John Corey Whaley

Winner of the 2012 Michael L. Printz and William C. Morris Awards, this poignant and hilarious story of loss and redemption “explores the process of grief, second chances, and even the meaning of life” (Kirkus Reviews). In the remarkable, bizarre, and heart-wrenching summer before Cullen Witter’s senior year of high school, he is forced to examine everything he thinks he understands about his small and painfully dull Arkansas town. His cousin overdoses; his town becomes absurdly obsessed with the alleged reappearance of an extinct woodpecker; and most troubling of all, his sensitive, gifted fifteen-year-old brother, Gabriel, suddenly and inexplicably disappears. Meanwhile, the crisis of faith spawned by a young missionary’s disillusion in Africa prompts a frantic search for meaning that has far-reaching consequences. As distant as the two stories initially seem, they are woven together through masterful plotting and merge in a surprising and harrowing climax. This extraordinary tale from a rare literary voice finds wonder in the ordinary and illuminates the hope of second chances.

Where Things Come Back

Seventeen-year-old Cullen's summer in Lily, Arkansas, is marked by his cousin's death by overdose, an alleged spotting of a woodpecker thought to be extinct, failed romances, and his younger brother's sudden disappearance.

aisha

So simple yet wonderful. This book is so well put together that I will simply back off anyone that tries to hate on the plot. I was confused at the start and had to re-read several bits, but that's what makes this book so special. The writing makes the reader feel as if we are living in someone's mind, just constantly coming up with random yet somewhat important thoughts. Just like a 17 year old boy would.

Emi Gilmore 

I enjoyed this book a lot, but the ending left me a little disappointed. Perhaps I would have enjoyed this book more if I hadn't read 100 Sideways Miles a few weeks ago, because both books have similar themes.

Stefanie Sugia

"That's what happened in Lily. People dreamed. People left. And they all came back. It was like Arkansas's version of a black hole; nothing could escape it.... So, the fact that Gabriel believed our town needed that bird to exist made absolute sense to me, whether I liked it or not. They needed something to be hopeful about."
Cullen Witter lives in Lily, Arkansas, where not a lot of things happened and everything seems to be dull. Until a man named John Barling thinks that he saw a rare woodpecker species in Lily - which was supposed to be extinct in the 1940s. The news definitely shook the whole town, and in a short time everyone was focused on the Lazarus Woodpecker. Even though everyone was excited with the fact that their small town finally had something exciting going on, Cullen doesn't feel the same way. Because at the same time, his younger brother, Gabriel Witter, suddenly went missing....

Read the full review here:
http://www.thebookielooker.com/2014/0...

reece

a bit confusing at times but the way it all came together at the end was all worth it

Cameron Austin

I'm starting this thing where after I finish reading a book, I review it rather than just giving it a rating. Now, with that said Where Things Come Back is, in my opinion, one of the hardest books that one could review. 

There's nothing wrong with the book at all. I think it's an amazing story, and could possibly be one of my favorites. But it holds a lot of drawbacks. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. 

For one, the author uses: "When one (name of something happening), he (what he does)" more than it should be used. You can never go through a chapter with Cullen saying this, and later on in the book it takes up a hefty load of pages. It bored me, and I would even want to skim over it, but I knew that I could bare through it. What the purpose for Whaley overly using this is beyond me, but if he had just used it once, I would have been fine. 

I only have two complaints after this. One is: Why in the hell was Cullen having all of these zombie hallucinations? It didn't happen as much as my first complaint, but when it did, my face seemed to contort into this weirdness of some sort. My next complaint is the weird names. I couldn't even pronounce some names, which was a little unsettling. And when he [Cullen] would mention the characters full names, I would passively roll my eyes. 

All in all, I think this is a good start for Whaley, since it is his debut novel. I don't know if I'll check into Whaley's newer novels...that is if he writes any. This novel isn't meant for everyone, though, so if you don't want something that switches POV after every chapter, read of all the ass-hats (which is absurd. Who doesn't want to read of all the ass-hats?!), and especially if you don't believe in God, then this story is not meant for you.

Jade Flynn

"Life, he says, doesn't have to be bad all the time. We don't have to be anxious about everything. We can just be."

Ahhhhhh, I really liked this one! I'll 100% be checking out the next novel Whaley publishes!

Hala Abdulaziz 

Despite the weak dialogue , the weird characters and the boring / confusing writing style , this books has a deeper meaning to it , so much deeper than what i can grasp ..

 Bruna Acioly Leão

I went into this book not knowing at all what to expect, having heard a lot of people say it was really great. I'm glad it was available on Pulse It and that I gave it a shot! I'm going to try and talk about it without giving anything away, because it's such a short book that if I say too much about the plot, I might inadvertently spoil something.

Things I liked about it:

The perspectives. I liked how the book kept switching from Cullen, the main characters and first person narrator, to these other POVs. At first the others seemed totally random and removed from Cullen's story and I thought their connection was purely based on symbolism, but then things start to get intertwined and it all fits in the end. Really interesting choice of storytelling techniques. It also increases the suspense and makes you want to keep reading all the way to the end!

The writing style. I really liked Whaley's writing. It has great pacing and feels very real. We get deep into these characters inner thoughts without them being overly described. It is a story filled with character analysis and symbolic connections. I also find that I had a lot of quotes I really liked in this book, especially towards the end.

The open ending. I was a little bit upset when I discovered the book was actually over and there were no real closure, but in the end, I decided that I kind of prefer it that way. Life is open to possibilities, as is the ending of this book.

What bothered me;

I didn't have too many negatives with this book, other than my usual complaint about the neglect and over sexualization of female characters (as in they are only there to serve a purpose for the male characters or to drive them to something). But I guess I say that same criticism about a lot of books. Oh well.

Another thing was that the beginning was going a bit boring for me and I guess it is more of a slow book and not really a lot of action. But it got interesting soon and it is so short anyway. I'm glad I stuck with it. 

Overall, I think it is a short, quick book, extremely well written and thought provoking. Well worth the read!