Sixteen-year-old Leo has a way with words, but he doesn’t know it yet. He spends his time texting, polishing soccer maneuvers, and killing time with Niko and Silvia. Until a new teacher arrives and challenges him to give voice to his dreams. And so Leo is inspired to win over the red-haired beauty Beatrice. She doesn’t know Leo exists, but he’s convinced that his dream will come true. When Leo lands in the hospital and learns that Beatrice has been admitted too, his mission to be there for her will send him on a thrilling but heartbreaking journey. He wants to help her but doesn’t know how—and his dream of love will force him to grow up fast. Having already sold over a million copies, Alessandro D’Avenia’s debut novel is considered Italy’s The Fault in Our Stars. Now available in English for the first time, this rich, funny, and heartwarming coming-of-age tale asks us to explore the meaning—and the cost—of friendship, and shows us what happens when suffering bursts into the world of teenagers and renders the world of adults speechless.
Amazon.com
Sixteen year old Leo is mainly focused on soccer, texting, and hanging with friends until the day he meets beautiful redhead Beatrice. Suddenly he needs to know how to get her attention.
Hailed as the Italian Fault In Our Stars, this YA novel turned out to be a bit of a dud for me. I didn't see mention of an English translator, so I'm assuming Alessandro D'Avenia did his own English translation? The flow of the text had that jerky, awkward, staccatto note of someone writing in a language that is not their native tongue. Leo's voice (as narrator) veers somewhat into stream of consciousness ramblings. In fact, a lot of this story just went on and on, never really engaging me as the reader.
Honestly, I found this book largely unreadable. The English translation was just too much of a chore, it killed the potential greatness of the plot for me. I'll give it an extra point for lovely book design though --- the textured, minimalist artwork was quite nice.
FTC Disclaimer: TNZ Fiction Guild kindly provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.
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