Monday, June 10, 2019

One Old, One New: Jessie Ann Foley

One Old, One New features two books - one old, one new, which are connected in some way. Today, I am sharing two books by Jessie Ann Foley.

Sorry For Your Loss
Jessie Ann Foley
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads
Printz Honor winner and William Morris Award finalist Jessie Ann Foley’s latest YA novel is a comitragic coming-of-age story about an awkward teenage guy who, after the loss of his brother, finds healing and a sense of self where he least expected to.

As the youngest of eight, painfully average Pup Flanagan is used to flying under the radar. He’s barely passing his classes. He lets his longtime crush walk all over him. And he’s in no hurry to decide on a college path. The only person who ever made him think he could be more was his older brother Patrick, the family’s golden child. But that was before Patrick died suddenly, leaving Pup with a family who won’t talk about it and acquaintances who just keep saying, “sorry for your loss.”

But when Pup excels at a photography assignment he thought he’d bomb, things start to come into focus. His dream girl shows her true colors. An unexpected friend exposes Pup to a whole new world, right under his nose. And the photograph that was supposed to show Pup a way out of his grief ultimately reveals someone else who is still stuck in their own. Someone with a secret regret Pup never could have imagined.
Wow! All I have to say is


Sorry For Your Loss was such an exquisite portrait of a family caught in the throes of grief. The emotions, at times, were so palpable, I actually found myself rubbing my chest, because my heart physically ached.

Pup, my dear sweet Pup. As the youngest of the Flanagan clan, he was often overlooked. You had the sister moms, his older sisters, who were so much older than him, they never even lived under the same roof. And, then there was the second wave of kids - Annemarie, Patrick, and Luke. Though Pup enjoyed a closer bond with his three younger siblings, there was only one, who really saw him - Patrick, which was why Patrick's death was such a profound loss for him.

Pup was floundering in his grief, and continuing to let all these people in his life sort of treat him as an after thought.  But, then he got a little nudge, and that push Pup needed came from an unlikely source. After almost a year of trying different artistic mediums, Pup's teacher put a camera in his hands, and Pup was able to finally find his voice. It was really wonderful the way he was able to see things and share his feelings and pain via his art. I loved that this was part of his story for many reasons. One, because I really wanted Pup to find his thing. Two, because the drama with his unrequited love was awful, and he needed something to feel good about. Three, because it brought Abrihet into his life, and she was phenomenal for him.

This was definitely the story of Pup's coming of age, but it was also about family. The Flanagans were stuck in their grief. Some seemed ok, but many were suffering and dealing with the loss in unhealthy ways. It was Pup, with his newfound voice, who pushed the family to take those steps towards "getting through". Some of the things he was forced to do were excruciating, but necessary. His family may have been very avoidant, but the one thing they didn't lack was love for each other, and there was a lot of warmth in this story because of it.

I was so touched and impressed by this book, I immediately went to the library to check out more books by Foley. She did such a beautiful job painting these characters and crafting their story, and I know I am grateful to have had the opportunity to take this journey with Pup and his family.

**ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

The Carnival at Bray
Jessie Ann Foley
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Historical
Publisher: Elephant Rock Productions
Rating: 4  out of 5 stars
Goodreads
It's 1993, and Generation X pulses to the beat of Kurt Cobain and the grunge movement. Sixteen-year-old Maggie Lynch is uprooted from big-city Chicago to a windswept town on the Irish Sea. Surviving on care packages of Spin magazine and Twizzlers from her rocker uncle Kevin, she wonders if she'll ever find her place in this new world. When first love and sudden death simultaneously strike, a naive but determined Maggie embarks on a forbidden pilgrimage that will take her to a seedy part of Dublin and on to a life- altering night in Rome to fulfill a dying wish. Through it all, Maggie discovers an untapped inner strength to do the most difficult but rewarding thing of all, live.
For as many years as she could remember, Maggie's life was constantly being disrupted so her mother could follow her latest love interest. It was an endless cycle of watching her mother fall in and out of love, and Maggie, inevitably, was left picking up the pieces. This time, Maggie was forced to relocate across the Atlantic, to the small Irish town of Bray. It was in these new surroundings that Maggie experienced some wonderful and devastating firsts, while also finding herself.

Another emotional read courtesy of Jessie Ann Foley. From the onset of this novel, I felt nothing by empathy for Maggie. My heart broke for her, when she was forced to leave her Nanny Ei, the most stable person in her life, and her Uncle Kevin, who she adored, to start anew in Bray. It's hard enough moving to a new place, but then she had the additional challenge of learning the cultural norms of her new home. The loneliness and isolation she felt was remarkable.

But she did find a friend in Dan Sean, the almost centenarian of Bray. It was lovely seeing her appreciation for all the years he had spent on the earth and the wisdom he had gathered during that time. They sat, and passed time together, but she sometimes sought his assistance in matters of the heart, which I found terribly sweet.

I also adored, Eoin. Eoin was a little bit broken due to his past with his mother, but he had the most tender heart. His love and loyalty to Maggie was a thing of beauty. He was key for Maggie. Knowing him, and being known by him, helped Maggie unlock a lot of things about herself.

I know from reading an interview, that Foley had not selected this time period in order to exploit the grunge scene, but I loved the way she wove the music and events of the era into the story. For Maggie, her love of music was knitted with her love for her Uncle Kevin. It was him, who brought her to her first club show, sent her care packages of Spin magazine, and tasked her with seeing Nirvana live in Rome.

This book was equal parts family drama and teen drama, which was heartfelt, emotional, messy, and realistic.

Do you have a favorite grunge band?
Let us know in the comments!

30 comments:

  1. Grunge was never really my thing, sorry! I'm a 60's to 80's girl with motown, rock and country thrown in. And a little bit of reggae!

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    1. I was in college during the grunge crazed, and I loved all those bands. My heart, though, will always be in 80s music (The Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Echo and Bunnymen, etc).

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  2. Just reading your review makes me want to cry for Pup. Losing the one person who "got" him. Oh, my heart. I like knowing that someone good came into his life, but I still want to hug him.

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    1. The more I got to know Patrick via memories, the more my heart ached, that his was longer in this world.

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  3. Both of these sound like tough and emotional reads. I have my eyes on that first book especially! My heart is already aching for poor Pup. <3

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    1. It's quite raw at times, but Foley put a lot of happy and humorous parts in there as well.

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  4. Your review of Sorry for Your Loss made me pick it up. You've been doing that to me a lot lately. :-)

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  5. I love when books are emotional and hit right in the feels! Sorry For Your Loss sounds great!
    Genesis @ Whispering Chapters

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    1. I adore grief books, and it had the perfect balance of pain, joy, and humor featuring a phenomenal cast.

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  6. I've sort of heard of this author, but I hadn't really paid attention to her and her books. Now I really want to read them! Thanks for sharing your thoughts :)

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    1. I hope you get a chance to check her out. These books were both really great.

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  7. great reviews. i love that you had to run right to the library for more
    sherry @ fundinmental

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    1. Yep. There is still one more Foley book for me to read too.

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  8. Both sound really good. The one about Pup battling loss sounds very emotional and touching. I am also interested in the second one because I love that time period!

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    1. Pup owned me, and his growth over the book was incredible and wonderful to watch.

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  9. I love books about a large family. Pup sounds incredible and I hurt already for his grief over Patrick. I love when older people and younger characters bond and have a friendship. I just love it! These both are needed on my TBR! ❤️

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    1. I liked that Foley explored the family dynamic in both books, and I do like a multigenerational cast as well, and Dan Sean (in Carnival) was a really special character.

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  10. Oh wow, Sorry for Your Loss sounds like a serious tearjerker. I'm not familiar with this author but both of these sound like reads I would really love. I'm glad they were both winners for you.

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    1. It actually falls into tragicomedy. There are lots of really funny moments as well as utterly heartbreaking ones. I felt emotionally balanced when reading it.

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  11. Glad these were both good! I may have (briefly) liked a grunge band or two, but mostly I was not a fan. I'm more of an 80's creature. :)

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    1. I was a teen in the 80s, so I am definitely the most die-hard about those bands, but I will never deny my love for the Seattle music scene of the early 90s.

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  12. I've never read anything from this author. I really am interested in Sorry For You Loss. Great reviews!!

    ~Kendra @ Kendra Loves Books

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    1. I love grief books, and that's why I requested Sorry. It was such a wonderful book for me, I had to check out more of her books. Not disappointed at all either.

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  13. Sorry For Your Loss sounds like such a beautiful story!

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    1. It really was. My emotions were so stirred by it

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  14. Sorry for Your Loss sounds like it is going to be such an emotional read... and it is going to get to me a lot when I try it. But I am always looking for books that do grief well. I also think that such a large family is going to be interesting to read about it. The second one sounds like it deals with an equally deep topic. And some travel and different countries involved as well.

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    1. Sorry For Your Loss took me by surprise. It was so good. I loved the giant family. My mother is the eldest of nine, so I am somewhat acquainted with the dynamics of the two waves of kids (it's just like that in my mother's family). They had 4 girls, 2 boys, twins (1 of each), and then the last was a boy. So, very similar to my mother's family.

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  15. They both sound really good. I think I would really enjoy them. Sometimes books dealing with grief really get me tho. I still like to read them and I still haven't cried from a book. I might be ok. =)

    Mary

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    1. I will absolutely read more from this author. I really enjoyed her books. I was ugly crying just yesterday as I read a book. It was so severe, I had to read out to Shannon, who I knew read this book. We consoled each other via Twitter DMs.

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