OnlineBookClub.org

Please use this topic to discuss the second story in Holding Fire, "My Name Is Finn" by Julieanne Swiatczak.

What do you think of this story? What do you like most about it?

I really love the placement of this story. The ending of the story itself acts as a cool ending to the whole book.

The most poignant scene for me is not the ending, however. It is when the bullied, battered, emotional boy is finding peace making out with his girlfriend and then—BAM!--his awful parents are right there ruining everything in unimaginable ways. I would have loved to learn more about the parents and why they were so nasty. For instance, one possible cool backstory might be that the grandfather (husband to the overly wise grandmother) was himself abusive and that anger and vengefulness over that is what drove the previously-abused parent to also become a monster. Seeing this pattern happen would explain both the grandmother's wisdom and one of Finn's parent's abusiveness. On the other hand, maybe the author meant to leave things like that out (or even meant to leave those easy-to-get-to-explanations open) because the main key of her story is of a boy who blames himself.

What do you think?

This story was poignant and beautiful and sorrowful all at once. It hurt my heart but kept me hoping the whole time. There were also so many words that made me pause, think and feel. My life has not been touched by the ravages experienced by the main character (touch wood) and yet I felt an understanding as if I was right there with him. Excellent piece. Would love to read more of this author's work.

This story was very disturbing. I don't like to think about anyone, especially a young person, committing suicide. I think this story could have easily taken another route and ended up being about forgiveness, redemption and the success of Finn. But then, it wouldn't have fit into the theme of the contest. I get it.

A couple of questions occurred to me while I read the book. Is there a real Finn? When I think about his character, he's very real and he's a survivor which made his suicide all the more tragic.

Why didn't Maggie call the cops or someone to help him? We don't know why she stopped pounding on the door. It was almost like she'd resigned herself to the fact that her brother was going to kill himself and gave up.

This story could have been a lot longer but I understand the word limit.

It was quite good and I was taken in at the very beginning. There were a few errors in it with the editing but it didn't take away from the reading experience.

I was unfortunately unable to read the story. 90% of it was whited out on my nook

Michelle-Lit, it was highlighted too in my Kindle computer app, but I was able to read it. I don't know if that helps.

This story was sad yet meaningful, and I loved the way it incorporated that stuff about the hot coal. The only thing I didn't like about it was that the dad wasn't charged with reckless vehicular homicide or DUI, or whatever. I often wonder if one reason we have a justice system is so that people won't have as strong a need to desire or seek out revenge in the first place...?

Gee, I'd probably want to off myself too if I were Finn.

I agree with Scott that this was the perfect story to end the set. It tied all the themes in together.

The part about Finn feeling like everything was his fault was very relatable. Not just his GF's death, but his parents being alcoholics, etc. I could grasp his self-hatred.

Well, the story was highly emotional one but I need a strong back-story so I could relate to the characters, but it was well written story overall and I enjoyed it.

I thought this one was well written and I had trouble with it because I really wanted Finn to break out from his horrendous parents and actually have good things happen to him. I realize that wouldn't meet the theme of the book, but I wanted Finn to succeed anyway.

It was a sad story to read. But it kept me interested to the end. Not the end I was hoping for. Unfortunately this short story could be someone's real life.

It is a sad story. At the beginning I was about to quit it because the violent scenes against a boy. The story leaves me with some questions on why the parents did not want him and why the so different behavior against him and his sister?

A very engaging story. I also found the part about his dad not being punished for drunkenly causing a fatal accident hard to believe, and I still can't come up with a good reason for it. Other than that I found only minor issues, and think the author did a great job with the subject matter in the space allowed.

This story kept me reading all the way to the end, but it was so very sad!! I truly felt for this character and all that he had gone through. There were times that I wanted to reach out and give him a hug. This was a very powerful story!!

I’m really not a fan of this story. Perhaps I’ve had too many friends and people I’ve known that have killed themselves or died, but this story really just irked me more than anything else. I understand the points the writer is trying to make, but for me, they are lost in a sad tale that has a bad, albeit interesting, way to end a story. It's a story where I have a feeling the ending was the idea that came first, while the story was added in to try to make it work.

My Name is Finn seemed to have to worst positioning. You cannot end that story like they did then the next page on the eBook asks for a review. I wanted to vent out my frustration and give the entire book a bad rating because of that ending. I respected the plot but wish it was set with an older boy. I didn’t think it plausible a four-year old was being referenced to feeling empathy and consoling a neighbor and had enough mental capacity to understand that his wife had died and he was feeling lonely. I don’t like stories that in my mind stretch reality.

So strongly written but so sad.

I loved this story so much! It was sad and depressing, but I think that was kind of the point. A great story to end the book with!