Snowblind

by Rose Christo

Shawn Wapaw has two weeks to stop a suicide six hundred and sixty miles away. Shawn Wapaw is blind.

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Disability, Family, Romance, LGBT, Queer

275 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 13, 2013

Reviews

[Trisha Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first book of 2014 and it is a Rose Christo book! I am a huge fan of this author. Why? Because she writes amazing stories that tug at my heartstrings and stays with me for a long time after. She has a beautiful writing style and I adore her topics of choice.

Shawn is a 22 year old blind man. He was blinded as a young boy because of a foster parent. If you have read Gives Light you will understand why he had a foster parent. Anyway, he has lived his life since that incident, very closed off and alone. He freely admits he is selfish and doesn't care, but there is more to him than even he knows about.

He meets Melanie, a little 9 year old native girl. Of course he doesn't realize that she's native himself. He also meets her adoptive father, Kenneth. Meeting these two people changes his life.

Together, the three of them travel six hundred and sixty miles to save a woman who wants to commit suicide. The trip brings the three closer together and Shawn's heart starts to melt just a little. I love that about him, he seemed cold, but deep down he was just a little lost boy. It was very sweet.

There are shocks in this book. I won't give anything away because they made the story even better for me. What I will say is, I loved the characters and I loved the story. The writing is just the cherry on top in my eyes. I can't fault the story because although it's not the most romantic, the romance was believable and I wanted Kenneth and Shawn to find happiness together, they both deserved it.

If you are a fan of this authors work, you should really check this one out from her. Highly recommended!

[Rosa, really · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was planning on writing a long, hopefully well-done review of this book. One that really showed my appreciation of Rose Christo's beautiful writing. First I was waiting for all the feels I was experiencing to die down so I could be halfway coherent. Then I just forgot to write it. And now it’s been a while but here’s my halfway forgetful review anyway:

I love this book. You should read it. Enough said.

Okay, maybe not.

Shawn Wapaw is a young, blind, grumpy pants Innu Native American who's not quite agoraphobic, but rather chooses to live in almost complete isolation. He's extremely sarcastic and can be unpleasant. You may think so, anyway, and I agree, but I also love him. In his attempt to cover his vulnerability (he does a good job of it) and his attempt to get people to leave him alone, his chosen weapons are absolutely hilarious. But maybe I've just got a weird sense of humor.

Though funny, this book is as melancholic as Shawn himself. Some have described it as "maudlin." I don’t agree with that and Shawn’s melancholy is something I absolutely adore. He experienced several scarring events in his childhood (not just his blinding) and so he has excellent reasons for his Mr. Grumpy Pants demeanor. Actually, calling it by that label is probably pretty dismissive of me. I don't mean it that way, though. What do I mean by it? I don't know...give me a sec....Ok, I guess I mean just what I said above - Shawn can be an asshole, but he has several understandable reasons for his assholery.

Also, and more to the point, anything maudlin or melancholic you may find in this novel is there for a reason. Again, Shawn experienced a lot of horrifying events (not rape or anything, but hurtful) - but it's not faux-angst. He wasn't dumped by a boyfriend. He wasn't separated from a loved one (or boyfriend again) for years over some silly misunderstanding or continued miscommunication. If done well (like by Josh Lanyon), such events are fine, but written by a crap author, which Christo most definitely is not, such faux-angst really sucks shit.

The romance in this book is present, but understated. He meets and eventually falls in love with his neighbor, Kenneth, and his neighbor’s adopted daughter, Melanie. (Who, yes, is precocious, but I found I didn’t want to run her head into a wall like I do with some fictional kids). It’s Melanie he forms a friendship with first (she doesn’t understand the term “fuck off”—and no, Shawn doesn’t actually say that – but that’s what he means when he tells her leave him alone). She’s very curious about his tribal background and he tells her all sorts of Innu stories and myths. It’s beautiful the way he lives with these myths as well. He lives in the “white” world, but – I don’t know, they’re not myths to him. He breathes them in and they strengthen him.

The action starts when a woman on the online forum he takes part in (no one on it sees him as the “blind Indian kid”) starts asking about the best way to commit suicide. Shawn, for very good reasons, is seriously opposed to anyone taking their own life. Even if they’re alone, like he is. He convinces (or maybe they convince him – I can’t quite remember) his neighbors, Kenneth & Melanie, to drive him maybe a thousand miles away (also can’t quite remember) so he can help this woman. Hopefully, save her.

I say “action,” but this is not an action packed novel. Nobody’s murdered. Nothing blows up. They don’t run over a reindeer. Snowblind is a character driven story, so if you need a book with lots of “events” (and I’m not criticizing, I like actiony books as well), this book may not be for you. This is the story of how mainly one character, Shawn, leaves his isolation behind and joins the world. Somewhat, anyway, he at least opens himself up to Kenneth, Melanie and the suicidal woman. He’s at least willing to believe in love again (sounds so clichéd, but I’m not quite sure how else to put it). You can’t conquer all your demons, after all.

So. To reiterate. I love this book. You should read it. Enough said.

(Also, it's only $2.99 on amazon.com and you can also borrow it if you're part of Amazon Prime. So, c'mon people, you spend more than that on coffee.)

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book was not my cup of tea. Several things about it annoyed me, including everything about the nine year old Melanie, Shawn's way of speaking without contractions, and the fact that his actions didn't make sense to me. He avoided contact with other people, but then for some unknown reason accepted the friendship of the most annoying child of all time quite quickly. There were several times that their conversations veered off in crazy directions that completely lost me. I imagined that if I were with them in reality, I'd just be staring blankly at them wondering what the fuck they were smoking. I also found much of the book (the whole drive to Kansas) to be boring.

All that said, I didn't hate the book, and found some of the sarcastic dialogue to be humorous. I also learned more than I typically learn from reading fiction (I'll never think of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz the same again), so that was a nice change. It has left me rather depressed, though, so I'm off to read some light and fluffy porn!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

How to begin this, I'm still reeling, my thoughts and emotions feel tumultuous regarding this story. Hmm, if any of you are familiar with Rose Christo's blog and her posts, you know that she never really mentioned her books. It was all about her interests but particularly it was about getting the word out there about indigenous issues-touching primarily on the the loss of their children. That is the premise of this novel.

Shawn Wapaw is a 22yr. old who lost his sight as a young boy at the hands of his foster parent. He has spent the last few years in self imposed isolation. Having the financial means to do so, he has lived a hollow and frozen existence until a cheeky brazen 9 yr. old stumbles into his life with the gentility of a sledgehammer. Although reticent at first-actually he tries to buy them out of their home-Shawn slowly builds a friendship with Melanie. Being Innu he feels a sort of kinship with her as she is also a fostered child from the Chippewa tribe. On one of his internet ventures he discovers that a member in the forum plans to commit suicide; seeking help doesn't work so he takes steps to stop it, even if he has to make the trip himself. Circumstances leave him with no choice but to accept Melanie's and her father Kenneth's help and the 3 of them set out together. For Shawn the trip turns into a journey of self discovery, leaving him no choice but to face his worst fears.

Melanie is an outgoing and outspoken child for her age and she takes to Shawn, quickly learning that his prickly and acerbic attitude is just superficial. Although she misses her real family she loves her Pops and is happy with him.

Kenneth is a man with his own physical scars, product of an automobile accident. Extremely kind, he is a gentle man who is just trying to be a good father and make his daughter happy. His relationship with Shawn begins on shaky ground but the trip brings them together in an unexpected way. Shawn said it best. 'Only a blind man could look at him without seeing those scars. My blindness, in turn, made me horribly selfish. And only a selfless man could look at me and see someone worth knowing.'

The idea that people would not only actually push a person to go ahead with suicide but to actually tell them to do it live is sickening, but it's also tragic that a person can feel so alone and lost that they think it's the only way to escape. Shawn made it a little hard to like him at first, but as you gradually get to know him it's easier to understand him and his ways. Melanie is just a wonderful girl, her Pops lets her get away with a lot; it's a good thing Daddio (Shawn) helps out.

I've come to realize that with Christo's stories I can expect a warmth in my heart, but that's after she's made it bleed. This one rings a little harder than her previous works because there where certain times while I read that I felt it wasn't really Shawn but her talking at me. It felt like her pain, loss, and helplessness was imbued in the pages. Another winning story for me.

[Mare SLiTsReaD Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to wonder why more people have not read this book.
That thing about words....

this book was so poignant and deep, sad and uplifting, factual and believable.

My heart. Gah my heart.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up without knowing anything about it. Its scant blurb doesn't really help the reader in picturing what it might be about, except for the storyline that provides the backbone to the narrative.

Having just finished it, I can say that I'm glad I started reading it without knowing more details because Snowblind by Rose Christo is one of the most surprising and unsettling novels I've read in a while.

Shawn Wapaw is a 22-year-old Innu Indian rendered blind by a vicious attack suffered at the age of twelve. He's also a reclusive millionaire, suspicious of other people and tormented by the injustices perpetrated by the American government with regards to the forced adoption of young Native children taken away from their homes and basically sold to white American families.

The unexpected arrival of 9-year-old Melanie and her adoptive father Kenneth will transform Shawn's life.

Beware, though, there's nothing stereotypical or obvious in this book.

Each in their own way, the three main characters are far removed from 'normal' society and find protection and understanding firstly amongst themselves and only later, and warily, when they try to open up to the wider world.

Incapacitated in seeing what surrounds him, Shawn has an uncanny capacity of looking inside the people he deals with. His outlook is shaped by his tragic past and by the complex and wide-reaching myths of the Innu culture he frequently recounts throughout the novel to make sense of things. His narration is sarcastic, insightful, moving and surprising and provides the perfect echo chamber for Kenneth's soft-spoken kindness and Melanie's sass and opinionated interventions.

I'm not a fan of children in books, I tend to find them annoying or flat, but I was surprisingly intrigued by Melanie. She doesn't sound at all like a 9-year-old girl, but Snowblind is a book where things aren't what they seem and where what you see - and the expectations that go with it - are superfluous constructs that must be shed to really grasp the truth.

Kenneth, with his silences, his bizarre non-sequiturs, his secrets, is a solid presence grounding both Melanie and Shawn. There are many scenes when Kenneth provides physical support to the other two characters - a shoulder, an elbow, a touch of his massive and gentle hands. These small gestures are amongst the numerous moving moments in the book.

The background of life in the reservations and of the injustice perpetrated against Native American children provides the novel with a very unsettling social element that opened up a scenario that was completely unknown to me.

Perhaps this novel is not perfect from a strictly literary point of view - some narrative passages would have benefited from some extra tightening - but it's profound and moving and I cannot but recommend it.

It was a surprising discovery and I can't wait to read more by Rose Christo.

[Nova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shawn Wapaw has two weeks to stop a suicide six hundred and sixty miles away. Shawn Wapaw is blind.

There’s so much more to this book than the blurb suggests. It’s thought-provoking, sad and at the same time full of hope.

Shawn has an unique and sarcastic worldview and it was beautiful to see him interact with Melanie and Kenneth. It’s not a love story like most of the books in our genre. It’s about family, about injustices and about life.

An unusual but great book!

[Yoshi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's more like a 3.5* for me.
The writing is beautiful. The characters were well written. But the little girl annoyed me a lot because she acted like a smartass. The story is too short for me. I have the feeling that there's too much information squeezed together, without much explanation. (maybe I lack imagination....LOL) If I haven't read the Gives Light series before to learn more about the native, I won't be able to understand much. I wonder if it really happened, that the government just took the kids from the native families away for adoption. It's what I am going to google next.

[Silke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skipped through the pages only. Couldn't read it entirely because Kenneth's daughter is such a smart-ass and it felt like she's in 99% of the scenes (so annoying!). Plus there's no sex at all (!) and the book feels like it only consists of dialogs O.O

[SaturNalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Shawn is a blind, rich, sarcastic hermit, who likes being alone; so much so he owns both houses flanking his home. Kenneth and his adoptive daughter, Melanie move in to house in front of Shawn and he doesn't like it. He tries to bribe them to move out. Melanie is nine going on 30, I found her unbelievable as a child. She starts to visit Shawn and grows accustomed to her presence. Story turns into to a road romance, when Shawn, Kenneth and Melanie go on a road trip to save Amy who threatened suicide on one of Shawn's blogs. The romance between Shawn and Kenneth is slow to build, which was fine because Shawn needed to change before he could love someone else. I wish I knew more about Kenneth, who was endlessly patient and kind and supportive.

[Kat]

What's going ooonnn? Why hasn't anyone of you reviewed this one yet, my trustworthy friends?

[Meraxes Targaryen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really a huge fan of this author, she didn't let me down with this book, though is rawer than any other of her novels that I've had the pleasure to read, the world is an unfair place, the irony and the cruel intentions it possesses are overwhelmings, but there's joy if you know where to find it, and kindness, I think that in current times, when sometimes all seems to be going backwards, we need to be reminded that there are good things too, that there are people with good intentions, that there is love.. and this book reminded me all that, a heartbreaking and realistic story, 4 stars :)

[Sara Schultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Her main characters are usually really nice, it's refreshing to read about someone going out of his way to be disagreeable.

[Jaxx · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved, LOVED this story. Heartbreaking. Poetic. And full of child antics from a certain little girl that had me laughing.

[Jan VL · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like books with characters that have a disability. The way the author wrote also made me really feel that the MC was blind and struggling with it. It was a sweet romance, no angst at all. The only reason why I didn't rate it 5 stars was because I found the end dragging a bit. The main plot was already concluded when they saved Amy from committing suicide and they were sort of talking about how they wanted to move on, but it never came. It just ended. So for me it either had to end when the main plot was finished, or it had to be longer so that we'd actually see what they'd end up doing. The ending felt sort of unnecessary now.
Other than that it was a great story. I loved Shawn. He was so witty and I love witty characters. His interactions with Melanie are the best! The romance was not a major focus point of the story but what was included was sweet.
Btw, there wasn't sex so don't start reading this book if that's what you're looking for. If you're looking for just a good book to read, I'd recommend this, yes.

[blub · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just notice how short the blurb was and it does pretty much sum up what the book is partially about. Shawn is blind due to a tragic accident that occurred in his childhood while he was in foster home. He kinds of comes off as a jerk at the start trying to pay off a neighbor who has a bit of a inconsiderate child who just wanders over and into Shawn's home. Right off the bat they're not on good terms but as the story develops they all grow close. Their relationship development deepens when they discover Shawn is trying to stop a suicide of a girl he met on bomb making forum(?).

Overall it wasn't too bad of a read and there was a issue brought to my attention that I never knew about (had to google Indian Child Welfare Act). It was very educational and had a good storyline.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Difficult to review this book, simply because I have never read anything quite like it before. It is dark, sad, funny, uplifting, depressing, claustrophobic and intense story with twists that were totally unexpected and characters who were 'real'. I loved the way the relationships ( all of them!) developed slowly instead of that dreaded 'insta-lurve' that ruins so many books. I had not realised that this was m/m although to be honest, this was not a story about that, it was far far more. My only real niggles are that the incident with Amy was far too improbable and the ending was rather 'flat' - a little bit 'meh' somehow, although that may well have been the author's intention.

A very 'different' story, which I will read again.

[Michelle Mednik · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a different story with twists

This book is different. It has some unique twists that I did not expect. To me the book was a little choppy reading and did not flow well. The native American stories are interesting. It would have been nice to have a dictionary pronunciation of those words. I would read more from this author.

[Alexandria]

I'm not sure if I'm emotionally ready for this book.

[Juxian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another beautiful, sad, fragile and unique book of Rose Christo.