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A review by brittaniethekid
The Last Days by Elliot Ray
4.0
This is a very depressing book that highlights the ravages of terminal cancer not only on the body and mind of the sufferer but also on their family, friends, and life. Besides the fantastical element of werewolves, this book seems to be a rather realistic view of that and with no false HEA to make it all meaningless. The ending is a final stab in the heart.
A city boy of 16 and terminal cancer patient, Simon, moves to a small ocean-side town in the Pacific Northwest after his family lose their house in the city to overwhelming hospital bills. Here he encounters a large family of Native people, all very large and strong, who seem to be the protectors of the area. One of them, Luca, immediately latches onto Simon (both figuratively and literally) and no cumbersome attitude from Simon seems to deter Luca. Simon has used an asshole attitude towards everyone, including his long-suffering parents, in hopes of making it less hard on them when he finally dies. The type of cancer isn't totally clear but it seemed to be in his lungs mostly, eventually spreading around as cancer tends to do. The book mostly takes place in either Luca or Simon's houses with a few stints in the hospital. Over the course of the book, despite the rough start, you do see Simon grow as person and this makes the ending of the book even more devastating.
It's hard not to make [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361039443l/41865._SY75_.jpg|3212258] comparisons if you've read both books, but Simon has much more depth to him than Bella and the writing, in my opinion, is much better structured. You also don't have to have read Twilight of course and it's probably better if you haven't.
There are some weird word choices here and there (Simon seems to like to use some British-isms or phrases that I don't think any American 16 year old would use) but nothing that really took me out of the story. There are no vampires here but there is a separate cryptid that seems to have healing powers (seemed like Druids), though we don't really get to see that in action and could have been left out if only not to give readers and our characters false hope. The werewolf aspect is kind of just a background note - we do see them shift and the other powers and family dynamics that is very similar to the Black family in Twilight - so this is very much a book about cancer despite what the author put in the summary, though I think they just meant that the emphasis of the book is on Simon and Luca's relationship and Simon's growth as a character and person rather than on the fact that he's literally dying throughout.
I made the mistake of reading the last few chapters on the bus and had to blot my tears with my scarf. The ending is very raw and you are left feeling a bit bereft that you don't know what happens next/after. I wanted to keep going or at least get an epilogue, though I can see how that would maybe detract from the impact of that last chapter.
Overall, I really enjoyed this in that masochistic way and would recommend to people with similar interests.
A city boy of 16 and terminal cancer patient, Simon, moves to a small ocean-side town in the Pacific Northwest after his family lose their house in the city to overwhelming hospital bills. Here he encounters a large family of Native people, all very large and strong, who seem to be the protectors of the area. One of them, Luca, immediately latches onto Simon (both figuratively and literally) and no cumbersome attitude from Simon seems to deter Luca. Simon has used an asshole attitude towards everyone, including his long-suffering parents, in hopes of making it less hard on them when he finally dies. The type of cancer isn't totally clear but it seemed to be in his lungs mostly, eventually spreading around as cancer tends to do. The book mostly takes place in either Luca or Simon's houses with a few stints in the hospital. Over the course of the book, despite the rough start, you do see Simon grow as person and this makes the ending of the book even more devastating.
It's hard not to make [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361039443l/41865._SY75_.jpg|3212258] comparisons if you've read both books, but Simon has much more depth to him than Bella and the writing, in my opinion, is much better structured. You also don't have to have read Twilight of course and it's probably better if you haven't.
There are some weird word choices here and there (Simon seems to like to use some British-isms or phrases that I don't think any American 16 year old would use) but nothing that really took me out of the story. There are no vampires here but there is a separate cryptid that seems to have healing powers (seemed like Druids), though we don't really get to see that in action and could have been left out if only not to give readers and our characters false hope. The werewolf aspect is kind of just a background note - we do see them shift and the other powers and family dynamics that is very similar to the Black family in Twilight - so this is very much a book about cancer despite what the author put in the summary, though I think they just meant that the emphasis of the book is on Simon and Luca's relationship and Simon's growth as a character and person rather than on the fact that he's literally dying throughout.
I made the mistake of reading the last few chapters on the bus and had to blot my tears with my scarf. The ending is very raw and you are left feeling a bit bereft that you don't know what happens next/after. I wanted to keep going or at least get an epilogue, though I can see how that would maybe detract from the impact of that last chapter.
Overall, I really enjoyed this in that masochistic way and would recommend to people with similar interests.