Review: Unmaking Hunter Kennedy by Anne Eliot

Unmaking Hunter Kennedy by Anne Eliot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another one that's got me on the fence between 3-4 stars. In this case, it's the fact I was up until 1.30am finishing it...and just sat at my desk, hiding my Kindle, and re-read the ending again that bumped this one up to 4 stars.

I found the same technical issues with Umaking as I did with her previous book, Almost. In some cases it's an overuse of exclamation points, but in others its in Vere's crippling shyness around her crush and, to some extent, other boys that aren't Hunter/Dustin. I don't want to call it inconsistent because it wasn't - maybe it's just the difficulty of reading that when it's expressed in dialogue and thought mixed.

What I truly loved was watching as Hunter morphed into Dustin. How the brash teen rocker was made to see a true geek's life and while he played it up to geek himself out more, there was also a recognition of the pain of being alone in a crowded room.

I loved the way he fell in love with Vere...bun and all. I loved the scene at the lake house. I loved Jenna's speech before the "moonlight walk" because it was awesome.

I especially liked Hunter/Dustin's thoughts and discussion about and with his mother. At first I wanted to put it down to an inconsistency because he seemed to express hatred of her...but then he'd say he loved her. The more I read, the more I understood that he did both and that was another thing, apart from the fame and being shuttered inside, that kept him from being whole again. Their talk, and what she told him, ripped at me. Especially when he finally owned up to one thing.

It's at times a bit of a technical struggle to read, but for the overall story itself? It's a gem.

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