LitPick Review
This novel is about a boy who is coming of age in northern England. The book starts with a young Dominic Hall walking on a stone wall with his friend, Holly Stroud. He is then victimized by local bully, Vincent McAlinden. As the book progresses the story dynamic among all three characters changes drastically as Dominic decides that Holly is pitying him and begins to find a strange friendship with Vincent. The twisted friendship between Dominic and Vincent worries Dominic's mother, and after her death Dominic realizes that Holly is a much safer choice for friendship. Angry and alone, Vincent attacks Holly and Dominic in the final climax of the story, before disappearing and leaving them to deal with the consequences of the attack. The Tightrope Walkers by David Almond is a captivating story written about love, loss and the difficulties of growing up.
Opinion:
I had so many emotions while reading the book. I loved Dom and hated Dom and was mad at Vincent and in awe of Holly all at the same time. I related to Dominic on a personal level, because he was written to love words. He loved to write and read and it made me connect with him as a character. I saw Holly as a dreamy girl who loved to draw and paint even the most dangerous of things, like the shipyards or Vincent. Her friendship with Dominic had its ups and downs and was a completely believable example of a friendship turned romance. At one point in the novel, just after Dominic went to Vincent because he thought Holly was only friends with him out of pity, I wanted to believe that Vincent had grown up, had stopped being the bully he was in the beginning, but even though the premise of the novel was about change, Vincent was the same. I did find that it was more believable than having all characters change, though, by having the bully of the story attack the two main characters out of envy. When I picked this book I was expecting Vincent to change and the three of them to become friends, and I was pleasantly surprised when that did not happen.
