The Connection in Everything is a thought-provoking and compelling coming-of-age story.

(I’m returning slowing to the blog after my brief hiatus. Surgery went great and my recovery is progressing at a good pace. I’m popping in today with a review commitment, and I’m easing back into a full posting schedule by the end of the month).

The Connection in Everything by Rich Marcello

Genre/Categories/Setting: Contemporary Young Adult Fiction, Coming-of-age, Complicated/Dysfunctinal Family Drama, Massachusetts

***This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links

My Summary:

Welcome to my stop on The_WriteReads Blog Tour for The Connection in Everything. Thanks @The_WriteReads and HarvardTown Press for a complimentary eARC of #The ConnectionInEverything upon my request. All opinions are my own.

Sixteen-year-old Amaro (Am) is a genius and curious about everything. Am is close to his grandmother, mother, and siblings, but the relationship with his strict and abusive dad is strained. Am finds solace in the library and enjoys a special friendship with two like-minded classmates. One summer Am meets David who becomes a mentor, and Am is captivated by beautiful Ginnevra, a mime and magician. Both of these relationships change his life.

My Thoughts:

Do you love memorable characters?

The Connection in Everything is heavily character-driven with enough action and intrigue to propel the story forward and engage readers. I really like Am (Amero)! He’s kind, thoughtful, respectful, curious, and brilliant. I appreciate that the author includes substantial content in the story which includes philosophical discussions and the arts. I’m happy that Am has two like-minded and supportive friends. At first, I was a bit suspicious of David, his mentor, but he turns out to be a mature and wise man and helps Am a great deal. David is everything that Am’s father is not. Even though Am’s mother is weak and doesn’t stand up to her husband’s abusive and controlling nature, she and the grandmother have a good relationship with Am. His homelife did offer some positivity. Am is an example of a young adult who doesn’t have an ideal family life but rises above it to achieve great things and forge his own path.

I’m not sure I love the girl Am is attracted to. She is his first love, is a bit older (a year or two), and definitely more experienced and mature. She seems to be using him. When this girl abruptly walks out of Am’s life, he is crushed but handles it well. All the credit to Am here. For other boys, this relationship might have been more problematic. Add resiliency to his list of attributes.

How important is a satisfactory ending?

Even though there are some difficult issues in the story, the ending is hopeful and satisfactory in that it gives us a glimpse into Am’s future and also explains some questions that the reader has about David. An ending can make or break the story for me, and I feel like this one greatly enhanced the story.

Are there content considerations in this story?

Even though Am is sixteen, I think the story is better suited for older YA readers (18+). I was disturbed by the actions of the father in this story. His actions go beyond abusive and are evil. He would rather destroy his son than give him his blessing and see him succeed. Truly an awful person. A teenager who doesn’t have a good relationship with his father might be tempted to think that his father is also evil. The father’s extreme actions seemed better suited to an adult story.

The story contains brief and somewhat explicit sexual content between two teenagers. The girl is perhaps a year or two older than Am, and definitely more experienced!

Recommending The Connection in Everything:

I’m recommending The Connection in Everything for fans of young adult literature (18+) and for readers who enjoy thoughful, well-written stories with substantial themes.

My Rating: 4 Stars

More Information Here

Meet the Author of The Connection in Everything, Rich Marcello

Rich Marcello is the author of seven acclaimed novels—including Cenotaphs, The Latecomers, The Means of Keeping, and his most recent work, The Connection in Everything—as well as the poetry collection The Long Body That Connects Us All.

Rich’s creative voice is uniquely shaped by a dual history of high-stakes leadership and artistic immersion. Before dedicating himself to fiction, he enjoyed a distinguished career as a technology executive, managing multibillion-dollar businesses for Fortune 500 companies. This background provides his storytelling with a unique intellectual rigor and a keen understanding of the systems, both corporate and social, that shape modern life. Yet, it is his “eye and ear of a poet” and his experience as a songwriter that infuse his prose with its characteristic lyrical beauty and emotional intimacy.

For Rich, art is ultimately an act of service. Whether through a song, a poem, or a 400-page novel, his goal is to make a meaningful difference to at least one other person in the world, a goal he’s achieved many times over.

Rich lives in Harvard with his wife, Maribeth, and their Newfoundland, Iaia. He is currently at work on his eighth novel, Threshold, continuing his journey toward creating a ten-book cycle of interconnected human stories.

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QOTD:

Do you love a coming-of-age story?

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