“Someone’s Story” by B.A. Bellec

Someone’s Story

B.A. Bellec
Independently Published (2020)
ISBN: 9798634294292
Reviewed by Amy (age 16) for Reader Views Kids (12/2020)
5* Deep, dark, and amazing!

“Someone’s Story” is an amazing novel by B.A. Bellec. Before I even get started I have to say it’s hard to believe this is his debut novel.  I read it from cover to cover in two days.

The story centers around Someone. Readers never know his name, but it’s part of the intrigue that draws you in deeper. When Someone’s father transfers for his job, it’s a new city and a new school – and being the new kid definitely sucks. Someone quickly finds his own circle of friends though, a group of kids that really only fit in with each other.

Everyone in the group has their own issues to deal with but it’s Someone’s journey that will keep you up reading. Someone has some mental health issues that play out during the story but not completely until the end and you’ll wonder how he gets through each day. He has a great circle of friends who support him, a loving father (with his own secret) and a counselor he feels comfortable with and meets with often, but that doesn’t stop Someone from sinking into his own abyss.

The writing is compelling and there is a darkness that surrounds you the entire time you are reading this novel. The author captures that mood and it almost feels like there is a cloud over you while you are reading. Most of the story revolves around Someone, his friends, but there are some chapters where there’s an unidentified person that seems to be running in the race of his life and the reader is inside the runner’s mind. This really sets the dark mood. You’ll wonder what these running chapters have to do with the rest of the story but it all becomes clear at the end. The lessons in the story are things teens may be able to relate to at some level, if not personally, then by acquaintance.

I enjoyed all the characters as much as the plot. Typical high school with cliques, bullies, teachers that inspire (or don’t) and everything that goes with the last year of high school, falling in and out of friendships, and that transition from student to adult. Someone seems both sure of himself and awfully insecure at the same time. I like that he has strong convictions (like how he feels about blonde roast), but is also willing to try new things. Though I found him to be way more trusting than I would be in certain situations, like experimenting with drugs. He just seemed to go with things, where I would be more concerned with what I was putting in my body. Someone is definitely a complex character and someone I was interested in learning more about.

I recommend “Someone’s Story” by B.A. Bellec to the young adult crowd and older. There are some issues that would be better understood by this age level. Some of the things that happen with a few of the characters you will not see coming! The story twists and turns like a psychological thriller. This is an amazing book!