Nothing but Life, Brent van Staalduinen
Nothing but Life, Brent van Staalduinen
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Nothing but Life

Author: Brent van Staalduinen

Narrator: Charlie Thurston

Unabridged: 7 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/16/2021


Synopsis

During a sweltering summer, Dills must come to terms with a horrific crime and the parent he loves who committed it.

Dills and his mom have returned to Hamilton, her hometown, hoping to leave the horrors of Windsor behind. But it's impossible to escape the echoes of tragedy, and trouble always follows trouble.

When Dills hurts a new classmate, it comes out in court that he was in the Windsor High library when the shooter came in. But he won't talk about what he saw, what he still sees whenever he closes his eyes. He can't. He definitely can't tell anyone that the Windsor Shooter is his stepfather, Jesse, that Jesse can speak into his mind from hundreds of kilometers away, and that Dills still loves him even though he committed an unspeakable crime.

About Brent van Staalduinen

Brent van Staalduinen is the author of the novel Saints, Unexpected. He is the winner of the Bristol Short Story Prize, Fiddlehead's Best Short Fiction Award, and the Lush Triumphant Literary Award. Brent lives in Hamilton, Ontario.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Marieke

This is a fascinating and important premise we don’t often read about. How do you cope after a hideous crime committed by someone you love? Dills stepdad Jesse was the culprit at a school shooting, the school Dills also attended. Dills still loves Jesse and thinks about him so often. He can hear Jes......more

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of NOTHING BUT LIFE by Brent van Staalduinen in exchange for my honest review.*** Dills is sentenced to community service after attacking a classmate with a knife months after he survives a school shooting committed by his stepfather Jesse.......more

Goodreads review by Kristy

The author takes you into the life of a school shooting survivor who is also connected to the shooter. It is eye opening, haunting, and heartbreaking what Dills and his family go through. It's also beautiful to see them slowly come through the other side through forgiveness, acceptance and growth. I......more

2.75 this plot had so much potential but it dragged and fell apart at the end.......more

Goodreads review by Jenn

It's one of those mini coincidences I notice every so often; this is the second book recently to deal with horrific grief and all the ways we can deal with it. Dills is in an awful position; his beloved stepfather, a deeply patriotic soldier who probably suffers from PTSD, has committed a school sho......more