|
Heart-rending, Moving, Beautiful This book is a masterpiece. I just finished it like a minute ago, and I'm blown away. "At Risk" touched me deeply. Alice Hoffman writes in a way that drew me in utterly and completely. The characters were real to me, and I love all of them (except the ones that I hate). This book explores the animosity and the baseless fear that people have toward AIDS patients, and how it tears apart friendships. It also showed how AIDS wreaks havoc on families, how family dynamics change when it becomes painfully apparent that a daughter/sister is going to die, and soon. Hoffman writes beautifully and poignantly. This book is really sad, but it's good like that. It's a sadness that makes you examine your own life -- I know that I take my own life for granted, but after I read this book I realized just how lucky I am. I'm healthy, and so are my family and friends. I can't even explain it, but this book just touched me so deeply. It broke my heart, that people were so awful to AIDS patients and their families. Although I was too young to be aware of it at the time, AIDS was a big issue when this book was written, and it hurts me that people were so cruel. I commend Alice Hoffman for writing a book like "At Risk." It really opens your eyes. Her writing is lyrical and unique -- very enjoyable to read. I highly recommend this book to everyone. |