Publication date: October 16 2018
Published by: --
Genre: Young Adult, MM, Romance, School, Contemporary, Violence
Rating:
Brian You’ll make it out of here, Brian. I swear.
I had everything—school quarterback, popular with girls, and my dad was proud of me. I told myself it didn’t matter no one knew the real me. And then I nearly died. Landon saved my life. He’s the bravest guy I know. He came out a few years ago, proud and fierce, and he ran into gunfire to help others. Me, I’m a mess. Can’t even stand to be in a room with the curtains open. But here’s the thing about losing it all: You get a chance to start over and be someone new. Only how can I move on when the two shooters who attacked our school were never caught? And why do I feel like I’m still in the crosshairs?
Landon
Will you kiss me?
When I came across Brian Marshall,the hottest guy in school, dying on the cafeteria floor, I did what anyone would do. I tried to save him. His request surprised me, but I figured he needed comfort, so I kissed him on the forehead. When he survived and came back to school, he was broken in body and mind. He still needed me, and soon we were unlikely besties. But what I saw at school that day woke me up. I want to demand action on gun control, lead protests, raise my fist. I’ll tear the world down if I have to. And if I can get the man of my dreams and save the world at the same time? I’ll take it. Only I didn’t understand that the horror at Jefferson Waller High wasn’t over.
I am lucky enough to have lived in two countries with extremely strict gun laws and I have never even came close to experiencing the horror of what Boy Shattered describes, one that unfortunately doesn't only happen in movies and books.
Boy Shattered tells the story of two teenage boys, a senior and a freshman, and their blossoming relationship in the heels of an unimaginable tragedy; two shooters invade their school and kill 42 of their classmates in cold blood.
The first half of the book was admittedly hard to read. Easton gives a chilling description of the actual shooting, along with its aftermath and the effect it had on everyone, especially Brian. Her writing was gentle and sensitive, but underneath it all, I could still sense her boiling anger, her frustration, and the utter disbelief-these things cannot still be happening, they just can't be.
A small ray of hope in the midst of all the despair and devastation, was Landon and Brian's romance. It was really sweet and had all the urgency and angst of a teenage high school romance. BS is a YA book so everything is kept pretty decent, and I liked that the romance didn't take away much from the story. That was not the point anyway. It also makes the book more accessible to teenagers and tweens who absolutely need to educate themselves on the matter as much as possible.
What I didn't particularly like was Brian's dad. I didn't buy that he was a good guy once and I certainly didn't like how he was all forgiven in the end and came back to Brian's life. I mean, his son was nearly killed in the shooting and not only did he force him to go back to that school even though he was clearly not ready, he was extremely disrespectful to the guy who saved his life, calling him obscene and derogatory names. Also, the fact that he would have beaten Brian bloody when he told him he was gay if Brian didn't manage to escape. Yeah, there was that.
I just don't see how a reconciliation between these two was even possible.
I also didn't like how Easton turned the shooting into a mystery. This should not be a "whodunit". I don't care how "brilliantly" and cunningly the perpetrators thought the shooting out. This book should be about the victims, the survivors and the way to cope in the aftermath of such a tragedy, ways to avoid it and raise awareness. The mystery was unnecessary.
Personally, like any senseless death, I find mass shootings extremely hard to accept. I can't even fathom the amount of hatred and disregard of human life someone must have in order to do something like that, it's just beyond me. These people have been called "sick", "monsters", "evil". That may be true, but people who still allow things like these to happen in a different school everyday, still allow for children to be so cruelly murdered, are even sicker and more evil. 13 and 15 year old kids with rifles and AR-15s and AK-47s? I mean, what is this?? How are so many people allowed to have that kind of weaponry at their home? And for what possible reason? I didn't even know all these types of guns until I heard them mentioned in a school shooting coverage. That's just goes to show how different my upbringing was and how, I realise now, safe I was growing up and going to school, and for that I am really appreciative.
The fatalist in me says that nothing is ever going to change. I don't see how it can. But thankfully, there are people like Landon out there in the real world who are willing to speak up and fight for what they believe in, what everyone should believe in, because saving lives is kind of a no brainer.
At least it should be.
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