Currently reading
The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving-Kindness
River of Smoke: A Novel
Alif the Unseen
Half of a Yellow Sun
Taoist Qigong for Health and Vitality: A Complete Program of Movement, Meditation, and Healing Sounds
Sea of Poppies
AyurVeda: The Science of Self-Healing
Medicine Buddha Teachings
Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic and International Bestseller
The Fault in Our Stars
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
This book is simply put: Amazing.I finished it last week, but a day has not gone by without me thinking about it and wanting to know what happens to June now.I'd say this was a contender for best book I've read this year if I did not know this was assuredly the case. It may even be the best book I've read in the past five years.Brunt is a master narrator. She has crafted the most amazing voice of a 14/15 year old girl, June. June's voice resonates with such authenticity as she struggles to find where she fits in the world that mostly confuses her in its modernity. She is a girl who disappear into a forest so she can imagine it is the middle ages, as long as she does not look at her shoes, at least until her uncle gets her boots from the renascence fair.The same uncle who is the only one that understands her. And since the book is framed with him dying of AIDS, well you can imagine the turmoil this breeds in June's life. Only, the way Brunt presents it, and the way June tells it, it is far more heartbreaking than pretty much what you could imagine. And it is so much better a book for it.And while this is June's story, it is also a book about secrets, lost opportunities, jealousy, and responsibilities. These themes are brought up and challenged by the characters, but even more they are sifted through the filter of love and the obligations it requires, and Brunt weaves this tapestry - one so rich it would be able to hang at the Cloisters, a favorite location of June - magnificently and ever so beautifully. There is much loss and heartache, but it never feel melodramatic, even from June's sister, who basically injects melodrama into a character she is playing on stage. So very highly recommended. And now I begin the eagerly awaiting period for Brunt's next book.
