I've made books my life because they let me escape this world of cruelty and savagery.
This is one of those books. It is just one of those books, that hits every emotion, and does it in the best way possible. I will not lie, I have tears in my eyes as I type this review, but I forgive Zentner for many reasons.
And if you're going to live, you might as well do painful, brave, and beautiful things.
1. Our MCs all had some sort of baggage. Physical abuse, mental abuse, poverty, social ostracism -- things were tough, especially for Dill and Travis, but Zentner gave them this beautiful friendship. He gave them some wonderful experiences, that would become wonderful memories. He gave them some successes to counter balance their failures, and with that, he gave me hope for these characters.
Now his life had the sun and the soil to keep growing.
2. Each MC is so special. They were so well developed, and I loved each one of them. I soared when they succeeded, and my heart ached when they suffered a loss.
I am tired of watching the world grind up gentle people.
3. I can forgive the "big event", because I knew it was necessary for this story.
4. There is drama, but there is lots of humor. I laughed and smiled quite often. I cried too, but I cried for both the losses suffered and the successes celebrated.
You can't live with your heart locked up in a safe.
There is something really special about this book that cannot be properly expressed with words. The story, the characters, the dialog -- I just loved it all.