deep book and very well written looking forward to finally watching the movie to see how they did. ( )

This was... pretty disturbing to me, but in a way that was compelling? I did have to cheat and look up the ending on Wikipedia because I didn't feel I could finish the book if I didn't know how it ended ahead of time. Heim does this incredible thing with his narration where these details of the scenes he paints become so deeply haunting--not just the obvious ones, but all of them.

Enormous trigger warnings for detailed sexual abuse of children and a rape sequence which I didn't know going in and would have approached with more caution if I did. ( )

I read this book when it was first published, and it has stayed with me. Powerful storytelling, and one of the most memorable closing lines of a novel. Highly recommended. On a side note, the movie is one of the best adaptations of any novel. ( )

Not an easy one to review. Really well written, but so horrifying it was difficult to read at times. A story that must be told but will it ever reach the audience it needs to? That audience being adults who torment children and seeing what devastation they bring. ( )

Enthralling read. Initially I was going to throw it down in disgust as I wasn't quite sure what I was reading. However, I'm glad I gave it more reading time as it didn't go where I thought it was going ie, down the titillating, child porn, abuse route. It didn't and it was much much more.

This was an uncomfortable, and sometimes darn-right sickening view into the characters lives and how the 2 abused characters came to terms with their individual experiences of abuse. I genuinely felt for the damaged personalities, even the so called 'bad boy'.

I can't help believe that the author must be writing from experience or he has done some rather in depth research as it is all too realistic IMHO. OK, so what's UFO's got to do with it ... well all I'll say is I had 'a friend', no honestly, who had a 'loosely' similar experience so I really do 'get' this. You'll just have to read it to see if you do too. My friend? She's fine as far as I know but we lost touch a few years ago but I know it wasn't until, very like the story, 15 years before she realised the truth.

It will most definitely not be a book for everyone as it has child sexual abuse, homosexuality with explicit sex content. ( )