(4/17/2023)
Oh, this is a depressing book. Melancholy. Tragic. And bleak. The story will grab some dark place of your soul and not let go. Eventually, there is hope and redemption, but it is a deeply sorrowful read to get to that point.
That said, it really is an extraordinary book.
Written by Eleanor Henderson, this is the story of Jude, whom we meet on his 16th birthday, and Teddy, 15, who are best friends living in a small college town in Vermont in the late 1980s. They both come from tragically dysfunctional families. Teddy's father is dead; his mother disappears, leaving him all alone. Jude's parents are divorced; his mother is barely making ends meet as a glassblower artist, while his dad, who lives in New York City's crime-infested Lower East Side, is an upscale drug dealer. Both boys are into drugs and huffing. Teddy dies, which is not a spoiler because the author gives away this eventual plot line in the second sentence of the book. Jude copes by moving to New York to live with his dad and to find Teddy's half-brother, Johnny, a tattoo artist and hardcore punk musician. Jude also finds a friend in Eliza, the trust-fund daughter of his father's girlfriend. But Teddy left them all a big secret, which is revealed soon enough, and it becomes a burden that nearly destroys Jude, Johnny, and Eliza.
The setting is raw, the characters are rough, and like the music they listen to and play, the plot is hardcore.
While this could be described as a coming-of-age story, it's so much more than that because Jude had been living such a loveless life without any of the boundaries parents typically set. It's more a coming-into-the-world story as Jude learns how to live in a way that is not self-destructive.
Ultimately, the dark, melancholic story becomes one of hope and redemption, but the danger is that the journey there is so somber and truly sad that many readers will give up just to exit this gloomy and despondent place. If you start the book, do finish it. It's so worth it.