Customer Reviews

All That Remains : 3 Stories

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All That Remains
Bruce Brooks
Short Stories


All That Remains is a trio of short stories. The stories don't have the same characters, but they all have to do with dealing with grief. Each story tells the story of people who lost someone close to their heart. The book also talks about getting discriminated because of sexual orientation, disabilities, "coolness," and gender.

In the first story the two cousins, Marie and Johnny. They have a homosexual aunt, Judith died of AIDS. The two kids go back to Judith's very red-neck town. The town has a lot of people that were very against gay and lesbian relationships. The kids and Judith's lover have to deal with Judith's wishes and the regulations with barring someone with AIDS. The two Cousins go through many adventures trying to fallow their aunt's wishes, and not getting caught. Can the three of them pull it off?

The second story is about a boy names Hank, and his cousin Bobby. Bobby's father just died, and now he is living on his own. Before Bobby's father died he told Hank that he wanted Bobby to learn how to do some of the "cool" things that Hank does. Hank being the cool kid on the block helps Bobby become more popular. Even though Hank is popular and "cool," he risks his reputation to help out his cousin. Hank tries his best to make Bobby cooler. He follow is dead uncle's wishes and teaches him to skateboard, play ice hokey and play the guitar. Bobby carries on some of these hobbies, finding him self hurt every time. Can Hank help Bobby and keep his good reputation? Is Bobby just doing Hank's hobbies because his father wanted him to?

The last story is about at group of three golfer boys who take in another golfer, who is a girl. The girl, Isobel has a great drive; despite the fact that she won't take off her backpack. The boys are in shock when they find out what Isobel carries in her backpack; for what sits in her pack is the story of her past. Can the boys treat her the same after knowing what she caries around? Can Isobel become part of the group even with her differences?

I would give this book three stars out of 5. I would rate is so low because I thought the book wasn't very interesting, and it rambled on about topic that had no part in the plot. Some of the characters I thought weren't very believable, and were had to relate to. I think that this book has a great plot that would be very interesting if the writing and more compelling. I think that the writer, Bruce Brook's style of writing is mediocre; it's nothing that makes you want to read on. Some of Bruce Brook's writing makes no sense at all, making the book hard to read, and even more boring. The book is a light read, but takes awhile to read because of the writing style. One of the stories was very good, and it made sense and it wasn't that hard to read. I would recommend this book to people that like really intense books. If you also like novellas, this is the book for you.

"All That Remains" is a wonderful book for young, teenage readers. Readers who have been through family deaths and are going through one. This book contains three different stories that all have one thing in common, every character is dealing with death. In each story, the characters are trying to get there mind off the mourning of the deceased. They accomplish this by doing a number of things, from making clay bowls, killing deer and eating ice cream. I think that this book has great ideas and examples of how to deal with death. I would recommend it to anyone who is young and needs help getting over death.

-Notorious N.T.F.