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Learning Not to Drown
by
Family secrets cut to the bone in this mesmerizing debut novel about a teen whose drug-addicted brother is the prodigal son one time too many.
There is a pecking order to every family. Seventeen-year old Clare is the overprotected baby; Peter is the typical, rebellious middle child; and Luke is the oldest, the can’t-do-wrong favorite. To their mother, they are a normal, hap ...more
There is a pecking order to every family. Seventeen-year old Clare is the overprotected baby; Peter is the typical, rebellious middle child; and Luke is the oldest, the can’t-do-wrong favorite. To their mother, they are a normal, hap ...more
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Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
April 1st 2014
by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
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Start your review of Learning Not to Drown
This one hits a little close to home as addiction in my family has impacted my life in immeasurable ways.
That being said, I think I need little time to think this one through before posting a full review.
The one thing I will say now is this... I'm so damn happy I have the mom I have. I really wanted to slap the shit out of Clare's mom pretty much the entire book. What a douche canoe. ...more
That being said, I think I need little time to think this one through before posting a full review.
The one thing I will say now is this... I'm so damn happy I have the mom I have. I really wanted to slap the shit out of Clare's mom pretty much the entire book. What a douche canoe. ...more
Learning Not To Drown is a bit of a see-saw book for me, we had ups and downs but my overall impression is a very favourable one.
Clare is hard-working, intelligent, diligent girl and is lucky enough to have a great bunch of friends. However, her life and her family’s life and reputation are stained by her jailbird brother. He darts in and out of their life in the same way he flits in and out of prison.
This book is a very emotional read, far more than I was expecting. Clare has to make hard deci ...more
Clare is hard-working, intelligent, diligent girl and is lucky enough to have a great bunch of friends. However, her life and her family’s life and reputation are stained by her jailbird brother. He darts in and out of their life in the same way he flits in and out of prison.
This book is a very emotional read, far more than I was expecting. Clare has to make hard deci ...more
We often hear the term career criminals. We don't really have much compassion for them and just want to lock them up and throw away the key. Some do some pretty horrendous crimes.
What we don't do is stop to think about the family they leave behind.
That is exactly what this book is about. Luke is a what they consider a career criminal. He has been in and out of jail since he was a teenager. His parents have always been on his side 100%, no matter what. Luke has a younger brother and sister that ...more
What we don't do is stop to think about the family they leave behind.
That is exactly what this book is about. Luke is a what they consider a career criminal. He has been in and out of jail since he was a teenager. His parents have always been on his side 100%, no matter what. Luke has a younger brother and sister that ...more
1.5
Themes and topics introduced had the potential to create a powerful, fascinating story, but the delivery slowly and with increasing force pushed me away, and I began to meh-meh-meh read, not caring much for anyone. Themes such as idealization of another for our own needs, self-identity versus familial identity, and anti-social personality disorder drew my attention, but one: draggy, dull scenes; two, the choice to go all flippy floppy in time, back and forth from different points in the past ...more
Themes and topics introduced had the potential to create a powerful, fascinating story, but the delivery slowly and with increasing force pushed me away, and I began to meh-meh-meh read, not caring much for anyone. Themes such as idealization of another for our own needs, self-identity versus familial identity, and anti-social personality disorder drew my attention, but one: draggy, dull scenes; two, the choice to go all flippy floppy in time, back and forth from different points in the past ...more
No Spoilers!
4.5 stars
Man, this book is an emotional roller coaster.
This is the story of Clare Tovin. A smart, kind, and pretty girl. She has great friends, a great job as a life guard, and can get into pretty much any college she wants. She's good.
Her home life however, is not good.
She has two older brothers; Peter, the punk, and Luke, the lovable punk. Luke however has a hard time staying out of jail. Clare slowly discovers that her loving brother, may be not be the misunderstood guy she's al ...more
4.5 stars
Man, this book is an emotional roller coaster.
This is the story of Clare Tovin. A smart, kind, and pretty girl. She has great friends, a great job as a life guard, and can get into pretty much any college she wants. She's good.
Her home life however, is not good.
She has two older brothers; Peter, the punk, and Luke, the lovable punk. Luke however has a hard time staying out of jail. Clare slowly discovers that her loving brother, may be not be the misunderstood guy she's al ...more
What a very pleasant surprise this book was! Well, not pleasant because of the story it told, because that was anything but. But pleasant because I became very engrossed with it and "enjoyed" the reading of this one so, so much.
This book hits on serious points. It's no happy-go-lucky story all around, it's a very real, very blunt and merciless story of the upkeeping of appearances at all costs, the delusional world people pretend to live and and of those who fail to keep track of all of this.
Th ...more
This book hits on serious points. It's no happy-go-lucky story all around, it's a very real, very blunt and merciless story of the upkeeping of appearances at all costs, the delusional world people pretend to live and and of those who fail to keep track of all of this.
Th ...more
I wish I could write a really eloquent review, but I can't cause this read was pretty emotional for me, but I will say this: Anna manages to keep the tension up throughout. To be honest I feel Clare on so many levels, I identify with her more than I would like to admit. Great job on making the reader feel with the protagonist. And a super important message: we are only responsible for our actions not of that of others which automatically means we can only change ourselves not others.
...more
This book deserves all the stars I can give...
I'm speechless.
The main character's journey was SO heartbreaking.
Clare had to face many difficult decisions and she handled all of them pretty well. I'm so proud of her character growth.
I can't stop thinking about this book and I don't think I will be able to in the near future. ...more
I'm speechless.
The main character's journey was SO heartbreaking.
Clare had to face many difficult decisions and she handled all of them pretty well. I'm so proud of her character growth.
I can't stop thinking about this book and I don't think I will be able to in the near future. ...more
This is a sad story about a family dealing with the actions of their eldest son; namely the relationship between the son and the youngest daughter. This explores the depths of unconditional love, the actions we overlook and the flow on effect of an individual’s actions. You can’t help but be drawn into this family and every struggle will pull at your heartstrings.
2.5?
Content warning for descriptions on sexual assault , substance abuse and dead animals.
I didn’t really like the writing style, and honestly not much happens.. the father in this book collects dead animals for job and there is quiet a few descriptions of this that made me quiet uncomfortable.
Content warning for descriptions on sexual assault , substance abuse and dead animals.
I didn’t really like the writing style, and honestly not much happens.. the father in this book collects dead animals for job and there is quiet a few descriptions of this that made me quiet uncomfortable.
This is a gritty, emotional raw, debut that doesn't hold back on the demons that plague families from behind closed doors. I've read a few gritty novels, and really enjoyed them. Going into this one, I was hoping for the same out come, but sadly realized this book wasn't one for me. However, I appreciate what the author was trying to do, and the fact that she didn't shy away from the troubles that some teens deal with, within their own families.
This book is not an easy read. It's a dark read tha ...more
This book is not an easy read. It's a dark read tha ...more
I came across Anna Shinoda's Learning Not to Drown only because the author is the wife of Linkin Park legend Mike Shinoda. The story sounded intriguing to me, and I felt that it would make quite an easy holiday read, with a bit of substance thrown in. The novel certainly tackled some interesting and taboo topics, but I did find some flaws with regard to the unrealistic character development. The main characters in particular seemed lacking in emotional depth, or would flit from one emotion to an
...more
Speechless. This book is a true gem, probably the best read of 2017 so far!
I loved this book! An emotional subject, but I felt like it was healing in some ways too. Hope she writes so many more books!
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This book was amazing. It was sad and emotionally frustrating, but sometimes those are the best books.
Learning Not to Drown was a very interesting and overall good book. Learning Not to Drown tells the story of a girl and her family living with a criminal brother. The book starts off from when the girl was a child and switches from her youth to her current age. There is much character development in the protagonist and many other characters. At first, the protagonist trusts and loves her older brother with all her might but by the end of the book, all of that trust and love is lost after her bro
...more
*Actual Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars*
*Received from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
Learning Not to Drown is an excellent depiction of the struggle of dealing with family member and loved ones involved in in criminal activity, or with addiction issues. It's realistic but definitely mild enough to be considered young adult, and not too depressing either.
Let's get the bad stuff over with: I didn't exactly enjoy reading from Clare's perspective. She was extremely whiny, and spent half of ...more
*Received from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
Learning Not to Drown is an excellent depiction of the struggle of dealing with family member and loved ones involved in in criminal activity, or with addiction issues. It's realistic but definitely mild enough to be considered young adult, and not too depressing either.
Let's get the bad stuff over with: I didn't exactly enjoy reading from Clare's perspective. She was extremely whiny, and spent half of ...more
This book intrigued me from the moment I looked at the cover. Refreshing and unique, Shinoda tells this story through the eyes of Clare in present tense. We are introduced to Clare's version of events in THEN and NOW time frames, the chapters alternating back and forth between the two. This swinging between time helps the reader piece together the murky parts of Clare's childhood into a clear picture of the present.
I was particularly impressed with Shinoda's creativity as the symbolism in this b ...more
I was particularly impressed with Shinoda's creativity as the symbolism in this b ...more
Clare has lived in the shadow of her older brother, Luke, her whole life. Since she was 7, Luke has been in and out of prison. Her mother has always told her the reason for his incarcerations is simply that Luke has been at the wrong place at the wrong time. So, of course, Clare believes that whatever is happening with Luke isn't his fault. How wrong she is. I loved the way first-time novelist, Anna Shinoda, told this story. She begins with a frightening, attention-grabbing chapter that describe
...more
This is one of those books where I can appreciate what the author was trying to do, but I’m not sure I was the right audience for it.
LEARNING TO BREATHE is a dark, disturbing tale from Anna Shinoda about one girl’s struggle to realize that her family isn’t what she thinks. That everything she knows is a lie and yes, they are teetering on the edge of full blown disaster. It’s that book you know can’t go anywhere but downhill and there won’t be a happy ending.
But still, I entered into this book h ...more
LEARNING TO BREATHE is a dark, disturbing tale from Anna Shinoda about one girl’s struggle to realize that her family isn’t what she thinks. That everything she knows is a lie and yes, they are teetering on the edge of full blown disaster. It’s that book you know can’t go anywhere but downhill and there won’t be a happy ending.
But still, I entered into this book h ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
You never know what to expect from the debut novels, also I had a very high hopes for a very first book of Anna Shinoda.
When you're following someone's creative path and could see how much energy and love, time, thoughts and herself author put in her book it's hard to stay distant.
Nevertheless I don't feel like my reaction was prejudiced. The book is absolutely brilliant.
I always hope for some kind of magic when you're loosing the feeling of time and place and totally drown to the book. With " ...more
When you're following someone's creative path and could see how much energy and love, time, thoughts and herself author put in her book it's hard to stay distant.
Nevertheless I don't feel like my reaction was prejudiced. The book is absolutely brilliant.
I always hope for some kind of magic when you're loosing the feeling of time and place and totally drown to the book. With " ...more
I think this might be the first book in a long time that made me VERY frustrated. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the book, the family is just driving me crazy! I actually had to stop reading just so I could write some things down.
(Thoughts before I finished) Clare’s mom is totally delusional. I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to scream at her while reading this book..I mean really, What is wrong with this woman? You have three kids, not just one! It’s like she has an on and off switch tha ...more
(Thoughts before I finished) Clare’s mom is totally delusional. I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to scream at her while reading this book..I mean really, What is wrong with this woman? You have three kids, not just one! It’s like she has an on and off switch tha ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I am in love with this book. When I started it, I didn't quite know what to expect. But the characters that Shinoda creates are heart-breaking. It is such a fascinating journey to travel on to see Clare go on from seeing her oldest brother as a shining perfect brother who gets into trouble from being at the wrong place at the wrong time to what he really is at the end. Her growth as an adolescent and adult really solidify at the end with her decisions and actions.
I feel like I can't do justice ...more
I feel like I can't do justice ...more
Wow, what a incredible story about learning to fully embrace your skeletons, remembering and cherishing the good things but ultimately moving forward and putting your future and needs first. I love this book, it's so honest and deals with a topic that a lot of people can relate to. Heart breaking but it still makes you hope for better things to come. I am so happy for the main character Clare! She's a strong character. I can't say enough good things about this book! Please, please pick it up. Th
...more
Probably 3.5 but I'm a fan of rounding up. Interesting look at how addiction and crime can affect the family as a whole. While I don't think it was necessarily the most compelling of stories, I did appreciate the light it shed on the enabling behaviors of family members of a person battling addiction/committing repeated crimes. Incorporating a Skeleton as a character to act as the family's skeleton was an intriguing idea. However, most of the other characters outside of the immediate family prov
...more
From the first page to the last I was completely intrigued. I absolutely loved the main character; Clare. She was such a strong individual for someone who harbored so many raw emotions. Her mother on the other hand, really upset me. It was frustrating to read how she treated Clare. It's like she was punishing the wrong child. In the end I was happy with the choices Clare made for herself. It's time that she focus on what she wants, pursue her hopes and dreams.
...more
Jul 10, 2013
Judith (Judith'sChoiceReads)
marked it as to-read
Quick Thought:
This book could be educational. Leaning not to drown is a necessity is it not? I think I'll enjoy the lesson ;) ...more
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