I've been a fan of Tawni O'Dell since reading "Back Roads" in 1999. She doesn't disappoint with "Fragile Beasts".
It offers the gamut of the fragility of innocence, grief and young love to the underbelly of greed, family secrets and - who'd have imagined it would work with the imagery of a coal mining community in Pennsylvania - even bullfighting!
Kyle and Klint Hayes, brothers suddenly without a father and newly relocated to the home of wealthy, bull-owning spinster Candace Jack, have rich voices. Each is believable in his dealings with loss and the adjustments of a new home and lifestyle. Kyle is endearing and kind while Klint has rough edges and a searing secret. Their teen voices and sibling connections ring true, but for me it's Candace Jack who makes the book a thrilling read.
As a resident of both Pennsylvania and Spain, O'Dell easily delivers natural and visceral depictions of each that will have readers traveling nonchalantly between both cultures.
"Fragile Beasts" encompasses the vulnerability and unruliness of the brothers, the lineage of captive bulls, and the weakest links of the armor that each of the characters wears.