Gone, Gone, Gone

by Hannah Moskowitz

In the wake of the post-9/11 sniper shootings, fragile love finds a stronghold in this intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer .

It's a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge and trying to make sense of these random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives.

Craig’s crushing on quiet, distant Lio, and preoccupied with what it meant when Lio kissed him...and if he’ll do it again...and if kissing Lio will help him finally get over his ex-boyfriend, Cody.

Lio feels most alive when he's with Craig. He forgets about his broken family, his dead brother, and the messed up world. But being with Craig means being vulnerable...and Lio will have to decide whether love is worth the risk.

This intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer is a poignant look at what it is to feel needed, connected, and alive.

Genres: Young Adult, LGBT, Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, M M Romance

251 pages, Hardcover

First published April 17, 2012

About the author

Hannah Moskowitz wrote her first story, about a kitten named Lilly on the run from cat hunters, for a contest when she was seven years old. It was disqualified for violence. Her first book, BREAK, was on the ALA's 2010 list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, and in 2013, GONE, GONE, GONE received a Stonewall Honor. 2015's NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED was named the YA Bisexual Book of the Year. SICK KIDS IN LOVE was a Sydney Taylor Honoree, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and one of both Kirkus and Tablet Magazine's Best Books of the year. She lives in Maryland with several cats, none of whom are violent.

Reviews

[Hannah]

I wrote this book. The main characters would want to be friends with you if they were real.

The Playlist:

1) The Animals Were Gone--Damien Rice
2) You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.--Bright Eyes
3) Sometime Around Midnight--The Airborne Toxic Event
4) Left Behind--Spring Awakening soundtrack
5) Across the Universe--The Beatles
6) To Be Alone With You--Sufjan Stevens
7) Overkill--Colin Hay
8) The Freshman--Jay Brannan
9) Forget It--Breaking Benjamin
10 Lifeline--Mat Kearney
11) Danny Callahan--Conor Oberst
12) There is a Light That Never Goes Out--The Smiths
13) Blue Eyes--Cary Brothers
14) All You Need is Love--The Beatles
15) Hundred--The Fray
16) All You Need to Do--The Feeling
17) Washington, D.C.--The Magnetic Fields
18) Your Arms Around Me--Jens Lekman
19) Live Like We're Dying--Kris Allen
20) Make War--Bright Eyes
21) When My Boy Walks Down The Street--The Magnetic Fields

[Vinaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had tears in my eyes at the end of this book. You know, the soft misty ones you get when you hear a particularly evocative piece of music, or trace the delicate brush strokes of a master artist? Gone, Gone, Gone was tender and moving in the same way as a snapshot in your mind of your first kiss.

I cannot believe I got a chance to read this book a full year before it is due to be released. Gone, Gone, Gone is my first Hannah Moskowitz book, and it has made me even more impatient for the arrival of my copy of Invincible Summer.

As is usual with books I love, it's hard to find the right words to describe this book. It's a story about love. It's a story about living. And about dying. And about being fifteen and fucked-up. It's a story about brothers and sisters. About family. About pets and healing and life's metaphors. It's a story I couldn't do justice to with all the words in the world.

Craig and Lio. Oh god, I fell a lot in love there. Heartbreak city and Disneyland, all rolled into one. Craig needs noise. The sound of his own voice, the noise of his animals. He wakes up in a quiet world, and everything has gone to hell in a handbasket. His animals — four dogs, five cats, one bird, three rabbits and a guinea pig, all gone gone gone. And all it took was an open door.

Getting Lio to talk is hard. His DEAD BROTHER (in caps, always) is the one who was born to talk. Lio was born to sing. He's a cancer kid, but he's also risen above it. He wants to rise above it. He wants to live, and he's the most alive person in the world, but he knows the fragility of life, he can't face the fear of death with the same nonchalant belief in his invincibility. The clock ticks in his head, but all Craig hears in his is a heartbeat.

I identified with the most random little bits and pieces of the story. ...it's kind of crazy to think that my family exists while I'm not here. And later, I feel like I need a hotline. Not a suicide hotline, but more like the opposite. Is there a hotline for people who feel a little too motivated to be alive?

And oh god, I shivered and laughed and got goosebumps every. single. time they kissed. So much heart, so much passion, all the layers of life and love and pain and laughter that make up loving, and why, oh why don't more people understand that this is how it's supposed to be?

This is not a story that worries about pacing, or about action. It's a story about people, about the paths of their lives, the big highways and the little detours. It's about being one small person caught up in the heart-breaking events of a cruel world - dead people in gas stations, snipers and being afraid to step out into the world. There are animals in this story, but they are more than just pets- they are a cage, and therapy and healing. There are families- a little fucked up, but there, a full circle of love and protection that closes around you. Dead brothers who make you angry and live ones that break your heart.

There are so many elements to this book, and yet they are drawn together so simply. The subversion of mainstream stereotypes is so matter-of-fact, you almost fall for the illusion that this is, in fact, the norm - black boys and Jewish boys and gay boys. When I read this book, I feel fifteen, heartbroken and confused and so in love and a little fucked-up. I feel like this pain is my pain, this joy is my joy and this life, oh this is the life that could have been mine. And I feel sorry for all you people who have to wait a whole year, a whole eon, to recapture that slice of your life, to feel those kisses shudder down your spine, to fall into a world that's so real it slices up your heart, and heals it.


P.S. I am completely unable to induce any element of subjectivity into this emotion-filled gush, so I am linking to Ceilidh's more balanced review for those of you who actually like perspective in your reviews! ;-)

[Maja (The Nocturnal Library) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It wasn’t easy to organize my thoughts on this book. It’s been a while since I’d added something to my ‘books that changed me’ shelf, and although Gone, Gone, Gone didn’t affect me as strongly as Raw Blue, for example, I’m pretty sure it’ll stay with me for a very long time. Truthfully, for a while I even thought my rating would be four or four and a half stars, but then I decided that I need to make it abundantly clear that this is a book everyone needs to read, and that it’s likely to change at least some small part of you and show you beauty in that calm, quiet way I’ve learned to appreciate.

A year after 9/11, two 15-year-old boys in Maryland are trying to find a way to live with themselves, and then maybe with each other. Craig’s boyfriend Cody went a little crazy after his father died in the Pentagon on 9/11. Craig is trying to get over him by taking care of as many animals as he possibly can, but he’s mostly unsuccessful. Even though he’s only 15, the loss of his lifelong friend and first boyfriend changed Craig irreparably. That’s why he’s fighting so strongly against his attraction towards the new boy in school, Lio.
Abandoned by his mother, Lio just moved from New York to Maryland with his father and two sisters. When they were children, both he and his identical twin got leukemia – the only difference is that Lio made it, and his brother didn’t. He is a quiet, quirky boy who rarely talks and dyes his hair many different colors at once.

These two boys – I can’t bring myself to call them characters – will warm their way into your heart before you even realize what’s happening. Hannah Moskowitz left nothing to chance. She built two people with fears, habits and family connections, people that are incredibly complex, but identifiable, and so fragile that it’s impossible not to love them and feel protective towards them.

I really can’t go into this right now. I probably shouldn’t have kissed him back. But I’ve sort of wanted to kiss him ever since I saw his fucked-up hair that day in Ms. Hoole’s class, and really since the conversation right after, when he told me he cuts it when he’s nervous, and I immediately wanted to know everything in the whole world that makes him nervous, and everything in the whole world about him.

Although it tackles hard subjects such as cancer, loss of a family member and insanity, Gone, Gone, Gone is essentially a warm and hopeful story. It’s a book I want my kid and my nephews to read when they reach their teens, along with Suicide Notes and Brooklyn, Burning.
I have an e-arc of this (thank you, S&S), but I’ll preorder a copy for myself right this second, and while I’m at it, I’ll get one for my sister as well. I have a feeling this book will bring a smile to my face whenever I see it on my shelf and I’ll certainly want to reread it many times in years to come.

For this review and more, please visit The Nocturnal Library

[Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember September 11th. I was in Junior year in High School (in France, of course) and I learnt what happened late afternoon when I was heading for practice.

I remember being sad for all these person and mad because how unfair is it? but I also remember being pissed at all these teenagers around me who kept bragging that it had opened their eyes and showed them how much life is worth it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to minimize it, god of course not, but I just couldn't understand how people could use it to appear cool, to spread some philosophical bullshit, as if they could understand what people in New York could feel, what people in US could feel. I couldn't, and I don't think they could, either. We were just fucking French Junior who couldn't have a locker anymore because bombs. All that is to say that I didn't get it at the time. I was only a self-centered teenager whose interest never holds long and I asked myself exactly what Lio and Craig wonder about : how do we define loss? Is it the number that counts? Or is it something else? Is it the fact that we knew someone? I didn't know at the time, but I know now.

"What's love when you're too fucked up to feel it right?
I think it's a weapon."

Perhaps it's going to sound incredibly selfish but to me there's nothing truer than this : We really feel loss when we know someone. Of course we can empathize, we can feel sad and mad and sorry for someone, it remains it always seems borrowed, if we can use a word so practical when dealing with loss. Every day I hear about people who are sick, who have cancer, and yes, I feel sorry for them. My dad died from cancer two years ago. I didn't feel sorry. I felt broken. I felt lost. I felt scared. And I'm never, ever going to say that it is the same thing. It isn't. In my opinion we are partly defined by the person we love, by the person we care about, and no empathy can overtake that. None.

"Craig is just one person. The chances that he will get shot are the same as anyone else's.
The hole in the world when he's gone would be the same size as the FBI agent's.
Except...
It wouldn't be.
To me.
I have no way to measure these holes.
Click.
Numbers don't matter.
Because what if loss is immeasurable? What if all we can do is call a loss a loss? "

The story takes place in 2002, during the Beltway Sniper Attacks, and for someone like me who wasn't familiar with this tragedy at all, the way Hannah Moskowitz deals with this issue is truly wonderful because it felts real. Indeed I felt the threat, the fear, the panic this kind of random attacks could lead to. And then, there're these boys. There are these broken boys who meet and fall in love. They are hurt. They are hesitant. They are fucking afraid. But they are.

"Just wanted to let you know I got in all right. And also that my chest hurts as if I MAY BE DYING, because I accidentally left my heart on your kitchen counter. I hate when that happens.
Li"

And I love them. I even developed a not-so-little crush on Lio. Even if he's fictional. Even if I have a boyfriend. Even if he's gay. Whatever. As I said, I developed a crush on Lio because this guy is so fucking adorable that I couldn't help. As for Teeth, Gone gone gone offers us a flawless characterization with characters who aren't perfect, who mess up, who evolve, and in the end, we just want to hug them something fierce. I do, anyway.

"It's up to me whether I'm okay with the possibility of being broken.
Plus, I'm a tough little son of a bitch, and don't you forget it."

Finally, I'm sorry if this review isn't organized or doesn't even mention how incredible the writing is, how emotional this story is, how fucking beautiful their love is. I guess I didn't feel writing a complete review tonight - but the only thing I'll say is READ IT. Please, go meet Craig and his fourteen pets, Lio and his five colored hair, go read their emails and cry and laugh and fall in love. You won't regret it. Because even if I preferred Teeth, Lio and Craig's story goes instantly in my favorites, and I like to think that it's saying something.

[Jillian -always aspiring- · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: I am sorry to everyone reading this, but this book doesn't come out until April 17th, 2012.  However, if you can get your hands on an early reviewer copy, please read it.  And everyone else who doesn't, mark your calendars for April 2012.  I can almost guarantee you won't regret giving this book a try.

Confession: I hadn't read anything by Hannah Moskowitz before now.  I know, I know.  How could I not have read Moskowitz's debut novel Break?  And I have absolutely no excuse for not having read Invincible Summer (especially since The Book Lantern featured an interview with the author and a review of the book)! (Note to self: I must remedy these wrongs soon.) However, Gone, Gone, Gone intrigued me right from the first time I read the plot blurb a few months back.  I knew that I would love to read it as soon as I could.

What I didn't expect was to fall so hard for the story, the characters, and the prose.  This book is beautiful in a way that few books are.  It is raw on emotion without being angsty; it is deep without feeling contrived; and at times it is sweet without being saccharine.  Storytelling is a difficult balance to maintain, but this book had a wonderful flow to it even though the characters were experiencing upheaval both emotionally and mentally.

Gone, Gone, Gone is set in Maryland a year after September 11th, 2001, and centers around the time of the D.C. sniper shootings.  Now, I don't know about anyone else living outside of the D.C. area, but I knew about the sniper shootings even though I lived all the way in Chicago.  The events that unfolded cast shadows across state lines.  Each new report from the national media left a sense of dread in my stomach: If that can happen there, then what's stopping it from happening here? That kind of thought imprints its own sense of paranoia into the trappings of everyday life, so I could only imagine how those living in or around D.C. felt at the time.  But Hannah Moskowitz's novel didn't allow me to just imagine; it made me feel and fear right alongside the characters.

Lest I make you think that Gone, Gone, Gone is a typical 'message' book, it isn't.  It also contains a very solid romantic element that gives flesh and heart to the bones of the plot.  Craig is a fifteen-year old boy who takes in stray animals to cope with the emptiness and helplessness he feels for not being able to 'fix' a boy who mattered to him.  Lio is a fifteen-year old boy who survived cancer even though his twin brother died of it.  Both boys have issues, flaws, and emotional strains aplenty -- but they find some solace in one another for reasons they will not or cannot admit to themselves.  

To say the friendship between Craig and Lio is bittersweet is an understatement.  At times when I was reading this novel, I really wanted to shake Craig by the shoulders and shout at him, "What the hell are you doing?!  You are ruining everything!" Their developing relationship tugged at my heartstrings, melted my heart at times, and even made me smile.  What a rare thing!  The progression of the romance was realistic in that perfect, awkward, unsure way that all teenage relationships seem to have -- and I loved every minute of it because it made the story ring even more truly (even though it frustrated me to no end when I just wanted to push the boys together and say, "Kiss, dang it!").

Overall, I was just really amazed and impressed by Gone, Gone, Gone because it was one of those books that just got to me in a way that few things do.  I am really hoping that most people who read this book will have that same feeling as they come away from this story, but there's only one way for you to know for sure: READ IT.

[Kat Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look, it doesn’t really mat­ter what star rat­ing I’d have given this book. Because, at the end of the day, noth­ing would have been able to take away from how unflap­pably cool Han­nah Moskowitz is. She’s like the genius rock­star of the YA world.

So I guess it’s just a good thing that I com­pletely, truly and irrev­o­ca­bly (I feel Twi­light has ruined this word for­ever) loved this book.

For a book that doesn’t have a giant, action packed plot or com­pli­cated mes­sage, Gone, Gone, Gone man­ages to be bril­liant in the most under­stated, replete fashion.

It’s lan­guage is sim­plis­tic, I’d even go so far as to say MUNDANE, but it’s packed to the brim and even the most inane parts are interesting.

“I’m not an enigma. I’m just talked out, prob­a­bly per­ma­nently. I said all I needed to say when I was a boy made of sticks and radi­a­tion and half-digested oat­meal. I don’t feel good. I want to go home. Make it stop. It’s been seven years, and I’m still out of words.”

Well and truly it is the intense char­ac­ter­i­za­tion of Craig and Lio that make this novel. Clearly Moskowitz doesn’t just do char­ac­ter­i­za­tion. She DOES char­ac­ter­i­za­tion. You know. Like, when she writes a char­ac­ter – that char­ac­ter has been writ­ten. That character KNOWS it's been written. That character will probably tell all it's friends about that time it was written really well. Then it will compare all other writings to the writing that Moskowitz gave it. Thoroughly.



I mean, if Craig and Lio had any more per­son­al­ity, odd­i­ties and com­plex­i­ties then her char­ac­ters might just come alive and start try­ing to mur­der their cre­ators and Moskowitz would have to hide her sta­tus from them for­ever like that guy in The Soli­taire Mys­tery. Actu­ally, just for good mea­sure, don’t ever get stranded on an island Moskowitz. Espe­cially not a mag­i­cal island that brings your day dreams to life because then you’re prob­a­bly screwed.

It’s going to be hard to sell this book. Usu­ally you latch onto some­thing easy like describ­ing a book as being The Hunger Games meets Madame Bovary or some other such non­sense. But it’s a lit­tle hard to do that. I could go the easy route and tell you it’s Awe­som­ness meets your mind, or fab­u­lous meets the writ­ten word. But that doesn’t really trans­late well into what this book is about.

But this book is about a lot of things. Mostly it’s about two boys who fall in love while deal­ing with them­selves. Mostly it’s about heal­ing and grow­ing and loving.

Mostly it’s about me kick­ing your ass if you don’t add it to your TBR list, alright?


There are just a thousand and one uses for this pic!

This review can be found at our blog, Cuddlebuggery.

[Steph Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many great things about this book. How Hannah manages to cram them all into 272 pages is just amazing. After falling in love with Invincible Summer I was excited to read this. It's the first LGBT novel I've ever read so I didn't know what to expect. All I can say is that I loved it.

The Setting

This book takes place during the Beltway Sniper Shootings, almost exactly a year after 9/11. The story follows Craig and Lio while they deal with the aftermath of the terrorist attacks and the current threat.

I remember exactly what I was doing September 11th, 2001. I was in 8th grade in my science class waiting for the bell to ring. I hated that class. Except that day, the bell rang and my teacher told us to stay put. Over the next hour, the PA system received an extensive workout when student after student was called down to he office to go home early. My teacher looked scared, but they weren't allowed to tell us anything or allow us outside of the classroom. Thankfully, my classroom was located right above the main entrance to the school and I was able to see loads of parents running in and out the school. I seized the first opportunity to yell out the window and ask a man what was going on while my teacher wasn't looking.

Me: "Hey! What's going on?"

Man: "They are attacking the U.S.!"

Me: "WHAT?! WHO?!"

Man: "I don't know. They hit New York and The Pentagon."

My heart literally sank. My first thought was, "OMG. My father." I ran from that classroom to my mom's (she worked at my school) and she immediately told me, "He's fine. He didn't go into work today."

I have never been so scared in my life.

And then the Sniper Shootings started one year later. My school cancelled all outside activities. Maryland lived in fear of white vans. I asked my dad not to go to work every morning. In hindsight, that was actually an unrealistic fear, he would be fine traveling to D.C. But we were scared. It was a scary time. Even though I didn't live in Montgomery or Prince George's county, we all knew it was just a 35-40 minute trip up the beltway for it to happen in our county, our neighborhood.

Hannah, you rock. I felt it.


Craig:
Craig is black, sensitive, and loves his animals. You can't help but to love this guy. He over analyzes everything, but I didn't find it annoying. He was simply endearing. I wanted to hug Craig every time he cried. I loved his "voice" in this book. He thinks in run-on sentences. And you would think it doesn't makes sense, but there is something about Hannah's prose that makes it perfect.

Lio:
Lio is a quiet, cancer surviving boy. It's too bad he doesn't talk because, man, this kid is funny. Thankfully, the PoV switches back and forth between Craig and Lio. I'd venture to say, he provided most of the comic relief in this book.

A few funny quotes from Lio:
"I hang up because I sound like a jackass and that shit needs to end."

"He's babbling on about his first date, and his first car he drove to go pick her up. And how in his day they didn't have these fancy electric car window openers, you had to crank them down by hand. God, I want to crank my head off right now."

"Maybe she doesn't have any friends? At least that's something we have in common. That can be our conversation starter. Too bad I'm the official conversation finisher."

"I'm not even sure if there are any fabulous Jew or homosexuals at our school, but rest assured that if there are, I will find them. By Friday they will be my babies. Mark it."

"Plus, I'm a tough little son of a bitch, and don't you forget it."

SIDE NOTE: Lio seems to be the only character who realizes that they are in Maryland and not D.C. For whatever reason, I really appreciated this. Perhaps its just my Maryland pride (Go Terps!).

What's interesting about both boys is that regardless on how 9/11 screwed them up, they were not initially afraid of the sniper shootings. Craig essentially thinks he is invincible as many teenagers at his age do. He just doesn't believe he will get shot because he is *Craig*. Lio, on the other hand, counts on statistics, believing it is almost impossible that it will be him that gets shot. In fact, he measures tragedy simply by the amount of deaths. At first, I couldn't understand this logic. I mean, I was *scared* and I didn't even live in that county.

However, as the novel wears on and their relationship grows their perspectives change. Craig fears for Lio because he realizes anyone at anytime could get shot regardless of who they are or how invincible they feel. Likewise, Lio fears for Craig because he realizes you can not measure a tragedy by numbers. A life is a life and when it happens to you, it is 100% every time.

The Romance

Beautiful. Craig is left so broken after his last boyfriend, Cody, went nuts and treated him badly. He struggles with allowing himself to heal and allowing himself to give away his heart to Lio. At the same time he is afraid of breaking Lio. Lio fights for Craig. He is much stronger than Craig gives him credit for at first. Hannah wrote this so well. She had my heart breaking in all the right places.

The Prose

It flowed so well. Little things like words repeating three times reminiscent of the title (ie, "Lio, Lio, Lio" or "maybe, maybe, maybe") added charming character to the novel. Craig thinking in his choppy run-on sentences and Lio's short fragments were perfect. I found that very special and realistic because honestly, who speaks in complete, full sentences in their head? It was perfect and helped me get the full impact. Even though Craig seemed like a jumbled mess of words he somehow never said too much. And though Lio didn't like to talk, somehow his short phases were so profound they hit home every time.

I feel so honored to be able to read this a full year before it comes out. But you can bet your bottom dollar I will most definitely be purchasing a copy when it hits shelves April 17, 2012. And so should you.

ARC was received through Simon and Schuster's galleygrab program.

More reviews and more at Cuddlebuggery Book Blog.

[Amina · Rating 3 out of 5]

✰ 3.5 stars ✰

“My heart is alive my heart is alive my heart is alive. I have Lio’s heart. Fuck.

What am I going to do with it? What’s love when you’re too fucked up to feel it right?

I think it’s a weapon.”

Everyone who was aware of when September 11th happened will probably never forget where they were when they heard the news, nor how it would impact their lives forever. I certainly have not forgotten the next day at school, how an emergency meeting was immediately held in the morning by our school faculty and it was issued a request for all our foreign teachers to leave Lahore to ensure their safety. What I was not aware of was of the 2002 Beltway Sniper attacks that terrorized the United States the following year. Amidst the current panic of fear that is instilled into the daily lives of the folks of Maryland, Gone, Gone, Gone is the story of two fifteen-year-old boys, Craig and Lio, who try to find a way to have a meaningful relationship, while still being haunted by the ghost of their past lives.

“I say, “I want to love you.” I don’t love him. But this is so true. I really, really want to.

“We’re fifteen,” he whispers.

I say something Cody used to say to me whenever I’d say we were too young and that this couldn’t be real: “So, we still have our hearts.”

But I don’t know what that means. My heart doesn’t feel like it’s going anywhere. It’s trapped in place. I just don’t know where that place is.”

Oh Craig - what do I think of you? You, with your love of animals that you hold so dear? You, with your first love for an older boy, who is broken over his own father's death in the attacks, that you can't seem to let him go and move on from him? You, who can't see the kind and good in the boy who is right in front of you - that wants to love you, but you don't know how to let him into your heart? 😔😔 I loved the little moments with his family, how protective his older brother was, how he tentatively allowed Lio to become a part of his life, how he never let him feel conscious about the lingering scars of his cancer.

“My last therapist said I was tired because I was depressed. I don’t think that’s what it is. One of my friends from New York has depression, and it eats him alive. I’m not depressed. I’m . . . fucked
up.”

And Lio, not 'like Tolstoy, but L-i-o, short for Liam. Which is short for William.', who still carried the guilt of surviving cancer, when his twin brother did not. Lio, who analyzed every factor into each shooting that took place - arguing that people are not just numbers - that when a life is lost, a person out there has lost someone they love. Their conversations were not laced with love, but just trying to understand the other and try to reach out to one another that made their bond seem even stronger.

“Everything’s fucked now.”

It doesn’t have to be fucked, we just have to never stop kissing. I say, “I really, honestly, know. Everything in the whole world is fucked and I really want to give it a try.”

This was written SO strangely - not that it was strangely written, but Hannah Moskowitz wrote it in such a manner that made me at least feel the crazed notions of both the MCs. The writing was short and almost chaotic in hind-set, and yet it was so realistically raw and unflinching curt in it's voice. Craig and Lio were individually so rattled - in their minds and in their current situation - that they used their own methods of how to convey their feelings - hurtful or honest - it did not matter to them. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 Despite his unnerving nature, I felt a lot more for him - he had so much more baggage on him as a person - losing his brother, then his mother leaving him and his siblings, and falling for a boy, who could not find a way to love him back. 🥺🥺

And she captured that hollowness of wanting, but not knowing what to do with that want. Does that make sense? Lio, for all his mad notions, knew he wanted Craig. But, Craig is still so deeply rooted in his affection for his first love, that he does not want to believe he can love another. 💔💔 And, somehow in all that - it always leads back to that feeling of guilt that if September 11th had not happened - would they be the boys they are now?

“But on the edges of all of it, where the light almost, almost, but doesn’t quite hit, the dark is very deep, darker than any of the places in the whole world that I’ve ever been.”

During my school-years, I experienced one moment, where our school was issued with a bomb threat and we had to evacuate - I remember the fear of uncertainty that hung in the air at that time. And here, I think, as much as the writing wasn't too my aesthetic satisfaction, I think, Ms.Moskowitz did a great job of showing how that terror of being a target - can hurt our sense of rationality. Even if it was in a jarring statistically sense that she used to describe it through Lio's eyes, she never lets us forget that the events of September 11 affected both of them so strongly - that they found it hard to move on from it. 😟😟

The feeling this book left me with was that everyone - no matter who they are - just wants to be loved - not to be gone from the memories of people's hearts. That people are still hurting and grieving for the ones that are gone - so much so, that it affects them entirely - in body and spirit. I'm not sure if I liked it, but I did not dislike it. 🤔 There were still many issues that remained unresolved, primarily who broke into Craig's house and released all his animals. But, it was something different, it told a unique story, and made me aware of an incident I do not recall ever remember happening. So, for that I am grateful that I read this strange, yet surprisingly believable story. 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[Giselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching love story between two peculiar teenage boys, Gone Gone Gone introduces us to Craig and Lio who are living in the aftermath of 9/11, each dealing with unique repercussions along with social ineptitudes that ultimately bring them together.

Craig and Lio both share a perspective in this novel, and each of their voices are incredibly sympathetic, moving you to the point of physically feeling their hardship and anxieties. I can't even say I liked one perspective over the other, they compliment each other perfectly so what you get is a great example of how well a dual POV can be applied, especially in a story with so much emotional turmoil. Furthermore, these characters quickly develop into something much more, they have heart and personality, facing stresses and emotional challenges that become palpable. The writing makes them so amazingly realistic. The flaws in their way of thinking; the sometimes excitable, sometimes jumbled, and often awkwardly structured thoughts make them one hundred percent real. The dry, sarcastic humor--especially from Lio--offers a nice balance against the otherwise intense tone of the book as well.

While this is, above all, a love story, it occurs the year after 9/11 during the Beltway Sniper Attacks. Having not been familiar with these shootings, a quick Google search is all it takes to see what a tragedy it was, and how completely it terrorized a suburban DC area. No matter how much you know of this ordeal, Hannah has a way with words that will not only show you, but make you feel the threat and terror living through such an event causes.

Intense in tone and in emotion, I was surprised by how much this book is not an issue book. Clearly they have issues; both of them are very bizarre with quirks and social awkwardness. But this is not about that. It's about finding oneself, finding someone you can connect and feel alive with, which is how you get to move on from a terrible event. It's not about being gay, or black, or weird. BUT, and this is a very small quirk that was not detrimental to my enjoyment of the book at all, though still something I took note of, I found Hannah's way of pushing the issues aside a little more illusional than it is realistic. Except for a few stowaway sentences, I wouldn't have known Craig was black. As hard as it is to be a gay teen, being a black gay teen makes him part of two prejudiced minorities. Yet, being black never comes up as a point of individualism in this novel. Any black teen I have ever encountered, especially in largely white communities, considers their race a rather big part of their identity. As for his sexuality, I found Craig maybe a little too confident and comfortable with it--to the point of kissing his boyfriend in front of his mom. Perhaps Hannah is going for the more modern "race and sexuality are not an issue" perspective, turning them into a matter-of-fact instead, however I can't help but find this is more fantasy than real life. No matter the level of support in a community regarding sexuality, coming out as a teen is a struggle filled with emotional anxieties. I would think any gay kid would have a lot of self doubt and not be this nonchalant about it.

Although deeply affecting, some parts of this plot are not as fleshed out as I would have liked. There is a pile up of character dysfunctions introduced, and some aren't further examined. For example, for being such an important part of the story, we're presented with a pretty vague and blurry idea of what exactly happened between Cory and Craig. I also wanted to have a further understanding of the families and their dynamics--Lio's in particular. Again, this qualm is very minor, barely having any effect in my reading experience, but it still needed mention.

This is the perfect read for any and all contemporary fans. We have a story that is entirely gritty and utterly raw. Its beauty and heart radiates inside a tale that has such pain and hardship. I became truly mesmerized by Hannah's writing style, and if she is not yet, this is an author to have on your automatic buy list!

--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.

For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

[Ceilidh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hannah Moskowitz has been on my TBR radar since her first book so the opportunity to read an ARC of her third book a year before its official release, thanks to Simon & Schuster’s Galley Grab system, was too good to pass up.

Teenagers are frequently accused of being shallow and simple creatures. The problems of the typical adolescent are usually categorised into the clichéd worries over school, family and sex, and are all too often used as oversimplified forms of characterisation in YA. In a genre oversaturated with shallow minded love stories and derivative high school stories, it’s so refreshing to see a book with such intricate character studies of its two main protagonists. This book really is one of the strongest character studies I’ve ever seen in YA. Lio and Craig (and I honestly can’t decide which one I love more) are so intricately put together, so detailed in their personalities, right down to the smallest, seemingly insignificant details that fit together like puzzle pieces.

Alternating between Craig and Lio’s points of view, Moskowitz manages to handle several very heavy topics – family death, cancer, sexuality, world tragedy – deftly, without slipping into soap opera mode. Everything feels real and brimming with emotion yet never overwrought. As this is a character study – there’s no real plot to speak of – this is where Moskowitz really shines. I dare any reader not to become attached to Craig and Lio. The emotions ever present in the story are raw, often unflinchingly so, and Moskowitz never shies away from the grey areas of the story and thankfully manages to avoid becoming preachy and clichéd. Chris and Lio do solace with each other but it’s not some magical healing love that solves everything for them – it’s just as messed up, awkward, confusing and beautiful as them. I truly appreciated not just the gay love story but the fact that it was interracial – Craig is black and Lio is Jewish – and such markers of identity were merely incidental, not some misguided form of tokenism. Their quirks feel so natural, as does their entire story. To watch their bittersweet and often bumpy relationship unfold is an emotional experience.

The other part of this book where Moskowitz’s skills flourished was in the book’s atmosphere. It’s a time of fear – the D.C. sniper shootings in post 9/11 America – and the entire story is steeped in this inescapable mood of terror. Craig and Lio’s narrations both capture the dread of living not just in a city but in a world where fear has become so normal that it’s part of everyday life. It’s something one as a reader definitely gets caught up in, along with the entire spectrum of emotions the story is steeped in.

I thoroughly enjoyed “Gone, Gone, Gone” but there were times where it felt as if the story dragged. It’s a short book but I think it would have worked perfectly as a novella. As it is, it’s still immensely readable but could benefit from more editing. There’s still a year to go so I’m pretty sure there will be more work done to it. I was also a little disappointed by the lack of story time dedicated to the female characters of the story. I really wanted to know more about Adelle, Lio’s therapist, as well as his sisters. Moskowitz has such deft skill for characterisation so it was disappointing to not see some of that dedicated to the women of the story.

This is a book about what makes you the person you are, and how the smallest, or biggest, of things can change not just you but everything around you. Reading Craig’s and Lio’s stories was truly a fascinating and often highly emotional experience and one I highly recommend you pick up upon its release. There aren’t many books like “Gone, Gone, Gone” in the YA market these days and I definitely think there should be more love for such intricate and complex character studies in a genre, and with an age group, so often misrepresented as shallow and simple. That’s definitely not the case and “Gone, Gone, Gone” is the perfect example of that.

4/5.

[John Egbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I think I've recovered enough to write a review.

The Good

Characters

I'll start with Craig.

Craig is not your typical gay boy. Firstly, he is black, which made me tingle with delight after being a first hand witness that if you're gay you can only be white and feminine. I really like what she did to that stereotype. To me, Craig wasn't very girly. He wasn't boyish either, oh God no, but he wasn't girly.

If you've read the Animorphs, he's sort of like a male Cassie -- coupled with the love for animals. If you haven't read Animorphs, well, then I don't quite know who to compare him to.

Be forewarned, Craig is a crybaby. But his crying is with reason, and it is pointed out that he does cry alot, which is much appreciated. Nothing is worse than a crybaby who is painted off as being a cold-hearted strong trooper. No, Craig's flaws are pointed out.

However, there is something with Cody. Cody is Craig's ex-boyfriend. Craig doesn't talk about him much -- wait, that's not true. He won't shut the hell up about him, but what I mean is that he never really talks about him. However, I've come to the conclusion that after Cody's dad dies Cody becomes utterly and completely screwed up. I think he probably verbally/physically/generally abused Craig in some way, but I'm not sure.

Because of Cody's fragility, Craig has become obsessed with taking care of things after Cody leaves to go to a mental hospital (I told you, the dude's screwed up). Which is why he has like a million animals. Actually, he only has about twenty. But when someone breaks into the house and the animals run away, Craig is left all alone. Until...

Now, we get into Lio.

Lio's therapist describes him as "a little fucked up", and if that isn't an indicator that he isn't quite right then I don't know what is. Lio and his twin developed cancer, and his twin died while he survived.

Lio, make no mistake, is a jerkass at times. But you don't excuse him for it because of his bwaaaad pwaaaast. You mull it over and forgive him because he seems genuinely sorry, and most of the time does make a good point in between his jerkassness.

Lio doesn't like to talk. But you really don't start to notice this until around halfway through the book. He's not your typical mute, though, because whenever he does open his mouth sometimes you begin to see why he keeps it shut.

And then there are those times when he opens his mouth and you wonder why he ever shut it in the first place.

Now, their dynamic,

Keep in mind, I am not a romance person. In fact, I generally try to stay away from romance (<--- LIES). However, somehow, I always end up reading romance books.

Lio and Craig have an interesting dynamic. Their friendship is cute and funny, while being distant and rather cold. It only confuses things when Lio kisses Craig, but honestly I'm wondering how Craig didn't see this coming. Sure, Lio doesn't seem gay, but the signals were...rather large. To me, anyway.

They're both fifteen (Lio is like, six months older but Craig is almost a foot taller) and this doesn't bother me. They don't seem young, at least not annoyingly young, and that is a relief. I'm getting sick of couples acting like five year olds and then it being played off as cute. Honestly, it's something if both people act like five year olds. But mushy, annoying, high pitched whining five year olds? No.

Their romance is something else entirely. It is possibly one of the sweetest things I have ever read, although things do get dark for a while. Keep in mind, I have not yet rated any LGBT books above 3 stars yet, I'm pretty sure, because if you're going to sell the boy/boy romance thing to me you have to work for it. This book worked for it.


The Side Characters

Now, in many a romance book side characters are either played for laughs, ignored, or made as annoying plot devices. I was happy with the way all of the characters in this novel were developed.

And guess what?

No disappearing parents syndrome! (<-- Not my ingenious phrase, btw)

I feel like the parents are real people. Although we don't go into them too much, we do get pretty solid personalities that aren't the typical quipster parents. Or quirky parents. Or just the nice parents. They are individuals too!!

It is set pretty early that Craig is a pretty miserable and alone insomniac, while Lio left all of his friends behind when he moved from New York, so neither of them have friends. However, we are given wonderful character development on Todd, Craig's brother, which I appreciate.

Also, I've noticed that in many boy/boy romance novels girls are demonized. I don't like this, and find it increasingly annoying (hel-lo! not all girls are make up obsessed high-maintenance freaks of nature!). However, there are a lack of girls in this novel. But the ones that we do meet, are not stereotypes, and they aren't annoying brats.

Which gives this book a few more points.

The Narration

The Narration is easy to read through, and guess what? IT'S DUALLY NARRATED! It was perfect for this book, and awesome to get into the mind of both characters. Win, Gone Gone Gone, win.

We aren't littered with adjectives, annoying purple prose, or anything of the sort. We're generally quick and straight to the point.

Which is awesome for someone like me, with a short attention span.



With good, however, comes bad.

The Bad

There aren't too many bad things about this book I can say, besides the one thing staring me straight in the face.

The plot.

Yes, Gone Gone Gone, you won on so many levels, but on this aspect, you didn't win that much. We should have focused more on the inciting incident, and then perhaps picked up the pace, created a better false happiness or false defeat, perhaps given each character an overarching plot or goal to follow.

That, is my only complaint.



In conclusion,


What I do love about this book is that all ends are tied. Nothing is forgotten, and everything is resolved in a pretty agreeable fashion. That's really all I ask...or at least one of the major things.


Book, you get a thumbs up!


And not just any thumbs up...

A Rock Lee thumbs up!

[Larry H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, Hannah Moskowitz, you just knocked me for an emotional loop with this one.

It's October 2002. Just as the Washington, DC area is beginning to recover from the 9/11 terrorist attacks the previous year, random people start getting shot and killed by the Beltway Snipers. As I remember all to well, people run to and from their cars, crouch down when putting gas in their cars, and parents fear for the safety of their children while at school. This is the backdrop for the burgeoning relationship between high school students Craig and Lio.

Both boys are emotionally fragile in their own ways. Craig is so hurt by his breakup with ex-boyfriend Cody that he has adopted a large menagerie of stray animals, which he feels he can relate to better than humans. When a break-in at his house allows all the animals to escape, Craig is focused on finding all of his pets and is determined not to let the fear of the snipers interfere with this task.

Lio, who moved from New York following 9/11 and his parents' separation, is dealing with the guilt of surviving childhood leukemia while his twin brother did not. The terror being inflicted by the snipers has truly shaken him, and while he doesn't want to let his guard down by falling for Craig, he cannot help himself. Craig is afraid to care for someone else and becomes afraid he could lose Lio, so he cannot help but to push him away.

Gone, Gone, Gone is a beautifully tender and sincere story of friendship that turns to romance, but that romance is wracked by fear, doubt, and emotional uncertainty. Hannah Moskowitz so perfectly captured the angst of young love, feeling like all you want to do is be with a person, yet so many issues keep getting in the way. All of the characters are drawn so vividly, I could almost picture the story unfolding in my head.

Reading this book made me wish that things were different when I was this age, in terms of being more accepting of your sexuality. But at the same time, I'm so happy that we live in a society where, in general, this story could be a true one, and the fact that these boys are gay is an afterthought. I also once again find myself marveling at the amazing talent in the YA genre right now, that we've moved so far beyond the books that existed when I was younger.

I'm not sure where I heard of this book—I'm fairly certain it was a recommendation from one of two amazing YA authors I've read this year—but I feel so lucky to have found it. Thank you, Hannah Moskowitz, for making me feel hopeful, happy, and sad simultaneously. This is a keeper.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voice. That makes this book about the 2002 Beltway Sniper Attacks come alive. Told through the alternating perspectives of Cody and Lio, two boys trying to find their place in this world, Gone, Gone, Gone will cause you to squeal in delight even as it sucker punches you in the stomach.

I really can't get into this right now. I probably shouldn't have kissed him back. But I've sort of wanted to kiss him ever since I saw his fucked-up hair that day in Ms. Hoole's class, and really since the conversation right after, when he told me he cuts it when he's nervous, and I immediately wanted to know everything in the whole world that makes him nervous, and everything in the whole world about him.

In this novel Hannah Moskowitz grapples with complex themes like fear, the value of a human life, and how to appreciate what one has in the moment. She never falls into the maudlin or mawkish, but lets her writing flow with a natural cadence fueled by honest emotion. What really took my reading experience with this book above and beyond was Moskowitz's stream-of-consciousness narration that never got convoluted.

I wish he knew that, the truth is, I don't ave much to say. I'm not an enigma. I'm just talked out, probably permanently. I said all I needed to say when I was a boy made of sticks and radiation and half-digested oatmeal. I don't feel good. I want to go home. Make it stop. It's been seven years, and I'm still out of words.

Craig and Lio capture the essence of voice - Craig, the boy who needs people and animals to need him, and Lio, the damaged cancer boy with an uncouth disposition. These two captivated me with their complexity, their flaws, and their general humanness. Their relationship was messy and passionate and meaningful all at once; it won me over without resorting to insta-love. Like any other great romance, I gasped and made other inaudible noises in public while reading it.

Highly recommended for those searching for a YA contemporary novel filled to the brim with beautiful, sometimes volatile voice. This will not be my last Hannah Moskowitz book.

*review cross-posted on my blog, the quiet voice.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had been on my tbr for a while, and it also fits in my June reading challenge so I decided to give it a try. And I am really glad that I did! It's beautifully written and despite being a heavy and emotional read, I was able to finish it in only few hours. It's always a plus when the book is nicely written and manages to keep you interested until the end.

The story might be simple, but what I appreciate most about this book is its characterization. I love how the author has created such complicated and yet really interesting characters. I'm not a fan of love-triangles, but I liked the way it was handled in this book.

The overall book was kind of depressing because it focused a lot on characters' past and how 9/11 attack had an impact on their lives, but there were also some light and funny scenes to balance it. There's nothing I didn't like about this book, I really enjoyed it, but it wasn't unique enough for me to get more than 3 stars.

[Cory · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will preface this review with two notices of my potential bias towards this book.

1. I kind of know the author in the way that you get to know a person over the internet. She seems like a cool person, and while I doubt that has any influence over my review, you never know.

2. I'm a fan of character studies. Those of you who read my reviews may think otherwise, but really*, I am. One of my favorite books is a two hundred page introspective bull session. I went back and forth on this for two hours, trying to figure out what I didn't like about this book. I've determined that it has nothing to do with the pacing. I don't mind slow books. I don't mind paragraph upon paragraph of inner dialogue. But things need to happen to keep me interested and nothing happened here. The book is literally a 276 page character study where nothing happens.

I am the singular fan of That Summer. After I read an author's first book, regardless of whether or not it's their debut, it's the one I'll hold their entire catalog against. For me, everything John Green wrote after Looking for Alaska paled in comparison. The same can be said for my experience with Sara Zarr, Judy Blume, Melina Marchetta, CK Kelly Martin, Courtney Summers, and Elizabeth Scott. I read Invincible Summer three months ago and I think it's the superior book.

As a short story, Gone, Gone, Gone would have been brilliant. Even as a novella, I'd be willing to cut it some slack. But as a full length novel, I thought it was too repetitive. Nothing happened. We're presented with a story that deals with the relationship between two boys that takes place during the 2001 DC sniper shootings. That's it. The boys don't drive the story forward. I'll admit that there is a plot, but it's very thin. They don't have solid goals. Even in the most realistic books, characters must have something they want to achieve. I liked Lio and Craig, but they were just there.

Whenever I think of someone named Craig, I immediately jump to Ice-Cube in Friday. I applaud the author for writing a person of color;** same Lio being Jewish; and extra points for them being gay. But I liked Lio more than Craig. While both of them were kind of whiny in the third act, I still liked them.

If I have one objection to their relationship, it's that I didn't care for Cody. Because I didn't like him, I couldn't understand why Craig was hungover on him. At first, it was sad, but then I was waiting for him to move on. There was no immediacy there, so as the onlooker, I wanted to smack Craig for not getting with Lio sooner.

Also, whenever I read books with LGBTQ aspects, they generally focus on being gay. I don't care if you're gay or if you're straight. I ship what comes naturally to me. I'm glad that most of the drama was glossed over. I don't like coming out books and I don't like comments like this: "If she was a boy, she'd be hot."

That being said, Moskowitz is a good writer. Her prose is very together, and she's a decent storyteller. But as a plotter...let's just say that she can't plot to save her life. Writer, yes. Storyteller, yes. Plotter, no.

Here is where I conclude my review. I started out writing screenplays, so I'm big on dialogue. There's more inner narrative here. That was my biggest complaint with Invincible Summer. There was too much thinking*** and not enough talking.

If you liked On the Jellicoe Road, you'll probably like Gone, Gone, Gone. For me, it was just kind of meh.



*I use the words really, very, just, probably, generally, look, and seriously way too much. In fact, I need to eliminate them from my vocabulary.

**I misuse semi-colons a lot, but it's better than abusing the em dash like I usually do.

***The emails and IM conversations were cute though.

[shady boots · Rating 5 out of 5]

A review of this book is also available on my blog.

_______________________________

This book was simply fantastic.

I wish I had the power to pull out fictional characters from books, because I want Craig and Lio in my life. They are flawed yet amazing human beings that I relate to in so many levels, and not only because they're gay. And their romance is one of the most beautiful and realistic ones I've ever read in YA literature.

My only problem with this book is that it ended. I didn't want it to end. I wanted to keep on reading until my eyes got sore because I read it on my computer screen. I wouldn't care if I damaged my sight, because it would be worth it. Hannah Moskowitz's writing is gorgeous, and I am already aching to get my hands on all her other books.

I can't write a more decent, in-depth review, because whatever I say won't do this gem of a book justice. All I'm going to say is that you need to read it.

[Anna (Bananas) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the two main characters - quiet but snarky Lio and hyperactive yet nurturing Craig. They're neurotic in different ways and absolutely perfect together, opposites that create balance.

For a story about loss, and more specifically how people live with it, this novel was suprisingly light. Every other page I was smiling or laughing or thinking: I love Craig, I love Lio, I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. This is pure fun to read!

Now on to the heavy stuff. The story takes place a year after 9/11, during the DC sniper attacks, and alternates between the boys' POVs.

Craig starts with chapter one, waking up to find his 14 (yes, fourteen) pets have all escaped during a break-in. He's frantic to get them back, because they've given him something to care about and focus on since his boyfriend, Cody, pretty much lost it after his dad died and was shuffled off to a facility. Those animals are Craig's life and he's determined to get every one of them back.

Craig struck me as nuts right away. He's a rambling, free associative mess. Here's one example of his silliness, which at times made me want to throttle him but more often made me laugh: "I think my glory days are behind me. I am 15 yrs old, and all I have is the vague hope that, someday, someone somewhere will once again care about my penis."

Then there's Lio. I loved Lio. What an adorable character. He's weirdly rational about death, measuring loss by numbers, using probability to convince himself he's not afraid of the sniper. At first Lio is mysterious and silent, rarely speaking, his thoughts revealed only through emails to Craig. His chapters illuminate pieces of him, bit by bit. We find out his twin died of cancer and he's seeing a therapist - who he doesn't speak to, not at first anyway.

Lio feels like he could disappear at any time. Because the cancer might come back, because he's small, because with his twin gone no one in the world looks like him anymore, because of his self-imposed silence.

But, Lio is funny. His sarcastic comments and internal monologue made me laugh even more than Craig's word vomit. One example: "Todd disapproves of me for what's probably some deep philosphical reason I'll never understand, judging by the way he's dressed. Todd passes the glazed carrots. I'm sure this is another sign of him quietly hating me." Or "I'm not even sure if there are any fabulous Jews or homosexuals at our school, but rest assured that if there are, I will find them. By Friday they will be my babies. Mark it."

Gone is about finding love. Craig and Lio are obviously attracted to each other:

Craig: "Sometimes he...looks at me when I'm in the middle of talking, and it's like he's interrupting without saying a word, because I can't think with those eyes all blue on me."

Lio: "I like that he wants me to talk...because his reasons are different from my family's and my teachers' and my therapist's. They want to know that I'm normal. When I talk, they feel better. Craig wants to know what I have to say."

Falling in love isn't easy for either of them. Craig has to choose between his first love and Lio. Lio has to open up to Craig and speak his mind.

Gone is about how loss - losing a lover, a friend, a parent, a pet, anything that is loved or valued - affects the people left behind. It's about tragedy being completely random and about loss being immeasurable.

"Numbers don't matter. Because what if loss is immeasurable? What if all we can do is call a loss a loss? What if my brother is worth as much as September 11th? There is no way to measure these holes. One dead person today is one person who is dead, one whole person who is not around anymore, and that's horrible. We're not just numbers. Someone loves us."

Gone is about moving on. Sometimes that means letting go, or choosing not to fear loss, or finding something new.

Yep, I love this book . This is is an unashamed, wholehearted 5-star review.

[Keertana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t recall exactly what it was that made me pick up Gone, Gone, Gone. Perhaps it was its simplistic cover that seemed to speak volumes more than any of the fake covers being mass marketed these days. Or maybe it was the synopsis that alluded to a homosexual romance, death, sniper shootings, and coming to terms with life as we know it. Either way, I am so immensely glad that I decided to read this incredible novel. Gone, Gone, Gone is unlike anything I’ve ever read before – and not only because it’s my first LGBT romance. It’s also because it is heart-warming, poignant, and bittersweet in a way that no other book ever has been before. It is a true coming of age story and masterpiece of literature which I was incredibly fortunate to find in the back shelves of my library. All I can truly say is that it doesn’t deserve to be there – instead, it belongs in the very front for the entire world to see.

Just months after the attacks during 9/11, Lio moves to Maryland with his father and two sisters, leaving behind the mother who abandoned him and carrying with him the painful memories of his twin brother who didn’t survive the cancer that plagued them both. Lio is shy, reserved, and quiet – the complete opposite of talkative and outgoing Craig – yet they are both drawn to one another. Craig is still dealing with the breakup of his lifelong best friend and ex-boyfriend Cody, who went crazy after his father perished in the Pentagon. Craig, filled with guilt at not being able to save Cody, attempts to save as many animals as he can and, of late, Lio. In the midst of this are deadly sniper shootings that plague the citizens of Maryland and threaten the lives of everyone dear to these two boys – including, most surprisingly, themselves.

Gone, Gone, Gone is truly a character driven novel like no other. This story is told from the alternating POVs of Lio and Craig and through their perspectives, we are able to see what these two boys are dealing with. Yet, more than a contemporary romance dealing with family issues, this novel is achingly American. Moskowitz has managed to capture the true sentiments of being a teenager and the fear that plagued this nation simultaneously within Craig and Lio. Like all teens, they believe they are invincible – the statistics prove how unlikely it is for them to be shot, the statistics indicate that the tragedy that befell New York was far greater than that in Maryland, the statistics show that they will be safe. However, as Moskowitz explores, tragedy cannot be measured by numbers, safety cannot be measured by percentages, and lives cannot be measured at all.

Furthermore, I loved that this novel did not feel like a LGBT romance. Perhaps I have phrased that incorrectly, but the love story in this book did not feel different or hard to connect to at all in comparison to the usual romance that fills the pages of contemporary novels. Thus, Moskowitz was able to show her readers that a LGBT romance was really no different from any other love story and I admired the subtle manner in which she accomplished this. In addition, the romance in this story by no means took away from the plot itself. The story arc of this novel revolved completely around these two characters – Lio and Craig – who feel more real than characters probably should. Gone, Gone, Gone is their story – the story of their romance, their growing up, their struggles, and their acceptance to live the life they have been given and live it to their best abilities.

In all honesty, I don’t think I will ever read a novel like Gone, Gone, Gone again, simply because nothing quite like it has ever been written. It is beautiful in its subtlety, brilliant in its writing, and unique in its subject matter. Although there have been dozens of short stories, poems, and novels written about 9/11, none of them have focused so much on its aftermath, let alone its affect on teens. Young adults growing up during this time had to not only deal with the trauma of this event, but also the other issues that went on in their worlds as well the difficulty of growing up into the person they want to be. Thus, I feel as if Moskowitz has truly managed to capture all of that with a grace that I believe is unrivaled. Gone, Gone, Gone is the type of story that many will be recommending, even in years to come, and I am proud to be one of them. So, what are you waiting for? Go, pick up a copy of this book, and immerse yourself into the heart-breaking, yet hopeful, world that Moskowitz has brought to life. What are you still doing reading this? Go, go, go.

You can read this review and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh. My. God. Hannah Moskowitz's books make my brain explode. In a good way.

I read Invincible Summer a while ago, and I could see, objectively, that it was good, but it was a little too... weird for me. Maybe it's just because the cover had me expecting a fun beach read, and the actual book took me by surprise with its depth, but I didn't know what to make of it. It definitely had an impact, but I couldn't decide whether I loved it or hated it. But after Gone, Gone, Gone, I know, without a doubt, that Hannah Moskowitz is one heck of a writer. Maybe I was expecting it to be deep and literary, and that's why it worked this time, but wow - this book is so good.

Hannah Moskowitz's writing is incredible. It's lyrical, powerful, stark, beautiful, and... wow. I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time coming up with words other than wow - Gone, Gone, Gone has left me a little incoherent. Anyways, the word that comes to mind when I think of her writing is unfiltered. It's like we're living right inside a person's head and hearing each and every one of their thoughts. These characters are so real - there are few characters I can think of that felt like such real people. I can't explain it, but the way Craig and Lio think... Like, they're thinking about something random and unimportant and then going "Wait. Why am I thinking about this?" and oh my God I just loved it so much because that's how I think. That's just one example - there are so many more times when I felt like Hannah Moskowitz had literally gotten inside my brain and written down the messed up stuff that goes on in there. And maybe that sounds weird, but it totally works.

Speaking of, I love how messed up the people in this book are. That sounds so wrong, but I do. I kind of stalk Hannah Moskowitz, so I kow a little about her as a person, too, not just as an author. And, well, she's messed up. That probably sounds rude, but I kind of think she wouldn't mind me saying that because that's how awesome she is. And it just makes me so happy to know that a messed up person can write a book about messed up characters that can help other messed up people (=me) deal with their messed-up-ness. It made me so proud to be a bookish person! I know I'm probably not making much sense but I honestly don't even care because this book was such a personal experience for me - it felt like Hannah Moskowitz wrote this book just for me.

You know how a book is even more special to you when it's set somewhere you've been? Yeah, that's another bonus for Gone, Gone, Gone. I wasn't in DC at the time of the sniper shootings, but I moved there a little over a year later, so I kind of feel like I know a little about that, too. I used to go to the gas station where one person got shot, and a friend of mine lives on a street where another person got shot, and I know that doesn't make any of this mine, and I feel wrong talking about it like it does (now I'm kind of going into the content of the book, but whatever), but... still. It made the book even more perfect, to me.

I think I've gone off about myself enough - I should probably get back to the book. I loveloveloved the characters in Gone, Gone, Gone. They're all so complex and unique and perfect. Lio and Craig both have a special spot in my heart now, and I could especially relate to Lio. I don't even know what to say about them other than I'm sure they are actual people out there someone because no one could make something like that up - they're that real.

Okay, I'm sorry. I know this review is terrible, but I kind of don't care. I usually write my reviews primarily for other readers, but with this one, I feel like I wrote it just for me. Reading this book and writing this review has been weirdly personal, and kind of cathartic. I loved Gone, Gone, Gone because of the powerful writing, the incredibly realistic characters, and the raw emotion it evoked in me. It feels weird to recommend this book, since that seems like inviting people to read about how messed up I am, to read what goes on inside my head because, well, this book just gets me. But I don't want to keep anyone from reading such a great book, so yeah, I do recommend it. Gone, Gone, Gone is amazing, and I want to hug it and never let it go, and I want to re-read it immediately. And I also want to re-read Invincible Summer, now that I know what I'm in for. And of course anything else Hannah Moskowitz has written/will write. And now I'm just going to shut up because I'm not making any sense because God I loved this book so much.

Reviewed at http://www.paperbacktreasures.blogspo...

[Denise Hallauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't heard of this book until today so thank you neo-nazi's for putting it on my radar because I'm definitely going to be reading it. I'm going to be asking my library to buy it, I'm going to buy it, I'm going to be reccing the hell out of it to my friends. You've done nothing but ensure that I make sure as many people know about this book as possible. So thank you. <3 You Hannah.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous book by a gorgeous person. 100% would recommend.

[David Purse · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books of all time! Do yourself a favour and go read it.

[Nev · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - I grew up a little over an hour outside of Washington DC and was 12 years old during the 3 week period that the 2002 DC sniper attacks were happening. People were getting shot at random just getting gas or going to the store in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. It’s the first memory I have of really being terrified for my life. We couldn’t go outside for gym class anymore and were instructed to run in a zig zag whenever you had to move from a building to a car. I personally haven’t seen this event portrayed in fiction before, so I was interested to check out Gone, Gone, Gone and see how it used these attacks as the backdrop for a queer YA story.

Craig and Lio are both dealing with past trauma, some of it related to 9/11, previous relationships, cancer, death of a sibling, and parental abandonment. They’re navigating their lives as friends that might turn into something more all while these shootings are happening around them. I thought that all of the serious topics were handled sensitively but I was frustrated with how long it took some aspects of the plot to play out. A pet peeve of mine is when something happens basically right at the end of the story and you don’t get enough time to see it on page. Also, this is a dual POV book and sometimes I’d confuse the two perspectives since their voices weren’t completely different.

For the most part I did enjoy this book. I definitely wouldn’t put it at the top of any “must read queer YA books,” but I think if the idea of a YA book that deals a lot with the aftermath of 9/11 and the DC sniper interests you then give it a try.

[Isamlq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five cups of coffee and six hours later, I can safely say that I am a fan of Hannah Moskowitz'. The first book of hers I read was Invincible Summer. That I was a blubbering mess after is a tiny understatement. Gone, Gone, Gone leaves me feeling much the same way:

Lio and Craig, two characters who leave me really happy with their story… simple though it was. Craig and his thoughts on invincibility. Lio and his worries. YET they match even if both of them had to stomp on the other every so often. And I enjoyed them. Meeting them, getting into the heads of two boys falling in love, despite not wanting to; their peculiar takes on family, death… and love. And I loved them for how different they were, but in the end it wasn’t how peculiar they were, not Lio’s not talking and not Craiger’s Cody, but how like everyone else they really were. That no matter how special (or non special) they thought themselves or where they came from, there was that want to be someone for someone else.

Solid story with not so solid people… except they were (solid) weren’t they, in the end? Read it!

*Yet another reason to thank Simon & Schuster!

[Jeremy West · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no words at this point. Just beautiful and heartbreaking.

[Kathrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am always excited to run across a title that approaches subject matter that could be just the material that helps a teen define their own identity. Be it racial identity, sexual identity, echoes of their own struggles and traumas that rarely surface in mainstream media, books that broach controversial topics may be the books that save lives. So much media geared at teens do enough damage by describing images of beauty, popularity, and attractiveness in superficial and impossible ways that no teen identifies with, but all teens feel competing towards. So when a teen title dares to broach the inner thoughts of 15-year-old boys falling in love, I'm poised to pay attention. Phoebe wrote a lovely review of this title, and I understand her enthusiasm. I wanted to love this book, mostly because we need this kind of book; but honestly, I only liked it.

Lio was the strongest character. He is quiet, critical, moody, plagued by too many sisters, and the author's choice to use his dialogue against his inner thoughts against his IM messages to Craig provided three honest perspectives of his personality. The death of his twin, surviving and fearing a recurrence of cancer, his recent move to Maryland, all of these issues colored his identity in palpable ways. But there was more introduced but never explored, such as why his mother abandoned their large family, and yet why he and his sister remained close enough to visit her. His father is a vague figure, as well. And I guess I probably shouldn't be surprised, but how did this 15-year-old transplant feel so confident of his sexuality? Socially he is distant, but his inner thoughts, I would think, would be chock full of self-doubt and self-censorship, feelings that most gay youth, in even the most supportive communities, struggle with in the early years of coming out. But here, apparently survivor guilt trumps sexual identity. I'm not saying that's not possible, but then there's Craig...
Craig has had no real trauma in his life. OK, his first love is in a special school for, I don't know, sad kids? crazy kids? It's a bit unclear. This kid's dad died in 9/11, so that's apparently enough to make you crazy in a vague, undefined way. But as for sexual crisis -- Craig has the most supportive family imaginable, even an older brother devoted to protecting him. It's unreal. He's allowed to hoard animals because he apparently has a need to fix things, care for things. At 15, he kisses his boyfriend in front of his mother and doesn't care?! I wouldn't dream of kissing ANYONE in front of my mother at 15 -- I could hardly stand to share the same room with my (step)mother and a love interest. And finally, what, Craig is black? I wouldn't have known it unless it were stated so plainly. I understand the author's desire to show colorblindness maybe as some kind of modern perspective of issueless narrative involving race. But I've never known a gay black kid who didn't include "black" as part of their identity. Because as politically incorrect as this may sound, it's hard to be a gay teen, and it's hard to be black in a rich DC suburb, and to be both, and then to fall in love with a white Jew with survival guilt -- you're going to react a bit more strongly than by simply hoarding cute strays. If the author wanted to avoid the race issue, I wish she hadn't have made the choice that Craig be black. She took on the responsibility to describe a black gay teen, and no gay black teen is not keenly aware that they inhabit two minorities. Am I talking about issues too much? Is this supposed to be an issueless book about gay kids? There is no such thing; all love is an issue.
I was going to say something about the Beltway Sniper, but other than wondering if current teens will even recognize the events as real, I don't have much to add. I was in Iowa during the terror, and other than lots of coverage on CNN, it all seemed the way of the world at the time. Terror was everywhere. Maybe it would have been more personal if I had lived there, I can't say. I do appreciate the narrative including a piece of recent history in a teen novel context, and I did enjoy the inner narrative of each character when they mulled over their conflicting and passionate desires -- that was real, and refreshing. I would recommend this book to certain readers, but I would be careful about recommending it to black readers, simply because it feels so insincere. If you've read this, and you're black, I'd like to hear if you think I'm wrong.

*An ARC of this title was generously provided by the publishers.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

When considering my impressions of Hannah Moskowitz's "Gone, Gone, Gone" - words fail me. For my second read of Moskowitz's work, I was very impressed - the writing draws you in and doesn't let go until the last page. I thought this coming of age novel featuring the narrative between two 15-year old boys living in the aftermath of 9/11 and during the D.C. sniper shootings was very well portrayed. The story revolves around Lio and Craig, who both have their own share of recovering to do in the wake of these events. Lio's a cancer survivor who lost his twin brother to the illness, and toggles between therapy sessions to help him cope with his fragmented family. Craig pines over a love lost after tragedy strikes in the family of his ex-boyfriend, and copes with a break in that results in the loss of many of his pets - whom he has to seek out and recover them.

I think one of the things that really grabbed me about the book were the narratives of the boys themselves - they felt authentic and it was easy to get to know them. Their quirks were adorable, their flaws palpable, and the way they interact with each other makes them well worth following even through some of the difficult themes. It manages to be light and funny, while at the same time sensitive to the grief the boys have and portraying their respective thoughts in a given time. I thought their chemistry was spot on, and even through some of the rough spots they move through, it was welcoming to see how they connected and ultimately took in the reality of what was happening around them. "Gone Gone Gone" is intimate without overselling the emotions and works very well in a slice of life/coming of age narrative with a fair share of tough subjects that hit the core my heart as I was reading it.

I definitely think this is a book worth reading for those who enjoy reading YA realistic fiction with characters that are so identifiable they become something beyond the pages they're written on.

Overall score: 4/5

[Karla Nellenbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love gay boys, it's true. Really, who doesn't? Exactly, my point. So, when I read the blurb for this, I was super excited.

Well, to be honest, I was uber-excited about reading this book long before IS came out because, let's face it people, Hannah knows how to write characters with voice. She grabs you, digs your heart out with a spoon, and then chucks it over her shoulder, all the while laughing gleefully, and of course, you come back again and again begging for more. At least, that's what she did to me, first with BREAK, then with INVINCIBLE SUMMER, and now, with GONE GONE GONE.

First, I have to say that I love, love, loved the dual narratives.

Craig: What can I say about Craig? Big, gorgeous, black guy who loves animals. Okay, maybe he's a little obsessive about his pets, to the point that he's borderline OCD. And, yeah, he's still hung up on his ex, which did piss me off more than once, but only because I am so Team Lio. (you will be too, I promise.) But, with every jaunt out into the streets in search of his missing pets, I got a little more involved, especially when he'd rattle of the count of the still missing animals. It broke my heart. Every. Single. Time.

Lio: Guh. Lio. How much more broken can you get? He had cancer(he's okay now, but still). His TWIN brother died. His family is in such a shambles that I wasn't sure if all the king's horses and all the king's men could pull a humpty dumpty and put these people back together again. No wonder, he's so terrified of putting himself out there for Craig. What if his heart gets broken? Would he even survive that? Again, I say, Guh. Lio.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that this all takes place while the DC sniper is terrorizing his hometown? Yeah, there's that, too.

So...the book in one sentence? Okay here we go:

Set against a backdrop rife with fear and desperation, two boys find love and hope like hell they can hold on to it and each other.

[Helene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gone, Gone, Gone has all of the trademarks that Hannah Moskowitz is becoming known for as an author: character-driven, heart-felt, a focus on internal dialogues and personal relationships.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on this. And I'm SO glad I did. GGG is a bit of a ramble compared to Break and Invincible Summer. Both Lio and Craig live in their heads much of the time and there is a stream-of-consciousness feel to the writing. What Moskowitz manages, in this book, is to pull the reader into that internal dialogue to the extent that the external dialogue - when the character actually speak to each other - is both fascinating and heart-breaking because we KNOW, without a doubt, what is going through their heads.

The choice of setting this otherwise "typical" story of loss, love, and insecurity against the DC sniper shootings is fairly brilliant. The external pressures make all of the internal ones seem that much more desperate.

I adore that she wrote a love story between two fifteen year-old boys without once having (1) some angsty internal stress about being gay or (2) having anyone else react to these boys' sexuality (although I did raise an eyebrow when they were kissing in front of Craig's Mom - not because they were boys but because not a lot of 15 year-olds are going to be comfortable making out in front of their parents and not a lot of parents want to see it).

I had a few other issues with the book (I love reading about cool parents but really? I didn't really buy that Craig's parents would let him keep a menagerie of animals inside like that or that Lio's dad would be so non-nonchalant about him just not coming home during a family crisis) but really, I didn't care. Moskowitz's writing is lovely and so emotionally bare that it made me smile in a few places to see that she actually "went there".

Alas, GGG isn't another Invincible Summer, but then what could be? Instead it is something different; something equally beautiful.

[Kelley York · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, perfect, flawless...what more can I say?

The alternating POV for Craig and Lio was every bit as perfect as I hoped it would be. Hannah has a glorious way with words and translating the human brain to put it on paper. Both in this book, and in INVINCIBLE SUMMER, everything her characters feel is so tangible because of her writing.

Her books truly are character driven. Time passes, things happen, but what really gets me drawn into her stories are the characters and the going-ons inside their heads. She somehow makes it the most fascinating thing in the world to watch, and Craig and Lio are beautifully flawed and perfect all at the same time.

SO glad I was able to read an ARC for this, because waiting for the book to come out (which I will purchase anyway) was torture.