The Boys Who Danced With The Moon

by Mark Paul Oleksiw

Can you ever escape the past? Kiran Wells, a mid-30’s professional living on the West Coast, thought he was safe until an anonymous letter arrives from his hometown. Its only contents- an old newspaper clipping about a drowning twenty years earlier. Leaving career and friends behind, Kiran returns to the place of his youth to find the conjurer of his past.

Kiran is a quiet and shy teenager with a taste for alternative music growing up in a suburban northern town during the mid-80's. The arrival of two students, the confident and rebellious Marius and the naive, cloak-wearing Moony, awaken Kiran. On the eve of graduation, fate turns the volume off in Kiran’s world and his memory fades to black.

Returning to his hometown, Kiran is forced to confront the demons that haunt him. His future depends on whatever hope he has left and the life or death decision he must ultimately make. Will he hear the music again?

The Boys Who Danced with the Moon is a coming of age tale of friendship, youth, and love.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Collections, Coming Of Age

282 pages, Paperback

First published February 9, 2018

About the author

Mark Paul Oleksiw loves to write, always has and always will. It started with his first composition class when he was 7. Many moons, experiences and zany characters later, his first novel, the coming of age tale of a 1980’s music-loving teen, The Boys Who Danced with the Moon is entertaining and hopefully inspiring readers.

On September 6, 2018, his second novel, Munching on the Sun, was launched. It garnered rave reviews in advance of its publication. It is the heart-warming story of a university student, Lukas Wunand. When he believes to have seen a beautiful ghost from his past, his world changes forever. Can his friends solve the puzzle and save him?
His most recent novel, Time's Musicians, was Booklife Prize Semifinalist. This psychological thriller is about a comic book creator dealing with the demons of his youth. What stirs inside his mind and what secrets does he keep?

His works reflect his fascination with offbeat characters, the challenges of growing up and the search for, well, you will just have to find out!

Born in the suburbs of Montreal in the late 1960’s, Mark survived the cold winters and a career in the business world. In between, he graduated from McGill University, where he was co-editor of his faculty’s satirical and sometimes politically incorrect monthly magazine. Mark grew up a fan of guitar-driven music, great lyrics and was grunge before grunge, at least in his mind.

Mark lives in the western part of his hometown with his wife, three teenage sons, a cat and a dog. When not working on a novel, he is listening to music, daydreaming or just being mischievous.

You can find out what Mark is up to by checking out his website or connect with him on Bluesky,
www.markoleksiw.com www.markpauloleksiw.com https://bsky.app/profile/markoleksiw....

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

↠ Rating: 1 star


I was provided with a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley



"I see strange things. Sometimes I need a drink. Sometimes too many."


I'm so sad, but I just cannot get myself to give this a better rating. I had really high hopes for this book when I got the review copy, although I had no idea what it was about, that might be were I went wrong for the first time with this novel. It is the epitome of a coming of age story, that tries to pack a punch, but - to me - just does not deliver.

The book is about Kiran, a man in his 30s, who ran away to California to escape his past. That is until he receives an anonymous letter that transports him back in time to a night that he would rather not remember. From this point on he is on a mission back to his hometown, to find answers and maybe even a part of himself that he lost along the way.

I was intrigued by the premise of this, because I couldn't wait to see what Kiran's big secret was, but in the end it was completely lackluster. And even if it weren't, I lost so much of my initial interest along the way, it's not even funny.
The saddest part is that I could absolutely see how some people could really really love Oleksiw's writing and I really wanted to, but somehow it just didn't do it for me. It was so confusing that I thought it was meant to be that way when I started the book, but I do not think that was the case. It tries to be mysterious, without a doubt, but I reckon my confusion stems from the fact that it just doesn't really flow the way it should and I think a big part of that could have been fixed in editing, which makes it even more frustrating.
Anyway that is pretty much everything I can generally say about this book. I, personally, would not recommend it to anyone, but my dislike is certainly influenced by personal preferences, so if you still want to pick it up and give it a shot, go ahead.
I'm gonna leave you with a quote I really enjoyed, before I list the things I hated about this novel, love y'all, no hard feelings

I stared at the stars and the sky. I never realized how elegant this world truly was. For an instant, the stars and the planets in the sky appeared to all belong to me.


The only thing more painful than reading this book is reliving the memory of reading it for this review, so excuse the fact that I CANNOT get myself to form a coherent text out of my thoughts, this will have to do:
- I could not relate to the characters whatsoever and I'm not too far from being a teenager myself, I think this was one of the books that really read like a grown person writing teenagers, which is one of my biggest pet peeves. A thing that went along with this was that I constantly thought "Teenagers DO NOT talk like this, they have never talked like this." Thinking about it, this reminded me a lot of John Green's stories "Looking for Alaska" comes to mind.
- The friendship dynamics where bothering me immensely. They're the whole base of this story, to enjoy the ending you have to really FEEL and love the friendships, but I just could not get myself to. Apart from the fact that I literally disliked all of the characters their friendship was just really weird and toxic? They don't tell each other anything and aren't supportive of each other at all.
The best example for this is when Marius gets super worked up about the fact that Kiran wanted to go to Young College and didn't tell him? Like he acts like it's the worst thing ever and the biggest betrayal to ever occur on this planet and he's a grown man when that conversation takes place... I just don't get it
- Young Kiran was literally the most unlikeable protagonist I ever read about, he kept lying to everyone and being a complete creep about Laura, which leads me to my biggest problem
- the love interest. It was honestly such an uncomfortable thing to read about and I hope and pray that that's not what men really feel, because then I don't wanna touch one ever again. First of all it was the worst case of insta love ever and I really dislike insta love. And well... he just did not know Laura at all and became completely obsessed with her in mere seconds. The way he thought about her literally reminded me of You by Caroline Kepnes and that is a book about a STALKER, I do not think that was the intent. Also this love story brought us one of the worst quotes in history, ever: "My heart whimpered softly like a puppy." I'm actually speechless.
Also I'm so over seeing people not give a fuck about their own life and only caring about their love interest, a good example of this is the whole college debate and the scene where Kiran climbes the rope, it's just SAD.
- Anyway with all this stuff getting on my nerves I completely lost interest in this book, but I pushed myself to finish it and what can I say? I wasn't rewarded with a great ending, but are we surprised? Nah, I didn't think so. To me it didn't really make sense and was way too convenient and everything felt super rushed? But I'm not complaining because making this longer would have been too painful.


That's it. Those are my thoughts, I hope I didn't offend anyone, but I had to be honest.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely coming-of-age novel about three friends, Kiran, Marius, and Moony and a tragic accident that takes place the night of high school graduation. The fleeting memories haunt Kiran and as a successful young 30-something, he suddenly quits his job and returns to his hometown, spurred on by a newspaper clipping sent to him anonymously. Anxious to recover his memories of that night, he recalls those high school years including his friendships with the two and his unrequited love for Laura, a girl in his English class. It's a story of redemption, young love, friendship, and familial love. Very sweet and tender!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

[Sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was, for me personally, a work of art.

Oleksiw’s The Boys Who Danced With The Moon is a coming of age tale that follows Kiran Wells, a 30-something-year-old that is still fighting his past and the drowning of a loved friend back when he was still in high school, blaming himself for his death.

Mostly through flashbacks, we get to know the story of three - Kiran, a quiet, loner type, with an interest into more obscure music, who writes poems; Marius, the protective type, big but with a huge heart; and Andrew, ‘Moony’, who is strange with his priest robe but funny and innocent at the same time. The author brings us into the lives of three teenage boys, battling troubles in school and in love, too.

I found this book astonishing as far as it comes to the writing style. There were so many beautiful lines that I kept marking off and that had somehow stuck with me during reading - the writing was beautiful and flowy and, although I imagine some may find this style distracting or strange, it allowed me to really understand the story more and understand the characters in themselves more than I would if this book was written differently.

The night sky is just charcoal, and if you reach too high, it smears your hands, your lungs, and everything until all you are is stained.

The flashback-style usually distracts me in these kinds of stories, but I felt like it was perfect for this one. Although it got me a bit confused in the beginning, by the end of the book I wouldn’t have it any other way really. One thing that I also found really beautiful and perfect for this novel were the poems that were added into the book as written by Kiran as he was falling more and more in love with Laura and going through trouble with telling his parents he would prefer to go to some other university. Most of the poems made me stop my reading and made me read them again and again - they were all so beautiful, especially the last one - the one Kiran wanted to present to Laura as a parting gift.

There’s a saying that love sets on fire the one who finds it. At the same time, it seals his lips so that no smoke comes out. Well, I am nearly suffocated from the smoke now. You see, I obsessed with how I would feel. I now know with clarity and in peace that it was never about me. The love I feel gave my soul air to breathe. The way I see it is simple. From the first day, I knew I loved you, I have been fabric by fabric, thread by thread, knitting a coat to give you, made of the most enduring of all materials: my love. Like any great gift, I have no expectation of anything in return in this lifetime. All I hope for is you accept this gift. It is yours to store away if you wish for now. It will always be there for you to wear in this lifetime and beyond. I will find my happiness knowing it will keep you warm through eternity.

I must admit, I didn’t expect the ending to go out as such and didn’t enjoy it as much as I did with the other parts of the book, so I think it deserves 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys poetry and a flowy style of reading, and a tale of boys becoming men and discovering themselves.

disclaimer: i received the eARC of this book from netgalley in exchange for my honest review

[Alja Katuin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow but cute, I didn’t really see a point in this book until the very last chapters, but then it all became clear.. lovely coming of age novel.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Many horrors fester beneath night’s shadowy cloak to be exposed by the morning sun’

Canadian author Mark Paul Oleksiw earned his degree from McGill University and began his writing career with this fine coming of age novel THE BOYS WHO DANCED WITH THE MOON that reflects his fascination with offbeat characters, hip bands and their music, and the challenges of growing up and the search for identity. Mark has subsequently published MUNCHING ON THE SUN. He lives in Montreal.

Reflecting his love for music Mark opens his tale with an Overture that probes the tragedy of a boy’s drowning and the thoughts of one Dr. Eva Gardner – ‘Her training taught her that the true horror was not the sight of bloody or torn bodies. In her world, horror was measured in the number of tears in a teenage soul.’ And gradually, in exquisitely lyrical prose, the seed of the story blossoms as we discover that three boys were dancing ‘neath the moon – one drowned, one near drowned, and one terrified to face the experience just visited…Kiran Wells – whose story this immensely involving book is.

Briefly, the plot unravels as follows: ‘Kiran Wells, a mid-30’s professional living on the West Coast, thought he was safe until an anonymous letter arrives from his hometown. Its only contents- an old newspaper clipping about a drowning twenty years earlier. Leaving career and friends behind, Kiran returns to the place of his youth to find the conjurer of his past. Kiran is a quiet and shy teenager with a taste for alternative music growing up in a suburban northern town during the mid-80's. The arrival of two students, the confident and rebellious Marius and the naive, cloak-wearing Moony, awaken Kiran. On the eve of graduation, fate turns the volume off in Kiran’s world and his memory fades to black. Returning to his hometown, Kiran is forced to confront the demons that haunt him. His future depends on whatever hope he has left and the life or death decision he must ultimately make.’

Related in near poetic style, this story signals the arrival of a very fine author, one who not only spins an excellent coming of age experience but also tells it in memorable, yes, quotable, lines on every page. Atmospheric, sensitive and involving, THE BOYS WHO DANCED WITH THE MOON lingers in the mind long after the book is finished. Having opened with an Overture, the book closes with an Epilogue that is a fine poem. Mark Paul Oleksiw is an important new writer on the literary scene. Highly Recommended.

[Mar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The talent of Mark Paul Oleksiw is in full display in The Boys Who Danced With the Moon. The YA genre has a new author to keep an eye in. Oleksiw is very talented, presenting a wonderful story, filled with a teenager and adult angst, small-town dramas, and stories from the past that came back to haunt the characters. The story goes in crescendo, showing a maturity in his writing that is not common in YA authors. He gives the readers what we need, not what we want, keeping us waiting for more. It is a rare talent and I'll be following closely more works of Oleksiw.
The Boys Who Danced With the Moon present a strong set of characters, with intricate relations, shady pasts and a future that is not free from guilt and angst. The way the emotions, the dialogues, and the interactions are in display give this book a strong plotline. How everything flows is an absolute delight. Even though it is not fast-paced, there's a sense of continuous motion that it is very hard to accomplish. As you can see, I'm completely in love with this book and highly recommend it to everyone who wants to really enjoy a book and savor every page.

[Julius Blitzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reading! I liked the plot. I love the intrigues and secrets that are revealed in the book. I could not take a break to rest, because the book dragged and fascinated me from the very beginning. I read about the main character Kiran Wells, who received a letter reminding of his past, of his graduation. He decided to return to his hometown to understand who could do it. A lot of memories appeared in his mind: school, love... I understood that the author’s idea was to show how the past is connected with the future, that things happen for a reason, there are always consequences. I really liked this game over time. I recommend everyone to read "The Boys Who Danced With The Moon", perhaps, it will be able to revive some nostalgia about the past in you and you will understand how everything is connected with each other.

[Jimmy Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An emotional journey through a youthful dance of life

This is an emotional trip through the past memories of Kiran, the main character in the story. Kiran finds himself successful and living life to the fullest when he is dragged back to his hometown after receiving a random letter with an old newspaper story from the night of graduation many years ago. Kiran now finds himself remembering the events of that night and must now accept the consequences of those action from so long ago. This one pulls at the heart strings and will keep you turning the pages. Good characters and storyline that is easy to follow while making you feel you are right there in the story with Kiran. I recommend this one for all those that love a good nostalgia story with old memories brought to the front.

[Shanell Meek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an emotional and heartfelt coming of age story

This is an emotional coming of age story that has a touch of suspense that unravels as you make your way through the story. It does seem to drag through some of the conversations but it is a steady pace for the most part. I was instantly pulled in when the book started out down at the river on graduation night right after two boys are pulled out of the river when eye witnesses say that three went in. Kiran is one of the three boys and the story primarily follows thirty something year old successful business man who has been driven to success in an effort to outrun his past. Until he receives a letter and article about the accident that happened twenty years before. Kiran finds himself back in his old town trying to get answers and fill in the missing blanks from that night changed his life forever.

[Stephen R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect for a young audience as it narrates the bittersweet story of adolescence. Oleksiw develops thrilling characters who are quite different from each other even as they come together for an adventure. Not meant for fans of rapid action, the book begins slowly and gains momentum after the introduction of Marius.

Oleksiw has a way with words that immerses the reader into the intensity of adolescent life with a skillfully crafted story of past events that continue to haunt the characters. Plot development is also good, and the author provides a realistic construction of a suburban town while combing in elements of mystery with a youth-life story. The lyrical prose is clean, creating a well-connected plot that leaves no room for gaps.

[Jessie Hilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This read will keep you on your toes and will take you by surprise. When reading the back of the book, to when you are actually reading the book it is something completely different than what you might expect. However, it was better than what I expected. The plot is simple, slow at first, but get better as you read on. Kiran, who is the main character, goes back to his hometown because of the mysterious letter he got. The one thing I can recommend is to keep reading. This story will not grasp your attention right away. You just have to be patient. The attitude is great, and if you love a little bit of mysterious nostalgic reading this is for you. The author also developed the characters nicely, and each of them are interesting in their own way. Great read, and worth your time!

[Payal Sinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boys Who Danced With The Moon is a poignant, intense, and beautiful story on the basic theme of friendship. The author M. Oleksiw presents before us an original tale of deep friendship between three unlikely characters who are incomplete without one another. A fatal event creates havoc in the teenagers' lives, throwing them in different directions. The story progresses with a focus on the life of one single person until we are given the missing pieces of the puzzle that makes way for an unexpected but, satisfying ending. Reading the book would make you sad but, would also add warmth to it and make you think of the book long after you have finished reading it.

[Emerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boys Who Danced With The Moon, by author Mark Paul Oleksiw, is about Kiran. After receiving a mysterious package containing an old newspaper clipping, Kiran is drawn home and uncovers the secrets about why he left. The book pulls you in from the very beginning, with a dark dream and mysterious circumstances, I just had to keep reading to try and fit all the pieces of the puzzle together. The plot is an engaging coming of age YA story and really explores coming to terms with your past. The characters, especially, Kiran, have depth and grow immensely through the story. I really enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel follows Kiran, a successful businessman who explores his teen years. This was a very original story with a deep, emotional thread throughout. It’s a story about how our past follows us and creates us, but it’s also about how to move past the psychological things that hold us back. It was very realistically written with an interesting cadence to the writing that I wasn’t expecting. There were mysteries that kept the plot moving and linked the past to the present, but what I enjoyed the most was the character development and how Kiran grows and changes for the better. It was a thought-provoking and hopeful tale.

[Nadia Norin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is my first non-fantasy book after such a long time. I was so used to reading fantasy books that I forgot that not all arcs that I received are fantasy. I was quite disappointed when I realized The Boys who danced with the Moon is not a fantasy book -the title seems fitting tho. 

The arc that I received, the font is a bit different than the other digital copies I have. So I was already a little put off by it. And the first few pages had too many words to explain something that could have been said with much lesser words than used. Because for me, the longer the explanation, the more confused I would be -as I would just skim over it. 

The book is written in Kiran's pov. I like his name -different. The chapters alternate between the present and the past. I dislike this setting as it is too confusing and it makes me bias over which scenarios I want to read. In this case, I preferred the past over the present. The past is very fun, happy and colorful. There's a lot of things happening, and friendship forming. The present, on the other hand, is gloomy, dark and a little depressing. 

However, as the present starts to get more interesting and eventful, I look forward to them more than the past -since I could already guess what would happen. I am glad that Kiran and Marius had the closure they needed all along. I didn't think it would happen that fast, but I don't know -different friendships have different ways? 

The thing that I don't like about the ending is the romance. I really think that it is unnecessary. With everything that is happening, suddenly there's romance. I just could not comprehend that. I mean, yes he was mesmerized by her before. But that was like years ago, and they haven't spoken to each other throughout those years at all.

I was so glad that the story revolves around friendship and closure that I was so disappointed and mad that the author just had to include love at the end. Like it could not have waited?

Overall, the Boys who danced with the Moon is a great story about friendship and memories. But definitely, not a light read -it requires all your attention and time.

[Valery · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Boys Who Danced With The Moon by Mark Paul Oleksiw is a beautifully written story for the YA age group that evokes memories of being a teenager for its main character Kiran. Kiran is mysteriously drawn back to his hometown after receiving a perplexing letter with a newspaper clipping. Years before a tragic accident happened the night of high school graduation. The indelible memories of that night and the subsequent recovery all come back to Kiran after he returns to his hometown. This is a lyrically written novel that pulls on your heartstrings, the tone is emotional and engaging, while fully defining what it means to accept consequences for actions of the past. Truly thought provoking and full of love. A strong recommendation for a beautiful book that will leave a lasting impression.

[Archie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lyrical prose – mystery, guilt and past!
A book that delves into the past of Kiran and his graduation night incident that haunts him today when he is 30ish. Kiran returns to his hometown after he received a mysterious letter and recalls all the past memories, and from there he meets his past again and his journey to confront the demons that haunt him began and hope to leave shattered. The plot is very good and forces reader to stay tagged to the book until finished. The story that reminds us of the fact- our past hunts, a guilt that always stays, secrets that reveals, and the love and friendship we maintain in past.

[Jayasree B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful story about friendship, the past mixed with the present.
It was a bit slow for me, and it is not surprising that I find many people who kept putting this book down.
Overall, I found it to be a great reminder of how friendships of the past shape our futures.

For more book reviews, visit Frost At Midnite.

[Pegboard · Rating 4 out of 5]

After twenty years of running, Kiran Wells past finally catches up with him in The Boys Who Danced With The Moon, by Mark Paul Oleksiw. His success in business is because of a passion to forget instead of a thirst for advancement. But when letters arrive from a mysterious person, driving him back to where his accident happened, he realizes he must stop running. The worst part about that fateful night dancing by the river, is he can’t remember what happened.
 
The Boys Who Danced With The Moon, by Mark Paul Oleksiw, is an addictive coming of age suspense. As Kiran Wells struggles with psychological issues resulting from a near drowning, the author slowly unfolds the events that led up to that fateful night. This story is about teenagers discovering their boundaries in life, while living with their regrets as they age. It requires forgiveness and closure for healing, which will touch the reader’s heart as they follow Kiran through his memories to his present time. This novel walks the reader through a life changing experience which will stir them to their core.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of this book. Getting to know the characters and what was driving each of them in the here and now was very interesting. That being said, I was sort of disappointed in the last 1/4 of the book. I felt that the ending was rather rushed and rather unsatisfying.

[Joelle Rush · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5!

[c’yanna lee ୨୧ ⋆ ˚｡⋆ · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf i thought it was pretty boring and i can’t see myself restarting

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy summer read. This young adult fiction is really quite well written. It’s not the simple coming of age plot or the young love, or best friends themes that make it well written. It is the poetic descriptions, the odd-ball characters, the development of unique relationships and the “friends will do anything for their friends” theme that keeps your interest.
This is truly delightful read, although it involves a tragedy and high school unrequited love, it has a lot of charming redeeming subplots... and lots and lots of great poetic descriptions (I know I already said that but it’s worth repeating). A fun quick read!

[Rachel Kester · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book by Mark Paul Oleksiw tells the story of Kiran Wells, a man living on the West Coast with a successful career. However, one day, Wells receives a strange letter containing nothing more than a cut-out newspaper article about a drowning that once occurred in his hometown many years ago. This letter clearly unnerves Wells and he leaves his current life to go back to the home of his youth to investigate more about this event and reminisce on the things he could have done to help prevent it.

This story is an interesting mix of both mystery and sad nostalgia as Wells reflects on his youth and the people who once came into his life during high school. Oleksiw writes this novel with a strong style which will have you flipping through the pages quickly to find out what happens next. At 283 pages, it might take some time to read, but the investment is definitely worth it.

[William Kirke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in the 90s and totally related to the characters in this novel. I was wondering where the novel was going for the 1st half and then it all came together for me. It is a fast read and loaded with symbolism which I appreciate as an artist. I would give it 4 stars on a normal day but, loved the music references and read this soon after reading Kim Gordon's bio. Despite the tragedy at the heart of the novel, this worked well as a coming of age friendship story.

[Rachel Stansel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novel about friendship, guilt and memories. We follow Kiran, and adult who suffered a trauma in high school that tarnished everything he did after. The story alternates between what happened and Kiran trying to remember and deal with the memories. I really enjoyed the way the story was woven.

Full disclosure - I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[ida · Rating 1 out of 5]

ARC provided by the publisher

Let me preface this review by saying: there's very little objectively wrong with this book. I am 100% certain other readers would like this, however, this book wasn't to my personal tastes. I initially requested this book because the cover and the blurb intrigued me, but this book turned out to be something other than what I'd hoped for.

In the 1990s, 16-year-old Kiren starts keeping a journal. Having been a bit of a loner before, he befriends Maurice (the drinking, rebellious badass cool guy) and Andrew 'Moony' (the deep, hippy nerd). They become the best of friends. This book alternates between following Kiren back in the day and in present day. A large part of this book is also a retelling of things that have happened to him, however I never fully realized if it's Kiren who told this story or if it's basically you reading one of his journal entries. The other 'part' of the book is, like I said, about Kiren in the present day, him now being a successful 30 something living on the west coast until one day, a mysterious letter and news clipping that was sent to him about something that happened 20 years ago makes him return home.

Going into this book, after the first chapter you know there'll be an accident, someone's going to drown, another one will be severely injured and a third one will live. That premise, especially with these ~mysterious newspaper clippings being sent to him and whatnot makes you believe this is going to be a mystery, right? WRONG. Now, this turned out to be something completely different.

In fact, I'm just going to list things that bothered me about this book because I'm having a hard time writing long stretches of text today apparently.

- This book is very slow, and apparently for no reason. Slow doesn't always equal bad but this was, for me, the wrong kind of slow. Initially, I wanted to DNF it up until 40-ish%, but then I decided to continue this even though I was bored. The flow of this book was weird in the way that there was none.

- This was also very confusing in the beginning, another reason for me to want to DNF it. At first I thought it was suspense building up to a big reveal of "who sent these letters" but then that fizzled out into nothing and I realized this book was just straight up confusing, also for seemingly no particular reason.

- The fact that this book is a YA coming of age novel but never did I feel like you were following actual teenagers? A part of this book you were literally following a thirty-something guy, which showed, and when you weren't, you were reading about characters that very much didn't feel like teenagers. Honestly, from my experiences reading YA books, getting the voices of teenaged characters right is hard and this book didn't succeed doing that in my opinion.

- The friendship between the guys didn't seem very healthy and I never really understood what was amazing about it. In fact, the ending of this book is sort of dependent on you as a reader really understanding what was special about their relationship, which I did not. Like there's one instance where Maurice gets unreasonably angry with Kiren because Kiren never told him he was going to go out of state for school, which bothered me a lot. When people are holding things back from each other and also aren't allowed to live their own lives, I feel like whatever relationship is portrayed isn't very healthy.

- Teenaged Kiren was a creep, long story short. His crush on Laura - like he hears her talk and dreams about her and suddenly he's completely besotted with her, to the point he becomes creepy and too obsessed. Let's not talk about how women were portrayed in this book - as shiny, beautiful objects full of mystery and not as real people. Also the ending was a bit??? You've met this girl for all of five minutes in the last 20 years and you realize you're in love with her? Nope.

Genuinely the only reason I'm not rating this 1 star is because there's nothing objectively wrong with this book, it's just that *I* didn't love it.

Long story short, I feel like this review sums my thoughts on this book up better than I can.

[Pamela S Eveland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have been better if the author didn't try so hard to impress.

It took me FOREVER to get past page 100 for two reasons: 1) the author apparently heard that a book (or at least it's author) is judged by the number of metaphors and similes he can get into his novel, regardless of whether the subject of each has any relevance in the storyline whatsoever, and has also pledged that not only will he never ever end a sentence with a preposition no matter how awkward it gets, nor will he permit his characters to speak in such a manner; and, 2) the protagonist (early 40's, tragic past at teenage which he fled and has PTSD so forgot much about) has already been manipulated into going back to his childhood home, going to a restaurant, conveniently blacking out, and being taken home by a 20-something psych student (who is obviously the manipulator or in association with), who lives conveniently next to the place his early tragedy took place. This chick is too young to have been born when his tragedy occurred (or so we are told), so must obviously be associated with the tragedy players somehow. I think I could get past one thing or the other (either the contrived storyline or the "I must be a contemporary Bronte sister" writing) but the two together make it very hard to read more than a few pages at a time. Instead of being a book you can't put down, it's one I just can't take for very long.
Suddenly in pages 100-200 you are thrust without transition into the protagonist's past, arriving the first day of his junior year of high school through his senior year and it's almost as if someone else is writing the book. It's actually enjoyable to read (excepted for the editing mistakes.)
Then about page 200, the young psych student opens the door and your back in the present day for the rest of the book. (Well, the end of the memories are revealed here.) In the end, the story of the protagonist youth is worth reading, the current day outcomes are fine, and the book resolves well.

[Mishwishy · Rating 3 out of 5]

"No blood, no severed limbs; everything missing and nothing left"

"Freedom was the greatest gift you can give any living thing"

"Good soldiers tend to get short first."

"The present was awash with coincidences and voices from the past whispering sugary haunted nothings" (How cool is this line, btw?)

ARC provided by publisher

My reaction to his book can be divided into 3 parts:

1. Indifference - the first couple chapters were not the most engaging and I had to push myself to continue.

2. Curiosity: halfway through Part 1 I definitely got more invested in the book. The writing was undeniably beautiful. I found myself highlighting half a dozen quotes.

The protagonist's description of his monotonous life defiantly tweaked my existentialist side. Furthermore, I was pleasantly surprised by the hilarity of his departure (read:escape) from his office.

Moving onto Rachel - She was a fascinating character; being Moony's sister I definitely expected eccentric behaviour or at least Moony-like characteristics. So I was pretty disappointed by the lack of importance and minimal spotlight that was given to her.

Which further brings me to the third stage of my reaction to the book:

3. Disappointment - Nothing kills me more than a story that builds up your enthusiasm and excitement level but then trips you right back down.
The storyline was promising and very well formulated which is why the cliches really made me weep. Emphasis on the the word 'cliches', as in PLURAL!
I felt like I was smacked by them one after the other :(

But it's not entirely the authors fault. I prefer my books with a side of realism so naturally the slightly fairy-tale-everything -just-miraculously-works-out ending was not my cup of tea.

Although, lets not forget that this was infact a debut novel and all things considered it was not bad. It was a short and sweet read if you're looking for something like that!

[Gea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second part of the book is about a young man who writes passionately. Even more so when he falls in love. He doesn’t have many friends, only real ones, with their own quirks, different from his. Still they decide to stay together. Can’t tell more because that would spoil the read for you.

The first part is about a mysterious reason that has him running from his past. He’s even not trying to get his memory back. Just when some things are about to be cleared up, the writer starts describing something entirely different. I miss the point.
It’s like there are two completely different people.
And why the black outs? So many questions arise.

The third part gives the answers to the mysteries and make me sad for him. But what a great friend Moony is.

My conclusion: the second part is worth 4 stars, the first part is still a mystery to me.

I received this book through Hidden Gems and this is my voluntary and honest review.

NL:
Het tweede deel van het boek gaat over een jonge man die gepassioneerd schrijft. Des te meer wanneer hij verliefd wordt.
Hij heeft niet veel, maar wel echte, vrienden. Ze hebben allemaal hun eigenaardigheden. Ondanks dat of misschien juist wel daarom blijven ze samen.
Ik kan daar niet meer over zeggen want dat zou het lezen bederven.

Het eerste deel gaat over een mysterieuze reden waarom hij alles achterlaat en vlucht van zijn verleden. Hij probeert niet eens zijn geheugen terug te krijgen. Net wanneer sommige zaken opgehelderd lijken te worden begint de schrijver over iets compleet anders. Ik begrijp er niks van, kan me niet in de hoofdpersoon verplaatsen.
Het lijkt wel of er twee compleet verschillende personen zijn. En vanwaar de black outs? Zoveel opkomende vragen.

Het derde deel beantwoord veel van die vragen maar het maakt me verdrietig voor hem. Maar wat een goede vriend is Moony.
Mijn conclusie: het tweede en derde deel zijn 4 sterren waard, maar het eerste kan ik niet volgen.