A captivating, heart-wrenching mosaic of life experiences encompassing family, tragedy, mental health, and fortitude.
A debut novel details love lost through the voice of a compassionate but jaded writer.
Protagonist Stone Lyon begins his narration in the Prologue with a disclaimer: “This journal is meant for those who still fall for the fairytale of true love, to educate them in the folly behind this mindless faith by revealing the ravages that come from believing in hopes and dreams, passion and love.” He recounts his family’s history and the story of his own life, spending his childhood in Mobile, Alabama, and then moving to California on the whim of his father. Throughout his trajectory, the protagonist deals with an immense amount of losses, starting at a young age when a new friend puts himself in danger to save Stone from being murdered. As a young adult, he suffers multiple tragedies in the form of suicides involving friends and lovers. He continues to persevere and pursue his dream of becoming a journalist, but the extensive heartache he has endured starts to take a toll on his spirit. He soon finds himself working as a counselor in a home for troubled youth, as his “savior goal exploded into manic passion” as a way to cope with his trauma. As the tale progresses, Stone continues to face difficult setbacks, sparking a preoccupation with his own death. Beginning the poignant novel with Stone’s ultimate expectation of committing suicide, Lynn sets a tone of palpable tension that propels the plot forward. The journalistic narrative is engrossing, and readers should find themselves absorbed in Stone’s retelling of his countless misfortunes, driven by their curiosity and the desire to find the reasons that he has decided to kill himself. While the story is rich in detail and intricate character development, the subject matter is heavy and not for the faint of heart. But the multitude of tribulations that Stone copes with, while depressing, helps the reader to understand more fully why he feels the way he does.
A captivating, heart-wrenching mosaic of life experiences encompassing family, tragedy, mental health, and fortitude.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5320-0661-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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