The Storyteller

by Antonia Michaelis

Hardcover, 2012

Description

Wealthy, seventeen-year-old Anna begins to fall in love with her classmate, Abel, a drug dealer from the wrong side of town, when she hears him tell a story to his six-year-old sister, but when his enemies begin turning up dead, Anna fears she has fallen for a murderer.

Publication

Harry N. Abrams (2012), Edition: 1, 416 pages

User reviews

LibraryThing member Bookswithbite
I have never read such a crazy, insane, out of your mind beautiful book. I thought when I started reading this book I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. A romance right? A story of two kids from other sides of the street saving one another from the pain that they carry....yeah, I
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wish...

Why did I love this book so much? Even if some parts made my mouth drop, made me want to drop the book right then and there? Because I get it. Ms. Michaelis brought so much clarity to the book in the end, it's impossible not to get. Everyone in their lives has demons. We all face them. But what happens when the demons that attack us, become a part of who we are? We longer fight it, but accept it. Why fight something you have no control of? The Storyteller is just that. Characters fighting there worst demons.

The love interest in this book is so toxic, yet it's addicting. You hear the warnings in every turn of the page. "Go away. Leave me alone. This place is not for you." And yet, you can't help but follow. Follow to see where they are going. Where they are falling. This love is bittersweet.

Let me see if I can gather my words here and try to explain this. Some people might see this book as Blah. They will read it for what it is and give it a crap rating. If your like me and see things deeper than what it is, you'll understand. And if you ever fought demons and knew that one step out of line that you are done for, you'll understand. If you ever gave up to your demons at one point and let if consume you cause you thought it was better than fighting it, you'll understand.

This book is not meant for kids under 18 yr old even though this is a young adult book. Still, there are some mature scenes in the book and well some things you can't understand till you get there or you have been there.

The Storyteller is an amazing mind blowing book that left me heartbroken. The borderline crossing of brilliance to utter madness is insane. The characters are unpredictable and leaves your mouth agape with aweness. Gripping, profound, and beautiful, The Storyteller will move you.
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LibraryThing member jonilee73
Originally published in Germany, this novel tells the story of Anna, a plin girl who is not much of a risk taker, who falls for Abel, the school's resident drug dealer who harbors more secrets than anyone can possibly imagine. Told as part novel, part fairytale this book is truly unique.

Anna has
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never been one to do anything unexpected. We first meet Anna as she is planning what a trip to the ocean after school to see the water before it freezes. I got the impression she was a bit immature for her age. Before she leaves school she finds a small doll in the student lounge at school. She tucks the doll in her pocket and vows to find the owner, though she thinks it odd to find a doll lost inside a high school.
She comes to find the doll belongs to Abel's younger sister, Micha. He takes the doll from Anna, not really saying much but his actions interest Anna who decides to follow him after school to find out if he really does have a sister. She follows Abel on her bike as he rides to the loval elementary school and finds out he truly does have a sister and watches as he returns her doll to her. Then, instead of going home Anna continues to follow Abel and his sister to the local community college where they eat dinner. She finds a seat close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation and this is where Anna first hears the story Abel has been telling Micha.

The story is a fairytale about a little queen with a diamond heart who lives on an island in the ocean. But hunters are trying to find her and kill her to steal her diamond heart and the little queen is forced the leave the island to flee from the hunters. Throughout the novel this fairytale continues, weaving new characters in and out of the story as they go.

Eventually Anna and Abel find themselves in a complicated relationship. Anna discovers that Abel and Micha's mother has abandoned them and Abel is taking care of his sister on his own, which is why he is selling drugs, as a way to provide for himself and his sister. But his sister's teacher is catching on to the fact that their mother has left and is starting to interfere with the life Abel has made for himself and his sister. Soon enough Child Protective Services intervenes, attempting to take Abel's sister away from him and place her in foster care. Anna is in over her head and unsure how to help Abel and things start spinning out of control. Then when people start dying in the Abels' fairytale and then in real life Anna is forced to consider that Abel will stop at nothing to keep his life and that of his sister's the way it has been.

This story is part fairytale, part love story, and part mystery. Which sounds intriguing but honestly, it almost has a little too much going on. I had trouble following the story sometimes and it seemed to be never ending. This is not a book I could have read in one sitting. With everything going on I took it a few pages at a time or else I put the book down unsure of what was going on. The story is great until people start dying, which seems like it would be the part where things start to get interesting and the story would fly from there but I found that by the time I reached that part of the book I was so confused and just frustrated with the book that I had to put it down and give it a rest for a while. A few weeks later I picked it back up and finished it. The end of the book is pure chaos and I am still unsure of somethings that happened but can't bring myself to go back and reread it and have to deal with it again.

*This paragraph contains SPOILERS, STOP reading and skip this paragraph if you want to avoid them.* One thing that bothers me about this book, and I mean, I was apalled at how it was handled, is that Anna was raped by Abel towards the end of book. They go for a walk and things are fine, they go into a boathouse and start making out and then Anna decides is ready to take things to the next level. Abel tells her no but she insists she is ready. Abel then rips of Anna's clothes and proceeds to rape her on the floor of the boathouse while Anna asks him to stop. He then stands up and leaves. Anna is obviously upset and angry but after just a week she has already not only forgiven him but back in a relationship with him. To me, the whole thing was totally unecessary and there was no need for that scene in this book. It played no bigger role and for an issue as big as rape to play out in the way it did apalled and angered me to the point of nearly giving up on the book and never looking back. If anyone else has read this book and has thoughts on that scene, can maybe give me insight into it and explain why they think it was in there or if anyone else was equally angered by it, feel free to leave a comment for us to discuss it. *End SPOILER*

After everything I have said about this book I honestly can't say that I hated it. It held my attention for the most part and the concept was truly interesting. But there was too much going on that I found myself with a headache from all of it and I would not read it again. I do think, given the opportunity, if you like books that tell many stories at once and never stop with the action that you should read this book. Just because I did not enjoy does not mean it's not for anyone. And if you did enjoy it, comment and tell me why. Or link me to your review. I would love know what other people thought of it.
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LibraryThing member misticalKitty
This book is amazing from page one. I couldn't stop reading it. The way it's written is poetic, and yet it's easy to read.
It's hard to write about a book that I enjoyed so much like this one. It's hard to let you know what I felt while reading, what I fell now. These things you have to feel them,
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and that happens when you find a great book.
The main character, Anna, is just an ordinary girl who falls in love with Abel. But he seems to have some secrets, and if in the beginning Anna doesn't suspects anything and she doesn't even want to think about it, she starts to question lots of things later in the book: things he does,the meaning of the words he says...
She worries about him and his little sister,an adorable girl named Micha. And later she fears for herself.
There are strong feelings in this book, which I could feel while reading. Not all books make feel something, but when a book makes you feel the things I felt while reading The Storyteller, it has to be a good book. It made me want to cry, and smile, and laugh, and also scream in frustration.
And I loved the "a story within the story" idea by the author. It is amazingly well written and the transitions between "real life" and Abel's fairy tale is perfectly well made... I had the same interest in both stories,and both made me feel different things. One wouldn't make sense without the other. It was amazing how I could feel so connected to both stories too.
I feel happy, sad and angry because of what Anna was living; I felt hope for Abel, but also wondered sometimes who was his real self; and Micha, she is absolutely sweet! I found myself questioning so many times the same things, because once I thought I knew what was going to happen next, but then it turned out I was wrong.
The fairy tale is an amazing story linked to the real world of Anna, Abel and Micha, and all characters are important, everyone has a role in both worlds. It's simply amazing this connection, and it's really cool to see how the story goes in both worlds.
While I was reading there were moments when I changed my opinion (and not only once) about how the book would end, who was guilty and who was not, or what really happened and what was a lie.
I thought the book would be something different, a more girlish kind of thing, but I don't feel that it is. Yes, you have teenage romance and a fairy tale in the story, you have magic, but you also have the thriller and mystery side, a darker side. It was hard for me to put the book down because I always wanted to know what was going to happen next.
Things aren't what they seem to be. This book totally blew me away.
I highly recommend it
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LibraryThing member JennyJen
Immediate reaction after reading the last word:

I'm torn and unsure what I think about this book. I need some time.

5 months later: Yes. I still remember this book and that's gotta count for something, but I still don’t think I can review this properly, because of how it has left my “feels” all
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tangled. This will be a ho-hum quickie.

This one was a bit of a rollercoaster. It has a fairytale feel, but the content is anything but. Right off the bat, you anticipate that there will be pain. And there is pain. Don’t jump into this one unless you’re emotionally ready. It’s a sad tale, peppered with hope, that grips you tightly right through to the end.

I would have, could have rated this higher, but I couldn’t deal with the rape and rape aftermath. He raped her. Raped her. And she seemingly brushed it off. Wut? I know she’s young and impressionable, but no. No. NO. Once that happened, I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. I was unable to let it go. When I started writing this review, I'd settled on 3.5 - 4 stars, but no. That was too much for me.

Despite that one big no-no, I’m glad that I read this. There was beauty in the writing that often moved and delighted me. I thought it was woven nicely into the pain. =)
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LibraryThing member katie1802
Some books simply don't turn out the way you expect them to.
Sometimes we don't heed the warnings in recommendations, reviews, or in my case, on the front cover of the very book itself.

I really didn't know what I was in for with this one. I thought to myself, "it's a young adult novel, how tragic
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and disturbing could this possibly be?". As it turns out, incredibly so.

Anna is a privileged young woman, about to head out into the world to carry out her future as a travelled and well educated asset to society. But she's bored. Bored, stuck and not content with the relative perfection of her life. She wants to reach outside of her bubble and experience something strange and different to anything she knows.

Abel is a poor, troubled and reclusive boy, "the Polish peddler" who everyone thinks they have figured out, but is beyond anything they could ever claim to understand. Scary at first sight, but a devoted and loving older brother to a beautiful little girl in a pink jacket. A storyteller, Abel spins a fairy tale that begins to resemble real life as the people who would try to take his sister from him begin to die in turn.

Anna and Abel begin to fall in love, but at the cost of Anna's relationships with those dearest to her, and Abel's most guarded secrets.

Many unexpected things happen throughout the book, but the ending might be the least unexpected aspect I can possibly single out. I so desperately didn't want it, but I was ultimately given the exact ending I knew was coming.

Although I came to have a love/hate relationship with Anna and Abel as characters, I still wished for there to be another, less heartbreaking way, but it made sense, as much as I wished it didn't.

A beautiful, weirdly realistic if not fantastical story, The Storyteller is simply spellbinding.

Thoughts on the ending.

Bertil bothers me. Significantly.
He is almost creepier than Abel, more sinister in his sense of entitlement towards Anna and lack of respect for her ability to make choices for herself.
He is condescending, petty and domineering.

The rape scene was so hard to swallow, so out of character yet so true to character. At first I thought Anna's reaction was WTF-worthy. Abel was definitely deserving of pity, but Anna's pity, of all people? But I get it now, it was subtle, but I get it. He never got her forgiveness, just her understanding. In no way was it portrayed as being okay, just that it's complicated. Anna went back to him because whether or not it's the right thing to do, sometimes people go back to those who hurt them the most. Showing it differently might send a better message, but it would also be less realistic.

I knew Abel was the shooter, but I didn't want him to be. The author gave me slivers of hope that it would be Bertil, or Knaake, or Michelle. But I always knew. The shock was in having my suspicions confirmed, and it hurt like hell to see any redemption Abel may have been able to find shoot out the barrell of a gun and into the back of his head.

The class differences were painfully solidified in this moment. There was no hope for someone as broken as Abel, no one to fix everything. Someone with no resources can be driven to something so shocking if the circumstances fall the way they did for him. But we're shown that life can be different, that growing up differently can make all the difference. Micha will now have a chance, and that's all her brother had to live for by the end. Knowing she would be okay without him made him lose his will to keep fighting, and it was just devastating to witness.
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LibraryThing member LiindaSnow97
This is one of those books that make you enter it's world completely.
I love everything about this book and, even though it may not be the ending we all expected, it was beautifully perfect for the mood of the book.
I have to admit that, even though I had seen a waterfall of tears coming, it DID take
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me unprepared.
It was simply one of the most beautiful books I have read this year and I will surely read more from this author.
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LibraryThing member ReadersCandyb
This book reminded me of a beautifully crafted mandala. It had intricate details, sharp edges, and was painted in many different colors. I wasn't sure about the fairy tale mixing with reality theme, but in the end I saw with clarity why the Author chose that path. It was inspirational and
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foretelling. It proved that even the darkest shadow can find light and even the ugliest things can have beauty. It showed that death doesn't have to be the end and that sometimes in order to start over you have to let go.

Abel is the school mystery from the wrong side of the tracks. Anna is the straight laced girl from the right side of the tracks. Micha is a free spirit with a troubled past. When their lives overlap, a fairy tale begins. A very dark and very twisted fairy tale with many ups and downs. Abel, Anna, & Micha's story ripped my heart out and I'm now suffering from a hardcore book hangover. Did I expect a wild ending? Absolutely, but when I was reading... I had no idea in what way the story would go. I was a tad bored and then all of sudden I felt reality slipping through my fingertips. I was grasping sand and falling into the book heart first. I won't lie and say the experience felt good, but the hurt I felt just made my reading experience that much better. Every gut wrenching word led up to those final moments and so many feels were felt. I've never had such an intense love/hate relationship with a character before. One minute I was swooning over the romance and the next I was sick to my stomach with possibilities. Each character and every piece of evidence played an important role in a sick tragic tale and I loved to hate every minute of it.

I highly recommend this book to all readers with an open mind. There are some sensitive scenes so be prepared for the worse.
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LibraryThing member HeatherLINC
This book is getting rave reviews, but it just didn't do it for me. I found it tediously slow and weird, and Anna was extremely bland. As for what happened in the boatshed!!!?????
LibraryThing member Joyce.Leung
I could give you a really boring, lousy version of the story:
The girl (Anna) is entranced by the boy (Abel). She stalks him (and she is also stalked by another boy who happens to have a crush on her) until he finally accepts the inevitable and lets her listen in on the fairy tale he is telling her
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sister. Everyone is really captivated by the fairy tale (except for the crush-stalker, of course) and that is basically what the whole story revolves around – that, and the clichéd story of where the good girl falls in love with the bad boy.

Or I could stop insulting your intelligence, assume that you’ve read the description provided by the publisher, and tell you what happened to me instead.



I could show you how I looked as I read the ending of the book. You may think this seems like a hyperbole now, but believe me, you will also be reduced to tears when you read the ending.



I could show you how I looked when I realized I had finished the book. When I realized that from this point on, all the other books I would read from now on will automatically be compared to 'The Storyteller', and be found lacking.

Or I could tell you this: You have to read this book. I don’t care if that’s the last thing you do in your life – read it, and I promise you that you won’t ever regret it.
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LibraryThing member t1bnotown
Spoiler alert!

I loved this book except that the ending was not a happy one and I feel so hurt. Otherwise there was a fairy tale and it was a good one. There was a mystery with hints that I didn't want to believe. Also of note that it takes place in Germany, so there are a few quirks about life as a
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senior in high school - exams being very different, universities being different, and calling parents by first names. I need to pick up a copy of this one of my own.
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Awards

Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2013)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2012/01/01

ISBN

1419700472 / 9781419700477

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