This debut novel by Dutch author Jaap Robben is absolutely beautiful. Robben is a poet and children’s book author and you can see the influence of both of those writing styles in the books, His writing is poetic yet sparse. You Have Me to Love tells the story of a young boy, Mikael, as he grows up on a remote island. Robben really explores what it would be like to go through puberty in a void, away from other teens and with his mother as the only female in his life. I feel completely in love with Mikael and only wanted the best for him. The entire time I was reading it, I just kept telling everyone at work, “You have to read this. It’s amazing.” A tough but definitely worthwhile read that will have you thinking about it for a long time after you finish reading it.
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