Kelly Braffet

This story resonated with memories of a time when I was drifting along, working dead end jobs to pay bills, trying not to think about how dysfunctional my relationships were, and suffering the consequences of my bad decisions. It's a grim story, and not one for people who like a Hollywood happy ending and natural heroes in their fiction. But the characters rang true, and I was sucked into emotionally investing in them as the story developed and gradually wormed into the truth beneath their show more facades. And those consequences? Each bad decision across all these characters built into a tsunami of consequences, fascinating and terrible witness as it bore down on its unsuspecting victims.

Overall, a fun read, would recommend if you're not particularly in a puppies and rainbows mood.

Hardcover, picked up on a whim at Half Price Books. Already looking at other books by this author to add to my wish list. show less

The backstory: Years ago, I used to discover new authors by browsing the new releases in the library and seeing which covers grabbed me. I had as many successes as failures, and my shift toward finding life-minded readers has certainly improved my success with books. Yet I still think fondly of those authors I discovered my old-fashioned way, and Kelly Braffet is one of those authors. I recall bringing home Last Seen Leaving and sitting down on my the screened-in porch to read it before show more dinner. I was up until the wee hours of the morning finishing it, and when I returned it to the library the next day, I picked up her first novel, Josie and Jack. Imagine my delight when I saw that seven years later, there's finally another Braffet novel to read!

The basics: Save Yourself is the story of two sets of siblings: Patrick and Mike Cusimano are still reeling from their father's arrest and conviction for killing a child while driving drunk. They live in their father's house, along with Mike's girlfriend, Caro. Across Ratchetsberg, a tiny town outside Pittsburgh, Layla Elshere, the oldest daughter of a local church leader has turned Goth and tries to befriend Patrick because of what his father did. Her little sister, Verna, begins high school and is tormented.

My thoughts: Save Yourself is filled with both unlikable characters and characters making self-destructive, yet understandable, decisions. Braffet shifts the narration among the main characters beautifully, and I welcomed the opportunity to better understand these complicated, well-developed characters. As I read, I always had the sense that anything could happen and it would work with these characters and their choices. As a reader, I love to place my entire trust in an author. The characters and their world were so well-formed, and their behavior was so often reckless, I read with a sense of foreboding. There's an eeriness to this novel I adored.

Favorite passage: "She often prayed for the strength to stop eavesdropping, but God never gave it to her. Maybe because the things she learned left her less baffled by the mysteries around her."

The verdict: Save Yourself is a captivating character-driven novel. Braffet is a brave and bold storyteller, and both are on full display in her latest novel. show less

A disturbing book with very well-developed and sympathetic (though so thoroughly developed that they are sometimes maddening) working-class characters with hardscrabble lives. A girl in a religious family is bullied at school; her older goth sister is rebelious and self-destructvie; a young man whose alcoholic father killed a child in a drunk driving episode lives with his passive, easy-going older brother but finds himself attracted to his girlfriend, who is looking for stability in a life show more on the move. So much searching, so many abusive controlling men. Braffet is an enormously talented writer. Her work reminds me a bit of Sean Doolittle's. show less

This was dark.

I enjoyed the ambivalence of it -- many times you weren't sure who the protagonists/allies were, who the antagonist(s) were, what the goals were, what the outcome was going to be. That's not something you really see done much in fantasy, the ambiguity of it all.

In a lot of ways, this was a very small book; the majority of it takes place inside the castle walls. In other ways, it was immense, bordering on 600 pages. I felt like it read quickly, in that when I'd stick my bookmark show more in at the next chapter thirty or forty pages away, I'd be there without thinking about it.

In no way is this book YA. In no way is it not full of triggers. There are people in this book who are absolutely horrible. That doesn't make it bad.

Wondering if there'll be a second book to this, though. Curious to find out. show less