All during my time reading this book, I couldn't shake the feeling that it reminded me of Lullabies for Little Criminals. I think that's because we start life only knowing what we learn in our first home with our family. Generational trauma is a real thing. I had the benefit of a stable family who had enough resources and no substance habits or violence. But not everyone lives that way.
Jared is very young for the amount of responsibility he shoulders. He often finds himself finding a way to pay the rent or the utilities for his mom. His dad has lost his job and can't support his second wife and stepdaughter, so Jared helps them out too. His mom is mercurial, so life can change on a dime. Despite this load, Jared helps his elderly neighbours, shoveling snow, doing yard work, taking care of the husband with dementia. He's a good young man, but coping with all this plus high school and regular teenage stuff is overwhelming. He copes by drinking and drugging, like he sees all around him.
So he's almost not surprised when ravens start talking to him and he starts seeing things that aren't really there. Jared chocks it up to a bad drug reaction and keeps putting one foot in front of the other. He just keeps on working away at the basics, hoping for better things. It was pretty obvious that this book was a first book in a series. It doesn't wrap up at all. It just abruptly ends. By this time, however, I am interested and invested in Jared. I'll be continuing on.
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