Thirteen-year-old Venus suspects her stepdad is peeping at
her, but her mom, Inez, is in serious denial and refuses to believe her or act
on Venus’s suspicions. The next time he tries to do it, she shoots a bullet
through his peep-hole, and after surveying the damage done to Ray’s head, she
tells her mom “Good thing Raymond doesn’t peep at me.” Best line ever! This lands
her six years in Juvie, and when she gets out she wants to have nothing more to
do with her old self or her old name. She tries to reinvent herself in Seattle,
but her past keeps crowding in, and she hasn’t really dealt with her lingering
anger and guilt. Venus’s seven-year-old autistic half-brother, Leo, was
kidnapped only days after his father’s murder, and remains missing all these
years. Venus is estranged from Inez, who in the matter of a few days lost her
entire family, and is also awash in her own guilt. Will they ever find Leo,
and/or forgiveness?
I found Venus to be a compelling character, and you’ll be
rooting for her to overcome her rough start as a teenager. The POV switches a
lot between Venus, Inez, and the family that kept Leo, which keeps the pace
moving. Your heart will also break for kids born like Leo, and the struggles
that the people who love him go through. What I’m left confused about is why
this book is categorized as general adult fiction. If John Green had written
this book, we would be calling it YA with no question. But this “coming of age”
story is not? Quibbles for sure, but I feel like this book is being pushed
towards the wrong audience.
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