Latest Read: The Piper's Son

Here are the basics ...
Book: The Piper's Son
Author: Melina Marchetta
Site: http://melinamarchetta.wordpress.com/
Category: Young Adult - Contemporary

Summary: Five years have passed since Saving Francesca and now it's Thomas Mackee who needs saving. After his favorite uncle was blown to bits on his way to work in a foreign city, Tom watched his family implode. He quit school and turned his back on his music and everyone that mattered, including the girl he can't forget. Shooting for oblivion, he's hit rock bottom, forced to live with his single, pregnant aunt, work at the Union pub with his former friends, and reckon with his grieving, alcoholic father. Tom's in no shape to mend what's broken. But what if no one else is either? (Adapted goodreads.com) 

My thoughts…

The good: Thomas Mackee was not one of my favorite characters from Saving Francesca.  It wasn't that I didn't like him, but he just didn't make as much of an impression on me as say Francesca, Will, Tara, Justine or even Jimmy Hailer.  Then here I am a month later reading The Piper's Son and I definitely see his character now. He's written with such a clear voice.  He talked and acted the way I semi-remembered him and the way you'd expect someone who's been dealing (or not dealing) with grief would react. His voice is 100% typical guy, snarky, laced with profanity and more often that not, he says the wrong thing at the wrong time.  It was really hard to like him and even now, I'm still not sure if I do but I felt so invested in his relationships with his friends and family. I wanted him to find his way back to them.

There are three major plots going on.  There's the aftermath of his favorite uncle's death and the many, many different ways it affects his family members.  It's pretty soap opera like but as always, Melina Marchetta's writing keeps it from feeling that way. Instead it's poignant with a touch of humor and realistic that they would fall apart. Then there's Tom trying to mend his relationships with the girls - Francesca, Justin, Siobahn and Tara - while making a couple new friendships along the way. In the first book, I never thought about what meeting these four girls might've meant to Tom and Jimmy and I liked getting Tom's POV this time around. And of course, there's his relationship with Tara. I loved the slow way they opened up to each other again through emails. Always witty but with this underlying tone of regret and unspoken words.

(Minor) issues: There are a lot of characters in this book.  I was somewhat struggling to remember the Saving Francesca ones but with the introduction of Tom's huge family, I kept having to ask myself - who is this person again? But I definitely got them straight eventually.

Do I recommend?: Yes! If you read Saving Francesca (and of Melina Marchetta in general), you'll definitely want to see what the gang is up to five years later.

Happy reading!