Emanuela ~plastic duck~'s Reviews > St. Nacho's

It would have been 5 stars if, at one point, Cooper's past lover (Jordan) hadn't stolen all the attention away from Cooper and Shawn. It would have been 4 stars, if that hadn't been a smart way to make me understand how important Shawn's positivity was for Cooper.

A few years before while they were drunk, Cooper, the narrator, and Jordan, his best friend and lover, had caused a car accident, where a little kid was killed. It was Jordan who was driving, after Cooper gave him the keys, so it was Jordan who went to prison, and in the meantime Cooper, after rehab, traveled the country, running away from the guilt. But it's like the sun goes down when Cooper, after having found a new life and love - with Shawn - in St. Nacho, decides to do the right thing and goes back to help his best friend Jordan, who's just come out of prison. Sometimes people decide to do what is good for their conscience but not what is good for themselves. It was so frustrating!

The author does a great job in describing the positive effect a place can have when you need to heal your scars: you could feel the air, the sea, the salt, the sun of the town. When Shawn is introduced, you feel like you want to be one of his friends. Shawn is deaf and Cooper's (wasted) talent is in his violin, but the two are so well suited that they overcome every obstacle, because they don't need to be verbal to communicate with each other.

The narrator is Cooper, so we never know what Shawn is thinking (and I wanted to know, I wanted to know everything about him). Shawn is an angel, always understanding, never judging, pushing Cooper to do what's right, but he knows where he stands, he fights for what he wants, and he never prevaricates.
He is in total contrast to Stan, the pastor who's trying to help Jordan rebuild his life. Maybe I'm a bit prejudiced against those who exhibit a religious fervor, but it was like the pastor was trying to save Jordan to make a point, not because he was really interested. He was like a black hole, sucking away the energy, while Shawn was radiating warmth.

The sense of guilt of Cooper and Jordan is a heavy weight and it makes for a difficult read, if you feel the angst like me, but you have hope, because you know that Shawn is somewhere between the lines, even if he's just in Cooper's thoughts, and he might save you.

It's a beautiful book. Jordan is going to be the protagonist of the sequel and I hope that Shawn will steal away his time. I want a Shawn-filled book!