Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio

Sarah Jio’s third novel, Blackberry Winter, provides the same delightful mix of mystery, romance, and history, as her first two, along with unique twists and its own emotional storyline.

Like The Violets of March and The Bungalow, Blackberry Winter fluctuates between two time periods where an unsolved mystery from the earlier time period comes to light decades later and a female protagonist works to find the truth, including an unexpected connection to her own life. 

Blackberry Winter is set in Seattle, both in 1933 and 2010, and unlike her earlier books, Jio’s main focus is not on romance but instead on motherhood– though the romance is definitely still important.

In 1933, during a May 1st storm, the three-year-old son of single mother Vera vanishes; the only trace he leaves behind is his teddy bear– face down in the snow. In 2010, another unexpected May 1st snowstorm happens and Claire, a reporter covering it, discovers the story of the unsolved abduction and works to learn what really happened.

Just as The Bungalow found some unexpected characters from Jio’s debut appear, a few more show up for an important appearance in Blackberry Winter. Although each novel is absolutely a standalone, it’s nice to get to revisit favourite characters again, even if they aren’t always doing quite as well as you hoped.

The novel itself is probably Jio’s strongest so far, as her storytelling has an emotion to it that is heartbreaking regardless of if it is Vera or Claire narrating. There are some striking images, such as the teddy bear, and the theme of motherhood is especially powerful.

Jio’s transition from one time period to another is incredibly smooth and I never got confused about which story I was reading. Her writing is easy to read, but has some lovely details immerse the reader in the setting and time period. The snowy scenery makes it a perfect read winter read.

Like Jio’s first two books, Blackberry Winter certainly has some convenient coincidences in it, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of it, and even when I could mostly tell how things were going to turn it, there was a surprise or two in store.

After three novels there are certain things that can be expected of Jio, in particular a page-turning mystery that is also engaging on an emotional level, such as Blackberry Winter provides. I will certainly be picking up her fourth book, The Last Camellia, which is released on May 28th.

Release Date: November 27th 2012  Pages: 290  Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher  Publisher: Penguin Buy It: Book Depository

Orchards by Holly Thompson

Orchards is a powerful novel in verse by Holly Thompson, about the repercussions of bullying and the meaning of home. In this novel, Kana Golberg is sent away to live with her mother's family in Japan after a classmate commits suicide. During her summer in Japan, Kana works on the orange farm and is forced to reflect on the role she may have played, and what she could have done to stop the bullying. It's a simple story, but its strength is really in the setting. Thompson brings the Japanese farm to life, and deftly takes on the cultural issues felt by Kana who is half Japanese and half Jewish-American. There definitely aren't enough novels with biracial protagonists, and I thought this one did an excellent job with mentioning some of the unique issues without making it Kana's defining feature.

I thought it was really interesting how even though the novel was in verse, it was still divided up into chapters. The verse writing is excellent, and the page and line breaks are thoughtful and well-placed. It really added to some of the fragmentation of Kana's thoughts at times, and made it quick, easy, and lovely to read. The story is complimented by some illustrations, though I found them unnecessary. Thompson's words illustrated everything I needed to see.

Ultimately, I don't know why I waited so long to pick up Orchards, but as soon as I did I couldn't put it down. I devoured half the book that night before bed, and read the rest before work the next day– I just couldn't leave until I finished it. The writing was smooth and lyrical, and it was easy to form an emotional connection with Kana, even though– or maybe because– she wasn't perfect. I will definitely be recommending Orchards and I'm very excited to pick up Thompson's followup, The Language Inside when it is released in May.

Release Date: February 22nd 2011  Pages: 336  Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher  Publisher: Random House  Buy It: Book Depository

Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman

Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman is an unexpected debut novel that blurs the line between young adult and literary fiction with the story of Rory Hendrix, who lives in a Reno trailer park with her mother and is “third generation in a line of apparent imbeciles, feeble-minded bastards surely on the road to whoredom.” 

Rory happens to have a copy of the Girl Scout Handbook she's borrowed from the library and she pours over it for advice. Unfortunately, the Girl Scout connection was probably my least favourite part of the novel, it often felt forced or unnecessary to me, like Hassman thought the book needed a gimmick. With writing this strong, it certainly didn’t.

Because easily my favourite thing about Girlchild was the words. Beautiful, deep, powerful words that left an impact long after I finished reading them. Instead of chapters, the novel is divided up so that every page or so is it's own little story– which sometimes made it a bit confusing when one bit was ending and a new one was beginning as I listened to it on audiobook, but usually just meant that a scene was over before I knew it, like a quick punch to the gut before it was time for something else. Interestingly, the audiobook is actually narrated by Tupelo Hassman, and she is one of the rare authors that can actually do a fantastic job reading it, so that I definitely enjoyed listening.

Hassman's incredible writing allows her to really create a believable setting, letting the reader into this trailer park world, where kids growing up never thinking they'll amount to anything. It was both devastating and illuminating to read about. The majority of the novel wasn't things I could relate to, but somehow with Hassman's words, they felt real. That said, it wasn't pity that I felt for Rory. Instead it was laughter and pain and joy, it was something incredibly human and real.

Coming away from Girlchild I am left with two messages: one, that it's horrible that kids really do have to grow up in conditions like Rory Hendrix, and I hope we can do as much as possible to fix that, and two, that Hassman is a brilliant writer and I will absolutely be picking up whatever she writes next.

Release Date: February 14th 2012  Pages: 275  Format: Audiobook/Hardcover 
Source: Edelweiss/Publisher  Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux  Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Zoë. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @strandedhero

Shine by Lauren Myracle

Shine by Lauren Myracle is definitely one of the most powerful books I've read in 2012, if not ever, but somehow it's been waiting to be reviewed for nearly four months. I guess somewhere in there I started a PhD– but that's no excuse. This is an incredibly novel that deserves to be shared, and I'm happy I'm finally going to do that.

In Shine, sixteen-year-old Cat's former best friend Patrick is the victim of a horrible hate crime. As he's left fighting for his life, it seems the small town police in Black Creek aren't doing much to find the person responsible, because Patrick was gay.  Cat sets out to find his attacker herself, but she has her own trauma from years ago that still haunts her. Cat and Patrick's stories are intertwined in an incredibly dark novel about intolerance and secrets.

It is definitely the mystery of Shine that first pulled me in, I desperately wanted to know who Patrick's attacker(s) were. But I was kept reading by the power and strength of Myracle's writing. This is the first book I've read by her, but it definitely won't be the last. Myracle tackles real and serious issues with thoughtfulness and realism. Black Creek comes alive, and so do the people living there. They are complicated and damaged, and they don't always realize the consequences of their actions. But the reader does, and that's what makes it so painful to read.

Last year, Shine was accidentally nominated for a National Book Award, and then un-nominated (read Myracle's thoughts here). There was a lot of outrage at the time about how much Shine deserved to be on that list. Granted, I haven't read the other books on the list, but I absolutely believe Shine should have made the list. It's a novel with an important and powerful message, but instead of being preachy, it's truly about the characters. There are probably some minor faults, in particular a small romantic subplot that didn't feel necessary and often seemed awkward in the context of an otherwise profound story.

However, ultimately, Lauren Myracle has written a strong and beautiful novel that is dark and truthful with its characters and messages. Nearly four months after I read it, Shine stays with me, and I expect it will for a long time to come. Not only is this a book I highly recommend, I think it's an incredibly important addition to high school libraries and it certainly belongs on all their shelves. If you haven't picked it up, you are missing out.

Release Date: May 1st 2011  Pages: 350  Format: Hardcover 
Source: Publisher  Publisher: Abrams Buy It: Book Depository

Flock by Wendy Delsol

Note: This review contains no spoilers of Flock, but may contain spoilers of the first book in the series, Stork, a review of which can be found here and the second book, Frost, a review of which can be found here.

Flock (Stork #3) by Wendy Delsol

Release Date: September 11th 2012
Pages: 384
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Candlewick
Also by this Author: Stork (Stork #1); Frost (Stork #2)
Buy It: Book Depository

                       

I spend a lot of time complaining about how everything is a series, but sometimes I read a book with such an awesome main character that I find myself desperately grateful that the book is a series. And so it was with Stork by Wendy Delsol, the first book in a trilogy featuring the sarcastic and caring fashionista Katla. Last year the second book, Frost, came out and now it is finally time for the third and final book in the series, Flock. The result is that I went into reading Flock with mixed emotions; I didn't want this story to end, but I definitely wanted to spend more time with Katla and find out how things turned out especially after she left behind an angry ice queen wanting revenge, and a promise to give up her baby sister to the mer queen.

When Flock begins Katla is starting her senior year of high school, and all she wants is a normal year, no supernatural adventures involved. But when she shows up, two of her Icelandic friends from last year's trip are on exchange, and one of them is a mer messenger sent to make sure she fulfills her end of the deal she made. And that means handing over her infant sister Leira, the last thing Katla intends to let happen.

As I have in the previous two books, I loved Katla's zest and passion and strength as a main character. I also loved her sense of humour. Flock did a great job of tying together loose ends from the first two books, and wrapping things up for each character. I really felt like each character had their own ending, including lots of minor ones like Jaelle and Katla's dad. But I did feel like it took a very confusing and muddled road to get there.

Honestly, there was so much new myth in Flock that I found myself really lost over what was happening at times, there were spirit journeys to foreign realms and sometimes I couldn't even get to the end of a page without having to reread it and try to figure out what was going on. It really made me miss the simplicity of Stork. However, unlike Frost I at least felt like the climax and subsequent events had the chance to unfold fully and weren't rushed.

Like always, Delsol's writing was clever and fun to read, and I thought things ended in a believable way. I loved the contemporary components of Flock, but I wanted more clarity from some of the supernatural events which occasionally became muddled as I was reading. Still, I really enjoyed the Stork trilogy, and I'm certainly going to pick up whatever Delsol writes next and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these books.

The Forgetting Tree by Tatjana Soli

While I enjoyed The Forgetting Tree from page one, it is the second half of the book that I fell in love with. It is the kind of novel with a quiet start and a powerful finish.

Soli's second novel, the followup to one of my favourite books of last year The Lotus Eaters was a shock to me because I did not expect a writer who clearly puts so much thought into both research and writing to be able to publish another book so quickly. But somehow, Soli managed. The Forgetting Tree is the story of Claire, a woman diagnosed with cancer and clinging to the citrus ranch where she raised her family, and Minna, the young caregiver with a mysterious back story who may be either the worst, or the best, thing that could possibly happen to Claire.

Minna is really the controversial part of The Forgetting Tree, as much as I hated her at times, I couldn't help sympathizing with her, and recognizing that despite all the awful she was doing she still might be able to save Claire. It was an emotionally conflicting dilemma, and one that left me ultimately unsure about the definitions I wanted to give the characters. Nobody in this novel is all good or all bad. Claire might love her children, but that doesn't mean she's been a good mother. These sorts of complicated feelings are what Soli captures so well. The only unfortunate part is that it took a decent chunk of the novel for them to really come alive.

The beginning of The Forgetting Tree is beautifully written, but ultimately it is back story, not its heart. That doesn't happen until Minna arrives.

Just like Soli brought Vietnam in 1975 to life in The Lotus Eaters, California ranch life comes alive in The Forgetting Tree. Her books are clearly impeccably researched, and she has the amazing of giving enough details to truly make the reader feel like they are there, without boring them in the minutiae. I have to admit that I still prefer Soli's first novel, but the fact that her second was less consistent in its genius does not at all deter me from picking up whatever she publishes next.

Ultimately, this is a beautifully written book that is both moving, and a touch spooky. Although The Forgetting Tree had a slow start, Soli has told a complicated and powerful story that challenges the reader, and I continue to be a huge fan of her writing. I can only hope she continues to be so prolific and that another book will arrive in 2014.

Release Date: September 4th 2012  Pages: 416  Format: ARC
Source: TLC Book Tours  Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Also By This Author: The Lotus Eaters  Buy It: Book Depository

So L.A. by Bridget Hoida

Bridget Hoida's debut novel, So L.A. is a vibrant and original portrayal of the title city and what lies beneath its fake tan and rhinestone exterior. 

As a teenager, Francesca Lia Block was one of my very favourite authors, and that included her Weetzie Bat series. Honestly, So L.A. reminds me of a grown up version of Weetzie Bat. Not because of the characters specifically but because of the overall atmosphere of the story.

I'm not sure if this is the fault of a smaller scale publishing house, or just usual human error, but there were some glaring typos in So L.A., such as 'corner' instead of 'coroner' and 'he' instead of 'she' and maybe even more that I might have missed because I didn't know the word in the first place, like "Negro Modelo" which when I googled seemed to indicate pretty clearly that the alcoholic beverage is actually called "Negra Modelo". So that was definitely annoying. And yes, unfortunately I have to point these things out because they took me out of the smoggy and gritty world Hoida created and disrupted my reading experience.

But typos asides, So L.A. is a gorgeous book. The narrator, Magdalena, is fascinating. On the surface she's the perfect LA woman, but beneath it she's got a lot of issues that the reader gets to explore. I found her back story incredibly interesting when it came to her brother, and less so with some of the other aspects like her husband and the Jennifers (I won't explain that further so as not to spoil anything). 

The best thing about So L.A. is the writing. The book is divided up into tiny sections, some are only a page long, like scenes from a movie. If it were a film, it would be a film noir, dark and sharp in its details. Magdalena isn't the kind of girl you can relate to, and I didn't emotionally connect to her at all, but I still found her fascinating to read about. In So L.A. Hoida provides a glimpse into another world, one that I wouldn't want to live in but that I was happy to visit through her vivid and beautiful words.

Release Date: June 20th 2012  Pages: 384  Format: Paperback 
Source: TLC Book Tours  Publisher: Lettered Press  Buy It: Book Depository 

Y by Marjorie Celona

Y is a heartbreaking and beautifully written debut from Canadian author Marjorie Celona, and it captivated me from the first word till the very end.

It's the story of a newborn baby, abandoned at a YMCA on Vancouver island. Her name is Shannon, and her story alternates with that of her mother, a young and desperate woman named Yula, describing the events that lead up to her abandoning Shannon.

Although Shannon's life begins in a harsh and shocking way, after several years in fostercare she finally ends up in a home with Miranda and her daughter, Lydia-Rose, who is the same age as Shannon. But even as she has her first twisted taste of what a real family feels like, there is a hole in Shannon. There is always, the question– why?

Shannon wants to know the truth about her mother, and so does the reader. But Celona reveals it in a slow and tantalizing way, sharing the details so that by the time Y is finished you've learned more about the characters than you ever realized you were. More about life.

Y is a delicate and vivid story, the words flow easily and the characters are complicated and human. Often, when a story is divided into two time periods there will be some abruptness to the transition between chapters, but not with Celona's writing. There's also usually a preferred storyline– and if I had to choose, it would probably be Yula's, but I was nearly as eager to read about Shannon's self-discovery. I suppose the attraction of Yula's storyline was how instantly shocking it was, it is so hard to imagine a situation where a mother would abandon their baby like she does, and yet Celona tells that story in a genuine and touching way.

This is a novel that asks a lot of questions. Questions about what makes a person who they are, and what a home is. It does so in an unconventional way, that reminded me a little of another book I loved, Wrecker by Summer Wood. Y also offers its own unique and intriguing setting, and it was interesting to see how the island environment offered a hint of claustrophobia to Shannon's life.

Ultimately, Y is a dark and realistic novel, a compelling story from a talented and eloquent author that left me excited to see what Marjorie Celona will write next.

Release Date: August 28th 2012  Pages: 288  Format: ARC 
Source: Publisher Publisher: Penguin Canada  Buy It: Book Depository

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Release Date: September 18th 2012
Pages: 368
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Buy It: Book Depository

Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister. Kat is tired of the rumours, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person– her ex-best friend– and she's ready to make her pay. Four years ago, May left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And she's ready to prove it to him. Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they each had a taste.

Han and Vivian are two popular contemporary YA authors I've been meaning to read for ages... so when an unexpected copy of the first book in their co-written trilogy showed up in my mailbox, it was two birds with one stone.

I was really impressed by the writing in Burn for Burn, it flows smoothly and I never would have guessed there were two authors behind it instead of one. Each of main three girls is unique and interesting, and I never had to worry about getting them confused despite the multiple POVs– which is usually not my favourite. The book starts off a bit slowly, probably because it is first in a trilogy, but there was plenty of character development and back story that made it engaging to read.

At its core, even according to its title, Burn for Burn is about revenge but when it came to that aspect of the story it felt a little rushed or weak. Even though the authors told me why the girls had reason to be upset and want revenge, their emotions and the events in question were so complicated it was hard for me to really believe they wanted such hard, terrible things. Then, when it came to the execution of the revenge, it felt rushed, or not as bad as I would have expected.

That said, Burn for Burn is a rich, multi-layered story full of realistic characters whose motivations aren't always what they seem. There's a very, very slight paranormal twist to it, that honestly felt unnecessary but will probably get developed further in the next two books. Even though there are some very light romance subplots, this is definitely a story about friendship, and I felt like it captured the complexities of it really well.

The setting of Burn for Burn is also really great; everyone lives on this tiny island that's a mix of the wealthy and the not-so-wealthy, and everyone knows everyone else, which leads to some interesting conflicts. I also found the high school hierarchy authentic to read about, and it reminded me a little of Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers for that reason (especially in combination with the revenge component). 

Overall, I really enjoyed Burn for Burn and though I'm unsure if the paranormal aspect was really necessary, the writing and characters have given me plenty of motivation for picking up book 2; as well as solo novels by Han and Vivian.

The Forrests by Emily Perkins

The Forrests by Emily Perkins is definitely a novel that has me divided. Can you love the writing while failing to love the book? Because in certain moments, this was pure genius, but in others in left me grasping for something to hold onto, something to make me understand, and mostly for something to keep my attention.

It's the story of Dorothy Forrest, and despite being about 350 pages it manages to cover her entire life– and it's not a short one. But it's not just Dorothy's story, it's the entire Forrest family, transplanted from New York to New Zealand, and their complex and passionate relationships.

But because the story covers so much time, it means that a lot has to be skipped to fit it all in. Perkins' writing isn't vague, quite the opposite actually. It is flashes, snapshots, vivid and bright, but surrounded by empty space. The gap between photos– where the reader can only guess what happens. The Forrests flutters from one event to another without being clear on the passing of time, or what happened in between, and that made it difficult to follow and not the kind of book I was eager to return to once I set it down.

And that's where my conflict is. Even though there were many moments of brilliance, sometimes even an entire chapter or vignette, The Forrests is not the kind of book that left me craving more. It is definitely not a novel I would reread (though there are very few that fall into that category anyway). It's not even about the lack of plot, though readers should be prepared for that as well, and has much more to do with the lack of clarity. It wasn't just the story that puzzled me, but often the characters too. Many characters had only brief appearances but even those that were around more often weren't ones whose thoughts or motivations I could clearly grasp. The result was a book that was difficult to follow, no matter how many pages I read or how long I waited.

For the right reader, The Forrests will be breathtaking. Perkins is incredibly adept at beautiful phrases and moments, and if she wrote one, I think I'd fall in love with a short story by her because that's basically what many of the chapters were. But unfortunately lovely writing alone cannot sustain an entire novel, and as a result The Forrests left me wanting more from the characters and the story than Perkins provided.

Release Date: August 7th 2012  Pages: 352  Format: ARC 
Source: TLC Book Tours Publisher: Bloomsbury USA  Buy It: Book Depository

And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman was really the first author I read who convinced me I could love a mystery– back in 2010 when I first read her novel, I'd Know You Anywhere. Later, I picked up her short The Girl in the Green Raincoat which is a part of the Tess Monaghan series, which I also enjoyed (though admittedly not quite as much). Still, Lippman is in top form in And When She Was Good another standalone mystery with the same strong writing, intriguing plot, and, in this case an especially smart story.

And When She Was Good is the story of Hector Lewis, a mother who affords her comfortable lifestyle by running an illegal escort business. Hector hasn't had an easy life, but more than anything she wants one for her son. But with everything she's worked so hard for in jeopardy, it may cost Hector more than she ever imagined just to keep her secrets.

Hector isn't the most likable main character. She's complicated, and I loved the back and forth chapters between the present and the past that show where Hector came from and what's she's overcome. If I'd just been introduced to her without them, or if they'd been told as somebody reflecting back instead of somebody experiencing them firsthand, it would have been hard to emotionally connect to her. Instead, as a reader I was able to understand Hector better, having gone through her experiences with her. She's had a hard life, and the result is a hard– but strong– lady. What she also is, is smart. And I found that, in combination with Lippman's skilled writing, to be incredibly refreshing. Of the three books of hers I've read, And When She Was Good was definitely the least "easy" to read. Lippman doesn't just use prostitution as a shocking plot device, she provides real background and research, as well as asking interesting questions and bringing up political issues I did not expect.

Where And When She Was Good was weaker than I'd Know You Anywhere was the plot. It was incredibly predictable, and took a long time to really get started, probably because the book was weighed down by the more intellectual component of it– which I enjoyed, but still, I was expecting more thrill from this thriller. In that sense, I'd call this a literary thriller. And When She Was Good is a great book for readers wanting a little more depth, I just also wanted a few more twists and turns. Overall, though, I loved Lippman's writing, her complicated characters, and her original storyline. I might still not be much of a mystery reader, but for Lippman, I'll definitely be returning to this genre again. 

Release Date: August 14th 2012  Pages: 320  Format: ARC

Also By This Author: I'd Know You Anywhere; The Girl in the Green Raincoat
Source: TLC Book Tours  Publisher: William Morrow  Buy It: Book Depository

Coming to That: Poems by Dorothea Tanning

Coming to That: Poems is the second collection by Dorothea Tanning, an American artist who passed away only a few months later on January 31st, 2012 at 101 years-old. It's not only the first book by Tanning I've read, picking it up was also the first time I had heard of her. So reading Coming to That was this wonderful kind of double discovery, not only was the writing beautiful, but I also managed to stumble across an incredibly talented artist.

The very first poem in Coming to That, "Free Ride", was definitely one of my very favourites. It was short and evocative and sharp, telling a tiny story in at the same time. In fact, many of Tanning's poems tell stories, like "The Only Thing" about a wild girl gone tame: "Once in a blue / moon she would close her eyes and see // again what a million years ago / had been, for her, the right / and wild thing, the only thing."

In another one of my favourites, "No Snow", a long-awaited snowfall finally happens. Even "Interval with Kook" or "At the Seaside" which veers much more into the strange and unusual– which Tanning sometimes does, with things like halos and talking dogs– are still, at their core, stories.

Another one of my very favourite poems was "Woman Waving to Trees". One stanza reads:

"One thing I can tell you:
they are beautiful
and they know it.
They are also tired,
hundreds of years stuck in one spot—
beautiful paralytics."

It is the sort of poem that I could imagine Tanning painting, even before I knew what her paintings looked like. Afterwards, when I was done reading the collection, I looked them up and it was exactly right.

That said, Coming to That wasn't a collection that totally blew me away. Like many poetry collections, it was quite short, and within it were several poems I loved. But mostly there were good poems, with nice images, but not the kind I would go back and read again and again, not the kind to make me fall in love. Nothing was bad, but some were quite simple, and maybe more story than poem, more snapshot than painting. There are also times the poems go in quite strange directions, but it wasn't usually the kind of really wonderful wacky weird– like Buffy Cram's stories, for example– that blew me away. It was more the shoulder-shrugging-okay-weird.

Ultimately, Coming to That was a good collection filled with the occasional great poem. I would definitely be interested in picking up further work by Tanning, and although she won't be publishing anything else, it reassures me to know she had a long and productive life. In homage, I'm going to end with one of my favourite stanzas from the collection, coming from the poem "For Instance". 

"As everyone knows
dreams come true?
But you have to
dream them first."

Release Date: September 13th 2011  Pages: 72  Format: Paperback 
Source: D&M Publishers Publisher: Graywolf Press  Buy It: Book Depository

Waking Storms by Sarah Porter

Note: This review contains no spoilers of Waking Storms, but may contain spoilers of the first book in the series, Lost Voices, a review of which can be found here.

I really loved the dark beauty of Sarah Porter's debut novel, Lost Voices, so I was incredibly excited to delve into the sequel, Waking Storms. It picks up with Luce living on her own, having abandoned the murderous group of mermaids she was once a part of. It's a life of solitude she's content with, until the boy she saved– breaking the most important mermaid rule– comes back into her life. Dorian should hate Luce, she was responsible for the death of his family, but there is a deep sadness that connects them, even if being together means risking everything, including their lives.

Porter's writing is just as beautiful in Waking Storms as I remembered– especially her description of the haunting mermaid songs. Interestingly, there are a few chapters that follow Dorian in his life without Luce, which helped emphasize how big a risk the both of them were taking and made the potential consequences of their actions even more clear. At first, I really did love the story between Luce and Dorian; it was the ultimate star-crossed lovers. But as time passed, I grew weary of Dorian. He becomes so possessive of Luce, so unaware of her feelings, that it made me not really want them to be together at all.

In opposition to Dorian, Luce actually grows a lot as a character throughout Waking Storms. It was amazing to see her begin to embrace her powers, and start to realize exactly what it means to her to be a mermaid. I think she gained a lot more confidence, and that was reflected in the way she interacted with others and made me really root for her to figure things out. There's a minor storyline involving Luce spending time on a remote island, and it honestly wasn't my favourite. I think because the subplot spends so long going on, the the point of dragging, when what I really cared about– the conflicts among mermaids– gets forced to the back burner. I especially hope there will be more about that in the third and final book, The Twice Lost, because I did miss it in Waking Storms. Unlike Lost Voices, this is a book that is less about mermaid drama and more about Luce's romance.

There are some interesting new characters introduced in Waking Storms and they are just as authentic as the ones returning from the previous book. Porter does a fantastic job of creating characters that are flawed but with an emotional core that makes them feel real, even if the reader disagrees with their actions. Overall, I really enjoyed Waking Storms and although I preferred the mermaid-centric conflict to the romance, Porter's beautiful writing has once again blown me away and I will certainly be picking up The Twice Lost in 2013.

Release Date: July 3rd 2012  Pages: 400  Format: Hardcover
Source: Thomas Allen & Son Ltd  Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 
Also By This Author: Lost Voices (Lost Voices #1)  Buy It: Book Depository

The Storytelling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall

Even though I love the enriching aspect of non-fiction, I don't read a lot of it. My excuse for that is the amount of non-fiction reading I have to do in my "real" life as a science grad student. But when a particularly interesting-sounding title catches my eye, like The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human by Jonathan Gottschall did, I have to pick it up. And in the end, especially as a reader and lover of stories, I found it incredibly interesting.

The Storytelling Animal is a multidimensional account of the many ways that we use stories, the many reasons why we may have them, the history and development of storytelling, and even some of the science and neurobiology between what stories do to our brains. It's a huge mix of things, and though I did find Gottschall's writing a little scattered at times, overall he did a pretty good job of following a logical sequence. In a way, he told his own story. Gottschall points out that the non-fiction we most love tends to borrow from storytelling, things like memoirs or the way that when watching sports there is always a backstory or rivalry. It's never just about the facts or the game. 

Complimenting The Storytelling Animal are a bunch of black and white photos, that were sometimes interesting but often felt unnecessary. It does help to break up the text, but I wasn't reading the book for the pictures and having a photo of Gottschall's daughters playing dress-up in order to demonstrate the creativity of children just felt pointless. In fact, there were a lot of references to his children throughout the book, and I assume that is the author's way of making the story more personal– of making it more of a story, since his book clearly explains that is what people would rather read. The personal anecdotes were cute, but as a reader I tend to prefer more real-world type examples from history and less from the author's own life.

As a whole, however, The Storytelling Animal is incredibly fascinating. It begins to answer so many questions that I'd never even thought about, and showed how important a role story plays in our everyday lives. How each of us, when we talk about ourselves, is also telling our own story, creating it in our brains as we live– emphasizing certain details, forgetting others. It's really interesting to think about, and Gottschall does a great job of triggering those thoughts.

Something I really found interesting, as somebody who loves writing, was the dissection of what makes a good story really interesting. Really, my major problem with the book is that it sometimes went off on tangents, before coming back to what had been in the middle of being discussed, in a way that was difficult to follow. Even if I wished for a slightly clearer narrative, I really appreciated The Storytelling Animal as what Gottschall has written is both unique and incredibly interesting. This is a perfect book for readers, those ultimate story lovers, but at the same time as Gottschall so aptly points out– each of us is a story lover in our own way.

Release Date: April 10th 2012  Pages: 272  Format: Hardcover 
Source: Thomas Allen & Son Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Buy It: Book Depository

What I Did by Christopher Wakling

What I Did by Christopher Wakling is not an easy novel to read, both emotionally– it's an upsetting story, and literally– it's written in the voice of a six year-old boy.

When Billy runs away from his dad, and right into traffic, his dad impulsively spanks him; and those events will change their lives forever. A woman sees Billy's father, and reports him.

In Billy's words: 
"This is a story about a terrible thing which happens to me. I have to warn you that nobody is bad or good here, or rather everyone is a bit bad and a bit good and the bad and the good moluscules get mixed up against each other and produce terrible chemical reactions."

That quote from the very beginning of What I Did is the best way to share what reading this book is like. It's most easily compared to novels like Room by Emma Donoghue, or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon because of the unique and young voice of the story, despite most definitely being an adult novel. Like both Donoghue and Haddon's narrators though, I found Billy to be an incredibly smart child for his age. However, at the same time, Billy was also insanely clueless about other things, to the point that I definitely wonder if he was supposed to have some Asperger type tendencies that made it difficult for him to pick up on social cues. Of course, I haven't been in the mind of a six-year-old in a long time– so maybe this is what the average child would do, but I doubt it.

At times, I actually preferred Billy's voice to Jack's in Room. The major reason for that is because Billy absolutely adores David Attenborough and animals and nature documentaries. And I just loved all the animal metaphors and connections, all the random facts. This is also what makes the North American cover a billion times better than the UK one, in my opinion. It also reminded me of those passionate, focused, interests that we have as kids when it seems like there's really only one thing in the world that matters. The only issue with this is that Billy often gets distracted from what's actually going on in What I Did by side stories or memories that mean that the pace of the novel is really slow. 

The narrator of What I Did is only one of the components of the novel ready to be discussed. There's also the entire incident that sets off this series of events. Because while the reader is there from the beginning, and knows what led Billy's father to spank him, nobody else is besides the two of them. In a way, it's like a terrible game of broken telephone. But it would also be a great novel for reading groups because I'm sure everyone would have a different opinion about if Billy's father should have spanked him. Obviously, if he'd know what was going to come next, he never would have.

What I Did is an incredibly scary story. It doesn't have gore or zombies or anything supernatural– it's quietly horrifying. I'm not even a parent, but it's the sort of story that, like See You at Harry's by Jo Knowles, is definitely a worst nightmare scenario. And, because of the pace of the novel, it's really like watching a car crash in slow motion. The fact that it emotionally tears the reader apart like that is completely due to Wakling's skilled writing. The story is told from Billy's perspective, and it's clear he doesn't know what's going on, and doesn't know what kind of impact his words are having. But reading the book, you do, and that's what makes it so heart-breaking.

When I finished reading What I Did, I was honestly very conflicted. I really loved the novel in small doses, but as a whole I found it slow and had a hard time digesting some of the misunderstandings that take place. I really just wanted to shake the pages and get the characters to talk to each other... but that didn't exactly help. I did love how, exactly as Billy promises, none of the characters are good or bad. Billy's father is in a terrible situation, but he also makes it worse for himself. Ultimately, What I Did is flawed and complicated, but so are its characters, and that's what makes Wakling's novel such a great source of discussion.

Release Date: July 17th 2012  Pages: 288  Format: ARC
Source: TLC Book Tours  Publisher: William Morrow  Buy It: Book Depository

Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann

Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann is the kind of book that's hard to explain and easy to recommend, by which I mean: complex, riveting, and beautiful written.

The story takes place in the United States, mainly at Tiger House which is located in Martha's Vineyard, beginning at the end of World War II and spanning several decades. When it starts, Nick and her cousin Helena– who are more like sisters, really– are parting ways as they go off to their husbands. Helena is off to Hollywood with a new husband, a man obsessed with another woman, while Nick is reunited with her husband, Hughes, who has just returned from the war, distant and cold and maybe with a secret of his own.

A decade and a half later, Nick and Helena return to Tiger House, a family home owned by Nick, joined by their children, Daisy and Ed. But the visit goes awry when the two kids discover a body that was brutally murdered and the violent crime will change all of their lives forever. 

Tigers in Red Weather is  actually divided into five perspectives: Nick, Daisy, Helena, Hughes, and Ed. It's the kind of thing I hate–too confusing and you never really get to know anyone– but Klaussmann makes it work because even when it's from another character's viewpoint the reader is constantly learning about the other key characters anyway. Plus, because 4 of the 5 perspectives are from the third person, the writing remains similar between them and provides a kind of continuity. While most events are unique, there are a couple key ones that appear in more than one of the narratives and allow the chance for the reader to see what different characters were thinking at the same moments. I especially loved that the fifth and final perspective was first person, as it just suited the narrative perfectly. Klaussmann definitely knows what she is doing!

Of course the most remarkable thing about Tigers in Red Weather is the writing, which is absolutely gorgeous. Each sentence is perfectly crafted, and the flow of them together is just lyrical. As a result of Klaussmann's skilled writing, each character is rich and well-developed, with just enough strangeness and cruelty to make them both interesting and believable. The relationships between the characters, especially Nick and Helena, was also complex. It was clear that they both loved each other, but there was also a lot of tension involved because of Helena and her jealousy of Nick, especially when it came to money, and that had some unexpected repercussions.

Although Tigers in Red Weather is definitely a literary novel, it also had an eery edge of mystery mixed into the story that I loved. Some literary novels may have beautiful writing, but Klaussmann combines that with an incredibly compelling story and plot, so that I was definitely turning the pages wanting to know what happened next and how things fit together. The ending was one hundred percent not what I expected, but it was also absolutely perfect and creepy. In fact, the entire novel was just as rewarding from page one right till the very ending, everything tied together by Klaussmann's beautiful writing and storytelling skill. Tigers in Red Weather may be Klaussmann's debut but it is absolutely not the last novel by her I will be reading.

Release Date: July 17th 2012  Pages: 368  Format: Hardcover 
Source: Publisher Publisher: Random House Canada  Buy It: Book Depository

The Girl Who Could Silence The Wind by Meg Medina

A very unique and powerful story, I have definitely never read anything like Meg Medina's debut novel, The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind.

The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind is the story of sixteen-year-old Sonia, a girl who spends her time praying for the sick and the missing in her small village– not thinking about boys or even her own future. It's all because of when she was born, on the night of a terrible storm that stopped after her birth. Now everyone thinks she has magical powers, but Sonia knows the truth: she's a fake. Desperate to escape the guilt of her conscience and the knowledge that she has no special powers, Sonia travels to the city to work for a wealthy woman. At first, the difficult job is the escape she's always dreamed of, but then her brother goes missing while looking for work himself. Now, magical powers or not, Sonia has to do everything she can to save him.

One of my favourite things about The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind was Sonia, I just really connected with her. Even though I've never even been to the type of village she was from, let alone lived there, I think that most people have felt the kind of pressure she is under– the fear that everyone has faith in you for a false reason, the doubt that you can live up to their exceptions, that feeling of not being what you are supposed to be (and what everyone else thinks you are). That kind of emotion is universal, and Medina captures it with perfect clarity. Still, despite her fears, or maybe because of them– Sonia is a strong woman facing incredible odds and it is really emotional to read about her journey.

It's not just Sonia's story that is emotional though, it's the whole book. The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind is rich and developed even though it's not that long I felt like it was just full of story and life. Each of the characters is struggling in their own way, and the end result is absolutely heart-breaking. I especially loved the relationships between Sonia and her brother, and Sonia and her friend from school, Pancho. Medina's writing was just perfect for this story, and the ending was so realistic it hurt. Overall, The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind is a story of hope and love, one that is beautifully written and richly rewarding that in the end Medina leaves the reader emotionally changed by her words in the way that the best authors do. 

Release Date: March 13th 2012  Pages: 256  Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher  Publisher: Candlewick  Buy It: Book Depository

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

I really enjoyed Jay Asher's debut novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, when I read it (although in retrospect the concerns I had have increased) and so I was definitely was interested in picking up his second book when it was finally released. It turned out to be a co-written novel with another well-loved author but one I've never read anything by in the past, Carolyn Mackler.  

The Future of Us takes place in 1996, when neighbours and former best friends Josh and Emma discover Facebook on the computer. The only thing is... Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And the profile pages they're logged onto are their own, fifteen years in the future. As Josh and Emma see their actions ripple across their future, reflected in their profile pages, they're forced to come to terms with their present, and their relationship.

This was a really charming story with a unique spin on time travel that was never really explained. The scientist in me really wanted to know why Emma and Josh had access to this page. Despite not knowing the why or the how of the events, the repercussions of having access to a future self's profile page were actually quite interesting and examined well. I appreciated that not every change in the present had a direct correlation to a future self, sometimes things– like the future children they'd have– were just altered by moments too tiny to quantify.

What made The Future of Us so charming to me was its nostalgia. I was only a kid in 1996, but I still have some memories from that era. I remember using dial-up internet, and when cell phones were something special and people still made mix-tapes. So it was a lot of fun reading about a time when that was the norm. I'm uncertain if it would have the same charm to a younger reader though, somebody without any memories of that time. In that way, it's more like historical fiction, but just a little weird because it's not that historical, and even calling it that makes me feel old!

The only thing The Future of Us really lacked was the kind of suspense and tension that characterized Thirteen Reasons Why, and I was therefore pretty surprised to realize that the story just didn't have the intensity I hoped for. With really exciting stories I'll pick up an audiobook and end up finishing with a hard copy when I find they are taking too long, but I didn't have that problem with this one and managed to listen to the whole thing. I think because the only way the reader really saw the repercussions of the characters' actions were through their profile page, they didn't have the same immediacy to them they usually would. I also thought that some of the secondary characters, like Josh's brother and Josh and Emma's mutual friends, were a little flat.

I enjoyed both the male and female perspectives, or Asher and Mackler's writing, in The Future of Us. I felt like both characters were authentic and dimensional, and I liked how Emma was the one afraid of commitment and Josh was the romantic instead of the stereotypical reverse. The audiobook narrators were also really good. Ultimately, The Future of Us was a fun and endearing book, filled with nostalgia and cute moments that charmed me but just lacking enough excitement and depth to make it really memorable.

Release Date: November 21st 2011  Pages: 356  Format: Audiobook / Hardcover
Source: Borrowed / Publisher  Publisher: Penguin Canada
Also By This Author: Thirteen Reasons Why (Asher) Buy It: Book Depository

All These Lives by Sarah Wylie

All These Lives by Sarah Wylie

Release Date: June 5th 2012
Pages: 245
Format: Hardcover
Source: D&M Publishers
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Buy It: Book Depository

Sixteen-year-old Dani is convinced she has nine lives. As a child she twice walked away from situations where she should have died. But Dani’s twin, Jena, isn’t so lucky. She has cancer and might not even be able to keep her one life. Dani’s father is in denial. Her mother is trying to hold it together and prove everything’s normal. And Jena is wasting away. To cope, Dani sets out to rid herself of all her extra lives. Maybe they’ll be released into the universe and someone who wants to live more than she does will get one. Someone like Jena.

The first thing I must mention about All These Lives is how incredibly, breathtakingly, beautifully written Sarah Wylie's debut is. It's in the voice of the characters and the perfect little moments. It's in statements likes this:

 “Most people think the biggest sacrifice, the greatest act of love you can give is to die for someone. And probably it is. But sometimes it is the opposite. The biggest thing you can do for someone is to live.”

That just perfectly capture what the story is about.

Dani's voice is full of sarcasm and bite and heartbreak. She's funny and mean. She's real. And as a main character, as a narrator, I just loved her. However, while she is only sixteen, sometimes Dani came across as even younger, childish even. Part of it was the huge personality change she has apparently undergone in response to her sister's disease, but mostly it was in the way she whines and sometimes speaks. One example is:

"It's an icky word. Why couldn't whoever was in charge of naming things call cancer "sugar" and sugar, "cancer"? People might not eat so much of the stuff then. And it's so much more pleasant to die of sugar."

It just sounded like the kind of comment I'd expect to hear from a kid, not a teenager.

On the surface, All These Lives is a "cancer book", but what makes it so remarkable is the fact that it's not really about cancer. It's about love and family and those moments when somebody is hurting and you feel totally helpless. It's about sisters, in the same powerful and beautifully written way that Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma is.

My biggest problem with the novel was how muddled it got near the ending. The result was that the ending felt pretty abrupt, and I was confused about what had actually happened which was kinda annoying. Despite the lack of resolution it provided, what made me fall in love with  All These Lives was the snarky and strong voice of Dani and the lyrical beauty of Wylie's writing. I'll definitely be picking up her second novel.

As a completely irrelevant but interesting to me sidenote: Wylie actually graduated from the same University I did my biology masters at the year before me in neuroscience. Yay for science-loving Canadian writers.

Struck by Jennfer Bosworth

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth
 
Release Date: April 26th 2012
Pages: 373
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR
Buy It: Book Depository

Mia Price is a lightning addict. She's survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her. Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.

I'm conflicted over Struck, there were some parts I really enjoyed, but a few aspects that didn't quite work and left me wanting a little more from the novel as a whole. In particular, sometimes there is some absurd statements, like a really intense moment right near the climax and Mia is rushing to get somewhere, and she says "This was one instance when it would not do to arrive fashionably late for the party." and it just seemed so out of her voice and character, as well as the story context. This sort of thing happened a few times, like another part that quoted (without credit) the factually inaccurate The Dark Knight saying, "Fear not, for it is always darkest before the dawn. At this moment, things are very dark, in the world at large, but especially here, in the so-called City of Angels."

But even though there were moments that jarred me out of Bosworth's world, those moments when I was one hundred in it were far more frequent. Specifically, I loved the premise of this book, I love the reality that Bosworth has created, the creepiness of these cults and the world on the brink of destruction and the lightning that strikes through it all. Struck is the kind of book that simmers beneath the surface, and when everything finally explodes it is just wow.

As a main character, I really appreciated Mia. She has this physical manifestation of everything she's been through, she's covered in lightning scars, and it gives a unique and intriguing element to her personality. She's also just really strong, she feels an obligation to take care of her family– since her dad is dead and her mom is completely useless. There's a backstory to her mom that makes her actions more understandable but there were definitely still times I wanted to shake her and wake her up.... then again, I think Mia did too!

It took awhile for me to get involved in Bosworth's world, because the background to her story is extreme– definitely relies on some suspension of belief– and not instantly clear, but when I did I found myself in for a really exciting experience. I do wish that it had been more clearly set out from the start, and that some of the phrasing in the book had been rethought. However, ultimately, Struck is an incredibly unique and thrilling book with a strong but realistic main character and a premise that is unlike anything I had ever read before.