Part of me feels it may be unfair for me to review a book wherein I am not the target audience. In this case, the story is of teenage young men at a boarding school for boys grappling with father-son relationships and forming a bond with each other while experiencing some awesome boyhood escapades. Classic coming of age story. Yet, the book was quite entertaining for me and it was quite well written. I would definitely read more from Hickman in the future. The characters were relateable and the building of the friendships worked for me. The only drawback in this vein is how difficult it was to truly relate to the culture these boys came from - wealthy and famous. But the story line is more about relationships and expectations and the difference was easy for me to overcome.
The ending is a surprise I did not see coming, which is a great compliment for a book. Initially I didn't think the ending was believable, but as I thought more about it, it was quite well done. There is a theme of family histories, dynamics, and secrets that are held so dear and this ending makes it almost tangible. Bravo!
Yet ... what is with the title? There is a reference to keepers of dawn, but it was almost in passing and I fail to see how any of the themes or major characters relate to it. This does become a drawback while reading, a distraction while trying to catch the meaning of the book as a whole.
This isn't a book I need to own and I am not quite sure just who I would recommend read it. But it was so well written, I hate to give it too few stars. If I could, I'd give it 3.5.
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