Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Boychik is a well-plotted and smartly paced tale that follows Eli and Evelyn, two teenagers during the Great Depression, as they struggle with family obligations and fall for one another. The novel is an entertaining and exciting read, with plenty of tense mob activities, murder, and blackmail on the way to a positive, uplifting conclusion.
Prose: Laurie Boris's prose is so realistic and conversational that readers can actually hear the accent in the lines. The third-person voice always reads like a strong character, and the author's precision and eye for detail consistently enhance the reading experience.
Originality: Boychik is novel in the way the work integrates Eli's artistic ambitions into the main storyline, using movies and cinema as a metaphor. Additionally, the book presents the reader with some surprising turns.
Character Development/Execution: Boris excels at balancing and maintaining both Eli and Evelyn's storylines, which are presented in alternating sections. Information is also uncovered gradually during the course of the narrative in genuinely compelling ways, like the introduction of the mob plot and revelations about who's really reading and commenting on Eli's scripts.
Blurb: An emotional tale of mafia violence and young forbidden love in 1930s Brooklyn, Laurie Boris' Boychik is a compulsively readable blend of magical cinematic triumph and great personal tragedy.
Date Submitted: April 03, 2022
I loved this book. Although I don’t read historical fiction very often, I found the time this story took place, in the middle of The Great Depression, made the story more intense because of the difficulties that came at that point in history. Imagining what it was like to grow up in Brooklyn at this time was interesting and added a lot to the story, but we’ve also got some romance, a bit of a thriller plot, and an excellent coming-of-age storyline all in one compelling story. The last few books I’ve read didn’t grab me. I was ready for a change and Boychik filled the bill, with a story that kept pulling me back, wondering what was going to happen next and how the various conflicts would resolve in the end.
