She is a spitfire and a huge advocate for what she believes in, and doesn't let anyone tear her down. The second part follows Eleanor, who is by far the best character of the three. She mentions Eleanor once and how they use to be close friends. Her story was the least connected with the other two, especially since she moved away. well, dark and refers to her PTSD as "The Monster" while connecting it with her love for the novel Frankenstein. We see her struggle with her friendship with Dark because he presents himself as. Claire is constantly on edge, making sure she can always see her closest exit and tries to avoid riding the bus and crowds at all cost, as it reminds her of the shooting and gives her some PTSD flashbacks. We follow her as she is processing the trauma and meets a group of guys at the skate park who befriend her and one of them, who is slightly disturbed, is also going through his own trauma so they connect. The first part follows our character Claire, who moved to Minnesota with her brother, who is a pro-skater, after the shooting. For example, we see PTSD in Claire, anger and resentment in Eleanor, and OCD in Brendan. Each part seemed to deal with a different type of diagnosis in how they handled their grief. The topic was handled very well, as it is an emotional and delicate topic, but it felt like I was reading three different short stories, with no connection, and with nothing really happening. I wanted this book to be so much more than it was. This story follows three characters, Eleanor, Brendan and Claire a year after they survived a shooting at their high school and hid under a stairwell together. ![]() ![]() Thoughts & Prayers by Bryan Bliss is a three-part novel that comes out at the end of September. Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review Bryan Bliss' new novel out on 9/29! In their own time, they each starting healing through therapy, role playing and being a voice for the voiceless! The beauty that unfolded in this story was the path each of the characters took to heal. People move on and life goes on but it's okay to take the time to invest in yourself to heal and to grow from those terrible experiences. ![]() I think Bryan did an excellent job at really encapsulating the fear and paralyzing effects of living through an unspeakable trauma! We got to see the change Claire, Brezzen and Eleanor went through emotionally, mentally and physically after such a tragedy and what was so heartbreaking was that I felt their pain!Īs far as introducing this book into my classroom or recommending it to students, I don't know if I would put too much focus on what caused the trauma but the power in feeling all the feelings, seeking the help and not letting something hold you back. This book was gut-wrenching, hopeful, sad and full of redemption. I went in blind, hoping for the worst and I was pleasantly surprised! I was a bit hesitant to read this book simply because, as an educator, school shootings are a possibility in my line of work. I didn’t like anything about the book but the premise. The point is, I don’t want to think, “I can tell a man wrote this.” I don’t want to think about the writer at all when I’m reading. Women writers generally give female characters more depth. Others write girls as if they’re boys who happen to be girls, not that either fit into a stereotype, but certain mannerisms, styles of communication and nuances are more typical of girls than boys. Some men write wonderful female characters. Additionally, the two female characters seemed obviously written by a male. ![]() None of the characters felt like authentic people, they felt like Characters Written For A Very Special Book that turned out to be not special at all. I believe Bryan Bliss wanted to illustrate how each survivor had different reactions to the event, but he failed to make me care about any of the kids. Each part covers one student, one year later. THOUGHTS & PRAYERS is basically three different, separate stories about high schoolers who survived a school shooting. THOUGHTS & PRAYERS was one of my most anticipated books of the month and it turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments of the year.
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