Review: Three Things I Know Are True

Three Things I Know Are True by Betty Culley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"I know how expensive it is
to be helpless.
How many things don't count
as necessary.
A wheelchair ramp
A wheelchair van
clothes, air-conditioning, prayer cards.
Everything has to be for my brother now.
Jonah doesn't ask for anything,
but he needs everything."

Three Things I Know Are True is a powerful novel about Liv, her brother Jonah, their friend Clay, and the day that, while horsing around, Jonah finds a gun in Clay's house. And it's about the many days, weeks, and months after. After Liv's mom is forced to sue Clay's family for Jonah's care, after Liv seems to lose both her brother and one of her closest friends with a single, fateful shot, and about what a pro-gun culture isn't really ready to deal with in terms of responsibility. Betty Culley, who is an R. N., has crafted a powerful debut novel, all in verse, letting us see Liv's world in which at least three things are true at the start: she's all but lost her brother, she's all but lost her friend, and her world will never be the same. Liv, Jonah, and Clay used to play the three things game, but now... all the games are over now.

"This is what I learn, too.
When you wait and hope
for the thing you think
will solve everything,
it doesn't always happen
the way
you imagine."

A poignant and powerful novel about all that can be lost in a moment's carelessness when you have access to guns.

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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