Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the earc of this story in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

The Boy With a Bird in His Chest is an incredibly unique coming of age tale about Owen, a boy who has grown up his whole life with a bird living in a hole in his chest. Gail, the bird, is tied to Owen in that when she dies, he dies. The two of them spend their childhoods sequestered away in a tiny home with Owen’s mother, Owen never allowed outside, and living in fear that someone will find out about Owen and Gail and make their lives one miserable experiment. When a life threatening incident threatens to bring upon just that, Owen’s mother panics and rushes him off to live with his Uncle Bob and cousin Tennessee in the pacific north west where Owen must keep Gail a secret even from them. As Owen and Gail grow older, they navigate family and friendship and relationships and sexuality and all the teenage angst one sixteen years old boy can muster together.

I very much enjoyed a big chunk of this story. It was melancholy and filled with longing while still being hopeful and full of possibilities at times. My heart often aches for Owen and what he was going through, and his innocent confusion. I loved that the things he was going through were mostly what every teenager faces- wanting to fit in, wanting to disappear in a crowd and not be noticed, finding a first love, discovering his sexuality- and yet he did it all while hiding this huge secret about a literal bird growing inside his chest.

However, I did find it to be quite slow toward the middle of the story and struggled a bit at times to keep going. I think the writing style is beautiful and it reminded me a bit (in tone, at least) of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable read and I think readers looking for a different take on the coming of age genre will be very happily surprised!