Mysterious Skin
Books | Fiction / Literary
4.2
(214)
Scott Heim
A disturbing incident sends two young boys down vastly different paths that reunite ten year later in this “impressive” debut novel (Publishers Weekly).At the age of eight Brian Lackey is found bleeding under the crawl space of his house, having endured something so traumatic that he cannot remember an entire five–hour period of time. During the following years he slowly recalls details from that night, but these fragments are not enough to explain what happened to him, and he begins to believe that he may have been the victim of an alien encounter . . . Neil McCormick is fully aware of the events from that summer of 1981. Wise beyond his years, curious about his developing sexuality, Neil found what he perceived to be love and guidance from his baseball coach. Now, ten years later, he is a teenage hustler, unaware of the dangerous path his life is taking. His recklessness is governed by idealized memories of his coach, memories that unexpectedly change when Brian comes to Neil for help and, ultimately, the truth.
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More Details:
Author
Scott Heim
Pages
308
Publisher
Harper Collins
Published Date
2009-03-17
ISBN
0061737194 9780061737190
Ratings
Google: 4.5
Community ReviewsSee all
"A gut punch of a novel. The list of trigger warnings for this one probably ought to be a mile long, so do check them before venturing in."
rungemaille
"Very graphic/explicit but good. I would recommend it for those who like A Little Life. There are multiple narrators throughout the book which usually I don’t like, but this author did a really good job with it so I actually didn’t mind it this time. It did end very abruptly though and there were some loose ends to the characters that I would have liked to see wrapped up better (the book could have been longer). "
Ruth S.
"deep book and very well written looking forward to finally watching the movie to see how they did."
Nicole Falche
"When I first read this book, I was 13. I bought it on Kindle and started reading in the morning; when I finished the book it was dark outside and I hadn't eaten a thing. To be honest though, you won't have much of an appetite while reading this book. It's important to know going into it that there are some very distressing themes along the lines of childhood trauma and sexual abuse. I've read it several times since I was 13 and have not become any more desensitized to it than the first time, which is a testament to the quality of Scott Heim's writing. So many lines have stuck with me throughout my life and the last few chapters are some of the most moving and beautiful I've ever read. This story will make you laugh, cry, cringe, and possibly vomit. I've recommended it to just about everyone I know and they've all loved it despite the obvious hurdle of the content. It's told from the perspectives of multiple characters and just about everyone can relate to at least one of the narrators. (I've always been a Brian, but I've known Neils and Wendys and Erics as well.) While you may wish to scrub your eyes after certain chapters, you will not regret embarking on this story."
ruth ✨
"Lots of sensitive topics in this book and is disturbing so I wouldnt recommend to everyone"
Alexa Lopez