The Boy Who Steals Houses
by C.G. Drews
Indie Author: No
Kindle Unlimited: No
Publication Date: 4.4.19

Genres: 
YA Fiction
Disabilities & Emotional Fiction

Page Count: 226 Pages

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Synopsis:

Can two broken boys find their perfect home? By turns heartbreaking and heartwarming, this is a gorgeously told, powerful story.

Sam is only fifteen but he and his autistic older brother, Avery, have been abandoned by every relative he’s ever known. Now Sam’s trying to build a new life for them. He survives by breaking into empty houses when their owners are away, until one day he’s caught out when a family returns home. To his amazement this large, chaotic family takes him under their wing – each teenager assuming Sam is a friend of another sibling. Sam finds himself inextricably caught up in their life, and falling for the beautiful Moxie.

But Sam has a secret, and his past is about to catch up with him.

Sabetha’s Review:

 5/5

Such a lovely book, it will have you overwhelmed with emotions in the first few pages.

Then it will proceed to take you on a rollercoaster of hope, and heartbreak as two kids try and find a family to call their own. This story of siblings, broken homes and found families is one that you won’t regret reading. Though you may regret not having enough tissues.

I love the way C.G. Drews writes these characters. Her style / voice gives so much depth to these lives. We all know a Sam & Avery, the kids that were fighting their battle with their abusive home life while dealing with school, and growing up invisible. The kids that were damaged before they were even able to speak up for themselves. They some how managed to get away from their abusers but now have to figure out how to navigate life without the trusted adult to guide them. This book doesn’t just touch on physical abuse, but emotional as well. It’s a read that leads you through the lives of two children that never had the parent to run to when they were alone, and does so in an elegant way that leaves you feeling hope instead of sadness.

If you were one of these kids then you will know the De Lainey family just as well as you know the Lou’s. The kids that you thought had the most awesome family even though they complained about it constantly. The family that you wished with all your might would adopt you, and suck you into their madness.

Even if this isn’t your genre, or even the type of book you’d ever read in a million years. I encourage you to pick it up. Fall in love with these characters, then go out into the world and spread kindness to the people who thought they were invisible.

While I held it together for most of this book pretty okay, the acknowledgements caught me off guard, and I could help but cry. Stab me right in the hard why don’t you:

“And to anyone reading this book who is searching for something like family or a home or friends who will wrap you up tight and keep you close: I hope you find what you are looking for.”

Read more reviews from Sabetha!