Tell the Wolves I'm Home

It is hard to believe this is a first novel. Brunt has revealed a bit of American history and every person's world in this story about a girl who is struggling with the normal challenges of growing up, along with the unspoken horror of having her beloved uncle die of AIDS. June and her sister's once close, increasingly estranged relationship is explored in realistic ways as well. Set in the mid 1980s, June explored NYC on her own to meet and grieve together with the uncle's previously hidden partner. This relationship is poignant and full of heart. A novel filled with uncertainty and fear, family dynamics including sibling jealousy and love.

I forgot where I heard about this one....so sorry for no links to it. However, I spotted it at my library and remembered the name from some past "I need to read this" state.

This is a really great first novel about a young teenage June Elbus. Awkward, the weird girl, horribly shy.... she is only herself around her Uncle Finn. It starts off fairly quickly, letting us know that Finn is dying and painting a final portrait of June and her big sister, Greta. We learn quickly, too, that in 1987, Finn is one of the victims of AIDS. Very misunderstood and ousted in that decade, he is clearly the Prince Charming in June's life though. After his death, little pieces of people start floating to the top and June starts putting them all together.

Things start to make sense, no matter how hurtful they were.

Brunt portrays the sister relationship in a very real way. Being a little sister myself, this was very much a realistic portrayal of the problems sisters go through. Everything in this story is about relationships interacting, mending and resolving. The hope of June, the faith of June in her Uncle Finn, helps everyone move past the past and get on with the present.

This was an engaging story of a complicated (not complex!) family. A well-written page-turner that captures the zeitgeist of fear generated by the early 80’s AIDS epidemic. But with the exception of June & Tony, other characters seem thin and under-developed. While it is a family drama many will be able to relate to, particularly women with sisters who are close in age, I found myself getting frustrated with the pettiness of the offenses that created riffs of huge consequence.

That said, I really enjoyed the book and look forward to her sophomore effort.

Family secrets...

I held off on reviewing this one for a long time, and now I am at that point where I only vaguely remember it. I'll keep this short.

I didn't connect with this book. I didn't find it memorable. I didn't feel a whole lot towards the characters, and I certainly didn't relish each and every page.

There are a lot of glowing, five-star reviews.

I thought it was just ok.