The Impossible Knife Of Memory

The book I'm currently reading is called "The Impossible Knife Of Memory" , this book is mind blowing.  So in the beginning the main character or narrator, Hayley Kincain is really someone you wouldn't want to hang out with but she's like this for a reason. Hayley has gone through major things in life, one of those things being having to deal with the kind of father she has. Her father is a vet from both Afghanistan and Iraq who has problems with both alcohol and drugs. He often wakes up screaming numerous times a night and he's abusive which used to be only for other people but though out the story he seemed to be loosing that control and almost hit Hayley numerous times. Afterwards Hayley starts to really enjoy the move back to their original house but her dad's condition seems to be getting worse. Then towards the end of the story Hayley's stepmom or ex-stepmom comes back into there life which causes Hayley to start to blame her for what is happening to her father, saying that because she's here her father is getting worse. In the story there is both an external and internal conflict. The external being having to deal with her father but the internal which seems to always be worse is that Hayley had to become an adult and take care for both her father and herself meaning that she feels as if she can't pay attention to her own internal problems which only causes them to get bigger and bigger over time. Although the whole story is amazing the end is completely mind-blowing and crazy. I really don't want to ruin the ending and be a spoiler but I feel like the needing really helps everyone out. Hayley and her father start to have that connection they used to have before the war and Hayley is able to become her own age again and a lot of the unnecessary responsibilities are lifted from her shoulders.

The story is written in first person point of view. Hayley is the narrator as well as the main character so she uses words such as I, me and my. Just like the book "Imperfect Spiral" the book could have been written in third person so that the reader could now more about the other smaller characters that have hidden stories. Although the third person could have helped I feel like the author was really trying to have the reader try to understand that when something happens such as the aftermath of the experiences of soldiers don't just effect the soldier himself but also his family and friends. Hayley really had to step up her game to be able to help or try to help her father, some one that no longer had any hopes in life. She also had to become an adult when she was just starting to become a teen which caused many problems by the time she became a seiner in high school, the time when everything seemed to be falling apart for her.