Official Review: Be My Eyes by Dustin Stevens
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Official Review: Be My Eyes by Dustin Stevens
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Be My Eyes" by Dustin Stevens.]
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19 year-old Ruby loves hearing the Mockingbird that comes to her window in the morning. Since losing her sight, it is one of the things she treasures most. Ruby was raised by her grandmother, Esther. They live together in a comfortable, well-kept home, decorated with souvenirs of Ruby’s accomplishments growing up. It is a loving environment, but Ruby needs answers that she can only get by leaving it. She also knows that her fragile health won’t allow her to waste time. She decides it’s time to take the trip she’s been planning, one she knows she must take before it’s too late – a car trip from her home in Virginia all the way to California. To do this, she needs someone to drive her, and be her eyes.
When 26 year-old Cole’s rough life culminates with him losing his job as a manual laborer, and then spending a night in jail after a bar fight, his father tells him he needs to get out of town. Responding to Ruby’s ad, Cole’s father sets up an interview.
Upon meeting each other, Ruby and Cole’s disdain for each other is immediate. They both walk out of the interview convinced that nothing will come of it. Ultimately, though, Ruby is unable to find anyone better and is forced to offer Cole the job. Cole has no other options, and is forced to accept. On their journey, they not only have to learn to live with each other, but also face racism and cruelty from others they meet along the way. The worst demons, though, are those that live within.
For me, this book starts off on the dull side and then swoops up, getting increasingly better in the second half. It climaxes with a punch-you-in-the-gut ending that makes you go “oh, ok - wow.” This ends up having both a very negative and positive effect on the reading experience. I found the first half of the book a bit slow and hard to get into. The atmosphere goes from depressing, to seedy, to tense, etc. There is a lot of foreshadowing in the first half of the book, with very few questions answered. However, in the second half, we start to get more answers about why the characters are the way they are, and what they’ve been holding inside. As I read further, I was able to appreciate the beginning of the book in a way that I hadn’t at all while reading it. This is interesting and surprising, so in a way it ends up being one of the strengths of the book. At the same time, it’s also negative because the reader has a lot of reading to do to get to that point.
This is a book that will make you cry. I generally don’t like it when books do that, but in this case it was worth it. I developed a very strong attachment to the characters. Both Ruby and Cole do a lot of growing throughout the book, both on a personal level and in terms of their relationship. It’s very touching to watch. Theirs is a powerful story that makes you think about people, life, death, and family. It sits with you well after you’ve put it down.
This book started out as a screenplay, and I unfortunately felt it showed. It features strong characters, and a great story, but though the structure was there, too much was left out of filling it in as a book. There were times that I found it hard to follow because too much was assumed and not enough was explained. I would have appreciated more descriptions and more detailed insight into the character’s thoughts. The characters are always getting angry, and though there is a reason for this that we learn about over time, it got old, especially since for much of the book, we don’t really understand why. I also found it a little tiring and unbelievable that so many people they encountered either took advantage of Ruby’s blindness in some cruel way, or were racist toward her (the character is black). Though I know there are many awful people in the world, but there are also good people. It seemed unlikely that they would only encounter the awful sort on such a long trip. I found this aspect of the story a bit one dimensional. Finally, the book needs another read through by a proofreader, as there were a number of typos and grammatical errors.
I had a very hard time giving this book a rating. There were many things about it that I didn’t care for, as discussed above. Because of these, I almost gave it a 2 star rating. At the same time, as I said earlier, it is a very powerful story. Once I finished reading it, I found that my overall feeling of the book was actually very positive because it made such an impact on me. Ultimately, a book that makes you have feelings that strong can only be judged as a success. I’ve therefore decided to rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. With more filling out, variation, and careful editing, I think it could have been a really impressive 4 star book. As a whole, it’s a very worthwhile reading experience.
***
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When 26 year-old Cole’s rough life culminates with him losing his job as a manual laborer, and then spending a night in jail after a bar fight, his father tells him he needs to get out of town. Responding to Ruby’s ad, Cole’s father sets up an interview.
Upon meeting each other, Ruby and Cole’s disdain for each other is immediate. They both walk out of the interview convinced that nothing will come of it. Ultimately, though, Ruby is unable to find anyone better and is forced to offer Cole the job. Cole has no other options, and is forced to accept. On their journey, they not only have to learn to live with each other, but also face racism and cruelty from others they meet along the way. The worst demons, though, are those that live within.
For me, this book starts off on the dull side and then swoops up, getting increasingly better in the second half. It climaxes with a punch-you-in-the-gut ending that makes you go “oh, ok - wow.” This ends up having both a very negative and positive effect on the reading experience. I found the first half of the book a bit slow and hard to get into. The atmosphere goes from depressing, to seedy, to tense, etc. There is a lot of foreshadowing in the first half of the book, with very few questions answered. However, in the second half, we start to get more answers about why the characters are the way they are, and what they’ve been holding inside. As I read further, I was able to appreciate the beginning of the book in a way that I hadn’t at all while reading it. This is interesting and surprising, so in a way it ends up being one of the strengths of the book. At the same time, it’s also negative because the reader has a lot of reading to do to get to that point.
This is a book that will make you cry. I generally don’t like it when books do that, but in this case it was worth it. I developed a very strong attachment to the characters. Both Ruby and Cole do a lot of growing throughout the book, both on a personal level and in terms of their relationship. It’s very touching to watch. Theirs is a powerful story that makes you think about people, life, death, and family. It sits with you well after you’ve put it down.
This book started out as a screenplay, and I unfortunately felt it showed. It features strong characters, and a great story, but though the structure was there, too much was left out of filling it in as a book. There were times that I found it hard to follow because too much was assumed and not enough was explained. I would have appreciated more descriptions and more detailed insight into the character’s thoughts. The characters are always getting angry, and though there is a reason for this that we learn about over time, it got old, especially since for much of the book, we don’t really understand why. I also found it a little tiring and unbelievable that so many people they encountered either took advantage of Ruby’s blindness in some cruel way, or were racist toward her (the character is black). Though I know there are many awful people in the world, but there are also good people. It seemed unlikely that they would only encounter the awful sort on such a long trip. I found this aspect of the story a bit one dimensional. Finally, the book needs another read through by a proofreader, as there were a number of typos and grammatical errors.
I had a very hard time giving this book a rating. There were many things about it that I didn’t care for, as discussed above. Because of these, I almost gave it a 2 star rating. At the same time, as I said earlier, it is a very powerful story. Once I finished reading it, I found that my overall feeling of the book was actually very positive because it made such an impact on me. Ultimately, a book that makes you have feelings that strong can only be judged as a success. I’ve therefore decided to rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. With more filling out, variation, and careful editing, I think it could have been a really impressive 4 star book. As a whole, it’s a very worthwhile reading experience.
***
Buy "Be My Eyes" on Amazon
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