DNF&Y [6]

DNF&Y is used to explain why I gave up on certain books, and what about them just didn't work for me. What I disliked about a book might be something you love, so it helps to share your thoughts even when they're negative! If you would like additional information, please click on the DNF&Y tab at the top. If you want to join, you can link up at the bottom!

The Stars at Oktober Bend 

by Glenda Millard

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Beautiful, lyrical prose, told in two voices, lifts up a poignant story of two traumatized teens who find each other in a small riverside town.

i am the girl manny loves. the girl who writes our story in the book of flying. i am alice.

Alice is fifteen, with hair as red as fire and skin as pale as bone. Something inside Alice is broken: she remembers words, but struggles to speak them. Still, Alice knows that words are for sharing, so she pins them to posters in tucked-away places: railway waiting rooms, fish-and-chips shops, quiet corners. Manny is sixteen, with a scar from shoulder to elbow. Something inside Manny is broken, too: he once was a child soldier, forced to do terrible, violent things. But in a new land with people who care for him, Manny explores the small town on foot. And in his pocket, he carries a poem he scooped up, a poem whose words he knows by heart. The relationship between Alice and Manny will be the beginning of love and healing. And for these two young souls, perhaps, that will be good enough.

DNF at 17%

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Also, the quote I used may have changed or been altered in some way, but I am quoting from what I received.

Bahh bahh black sheep (that's me)... I struggled with this after two pages, but I kept going until I got to Manny's perspective. I know a lot of people have liked this, and they say the story is beautiful, but I found it really hard to follow the writing. I understand that Alice has brain damage, and I appreciate the authenticity the author was going for, but it didn't work for me. There are no capital letters when Alice is speaking, she makes up her own words when something doesn't make sense, and she switches from sentences to poetry quite often. It was hard for me to follow, so I felt like I was missing important aspects of the story.

I thought Manny's perspective would have been easier to read from, but one of the first things he says is, "It was a girl. Her hair was very long. Down to her waist it was. That is how I knew that person was a girl," and I was finished. I know the synopsis mentions him being broken, too, so I guess it makes sense on some level, but it was a struggle for me.

I really wanted to like this, so I hate that it wasn't a good fit. However, if the formatting doesn't bother you, definitely give it a shot. I can honestly say that the voice is original, and Alice brings a unique perspective to the story.

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