Book Review: We'll Fly Away

About The Book:

  Title:  We'll Fly Away 

  Author: Bryan Bliss 
  Pub. Date: May 8th, 2018 
  Publisher: Greenwillow Books 
  Pages: 416

  Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary 

  Rate: 4/5 stars 

Synopsis :

Uniquely told through letters from death row and third-person narrative, Bryan Bliss’s hard-hitting third novel expertly unravels the string of events that landed a teenager in jail. Luke feels like he’s been looking after Toby his entire life. He patches Toby up when Toby’s father, a drunk and a petty criminal, beats on him, he gives him a place to stay, and he diffuses the situation at school when wise-cracking Toby inevitably gets into fights. Someday, Luke and Toby will leave this small town, riding the tails of Luke’s wrestling scholarship, and never look back.

But during their senior year, they begin to drift apart. Luke is dealing with his unreliable mother and her new boyfriend. And Toby unwittingly begins to get drawn into his father’s world, and falls for an older woman. All their long-held dreams seem to be unraveling. Tense and emotional, this heartbreaking novel explores family, abuse, sex, love, friendship, and the lengths a person will go to protect the people they love. For fans of NPR’s Serial podcast, Jason Reynolds, and Matt de la Peña.

Review:

We'll Fly Away is a realistic fiction YA about two best friends who both live extremely hard lives. Luke, the all-star wrestler, takes care of his family and struggles with feeding his younger brothers while his mother has hookups with random guys. Toby, the carefree boy with an alcoholic and abusive father is just looking for someone to accept him. The novel starts with the past of Toby and Luke being as close as ever, while we also get current letters from Luke from death row. As their lives start to get more complicated, causing conflict and them to separate from each other, we get a glimpse inside modern day poverty, child abuse, and what the criminal justice system is like. 

I am definitely picky with the contemporary novels I read, and I'm so glad I read this one. It is jarringly emotional with the multi-dimensional characters and hardships they are going through. As a school psychologist, it is heartbreaking for me to see the kinds of things kids go through on a daily basis, and the fact that they just want semblance of a normal life. I thought that the saddest part of this novel was the relationship Luke has with his younger brothers. He is basically a father figure for them, and the only one they can really rely on. Thinking about what will happen to them while he is in jail was constantly on my mind throughout the entirety of this novel. The voice and characters of this book are so amazing, it could easily be made into an Oscar-worthy film.

Again, a huge thank you to my friend Heather for sending me this book to enjoy! If you enjoy hard-hitting and moving contemporary novels, We'll Fly Away is the book for you. The characters and their situations are heartbreaking. You won't be able to put this book down and it'll definitely be one that sticks with you for years to come. 

- Jocelyn