Review: Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

in a sentence or so: A teenage boy goes missing. A young missionary fails. A town obsesses over a bird. A common thread binds them all, though it may not be the one you expect.

Cullen and Gabriel Witter live in the small town of Lily, Arkansas. While they agree that this town doesn't hold much promise for anyone, the two brilliant minds experience life in very different ways. Where Cullen is bitter, jaded, and negative, Gabriel is patient, understanding, and hopeful. When the town works itself into a frenzy over a mysterious bird, the Witter brothers agree to scoff at the outlandishness of the claim. Then Gabriel goes missing.

Benton Sage has always known exactly what to do with his life. He is called to be a Christian missionary. The problem is, he sucks at it. At least, as far as he can tell. Defeated, he gives up and heads home...but not before learning about a little known book of the Bible that forever changes his worldview. When one's worldview changes, it tends to ripple out and seep into the lives one may not have intended.

After I finished reading, I felt like my heart had been hit - repeatedly - with a meat mallet. The first strike comes from Cullen. This kid is so jaded and angsty but has SO much potential. The second strike came from Gabriel (who felt like a Cullen 2.0) because his hope and faithfulness in humanity is called into question when he goes missing. The third - and hardest - strike came with Benton. There is nothing quite so awful as having your heart completely and totally set on something, feeling it's what you're meant to do forever and ever amen, and then you don't. Loss of purpose is one of the hardest losses to bear.

The hits just kept on coming. The grief, the wondering, the anxiety, and the reality that life will continue on in some way, shape, or form. Amid all the heaviness of grief and fear of what happened to Gabriel, the woodpecker that the town was obsessed over, perhaps at the expense of searching for Gabriel Witter, was a great balance of absurdity with social commentary.

The book wraps up enough without being too much. My stomach fell through to the floor several times, but none so hard as the final page. I was physically and emotionally exhausted. Books that deal with grief and coming-of-age and worldviews stick to my ribs and wear me the hell out.

That is precisely why they are my favorite.

fix er up: It took me a long time to like Cullen. And even to say that I like him by the end is probably stretching it a bit. Do I respect him? Oh good grief, yes. But as I stated earlier, his negativity was a lot to handle.

fave quote: Okay, I'm going to cheat here and take an entire passage. There is a moment when Cullen has this waking dream where his family are all gathered around a table. It borders on emotional breakdown, packs some serious metaphors, and in it's own bizarre and fantastic way shows the rare manifestation of hope that Cullen has for his brother's life.

Title: Where Things Come Back
Author: John Corey Whaley
Publishing Info: 2011 Atheneum Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Coming of Age, Family

[ftc notice: I borrowed a copy of this book from Ginger at GReads! I was not compensated in any way for this review. Thanks, G!]