I've finished reading but I still don't know the name of the protagonist.

This book is a heartbreak. At 12-year old, he experienced a lot. He was traumatized and abused yet he still love his father so much and wants his approval. He wants to prove that he is "one of the boys". Almost every page ripped my heart. Reading how he was abused and hurt was hard. But reading how he's father asked for their forgiveness after what he did was the hardest. I will certainly recommend this novel to my friends.

Congratulations Daniel Magariel for this wonderful story. I really enjoyed reading it though it broke my heart.

The need for acceptance by your own family sets the emotional tone for Daniel Magariel's debut novel set in the mid-1990s.. Two teen-age boys (the 12-year-old is the narrator) are forced to side with their father in an ugly custody battle with lies flying in both directions. The pair thought living with their dad was the right thing to do, but they quickly find his drug-fueled anger and mood swings directed at them. Physical, verbal and emotional abuses play out behind the closed curtains in a cramped New Mexico apartment. The three main characters are nameless, yet that just adds to the mystery and secrets. They could be anyone - your neighbor, a friend or your co-worker. The gutsy writing style adds an extra punch to life's knock-downs behind closed doors.

I have very mixed feelings about this short novel (really more like a novella). I was pulled into the story from the very beginning and found myself empathizing with the main protagonist, a young boy with an abusive father. However, I found that the book offered very little in terms of resolution. I wanted to know how the story ended, even if it was not happy. I think the author may have aimed for this, but I'm not sure.

Overall, it the author presents a compelling picture of the tenacity of a child's love, even in the face of abuse. The child longs for the love of his father, even when that "love" is quite destructive. This was heart-wrending for me as a reader, but again, I think the author meant it to be so.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing a complementary e-ARC of this book.

Really enjoyed this book had me gripped and I was totally emersed in the storylin. Great characters and overall good book. Sad in places and really made you think. Great read.