Fiona S. Staff Picks
If you’re looking for a plot-heavy coming of age narrative this isn’t it, but if you want to be transported into a summer grappling with nostalgia and the teenage problems that feel like the end of the world, then start reading. The very real issues that these boys grapple with are placed at equal importance with the insignificant trivialities of being 15, and that’s because in those moments they are all on equal ground.
Whitehead’s descriptions instantly transport you to sunny beach days and summer thunderstorms, making the darkest part of winter the perfect time to read it, although it does make for a nice beach read too.
What everyone else has said except it’s just about friends!! And life!!!! And life happens!!!!!! And even if it might feel like you’re playing a game or acting out a scene, life doesn’t give you any do overs. So you just have to make the most of it.
This story is almost too expansive to put into a few words, but it is never too overwhelming that you lose yourself. Every character is compelling and falls deeper into the grey morality that exists in war, and yet they are still human, wrestling with identity, fate, and love in a world filled with ghosts.
MAGIC. My absolute favorite book both because of the story she weaves and the world (the circus!) she creates. I never get tired of rereading.
It’s so hard to be human but sometimes other people make it a little easier. A perfect comfort existential read for the holiday season.
