Book Review: Melt by Selene Castrovilla

Melt
Author: Selene Castrovilla
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: November 6 2014
Review Source: Last Syllable Books | Netgalley

Based on true events, MELT is both a chilling tale of abuse, and a timeless romance. MELT will hit you like a punch in the face, and also seep through the cracks in your soul.

MELT is a brutal love story set against the metaphorical backdrop of The Wizard of Oz (not a retelling). When sixteen year old Dorothy moves to the small town of Highland Park, she meets, and falls for Joey – a “bad boy” who tells no one about the catastrophic domestic violence he witnesses at home. Can these two lovers survive peer pressure, Joey’s reputation, and his alcoholism?

Told in dual first person, Joey’s words are scattered on the page – reflecting his broken state. Dorothy is the voice of reason – until something so shattering happens that she, too, may lose her grip. Can their love endure, or will it melt away?

Joey has grown up in a broken home, not really knowing what love is and what it really feels like. When he meets Dorothy who is more than willing to help him get past this wall that he's built around himself. A good girl who meets a struggling boy, knowing that underneath the facade he presents there is a boy needing to be loved.

I am in love with this book. The story was depressing and beautiful all at the same time. There were times when I was unsure how I should really be feeling about the story, but in the end I just wanted everything to work out for the better. It opens your eyes to a whole different side of life-especially for me. I haven't experienced what Joey has, and I'm not sure any of my friends have, so to read this without any experience I felt a little shell-shocked at what would happen every once in a while. And all that made me do is want Dorothy to go and love him even more then she already was.

Melt was written in such a unique way, it helped to give an idea of the two different sides to life that were happening within the story. I really liked that Castrovilla used verse to show when the loss of innocence happened. That made it so much more powerful, it really hit you when you would least expect it. The ending came when I didn't want it to, I wanted the story to continue on because I wanted to see these characters and where their story took them.