Review: Touching, well-written story of overcoming the odds
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 31, 2011
A lovely romance with a clever "framework" - each chapter (there are seven in total) takes place during a single day of Evan Donaldson's life. Each of those seven days represents a pivotal moment in which Evan's life is inexorably changed. Beautiful writing, excellent editing and a poignant story.SPOILERS FOLLOW:The story begins with an orphaned, teenaged Evan, living on the streets and struggling to survive. He is desperate enough that he sells himself, but he hates himself for it, disassociating his mind from what his body is doing. It's painful and heartbreaking. But on this particular day, a priest just happens to be driving through the neighborhood and decides to offer Evan a way out. Evan, with more than a little hesitation, decides to take the lifeline, even though he has no reason to believe that his life will get any better when he enrolls at Saint Bartholomew's Academy. But there, he meets his roommate and soon to be best friend, Clay Mueller, and his heart begins to heal.The story progresses, following Evan through his healing, with steps both forward and back, including a heartbreaking bit of abuse at the hands of one of his teachers. But Evan triumphs, and eventually graduates from the school. And, with graduation comes the inevitable sexual encounter between Evan and Clay. But the promise of that moment between the two young men is quickly lost in the realities of life outside the small school.The rest of the book is a bit of angsty back and forth between Evan and Clay. I would have rated this book a 5-star, but for the fact that I just didn't understand why Clay pushed Evan away so entirely. It's sort of explained, but I think in part the "7 days from Evan's perspective" made this bit of background challenging to grasp. Still, it was a beautiful, moving story, which left my heart full.Shira Anthony (a.k.a. Sarah Alexander)Author of "From the Depths"