Series: None
Author: Leah Thomas
Published July 2nd 2015 by Bloomsbury Children's Books
Goodreads Synopsis
In a stunning literary debut, two boys on opposite ends of the world begin an unlikely friendship that will change their lives forever.
Ollie and Moritz are best friends, but they can never meet. Ollie is allergic to electricity. Contact with it causes debilitating seizures. Moritz’s weak heart is kept pumping by an electronic pacemaker. If they ever did meet, Ollie would seize. But Moritz would die without his pacemaker. Both hermits from society, the boys develop a fierce bond through letters that become a lifeline during dark times—as Ollie loses his only friend, Liz, to the normalcy of high school and Moritz deals with a bully set on destroying him.
A story of impossible friendship and hope under strange circumstances, this debut is powerful, dark and humorous in equal measure. These extraordinary voices bring readers into the hearts and minds of two special boys who, like many teens, are just waiting for their moment to shine.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
I'd previously heard really good things about this book, and I so wanted to love it as much as others had. However, this was not the case. I couldn't connect with either Ollie or Moritz. I understood that they both struggled a lot with their medical conditions, conditions I was really interested in, but other than that, there was nothing there. So far all Ollie had done was whine about a girl called Liz, who honestly, seemed 'blah'. I reckon Ollie was only infatuated with her because she was the only other girl he'd seen other than his mother, and that is no basis for a 'relationship'. Ollie's allergy to electricity was something wholly new for me, and if I had forced myself to continue, I would only have been reading Ollie's chapters for this.
Out of the two boys, I would say Moritz is the more interesting. His medical condition(s) were being born with no eyes, having to rely on echolocation to 'see', and heart failure leading to a permanent pace maker. Because of this, he'd never be allowed to meet Ollie, or else he'd harm or likely kill him. Moritz's letters had more substance to them, and didn't revolve around one girl - a plus when compared to Ollie.
Another problem I had was that fact that this both was structured in letter form, between Ollie and Moritz. By not being able to connect with either voice, and being wholly uninterested in a person's chapters, I honestly could see no other way I could push through with the book.
Quite frankly, I'm really disappointed, as I'd been really excited to start reading this, and was let down so much. Maybe other people would have a better chance with this book, and please don't rely on just my opinion, yours may be completely different.
Dates Read:
June 5 to 24, 2015
Rating
0 Stars/ Did Not Finish
