A very emotional, heartbreaking book. My heart cried for Joshua. Such a well written, beautiful book.
Life is bleak for 12-year-old Joshua Miller. He's failing in school, his teachers pick on him, his classmates laugh at him, a relentless bully terrorizes him, his best friend has moved away, and he's hopelessly in love with the prettiest girl in his school.

At home, his harsh and distant father has all but disinherited him, he worries his mother to tears, and he squabbles senselessly with his pretty, talented sister Anica, who seems to be everything he is not. Then adolescence comes along and really complicates things.
A torrent of long-denied feelings for a sister who once adored him compel Joshua to repair the damage he's done to their relationship. His longtime babysitter helps him to understand things his mother doesn't know how to tell him and his father doesn't want him to know. Then, in a murky funeral home far away from home, he meets a distant cousin who changes his life in ways he could never have imagined.
As Joshua starts to turn his life around, his father's tortured past catches up with him, and life at home begins to unravel. Joshua is faced with a decision that could imperil his very life.
He will risk everything to protect his sister, and in the process, he learns the power of love and the meaning of courage.
#Joshua #NetGalley

This book is about Joshua a young boy growing up and learning about life. It is also about his family and his relationships with them.

Joshua and his sister are very close when they are young. As they grow older his sister Anica is gifted with piano and gymnastics while he struggles in school is always in trouble and thinks he is ugly and worthless. When his sister is endangered by their father he protects her. He comes out of his shell and starts to do better in school and get along. Everything is going well when his father has a breakdown and beats him until he has to go to the hospital.

The book also talks about his father John who was raised in an abusive home and beat by his father. His overly religious preacher father planted strange ideas in his head which caused him problems. When his business fails he has a breakdown and starts drinking.

The story talks about his mother Agnes, and her challenges with John, Joshua and her marriage.

It is a story of a family, of the love between a brother and a sister and their fear of their father and love for their mother.

A story that has heartwarming moments, some sadness, a bit of tragedy and a lot of love. I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it.

Too many POV's . It needs to be pared down. Felt bad for Joshua. His family and life were disasters. but it could have used more editing to create a better story.

First thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

A different style of book than my usual reads, it did have its good points. It paints a accurate picture of life for young tween boy with the usual problems of this age.

Joshua is a young boy who always seems to get the worst end of the deal. His sister is pretty, talented and loved by all and he is left in the background. He clearly loves his sister and I felt
I didn’t really understand why there were so many characters within the story as they didn’t really add anything extra and I found ALL the scenes of Joshua with girls cringy and unnecessary..
It wasn’t a terrible read but I wasn’t my cup of tea. Very slow and I didn’t connect with any of the characters in any meaningful way.

This book is about Joshua a young boy growing up and learning about life. It is also about his family and his relationships with them.

Joshua and his sister are very close when they are young. As they grow older his sister Anica is gifted with piano and gymnastics while he struggles in school is always in trouble and thinks he is ugly and worthless. When his sister is endangered by their father he protects her. He comes out of his shell and starts to do better in school and get along. Everything is going well when his father has a breakdown and beats him until he has to go to the hospital.

The book also talks about his father John who was raised in an abusive home and beat by his father. His overly religious preacher father planted strange ideas in his head which caused him problems. When his business fails he has a breakdown and starts drinking.

The story talks about his mother Agnes, and her challenges with John, Joshua and her marriage.

It is a story of a family, of the love between a brother and a sister and their fear of their father and love for their mother.

A story that has heartwarming moments, some sadness, a bit of tragedy and a lot of love. I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it.

What a lovely book
It was full of sadness and maybe some happiness
Joshua was a quiet boy to begin with
I had an ARC

We travel with Joshua Miller through a bleak childhood. Everything was going fine, he had a little sister who he adored and they were very loving. When he was 12 year old that was no longer the case. He was struggling, he had difficulty in concentrating at school and his teachers are down on him: as a result the other children laugh at him and he is bullied. His best friend has moved away and his sister continues to shine in both her gymnastics and her music. His father is remote, unsympathetic and virtually ignores him.

I continued my journey with Joshua until the end of the book. Sadly it is not a journey I feel I would repeat. Mr Fishell has written beautifully and certainly catches Joshua’s pain and confusion but instead of feeling satisfied as I closed my kindle, I was bemused and felt disappointed. I did not feel that everything was resolved satisfactorily. Maybe it is just me, I hope so.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

Description
Life is bleak for 12-year-old Joshua Miller. He's failing in school, his teachers pick on him, his classmates laugh at him, a relentless bully terrorizes him, his best friend has moved away, and he's hopelessly in love with the prettiest girl in his school.

At home, his harsh and distant father has all but disinherited him, he worries his mother to tears, and he squabbles senselessly with his pretty, talented sister Anica, who seems to be everything he is not. Then adolescence comes along and really complicates things.

A torrent of long-denied feelings for a sister who once adored him compel Joshua to repair the damage he's done to their relationship. His longtime babysitter helps him to understand things his mother doesn't know how to tell him and his father doesn't want him to know. Then, in a murky funeral home far away from home, he meets a distant cousin who changes his life in ways he could never have imagined.

As Joshua starts to turn his life around, his father's tortured past catches up with him, and life at home begins to unravel. Joshua is faced with a decision that could imperil his very life.

He will risk everything to protect his sister, and in the process, he learns the power of love and the meaning of courage.

This was a touching story of Joshua. My heart ached for him. I wasn't a big fan of so many POV from everyone.