Space fans will appreciate the nifty little bits of information tucked in throughout the novel and in the end matter, but the likeliest audience is realistic fiction fans who love tales of transcendent old/young friendships. Sure, there are some life lessons imparted from Cash to Arty, but most of them actually come in the form of Arty’s being wise enough to see how he should strive to not become bitter and stuck like his older friend. It is to the credit of the author that Cash remains fairly grumpy right through to the end of his life while Arty melts his reserve a bit, their friendship doesn’t miraculously change Cash into a sweet guy. She is the author of Thousand Words Perfect Escape Bitter End. The secondary characters are mostly there to provide color-everyone in Arty’s family is named after sky features, and the grownups are all slightly peculiar-which shifts the focus quickly to Arty and Cash. Jennifer Brown writes and lives in the Kansas City, Missouri, area with her husband and. An upcoming move and the discovery that his neighbor’s secrets are actually fantastic (the man used to be an astronaut) rather than horrifying (though he he has terminal cancer) shake up Arty’s world considerably, and Arty is the sort of kid who likes things to stay the same. He’s also got a couple of best friends, he’s got the deliciously scary mystery of whether Cash, the guy next door, is a vampire/zombie/serial murderer, and he’s got an obsession with space that fills any empty moments. Ages 15 up.Twelve-year-old Arcturus has carved out his own little place in his loud and eccentric family. Brown's deliberate pacing and the gradual unveiling of Cole's nature make the story, and Cole and Alex's relationship, feel akin to a train gathering momentum, one whose destruction is as assured as it is tragic.

The book's power and its value comes from the honest portrayal of characters who simply can't figure out how to bring an ugly, evident truth to light.

Cole's brutal abuse and manipulations, Alex's inability to disclose her battering (and her willingness to make excuses for Cole), and Bethany and Zack's frustration and fear all feel entirely authentic. Bitter End by Brown, Jennifer Hardcover: Brown: : Books Buy used: 16.57 3.99 delivery July 11 - 15. As in The Hate List, Brown demonstrates an expert ability to handle difficult subject matter. Alex and BFFs Bethany and Zack are gearing up for a cross-country road trip to Colorado as a graduation present when Alex falls for Cole, a new senior who seems to understand her in ways no one has before and who is prone to violent rages. Haunted by the death of her mother many years earlier in a car accident, Alex has long dreamed of visiting the Colorado mountains that were her mother's destination. Bitter End is a book about a girl falling in love with a handsome young man, who held her, who loved her who made her feel special.

Bitter end by jennifer brown