"You Know Who You Are" by Ben Dolnick was for me, an interesting read. I enjoyed the type of nostalgia some of the scenes in this story triggered. Dolnick aptly captures the insecurities, frustrations and joys of adolescence as well as the many dimensions and complexities of family life. I wouldn't say that this book is for everyone. There were parts of it that in all honesty I found cliche. But perhaps the normal, mundane existence of a teenager growing into a young man is cliche. Nevertheless, Dolnick's writing makes you feel for his characters, makes you want better for them and makes you turn the pages to hope that the characters, especially the brothers Jacob and Will end up on their feet, ready for what lies ahead.
Dolnick expresses the perspective of a child so well and with great yet understated humor. He writes, "At ten years old friendship is like marriage. Jacob's first best friend, and the one he imagined, without enthusiasm, that he'd spend his life with, was Marek Bondarchuk, a boy with fine black hair and a complexion the color of chicken fat."
This story of a family torn apart by the illness of Jacob and Will's mother and their father's rebirth is full of emotion. Kudos to Dolnick for expressing such depth.
It sounds interesting!
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