Review: Well-Written Coming-of-Age Story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 1, 2014
“Ray Ryan” is the coming-of-age story of of its eponymous protagonist, who we first meet in 1994 in Nottingham, when he is still in primary school. As the years progress, we follow Ray through both the prosaic and the exciting moments of his life, witnessing both his times of happiness and struggle.As a child, Ray is quiet and a follower, sticking close to the side of his best (and eventually life-long) friend Kevin—in middle school he’s bullied, and by the time he’s reached high school he’s found more of his place in the world, including a group of close friends and a girlfriend, Anna. As he moves into university and beyond, his problems become more adult as he struggles to find his place in the world, accept his relationship with his father, and balance being a good son and brother and boyfriend with friendships that take a dangerous turn into drugs and violence.Ray is an everyman, and thus very relatable—he faces the same everyday problems the rest of us do, and he’s driven by the same fears and passions we are. It’s his relationships with others, rather than the events of the plot, that make “Ray Ryan” very readable—his close and dedicated friendship with Kevin, his sometimes-rocky relationship with Anna, his devotion to Joanna and his mother. The end of the novel picks up the pace with Ray’s dad (and then Ray) gets involved over his head with a thug named Danny, and the epilogue is a satisfying wrap-up. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy contemporary fiction, especially realistic coming-of-age stories with well-done characters and convincing relationships.