A solid read with two authentic and hurting male voices. Bull's the bully but acts that way because that's the way he's grown up. Victor, on the other hand, is the bullied and allows himself to be picked on because that's the way he's grown up. There's a nice exploration of families, of social class, and of the importance of knowing you're loved/giving love.

A couple of things didn't work for me, including the quick turn arounds of both boys when they'd hit rock bottom. I was hoping for a lot more interacting between them since there was so much for them to work through side-by-side, but instead (view spoiler)[ both boys were turned around by girls. I don't like the boy-saves-girl trope in YA, and I am pretty sure I'm not a fan of the girl-saves-boy trope any more. If one of them had had this experience, I'd have been okay with it. Maybe even welcomed it. But both boys are changed by a girl. Girls they met in rehab who had also been suicidal. I guess I didn't get how they were the saviors when they were in the same place as the boys. When they, too, had just days before attempted suicide. I'm not entirely sure I got where their wisdom came from so quickly. (hide spoiler)]

Readers who liked Swati Avasthi's Split or Andrew Smith's Stick will like this one. This reminded me a little bit of Amy Reed's Clean and Crazy, for both the institutional setting and the working-toward-recovery aspects.

Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2012/05/c...


Thanks Lenore Appelhans for gifting me this one!