The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle (13/100)

Finally! After reading some books that were a chore to get through, I FINALLY found a book that I couldn't put down. I absolutely loved this book. I began reading it after work and ate up 200 pages before bed. I finished it within 24 hours of starting. Warning to the faint of heart: this book deals with VERY heavy material (incest, child abuse, etc.) but it still somehow comes out on top. I loved the 3 characters chosen to tell the story from their perspective.

The story is about a boy who tries to kill himself but is saved by his former best friend's mother. At the hospital, it is discovered that he has been the victim of sexual abuse. His father flees and his mother is jailed as an accomplice. The woman who rescued him, Sarah, who also happened to be best friends with his mother, takes him in as a foster child. Everyone involved is torn over their prior relationships, and try to mend for the future.

My only complaint (although a minor one) is at the end. I don't really understand why the younger brother wound up being gay. I just didn't think it was necessary and didn't really add anything to the story (in my perspective at least) so I thought it could've been left out. But it didn't affect anything in a major way, so it wasn't a big deal. Overall, one of the best reads this summer. 5 stars