Suzanne
Rating:
Review
At only 207 pages this was quite a quick read, and an engaging one at that. Hilary is a miserable high school boy sent off to St. Oswald’s boarding school near the coast in England. A hilarious and sarcastic line about the school’s "architectural sadism" totally sucked me in on page three. Hilary constantly yearns and fantasizes about escaping the controlling forces of parents and formal education and dreams of being in charge of his own life. I could completely relate to this – as a teenager I was desperate for exactly the same thing. The difference is Hilary actually meets a boy named Finn who is living the very life he wants, completely on his own in an old hut on the coast that’s only accessible during low tide. It seems too good to be true compared to his own existence in the bleak boarding school amidst the rigid immobility of England’s social classes. Hilary idolizes Finn to no end and takes increasing risks to spend more and more time with him, until a scandal uncovering a big secret changes their friendship forever. I didn’t want to put this one down.
Best Line:
"Rule number seven: All rumors are true." (pg. 129)
Kim
Rating:
Review
It is 1962, and teenager Hilary is a bit of a rebel, which isn’t hard to figure out since he is on his third boarding school when he comes to St. Oswald’s in the first few pages of this slim novel. He is unhappy and unsure of himself, mostly, and lacks drive and determination. That is, until he meets Finn, a teenaged boy living on his own who has the life that Hilary wants. And so begins his fascination with Finn, and they settle into an unequal relationship until one of Hilary’s classmates exposes Hilary’s secret, which in turn exposes another secret. I liked this story even though it wasn’t terribly interesting to me until about half way through, so hang in there. It’s still a well written story and worth the time.
Best Line:
"People around here didn’t waste words; language was a tool, not a treat."
