Review: The Scarecrow and George C by Mia Kerick

High school senior Van Liss is barely human. He thinks of himself as a scarecrow—ragged and unnerving, stuck, and destined to spend his life cold and alone. If he ever had feelings, they were stomped out long ago by his selfish mother and her lecherous boyfriend. All he’s been left with is bitter contempt, to which he clings.

With a rough exterior long used to keep the world at bay, Van spooks George Curaco, the handsome new frycook at the diner where he works. But George C senses there is more to the untouchable Van and refuses to stop staring, fascinated by his eccentricity. When Van learns that George C is even more cold, alone, and frightened than himself, Van welcomes him to his empty home. And ends up finding his heart.

Their road to trust is rocky and, at times, even dangerous. And looming evil threatens to keep them apart forever.

Fair warning: You may want to strap in. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

This is a unique story that I got along with really well. I’m not big into YA novels, but I have read Mia Kerick’s stories before and I know I’ve enjoyed reading every one of them very much. Given that Van is in high school it sounded YA at first, but it isn’t, don’t let Van’s age fool you. He’s seen some shit and to protect himself he “becomes” a Scarecrow to keep people at a distance. He adopts a prickly persona and even his tone at the beginning is trying to push the reader away in a sense. While it comes across a little off putting at first, his voice is that way for a reason and there was enough of Van peaking through to intrigue me.

George C is the perfect foil to Van’s Scarecrow. George C is smitten in his own way and while Van is absolutely not having it at first, his curiosity is piqued and that alone would make for a cute story. But, cute is not the aim here and while it may not seem like it at first, George C has also seen his fair share of the aforementioned shit and his life is, well, his life is rough.

I don’t want to go into detail because the evolution of these two opening up and sharing with one another needs to be read because the give and take was really well done. It’s safe to say that there are a few triggering points that will break your heart, but they won’t kill you to death because there is an underlying air of hope throughout that kept me reading and rooting for them both.

Van may be the more dramatic and extreme of the two but he fully came into his own for George C and while all appearances in the beginning would lead you to believe that George C would be saving Van, it was in fact, the other way around. And Van needed that, he needed someone to see him. He needed someone to see beyond his walls and see that he was worthy of healthy love. So, George C did save Van too, by letting him be strong and in turn letting Van get himself back.

While there were definitely difficult parts to digest, the MCs had significant amounts of baggage to deal with, but man, they were meant to be together. The tough parts were tough, but the little moments and quirks the two of them developed as their relationship progressed balanced the story out perfectly. LIke I said before, there was an underlying hopefulness that I read into the story and the organic subtle moments between Van and George C were more valuable than any grand gesture ever could be.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**