Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

By the time he's 7, Eddie and his mother have been locked in an apartment in the north of England by abusive drunk Bryce Harris for four years.After a neighbor spots him through a window, the police free them: a pale, terrified white boy and his shell of a mother. Through gentle care from foster parents and, eventually, adoptive parents, he starts feeling safe. Thanks to a healthy start in life and videotapes of a Mr. Rogers-type children's show he played repeatedly while he was captive, he seems to transcend his experiences, but he has large social and intellectual gaps, which make him a little odd to others. He can seem fine, then something will throw him into primal terror, and he'll have to work hard to get back on solid footing. During a school trip as a teenager, he sees himself digitally aged into his abuser—Harris—and he's into a spiral that endangers both his good life and his very sense of self. Fine takes Eddie from childhood into his teens, carefully developing each new relationship. Particularly well realized is the love between Eddie and his adoptive sister, who can become furious at each other without threatening their bedrock bond. Fine's smart, emotional prose has an unmistakable English rhythm. Alternating narration among Eddie and the many adults in his new life, Fine echoes techniques from the best film documentaries. A powerhouse of a story about a boy who survives. (Fiction. 14-18)

ALA Booklist (Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

As she did in The Tulip Touch (1996), Fine explores the insidious effects of a traumatic childhood. Edward Taylor spent three years locked in the apartment of his mother's abusive partner, Harris. Rescued at age seven, Edward is turned over to two loving families: first, the Radletts, and eventually, the Steads. Though his mother Lucy, having suffered severe physical and psychological damage, is permanently entrusted to sheltered housing, Edward is deemed relatively unscathed. He's even managed to retain a boundless sense of curiosity and thirst for knowledge. But when he's abruptly confronted by his own startling resemblance to Harris, Edward finds a long-suppressed past catching up with him in the most gruesome of ways. Told in five parts from regularly alternating perspectives, including those of Edward's social worker, adoptive sister, teachers, and Edward himself, Fine's narrative turns an unflinching lens on issues of free will, family, and individuality. Tenderly crafted and thoroughly thought-provoking, give this one to teens hungry for discussion d a dose of gritty realism.

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

When Eddie was four, his mother's abusive partner locked them in a small, filthy apartment; tortured his mother; and intimidated young Eddie, who remained imprisoned. Once rescued, Eddie must adjust to life on the outside and also grapple with who he may become. Told from multiple points of view, including those of Eddie, his foster parents, and social workers, the novel is gripping and powerful.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

By the time he's 7, Eddie and his mother have been locked in an apartment in the north of England by abusive drunk Bryce Harris for four years.After a neighbor spots him through a window, the police free them: a pale, terrified white boy and his shell of a mother. Through gentle care from foster parents and, eventually, adoptive parents, he starts feeling safe. Thanks to a healthy start in life and videotapes of a Mr. Rogers-type children's show he played repeatedly while he was captive, he seems to transcend his experiences, but he has large social and intellectual gaps, which make him a little odd to others. He can seem fine, then something will throw him into primal terror, and he'll have to work hard to get back on solid footing. During a school trip as a teenager, he sees himself digitally aged into his abuser—Harris—and he's into a spiral that endangers both his good life and his very sense of self. Fine takes Eddie from childhood into his teens, carefully developing each new relationship. Particularly well realized is the love between Eddie and his adoptive sister, who can become furious at each other without threatening their bedrock bond. Fine's smart, emotional prose has an unmistakable English rhythm. Alternating narration among Eddie and the many adults in his new life, Fine echoes techniques from the best film documentaries. A powerhouse of a story about a boy who survives. (Fiction. 14-18)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

When police enter the squalid apartment of petty criminal Bryce Harris, they discover seven-year-old Eddie and his catatonic mother. Taken into custody, Eddie leaves the apartment for the first time in years. Despite loving foster parents and, later, a supportive adoptive family, Eddie-now Edward-struggles to hide the damage done by years of abuse and neglect, even as he tries to present a front of normalcy. Selected to assist in an anthropologist-s demonstration of age-progression software during a school trip, Edward, now 15, is horrified to see Harris-s face staring back at him. The realization that Harris was his father sends Edward spiraling out of control. Could he become the same inhuman monster his father was? Rotating among the perspectives of Edward and various people in his life (neighbors, social workers, foster parents, etc.), Fine (The Road of Bones) movingly traces Edward-s long struggle to cope with a world he was ill prepared to enter. The realistic and varied viewpoints of the many characters she introduce will keep readers fully invested in a story that-s tragic but not hopeless. Ages 14-up. (Mar.)

School Library Journal (Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2017)

Gr 9 Up-rom the ages of four to seven, Edward lives in an abusive situation with his mother and her hard-drinking partner, Harris. One day, while Harris beats Edward's mother senseless, an elderly neighbor calls the authorities. The severe beatings his mother endured have resulted in permanent brain damage, and she is sent to an institution. Edward spends time with a kind foster family before his adoption by the Steads. The adjustment to a normal life does not happen quickly. On a school field trip to a science museum, Edward is chosen to be aged up by a computer to show what he will look like as an adult. To his shock, he discovers that he looks just like his mother's abusive partner and that Harris is his biological father. This leads to a downward spiral of drugs and drinking as Edward realizes that he, too, has the potential to become a monster. In this riveting tale of nurture vs. nature, the complexities of family, identity, and the lasting impact of abuse are explored. Edward is a well-rounded character who is finally saved by the love of his adopted family and his own resilience. Told from multiple perspectives, the novel is at times quite dark and is somewhat reminiscent of Melvin Burgess's Smack. VERDICT A brutal and hopeful book that deals with addiction, choices, influences, and inherited traits that should find a home in most YA collections.Janet Hilbun, University of North Texas, Denton

Voice of Youth Advocates

Edward is seven when he is rescued. After having been trapped in an apartment, cut off from the real world and watching his father beat his mother for half of his life, the transition is not easy. Edward is smart, though, and interested in the world and, having watched a Mr. Rogers–type television show on old VHS tapes during his four years inside, he has an unexpected knowledge and hopefulness about the world that makes him sweet and just a little bit strange. Years pass, and the protective bubble he created for himself begins to degrade, allowing the reality of his past to set in. Pills and alcohol numb the pain for a while, but soon Edward’s life is spinning out of control. In desperation and because of his substance abuse, Edward understands that he is capable of the violence that he associates with his father, and he begins to fear that he will turn into the man who terrorized him and his mother.