Somewhere in Nowhere by Steven Gellman

3.5* Surprisingly heartwarming despite the sadness, though it skimps on some detail.

This is a tale that gives an impression of a rebellious teen at the start, only to show him as someone a little insecure; a little out of place; a little bit of a stranger to himself; and a decent boy, son, friend and boyfriend. He grows during this tale that feels like it takes place over a few weeks, 2-3 months at most, and we find out about the alien and the significance of 11:22pm and why he thinks he's going to die. The latter is where the book falls a little apart, as a bombshell is dropped, a visit to a place of...'potential reparation' - trying not to spoiler here - takes place, then the tale cuts out. I'm not too sure I believed that part of the tale, as the author didn't make it feel organic enough, maybe because of rushing? It felt like this couldn't be left on a cliffhanger.

What was nice, though, is that parents mostly lived and let live: the Hindu mum, the Italian doctor father, the English dad and the lesbian mums. Maybe because this book feels far away from the influence of the toxic tangoed twat that's currently supposedly in charge in the USA. The loss of someone close to the lead felt abbreviated, yet the traditions went on and on, almost as if the author was out to educate, but for me as a non-Jewish person, it was a bit 'lots of words and descriptions but not telling me about the whys'. I'd have liked to know more about the traditions, not just hear about the copious amounts of food. I'd have liked to learn about the job shrouded in secrecy that meant the lead's mum spent very little time at home, but there was only an anticlimactic partial reveal. 

It felt like the tale needed a little fleshing out in parts and a little reining in in others. But  it's got the bones of a feel-good one. 

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Ninestar Press for my reading pleasure.