The Story
After moving from Nova Scotia to the lovely Victoria, B.C., and after a case of mono that has him taken out of school for a while, the last thing Royce wants to do is be in charge of looking after his ninety-five year old grandfather – even if his grandfather WAS one of the world’s greatest cellists of his time. But sometimes we don’t get to do what we want – and sometimes we learn that people aren’t always what we first thought they would be. I mean, who would’ve thought that one of the greatest cellists would love the Pussycat Dolls? Or want a pair of Chucks?
So, when Royce’s grandfather Arthur ends up in the hospital after a series of strokes, Royce has to deal with the fact that the person he has so recently gotten to know may not be around for as long as Royce might want…
The Response
This book started off slowly, but by the half-way point, it had really picked up and had me totally gripped into the story. But even though it picked up, I wasn’t actually invested in the story… this book had so much potential, but it never went from “this book has so much potential!” to “okay, wow, this book is REALLY good.” There was the opportunity for a really deep book, that explored a lot of issues, but they were really just skimmed over, and it left me rather disappointed.
Arthur is, by far, the star of this show. At times you roll your eyes at his orneriness, at times you laugh at his sense of humour, and at times your heart gets broken. I really wish the author had explored the dementia portion of Arthur’s character a little bit more – it’s mentioned a couple of times, but we only ever get to see the effects of it in Arthur once. And I wish that at that point in time, we could have also known how Royce was really FEELING about it – and even if you don’t like the dude, if your grandfather doesn’t know who you are, even for a few minutes, it’s … well, it’s going to make SOME sort of impact on you.
My biggest issue with this book is that the narrator does NOT sound like a 16-year-old boy. It felt like the author was playing it safe, wasn’t really getting into the mind of Royce’s character. You know, like how the English-dubbed version of Edward Elric (from Fullmetal Alchemist) sounds so much older than the character is actually supposed to be – that’s exactly what Royce sounded like.
Other than Arthur, none of the characters actually felt real – there could’ve been so much more depth there, Harvey could’ve made me love the characters and really feel for them, but… there’s nothing really there to them to make me care for them, which was rather sad…
So yes, because I am a character reader, this was a disappointing book. We never really got to know anyone other than Arthur, and well, let’s just say that this isn’t a happy ending for Arthur.
The Bottom Line
After reading this, I have been craving listening to Ella Fitzgerald, Fred Astaire, Rodgers and Hammerstein and other wonderful music! But… I think that’s really the only thing that’s going to stick in my head regarding this book. Rather unfortunate. :(
Other Reviews
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