Review: Learning Not to Drown by Anna Shinoda

Author: Anna Shinoda

Blurb: Family secrets cut to the bone in this mesmerizing debut novel about a teen whose drug-addicted brother is the prodigal son one time too many.

There is a pecking order to every family. Seventeen-year-old Clare is the overprotected baby; Peter is the typical, rebellious middle child; and Luke is the oldest, the can’t-do-wrong favourite. To their mother, they are a normal, happy family.

To Clare, they are a family on the verge of disaster. Clare: the ambitious striver; Peter: the angry ticking time bomb; and Luke: a drug-addicted convicted felon who has been in and out of jail for as long as Clare can remember—and who has always been bailed out by their parents.

Clare loves Luke, but life as his sister hasn’t been easy. And when he comes home (again), she wants to believe this time will be different (again). Yet when the truths behind his arrests begin to surface, everything Clare knows is shaken to its core. And then Luke is arrested. Again.

Except this time is different, because Clare’s mom does the unthinkable on Luke’s behalf, and Clare has to decide whether turning her back on family is a selfish act…or the only way to keep from drowning along with them.
Review:

I finished reading Learning Not to Drown by Anna Shinoda in December 2018 and I have been meaning to review it ever since. With the paperback release of Learning not to Drown, I thought what better time to review it then now?

I am one of those people that is guilty of finding Anna’s book through her husband, Mike Shinoda, solo artist and one of the masterminds behind Linkin Park and would you believe it, he is that guy out of Fort Minor…(sorry bad joke.) When I read books by people who are known for other things, I tend to read them with more of a judgmental eye. Learning Not to Drown was one of the books I read like that and thankfully the book delivered, it knocked me over, helped me back up and then blew me away.

Learning Not to Drown is a heart hurting novel that deals with a family that is hiding an incredible sea of secrets from one of its own and the ripple affects keeping them can have on everyone.

Clare, our main character is at war with her skeleton, a friend she has had for as long as she can remember. She fights with her skeleton friend as she forges through a lonely summer as she slowly realizes that older brother Luke is not who she thought he was. Yes, she knew he was a criminal, getting mixed up in things that never seemed to be his fault, but when he involves her in one of his crimes she takes it upon her self to find out what his really done and it makes her own skeleton rattle.

This novel was highly relatable for me. My own family has also been washed in crime and dysfunction that has our skeletons sitting next to each other whenever we hang out just rattling and dancing to be exposed. I don’t usually annotate books, but this book as a couple of tabs hanging out of it. One particular scene in the book was so real to me and so familiar to me I had to put the book down for a couple of days before I could continue.

In case you couldn't tell, I really enjoyed the Shinoda’s metaphorical use of Skeleton, how Clare realized we all have our own Skeleton and how she came to accept him.

This novel is quite heavy. I’m not going to pretend it’s not. But I do recommend it to anybody from about 15 years and above who might be having a hard time accepting the things we have to accept.

I gave Learning Not to Drown 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. This book has become a part of my top five.

As mentioned, Anna released the new paperback cover of Learning Not to Drown earlier this year. The new cover is a collaboration with her husband Mike Shinoda, who did design the new cover. Isn't it beautiful? What a better excuse than to go and get a copy to add it to your collection? I can't wait until I can!

Thanks for stopping by The Book Mystress, x