CarolOates: Review - Poughkeepsie Begins by Debra Anastasia

Summary

It ends with the beginning. This legendary, indie, cult-favorite series ends its tale with the story of the Poughkeepsie brotherhood before the tattoo. Before the train station, before the church, before a criminal empire there was a foster home and three teen boys who chose each other as family, because the ones they were born into didn’t exist

Still in high school, Beckett is already laying the groundwork for a grander life ahead, one where his brothers want for nothing and get some respect for once. But even as he plans, Beckett must decide if he’s ready to make that choice—diving in to a life that trades his chance at a future, his chance at something as simple as first love with a girl named Candy Cox, for their chance to find happiness.

Blake, Beckett, and Cole’s devotion to each other is forged by fists and the driving need to belong somewhere, to do more than just survive this life. Readers of the series know they each get there in the end, but before we count smiles, we must first shed tears. These early days of the Poughkeepsie brotherhood will play on your heartstrings before serrating them with a knife; they’ll lift your soul with music, only to leave you with nothing but a desperate prayer for hope.

And when you reach the end of the beginning, you’ll be ready to start the series all over again.

Review

It ends where it begins is so true. This is a book that delivers a hat-trick in less than two hundred pages. It is a stand alone book, an ending, and a beginning all in one. For those who haven't spent the last several years engrossed in the tales of the Poughkeepsie brotherhood as I have done, PB is an excellent way to dip your toe in the water. It's complete in itself, a stand alone novel with no cliff ending and no need to be familiar with any of the characters.

But, who are we kidding? If you haven't already, you are going to want to read the Poughkeepsie Brotherhood series after this. In which case, it's a fantastic place to begin, right back in high-school.

If, like me, you have been following Beckett, Cole, and Blake through their adventures and heartache as adults, this is a bittersweet goodbye, a gift from the author. It will break your heart and give you hope all over again.

Although it is a book about young adults, this is an Adult book, or at the very least New Adult. It deals with some difficult themes, there is course language, violence, raw emotion, sex, and abuse of all sorts. However, don't let that put you off. It is a gripping story that is not long or drawn out so although it's emotionally intense, it's short enough that it didn't leave me drained as some books have in the past.

A book definitely worth a spot on your To Read list.

Buy Links