Genre: Contemporary
LGBTQ+ Category: Lesbian
Reviewer: Lucy
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About The Book
Returning home for the first time in nine years, 20-something Adrienne hopes to keep calm, aloof, removed, for the one weekend she agreed to visit, then fly off. Yet facing her family, and especially one old friend, proves to be more than she bargained for.
Returning home for the first time in nine years, 20-something Adrienne hopes to keep calm, aloof, removed, for the one weekend she agreed to visit, then fly off. Yet facing her family, and especially one old friend, proves to be more than she bargained for.
Shipped off after an embarrassing event at her brother’s wedding, Adrienne chose to stay away until finally, nine years later, returns home for her father and grandmother. Stepping into the stuffy small town is immediately suffocating, but nothing compared to dealing with the interruption in her family. From her prim, proper mother, architect of her shame, to the similar, though warmer, sometimes insightful grandmother.
Brother Doug, half life line, half guilt bomb. Her sweet, honorable, but powerless father, striving to offset his icy wife. Sunny, a crazy, free-spirited new friend who helps balance the swirl of feelings. And Hayley, once her person, grown to be beautiful, still sweet, but endlessly confusing to Adrienne’s deeply packed emotions. Not your typical romance, maybe, but love still just might win in the end.
The Review
Adrienne returns home after being exiled as a young teen for not fitting in with her wealthy, powerful mother’s view of what a perfect family looks like. Throughout the story, we get snippets of what life was like growing up in Adrienne’s household and the damage that did to Adrienne and her brothers.
This story is like sitting around with your best friend, drinking too much, and dumping all your angst and crappy childhood experiences on a sympathetic shoulder. The style is definitely experimental, and if your brain automatically edits as you read, there will be some stylistic devices that are uncomfortable.
Author R. Cane pretty much eschews anything that vaguely resembles a dialogue tag. Sentences are suddenly interspersed with spontaneous dialogue. But, that makes it feel very natural, as if we’re in the middle of a situation and someone just randomly interjects.
Also, we go along in first person but then slide into second, where the main character directly addresses the reader as “you” but in this instance, is actually directing their thoughts to another character, Haylie. It’s strange and takes some getting used to, but the style actually works, especially for some of the more emotionally charged sections of the book.
Throughout the story, Adrienne spends a lot of her time drinking. The near-constant alcohol consumption gives us a pretty clear picture of the fact that Adrienne is not, in fact, coping well with what is going on around her. Which isn’t unfair, as there is a lot of emotional upheaval throughout the book. And Adrienne spends a great deal of her life in avoidance mode.
This isn’t a fun, easy read. It is a well-written book that takes a hard look at how unresolved issues can affect our ability to cope with daily life. There are some places where the story lags a little, with Adrienne drinking in a bar with whichever side character is there with her. But as emotionally draining stories go, this one is well-done, with a good cast of characters, all with their own set of foibles and issues. Adrienne does have emotional growth and comes to some realizations that make the journey worth the angst.
If you’re looking for a book to kick back and relax with, this probably isn’t the story you want. But, if you want something different, something that is worth the time to read and contemplate, then Still by R. Cane is a great choice.
The Reviewer
I’m an avid reader who loves pretty much all genres except math textbooks. As a kid, my parents exposed me to everything from fairies, hobbits, and dragons to the biographies of interesting people around the world, interspersed with poetry, plays, and music. Into adulthood, I spent a lot of years with my nose buried in various textbooks. Now, I read whatever grabs my fancy.
