as he is, his observations on his world and the people around him are sometimes dead on. At his new job working in a convenience store - “The store was filled with hollow-eyes people standing in line: at the sandwich counter, at the soda fountain, at the register. All of them waiting, waiting, their hands full of candy, chips, cups of coffee, money. It was like purgatory, with snacks.”
He encounters Layla, Caro and Verna – more people trying to redefine themselves against the circumstances of their lives. All of the main characters in the book are so unsure, so unable to see anything ahead of them as they try to escape from their past and the ties of their family. Ties that imprison, restrain and diminish them. Even that which was good from their past has been tainted.
“Patrick didn’t generally trust memories that glittered like that, because he’d found that if you spend too much time with them you discovered unpleasant things you’d tried to forget: a broken finger that never straightened again, a treasured ball or glove held where you couldn’t reach it even if you jumped, a monster lying in wait to terrify you at home. Drunk monsters. Dying monsters. Rooms with open curtains that still felt dark.”
The desperate actions of the characters result in an even more desolate future – but as the book ends – somewhere deep inside – there is the smallest glimmer of hope. Hope that where we come from, what happens to us – does not absolutely determine who we are.
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police about the accident, his former job is gone – only his home and his brother remain – although even those carry scars from the past. Very little about his life seems positive. He seems barely tethered to his environment.“…Patrick had read a sudden wariness in people, as if bad luck was catching and he was a carrier. The sidelong glances and pauses in conversation that stretched just a beat too long; the police cruisers that seemed to drive past their house on Division Street more often than they once had, or linger in the rearview a block longer than was reasonable; the weird sense of disengagement, of nonexistence, when cashiers and waitresses and bank clerks who saw his name on his credit card or paycheck couldn’t quite seem to focus their eyes on him. Like he was nonstick, made of Teflon, and their gazes couldn’t get purchase.”
Patrick is constantly trying to figure out how to do the right thing – even as he tries to figure out what the right thing is. His last major decision, the one to turn his father over to the police, resulted in such a cataclysm, that at times he seems paralyzed.
As hollowed out as he is, his observations on his world and the people around him are sometimes dead on. At his new job working in a convenience store - “The store was filled with hollow-eyes people standing in line: at the sandwich counter, at the soda fountain, at the register. All of them waiting, waiting, their hands full of candy, chips, cups of coffee, money. It was like purgatory, with snacks.”
He encounters Layla, Caro and Verna – more people trying to redefine themselves against the circumstances of their lives. All of the main characters in the book are so unsure, so unable to see anything ahead of them as they try to escape from their past and the ties of their family. Ties that imprison, restrain and diminish them. Even that which was good from their past has been tainted.
“Patrick didn’t generally trust memories that glittered like that, because he’d found that if you spend too much time with them you discovered unpleasant things you’d tried to forget: a broken finger that never straightened again, a treasured ball or glove held where you couldn’t reach it even if you jumped, a monster lying in wait to terrify you at home. Drunk monsters. Dying monsters. Rooms with open curtains that still felt dark.”
The desperate actions of the characters result in an even more desolate future – but as the book ends – somewhere deep inside – there is the smallest glimmer of hope. Hope that where we come from, what happens to us – does not absolutely determine who we are.
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LibraryThing member zmagic69
Makes me glad i don't have teenagers. A book about very sad lost screwed-up people.
LibraryThing member brismel
I received a copy of this book from Read It Forward.
When I began reading Save Yourself I knew I was in for a bumpy ride. It was like an emotional roller coaster where you get in line knowing full well you're about to go on a wild ride. The first half of the novel is the moment when you're getting
When you make it over the first hill, you're relieved that you made it only to realize that there are several more down the path. You can't stop or turn back now, so you continue on. The further along you read the book you realize, almost too late, that the hills have been getting bigger and bigger and before you know it you're finding yourself climbing an enormous mountain. When you reach the top, you can see everything: the slow build-up of hills that has led you to this moment and the massive fall you're about to take.
For those couple of seconds that you linger at the top, you think maybe the fall won't be so bad; or maybe you just want to descend so that it'll be over already. Finally, the car begins to dip and whether or not you're ready, you're plunged into the last chapters of the book. But as quickly as it started, it's already over and you're pulling into the station and you're left wondering what just happened.
Braffet's novel starts off in a bad place and only goes downhill from there. Every time you think things will change, that the people in the book will change, everything takes another dark turn. That sense of dread builds and builds until you realize that every decision the characters have made have been leading up to a horrible result. In the end, the characters have to face their choices, whether good or bad.
The book is broken up between three voices: Patrick Cusimano, the son of an alcoholic father who is in prison for a hit and run; Verna Elshere, the gothic daughter of two “crazy” Christian parents; and Caro, Patrick's brother's girlfriend who he's secretly in love with. Braffet shows us the dark side of her characters and lets you simmer in it like a lobster in a pot that has only begun to boil.
The novel lets you feel the desolation right off the bat. Each character is simply going through the motions when it comes to life, although some are better at pretending than others. But Braffet makes her characters likable despite their flaws and trust me, there are a lot. Some of these mistakes shouldn't be forgivable and yet I found myself wanting to do just that. I was so easily roped into the story that it made Save Yourself a book I didn't want to put down.
Save Yourself is a gritty and dark tale that will leave you bleary-eyed and stunned. If you love a good, dark thriller, then I highly recommend you pick up this book. You won't be disappointed.
When I began reading Save Yourself I knew I was in for a bumpy ride. It was like an emotional roller coaster where you get in line knowing full well you're about to go on a wild ride. The first half of the novel is the moment when you're getting
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strapped into the train and begin trudging up the lift; your body is filled with a dull excitement mixed with a little anxiety with what you're about to get yourself into.When you make it over the first hill, you're relieved that you made it only to realize that there are several more down the path. You can't stop or turn back now, so you continue on. The further along you read the book you realize, almost too late, that the hills have been getting bigger and bigger and before you know it you're finding yourself climbing an enormous mountain. When you reach the top, you can see everything: the slow build-up of hills that has led you to this moment and the massive fall you're about to take.
For those couple of seconds that you linger at the top, you think maybe the fall won't be so bad; or maybe you just want to descend so that it'll be over already. Finally, the car begins to dip and whether or not you're ready, you're plunged into the last chapters of the book. But as quickly as it started, it's already over and you're pulling into the station and you're left wondering what just happened.
Braffet's novel starts off in a bad place and only goes downhill from there. Every time you think things will change, that the people in the book will change, everything takes another dark turn. That sense of dread builds and builds until you realize that every decision the characters have made have been leading up to a horrible result. In the end, the characters have to face their choices, whether good or bad.
The book is broken up between three voices: Patrick Cusimano, the son of an alcoholic father who is in prison for a hit and run; Verna Elshere, the gothic daughter of two “crazy” Christian parents; and Caro, Patrick's brother's girlfriend who he's secretly in love with. Braffet shows us the dark side of her characters and lets you simmer in it like a lobster in a pot that has only begun to boil.
The novel lets you feel the desolation right off the bat. Each character is simply going through the motions when it comes to life, although some are better at pretending than others. But Braffet makes her characters likable despite their flaws and trust me, there are a lot. Some of these mistakes shouldn't be forgivable and yet I found myself wanting to do just that. I was so easily roped into the story that it made Save Yourself a book I didn't want to put down.
Save Yourself is a gritty and dark tale that will leave you bleary-eyed and stunned. If you love a good, dark thriller, then I highly recommend you pick up this book. You won't be disappointed.
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LibraryThing member writestuff
Patrick Cusimano and his brother, Mike, are just getting by after their father is sent to prison for a drunken hit and run which took the life of a young boy. They live in their father’s home and try to ignore the pointed accusations of the townspeople who hold them responsible for their
Layla Elshere has turned away from her strict Christian upbringing and toward a charismatic teen named Justinian and his strange friends. She dyes her hair black, wears dark makeup and Goth clothing, and acts out sexually. When her younger sister, Verna, begins attending Layla’s high school and becomes a target for bullies, Layla pulls Verna into the chilling activities she shares with her rebellious friends.
But when Layla turns her sexual attentions to Patrick, a man much older than her seventeen years, she ignites a chain of events which will have tragic consequences for them all.
Save Yourself is a grim, ripped from the headlines kind of novel which explores the impact of bullying, fundamentalist Christian values, guilt, love and the desire to find acceptance. Kelly Braffet dares to go to disturbing places, digging deep inside the pathos of her characters…most of whom are teens or young adults.
All of the characters are damaged and lost…and seeking something better, even if the path to that often seems destined to fail. Layla and Verna are perhaps the saddest of the characters – two girls who discover cruelty and, as a result, find themselves lured into a lifestyle which is dark and dangerous.
Braffet’s writing is vivid and emotional and captures the desperation of teens who are victim to bullies. If I had to classify the novel, I would say it is a cross between adult and YA fiction and will especially appeal to older teens and twenty-somethings…and parents of teens may find the book too disturbing to even contemplate.
Although I found myself easily immersed in the story, I did find the plot a bit predictable. In fairness to Braffet, the fast paced world of media and violence which invades our lives these days doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Reading Save Yourself was a bit like watching the inevitable collision between two oncoming trucks – I could see the disaster approaching, but I could not look away.
Chilling, sad, brave, and all too real, Save Yourself is an unnerving read. If you like your novels dark and creepy, this one’s for you.
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father’s actions. Patrick works in a meaningless job and comes home alone to sleepless nights. When Mike’s girlfriend, Caro, turns her romantic interests towards Patrick, he finds himself caught in an uncomfortable place between his brother and Caro.Layla Elshere has turned away from her strict Christian upbringing and toward a charismatic teen named Justinian and his strange friends. She dyes her hair black, wears dark makeup and Goth clothing, and acts out sexually. When her younger sister, Verna, begins attending Layla’s high school and becomes a target for bullies, Layla pulls Verna into the chilling activities she shares with her rebellious friends.
But when Layla turns her sexual attentions to Patrick, a man much older than her seventeen years, she ignites a chain of events which will have tragic consequences for them all.
Save Yourself is a grim, ripped from the headlines kind of novel which explores the impact of bullying, fundamentalist Christian values, guilt, love and the desire to find acceptance. Kelly Braffet dares to go to disturbing places, digging deep inside the pathos of her characters…most of whom are teens or young adults.
All of the characters are damaged and lost…and seeking something better, even if the path to that often seems destined to fail. Layla and Verna are perhaps the saddest of the characters – two girls who discover cruelty and, as a result, find themselves lured into a lifestyle which is dark and dangerous.
Braffet’s writing is vivid and emotional and captures the desperation of teens who are victim to bullies. If I had to classify the novel, I would say it is a cross between adult and YA fiction and will especially appeal to older teens and twenty-somethings…and parents of teens may find the book too disturbing to even contemplate.
Although I found myself easily immersed in the story, I did find the plot a bit predictable. In fairness to Braffet, the fast paced world of media and violence which invades our lives these days doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Reading Save Yourself was a bit like watching the inevitable collision between two oncoming trucks – I could see the disaster approaching, but I could not look away.
Chilling, sad, brave, and all too real, Save Yourself is an unnerving read. If you like your novels dark and creepy, this one’s for you.
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LibraryThing member chrisblocker
As you read this review, keep in mind that I am probably not the intended audience for Save Yourself. This is one of those Suspenseful-Thriller-thingies. I am not a reader of thrillers. But in my old age, I’m trying to be open-minded, so I gave it a go. And you know what’s most shocking is that
Now, let me say straight out that what I didn’t like about the novel was the thriller element, but that has to do with personal taste. I like what I like and mysteries and thrillers just don’t appeal to me. Toward the end, as the novel was getting to its climax, my interest began to seriously wane. The “thrilling conclusion” was anything but thrilling to me. So clearly this book didn’t change my mind about the genre; nevertheless, I enjoyed it.
Prior to the book getting all dark in a Psycho-way, it was dark in a more Lars von Trier sort of way. Are you following me? Anyway, Braffet does a wonderful job creating characters whose lives are interesting. The ways in which they’re put on display, and the ways these characters interact with one another, gave me a deep empathy for several characters; I truly wanted the best for them. It was all very harsh and believable, which made the less-believable conclusion tolerable.
Braffet is a great writer, with a masterful sense of plotting and language. It’s just that her interests are obviously different than mine. When our interests intersect, however, I totally get her. She’s good, and I expect she’ll go far.
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I sort of liked it.Now, let me say straight out that what I didn’t like about the novel was the thriller element, but that has to do with personal taste. I like what I like and mysteries and thrillers just don’t appeal to me. Toward the end, as the novel was getting to its climax, my interest began to seriously wane. The “thrilling conclusion” was anything but thrilling to me. So clearly this book didn’t change my mind about the genre; nevertheless, I enjoyed it.
Prior to the book getting all dark in a Psycho-way, it was dark in a more Lars von Trier sort of way. Are you following me? Anyway, Braffet does a wonderful job creating characters whose lives are interesting. The ways in which they’re put on display, and the ways these characters interact with one another, gave me a deep empathy for several characters; I truly wanted the best for them. It was all very harsh and believable, which made the less-believable conclusion tolerable.
Braffet is a great writer, with a masterful sense of plotting and language. It’s just that her interests are obviously different than mine. When our interests intersect, however, I totally get her. She’s good, and I expect she’ll go far.
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LibraryThing member crashmyparty
I felt absolutely nothing reading this book. I wanted to, but there was nothing. Just 300 pages with words on them. Oh, there was a story. Not a great one, bit of a weird one actually. But I didn't feel 'breathless', 'shaken' or 'moved'. Ah damn.
I read this in 2 days, found it pretty easy to fly
I read this in 2 days, found it pretty easy to fly
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through, but that doesn't mean I was addicted to it. I had some time and I used it to read this. I was even able to put it down halfway through the suspenseful conclusion to watch the Carols on TV and wasn't in a particular rush to get back to it. I didn't care about the weak-willed characters who had very little depth. Two scared sisters and a lonely, broken older guy, both with damaged families and hurting under the weight of the past, present and future. There's a lot going on here but I wasn't particularly interested by it. Another one to put up on the shelf - I'm such a book hoarder! Show Less
LibraryThing member bfister
A disturbing book with very well-developed and sympathetic (though so thoroughly developed that they are sometimes maddening) working-class characters with hardscrabble lives. A girl in a religious family is bullied at school; her older goth sister is rebelious and self-destructvie; a young man
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whose alcoholic father killed a child in a drunk driving episode lives with his passive, easy-going older brother but finds himself attracted to his girlfriend, who is looking for stability in a life on the move. So much searching, so many abusive controlling men. Braffet is an enormously talented writer. Her work reminds me a bit of Sean Doolittle's. Show Less
LibraryThing member mjlivi
This was a pretty disappointing read. I was aiming for a tense, addictive book to reenergise me after a couple of slower reads, but I really couldn't bring myself to care much about any of the characters presented here. The plot didn't really get the pulse racing either, and the dramatic conclusion
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was a bit of a damp squib. Show Less
LibraryThing member mhanlon
This was a little like reading a slowly smoldering firecracker. The characters are a perfectly wrecked set of small town folks, each set dealing with their own trials (some literal) and tribulations. But Ms. Braffet does an excellent job painting each scene, making each character full and real,
I thought the book's title beat like a kind of pulse throughout the whole story, driving to the end. Great read.
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instead of some hollow caricature.I thought the book's title beat like a kind of pulse throughout the whole story, driving to the end. Great read.
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LibraryThing member rosechimera
Braffet is on my Atwood list (i.e. I'm going to have to reread).
LibraryThing member rosechimera
Braffet is on my Atwood list (i.e. I'm going to have to reread).
LibraryThing member TobinElliott
Like others, I didn't know much about this book going in. That was a good thing.
If you want a sense of the style of writing, as well as the subject matter, think Gillian Flynn, with slightly younger protagonists.
I found this book to be amazingly well-written. The characters became very real to me,
Billy Joel once sang: Though we share so many secrets there are some we never tell / Why were you so surprised that you never saw the stranger / Did you ever let your lover see the stranger in yourself? It could be the theme song for this book.
Layla and Patrick share so many similarities: Running from the life their parents forced upon them, chasing after the wrong things, dealing with the current authority figure in their lives while trying to also make sense of their own life, marking time instead of living. Yet each has their own way of dealing with it, each makes their own decisions. And of course, each much live with the consequences of those actions.
I know others will rip into how Braffet portrays the "goth" culture, but, to be honest, I think she does a fine job of building the characters she needs to drive the story she's writing. Braffet is not writing a commentary on goth culture...far from it. No more than she's writing a commentary on the rich, privileged kid culture.
But I have to point out that the bullying scenes--even the minor ones--were exceptional. I was bullied. I know the mindset. Braffet captures all the horror and the helplessness of the situation. And it inevitably leads to what comes next. So, no, no commentary on those goth kids...just a mounting terror, a spring wound too tight and is ready to snap.
This was my first book by the fifth and newest member of the Stephen King Writing Dynasty (TM, patent pending), but it will absolutely not be my last. Braffet has wowed me.
If you want a sense of the style of writing, as well as the subject matter, think Gillian Flynn, with slightly younger protagonists.
I found this book to be amazingly well-written. The characters became very real to me,
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every one of them flawed, noble, stupid, brilliant...and every one of them with a secret.Billy Joel once sang: Though we share so many secrets there are some we never tell / Why were you so surprised that you never saw the stranger / Did you ever let your lover see the stranger in yourself? It could be the theme song for this book.
Layla and Patrick share so many similarities: Running from the life their parents forced upon them, chasing after the wrong things, dealing with the current authority figure in their lives while trying to also make sense of their own life, marking time instead of living. Yet each has their own way of dealing with it, each makes their own decisions. And of course, each much live with the consequences of those actions.
I know others will rip into how Braffet portrays the "goth" culture, but, to be honest, I think she does a fine job of building the characters she needs to drive the story she's writing. Braffet is not writing a commentary on goth culture...far from it. No more than she's writing a commentary on the rich, privileged kid culture.
But I have to point out that the bullying scenes--even the minor ones--were exceptional. I was bullied. I know the mindset. Braffet captures all the horror and the helplessness of the situation. And it inevitably leads to what comes next. So, no, no commentary on those goth kids...just a mounting terror, a spring wound too tight and is ready to snap.
This was my first book by the fifth and newest member of the Stephen King Writing Dynasty (TM, patent pending), but it will absolutely not be my last. Braffet has wowed me.
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Awards
Maine Readers' Choice Award (Longlist — 2014)
Original publication date
2013