Emil Ostrovski

AWAY WE GO by Emil Ostrovski is the story of a school that houses teenagers afflicted with a disease (called PPV, or Peter Pan Virus) that slowly kills them within a few years. The school, Westing, is for the most gifted of the afflicted teens, and strives to provide the talented young adults with a normal, vibrant and intellectually stimulating environment during their slow physical demise. We see all of this through Noah, who is struggling not just with the disease, but with his own individuality in society. He is struggling with love, friendship, and finding a meaning for his life.
The structure of the book is a little jarring at first, with jumps back and forth in time at the school and government propaganda interspersed throughout. I did settle in and got used to the style and by the end I embraced it as a metaphor of how frenetic the lives of the students at Westing is. It was a quick read, I finished in a couple of days and I think there wasn't a lot of wasted words; Ostrovski kept the story moving all the time. Noah, our guide through the book, I found repulsive and narcissistic at the beginning of the book, constantly using his sexuality to help him escape his feelings, meanwhile toying with other's feelings and often hurting them. It was nice, though, to see as the story progresses that Noah matures and develops empathy for those around him. I found the most likable character to be Marty, one of Noah's roommates. Marty is struggling with life a diseased young person as well, but does it in a much subtler way. Marty appreciates those around him and just wants to connect to people in a way few others do in the book.
I found the structure unique and the story was interesting, but I will admit that being a 39 year old father, this story of teenage angst and self-absorption was hard for me to get through. If I was a young adult (which I believe this book is aimed for) I feel like I would have enjoyed the read more. I still will give it 4 stars, though, because putting my personal taste in books aside, I thought it was a good book.

***I received free copy of this book as a Goodreads Giveaway***… (meer)

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