J. Dylan Yates

This book is about surviving. It's about moving on from the suffering in your life. It's told in alternating narration, Jules story as well as her grandfather's flashbacks.

Jules is the main character in the story. She is strong, gutsy and knows who she is even though her family is one of the most dysfunctional families I have read about. Her dad is an abusive alcoholic who gambles and can not hold down a job. When her mom finally wises up and kicks him out of the house, she becomes a wild hippie. Her mom is a flower child that reverts back to wanting to be a teenager growing up in the 60's. She does drugs, parades men in and out of the house, doesn't buy food. Then she even slips ten year old Jules a hit of LSD in her Raisin Bran because Jules is "square." Her two brothers depend on Jules to take care of them, cook meals etc. Jack, her mother's boyfriend, moves in and the parties are wild. When tragedy strikes the family, Jules has a breakdown of sorts. Her life is a mess, but somehow, she finds 2 friends, who with the help of their families, save her.

Her grandfather'story fills in some of the blanks as far as the reasons her mother is a little crazy. His story is very sad and one, that even though holocaust stories have been told many times, has some twists that I had never heard of before. He was left behind with some of his siblings when his Jewish parents came to America. They had planned to send for the rest of the family once they were settled and had the money to do so. World War II broke out and what this young group of siblings dealt with was hard to read about. He bears the guilt for losing some of his family that he was put in charge of keeping safe. He carries that guilt, plus the guilt of denying he was a Jew and denying who he was in order to survive.

This was an extremely interesting book to read, but there are some parts of the story that drag. I wanted the story to move faster at times. There are also times that Jules does things that are not really explained well. Her story ends, but leaves me wondering what is next. She seemed too strong at times, especially when dealing with some of the things that happened to her at school.

I am looking forward to her next book with more of Szaja's story. I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.… (mehr)

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The story was told in point and counterpoint by Jules and her grandfather. It just did not work for me. The grandfather's story might have been poignant and interesting if told as a stand alone but the parallels into his granddaughter's life were oblique at best.

There is no doubt that the author has mastered the art of communicating her ideas. Her thoughts, sentiments and conversations were clear and insightful but the darkness of those elements was a wanton attack on my sensibilities.

As I was reading the words "depraved indifference" kept echoing and resonating in the back of my mind. The story of Jules and her upbringing and her childhood and what she was forced to endure made for uncomfortable reading and if that was the author's objective she was successful. I did not enjoy the book and had a difficult time relating to the way the decade of my coming of age was described.… (mehr)

I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is about Jules and her grandfather Szaja. Both are telling their stories: Jules in the 70's and her granfather in the 20's.

Jules is living in a very disturbed and dysfunctional environment with her parents. Between her parents there is violence, gambling, drugs and a lot of beating and to escape her imagination to bring some happy moments.

Szaja who in the 20's, witnessed unimaginable terror, violence and was too much that he develops a second personality to cope.

This book is disturbing, sad, poignant and beautiful at the same time. The author did an excellent job combining the two stories together, you could feel the pain and sorrow both were feeling.

My negative thing about this book is it was at time too slow but my overall opinion is that it's a great enjoyable book.… (mehr)

This book was a taste of home for me....life on the massachusetts coast in a town where the population doubles in the summer. It is narrated by a young girl till she becomes college age, one of the 'townies'. Not one of the privileged monetarily but one who appreciates and loves the open air natural life on the small island. Where the 'ocean transforms broken glass into something precious....something you can keep...'

A family of major dysfunction where it's basically every man for himself...with disastrous results. Her rock is her grandfather who lived thru hell in WW2 Germany, and now lives in a suburb of Boston. A refuge. The book successfully combines both stories, overlapping them like rippling waves.

It's a constant struggle, socially, emotionally, financially and ...spiritually. There were moments of incredible sadness but all with the ring of reality and truth. I read the book with tears in my eyes at points because it did hit home...at the same time i could sit back and feel the breeze and breathe deep that salt air!
She does escape...but not unscathed.

FAVORITE QUOTE: " So i put down the angry bag of shit i'd been carrying since i was 7.... I wanted you to believe someone might be watching over you. I think i wanted you to believe in something magical ...something transcendent. Like the BELIEF IN ANGELS? People don't know if angels exist , but they believe and hope and that hope keeps them going."… (mehr)