Did you like this book?

I did enjoy this book.  I chose it in part because I lived in Manhattan in the late 80’s through the 90’s and I was feeling a bit nostalgic for the time and place.  I’ve traveled by bus to/from the Cloisters and had such strong visuals in my head of the characters, the apartment, etc.  I would recommend.

I picked this book without reading the synopsis so I wasn’t sure what to expect. My uncle actually died of  AIDS in 1989 so it started off hitting pretty close to home. The emotions behind that and the family drama were all well written and it made the book hard to put down. I really enjoyed it.

I did like it.  I picked a book and author that I had never heard of before and it was very good.  I really identified with June, the narrator.  I am a long ways from 14 but I remember the turmoil of that age.

I did like the book. It was a 4 out of 5 star read for me. I generally enjoy books about complex family dynamics. The AIDS epidemic isn’t something I’ve read about in fiction much, so it was a unique subject matter. It was also nostalgic (I was similar age to June in the late 80s, and grew up in a NYC suburb) and emotional (I cried a couple of times). I thought the book was well-written. At times, June was a frustrating character to me, and I think I wanted a tiny but more resolution from the ending, which is why it’s not a 5 star book for me. But it’s definitely a book I enjoyed reading.

Loved it. I read for the decades challenge last year and it was one of my favorites of the year. It was powerful and moving as it addressed love and grief and love, all kinds of love. Having lost a couple of friends to AIDS, in a time when when there wasn’t a lot of information, I thought this book was truly amazing.

It was a rare DNF for me, actually.  I couldn’t get past the inappropriateness of the adult’s actions/ manipulations to befriend June- having her lie and sneak out to meet him secretly worried me so!