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A review by jenbsbooks
Both Here and Gone by Michael Dante DiMartino
2.5
I'm not totally sure how I feel about this one, 2.5 stars? I had a one month subscription to KU, so figured I'd grab something that was only there (as far as I could see this is Amazon only, not at my local library, at least in digital. No audio). High ratings, although unfortunately it just didn't really work for me.
I knew going in it was YA. Our MC is 14 ... and this felt young, most of the time. Very conversational tone, like a 14-year just talking, telling us(the reader) his story, or writing in a journal (but then using dialog) Not a lot of descriptive language, but some metaphors and such.
A bit disjointed too though ... IS this about his friend Alyssa who DIED, for 20+ minutes and just woke up from a coma? It does start off with that, but then it seems to be more about a random guy he meets. And, the MC ... well, he's an unreliable narrator. And the whole "the incident" as everyone refers to the accident isn't JUST about Alyssa, and this is alluded to, but not addressed until much later in the book. So many little drops of things, hints, we the reader figure there's more going on then we are being told, that there's going to be "the twist you never saw coming" except we're obviously aware that it's coming and suspecting what it is ... sometimes that annoys me.
So, I guess this book is set in 1982. I wish it just had that as a header or something, because I missed the one mention given at the start (saying he turned nine in 1977, when Star Wars first came out). Then I had to use MATH ... if he's now 14, then 1982.) It was annoying me trying to figure out when it was. No cell phones, computers. Renny is 43 and was in Vietnam. Minimum wage is mentioned as $3.35 (and I Googled that and "The minimum wage in the United States was $3.35 per hour from January 1, 1981 to April 1, 1990"). Until I came to write the review, and was commenting on the Star Wars stuff, I looked up the date, and looked it up in the book ... so my bad that I missed it, but it affected my experience of the story.
Smoking is something that disgusts me ... even reading about it/imagining it can make me ill. SO much smoking by Mom here. Ugggg. Silly, I know, but it's a negative.
While perhaps realistic, the relationship between the MC and his mom was hard to read. So much fighting. And the MC was behaving horribly so much of the time. So much so she takes him to see a psychiatrist, because he needs help. He actually does.
Some things I noted while reading ... (some possible spoilers)
*She pried a smile onto her face... that sentence was just "what?" to me. You might pry something OFF, but not on. And not sure if that works with a smile.
* Sunset Boulevard ... a little weird to get the recap of the movie here in the book. And the ironic character analysis of Norma Desmond "she was so desperate to get thing back to normal. And I hated how the people around her played along with her fantasies"
* We also get a recap of Star Wars, and then of Transcendentalism.
*Title Tie-In ... the NDE author's book is titled "Both Here and Gone" ... and get the NDE wasn't really the essence of the book, although I guess an argument could be made for the connection to THIS story?
* "I'd distanced myself from Renny, messed things up with Trevor, and sabotaged my friendship with Alyssa" ... um yup, you're not doing great kid. Thrown in your relationship with your mother too!
*Driving for the first time ... an old stick shift. Methinks a 14-year old who has never driven before would NOT be able to get the truck from the farm to the hospital, even with instruction/help. Manual transmissions are hard, and even though he says he "killed it" a few times ... I just found that drive unbelievable.
*HOW LONG was Alyssa in the hospital? She was in a coma for four weeks ... then after she woke up, still in the hospital for another 2-3 months? I guess I don't know, that just seemed like a long time after she was awake ... I guess I'm just stressing about the medical costs ;)
*Snuck and sneaked ... just a word I notice. Both are acceptable. Here, the author used BOTH.
*Alyssa's father is a mortician, and after observing his job she says "it showed me how much we love the dead, sometimes more than the living" ... this could be an interesting topic for book club. AND ... did Alyssa fall through the ice on purpose? Was she trying to die? Alluded to but ...
*The Bunker ... so Renny is dying, and still totally setting up a bunker??? WHY? And if he has a dog, how does that work (as they are in the bunker, and have to let the dog out a couple times a day ... kind of defeats the purpose of a bunker). Where/Why did Renny come up with the "drink coffee and you can stay" deal ... why does he care if Jack drinks coffee? Weird!
* Job's bible story and thoughts on God/suffering. A little preachy, after-school-special.
*"A couple of days had passed since I'd run away from the motel, she (MOM) was probably worried about me." Um duh. And what timing of that (the police showing up right when Jack finds Renny dead).
* Renny's story ... starts out with Renny telling it (1st person) then switches to Jack telling it (3rd person) ... it felt very strange to me. Why didn't it just stick with Renny telling it?
* I enjoyed the imaginary interviews with the reporter ;)
*"Once Alyssa was able to recall her NDE, it totally changed how she saw the world. It taught her we can never know everything and that we have to live with uncertainty." So ... if she hadn't of have the NDE, she would have thought she could know everything and be certain of things? Sounds like she "learned" a DUH ...
*So, if someone is dead, they know he's dead, just can't get to his body ... do they really WAIT and hold the funeral for months until the body can be retrieved? I honestly don't know, it just feels like there would have been a service, without a body, then the body retrieved and taken care of. Doesn't seem that logical to have the funeral months afterward. I'm so sorry for your loss _____ months ago.
So ... I was struggling early on, not connecting, being judgmental. I probably should have just called it a DNF. I think I'll remember this story somewhat, but that's not necessarily a good thing. Maybe I was just in a bad mood when I read this (I was sick with Covid).
I knew going in it was YA. Our MC is 14 ... and this felt young, most of the time. Very conversational tone, like a 14-year just talking, telling us(the reader) his story, or writing in a journal (but then using dialog) Not a lot of descriptive language, but some metaphors and such.
A bit disjointed too though ... IS this about his friend Alyssa who DIED, for 20+ minutes and just woke up from a coma? It does start off with that, but then it seems to be more about a random guy he meets. And, the MC ... well, he's an unreliable narrator. And the whole "the incident" as everyone refers to the accident isn't JUST about Alyssa, and this is alluded to, but not addressed until much later in the book. So many little drops of things, hints, we the reader figure there's more going on then we are being told, that there's going to be "the twist you never saw coming" except we're obviously aware that it's coming and suspecting what it is ... sometimes that annoys me.
So, I guess this book is set in 1982. I wish it just had that as a header or something, because I missed the one mention given at the start (saying he turned nine in 1977, when Star Wars first came out). Then I had to use MATH ... if he's now 14, then 1982.) It was annoying me trying to figure out when it was. No cell phones, computers. Renny is 43 and was in Vietnam. Minimum wage is mentioned as $3.35 (and I Googled that and "The minimum wage in the United States was $3.35 per hour from January 1, 1981 to April 1, 1990"). Until I came to write the review, and was commenting on the Star Wars stuff, I looked up the date, and looked it up in the book ... so my bad that I missed it, but it affected my experience of the story.
Smoking is something that disgusts me ... even reading about it/imagining it can make me ill. SO much smoking by Mom here. Ugggg. Silly, I know, but it's a negative.
While perhaps realistic, the relationship between the MC and his mom was hard to read. So much fighting. And the MC was behaving horribly so much of the time. So much so she takes him to see a psychiatrist, because he needs help. He actually does.
Some things I noted while reading ... (some possible spoilers)
*She pried a smile onto her face... that sentence was just "what?" to me. You might pry something OFF, but not on. And not sure if that works with a smile.
* Sunset Boulevard ... a little weird to get the recap of the movie here in the book. And the ironic character analysis of Norma Desmond "she was so desperate to get thing back to normal. And I hated how the people around her played along with her fantasies"
* We also get a recap of Star Wars, and then of Transcendentalism.
*Title Tie-In ... the NDE author's book is titled "Both Here and Gone" ... and get the NDE wasn't really the essence of the book, although I guess an argument could be made for the connection to THIS story?
* "I'd distanced myself from Renny, messed things up with Trevor, and sabotaged my friendship with Alyssa" ... um yup, you're not doing great kid. Thrown in your relationship with your mother too!
*Driving for the first time ... an old stick shift. Methinks a 14-year old who has never driven before would NOT be able to get the truck from the farm to the hospital, even with instruction/help. Manual transmissions are hard, and even though he says he "killed it" a few times ... I just found that drive unbelievable.
*HOW LONG was Alyssa in the hospital? She was in a coma for four weeks ... then after she woke up, still in the hospital for another 2-3 months? I guess I don't know, that just seemed like a long time after she was awake ... I guess I'm just stressing about the medical costs ;)
*Snuck and sneaked ... just a word I notice. Both are acceptable. Here, the author used BOTH.
*Alyssa's father is a mortician, and after observing his job she says "it showed me how much we love the dead, sometimes more than the living" ... this could be an interesting topic for book club. AND ... did Alyssa fall through the ice on purpose? Was she trying to die? Alluded to but ...
*The Bunker ... so Renny is dying, and still totally setting up a bunker??? WHY? And if he has a dog, how does that work (as they are in the bunker, and have to let the dog out a couple times a day ... kind of defeats the purpose of a bunker). Where/Why did Renny come up with the "drink coffee and you can stay" deal ... why does he care if Jack drinks coffee? Weird!
* Job's bible story and thoughts on God/suffering. A little preachy, after-school-special.
*"A couple of days had passed since I'd run away from the motel, she (MOM) was probably worried about me." Um duh. And what timing of that (the police showing up right when Jack finds Renny dead).
* Renny's story ... starts out with Renny telling it (1st person) then switches to Jack telling it (3rd person) ... it felt very strange to me. Why didn't it just stick with Renny telling it?
* I enjoyed the imaginary interviews with the reporter ;)
*"Once Alyssa was able to recall her NDE, it totally changed how she saw the world. It taught her we can never know everything and that we have to live with uncertainty." So ... if she hadn't of have the NDE, she would have thought she could know everything and be certain of things? Sounds like she "learned" a DUH ...
*So, if someone is dead, they know he's dead, just can't get to his body ... do they really WAIT and hold the funeral for months until the body can be retrieved? I honestly don't know, it just feels like there would have been a service, without a body, then the body retrieved and taken care of. Doesn't seem that logical to have the funeral months afterward. I'm so sorry for your loss _____ months ago.
So ... I was struggling early on, not connecting, being judgmental. I probably should have just called it a DNF. I think I'll remember this story somewhat, but that's not necessarily a good thing. Maybe I was just in a bad mood when I read this (I was sick with Covid).