Heather Stone – This is What I Want To Tell You

Title: This is What I Want To Tell You
Author: Heather Duffy Stone
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Flux

Summary:
Twins Noelle and Nadio grew up living in a small gatehouse on the property of Keeley Shipley’s mostly absent University employed parents.  Without a father  and loosely supervised by their mother Lace the twins quickly bonded with their counterpart over issues relating to their non-traditional family lives.  As a result, it was surprising to no-one that Noelle and Keeley became best friends.

Over the course of their childhood the girls were careful to include Nadio as well.  Often times where Keeley and Noelle went so too did her brother.  Though his friendship with Keeley was not as tight as his sister’s the young man enjoyed  the stability and entertainment the relationship he had forged with the girls provided.  That is until Keeley left.

Spending the summer of her sixteenth birthday in Oxford England Keeley left her friends behind with promises of close communication and a return to the comfort and normalcy of their lives in mere months.  Unfortunately despite those assurances communication was lost and unexpected change did indeed occur.  Upon her return Keeley immediately recognized the drastic changes that had been made in all their lives.  Not all of which were necessarily for the better.

The most significant pre-arrival changes being Noelle taking up with a questionable new friend who facilitated a distancing between she and Nadio, the use of drugs and alcohol, and ultimately an introduction to Parker.  Parker, Noelle’s elder by at least three years, is a tattoo covered foodie with aspirations of being a top notch chef. Though not entirely a bad influence he is aloof and does little to discourage Noelle’s budding obsession with him.   It is he who has the most profound affect on her change in demeanor and personality.

Noelle’s life isn’t the only one altered.  Upon her return Keeley and Nadio encounter changes of their own.  Most notably a growing romance; a romantic entanglement that remains a secret from their families for entirely too long.  Of course, this isn’t the only secret that’s being kept between the young lovers.  Keeley has one of her own.  As the two navigate the choppy waters of young and tentative love she entrusts him with her secret and they set out to not only stabilize her life but try to help Noelle as well.

Opinion:
Navigating precarious relationships is the name of this book’s game.  Family, friends and romantic interactions are all showcased with a dynamic realism.   The most forceful portrayal being Noelle’s relationships with everyone she encounters.  At the tender age of sixteen she runs the gambit of emotions from blind euphoria to obsession, rage, betrayal and depression — ultimately culminating in an act of self-realization that will shock and sadden the reader.

On the other hand there is the more muted tone of her brother Nadio and best friend Keeley.  The two and their love story play and underlying roll in the story but one that ultimately spurns the culmination of events in Noelle’s life.  So for that one moment they too become as dynamic as she.

I found myself wishing that more of the twin dynamic was explored and that we got to see the inner workings of Noelle’s relationship with Nadio.  Seeing how that played into Noelle’s decision making process (or didn’t as it were) as she navigated her relationships may have added more emotion to Nadio’s story.  It certainly would have lent more power to her discovery of the blooming romance between he and her best friend.  It would have made that betrayal more tragic in the readers eyes.

As is the case with much young adult fiction the parent as friend factor played into the story here.  While in many cases this element of a story doesn’t quite jibe it really worked well here.  A father that had abandoned his family and a mother who compensated for that by being “cool, hip and understanding” and allowing the teens more freedom went a long way in facilitating Noelle’s ultimate decent.

The events leading to Keeley’s personality shift during her time in Oxford seemed to hang out there in nowhere.  They neither drove the overall story nor had great influence on anything but the small underlying story of she and Nadio.  While it did effect her growing relationship with him, the fact that this novel appeared to be more of a story about Noelle made the admission and recognition of what transpired seem slightly out of place.

Having said that, the recognition of those events was handled tenderly and with great respect and dignity.  Exactly as one would expect a conversation of this nature between two young adults to go.  Given this fact it is important to point out that this was an exceptionally well written story.  It was not difficult for the reader to visualize characters, locations and events in any way.  At times a reader may even find themselves feeling and living certain parts through the eyes of the character they most relate to.

In the end, this was not a light and fluffy read nor is it intensely dark and brooding.  It had a great deal of angst and certainly its share of emotional upheaval but all was befitting a struggling teen.  I would encourage adults and youngsters both to read This is What I Want To Tell  You.

[This review is part of a blog tour arranged by Traveling to Teens]