Title: Brothers, Boyfriends & Other Criminal Minds
Author: April Lurie
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: I saw it on the shelf at the library, and it looked interesting.

Summary: In the 1970s, 14-year-old April Lundquist lives in a Brooklyn neighborhood alongside famous mobsters.

Stopped on Page: 94
Why I Stopped: I never really got into this book because it didn’t make me care about the main character. It took about 50 pages before I even got a hint of what the real problem affecting her was.

I also had trouble getting into scenes because they were chopped up by the characters doing things in between every line or by the main character explaining what was going on.

Here, the main character is eavesdropping on a conversation between her older brother Matt and his friend Little Joe. I highlighted the parts that chopped it up—in my opinion—in bold.

“Come on, Matt,” Little Joe said, “I already told you, this is not a good idea. You don’t get it, they treat those girls like nuns. Lock ‘em up and throw away the key.”

Matt stood up. There was a strange expression on his face—a mixture of defiance and desperation. It was the way he looked when his basketball team was down by ten points, with only one minute left in the game. “Listen, Joe,” he said. “I don’t care. I just need to see her.”

Little Joe raised his arms in surrender. “All right, all right. I’m pretty sure she’ll be there, okay? Happy?”

Matt exhaled loudly. “Thanks Joe, I owe you one.”

Little Joe shook his head. “Nah, you don’t owe me nothin’. But I’m telling you, Matt, you better be careful.”

Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

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