Words of a Bibliophile

This is just one of those books which I didn't want to end. The kind of book about young people that's not written specifically for younger people, that does not need to "dumb things down" for the audience. The kind of book which tugs at your heart in a painfully lovely sort of way and wraps you in its warmth.

Maybe I was in denial or I'm just dense, but at first I didn't really believe that what the main character June felt for her late Uncle Finn, a gay painter who died of AIDS, was more than a harmless platonic crush, although she has clearly stated otherwise from the beginning of the novel. Maybe, like June, I thought it was gross and wrong and forbidden for her to feel true romantic love toward her own uncle, her mother's brother. But wrong as it may be, June's love for Finn was innocent and pure, and so was her growing affection for Toby, Finn's boyfriend. I wished there was some kind of outright confrontation on what June's mother did to shut Toby out of the family's life, which caused a lot of pain for everyone. I felt she owed it to Finn, Toby and June.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good realistic story about family and love, the universal kind.