My Sunshine Away

A little predicatble. I thought it would be like a Gone Girl and it wasn't really on that level. I am from LA though so I i enjoyed that the author referenced LA place in the novel. Overall, it did hold my attention and I finished in just a couple of days.

This well-crafted story immerses the reader in the landscape of Baton Rouge in the late 80's and early 90's. The story weaves, flawlessly, the events surrounding the loss of innocence of the narrator, a young girl, and a neighborhood, while the imagery transports the reader there to bear witness.

The writing and mood was haunting, the atmosphere portrayed reminded me of The Virgin Suicides. The story then becomes a bit murky, too many plot points. Is this a coming of age story, a crime story???

This is a splendid first novel and the twists and turns of the plots will hold the attention of the reader. Told from the perspective of one of the suspects in the case, it is also a good example of a coming of age novel

Although this book is fictional, the truth of humanity is on every page...the good, the bad, and the ugly. As a survivor of abuse and sexual assault, it really struck a cord with me. There is healing to be had after such atrocities.

I liked this book a lot. I enjoyed reading about Louisiana and learned a lot about Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The author really captured the time frame and I smiled as he described TV shows, etc. Thought provoking.

I really enjoyed this book set in my hometown. It isn't the type of book that I usually reach for, but a friend highly recommended the book so I went for it. I wasn't disappointed. This book keeps you interested and engaged from the first page to the last, and even when I wasn't reading, I was thinking about the book. I will tell my friends about this book, for sure.

What I thought would be an interesting, southern mystery of sorts, turned out to be the ramblings of an author who just couldn't get it right, and a protagonist so incredibly irritating, it was a task to keep on reading. This book should have been about solving the rape of Lindy Thompson, instead it was about a whiny, privileged, obsessive teenage boy, and his "love" for her. Was looking forward to this book, sorely disappointed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, for its vivid portrayals of Baton Rouge, its realistic and painful reminders of being a teenage boy (how did any of us survive), and of course for the imbedded mystery of the sexual assault of a young girl and its aftermath.

I personally am having a hard time reading this book. Parts of it is interesting, because I am reaching the age of his mother, and parts of his life are also interesting, but it doesn't give me the feeling that I don't want to put it down. Sorry.

I love finding new authors that draw you into their world by page 10. This book did this for me. I loved every page. The sad storyline about a small town girl's rape is just a small part of the full book. It's well worth the read for sure.

So much going back and fourth from past to present made it difficult to understand and also boring at times , with that said it was an ok book that could have been better had it stayed with the story .

Well written, great coming of age story. It made me think of my own teenage years, of the pain of discovering the adult you want to be. I found myself feeling such empathy for the main characters troubles. There is a mystery in these pages as well. I found this book hard to put down, I wanted to know what happened to these iindepth characters.

Felt immersed in the Baton Rouge culture of the last three decades which I enjoyed. Main character's obsession with the girl was palpable and at times tedious to get through, but I guess that was the point of the story, so unavoidable. Ok read, but not sure I'd recommend.

Wonderful use of language and compelling characters make this an entertaining, thoughtful and hopeful read. But some adults may find this exploration of young people discovering and exploring their sexuality troubling. I look forward to reading more from this author.

This was a great book! I really enjoyed the characters. I think the author had a really good take on preteen and teens, and how they look at things differently. It was a little different since it was a boy's take on love. Would love to read more from this author.

I've never been to Louisiana, but the author does a great job of bringing you there. Although the author is male he also does a great job of portraying females emotions during trauma and trials. Unlike most books I never guessed "who done it." Lots of great aspects to this one.

This book was slow getting into & the main character of the book was really not very likeable. However as I got more into it & after finishing it I did a lot of thinking about it & I could understand his way of thinking as he was just a young teenager.