Review: What They Always Tell Us

What They Always Tell Us
Martin Wilson

Official Summary:
JAMES AND ALEX have barely anything in common anymore—least of all their experiences in high school, where James is a popular senior and Alex is suddenly an outcast. But at home, there is Henry, the precocious 10-year-old across the street, who eagerly befriends them both. And when Alex takes up running, there is James’s friend Nathen, who unites the brothers in moving and unexpected ways.

What the Pros Say:
PW: "Insightfully evoked, Alex, James and their friends will leave a lasting impression on readers."
Kirkus: "Smoothly written and psychologically astute, this story eloquently charts the cross-currents between social status, loyalty and brotherly love."

What I Say:

These two brothers could not be any more different from each other. Alex is all alone; labelled a loser after swallowing Pine Sol at a party, while James is the popular athlete, the boy who gets all the girls, the boy who should be living without a care in the world. At home and at school these boys are like strangers to each other, and neither one is quite sure when, or how, it happened.

My hands down favorite part of this book was the realistic portrayal of Alex and James' relationship. As brothers they want to love and be there for each other, but they've fallen out of the habit and aren't sure how to get back to it. Each feels betrayed by the other--Alex can't understand why James hasn't been there for him after the "incident", while James can't understand why Alex did what he did in the first place. They're frustrated with each other, but they're also afraid of losing each other, and the author's portrayal of that confusing situation is well-done and realistic.

I also like the evolution of each brother throughout the story, both in regards to each other and in the way each sees the world. The changes each brother goes through are thoroughly believable and incredibly understandable, and altogether this is a good, heartfelt read about brotherly love and the traumas of high school.