My Darling boy was an excellent read. I loved the writing and it was propulsive. Great character study. I would read more from this author.

This book takes an intimate dive into a parent’s nightmare: loving a child who struggles with addiction. As Dufresne weaves the tale, we are introduced to Olney who is on a quest to save his son. Along the way, we are introduced to his motley crew of support and find ourselves cheering for them all.

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Audio for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is biography of a fictional father, with an addict son.

It is not an easy read, it is more of a reporting than story. The narrative is not focused on anything, there are a collection of scenes, characters, dialogs and explanations that do not progress the story.

The son turns to drugs and leaves because his best friend left when he was a child, and his father lied to him about it.

And the father tries to find him and fails but doesn’t give up.

It is not my cup of tea, but it has its moments.

Publish date: 1/21/2025

3.5 ⭐️
This was a beautifully written, heart-wrenching story of a father and son living through addiction. Olney is dedicated to finding, saving and loving his son, Cully. You can feel his love and grief come through the pages. There were a bit too many characters to follow, albeit interesting and unforgettable. Olney & Cully will stay with me for some time. Narrated excellently by Kyle Snyder.

Thanks to Highbridge Audio & NetGalley for early access to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A heart breaking, gem of a book that explores addiction and the trickling affect it has on everyone who has ever loved an addict. I highly recommend it.

“You can’t live without hope, and you wouldn’t want to.”

This literary fiction novel is obscure and satirical told in the voice of a tragically humorous concerned father. Olney’s only son, Cully, has strayed, swept up in the snare of addiction. He fondly reminisces about cherished memories when he was an innocent young boy and had his whole life ahead of him.

Olney lives in a fictional town of Anastasia (which I believe is near where I reside) in Florida and makes multiple trips to track down Cully who is a transient down in the town of Melancholy. Even though this book deals with a serious subject matter of drug addiction, and the heartbroken parents who want to rescue their young adult son from its grip.

The story contains various vignettes of other stories that Olney or Cully come up with, and the one-line plots of romance novels that one of Olney’s neighbor’s is obsessed with. There was a funny joke that was shared by one of the multitudes of unusual characters that Olney interacts with in his daily life:

A teacher asks little Johnny to use the word ‘fascinate’ in a sentence. Johnny responds, “I have nine buttons on my shirt, but I only fasten eight.”

While this book is fiction the themes of addiction and the impact on the addict and their family is the reality for so many across the US. It’s a story about hope, faith, love and heartbreak, so much heartbreak.

It’s a powerful story but parts are exhausting which makes you feel what the main character is experiencing. There are a lot of characters and I struggled to remember who each person.

This is my first book by John Dufresne. Charles Armstrong did an excellent job with the narration.

Thank you to NetGalley & HighBridge Audio for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for this ARC!

This is a beautiful story about a father-son relationship—that's what you get from the first 50 pages—but it becomes so much more. It transforms into this funny, unflinching story that will keep the reader interested and is very much needed because of the heavy topics discussed throughout the book (the opioid crisis, mostly). Olney's son, Cully, had a spectacular relationship with his father, although as he starts thinking for himself, he spirals into a horrible drug addiction and runs off to Flordia. Olney chases after him, reflecting on his connection with Cully in his younger years and whether he messed up along the way as a father. I loved how their relationship was presented, even though I believe more pages should have explored their connection to make it more realistic. But it still felt so real and raw. As a reader, I can feel Dufresne pouring all his grief into these characters.
The pacing was a bit all over the place. Some scenes felt stretched out while others felt they should have been explored more. Too much was happening in these few pages and gave me literary whiplash.
But all that aside, it's a fabulous read if you're looking for a sad story that has lighthearted scenes and won't leave you emotionally devastated.
i think this should go on your 2025 tbr.