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Rating: ★★★★★
~ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review~
Thirtysomething Alex is struggling. Struggling to have a close relationship with his autistic son Sam. Struggling to hold onto his failing marriage. Struggling to come to terms with a childhood tragedy. During a trial separation, Alex moves in with his best friend Dan, wondering if his family could ever come back together.
I loved this. It was so good. I don’t know how many ways I can say how amazing this was. Sad, happy, heart-warming and heart-breaking. A BOY MADE OF BLOCKS is incredibly humorous and moving. It may sound gloomy, but it’s far from it. In the beginning, you sit there wondering if Alex will ever learn but he does. He learns from his mistakes. He changes his approach in handling Sam’s tantrums and understands his son’s fears. There were so many moving scenes in this. (Tears were streaming heavily when a certain thing was destroyed but my heart was warmed when it was fixed.)
There were certain moments where Alex knows he shouldn’t yell at Sam but continues to do so and that really irked me. Like, he’s aware of how he shouldn’t yell at Sam but still continues to do so. I kept wanting to literally yell at Alex to shut up so many times. This is repeated so many times, probably for plot’s sake, but like it was really irresponsible of Alex. It was in those moments when I thought Sam would be better off with his mother.
The incorporation of Minecraft is one of the best parts of this book. People often unfairly associate Video Games with negative things. How it’s destroying this generation of people blah blah durr hburr techonology is bad kind of thing. But A BOY MADE OF BLOCKS shows one of the many positive things about video games and games like Minecraft. Minecraft provides an environment that encourages social interaction and helps people learn to communicate within the game’s well-defined rules.
Inspired by the author’s experiences with his own son, A BOY MADE OF BLOCKS is a heartfelt story of love and family.
Kindle Edition, 400 pagesExpected publication: September 1st 2016 by Sphere
ASIN:B010QDG9RI