The Boys
Ratings5
Average rating3.8
"Hafner's taut and utterly delightful debut is a novel of multitudes.... What a wonder of storytelling."--Weike Wang, New York Times New York Times Editor's Choice | Good Morning America Reading Pick | LitHub Most Anticipated Book | Christian Science Monitor Summer Reading Pick A delicious summer read filled with humor and surprise for readers of Anne Tyler and Kevin Wilson. When introverted Ethan Fawcett marries fun-loving Barb, so comfortable in the world, he has every reason to believe he will be delivered from a lifetime of solitude. She fills his world with a sense of adventure, expanding his horizons beyond his comfortable routine. To ease Ethan's fears of becoming a father, Barb suggests they foster two young brothers, Tommy and Sam, and Ethan immediately falls in love with the boys. When the pandemic hits, he becomes obsessed with providing a perfect life for them. But instead of bringing Barb and Ethan closer together, the boys become a wedge in their relationship, as Ethan is unable to share with Barb a secret that has been haunting him since childhood. Then Ethan takes Tommy and Sam on a biking trip in Italy, and it becomes clear just how unusual Ethan and his boys are.
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Find my full review on Literary Quicksand: https://literaryquicksand.com/2022/07/review-the-boys-by-katie-hafner/
This book surprised me and stole my heart.
The Boys is one of those books that's going to stick in my head for a long time. It's also a book that I'm going to be recommending to my friends and family! In fact, my mother-in-law already read it, couldn't put it down, and loved it.
First of all, I loved Ethan and Barb's budding relationship in the beginning. The story of how they meet and date is so sweet, and I fell in love with them while they fell in love with each other.
The story moves on to a struggle with infertility, and eventually the introduction of “the boys” – the book's namesake. Everything changes in the couple's lives when the boys join the family, and it's a bit heartbreaking to watch them fall apart. Barb drifts apart while Ethan gets a bit obsessive. And then, everything changes.
I can't tell you anything about what changes, because that would spoil the story and you absolutely can't know what that surprise is until you read it for yourself. That makes the rest of the book a little hard to review, but I'll do my best
Content warnings: death of parents; COVID-19 related isolation, loneliness, grief. It's best to go into The Boys knowing as little as possible about the plot. I thought it was going to be a “quirky introvert finds friends and/or love” story like [b:Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine 31434883 Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine Gail Honeyman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493724347l/31434883.SY75.jpg 47327681] or [b:The Rosie Project 16181775 The Rosie Project (Don Tillman, #1) Graeme Simsion https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1371651741l/16181775.SY75.jpg 22084678], but it was much darker than either of those novels, with significant amounts of grief and repressed trauma. I was transported back to those first horrifying weeks and months of COVID, when social isolation, loneliness and the fear of the unknown future shook the foundation of our lives. The book does have some beautiful scenes and quite a hopeful ending. But getting there requires reading about a lot of painful experiences, and I felt sadder when I finished the book than when I started it. Which is not something I want these days. YMMV if memories of 2020 don't still haunt you.
