Anne O'Gleadra is currently taking the most circuitous route through academia known to humanity. Thankfully, she gets to do so on majestic Vancouver Island, where she spends her time procrastinating, devouring podcasts, and telling her cat how cute she is.
While I must suspend disbelief for the premise (the son of a serial killer and the son of his victim?!), but I really must say that Orbiting Jupiter's writing pulls me in.
Sure, the story has that sense of deeply-and-thoroughly-forever-in-love in it, with two teenagers, no less ... and the drama might be over the top (we get brain aneurysm, people, on top of that premise -- as well as some childhood abuses), but the way the story is written, I can't stop feeling for these characters. I want them to be HAPPY, damn it, and I will fight everyone who think otherwise.
Jupiter also has the penchant for that dramatic romantic gesture ( which warms my heart.
So with my favorite line of this story, "I love him because every time I see him, he makes me feel just that little bit happier", I guess I must say, that's how this story makes me feel as well.
I feel like aspirin really shouldn't knock anyone out...unless it's not just aspirin. I mean, it's, what, an antipyretic, analgesic and...anti-inflammatory med. Not anesthetic.
And then...
Isn't this Milo dude only a year older than Luke?
And how the hell is the school that incompetent?
Eh. I guess it wasn't bad. It didn't work for me, though...["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>
This was a nice story. You seriously have to suspend belief and remind yourself that this is fiction. Very little that happens would happen in the real world. Once you get beyond that, the story is really quite good.
Luke is the son of a serial killer. Milo is the son of the serial killer's last victim. Luke wants to somehow make amends to the victim's families by apologizing to each. When he gets to Milo, it does not go well. In the beginning anyway. After a little bit of violence, a health scare by one, social services and lots of therapy a relationship is born.
All of the out there stuff I was able to get beyond. I think the only real issue that I had were the ages of Luke and Milo. Luke is 15 and Milo is 16. The problems they have are grown up problems and I think I would have liked it better if each would have been a couple of years older.
Quick read, liked the premise...but I just wasn't feeling the chemistry between the two characters. Their unlikely romance was just a little too unlikely for me, I guess.
Would recommend checking out another story from this author though: It's Like This. Gave that one 4 stars.
Well-written, fun to read (like everything I've ever read by Jupiter) - my only problem is that I don't believe people might behave like that in the first place.