Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Family by Micol Ostow (reviewed by Alanna Cover)

“when i was six years old, i drowned”

After Melinda Jensen runs away from a sexually abusive stepfather, Uncle Jack, and the empty shell of a mother at the age of 17, she's lost. She's given up. She gave up on mirror-mel who taunts her. She will become new. And she does, with the help of a man named Henry.

Henry is everything amazing. The stars, the sunset, Jesus Christ, messiah, beautiful music, and infinity all rolled up into one. She wants and he has.

Henry has infinity.

And Henry has a message. A message of love. He takes her home, to a ranch, to a family she always dreamed of. Or not. Either way, it's a family. An open, loving family. People Uncle Jack would call, “dirty hippies.” She is accepted, loved. She is chosen. Henry enjoys her. Drinks her up. She loves. They're full of love. Something she's never seen before. Something she has never experienced before. Love.

Henry is their god. Their father. Their husband. Their family. Their everything.

And Mel will do anything for him. Die. Kill. Anything. Anything to spread his message. Their family. Their love. Their open-armed, free love. Happiness.

But will she truly kill for the sake of a message? Will she give herself away?

When a man doesn't come to hear their music, hell breaks open. Henry is upset. And his family will do anything to help him, to make him happy again. He has told them to kill the man. He has chosen four of his “children” to do his bidding. Junior. Leila. Shelly. Mel. Will Mel help her family, or save herself?

This book was written amazingly. The language is so alluring, entrancing, beautiful. I could not put it down. Written in episodic-verse, the words flow easily, in a dream-like, thought-like environment, where you're so captivated, you forget where you are. Who you are. It made me wanna read a little more about the Manson Family.

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Wow, Alanna - what a beautiful review of a book that truly sounds stunning. Click here to check our catalog to see if Family is on our shelves.