Review: One of the Boys: A Novel by Daniel Magariel
One of the Boys: A Novel by Daniel MagarielMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Scribner Books
(Publishes 3/14/17)
A wonderful debut novel about the coming of age of a twelve-year-old boy loyal to his big brother and his abuse father.
Two brothers and their father. A father who has his youngest son fake abuse from his mother so that he can take them away from their mother and move from Kansas to New Mexico. Two brothers who have been physically and psychologically abused by their father to the point where they understand why he beat their mother, she's useless, lazy, and can't keep a job. But as their father spirals out of control and the abuse ramps up, they must figure a way out. Their mother can't, or won't, help and as always, they have to rely on themselves to somehow keep their sanity and wits about them while their father becomes someone they don't even recognize. When you have nowhere else to go, how much will you endure?
This book is written through the eyes of the youngest son. His loyalty to his brother and his father is steadfast and strong. But we see him start to break as his father becomes a monster he doesn't like anymore and pits him against his brother. At twelve years of age, his susceptibility to guilt and manipulation has his heart and his head at war with each other. It's an extremely well written book that is somber but gives you the understanding of what him and his brother go through as the abuse gets worse and worse. I was left scratching my head a bit at the ending. I needed something a little bit more. For a debut novel, it is fantastic. I think I understand where the author was going, why it was written the way it is and why it leaves off the way it does. Somehow I needed to still know more. I have more questions still in my head... which may have been the author's goal.
3 1/2 stars for this debut novel.
View all my reviews
No comments
Leave a Comment