About the Book
Melanie and Damon are both living in the shadow of loss. For Melanie, it's the loss of her larger-than-life artist mother, taken by cancer well before her time. For Damon, it’s the loss of his best friend, Carlos, who took his own life.
As they struggle to fill the empty spaces their loved ones left behind, fate conspires to bring them together. Damon takes pictures with Carlos’s camera to try to understand his choices, and Melanie begins painting as a way of feeling closer to her mother. But when the two join their school’s production of Othello, the play they both hoped would be a distraction becomes a test of who they truly are, both together and on their own. And more than anything else, they discover that it just might be possible to live their lives without completely letting go of their sadness.
“Volleyball was clearly a sport invented by the devil," I tell Tristan. "Satan plays volleyball. Satan loves volleyball. Satan holds volleyball championships in hell, possibly everyday.”
Review
It's truly hard to put into words how I felt while reading this book. It's a story of struggling through grief, and at times it really tugged on my heart - strong. More than once I had to stop listening to it for a bit because I had tears streaming down my eyes and I needed to compose myself. (Especially if I was at work)
Out of all the characters, Damon really stuck out to me the most in this story. I liked Melanie a lot, and Tristan was pretty cool too, but there was just something about Damon I felt I could relate to with more. Maybe because we both love the theater, or it's possible that I felt his story was more tragic because of his unexpected loss of a loved one. Whatever the case, I felt more drawn to his story. I found myself almost disappointed when the focus would shift away from him.
This is a story that has stuck with me, especially the feelings that it gave me. Even just thinking about it and I feel a strong pull in my chest. And then the thoughts that ran through my mind both during and after reading it... this is a topic that I never experienced for myself. I've lost loved ones, but nobody ever as close as a best friend or even a parent. And I truly feel that I was able to grasp a sense of the pain both Melanie and Damon went through as they tried to heal. And any book that gives me strong feelings pleases me.
My biggest issues is, although the characters are teenagers and this book is considered Young Adult, I don't exactly agree it fits in that genre. Maybe it's because of the loss both of the main characters go through, but both of them seem much older in how they think and in their behavior. That, or maybe because this one just reads more maturely than other YA books I've read that deal with loss. Reading this was like absorbing a painting, and I just can't envision the average teenager enjoying it as much as an adult would.
I think this is a great resource for a teenager that went through the tragic loss of a loved one. I also feel this story is a great way for anyone who doesn't entirely understand such loss to be given a glimpse into such sorrow.