on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Recommended by Max McIsaac
Rating: 4/5
Pages: 368
Started: 19 August 2023
Finished: 21 August 2023
Summary:
Daniel is going to RISD. No matter his hellish school year, his friends' grief over the suicide of their classmate, his artists block keeping him from drawing anything but the voice in his head that tells him he's not good enough--Daniel will go to RISD and change the world with his art and make his parents proud. Then he discovers a box full of information on a stranger in his family's closet, information that leads to catastrophic family secrets he had no idea existed, and he has no choice but to reevaluate what matters most to him.
Thoughts:
Between Cal orientation and adjusting to dorm life, I don't have the energy for a full review, but: I am obsessed with this book's combination of startlingly accurate introspection, and beautifully vague insinuation. It's never explicitly stated that Daniel is gay and in love with his best friend, but from the first hint (a comment about Harry's very nice arms) it's made not explicitly, but implicitly clear--it's the literary equivalent of drawing around the egg because the egg itself has no need to be drawn. On the other hand, Daniel's memory and observations about his friends are explicit and clear and so insightful. The combination of this creates a book that's both impressive and subtle. Though some of Daniel's relationships were quite stressful to read, his sibling-like love (family comes up a lot in this book) and closeness to friends was super cool. There were some IGYTS-isms I found, and some exciting parts, but it really was the insight & subtlety that made this book so alluring. I'm quite glad I read it.