Each of the visitors on the elevator has something to teach Will. He has a hard time really discerning the message, but by the end he seems to fully understand the impact of these visits. Does he follow this horrible, deadly, circular path, or does he break free of the circle of death? Dani's story was the most tragic, and held so much weight. Because what if Will misses? Who does that missed bullet rip apart? What family loses someone they love by mistake? Who now has to take up The Rules, all because of Will? Is he really willing to do that, after what happened to Dani? This is a story about learning to be strong enough to break a tragic cycle. Does Will have it in him to forget about The Rules? What does it say that half his family has died by these rules. And when Will has fulfilled them, who then follows The Rules to his doorstep? I have been none stop thinking about this book since I finished it. The world of violence this family has grown up in, the innocence lost so quickly, the ability to easily move on from death, the ease of taking a life. Anyone who dreams of something different, or a way to remove themselves, somehow ends up pulled further in. The fear of living day by day with the threat of a gunshot taking you out. Will's fear of what he must do is palpable, his worry, his anxiety. He must continuously tell himself he is right about who killed his brother, even if he cannot be sure. His grief is a fire and it needs a target to consume. The ghosts can be literal or figurative, maybe they are confronting Will, or maybe Will's own mind is confronting him, arguing with him about what he is about to do. The not knowing makes the story stronger, the reader is more engaged. I highly urge everyone to read this book. It might be a quick read, but it sits in your head long after you read the last page. Even the discussion questions at the end are well thought out and push you to re-approach the story from every angle, to think critically about all of the imagery.
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