Hailed as Italy’s The Fault in Our Stars, this Italian bestseller is now available for the first time in English. “I was born on the first day of school, and I grew up and old in just two hundred days . . .” Sixteen-year-old Leo has a way with words, but he doesn’t know it yet. He spends his time texting, polishing soccer maneuvers, and killing time with Niko and Silvia. Until a new teacher … new teacher arrives and challenges him to give voice to his dreams.
And so Leo is inspired to win over the red-haired beauty Beatrice. She doesn’t know Leo exists, but he’s convinced that his dream will come true. When Leo lands in the hospital and learns that Beatrice has been admitted too, his mission to be there for her will send him on a thrilling but heartbreaking journey. He wants to help her but doesn’t know how–and his dream of love will force him to grow up fast.
Having already sold over a million copies, Alessandro D’Avenia’s debut novel is considered Italy’s The Fault in Our Stars. Now available in English for the first time, this rich, funny, and heartwarming coming-of-age tale asks us to explore the meaning–and the cost–of friendship, and shows us what happens when suffering bursts into the world of teenagers and renders the world of adults speechless.
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Questo è il terzo libro di Alessandro d’Avenia che ho letto dopo “Cose che nessuno sa” e “Ciò che inferno non é” sul quale abbiamo fatto un’antologia a scuola. E’ un libro molto bello che consiglio anche a ragazzi/e relativamente giovani (io li ho letti tutti tra gli 11 e i 13 anni). Di tutt’altro genere è invece “L’arte di essere fragili”, nel quale intrattiene un rapporto epistolare immaginario con Giacomo Leopardi. Rispetto agli altri, “Bianca come il latte rossa come il sangue” è più leggero, ma comunque da leggere tutto d’un fiato come mi aspettavo dai suoi libri letti in precedenza. Devo ancora vedere il film tratto da questa storia, ma mi ispira molto, spero non mi deluda 🙂
this wasn’t Alessandro d’Avenia’s first book that I read, so I’ve made an opinion about him. I was very happy when I finished it because I wasn’t disappointed for the interesting story and the themes like friendship, teenlove and also important diseases like cancer that take place in the book. I suggest it also to young people (I read it when I was 12). Very nice, I’m trying to see the film
I probably would’ve enjoyed this book more if I was in the age group the book was targeted for. It was a good read even though I’m not a teenager anymore. I would definitely recommend it to all high school teens. The story shows how hard it is to be a teen along with all the problems of life and how the main characters deals with those problems.
Sixteen-year-old Leo is in love. He is too shy to approach red-haired Beatrice, until he learns that she is ill with leukemia. He decides to do all he can to make her life better at this difficult time. But it is when he experiences terrible loss that he discovers what he has really wanted all along!
I love how this book is written. Leo narrates his story, and, as I read this book, it was as if an actual teenage boy was telling me his story. Leo is very real, thus making this story unforgettable. It is about growing up. It is also about seeing what you already have. Beautifully and realistically written, this book is to be experienced!
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
There is some truly gorgeous prose throughout this book. However, I think the main character is possibly bipolar and certainly self-absorbed. Because of that, I found him fairly unrelatable.
Words spill as pieces of natural and broken thoughts to reveal the innermost emotions of a teen in his discovery of true love, dreams and the colors of life.
Leo is as his name—a lion with untame hair and stealth. Too bad his bravery ends when he faces feelings of being alone, feelings he sees as white and empty. The most meaningful color of his life is red, the color of Beatrice, a girl he’s fallen in love with but never spoken to. He’s not sure she even knows he exists. But when a substitute teacher inspires Leo to find his dream and live for it, his world starts to change. Until he discovers a horrible twist of fate which threatens to crush his dreams and change his views on reality.
I’m not usually a huge fan of deep thoughts and literary literature. As I read the first chapter, I was fairly sure I might be setting this book aside. The idea of a teenage boy viewing life in two colors didn’t seem realistic. But after another chapter, I was hooked. The words pull in, never too many and never too few. Leo is exposed in all of his simpleness, complexity and rawness. And it’s addicting.
During the first chapters, Leo’s thoughts are more random, shooting off with a bit of chaos in the same way his views of life and those around him are unsettled. The modern day references make it easy to connect with him, and his concerns are very normal for his age. He’s a little lost, but not completely, and wishes to find more sense in life and everything around him. Because nothing really sits perfectly. As the chapters continue and those around him as well as the situations cause him to rethink his views and opinions, his thoughts become more focused and settled. The writing matures as Leo does—a masterful weave.
Despite the depth of the emotions and thoughts, this was an easy read. The chapters are kept short, letting each moment hit and leave a quick impression before moving on. This also keeps the pacing afloat, guaranteeing that there’s never too much time spent in one area. The problems hit hard and targeted, making the messages clear before heading right into the next. There’s also a tad bit of teenage snark built it (a tiny dash), which keeps the story from growing too heavy at times. And there are heavy moments which Leo has to work his way through and understand. The religious aspects flowed in just as smoothly, never preachy and perfectly natural. In other words, everything is well done, and in my opinion, this book deserves all the praise it’s received.
I received a complimentary copy and was so taken by this read that I wanted to leave my honest thoughts.
I received a copy of this book from The Fiction Guild, I was not required to give a favorable review. This was a different kind of book. I didn’t get into it as much as other that I have read, but it is a great story for young teen readers.
Favorite Quotes:
Perhaps she was a dog in her previous life? I enjoy giving people a former life in my head. It helps explain their character.
I can’t believe it. I am sleeping under the same roof as Beatrice and I didn’t even know it. This sends me into hyperkinetic rapture.
Mom yells at me to get out of the bathroom and stop doing indecent things. Why don’t grown-ups understand anything? What do they know about what’s going on in your head? They’re convinced that the only things in your head are the ones they can’t do anymore.
Teachers are like boa constrictors. They wrap themselves around you when you’re distracted, then wait until you breathe out to tighten their grasp.
The worst thing about life is that there’s no instruction manual. With a cell phone you follow the instructions, and if it doesn’t work, there’s the warranty. You take it back and they give you a new one. Not so with life. If it doesn’t work, they don’t give you a new one. You’re stuck with the one you have—used, dirty, and malfunctioning.
My Review:
I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy this book as I tend to avoid YA and it took a few beats to acclimate to the author’s innovative and slyly colorful writing style. I soon found myself fully immersed in the cleverly crafted and jagged, yet fascinatingly compelling, stream of consciousness of Leo, a post-pubescent teenaged boy whose thoughts tended to ramble and flit about in a captivating and heart-squeezing manner. Leo’s inner dialogue was wryly amusing as were his personal observations and hard-won and ironic teenaged wisdoms.
This wily author well remembers the insecurities and dramatics of youth and demonstrated remarkable insight into the rapid variability of their intense and extreme emotions, which soar to exhilaration as quickly as they can plummet to the vast pit of despair. I reveled in Leo’s inner musings as he obsessed over every nuance of his infatuation with the lovely and angelic redheaded schoolgirl named Beatrice. His fertile imagination, creative use of nicknames, and fixation on defining colors kept a smirk on my face while reading. Leo’s world revolved around playing soccer, his batscooter, his study friend Silva, the drudgery of school and teachers, and his undeclared love for the perfection known as Beatrice. This ingeniously well-crafted story detailed Leo’s most transformative year of enlightening life-lessons.
it was amazing
This read tore apart my very soul. This is the story of a young man who uses colors to describe things and he is in love with Beatrice who has beautiful red hair. The many emotions that Leo goes through were eloquently expressed in the author’s writing style. The characters are simply beautiful and I must say that I hadn’t experienced such an ugly cry in a long time.
I won’t compare this to other books, but I will recommend it and leave you with these two quotes from the book;
“We shouldn’t be afraid of words. That’s what I’ve learned through my illness. Things must be called by their name, without fear.”
“He who awaits attains what he was waiting for, but he who hopes attains what he wasn’t hoping for.”
{I requested a copy from the publisher via NetGalley for reviewing purposes and made no guarantee of a favorable review. The opinion expressed herein are unbiased and my own.}