Oliver Loving

by Stefan Merrill Block

BRAND NEW, Exactly same ISBN as listed, Please double check ISBN carefully before ordering.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Book Club, Audiobook, Adult, Family

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 18, 2018

About the author

Stefan grew up in Plano, Texas. His first book, The Story of Forgetting, was an international bestseller and the winner of Best First Fiction at the Rome International Festival of Literature, The Ovid Prize from the Romanian Writer's Union, the 2008 Merck Serono Literature Prize and the 2009 Fiction Award from The Writers’ League of Texas. The Story of Forgetting was also a finalist for the debut fiction awards from IndieBound, Salon du Livre and The Center for Fiction. Following the publication of his second novel, The Storm at the Door, Stefan was awarded The University of Texas Dobie-Paisano Fellowship, as well as residencies at The Santa Maddalena Foundation and Castello Malaspina di Fosdinovo in Italy. Stefan's novels have been translated into ten languages, and his stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker Page-Turner, The Guardian, NPR’s Radiolab, GRANTA, The Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. Stefan's third novel, Oliver Loving, is forthcoming from Macmillan/Flatiron Books. He lives in Brooklyn.

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A West Texas high school, a racially divided school and town. A high school homecoming dance, shots ring out, four dead, six wounded. The shooter, a recent highschool grad, also dead. Is there any subject more feared? Something that keeps happening again and again. As I was finishing this , the latest school shooting in rural Kentucky was on the news. Gave me the shivers.

I can't say that this is the fastest moving book, it is not. It takes patience as the writer peels away the many layers to these characters and this story. Oliver Loving, has now laid in his bed for ten long years. Shot in the head, he is considered to be in a vegetative state. In the afternoon of the shooting the school closed, the town virtually died with the students and the cracks in Oliver's parents marriage became irreversible. All the unanswered questions haunt many, which did the shooter shoot and could anything have been done to prevent what happened?

This is a well written book, we see the changes in all those involved as the years pass. It will not be until the end that we hear what occurred and why. If this book did anything it reminded me that I can turn off my television, or just not watch, but for many after these shootings, they have no such choice. It will always be with them, those directly involved as well as those peripherally involved.Those who feel guilty and wish they had done something. A warning perhaps that maybe we see more than we know or realize.

ARC from Netgalley.


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[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow... This is a story that will take some time to really digest. If there was ever an ending I could dislike more, then I don’t want to read it!

The writing, especially the poetry, was beautiful. I was glad the story focused not only on the teenagers, but the adults too,as they tried to make sense of the tragedy.

In part, this novel is a horrifying story of how one young man’s personal trauma multiplied into the loss of so many in the small Texan town of Bliss. The novel is also the story of how one particular family refuses to let go of their son Oliver. These answers are never easy. Hope, while sometimes hard to find, is even harder to let go.

I did enjoy this book and appreciated the questions it brings to mind. Many thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron books for the advanced readers copy!

[Sunflowerbooklover · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a heart-breaking story about Oliver who was shot in the head after a terrible shooting at his high school I think that this is such an important topic considering how many school shootings that continues to occur across the nation. The novel is written from Oliver and his family's perspective on how they coped with the aftermath of the tragedy.

Merrill Block's writing is beautiful and unique. The only issues that I had with this book is I felt that it dragged on and was too long. I think that the middle could have been cut some and I feel that this would have made the story a lot better. I feel like it was a tad bit too wordy for my taste in reading but nonetheless I am glad to have experienced this author's talent.

Overall 3 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and Flatiron for the advanced arc.
Publication date: 1/16/18.
Posted to GR/Amazon: 3/17/18

[Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oliver Loving was shot in the head during a shooting at the Bliss County High School dance ball and left in a vegetative state, wordless and paralysed, his fate unclear. Ten years later when a new medical test promises a key to unlock Oliver’s trapped mind, the town’s unanswered questions resurface with new urgency, as Oliver’s doctors and his family fight for a way for Oliver to finally communicate — and so also to tell the truth of what really happened that fateful night.
Although a little more literary and wordy than I would normally like, I appreciate that this book is beautifully written with poetic prose and intelligent narrative and that it genuinely deserves a little more attention to it when reading.
"Oliver Loving" is a heartbreaking tale but equally stunning. The author Stefan Merrill Block has a created a wonderful story of sorrow, love and hope that I'm sure will be hugely successful.

3 stars

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a heartbreaking story that takes place in a Texas town about a family and how they deal with life in the aftermath of a tragedy.

Ten years ago, a terrible incident occurred at Oliver’s high school which left him in a coma.

The novel is written from multiple perspectives between Oliver and his family.

As you are reading, it feels very real and you can’t help but get emotional.

This is an interesting, dark story, thought-provoking and intense. My heart ached for the characters.

[Meike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh no, I had such high hopes, especially as the book is blurbed by the wonderful Kamila Shamsie! But unfortunately, I found this tale to be rather messy: The story felt like a contraption to hold the author's ideas together, the changing points of view didn't ring true, the whole thing was way too long for what it had to offer, and I am not sure what the point of the novel is - it's just too convoluted and unfocused.

So let's sprint through some of the issues Stefan Merrill Block discusses:

- School shootings
Oliver Loving has been in a vegetative state for ten years because he has been hit in the head by a bullet that was fired in a school shooting. While the author touches upon the dynamics of fame and easy access to weapons that stand behind many of these incdents, it turns out the actual motivation is not bullying or loneliness, but a crime, so we are dealing with an act of revenge. The possibility to take action for better gun control is dismissed with the remark that shootings only motivate people to buy more guns anyway, and Texas is portrayed as a pretty hopeless case altogether. I am not sure whether this counts as thorough analysis.

- Sexual abuse
Yes, this features as the crime at the center of the mystery, and it puts the actions of the shooter, the 21-year-old son of an undocumented Mexican sanitation worker, in a different light, but it also does take away from the topic of school shootings, shifting the focus to questions of crime and revenge. The whole thing feels like a plot device that was shoehorned in for reasons I cannot fathom.

- Patients in a vegetative state
If you are dealing with a family member in a vegetative state or even a coma, the problem is that your loved one is hardly able or in most cases unable to communicate with you - you will have to make the decisions for them and take the responsibility. So if you like to know how terrible this is, read "Waiting for Eden" - certainly do not read this book, because it tries everything to circumnavigate the problem of non-communication. I have seen a number of questionable medical treatments in my time, but what allegedly happens in this hospital is outrageous.

- Dysfunctional family
I salute Stefan Merrill Block for trying to show what a school shooting does mean for the families of the victims. Oliver's family has been dysfunctional before the incident and completely falls apart afterwards, but the way perceived guilt is discussed in this story just felt contrived. This probably goes back to the problem of the revenge mystery which does not blend well with a tale about a school shooting.

- Artistic ambition
It remains unclear to me why art sometimes seems to stand for disappointed dreams and sometimes for coping. The whole motive is just inconsequentially drawn.

- The American West
Yes, you read that right: Oliver Loving is named after a Texan rancher and cattle driver (this guy here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_...), his brother Charles Goodnight Loving after his buddy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles...). And now check this out: The "real" Oliver Loving died of gangrene after a Comanche attack in 1867 (most of present-day northwestern Texas was their territory). The fictional Oliver Loving was shot by a school shooter. Just let this completely insane parallel sink in. What was this author thinking?

So all in all, a worthwhile topic that has the potential to ask important and uncomfortable questions, but this book just refuses to really tackle them.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find all my book reviews, plus fascinating author interviews, exclusive guest posts and book extracts, on my blog: https://whatcathyreadnext.wordpress.com/

‘Once upon a time there was a boy who fell through a crack in time but he didn’t fall all the way.’

Following the momentous events at his school’s annual dance, Oliver lies in a coma – neither here nor gone but ‘suspended’ somewhere in between. ‘By your twentieth birthday, you had become a dimming hive of neurological data, a mute oracle, an obsession, a regret, a prayer, a vegetative patient in Bed Four at Crockett State Care Facility; the last hope your mother lived inside.’

In a way, the people around Oliver are suspended too, unable to move on from the fateful evening of the Bliss County Day School’s annual dance. More than anything, they are obsessed by the question: Why? Why was Rebekkah unharmed? Why was Oliver at the dance? What motivated a troubled young man, Hector Espina, to do what he did? They cling to the belief that Oliver will someday, somehow, be able to answer those questions; that he is the only one who can provide the answers. But is that actually the case?

The reader benefits from the gradual recounting of Oliver’s memories leading up to the evening of the dance, during which Oliver is always addressed in the second person. Interspersed are sections told from the point of view of Oliver’s mother (Eve), his father (Jed), his brother (Charlie) and Rebekkah (the object of Oliver’s affection). It becomes clear that they also have secrets and are weighed down by guilt: about the things they did or didn’t do; the things they did or didn’t say. Maybe if they’d acted or spoken, things would have turned out differently.

All the characters are convincing, with human flaws, and not always likeable. In Eve, Oliver’s mother, the reader gets an overwhelming sense of someone who wants to believe in miracles so much that it blinds her to reason, interpreting signs that others don’t see as indications of Oliver’s lucidity. However, does her steadfastness just disguise an inability to face up to the truth and take the right decision? Jed, Oliver’s father, is a failed artist, a disappointed man and a drunk unable to face up to what his son has become. Oliver’s brother, Charlie, dreams of being a writer and of writing his family’s story – Oliver’s story – but is unable to start the book, to find a way into it. ‘Like unstable plutonium, he had thought he could take the annihilating power of it and transform it into an astonishing source of energy. But at last he knew better, that he was just like the rest of his family, still pounding at the walls of an instant, now many years past.’

Then there’s Rebekkah Sterling, a rather elusive figure for much of the book, always hovering off stage but seeming to exercise a sort of gravitational pull on other characters. Oliver is enchanted by her from the first time he sees her and Charlie becomes convinced she has the answers to what happened that night. And others who came into her orbit prove significant as well. Talking of orbits and gravitational pulls, the book frequently alludes to astronomy, wormholes and even parallel universes. Does Oliver merely inhabit some ‘impassable otherworld of your memory, that place where you were still the same wholly whole Oliver’.

The tragic events at the Bliss County Day School dance have wider repercussions than just for Oliver’s family. The tragedy and the racial background of the person involved are usurped for political capital (now why does that sound familiar?), exploiting existing tensions over immigration from Mexico, informal segregation between the Hispanic and white population of Bliss and concerns about drugs being brought across the border. ‘It wouldn’t matter that Hector Espina had been an American-born citizen or that an Ecuadorian named Ernesto Ruiz stopped the kid that night. The fact was that Hector was a Latino…He was a demon of white imaginings let loose.’

And it’s as if the town died the day of the tragedy as well. The author conjures up an evocative picture of a rundown West Texas town with its abandoned houses and closed down businesses. In fact there is wonderful descriptive writing and use of quirky metaphors throughout the book. As Charlie reflects on what the tragedy has done to his family: ‘Ma – the immutable icon, the implacable white colossus that had stood guard over his childhood – had been badly fissuring, and Charlie had known that only he could fill the gaps. After all, Pa had already crumbled.’

Oliver Loving is both an examination of the impact of a tragedy on a family and a community, and an exploration of the ‘locked in’ state. It’s also about needing answers and about clinging on to hope. It is also a fantastic read. I received an advance reader copy courtesy of NetGalley and publishers, Atlantic Books, in return for an honest and unbiased review.

[Janelle Janson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you so much to the wonderful Flatiron Books for providing my free copy - all opinions are my own.

This is a heartbreaking story that takes place in a Texas town about a family and how they deal with life in the aftermath of a tragedy. Ten years ago, a terrible incident occurred at Oliver’s high school which left him in a coma. The novel is written from multiple perspectives between Oliver and his family. As you are reading, it feels very real and you can’t help but get emotional. This is a very different take on a very well known subject which kept me captivated. My heart ached for each character as they dealt with hope and despair.

The writing, character development, and plot are absolutely brilliant. The biggest problem I had was it was overly verbose. In my opinion, It could have been cut down a bit in the middle. If this were written as a shorter book, I would probably rate it differently. But that being said, Block’s prose is beautiful and this is an interesting, dark story that I read to the end for a reason. I have to say it was thought-provoking, intense, and I’m very glad I read it.

I rate this book 3.5 / 5 stars!

Out tomorrow, January 16, 2018!

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

**3.5 stars**

Oliver Loving is a beautifully written and consuming story that looks at familial and community relationships in the aftermath of a tragedy – the sort of tragedy where the question “Why” cannot always be answered..

Using multiple views, one of which is the locked in Oliver, we see the before and the after, the changes the family goes through, the ways in which hope remains alive. It is a wonderfully compelling tale that digs deep into the emotional core of all of us, offering huge insight into human nature and leaving a lasting impression after the last page is done.

I was sad for Oliver and a life not lived, for his Mother who clung on through it all, this is entirely captivating, with a heartfelt mystery element and a real tug on the hearstrings.

It’s a different approach to the central theme, gorgeous prose and a real sense of place and personality, Oliver Loving is one of those stories that feels very real. If I had one small bugbear I think it may have over wrung out the middle part, but overall Oliver Loving is a literary delight and a deeply touching tale from first word to last.

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oliver Loving, Stefan Merrill Block's second young adult novel, is a simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking look at the reaction and hardship of a Texan shooting in terms of its impact on both the local community and the victim's families. The pedestrian and unusual writing style takes a little getting used to but stick with it. This novel has everything going for it - it's deeply moving and poignant, with beautiful three-dimensional characters and a plot that is thoroughly engaging and has you invested in how events turn out. If you enjoy thought-provoking stories then this will be a sure-fire hit with you, no pun intended. Recommended.

Many thanks to Atlantic for an ARC.

[Caryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Full review and giveaway on my blog: http://www.thebookwhisperer.org/2018/...

[Jen]

DNF at 60%. Not invested in the characters, not a fan of the writing, just don’t care that much to see it all the way through.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

***A special thank you to Goodreads Giveaway, Stefan Merrill Block and Flatiron Books for the ARC and allowing me the opportunity to write an honest review.***

What an extraordinary, heartfelt novel. I honestly don't even know where to begin with this. When I began Oliver Loving, I did not expect for it to make me feel the way it did. As we all know, after the first couple of chapters we pretty much have an idea on whether we are gripped or not; this novel gripped its hold on me in the first chapter.

A beautiful story of a tragic event happening to a young boy, mostly lost in his own, sheltered world, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. We're introduced into the lives of his loved ones and the places so familiar to him. We learn the affects this tragedy has on each of these people, their coping mechanisms, their reasons and how they're perceived from the outside. Oliver's story is told in a way that is convincing enough to make you believe it is being written from experience. A story so real, you can't help but be moved and sometimes even empathize with the characters, bad decisions and all. The author has a way of submitting you right there with them in their grief, justifying any immoral actions, and convincing you that tragedies are somehow a pass to denial, self-pity and isolation. You can't help but feel what these characters are feeling and getting caught up in the emotional roller coaster right along with them. Not only is the novel based on tragedy but also on unrequited love which is why I believe I hold it so dear to me. I am all too familiar with unrequited love and so the sadness, loss and hope emitted from the character took me back to my own personal experience with it. I understood and the pain of loss put into such beautiful words made me tear up a time or two.

This novel is so richly written, so descriptive in emotions, thoughts and comparisons, just beautiful. I'm really having a hard time finding the words to describe this because I feel like there just aren't any to bring it justice. There were a few times during my reading where my heart literally tightened because of either the beauty of the words, the sorrow or the uncanny relation I had with any of the characters at that moment.

I can't say enough good things about this and this will, without a doubt, be the first novel out of my mouth any time someone asks me for suggestions on what to read next. I feel so very honored to have been able to receive this beautiful piece before its release and to have the opportunity to review it. I would like to end this novel with two of my favorite excerpts from the book that I had to pause, grab a sticker and mark because they are something I would love to reflect on forever:

"The tragedy of love, you had learned from ten years spent looking up at your mother, is that it is only possible to love perfectly a person who is lost to you; only a lost person, lodged in a place before the narrow, clumsy gates of language, could ever understand you perfectly."

"Survival was not a story you could tell. Survival was the telling, and that was the burden and the gift of living."

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars and if I could give more, I would. Holy smokes, to me, this was an incredibly complex, emotional, heart breaking book. I read it from cover to cover in one fell swoop.

What I liked:
The beautiful, wonderful descriptive prose by the author. His literary skills are profound.
The heartfelt poems written by a young boy in love - his emotional angst came out through the pages
The plot - so very unusual and thought provoking, sad
The characters - everyone is flawed in some way
The family’s interest and understanding of the stars, the planets, the universe, the galaxy

In a dry, dusty, forlorn, desolate border town of Texas, is a family with unfounded hopes and dreams. A most horrendous event - a school shooting occurs. Some are killed, some are injured. Oliver is shot and his family and their small town are torn apart with grief, guilt and sorrow as a result of this incident. Who? How could this happen in their small town and why?

Oliver is in kind of a limbo for years now, after the shooting, in an assisted living facility with the hope that he will improve in some way out of his persistent vegetative state. His Ma, Eve, is a strong advocate for his health; he is her favorite son. She truly believes Oliver will heal, and there are some instances where it is believed there may be some small ray of hope. Everyone is hoping for some kind of miracle.

This incident has taken a toll on the Loving’s marriage - it was not that great before, now it is in a shambles.

Oliver’s brother, Charlie, has fled to New York, away from the family and Oliver’s fate, thinking he will make something of himself by writing, but that crumbles and he comes crawling back home pretty much penniless and in debt with familial demons of his own.

Pa, has always had a drinking and smoking problem, and the art he produced always fell short. He was always saying that the latest thing he was working on in his art shed was going to be the family’s ticket. It never was. The shed was his hangout to avoid talking and avoiding intimacy with his family. After Oliver’s accident, Pa’s behavior continues to spiral downhill and he moves out of the family home. The whole family becomes destitute and their grief literally, consumes them.

There is another key character, Rebekkah, who is the new girl at school and the object of young Oliver’s affections. As I said before, everyone is flawed in their own way and she definitely was. She irked me with her attitude and odd behavior throughout the book. Her connection with Oliver and her teacher has something to do with the shooter’s overall mentality, yet she is not hurt or killed during the gunfire. We get the details little by little, as the story unfolds.

This was a tough read. It’s content will remain with me for a long while. I would like to write so much more about my feelings about this book but it’s really hard to do. You just have to read this book. I’m putting this author’s 2 other books on my TBR list after I’ve settled in from this one.

[Bob Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oliver Loving instantly grabbed me and never let go. It was a sad tale with a new feel for this trope—school shooters. The characters were real, believable, troubled in their own ways, the narrative never strayed, the orbits of the characters, their motivations all made sense, and I was sympathetic to everyone—minus the two characters we’re not supposed to like.
The writing was fantastic, not too showy but definitely skilled. There are a couple of 1-Star reviews that complain of the wordiness of this book, but honestly if never felt ostentatious or over-the-top; it was always in service of the plot or a precise description or metaphor for a feeling. Great book.

[Jenny Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Once upon a time, there was a boy who fell through the crack of time - but he didn't fall all the way..."

Oliver Loving is your normal, hormonal - hopelessly in love with a girl out of his reach - high school Junior. He attends school in Bliss Texas, and is a member of his father's astrology club; the only member. One day Oliver's hopes are raised when his father announces Rebecca Sterling is coming home with them to view a meteor shower. Eventually a kiss is shared between them, and Oliver is placed on a path that no one could have imagined.

The days following the kiss send Oliver in heart broken stupor, bordering stalker behavior, trying to be around Rebecca - only having her push him away, advising that it is for his own good. Not giving up Oliver presses on, until one fateful night..when the life of everyone in Bliss is forever changed.

This books really makes you think about things in the perspective of different point of views of a tragedy. How it effects people on the individual level, how it effects the families involved as a unit. Their relationships with themselves, each other, and the people in their lives. How it can change an entire town.

Another big element of this book is guilt. The way that your choices effect the outcome of someone else's life. How something you said, or didn't say can change the course of the world so immensely and so instantaneously and how those choices that you made will live with you forever.

It's not a light read, and the further you get, the more questions that are answered, the heavier everything becomes. There are times when you aren't sure how to feel about certain characters, and you question their decisions and reactions. It makes you wonder what you would do if you were these characters. As the story unfolded I felt differently for the characters than I did at the start. Things that I didn't understand became clear, and their personalities began to click and make much more sense to me.

This is a story that I am going to have a hard time shaking from my mind because I already had strong reservations about the situations in this book.

[Sascha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has to be one of the most beautifully written novels I’ve read in a very long time. The prose has a rhythm to it that is mesmerizing, drawing the reader into a seeming dream that eventually becomes a nightmare.

Stefan Merill Block’s Oliver Loving takes on what the public seems to have become inured to, a school shooting, and raises the bar. Oliver Loving, the oldest and beloved son of Eve Loving, lies unable to move in a nursing facility where, typically, people put their elderly relatives to die. But Eve is unwilling to let Oliver go. She knows that he’s in there somewhere.

It takes the youngest son, Charlie, to ask: what if he has been in there? What if he’s been conscious, able to hear and think? What then? Which is not something Eve wants to think about, nor anyone else really.

There is no question as to who did the shooting, but one question is why. People are quick to become angry, point fingers, blaming it on Latinos, although he was American born. As the story continues to unfold, with bits of information disseminated along the way, it becomes obvious that nothing is easily explained. And when the truth is finally revealed, many people must look inward for what they chose and chose not to see in their community.

Block cares about the characters in his novel. No one is written off. Each is dealt with kindly. I found this refreshing in a world which wants to turn the gray to black and white. A drunk is not just a drunk, he is above all a person with layers and feelings and remorse and joy.

Perhaps the biggest endorsement for me of Oliver Loving is that I continued to think about it for long after I’d read the last page.

If you’re a fan of thoughtful, literary fiction, I think you’ll love this book. In fact, if you’re a reader of any kind and love words well written, read this book.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Krisette Spangler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel is brilliantly written. There are stretches where the prose is so beautiful that you can't wait to read more. However, I could only give it three stars for the following reasons:

1. The novel just lagged in places. There were times where I felt the same conversations and the same confrontations were on a loop. The novel should have been at least 50 pages shorter.

2. The language was a little rough in places. When did the F word become the swear word of choice for every author? It's just detracts from an otherwise beautiful book. It's really sad.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am giving this a 4 even though it was more a 3.5 for me because there were a small amount of flat parts for me even if I really did like the book overall. It earns the 4 because I will probably recommend this book a lot. I am a fan of literary reads and if they are done well there really just is no need for a heavy plot. While this one definitely was not plot heavy it kept me wondering what would happen. It definitely kept my interest for most of it. The beginning was a bit slow, but once I got there I was invested.


Thank you to Flat Iron Books for sending this ARC to me for an honest review.

[Terri Stokes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first saw this book on the Readers First website, wrote my first impression and then a couple of days later, I received an email saying that I had won Oliver Loving. And just like Oliver's last name, I was loving the book.

I was first drawn to the novel because of the colors of the cover, the soft blues which drew me in and the simpleness of the cover, I felt intrigued and wanted to know more. Reading the first impression I felt drawn in to the world of the Loving's, their story hitting hard, harder than I think it would've done before hand since I received the book and started reading it a couple of days after the Florida school shooting.

Stefan Merill Block has written a novel which is almost poetic in nature, he has a way with words in which I haven't seen in a long time and it was a very refreshing read.
Oliver Loving is not only a story of a young man's life being stolen away early, it's a story of family, of the fear of the unknowing and sorrow of not wanting to believe the worst. It's a story of how a place or a memory can connect people, no matter where they may be in the world, the story of how a place or a memory could also keep people apart for the better and for the worse of reasons. But most of all, Oliver Loving is a story of ups and downs, of happy moments and moments which would probably want to make you cry and scream down at the pages.

I found that I was easily drawn in to the pages, following the lives of Jed, Eve and younger son charlie through their own battles to survive and to try and carry on like normal. But it's a hard thing to do when your child, your brother is lain up in a bed in a care facility, a body without the ability to move or even to respond to anything. But what if Oliver isn't just a body? What if he is still inside his unmovable body, a mind without a voice?

What would you do?
What could you even want to say?
Would you tell the tale of your story?
Would you tell the truth to the horrors of that night?

For Oliver, that's the impossible, but we learn of his horror, of his teenage life and the moments leading up to the night that put a stop to everything he knew in the world. We learn of his worries and his wants, but sometimes, that doesn't matter. It's the story of Oliver's life, a shooting star passing through the sky, both seen and missed. He's the words the we hear, the words that we don't want to listen too and the words that go amiss.

As taking from the book:

I still can't explain it
but I know that
somewhere
we are still speaking
all the words
we never said.

And that...that is enough.

[Marilyn (not getting notifications) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of Oliver Loving by Stefan Merrill Block in a goodread's giveaway in exchange for an honest review. The setting for this book was a small town called Bliss located in West Texas. Oliver, a high school boy, lived there with his mother, father and younger brother Charlie. He was a shy boy but Oliver had a crush on a girl from his school, Rebekkah Sterling. Bliss Township High School was hosting their annual dance that November. Oliver had no intention of going. As I have said, he was shy and he did not have a date. His father, an art teacher at the school, was one of the chaperones that night. He knew that Oliver liked Rebekkah so he called his son at home and told him to come to the dance. Oliver's father told him that Rebekkah was there and that she had been asking about him. Having heard that Oliver decided to go to the dance after all. When Oliver got to the dance he spotted Rebekkah but she was not interested in Oliver the way he was in her. She was needed in the music room where she had to get ready to perform some songs at the dance. Oliver decided to follow her. Standing in the back of the music room Oliver witnesses the most horrific killing. A troubled, past student of Bliss Township High School sneaks into the school and shoots and kills several students and the music teacher. On his way out of the room, the killer also shoots Oliver.

Ten years pass and Oliver is still in the hospital on life support. He cannot speak or move. His mother, Eve, has not missed one day visiting Oliver, reading to Oliver and talking to Oliver in the ten years. His Pa, Jed, moved out long ago and gets by on liquor and drugs to help erase his guilt of encouraging Oliver to come to the dance in the first place. His brother Charlie moved to New York to write Oliver's story and finds Rebekkah there. This is a story how one horrific night changed a family and how it helped them heal. Oliver Loving was a story about a family's worst nightmare and how they all hoped, prayed, came to terms and learned how to go on.

This was a well written book. I would recommend it highly.

[Therese · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Once upon a time, there was a boy who fell through a crack in time." Written in exquisite prose, this is the story and character examination of Oliver, a student wounded during a high school shooting, and existing in a vegetative state for ten years hence, and of the flawed and troubled characters that still spin in his universe, including his Ma and Pa, his brother Charlie, and the girl he was falling in love with who directly witnessed yet survived the shooting. In searching for answers to the eternal questions of "why?", the truth is eventually revealed about the events that led up to the night of this tragic event, including the shooter's own tragic story; unforgivable/criminal behavior on the part of someone the kids and the town all trusted and admired; and regrets over things that should and shouldn't have been said that might have prevented the incident, or at least would have saved Oliver from his fate. Healing and reconciliation result once those involved are unburdened and the truth is out. The final chapters deal with Oliver undergoing a sophisticated fMRI to determine how much brain function he still has left - how much of Oliver is left inside Oliver - to what extent Oliver contributed to the test results, and how that information will be used so that all can move forward.

As a final note, it was interesting and gratifying to learn late in the book who was telling the story, as I hadn't picked up on that sooner.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mixed feelings. Couldn't sympathize with the main character... which says a lot because he's a victim of a school shooting. I feel like this book could have been really good, but it almost seems like it trivializes the national crisis of school shootings. The shooter in this book had an actual motive that the town and survivors eventually learn of at the end of the book. I almost was able to feel more sympathy for the shooter than for the victim, which makes me kind of sick. SPOILER ALERT: The shooter was manipulated and sexually assaulted by the school's theater teacher (who dies in the shooting). The teacher also assaulted several other students. Meanwhile, Oliver, the victim in a coma and the "main character," spends most of his chapters going on and on about his high school crush, reliving fantasies about her and over-exaggerating her feelings for him, which were in reality virtually nonexistent.

[Aimee (Book It Forward) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oooh weee that was a doozy. I’m going to need to unwind and decompress before I can gather my thoughts enough to write a review. My heart couldn’t take much more of this story and I found my self on edge finishing the last hundred pages or so. It was beautifully written. As you can see I have about 100 highlights. But this one was a tough book to read. Lots of triggers, lots of sadness and feelings. Will report back soon with a full review.

Thank you to Flat Iron Books and Stefan Merrill Block for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Erin C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this, but it fell really flat. Oliver Loving is comatose after being shot in a school shooting. The story is meant to unravel the mystery behind that night, as well as whether Oliver is still aware in his current state. It did that; however, it was so wordy that I mostly skimmed to get to the end.

[Quinn da Matta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this book on one continent and finished it in another. And just like my location changed while reading so, too, did the book change me as a reader, as a person. And that is truly the greatest compliment I can ever give a book, especially one of this magnitude.

There's no point in trying to explain every reason why I loved this book because it is a book that needs to be experienced because that is exactly what starts happening -- you transform from reader to witness to participant. In the end, we all find out the truth together and those moments broke my heart and left me breathless.

The power of this book is that it teaches us the power of hope and faith. Their importance and value. And, also, their futility.

[Giulia Zanfi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il 15 novembre alle 9,09 in una scuola in Texas, durante il ballo scolastico, Ector Espina si presenta con un fucile d’assalto uccidendo tre persone. Dopodiché: si uccide. In questa tragedia Oliver Loving, ragazzo quindicenne timido e solitario, viene ferito e portato immediatamente in ospedale dove sarà in coma per 10 anni.
Il libro si sviluppa su due domande: perché Ector Espina? perché Oliver Loving?
Purtroppo non esistono risposte, ma pian piano la matassa sembra srotolarsi e svelare la verità dei fatti.
Inizio scoppiettante, corpo centrale alle volte un po’ lento, finale trepidante. Un romanzo corale che sviscera il sentimento del dolore e introduce quello della speranza, alla base della vita. Forse l’avrei un po’ alleggerito come numero di pagine, ma tutto sommato mi è piaciuto!

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The seeds of a tragic story are nestled in this book (the story of a family’s self-destruction after a school shooting that leaves their son brain injured) but it is overwritten, overwrought and overlong.

I find myself not liking much YA that I read and perhaps there is a sense that the YA audience likes to be hit over the head with their gloom and doom. I could have done with far less Texas gothic and wallowing in misery, and a bit more insight into the science of locked in syndrome. By the end, the claustrophobia of Merrill’s ornate but relentlessly downbeat prose made me feel as trapped as the hopeless characters.

I gave this book 3 stars as a default - I felt that I stumbled into a genre that was not for me.

[Kristy Ellington · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read. Finished it on the train just now and openly wept.

[Millie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took me forever to get through this book and I just thought I would’ve liked it a little bit more