AUTHOR: Jeff Zentner

SERIES: standalone

GENRE: YA, Contemporary, realistic

RELEASE DATE: March 8th, 2016

PUBLISHER: Crown books for Young Readers / Random House

SOURCE: eARC for review 

ADD ON GOODREADS

BOOK DEPOSITORY I BARNES AND NOBLE I AMAZON 

“Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, where he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and very public fall from grace.

He and his fellow outcast friends must try to make it through their senior year of high school without letting the small-town culture destroy their creative spirits and sense of self. Graduation will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is content where he is thanks to his obsession with an epic book series and the fangirl turning his reality into real-life fantasy.

Their diverging paths could mean the end of their friendship. But not before Dill confronts his dark legacy to attempt to find a way into the light of a future worth living.”

Let’s Gab:

I’m still a little unsure of how to articulate my thoughts here. Do you ever read a book that resonates so powerfully with you, so much so that you struggle to find the appropriate ways to explain just why that was? That’s me right now. It’s not sufficient enough to just say, “HEY. You. Read this book. Right now.” although that is totally something I will probably be doing for the next long while.

This is a coming of age story set in small town Forrestville Tennessee (named after the founder of the KKK, no less), that follows three misfit friends as their senior year unfolds. Dill, Lydia, and Travis felt so very real to me. Each character is unique, with their own voice, and from the first chapters I knew that these were characters I could connect with.

Travis, bless his heart, is just so unapologetically himself. He wears his dragon necklace, carries his staff, and bring his fantasy novels everywhere without fear of judgement. Not that all of these characters don’t get ridiculed at school, but Travis doesn’t let that weigh him down. I just want to hug him, his story breaks my heart.

As does the story of Dill. Dill is the son of a preacher, who practices the signs, meaning he handles venomous snakes and drinks poison as proof of his faith. His father is in prison, and everywhere Dill goes he is haunted by his ancestors’ (whose name he shares) choices and legacies. 

Let me just paint a picture for you of lydia: she is strong and opinionated, runs a fashion blog, thrives on social media, and is fiercely loyal to Dill and Travis, her two best friends. Her life is charmed, compared to that of her friends, but that doesn’t diminish her beauty, ambition, and fullness of her character. She does everything with heart, even as she obsesses over getting out of their small, closed-minded town.

The characters spirit and stories were so incredibly powerful, overwhelmingly heartbreaking at times, but I felt every emotion and moment as deeply as they did. Jeff’s writing evokes so many emotions and conveys their thoughts and feelings so clearly.

This story’s setting was absolutely new to me. I rarely, almost never, read books set in the south, let alone rural Tennessee. It was a new-to-me place, but I loved immersing myself into a new place through this story, and I never really felt out of my element or disconnected.

I kid you not, I cried during at least 5 moments in this story. Seriously, it tugged on my heart strings like no other book I’ve read for a very long time.

I thought that Zentner addressed really, truly heavy topics in ways that did not trivialize those experiences and situations. Instead, I felt like these moments of despair, hurting, and tragedy were portrayed with heartbreaking clarity, and really provided powerful insight for the reader.

Overall Impression:

Heartbreaking. Honest. Real. Hopeful. Lyrical. Beautiful. Impactful. Powerful.

This story was unparalleled by any book I have read lately. Ultimately it was a story of hope, and learning how to leave behind the heartache of the past, and choosing to continue on living authentically and loving unconditionally.

Do yourself a favor, and read this book. Buy it for someone in your life. It’s a story that needs to be shared; a story of pain and suffering and heartache, but also of finding hope and triumphing over darkness in one’s life.

5 out of 5 stars to this beautiful and powerful debut. Well done, Jeff.