AnimeJune's Obsessions

The Plot: A boy named Henry lives in depressing near-isolation with his unstable, depressed mother until they come across an escaped convict named Frank, who asks if he can hide out in their house until the search for him blows over. Amazingly, Henry's mother agrees - and an immediate, powerful love affair develops between her and Frank, while Frank takes a paternal interest in Henry that his own father has never demonstrated. Sadly, nothing gold can stay.

The Good:

• Decent writing
• Interesting plot
• Good pacing

The Bad:

• The relationship between Frank and Adele (Henry's mum) is kind of creepy - especially when they describe how often and how clearly Henry can hear them going at it through the walls.
• Adele is also a really incompetent parent. Her neediness and depression have basically isolated her son as well as herself from the outside world and I spent most of the book pitying Henry. Perhaps that's not fair (his father and his father's family live in town so he could have gone to live with them at any time), and mental illness sucks, but the whole book is really about Adele's selfishness. She never really does anything for Henry or for Henry's sake - it's all about who's able to step in and take care of her.