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Once, in Lourdes
A poignant novel of teenage friendship set during a two-week span in the turbulent summer of 1968, in which four friends make a pact that will change their lives forever.
Four high school friends stand on the brink of adulthood—and on the high ledge above the sea at the local park in Lourdes, Michigan, they call the Haight—and make a pact. For the next two weeks, they will live for each other and for each day. And at the end of the two weeks, they will stand once again on the bluff and jump, sacrificing themselves on the altar of their friendship. Loyal Kate, beautiful Vera, witty C.J., and steady Saint—in a two-week span, their lives will change beyond their expectations, and what they gain and lose will determine whether they enter adulthood or hold fast to their pledge. Once, in Lourdes is a haunting and moving novel of the power of teenage bonds, the story of four characters who will win your heart and transport you back to your own high school years.
Four high school friends stand on the brink of adulthood—and on the high ledge above the sea at the local park in Lourdes, Michigan, they call the Haight—and make a pact. For the next two weeks, they will live for each other and for each day. And at the end of the two weeks, they will stand once again on the bluff and jump, sacrificing themselves on the altar of their friendship. Loyal Kate, beautiful Vera, witty C.J., and steady Saint—in a two-week span, their lives will change beyond their expectations, and what they gain and lose will determine whether they enter adulthood or hold fast to their pledge. Once, in Lourdes is a haunting and moving novel of the power of teenage bonds, the story of four characters who will win your heart and transport you back to your own high school years.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 30, 2017
10 people are currently reading
541 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Solwitz
8 books9 followersSharon Solwitz is a fiction writer and professor based in Chicago, Illinois. She is the author of the short story collection Blood and Milk and the novel Bloody Mary, both of which were published by Sarabande Books. Tom Perotta and Heidi Pitlor selected her story "Alive" for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories 2012. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1991, and teaches creative writing at Purdue University. She is married to the poet Barry Silesky.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
April 3, 2017
I'd love to ask the author Sharon Solwitz about the title of this novel. As far as I know - there is not a 'real' town called "Lourdes" in Michigan.....but what I find interesting-and perhaps symbolic & fitting to this story is that Madonna's daughter's name is 'Lourdes',
who is currently a student at the University of Michigan.
"Lourdes" is reference to the Virgin Mary.
"Lourdes, France"..... is the most visited pilgrimage shrine in the Christian world.
So, "Once, in Lourdes" .....it is!!! Four Teens in Lourdes, Michigan-in the summer of 1968. They were all in accelerated classes in school. Bright teenagers with troubles. They liked to play bridge in a park they called, "The Haight".
There is definitely no mistake about the time period in which this story takes place when we read an excerpt like this: (family dinner table talk)
"With that mess in Vietnam, thank God they had girls, said my dad, and Arlyn
raised her pretty hands in despair. She hated Nixon, but he had the best chance of working it out. "Mom", Elise said. "I can't believe you said that!" Tomorrow she and friends were driving down to Chicago to campaign for Eugene McCarthy. Clean for Gene. I glanced at my father, who had fought in Korea and feared Communism more than death. An avoider of emotional conflict, he was busy eating."
Arlyn was Kay's step mother. Elise was Kay's step sister. Kay's birth mother committed suicide when she was 11 years old. Kay loves her dad, -sometimes feel sorry for him- and thinks he did a good job of replacing her mother by marrying Arlyn.
Kay's big wish, knowing it's vain and pathetic is to lose weight, wear a two piece bathing suit and walk down to the beach.
Vera had thick pale blond hair, and blue eyes. She was a gorgeous thin beauty with a malformed right hand. "Her three middle fingers were barely emergent with tiny fingernails and the palm was undersize". It was a birth defect. Vera didn't hide her hand ---she painted her tiny finger nails bright red.... even more than her physical beauty she exerted powerful magnetism and was fearless. Vera counted 17 different sex partners- yet she herself was not quite 17
Saint didn't arrive at the high school until the middle of the sophomore year. His silences contained depths of pain "felt and transmuted". He came from Detroit. He was the only one of the group who worked: he had too.
CJ is Jewish and craves stories about the holocaust.....as his father survived Auschwitz.
Kay, Vera, Saint, and CJ had reached a compromise beyond their individual desires. They laughed "ferociously". Their project was to do everything they could ever dream to do for the next two weeks. Then five days before the start of school of their last day of high school… which was also Vera's 17th birthday, they would climb the cyclone fence by the bluff, hold hands on the tippy-toe edge, ( scream some Profanity), and jump!
Kay had dropped 10 lbs in 10 days....
but the world was changing fast - and these kids were trying to take control of their world that was spinning out of control. It wasn't possible to live every dream they wished ---
Cigarettes, drugs, sexual activity, teen depression, anxiety, we are on the rise. Words to music were especially powerful and influencing- outside forces were strong forces!
....kids were looking for meaning - for purpose. So much confusion being a teenager. Who to blame?
It's not easy to guess the ending of this novel. It could have gone many ways.
Challenging topic - Sharon Solwitz gives insights into her characters psyches...
It's just not easy to understand- for any reason - why a group of teens would choose to want to end their lives together.
Written with tender compassion-- and feels very authentic!
Thank You Netgalley, Random House Publishing, and Sharon Solwitz
who is currently a student at the University of Michigan.
"Lourdes" is reference to the Virgin Mary.
"Lourdes, France"..... is the most visited pilgrimage shrine in the Christian world.
So, "Once, in Lourdes" .....it is!!! Four Teens in Lourdes, Michigan-in the summer of 1968. They were all in accelerated classes in school. Bright teenagers with troubles. They liked to play bridge in a park they called, "The Haight".
There is definitely no mistake about the time period in which this story takes place when we read an excerpt like this: (family dinner table talk)
"With that mess in Vietnam, thank God they had girls, said my dad, and Arlyn
raised her pretty hands in despair. She hated Nixon, but he had the best chance of working it out. "Mom", Elise said. "I can't believe you said that!" Tomorrow she and friends were driving down to Chicago to campaign for Eugene McCarthy. Clean for Gene. I glanced at my father, who had fought in Korea and feared Communism more than death. An avoider of emotional conflict, he was busy eating."
Arlyn was Kay's step mother. Elise was Kay's step sister. Kay's birth mother committed suicide when she was 11 years old. Kay loves her dad, -sometimes feel sorry for him- and thinks he did a good job of replacing her mother by marrying Arlyn.
Kay's big wish, knowing it's vain and pathetic is to lose weight, wear a two piece bathing suit and walk down to the beach.
Vera had thick pale blond hair, and blue eyes. She was a gorgeous thin beauty with a malformed right hand. "Her three middle fingers were barely emergent with tiny fingernails and the palm was undersize". It was a birth defect. Vera didn't hide her hand ---she painted her tiny finger nails bright red.... even more than her physical beauty she exerted powerful magnetism and was fearless. Vera counted 17 different sex partners- yet she herself was not quite 17
Saint didn't arrive at the high school until the middle of the sophomore year. His silences contained depths of pain "felt and transmuted". He came from Detroit. He was the only one of the group who worked: he had too.
CJ is Jewish and craves stories about the holocaust.....as his father survived Auschwitz.
Kay, Vera, Saint, and CJ had reached a compromise beyond their individual desires. They laughed "ferociously". Their project was to do everything they could ever dream to do for the next two weeks. Then five days before the start of school of their last day of high school… which was also Vera's 17th birthday, they would climb the cyclone fence by the bluff, hold hands on the tippy-toe edge, ( scream some Profanity), and jump!
Kay had dropped 10 lbs in 10 days....
but the world was changing fast - and these kids were trying to take control of their world that was spinning out of control. It wasn't possible to live every dream they wished ---
Cigarettes, drugs, sexual activity, teen depression, anxiety, we are on the rise. Words to music were especially powerful and influencing- outside forces were strong forces!
....kids were looking for meaning - for purpose. So much confusion being a teenager. Who to blame?
It's not easy to guess the ending of this novel. It could have gone many ways.
Challenging topic - Sharon Solwitz gives insights into her characters psyches...
It's just not easy to understand- for any reason - why a group of teens would choose to want to end their lives together.
Written with tender compassion-- and feels very authentic!
Thank You Netgalley, Random House Publishing, and Sharon Solwitz
April 27, 2017
3.5 stars, rounded up
1968. Bob Dylan on the transistor radio, reading Tao Te Ching, dropping acid, the convention protests in Chicago, discussing the Vietnam War around the dinner table. Solwitz sets the stage for these four misfit teenagers who are best friends and she does a good job of describing the place and time. The four make a suicide pact with the intention of giving themselves two weeks before carrying it out. Initially told from Kay’s perspective, you know from the get go that she, at least, survives. Her part of the narrative is filled with references to her memory and how she is seeing what happened then through the lens of how things played out.
You feel for these kids. Everyone can remember how as a teenager everything seems so final and important, that bad times will never get better. Everything is always so black and white at that age. But while I felt for them, I had a hard time getting into their heads. Am I that old? They seemed somehow obtuse, too dense to infiltrate. I felt more like I was watching them from above. Or watching a movie about them.
There is enough tension here to keep you engaged. You want to know, who, if any of them, might follow through on The Pact. And then, the ending. OMG. So sad and heart rendering.
My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.
1968. Bob Dylan on the transistor radio, reading Tao Te Ching, dropping acid, the convention protests in Chicago, discussing the Vietnam War around the dinner table. Solwitz sets the stage for these four misfit teenagers who are best friends and she does a good job of describing the place and time. The four make a suicide pact with the intention of giving themselves two weeks before carrying it out. Initially told from Kay’s perspective, you know from the get go that she, at least, survives. Her part of the narrative is filled with references to her memory and how she is seeing what happened then through the lens of how things played out.
You feel for these kids. Everyone can remember how as a teenager everything seems so final and important, that bad times will never get better. Everything is always so black and white at that age. But while I felt for them, I had a hard time getting into their heads. Am I that old? They seemed somehow obtuse, too dense to infiltrate. I felt more like I was watching them from above. Or watching a movie about them.
There is enough tension here to keep you engaged. You want to know, who, if any of them, might follow through on The Pact. And then, the ending. OMG. So sad and heart rendering.
My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.
April 25, 2017
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Sharon Solwitz, and the publisher, Spiegel & Grau, for this opportunity.
The summer of 1968. Four best friends are faced with a forever uncertain future. Their tight-knit group is set to be infiltrated and disrupted by their impending adulthood. That is, unless they take their futures into their own hands and eradicate it. A suicide pact gives them just fourteen days to live and experience everything they want from their lives, before they end it on their own terms and how they want to - together.
This was such a strange and unsettling read. The pact is promised quite early on in the text and the entire novel is overshadowed by the knowledge of the doom that is awaiting the foursome, in the very near future. This lent an air of solemnity to this, even when the events depicted where of an opposite nature.
The four characters where given almost equal narrative time. This split-perspective ensured that each backstory and home-life was known to the reader, as well as the particulars concerning their drastic decision to end their young lives. The four were very different but their sadness was something shared, and therefore almost palpable. Grief became the fifth character, in this book.
The time period, this was set in, also had an impact on the events of the plot. These erratic times, and the disparate influences available to the youth, gave them no certainty in their lives, with which to anchor themselves. However, this was both a look at how a changing world effected the emerging generation, and a timeless yet startling insight into the coming-of-age psyche, marked forever by this uncertainty.
Whilst this was an entirely engaging novel, but it was the last quarter that really demanded my attention. The sheer amount of emotion, exhibited from this novel, was overwhelming. The suspense, that haunted the previous sections, had continued to grow until it was unleashed on both characters and reader, at the end. This liberal emotional outpouring did not make for easy reading but it certainly made for a captivating one.
The summer of 1968. Four best friends are faced with a forever uncertain future. Their tight-knit group is set to be infiltrated and disrupted by their impending adulthood. That is, unless they take their futures into their own hands and eradicate it. A suicide pact gives them just fourteen days to live and experience everything they want from their lives, before they end it on their own terms and how they want to - together.
This was such a strange and unsettling read. The pact is promised quite early on in the text and the entire novel is overshadowed by the knowledge of the doom that is awaiting the foursome, in the very near future. This lent an air of solemnity to this, even when the events depicted where of an opposite nature.
The four characters where given almost equal narrative time. This split-perspective ensured that each backstory and home-life was known to the reader, as well as the particulars concerning their drastic decision to end their young lives. The four were very different but their sadness was something shared, and therefore almost palpable. Grief became the fifth character, in this book.
The time period, this was set in, also had an impact on the events of the plot. These erratic times, and the disparate influences available to the youth, gave them no certainty in their lives, with which to anchor themselves. However, this was both a look at how a changing world effected the emerging generation, and a timeless yet startling insight into the coming-of-age psyche, marked forever by this uncertainty.
Whilst this was an entirely engaging novel, but it was the last quarter that really demanded my attention. The sheer amount of emotion, exhibited from this novel, was overwhelming. The suspense, that haunted the previous sections, had continued to grow until it was unleashed on both characters and reader, at the end. This liberal emotional outpouring did not make for easy reading but it certainly made for a captivating one.
March 30, 2018
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
“Once in Lourdes” by Sharon Solwitz, takes place in a small town in 1968, where four inseparable teenagers vow to live this summer as if it is their last- which of course it is since the same four have also made a suicide pact. Vera, CJ, Saint and Kay spend the summer exploring themselves (and each other) with careless disregard and fearless abandon, knowing the consequences they suffer will be short-lived. However as the time grows nearer, fears and doubts begin to blossom and we are left questioning if they will indeed go through with their ill-fated pact.
This novel was just barely 3.5 stars. I almost did not finish it on several occasions, and really only remained remotely interested because I wanted to see who (if any) would follow through with the pact. The novel was too long in spots (CJ and Kay going to Chicago to join a peaceful protest with a bunch of hippies spoke to the era, sure, but did not provide much else by way of plot development) and although there were parts I enjoyed (the very dysfunctional backgrounds of all of the teenaged protagonists for example), they were not nearly interesting enough to keep me engaged.
The characters’ language was pretentious and unnecessarily complex. I am not one to say teenagers are stupid or uneducated (by any means) however they do not often sit around contemplating the philosophical theories of the Tao Te Ching while playing bridge. It was a little ridiculous and unrealistic. I felt like the author was going for a “Perks of Being a Wallflower” vibe (fascinating novel with a great movie adaptation), but simply fell flat with her whiny, verbose characters and their angst-ridden love affairs.
It is evident the author has some creative writing experience, as Ms. Solwitz seems skilled in character development and is able to keep the plot moving fluidly (it was not at all choppy, or broken, and seemed to follow a steady stream). The ending also added a little bit of surprise for a reader, which is always a good thing. I enjoyed Kay as a character more than the rest of them, as she had the honest self-wariness and insecurities that we expect to see from a teenaged protagonist. This novel was recommended to me because I read Emma Cline’s “The Girls”, and I do see some similarities between the two novels (including taking place during the same time period). Ms. Solwitz’s novel would definitely be for anyone who was a huge fan of “The Girls” (I was also only moderately impressed with this novel, too) or readers interested in the sixties as a time period. The novel is well written for sure, but I craved more drama and less vocabulary.
“Once in Lourdes” by Sharon Solwitz, takes place in a small town in 1968, where four inseparable teenagers vow to live this summer as if it is their last- which of course it is since the same four have also made a suicide pact. Vera, CJ, Saint and Kay spend the summer exploring themselves (and each other) with careless disregard and fearless abandon, knowing the consequences they suffer will be short-lived. However as the time grows nearer, fears and doubts begin to blossom and we are left questioning if they will indeed go through with their ill-fated pact.
This novel was just barely 3.5 stars. I almost did not finish it on several occasions, and really only remained remotely interested because I wanted to see who (if any) would follow through with the pact. The novel was too long in spots (CJ and Kay going to Chicago to join a peaceful protest with a bunch of hippies spoke to the era, sure, but did not provide much else by way of plot development) and although there were parts I enjoyed (the very dysfunctional backgrounds of all of the teenaged protagonists for example), they were not nearly interesting enough to keep me engaged.
The characters’ language was pretentious and unnecessarily complex. I am not one to say teenagers are stupid or uneducated (by any means) however they do not often sit around contemplating the philosophical theories of the Tao Te Ching while playing bridge. It was a little ridiculous and unrealistic. I felt like the author was going for a “Perks of Being a Wallflower” vibe (fascinating novel with a great movie adaptation), but simply fell flat with her whiny, verbose characters and their angst-ridden love affairs.
It is evident the author has some creative writing experience, as Ms. Solwitz seems skilled in character development and is able to keep the plot moving fluidly (it was not at all choppy, or broken, and seemed to follow a steady stream). The ending also added a little bit of surprise for a reader, which is always a good thing. I enjoyed Kay as a character more than the rest of them, as she had the honest self-wariness and insecurities that we expect to see from a teenaged protagonist. This novel was recommended to me because I read Emma Cline’s “The Girls”, and I do see some similarities between the two novels (including taking place during the same time period). Ms. Solwitz’s novel would definitely be for anyone who was a huge fan of “The Girls” (I was also only moderately impressed with this novel, too) or readers interested in the sixties as a time period. The novel is well written for sure, but I craved more drama and less vocabulary.
May 31, 2017
I just have to say it: this book made me uncomfortable. It'll probably make you uncomfortable too. It's an odd story, yet beautifully written and poignant in many ways. I was at times reminded of The Girls but a lot of that may have simply been the time period. It's 1968, and the world is changing... but four friends plan to stay behind.
Two girls and two boys form a unique group of friends. It's clear from the way they speak that they're all intelligent, but not without their own individual issues. I'm not sure if I've known a teenager in my lifetime that express their thoughts anything like these four do. It was at times hard to remember they were supposed to be so young... but then their complete naivety reminded me. All confused about themselves and angry at the world for different reasons, they are fiercely loyal only to each other. Anyone seen as encroaching on the group isn't welcome. Despite some jealousy and unrequited feelings, they're in it together. When one of the girls hints that she's thinking of jumping to her death after a traumatic experience she hides from the group, they initially try to talk her out of it. She's resolute. Soon it's decided that if she goes... they all go. Together. Giving themselves two weeks to do things that make themselves happy, they all agree that they'll jump into the sea on a certain date and end it all. What will happen in these two weeks and will they keep their pact?
I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group, thank you! My opinion is honest and unbiased.
Two girls and two boys form a unique group of friends. It's clear from the way they speak that they're all intelligent, but not without their own individual issues. I'm not sure if I've known a teenager in my lifetime that express their thoughts anything like these four do. It was at times hard to remember they were supposed to be so young... but then their complete naivety reminded me. All confused about themselves and angry at the world for different reasons, they are fiercely loyal only to each other. Anyone seen as encroaching on the group isn't welcome. Despite some jealousy and unrequited feelings, they're in it together. When one of the girls hints that she's thinking of jumping to her death after a traumatic experience she hides from the group, they initially try to talk her out of it. She's resolute. Soon it's decided that if she goes... they all go. Together. Giving themselves two weeks to do things that make themselves happy, they all agree that they'll jump into the sea on a certain date and end it all. What will happen in these two weeks and will they keep their pact?
I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group, thank you! My opinion is honest and unbiased.
will-probably-not-finish
October 18, 2017I have stopped reading this book at some point and then just never picked it back up again. I am trying to be more honest to myself about not finishing books - I am somehow rarely absolutely sure I won't finish a book (which is why the shelf is called "will probably not finish"); I am eternally optimistic that I at some point maybe will feel like picking the book up again, but I practically never do.
This is my longwinded way of saying: I will not be finishing this book. It is not a bad book but just not one for me. I found the friendship at the heart of this book unconvincing and artificial. For a group of friends to make a suicide pack, I need to believe their friendship, believe that they are the world to each other and here I did not. I also found Vera unbelievably vain and annoying and could not believe she'd be the heart of this group. I know how weirdly toxic teenage-friendships can be and how unreal they can seem from the outside (I mean, I was a teenage girl at some point and I cannot believe the weird friendships I had) but this did not work for me.
____
I received an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for that!
This is my longwinded way of saying: I will not be finishing this book. It is not a bad book but just not one for me. I found the friendship at the heart of this book unconvincing and artificial. For a group of friends to make a suicide pack, I need to believe their friendship, believe that they are the world to each other and here I did not. I also found Vera unbelievably vain and annoying and could not believe she'd be the heart of this group. I know how weirdly toxic teenage-friendships can be and how unreal they can seem from the outside (I mean, I was a teenage girl at some point and I cannot believe the weird friendships I had) but this did not work for me.
____
I received an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for that!
May 22, 2017
Four high school friends, all of them troubled teens, make a suicide pact on the bluffs of Lourdes. In two weeks, they will come back to this same spot and jump off the bluffs together. How will each choose to live their last two weeks? The characters’ voices feel authentic, I sympathized with their struggles, saw the potential for good in their souls and wished them all a happy ending. But the story was unsettling and I was not a fan of the direction their paths led. My fault, I should have known what I was getting into after reading other reviews. Some behaviors of these kids on the cusp of adulthood made me uncomfortable. With few exceptions, happy moments overshadowed by sadness and dysfunction is not my cup of tea. Maybe I am just old school, but I would not want my teenager to read this book. Thanks to Random House for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 18, 2017
Strange title, but it fits. Lourdes, Michigan is the small fictional town where this book takes place in the late 60’s. The story is centered around 4 teenage friends, 2 guys, 2 girls. They are misfits at school and broken kids. They come from dysfunctional families and have problems of their own, but they find solace in each other, something to be a part of. I guess this is really a coming of age situation, but there is a catch. They make a pact, that in 2 weeks they will kill themselves. Teenagers are stupid sometimes. The book was dark, but I was intent on finding out if they would carry through with their pact. I was compelled to keep reading. This book felt dreamlike at times, kind of like when you watch a movie and someone is on drugs and the director tries to convey it with moody, artistic filming. I guess there is one point where one of the characters is on drugs, but there are other times when the writing takes on the dreamy foggy atmosphere. There were a few moments that shocked me because I really didn’t see the author going “there” and I did get a little bored with the rambling on of the smart kid. There was also a day or two when I had to read something else because my brain couldn’t handle all the heavy feelings that these kids carried around.
There were some similarities to this book and The Girls by Emma Cline, so if you are a big fan of that book, then this one might interest you.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for providing me with a copy.
There were some similarities to this book and The Girls by Emma Cline, so if you are a big fan of that book, then this one might interest you.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for providing me with a copy.
April 11, 2017
It's 1968 in Lourdes, MI, a fictional town outside of Chicago. The tense and taut atmosphere of '68 is felt throughout. Protests, forceful police, dizzying amount of drugs, and free love. 4 high school kids, each with their own personal conflicts, find friendship and form a tight bond. They agree that their lives would be better if they weren't a part of this world and make a pact to jump from a bluff and end it...in 14 days.
When I read that this was a suicide pact, my attention was alerted. I wanted to know what these teenagers thought, what was their personal dilemma. The common thread seemed to be a dysfunctional home life that played out differently for each of them. Life is tough juggling school, home, identity, and social issues. How did any of us make it out of high school? The characters! The author probed each one so, as a reader, I felt like I knew each one. Vera especially had my interest and a part where she was high on acid. wow. My heart really went out to this girl. I felt deeply for each one as they battled their demons and came to their own conclusions about life.
There was so much tension as the novel came to an end. I was glued to my ipad. Loved it.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read Once, in Lourdes.
When I read that this was a suicide pact, my attention was alerted. I wanted to know what these teenagers thought, what was their personal dilemma. The common thread seemed to be a dysfunctional home life that played out differently for each of them. Life is tough juggling school, home, identity, and social issues. How did any of us make it out of high school? The characters! The author probed each one so, as a reader, I felt like I knew each one. Vera especially had my interest and a part where she was high on acid. wow. My heart really went out to this girl. I felt deeply for each one as they battled their demons and came to their own conclusions about life.
There was so much tension as the novel came to an end. I was glued to my ipad. Loved it.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read Once, in Lourdes.
July 2, 2017
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Kay, Vera, CJ and Saint - four teenagers living in Lourdes, Michigan, in 1968. In love with each other and misunderstood by everyone, the gang make a pledge to jump off the ledge of a local cliff in two weeks time.
TW: Mental health issues, physical abuse, incest, fat phobia.
3.5 stars
This is one of the stories where you have no idea what to think at the start, you think you do in the middle and by the end you’re back to square one but feeling slightly empty like you’ve lost something precious. There’s definitely a lot of depth and emotion in this book, and it’s hidden in the crazy exploits of the kids who are going through so much stuff of their own and not really having anyone but themselves to turn to. Saint has a lot of turned in anger inherited from his father but remains calm, serene but distant on the outside. CJ is gay, and in 1968 that isn’t the best thing to be and he still doesn’t really understand it himself, Vera has a lot of daddy issues, brother issues and also is dealing with a birth defect and then Kay is overweight, had a mother who killed herself and a stepmother she hates. Yeah, lots of issues to explore.
I liked how this book was wild and free at times where things were explored almost accidentally. Because it’s 1968, it’s obvious that a lot of things around sexuality weren’t understood and accepted yet so we see a lot of accidental experimenting with the group such as bisexuality and cross-dressing. It made me uncomfortable at times because it was almost done in a mocking way but at the same time, it was quite beautiful.
I enjoyed most of the characters except Vera who had the most issues out of all the gang but was the most horrible and pushed the others into situations and thoughts that they didn’t want to be in, or have. The Pledge was her idea in the first place (i mean, what kind of person strolls up to their friends and convinces them all to join her in a suicide leap).
The last chapter felt a bit drawn out for me, which meant by the time the thing we were waiting for came about, everything felt a bit stale for me and almost emotionless. It was like everything went from psychedelic colour to grey in the space of a few pages and I didn’t really care any more. I enjoyed most of the story though, it was a wild ride.
Would be good for people who liked The Careful Undressing of Love, .
Kay, Vera, CJ and Saint - four teenagers living in Lourdes, Michigan, in 1968. In love with each other and misunderstood by everyone, the gang make a pledge to jump off the ledge of a local cliff in two weeks time.
TW: Mental health issues, physical abuse, incest, fat phobia.
3.5 stars
This is one of the stories where you have no idea what to think at the start, you think you do in the middle and by the end you’re back to square one but feeling slightly empty like you’ve lost something precious. There’s definitely a lot of depth and emotion in this book, and it’s hidden in the crazy exploits of the kids who are going through so much stuff of their own and not really having anyone but themselves to turn to. Saint has a lot of turned in anger inherited from his father but remains calm, serene but distant on the outside. CJ is gay, and in 1968 that isn’t the best thing to be and he still doesn’t really understand it himself, Vera has a lot of daddy issues, brother issues and also is dealing with a birth defect and then Kay is overweight, had a mother who killed herself and a stepmother she hates. Yeah, lots of issues to explore.
I liked how this book was wild and free at times where things were explored almost accidentally. Because it’s 1968, it’s obvious that a lot of things around sexuality weren’t understood and accepted yet so we see a lot of accidental experimenting with the group such as bisexuality and cross-dressing. It made me uncomfortable at times because it was almost done in a mocking way but at the same time, it was quite beautiful.
I enjoyed most of the characters except Vera who had the most issues out of all the gang but was the most horrible and pushed the others into situations and thoughts that they didn’t want to be in, or have. The Pledge was her idea in the first place (i mean, what kind of person strolls up to their friends and convinces them all to join her in a suicide leap).
The last chapter felt a bit drawn out for me, which meant by the time the thing we were waiting for came about, everything felt a bit stale for me and almost emotionless. It was like everything went from psychedelic colour to grey in the space of a few pages and I didn’t really care any more. I enjoyed most of the story though, it was a wild ride.
Would be good for people who liked The Careful Undressing of Love, .
April 11, 2017
I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
This book scratched the surface of too many things....teenage angst, not belonging, being fat, gay, confused sexually, different, misunderstood. Throw in the political unrest of the time, the Vietnam war. This group of 4, the misfits of their high school for the reasons above and then some. They make a pledge to kill themselves together and this story is the count down to the day of "The Pledge". Perhaps, because I am no longer a teenager, or in high school (thank God) I wasn't really able to connect with these characters. The story just took me along, often times I had to force myself to stay with it, and I really didn't care about much of it. I finished because I wanted to see if they fulfilled the pledge. I had my suspicions and unfortunately, I was correct at predicting the outcome. Solwitz isn't a bad writer, the book wasn't awful, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
This book scratched the surface of too many things....teenage angst, not belonging, being fat, gay, confused sexually, different, misunderstood. Throw in the political unrest of the time, the Vietnam war. This group of 4, the misfits of their high school for the reasons above and then some. They make a pledge to kill themselves together and this story is the count down to the day of "The Pledge". Perhaps, because I am no longer a teenager, or in high school (thank God) I wasn't really able to connect with these characters. The story just took me along, often times I had to force myself to stay with it, and I really didn't care about much of it. I finished because I wanted to see if they fulfilled the pledge. I had my suspicions and unfortunately, I was correct at predicting the outcome. Solwitz isn't a bad writer, the book wasn't awful, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
April 6, 2017
Thanks to NetGalley & Random House for ARC.
So, I was offered this book to read free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.
What I liked…
I enjoyed the time period the book was set in, which was during Vietnam War era in summer of 1968. Having taken a class in my college studies about the Vietnam War and an overall enjoyment for this period in history, I was definitely intrigued to say the least.
I also enjoyed the close bond that the four friends (Vera, Kay, Saint and CJ) shared. Their friendship actually meant so much to these four that the book starts out with them making a pact to live for each other for two weeks and then subsequently jump off their local bluff in Lourdes, Michigan at the end. So, in essence friends until the end.
What I didn’t like?
The death aspect, for one, really was a bit too morbid for me. But I did have hopes that as the book unfolded we we get a better sense as to why the four friends would want to end their lives at such a crucial time for them.
While the author did her best to explain this, I still really didn’t relate to why the would ultimately make such a final choice here. Plus, the story leading up to it just fell flat for me.
I kept hoping for some big revelation and never really got it. Although there was a few shocking minor reveals, they all seemed a bit contrived to me, such as Vera and her brother Garth. Having a younger brother myself, this plot line just was creepy to me.
That said, I can’t give this one more than 3 stars at best in all honesty.
So, I was offered this book to read free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.
What I liked…
I enjoyed the time period the book was set in, which was during Vietnam War era in summer of 1968. Having taken a class in my college studies about the Vietnam War and an overall enjoyment for this period in history, I was definitely intrigued to say the least.
I also enjoyed the close bond that the four friends (Vera, Kay, Saint and CJ) shared. Their friendship actually meant so much to these four that the book starts out with them making a pact to live for each other for two weeks and then subsequently jump off their local bluff in Lourdes, Michigan at the end. So, in essence friends until the end.
What I didn’t like?
The death aspect, for one, really was a bit too morbid for me. But I did have hopes that as the book unfolded we we get a better sense as to why the four friends would want to end their lives at such a crucial time for them.
While the author did her best to explain this, I still really didn’t relate to why the would ultimately make such a final choice here. Plus, the story leading up to it just fell flat for me.
I kept hoping for some big revelation and never really got it. Although there was a few shocking minor reveals, they all seemed a bit contrived to me, such as Vera and her brother Garth. Having a younger brother myself, this plot line just was creepy to me.
That said, I can’t give this one more than 3 stars at best in all honesty.
April 11, 2017
What a heartbreaking novel, with an ending that made me almost miss by subway train transfer this morning! There is a lot to unpack with Once, In Lourdes. Centered around four best friends during the summer before their senior year of college in 1968, the story jumps around between the four friends as the reader struggles to learn why in two weeks after the novel begins, they will all commit suicide together.
While the plot is intriguing, albeit morbid, the highlight of the novel for me was Solwitz’s beautiful writing. Her language choices are unexpected, and she does a great job transporting the reader to that era. It also makes you care about the characters more, and urges you to move forward through the book to see what will become of them.
There are many upsetting plot points, so this is certainly not a breezy and fun read despite it’s colorful and fun cover. Although I didn’t absolutely fall in love with the novel, I don’t think it will be leaving me anytime soon.
While the plot is intriguing, albeit morbid, the highlight of the novel for me was Solwitz’s beautiful writing. Her language choices are unexpected, and she does a great job transporting the reader to that era. It also makes you care about the characters more, and urges you to move forward through the book to see what will become of them.
There are many upsetting plot points, so this is certainly not a breezy and fun read despite it’s colorful and fun cover. Although I didn’t absolutely fall in love with the novel, I don’t think it will be leaving me anytime soon.
April 11, 2017
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com...
“There are times in a person’s life when, even as an event is occurring, you know you might not ever understand it.”
This is another novel that left me with feeling ‘off’. What time is less understood, as you’re living it, than your teenage ones? In this novel, a pact is made by four high school friends upon a ledge above the sea at the local park in Lourdes, Michigan (which they call ‘The Haight”. It’s not your usual sort of pact, in fact is is a final one. Each swears to stand on the same ledge and jump into the ‘infinite’, putting an end to their miserable existence but in a strange ode to their tight friendship. As the days move on, the dynamics of their circle changes and nothing can ever go back to the way it was before.
Kate lives with her seemingly perfect step-sister, stepmother and father. Her mother is long gone, in a statement so big Kate wonders if it was meant as a blow her father could never recover from. As fate would have it, the wound has become Kate’s to bear. Her father has new love with Arlyn, “a woman for whom things would always turn out right.” Not like her dead mother, whom loved her more than anything and yet didn’t have a the natural grace and beauty her step-mother has, nor did she have Kate’s father’s attention. Among her friends, the only real connection and love she seems to have in this world, Kate has a semblance of a life. She spends her time abandoning classes meant to ‘improve her mind and body’ in order to be with her pals. Resentful of her father, shunned by his new ‘perfect’ family she carries her losses heavy in her heart and feels ” I was a bucket with a hole in it, never to be filled.” She feels trapped in her heavy body with no hope of love unlike her beautiful friend Vera. Despite her hand deformity, Vera exudes sexuality and a confidence Kate can only dream about. But what boils beneath the surface of her hard exterior leads her to find love with anyone, in order to erase the numbness she carries in every cell of her being. ” So often these days her body feels like a dead thing.” Vera can be sugary sweet and turn with venom without prompting. She carries a burning, shameful secret that will alter not just her future, but her friend’s lives too. Full of fight, never one to be cowed by her ‘imperfection’ she struggles with a volatile father, distant mother and confused brother. Her life to this point serves as the storm that brews within. Naturally boys and men are drawn to her, the relationship she has with her brother and father will make any reader uncomfortable. Beauty, a natural allure can be a curse to any young girl, particularly without a mother’s guidance and protection. Saint comes from his own troubled background. He is the quiet and calm in their noise, but his pain in abysmal. Originally from Detroit, he knows true poverty which dazzles the friends. With a brutal early childhood, he has vowed to be nothing like his violent father. He has a grace that settles over the circle, focused on mantras and religion. Confused about his sexuality, constantly the victim, he is drawn to Vera whose changing moods seems so different from his own. But has he tamed the animal in himself as much as he believes he has? CJ seems to think of his father as a reluctant Jew, angered that he doesn’t share stories of his internment during the holocaust, he hungers after all things holocaust and Nazi related. His little brother looks up to him, and his sexuality is a big question mark that makes him an immediate outcast. There is a confusing attraction he feels for Saint, which complicates the foursome even more. CJ and Kate turn to each other as Saint and Vera become closer, but CJ and Kate can’t help but feel left out still.
The story is an emotional tide, pulling you in with compassion, shoving you back to the shore with anger. The friends don’t talk about each other apart, it’s almost an unspoken rule, but after the pact the the ‘rules’ alter and soon they are pairing off. Everyone is flying off the edge, collapsing in their pain or shedding their skin to morph into someone new. After the next few weeks, no one will ever be the same and the friends may well see the end to the family they made in each-other.
The novel is set in the summer of 1968, which works wonders for the entire novel. I wasn’t alive yet but I felt like I was back in time. Saying ‘things were different then’ is a loose and obvious thing. It was a tumultuous time in American history and the friends are just as chaotic. I felt disturbed by Vera and yet knew girls like her. The fiery girl whom appears to be bursting with life and excitement, can’t fill themselves with enough attention and love and people imagine they live a blessed existence and yet there is a bottomless sadness in them, one that most of us would never want to touch. And poor Kate, I don’t care what sort of beauty a girl evolves into, everyone has a bit of Kate in them, the awkward stage just doesn’t leave everyone at the same speed. The ending had me spinning, and oddly, angry. I can’t wait to discuss it with other readers but to say more will ruin the entire story.
This was different to be sure. While it’s about teenagers, it’s better suited to adults.
Publication Date: May 30, 2017
Random House Publishing
Spiegel & Grau
“There are times in a person’s life when, even as an event is occurring, you know you might not ever understand it.”
This is another novel that left me with feeling ‘off’. What time is less understood, as you’re living it, than your teenage ones? In this novel, a pact is made by four high school friends upon a ledge above the sea at the local park in Lourdes, Michigan (which they call ‘The Haight”. It’s not your usual sort of pact, in fact is is a final one. Each swears to stand on the same ledge and jump into the ‘infinite’, putting an end to their miserable existence but in a strange ode to their tight friendship. As the days move on, the dynamics of their circle changes and nothing can ever go back to the way it was before.
Kate lives with her seemingly perfect step-sister, stepmother and father. Her mother is long gone, in a statement so big Kate wonders if it was meant as a blow her father could never recover from. As fate would have it, the wound has become Kate’s to bear. Her father has new love with Arlyn, “a woman for whom things would always turn out right.” Not like her dead mother, whom loved her more than anything and yet didn’t have a the natural grace and beauty her step-mother has, nor did she have Kate’s father’s attention. Among her friends, the only real connection and love she seems to have in this world, Kate has a semblance of a life. She spends her time abandoning classes meant to ‘improve her mind and body’ in order to be with her pals. Resentful of her father, shunned by his new ‘perfect’ family she carries her losses heavy in her heart and feels ” I was a bucket with a hole in it, never to be filled.” She feels trapped in her heavy body with no hope of love unlike her beautiful friend Vera. Despite her hand deformity, Vera exudes sexuality and a confidence Kate can only dream about. But what boils beneath the surface of her hard exterior leads her to find love with anyone, in order to erase the numbness she carries in every cell of her being. ” So often these days her body feels like a dead thing.” Vera can be sugary sweet and turn with venom without prompting. She carries a burning, shameful secret that will alter not just her future, but her friend’s lives too. Full of fight, never one to be cowed by her ‘imperfection’ she struggles with a volatile father, distant mother and confused brother. Her life to this point serves as the storm that brews within. Naturally boys and men are drawn to her, the relationship she has with her brother and father will make any reader uncomfortable. Beauty, a natural allure can be a curse to any young girl, particularly without a mother’s guidance and protection. Saint comes from his own troubled background. He is the quiet and calm in their noise, but his pain in abysmal. Originally from Detroit, he knows true poverty which dazzles the friends. With a brutal early childhood, he has vowed to be nothing like his violent father. He has a grace that settles over the circle, focused on mantras and religion. Confused about his sexuality, constantly the victim, he is drawn to Vera whose changing moods seems so different from his own. But has he tamed the animal in himself as much as he believes he has? CJ seems to think of his father as a reluctant Jew, angered that he doesn’t share stories of his internment during the holocaust, he hungers after all things holocaust and Nazi related. His little brother looks up to him, and his sexuality is a big question mark that makes him an immediate outcast. There is a confusing attraction he feels for Saint, which complicates the foursome even more. CJ and Kate turn to each other as Saint and Vera become closer, but CJ and Kate can’t help but feel left out still.
The story is an emotional tide, pulling you in with compassion, shoving you back to the shore with anger. The friends don’t talk about each other apart, it’s almost an unspoken rule, but after the pact the the ‘rules’ alter and soon they are pairing off. Everyone is flying off the edge, collapsing in their pain or shedding their skin to morph into someone new. After the next few weeks, no one will ever be the same and the friends may well see the end to the family they made in each-other.
The novel is set in the summer of 1968, which works wonders for the entire novel. I wasn’t alive yet but I felt like I was back in time. Saying ‘things were different then’ is a loose and obvious thing. It was a tumultuous time in American history and the friends are just as chaotic. I felt disturbed by Vera and yet knew girls like her. The fiery girl whom appears to be bursting with life and excitement, can’t fill themselves with enough attention and love and people imagine they live a blessed existence and yet there is a bottomless sadness in them, one that most of us would never want to touch. And poor Kate, I don’t care what sort of beauty a girl evolves into, everyone has a bit of Kate in them, the awkward stage just doesn’t leave everyone at the same speed. The ending had me spinning, and oddly, angry. I can’t wait to discuss it with other readers but to say more will ruin the entire story.
This was different to be sure. While it’s about teenagers, it’s better suited to adults.
Publication Date: May 30, 2017
Random House Publishing
Spiegel & Grau
September 4, 2017
It's hard to know what to feel about this book. The premise (that four suburban teens make a suicide pact) seems preposterous, but maybe it only feels preposterous because their reasons for doing so are flimsy at best (with one exception). This is one element of a more pervasive problem, which is that the whole book lacks stability; characters swing from one emotional extreme to another, often in the space of one sentence or less, with no prompting and no explanation. They're constantly complaining that they don't understand each other (despite being willing to die for each other), and after a while it starts to feel like Solwitz doesn't really understand them either. The two main narrative players are underdeveloped but overly familiar: the caustic damaged pretty girl whose every transgression is pardoned by her inexplicable allure (which only works on the other characters, not the reader), and the strong, silent type (who seems to be silent largely because there's really nothing going on in his head). Despite their volatile declarations of love for each other, it's hard to believe them and, moreover, hard to care. So why the three stars? Well, Solwitz's prose is engaging, her supporting characters far more endearing than the star-crossed kind-of-lovers, and her portrait of the mundane agonies of adolescence convincing even if the story as a whole is not. It's a book that leaves you wishing it had been just a little bit better overall, because so much of it is so good.
July 6, 2017
Kay was 11 years old when her mother killed herself. Kay is in high school and an outcast. Kay feels like an outcast in her family as her stepmother nags her to lose the extra 40 pounds of weight. She has three other friends who are also outcasts. Vera has a deformed hand, CJ is a son of an Auschwitz survivor and Saint has just come from Detroit and helps his mother to support the family by working part time. While playing bridge in the park one day, they decide to commit suicide in two weeks. Thy make a pact to live their lives fully and for each other. They get a tattoo that is a bird with the words 4ever on it. They all have their tattoo put on different spots of their body. They are going to experience only joy for the next 14 days. However things only get worse. Parents that aren't understanding, a physics exam, drugs plus more complicates their lives in unexpected ways. Will the four of them commit suicide?,
The novel involved me as I read it drawing me into each character's life with their desires and miseries. It's not easy to be a teenager. Life appears complicated enough and more so when you don't feel loved. It is an intense book. I ended reading the novel feeling their feelings. It is a story that will stay with me.
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
The novel involved me as I read it drawing me into each character's life with their desires and miseries. It's not easy to be a teenager. Life appears complicated enough and more so when you don't feel loved. It is an intense book. I ended reading the novel feeling their feelings. It is a story that will stay with me.
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
August 11, 2022
The poeticism of Sharon’s writing was lost on a plot and characters that unnerved me, made me feel uncomfortable, and lose interest in this book. Writing a book that almost romanticizes and sensationalizes incest is not something that I can ever get behind, incest happens and it’s devastating and messed up, but the method that Sharon used to write about it felt like it was more of an emotionally dramatic tool for the story to shock readers and keep them reading a-la soap opera, the moral implications of writing about incest in such an explicit manner rubbed me the wrong way. It felt akin to the other explicit scenes, feelings of desperation and love to where I almost couldn't keep reading it. It was embarrassing to me how Sharon Solwitz can write and write well, her writing’s raw and emotional and quite beautiful at times, to have it wasted on this story. I couldn’t get into the story or the characters and though I didn’t give up on it, I struggled to get through it. I expected a story about friendship, I got underdeveloped and flawed characters and a story that didn't hold my interest.
April 17, 2017
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was offered to me because I had read a similar book so I started reading this with no expectation. The plot is a little dark, it centers on a suicide pact, and the last days of the lives of those involved. The books summary also makes reference to the 1968 DNC and Chicago riots but those events are are hardly mentioned with the exception of one chapter which was disappointing.
Also, the writing is a little difficult to understand. I found myself reading and then rereading passages multiple times to figure out just what the author was trying to say. Don't get me wrong the writing is very eloquent and you can tell the author is a capable writer but after awhile I found the rereading tedious.
Overall, I'm glad I got to read the book but it definitely wouldn't be on top of my recommendation list.
This book was offered to me because I had read a similar book so I started reading this with no expectation. The plot is a little dark, it centers on a suicide pact, and the last days of the lives of those involved. The books summary also makes reference to the 1968 DNC and Chicago riots but those events are are hardly mentioned with the exception of one chapter which was disappointing.
Also, the writing is a little difficult to understand. I found myself reading and then rereading passages multiple times to figure out just what the author was trying to say. Don't get me wrong the writing is very eloquent and you can tell the author is a capable writer but after awhile I found the rereading tedious.
Overall, I'm glad I got to read the book but it definitely wouldn't be on top of my recommendation list.
August 24, 2017
This is sort of like a Breakfast Club. Except it's 1968 so there is a very different feel to the world where Kate, Saint, Vera and CJ live. And instead of being encouraged to be themselves they are all trying to stuff it deep down. Which is why they all make a suicide pact set to expire (or take place?) in two weeks.
I wanted to be annoyed with these kids. I mean, come on, a suicide pact? I hated them before I knew anything about them. But one by one they killed a little of the hate with such powerful moments of remembering how it was to be that age and just feel things that much. Every little thing. Stupid shit, important shit, bigger shit than kids should have to deal with and trying to figure out the world at the same time.
This is a good debut by Sharon Solwitz and anyone who knows how to take me down someone else's memory lane without hating them has my gratitude.
I wanted to be annoyed with these kids. I mean, come on, a suicide pact? I hated them before I knew anything about them. But one by one they killed a little of the hate with such powerful moments of remembering how it was to be that age and just feel things that much. Every little thing. Stupid shit, important shit, bigger shit than kids should have to deal with and trying to figure out the world at the same time.
This is a good debut by Sharon Solwitz and anyone who knows how to take me down someone else's memory lane without hating them has my gratitude.
March 31, 2017
Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC.
Very complex book. The setting is the 1960's in a tiny town called Lourdes, where four friends are trying to figure out how they fit into the world. It is a world of draft cards, drugs, free sex, revolt against the establishment and typical teenage angst.
The four friends make a pact to literally jump of a cliff together in a few weeks and you learn why they each feel they need to do this over the next few weeks. The ending is unexpected, but "right"( in terms of plot).
Very complex book. The setting is the 1960's in a tiny town called Lourdes, where four friends are trying to figure out how they fit into the world. It is a world of draft cards, drugs, free sex, revolt against the establishment and typical teenage angst.
The four friends make a pact to literally jump of a cliff together in a few weeks and you learn why they each feel they need to do this over the next few weeks. The ending is unexpected, but "right"( in terms of plot).
July 9, 2017
I enjoyed this book. I would say it's a little intense for a teenager to read... or may give them bad ideas. lol Very well written. I really got sucked into this one. Thank you again Netgalley for the advanced copy.
September 3, 2022
read this 4 years ago and love love loved. was an interesting re-read. this time it was good, but it couldnt get me like it did the first time. still really like it though. loved the writing style and underlined a lot !! anyways. that shit is crazy tho
May 29, 2017
Summer of 1968, four teenage friends make a pact, for two weeks they would do everything they dreamed of before committing suicide together by leaping off the bluff at a local park. I received this book as an ARC so was determined to finish it even though I found it difficult.
Vera: Does drugs and uses sex to fill voids in her life. Also has an incest relationship with her brother whom she has had sex with and he is in love with her. She is obsessed with Saint and is the one who came up with the suicide pact.
CJ: Is gay and in love with Saint as well. There isn't much more to say about him since I felt he was brought up the least in the book.
Kay: Is inlove with Saint and is the heavier teen in this group who's stepmother puts her on constant diets to try to force her to lose weight. Her Mother killed herself and she is the one who found her hanging in the basement.
Dull storyline that seemed to drag on forever. Didn't find that I really liked any of the characters and Vera I found downright disgusting. This is probably my worst review of a book but honestly it was hard to come up with anything to
write about this book. I normally try to find one positive in a book but couldn't find one for this book.
Vera: Does drugs and uses sex to fill voids in her life. Also has an incest relationship with her brother whom she has had sex with and he is in love with her. She is obsessed with Saint and is the one who came up with the suicide pact.
CJ: Is gay and in love with Saint as well. There isn't much more to say about him since I felt he was brought up the least in the book.
Kay: Is inlove with Saint and is the heavier teen in this group who's stepmother puts her on constant diets to try to force her to lose weight. Her Mother killed herself and she is the one who found her hanging in the basement.
Dull storyline that seemed to drag on forever. Didn't find that I really liked any of the characters and Vera I found downright disgusting. This is probably my worst review of a book but honestly it was hard to come up with anything to
write about this book. I normally try to find one positive in a book but couldn't find one for this book.
June 2, 2017
Thank You to Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an advance copy of Sharon Solwitz's novel, Once, in Lourdes, in exchange for an honest review.
PLOT - Set during the late 1960's in Michigan, Once, in Lourdes, is the story of four high school friends who make a suicide pact. The teenagers sign a pledge to throw themselves off of a cliff and into the ocean at sunrise in two weeks. In the time leading up to the pact, they find themselves making bold choices and living as if they're going to actually kill themselves. Who is solid with the plan and who might have doubts?
LIKE- Solwitz has set her novel during the Vietnam War, with her two male protagonists rapidly reaching the age where they might be drafted. The overriding feeling is one of uncertainty and fear, which felt fresh and relevant for our current political climate. Solwitz does a great job at rooting her story in the era and it made me feel transported.
Once, in Lourdes is told in a close third perspective of the four main characters:
Vera- a complicated girl from a wealthy, yet abusive home. She is beautiful, but has a disfigured hand that she alternatively tries to hide and use to shock. A force to be reckoned with, she's the group leader.
Kate- Sweet and loyal. Kate is overweight and clashes with her stepmom, who has made it her personal mission to get Kate to slim down. Their home is focused on goals and perfection.
C.J. - Brainy and geeky. C.J. is gay and is struggling both internally and externally with regard to his sexual feelings.
Saint- Handsome and the only one in the group from a poor family. Saint is quiet, kind, and mysterious. Vera, CJ, and Kate all have a crush on Saint.
Once, in Lourdes dips into the minds of all four characters and gives a little backstory of each. I was most interested in the Kate sections. Kate is the least willing to kill herself. In the two weeks leading up to the suicide date, she undergoes the biggest and most natural transformation of the group. Kate finally stands up to her stepmother and she begins to develop a crush on a boy that she plays tennis with, someone who is not part of this somewhat toxic and odd-ball group of friends that she has had for years. What's even more, Kate allows herself to crush on the tennis boy, even when her friends don't approve. Kate transforms into someone who has her own opinions and shares them, which is not who she is at the start of the story. I found Kate, who on the surface seems the most mundane of the group, to be the most fascinating.
Solwitz writes vivid descriptions and beautiful prose. I often paused to admire her writing. I thought that the very last chapter was the strongest of the novel. I was intrigued to see how it would all end and the ending has a good emotional pay-off.
DISLIKE - The story was made distracting and less effective, by too much shock value. Vera and her brother, Garth, are in an incestuous relationship. This is core to the story, leading to a major plot development towards the end. However, CJ also has a sexually laced encounter with his brother, while the two play a game of pool. They get naked and although nothing technically happens, CJ is clearly thinking of his brother in those terms. This was just too much for me. I'm not at all a prude, but the story is filled with graphic sexual details of all of the characters, which were simply less interesting than other aspects of the story. It didn't need to be eliminated entirely, but it could have been used more judiciously for greater impact. It overwhelmed the narrative and I felt assaulted.
I was unevenly interested in the characters. I wish the story had more of both Saint and Kate, and less of Vera and CJ.
RECOMMEND- Maybe. Once, in Lourdes was okay, but I'm not sure that it will be a novel that sticks in my memory. Solwitz is a strong writer, enough so, that I'd be inclined to check out her other novels.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
PLOT - Set during the late 1960's in Michigan, Once, in Lourdes, is the story of four high school friends who make a suicide pact. The teenagers sign a pledge to throw themselves off of a cliff and into the ocean at sunrise in two weeks. In the time leading up to the pact, they find themselves making bold choices and living as if they're going to actually kill themselves. Who is solid with the plan and who might have doubts?
LIKE- Solwitz has set her novel during the Vietnam War, with her two male protagonists rapidly reaching the age where they might be drafted. The overriding feeling is one of uncertainty and fear, which felt fresh and relevant for our current political climate. Solwitz does a great job at rooting her story in the era and it made me feel transported.
Once, in Lourdes is told in a close third perspective of the four main characters:
Vera- a complicated girl from a wealthy, yet abusive home. She is beautiful, but has a disfigured hand that she alternatively tries to hide and use to shock. A force to be reckoned with, she's the group leader.
Kate- Sweet and loyal. Kate is overweight and clashes with her stepmom, who has made it her personal mission to get Kate to slim down. Their home is focused on goals and perfection.
C.J. - Brainy and geeky. C.J. is gay and is struggling both internally and externally with regard to his sexual feelings.
Saint- Handsome and the only one in the group from a poor family. Saint is quiet, kind, and mysterious. Vera, CJ, and Kate all have a crush on Saint.
Once, in Lourdes dips into the minds of all four characters and gives a little backstory of each. I was most interested in the Kate sections. Kate is the least willing to kill herself. In the two weeks leading up to the suicide date, she undergoes the biggest and most natural transformation of the group. Kate finally stands up to her stepmother and she begins to develop a crush on a boy that she plays tennis with, someone who is not part of this somewhat toxic and odd-ball group of friends that she has had for years. What's even more, Kate allows herself to crush on the tennis boy, even when her friends don't approve. Kate transforms into someone who has her own opinions and shares them, which is not who she is at the start of the story. I found Kate, who on the surface seems the most mundane of the group, to be the most fascinating.
Solwitz writes vivid descriptions and beautiful prose. I often paused to admire her writing. I thought that the very last chapter was the strongest of the novel. I was intrigued to see how it would all end and the ending has a good emotional pay-off.
DISLIKE - The story was made distracting and less effective, by too much shock value. Vera and her brother, Garth, are in an incestuous relationship. This is core to the story, leading to a major plot development towards the end. However, CJ also has a sexually laced encounter with his brother, while the two play a game of pool. They get naked and although nothing technically happens, CJ is clearly thinking of his brother in those terms. This was just too much for me. I'm not at all a prude, but the story is filled with graphic sexual details of all of the characters, which were simply less interesting than other aspects of the story. It didn't need to be eliminated entirely, but it could have been used more judiciously for greater impact. It overwhelmed the narrative and I felt assaulted.
I was unevenly interested in the characters. I wish the story had more of both Saint and Kate, and less of Vera and CJ.
RECOMMEND- Maybe. Once, in Lourdes was okay, but I'm not sure that it will be a novel that sticks in my memory. Solwitz is a strong writer, enough so, that I'd be inclined to check out her other novels.
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May 26, 2017
Once, In Lourdes by Sharon Solwitz
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Release Date: May 30, 2017
Length: 320 pages
Original Review Source: http://www.novelvisits.com/once-lourd...
Single Sentence Summary: On a hot August day in 1968 friends, Kay, Saint, Vera and C.J., take a pledge giving themselves two weeks to experience all of life and then die together.
Primary Characters: Kay, Saint, Vera and C.J. were each, for different reasons, outcasts at their small town high school. Finding each other was their salvation. They cared deeply about the group and believed their friendship would last forever, creating their own moniker: 4EVER.
Synopsis: It’s August of 1968. The country is in turmoil with protest over the Vietnam War and the upcoming Democratic Convention is expected to bring even more. In the small town of Lourdes, Illinois live four troubled teens that mean everything to each other. When one hurts, they all do. Beautiful, vulnerable, acerbic Vera is ready to end her life. Instead, her friends pledge to join her after they’ve all had a little more time to live.
Review: Once, In Lourdes by Sharon Solwitz is a story of four deeply troubled young people. When Kay was younger her mother committed suicide; she’s overweight and her new stepmother makes sure Kay knows just how distasteful that is. Saint has grown up poor, without a father and has problems with his temper. C.J. doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to live up to his father’s expectations and he’s frightened by his own feelings for other boys. And, Vera – poor, tormented Vera. Vera uses casual sex as a drug, which seems to work until she crosses a line that can never be undone. She is the catalyst for their Pledge.
Coming-of-age stories are among my favorite genres, but I found Once, In Lourdes to be a difficult book to become immersed in. Had this not been an advanced reading copy, it’s very likely that I’d have given up on it. Luckily, I did stick it out, and am very glad I did. It took until well after the halfway point for me to understand the characters and the choices each made. In all likelihood this slow character development was intentional, but it also demands a lot of the reader. Once the characters made sense to me the book became much more compelling. I loved the last third, including the ending.
Narrated by Kay, the chapters move between the four friends, slowly revealing the depth of their problems, how their unusual friendship was forged, and why they’d pledge their lives for each other.
“With the Pledge, we might have seemed to be courting death, but it was also joy we were after. We wanted to feel our birthright, what we thought other, happier people felt – the sense of endless possibility, the world shimmering around us. To dance beneath the diamond sky.”
The backdrop of late 60’s turbulence makes it easier to understand the incredible bond of these 4EVER friends. Much of the world around them doesn’t make sense, so why should their own lives? The commitment to each other is absolute, until it isn’t. With compassion and intensity Solwitz brings her quartet to the brink of adulthood, laying out futures they may not be able to survive. If you can preserver through the slow first half of Once, In Lourdes, you’ll be rewarded with the gritty elegance of the story’s conclusion. Grade: B-
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Release Date: May 30, 2017
Length: 320 pages
Original Review Source: http://www.novelvisits.com/once-lourd...
Single Sentence Summary: On a hot August day in 1968 friends, Kay, Saint, Vera and C.J., take a pledge giving themselves two weeks to experience all of life and then die together.
Primary Characters: Kay, Saint, Vera and C.J. were each, for different reasons, outcasts at their small town high school. Finding each other was their salvation. They cared deeply about the group and believed their friendship would last forever, creating their own moniker: 4EVER.
Synopsis: It’s August of 1968. The country is in turmoil with protest over the Vietnam War and the upcoming Democratic Convention is expected to bring even more. In the small town of Lourdes, Illinois live four troubled teens that mean everything to each other. When one hurts, they all do. Beautiful, vulnerable, acerbic Vera is ready to end her life. Instead, her friends pledge to join her after they’ve all had a little more time to live.
Review: Once, In Lourdes by Sharon Solwitz is a story of four deeply troubled young people. When Kay was younger her mother committed suicide; she’s overweight and her new stepmother makes sure Kay knows just how distasteful that is. Saint has grown up poor, without a father and has problems with his temper. C.J. doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to live up to his father’s expectations and he’s frightened by his own feelings for other boys. And, Vera – poor, tormented Vera. Vera uses casual sex as a drug, which seems to work until she crosses a line that can never be undone. She is the catalyst for their Pledge.
Coming-of-age stories are among my favorite genres, but I found Once, In Lourdes to be a difficult book to become immersed in. Had this not been an advanced reading copy, it’s very likely that I’d have given up on it. Luckily, I did stick it out, and am very glad I did. It took until well after the halfway point for me to understand the characters and the choices each made. In all likelihood this slow character development was intentional, but it also demands a lot of the reader. Once the characters made sense to me the book became much more compelling. I loved the last third, including the ending.
Narrated by Kay, the chapters move between the four friends, slowly revealing the depth of their problems, how their unusual friendship was forged, and why they’d pledge their lives for each other.
“With the Pledge, we might have seemed to be courting death, but it was also joy we were after. We wanted to feel our birthright, what we thought other, happier people felt – the sense of endless possibility, the world shimmering around us. To dance beneath the diamond sky.”
The backdrop of late 60’s turbulence makes it easier to understand the incredible bond of these 4EVER friends. Much of the world around them doesn’t make sense, so why should their own lives? The commitment to each other is absolute, until it isn’t. With compassion and intensity Solwitz brings her quartet to the brink of adulthood, laying out futures they may not be able to survive. If you can preserver through the slow first half of Once, In Lourdes, you’ll be rewarded with the gritty elegance of the story’s conclusion. Grade: B-
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
September 18, 2017
This was a book that will certainly affect a reader. It is a coming of age story of sorts with the main characters a close clique of four teens who are on the verge of graduating from high school. They each have had problems fitting in with other teens and have banded together to form gang of misfits. The story takes place in a small town, Lourdes, Michigan, during the turbulent year of 1968. These four each clearly have a love and concern for each other and look to each other for acceptance, understanding, and direction. Eventually it becomes apparent that two of them have the charisma that draws this group together and sets their direction. The author does an amazing job of bringing out these characters and allows the reader to get to know them and what makes them tick.
The story line focuses strongly on these four and their connections to each other. The relationships shift throughout, and yet they remain committed to each other and their group. There are many mature and controversial issues that come up throughout the book. Probably the most "normal" of the kids is Kay, an overweight girl whose mother committed suicide after struggling with her own weight and marital problems. She now lives with her father, his younger and thinner new wife, and her step-sister who while empathetic to Kay, is everything that Kay is not. The rest of the group, Saint, Vera, and C.J., each deal with significant dysfunction within their families and struggles with their inner demons. Their compelling story leads up to a pledge and a significant event that will determine the fate of the group and each of it's members.
This book might appear to be written for a young adult audience since it deals with teens, but I would suggest caution with this age group. The subjects in the book are sometimes disturbing and might be difficult for immature suggestive and/or sensitive youth. As an older reader, I felt that it was geared more to parents and older readers. I was able to pick out nuances of thought and hope that a less mature reader might completely overlook.
Part of the draw for me in choosing to read this book was the time period. Although I would have been a little younger, I remember this time and the changes that were going on around the country. Many people were confused and lacked direction, bending to the actions of others. Kids were more frequently left to function and figure things out on their own than previous generations. I think the author captures this time well with its expansion of thought and experience.
That said, the style of writing is somewhat challenging to read. The narrator is most frequently Kay, but there are times when any of the other main characters might be thinking or describing what's happening. This might be a bit off putting or at the very least confusing at times, but eventually it begins to make more sense and the reader adapts. Again, I urge caution with recommending this to youth since it is raw in its description of issues and might seem to glorify the idea of suicide. Ultimately this is not the case, but it might take an older reader to fully appreciate it.
I thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.
The story line focuses strongly on these four and their connections to each other. The relationships shift throughout, and yet they remain committed to each other and their group. There are many mature and controversial issues that come up throughout the book. Probably the most "normal" of the kids is Kay, an overweight girl whose mother committed suicide after struggling with her own weight and marital problems. She now lives with her father, his younger and thinner new wife, and her step-sister who while empathetic to Kay, is everything that Kay is not. The rest of the group, Saint, Vera, and C.J., each deal with significant dysfunction within their families and struggles with their inner demons. Their compelling story leads up to a pledge and a significant event that will determine the fate of the group and each of it's members.
This book might appear to be written for a young adult audience since it deals with teens, but I would suggest caution with this age group. The subjects in the book are sometimes disturbing and might be difficult for immature suggestive and/or sensitive youth. As an older reader, I felt that it was geared more to parents and older readers. I was able to pick out nuances of thought and hope that a less mature reader might completely overlook.
Part of the draw for me in choosing to read this book was the time period. Although I would have been a little younger, I remember this time and the changes that were going on around the country. Many people were confused and lacked direction, bending to the actions of others. Kids were more frequently left to function and figure things out on their own than previous generations. I think the author captures this time well with its expansion of thought and experience.
That said, the style of writing is somewhat challenging to read. The narrator is most frequently Kay, but there are times when any of the other main characters might be thinking or describing what's happening. This might be a bit off putting or at the very least confusing at times, but eventually it begins to make more sense and the reader adapts. Again, I urge caution with recommending this to youth since it is raw in its description of issues and might seem to glorify the idea of suicide. Ultimately this is not the case, but it might take an older reader to fully appreciate it.
I thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.
May 27, 2017
Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
I was sent this book because I had favorably reviewed last summer's "The Girls" by Emma Cline, and I have to say, it was a spot-on recommendation. At first, I was skeptical. Yes, it had similar themes: it's set in the past (the late 1960s) and follows a group of teenage misfits over the course of a life-changing two weeks. I was pleased to discover that Sharon Solwitz is as skilled and lyrical a writer as Emma Cline.
Right from the start the book sucks you in as, in the same breath as they are introduced, the four main characters make a suicide pact. They will live life to the fullest for the next two weeks and then, together, they will jump off a cliff and end their lives.
Over the next two weeks, we get into each of their heads, to witness the internal struggles that they they are hiding from each other, but that cement them together as friends nonetheless. We live mostly in the head of Kay, who is awkward, overweight and still reeling from the suicide of her mother; but we also spend time in the perspective of each of the others -- it's the only way to learn the secrets they keep hidden from everyone.
The suicide pact is instigated by Vera, beautiful despite the birth defect that deforms her hand. She has done something so unspeakable that she is ready to end it all. Saint, the handsome Buddhist, always wears an aura of calm that conceals both his explosive temper and his passion for Vera. And finally, there is CJ, wealthy and privileged on the surface but inwardly suffering from mental illness and the dawning realization that he is gay. The choices they make over the next two weeks will force them to face who they really are and who they might become -- and will determine the outcome for each of them.
It may at first be hard to relate to the main characters, or understand their choices, but the question of "will they jump, or won't they" will keep you going. As you experience each of their perspectives and get to know each character better over the course of the novel, you come to think of them as real people, and to ache for them. How much you like this book will very much depend on how much tolerance you have for living in the heads of extremely damaged people. Seeing the world through Vera's eyes can be very harrowing and she is not a character that you will much like, even if you come to empathize with her. At the same time, I think there is no other way to convey the reasons behind her actions - Vera would hardly be able to explain them herself as she is such a product of her environment. Things pick up towards the end of the book, as the conflicts draw to a dramatic conclusion, and the characters' final experiences are instrumental in determining their future.
I was sent this book because I had favorably reviewed last summer's "The Girls" by Emma Cline, and I have to say, it was a spot-on recommendation. At first, I was skeptical. Yes, it had similar themes: it's set in the past (the late 1960s) and follows a group of teenage misfits over the course of a life-changing two weeks. I was pleased to discover that Sharon Solwitz is as skilled and lyrical a writer as Emma Cline.
Right from the start the book sucks you in as, in the same breath as they are introduced, the four main characters make a suicide pact. They will live life to the fullest for the next two weeks and then, together, they will jump off a cliff and end their lives.
Over the next two weeks, we get into each of their heads, to witness the internal struggles that they they are hiding from each other, but that cement them together as friends nonetheless. We live mostly in the head of Kay, who is awkward, overweight and still reeling from the suicide of her mother; but we also spend time in the perspective of each of the others -- it's the only way to learn the secrets they keep hidden from everyone.
The suicide pact is instigated by Vera, beautiful despite the birth defect that deforms her hand. She has done something so unspeakable that she is ready to end it all. Saint, the handsome Buddhist, always wears an aura of calm that conceals both his explosive temper and his passion for Vera. And finally, there is CJ, wealthy and privileged on the surface but inwardly suffering from mental illness and the dawning realization that he is gay. The choices they make over the next two weeks will force them to face who they really are and who they might become -- and will determine the outcome for each of them.
It may at first be hard to relate to the main characters, or understand their choices, but the question of "will they jump, or won't they" will keep you going. As you experience each of their perspectives and get to know each character better over the course of the novel, you come to think of them as real people, and to ache for them. How much you like this book will very much depend on how much tolerance you have for living in the heads of extremely damaged people. Seeing the world through Vera's eyes can be very harrowing and she is not a character that you will much like, even if you come to empathize with her. At the same time, I think there is no other way to convey the reasons behind her actions - Vera would hardly be able to explain them herself as she is such a product of her environment. Things pick up towards the end of the book, as the conflicts draw to a dramatic conclusion, and the characters' final experiences are instrumental in determining their future.
May 31, 2017
Lourdes, Michigan, summer of 1968. Four friends make a pact: in exactly fourteen days, before the sun’s first rays hit the lake, they will leap together into death. They are outsiders, all the four of them, for different reasons. Kay Campion is fat, as a child she found her mother who committed suicide and her father re-married only a couple of months later. Vera is beautiful and gracile, but she was bullied due to her crippled fingers. CJ is searching for his identity: does he love boys or girls? And last but not least, Saint who comes from a very poor and highly dysfunctional family. They are looking for someone who loves them just as they are and found each other. Since life does not seem to have much in offer for them, why should they continue living? Will their last 14 days on earth make a change?
The story is told from Kay’s point of view. Only step by step do we learn why she is struggling so much with life. Not just that she has lost her beloved mother and had to see her hanging in the basement, it is also the permanent question what she is to her father. Her emotions are expressed in her dysfunctional relationship with her own body – quite an authentic and typical reaction for teenage girls. Yet, for me even stronger was the character of Vera. She is really lost and without any stable ground to walk on. She seems to be highly gifted and is a perfect example of what bullying can make of a child: turning the talented dancer into a drug addict who confounds physical closeness with love. But also the boys are highly interestingly drawn. CJ who is constantly digging in his father’s past in a concentration camp and Saint who seems to have several personalities reflected in the different ways his name is used.
As shown before, the most stunning about the novel are the characters who are elaborated in every detail and thus really come alive while reading. You can easily imagine them in reality and also their pact make absolutely sense. The title - hinting at Lourdes in France with its famous Marian apparitions – promises a wonder, a sudden and unexpected healing from the things the four teenagers suffer from. But wonders do not happen that often and apparitions and inspiration are reserved for the selected few, not the average boy or girl.
A noteworthy novel which, however, I would not recommend to teenagers with emotional troubles.
The story is told from Kay’s point of view. Only step by step do we learn why she is struggling so much with life. Not just that she has lost her beloved mother and had to see her hanging in the basement, it is also the permanent question what she is to her father. Her emotions are expressed in her dysfunctional relationship with her own body – quite an authentic and typical reaction for teenage girls. Yet, for me even stronger was the character of Vera. She is really lost and without any stable ground to walk on. She seems to be highly gifted and is a perfect example of what bullying can make of a child: turning the talented dancer into a drug addict who confounds physical closeness with love. But also the boys are highly interestingly drawn. CJ who is constantly digging in his father’s past in a concentration camp and Saint who seems to have several personalities reflected in the different ways his name is used.
As shown before, the most stunning about the novel are the characters who are elaborated in every detail and thus really come alive while reading. You can easily imagine them in reality and also their pact make absolutely sense. The title - hinting at Lourdes in France with its famous Marian apparitions – promises a wonder, a sudden and unexpected healing from the things the four teenagers suffer from. But wonders do not happen that often and apparitions and inspiration are reserved for the selected few, not the average boy or girl.
A noteworthy novel which, however, I would not recommend to teenagers with emotional troubles.
September 28, 2017
This book was recommended to me because I really enjoyed "The Girls", by Emma Cline, and I definitely see the link between the two, but "Once, In Lourdes" didn't work as well for me.
The story takes place in 1968, and the political unrest in the USA at the time is often alluded to, but the teenage experience the protagonist go through is quite universal and it's easy to forget the time and place (which is too bad for me, since I like the feeling of that era). Four teenagers, all pretty outcast and therefore deeply attached to one another, make a pledge to kill themselves two weeks later, after one of them commited an act she just can't move on from. The fact that they have two weeks to live influences the way they live those days, and makes for an interesting premise, but in the end, it fell short as I couldn't get attached to most of the protagonists.
The story is narrated by Kay, the overweight girl whose mother commited suicide after realizing that losing weight and getting conventionally pretty didn't stop her husband from cheating on her and falling out of love with her. Kay's story was the most poignant to me, and the way her stepmother Arlyn (the very woman her father cheated on his wife with, which he married 14 months after the suicide) and her father try playing happy family with her while harrassing Kay about her weight (being thin is supposed to bring her happiness - just like it did to her mother, right?) makes me physically angry. Clueless people like that don't realize the pain they're causing to others. Kay is looking for a place where she belongs, people she belongs with, and that's something I can related to.
The other characters, however, where way less interesting to me. Vera was too messed up for me to get anything out of her experience. Saint's story feels like a variation of the same boy's pain story I've read a million time. CJ was interesting, and I really wanted to get more into his head, but since the story is narrated by Kay, and that it seems none of his friends really understand him, he stayed pretty opaque to me.
Overall, there was several interesting part in the story, but it felt messy and sometimes aimless. I have the feeling though that it may be the kind of books you have to re-read once you know the story to fully apreciate it. I will give it another try someday.
The story takes place in 1968, and the political unrest in the USA at the time is often alluded to, but the teenage experience the protagonist go through is quite universal and it's easy to forget the time and place (which is too bad for me, since I like the feeling of that era). Four teenagers, all pretty outcast and therefore deeply attached to one another, make a pledge to kill themselves two weeks later, after one of them commited an act she just can't move on from. The fact that they have two weeks to live influences the way they live those days, and makes for an interesting premise, but in the end, it fell short as I couldn't get attached to most of the protagonists.
The story is narrated by Kay, the overweight girl whose mother commited suicide after realizing that losing weight and getting conventionally pretty didn't stop her husband from cheating on her and falling out of love with her. Kay's story was the most poignant to me, and the way her stepmother Arlyn (the very woman her father cheated on his wife with, which he married 14 months after the suicide) and her father try playing happy family with her while harrassing Kay about her weight (being thin is supposed to bring her happiness - just like it did to her mother, right?) makes me physically angry. Clueless people like that don't realize the pain they're causing to others. Kay is looking for a place where she belongs, people she belongs with, and that's something I can related to.
The other characters, however, where way less interesting to me. Vera was too messed up for me to get anything out of her experience. Saint's story feels like a variation of the same boy's pain story I've read a million time. CJ was interesting, and I really wanted to get more into his head, but since the story is narrated by Kay, and that it seems none of his friends really understand him, he stayed pretty opaque to me.
Overall, there was several interesting part in the story, but it felt messy and sometimes aimless. I have the feeling though that it may be the kind of books you have to re-read once you know the story to fully apreciate it. I will give it another try someday.
May 18, 2017
During the summer of 1968, four close friends in Lourdes, Michigan agree to a pact. Vera suggests to Saint, Kay and CJ that they all jump to their deaths at the end of two weeks. They’ll meet as they normally do at the Haight, a park with a high ledge over the sea, but for the sole purpose of completing their pact.
Each person has his or her own demons, and hand sketches by Kay are interspersed throughout the novel. The characters are created in a quiet, almost sad setting. At times each character acted on impulse and did completely illogical things (running naked for miles, incest) then at others they held deeply philosophical discussions that meandered on for pages. Certain areas of the book became more interesting, and then suddenly things would slow down to a meditative pace.
I slowly continued with the book because I was interested in how it ends. There were times I couldn’t put it down, then times I postponed picking it up.
In short, this is a well-written book, but not so much for my personal interests. I think the author is very talented and brings the reader into the world of the book successfully; it’s just not a world I’m interested in.
I’ve read some comparisons between this and Emma Kline’s “The Girls”. I didn’t pick up on any similarities. I found “The Girls” to be much faster paced and much more shocking than this scenario.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for making it available.)
Each person has his or her own demons, and hand sketches by Kay are interspersed throughout the novel. The characters are created in a quiet, almost sad setting. At times each character acted on impulse and did completely illogical things (running naked for miles, incest) then at others they held deeply philosophical discussions that meandered on for pages. Certain areas of the book became more interesting, and then suddenly things would slow down to a meditative pace.
I slowly continued with the book because I was interested in how it ends. There were times I couldn’t put it down, then times I postponed picking it up.
In short, this is a well-written book, but not so much for my personal interests. I think the author is very talented and brings the reader into the world of the book successfully; it’s just not a world I’m interested in.
I’ve read some comparisons between this and Emma Kline’s “The Girls”. I didn’t pick up on any similarities. I found “The Girls” to be much faster paced and much more shocking than this scenario.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for making it available.)
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