Hell of a Book, By Jason Mott ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Bullying, Humor, Metafiction, Police Shootings, Publishing Industry, Racism

Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: June 29th, 2021

336 Pages

Synopsis: In Hell of a Book, an African-American author sets out on a cross-country book tour to promote his bestselling novel. That storyline drives Hell of a Book and is the scaffolding of something larger and more urgent: since his novel also tells the story of Soot, a young Black boy living in a rural town in the recent past, and The Kid, a possibly imaginary child who appears to the author on his tour.

Throughout, these characters’ stories build and build and as they converge, they astonish. For while this heartbreaking and magical book entertains and is at once about family, love of parents and children, art and money, there always is the tragic story of a police shooting playing over and over on the news.

Who has been killed? Who is The Kid? Will the author finish his book tour and what kind of a world will he leave behind? Unforgettably powerful, an electrifying high-wire act, ideal for book clubs, and the book Mott says he has been writing in his head for ten years, Hell of a Book, in its final twists truly becomes its title. (Goodreads)

Hell of a Book definitely lives up to its title! I started this Tuesday night before bed, thinking I’d get a few chapters in and before I knew it, it was 2:30 in the morning! This is metafiction at its best. Mott’s characters: an unnamed African-American author who’s on a book tour to promote his bestselling novel, Hell of a Book, and a young ten-year-old Black boy known only as The Kid, who may or may not be a figment of the author’s imagination, and young Soot, bullied unmercifully because of the darkness of his skin. There’s obviously a connection between them, but it’s quite a journey to get to what that is. To be honest it’s difficult to go further into the story without giving anything away. I will warn you that it explores quite a few themes that certain readers may have trouble with including: bullying, racism, and police shootings. There are some flashes of humor, especially regarding the publishing industry, but for the most part this is a reminder that we live in a country where people are judged by the color of their skin and Black families have to sit down with their children and have The Talk, to explain how to react if they’re stopped by police. It truly is a quirky, at times perplexing, yet always thought-provoking read that is perfect for book groups and upper high school and college literature classes. I guarantee that if you try Hell of a Book, you won’t soon forget it!

Malice, By Heather Walter ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Abuse, Bullying, Fairytale Retellings, LGBTQ Relationships, Mystery, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: April 13th, 2020

496 Pages

Synopsis: Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who, in an act of vengeance, cursed a line of princesses to die. A curse that could only be broken by true love’s kiss.

You’ve heard this before, haven’t you? The handsome prince. The happily-ever-after.

Utter nonsense.

Let me tell you, no one in Briar really cares about what happens to their princesses. Not the way they care about their jewels and elaborate parties and charm-granting elixirs. I thought I didn’t care either.

Until I met her.

Princess Aurora. The last heir to Briar’s throne. Kind. Gracious. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn’t bothered that I am Alyce, the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark that runs in my veins. Humiliated and shamed by the same nobles who pay me to bottle hexes and then brand me a monster. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she…cares for me. Even though it was a power like mine that was responsible for her curse.

But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftly disintegrating—and she can’t stand to kiss yet another insipid prince. I want to help her. If my power began her curse, perhaps it’s what can lift it. Perhaps, together, we could forge a new world.

Nonsense again.

Because we all know how this story ends, don’t we? Aurora is the beautiful princess. And I—

I am the villain.

Malice is a master class in how to create a fairytale retelling. With her debut novel, Heather Walter has taken the beloved tale of Sleeping Beauty and embroidered it with gorgeous and unique embellishments that drew me in immediately from the first chapter and didn’t release me for hours after I finished. You all know how I endeavor not to include any spoilers in my reviews if I can help it, and I’m even more determined in this case because this is a tale you need to experience on your own with no preconceived notions or expectations. It’s both character-driven and plot-driven, with each perfectly complementing the other. This first book mainly concentrates on Alyce, and how she and her dark magic become a force to be reckoned with. While her relationship with Princess Aurora plays a role in who she becomes, their romance doesn’t truly factor in until the latter half of the book. I do warn that there’s a pretty passionate scene between Alyce and Aurora, so this is definitely not for younger YAs. A few of the secondary characters are molded from familiar characters, both from the original story and the Disney adaptation, but they all take on completely original characteristics of their own. The world building is visually detailed and helps bring the kingdom of Briar to life. While there’s not a lot of action in the first part of the book, I was so enthralled with Briar, its history and inhabitants, that I didn’t mind at all. The final few chapters though fairly explode, and the climactic ending has left me impatient for the sequel in this planned duology. I HIGHLY recommend this for older teens and adults who are looking for diverse fairytales with complex characters, rich world building, and engrossing storytelling. 

The Loop, by Jeremy Robert Johnson ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Bullying, Diversity, Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 29th, 2020

320 Pages

Synopsis: Stranger Things meets World War Z in this heart-racing conspiracy thriller as a lonely young woman teams up with a group of fellow outcasts to survive the night in a town overcome by a science experiment gone wrong.

Turner Falls is a small tourist town, nestled in the hills of western Oregon, the kind of town you escape to for vacation. When an inexplicable outbreak rapidly develops, this idyllic town becomes the epicenter of an epidemic of violence as the teenage children of several executives from the local biotech firm become ill and aggressively murderous. Suddenly the town is on edge, and Lucy and her friends must do everything it takes just to fight through the night.

The Loop isn’t simply a Stranger Things/World War Z knockoff. No. Jeremy Robert Johnson has taken the whole teen misfits and zombie tropes, and spun it into something completely unique. This upcoming sci-fi/horror throws in: biological warfare, government overreach, conspiracies, social stigmas, greed and hubris, depraved indifference, aliens… You name it, it’s in here. But instead of devolving into a mess like many stories with a multitude of ingredients, Johnson skillfully blends everything into a compelling narrative that will immediately draw you in from the very first page.

Lucy is at turns vulnerable, yet badass, and readers will root for her. While her backstory is tragic, she refuses to let it define her. Bucket and Brewer as her sidekicks, provide a bit of intermittent comic relief which is needed because the events that unfold mainly over one night are utterly brutal and difficult to read at times.

While the first 25% of the book is spent more on setting up the characters and their backgrounds, by no means is it boring. Thanks to the interesting personalities and snappy dialogue, this serves as a chance to connect with them before all hell breaks loose. The pace quickly kicks into a non-stop, pulse-pounding, frenetic sequence of events that makes it nearly impossible to put this down. I devoured this in just over two hours! The ending is no happily-ever-after, but it’s the only rational outcome.

The Loop is not going to be for everyone. It’s filled with graphic violence and a few scenes had me wincing. And not all the questions raised are answered. Rather, the author leaves a few things up to the reader’s imagination. Because of the savagely gory nature of this tale, I would not recommend this to anyone under the age of sixteen. Otherwise, if you’re a fan of hardcore sci-fi horror, like Stephen King’s The Cell, and things like the Alien movies don’t faze you, I HIGHLY recommend The Loop. Just don’t expect to be able to sleep immediately after you finish!

 

Give a Boy a Gun: 20th Anniversary Edition, by Todd Strasser ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Bullying, Mental Health, School Shootings, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Schuster Books for Young Children for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: May 12th, 2020

176 Pages

Synopsis: In this 20th anniversary edition of Todd Strasser’s gut-wrenching and critically acclaimed Give a Boy a Gun, two boys bring guns to school in search of revenge against their classmates.

For as long as they can remember, Brendan and Gary have been mercilessly teased and harassed by the jocks that rule Middletown High. But not anymore. Stealing a small arsenal of guns from a neighbor, they take their classmates hostage at a school dance. In the panic of this desperate situation, it soon becomes clear that only one thing matters to Brendan and Gary: revenge.

This special 20th anniversary edition includes updated back matter and statistics on school shootings—a topic that is now more relevant than ever.

Give a Boy a Gun was written twenty years ago, yet tragically retains all of its relevance today. The first book about a school shooting written in the aftermath of the Columbine mass shooting on April 20, 1999, it shares a few similarities to the events that unfolded there, although Todd Strasser actually began researching the subject earlier.

The novel is in epistolary format and the majority of it is told through transcribed interviews with parents, teachers, and students that Gary’s stepsister Denise compiles three years after Brendan’s and Gary’s attack on their tormentors and the adults who failed to protect them. Through the eyes of several characters, the reader sees what precipitates their violent rampage, as well as the bloody night of revenge itself. Included are the two 10th graders’ suicide notes which added an additional chilling and disturbing layer.

There are a few things that prevents this from being a perfect read. First, while seeing the viewpoints of so many characters in a book thats under 200 pages long, is informative, it doesn’t allow you to really connect with anyone. The characters are also extremely stereotypical, with the football players being the one-dimensional bullies. I also would have somehow liked to have delved more deeply into the psyches of Brendan and Gary, but there just wasn’t time. What I found the most interesting were the various teachers’ attitudes toward the bullying going on right in front of them. The football coach who tacitly encourages it, the teacher who sees it as typical “boys will be boys,” and another who sees it as a problem but doesn’t know what to do to end it. And finally, I read the Kindle version of this which shares updated gun violence examples and statistics all the way up to 2019. While these are enlightening, inserting them at intervals throughout the story, rather than at the end is jarring and disruptive.

If You Give a Boy a Gun is a flawed yet earnest and well-meaning look at gun violence in America, as well as the social and psychological effects of daily bullying on vulnerable teens. It’s raw, unflinching, and brutally graphic, so I’d recommend this for ages 15+. I believe it’s a worthy addition to any discussion regarding this ongoing problem.

The Boy From the Woods, by Harlan Coben ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Bullying, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: March 17th, 2020

384 Pages

Synopsis: The man known as Wilde is a mystery to everyone, including himself. Decades ago, he was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past. After the police concluded an exhaustive search for the child’s family, which was never found, he was turned over to the foster system.

Now, thirty years later, Wilde still doesn’t know where he comes from, and he’s back living in the woods on the outskirts of town, content to be an outcast, comfortable only outdoors, preferably alone, and with few connections to other people.

When a local girl goes missing, famous TV lawyer, Hester Crimstein—with whom Wilde shares a tragic connection—asks him to use his unique skills to find her. Meanwhile, a group of ex-military security experts arrive in town, and when another teen disappears, the case’s impact expands far beyond the borders of the peaceful suburb. Wilde must return to the community where he has never fit in, and where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions…secrets that Wilde must uncover before it’s too late.

The last couple of weeks I’ve had a bumpy road in regards to good reading, so it was with great anticipation that I turned to one of my go-to authors, Harlan Coben. And I’m happy to say that with The Boy From the Woods, he once again delivers a picture perfect suspense tale.

If you’re a longtime reader of Coben, you’ll have noticed that while most of his books are standalones (except for his Myron Bolitar) series, there are commonly cross references to events and characters between his books. Here, Hester Crimstein, a sassy 70-year-old defense attorney who answers her phone “Articulate,” and has appeared in previous stories, gets a well-deserved starring role. And teaming her up with an enigmatic introvert with quite the mysterious background like Wilde is a study in how to write perfectly compelling characters who readers will instantly love. I absolutely loved, Loved, LOVED the scenes and dialogue with these two, and they make wonderful foils for each other. The secondary characters are intriguing and I was kept guessing as to who was or wasn’t a villain and what everyone’s motivations were.

The story unfolded at a fast pace and contained several twists right up until the end. I’m thinking (hoping) that this is just the first book featuring Crimstein and Wilde. If you’re a fan of Coben, The Boy From the Woods will serve as confirmation as to why you excitedly look forward to each new release of his. If you haven’t tried one of his books, but you like twisty suspense with quirky characters, well, what are you waiting for?

Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe, by Preston Norton ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Bullying, Child Abuse, Contemporary Fiction, Drug Abuse, High School, Homophobia, Humor, Religious Fanaticism, Suicide, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: June 5th, 2018

400 Pages

Synopsis: Cliff Hubbard is a huge loser. Literally. His nickname at Happy Valley High School is Neanderthal because he’s so enormous—-6’6” and 250 pounds to be exact. He has no one at school and life at his trailer park home has gone from bad to worse since his older brother’s suicide.

There’s no one Cliff hates more than the nauseatingly cool quarterback, Aaron Zimmerman. Then Aaron returns to school after a near-death experience with a bizarre claim: while he was unconscious he saw God, who gave him a list of things to do to make Happy Valley High suck less. And God said there’s only one person who can help: Neanderthal.

To his own surprise, Cliff says he’s in. As he and Aaron make their way through the List, which involves a vindictive English teacher, a mysterious computer hacker, a decidedly unchristian cult of Jesus Teens, the local drug dealers, and the meanest bully at HVHS—-Cliff feels like he’s part of something for the first time since losing his brother. But fixing a broken school isn’t as simple as it seems, and just when Cliff thinks they’ve completed the List, he realizes their mission hits closer to home than he ever imagined.

Neanderthal Opens the Door To The Universe is one of those books that took me by surprise in regards to how much I liked it. While some of the dialogue is a little awkward and it’s intentionally filled with high school cliches, because of the well-rounded and relatable characters, interesting plot, and positive message, it has a certain charm to it that I think will appeal to a wide audience. The story tackles many social issues: suicide, drug abuse, religious fanaticism, homophobia, bullying, and child abuse. But it never devolves into an annoying after school special/soap opera. This is partly due to the dry humor that pervades the story, but also because the darker themes are balanced by the inspiring responses from the teenage characters.

In the end, Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe is quite uplifting and it’s a story I won’t forget anytime soon. Because of the colorful language involved and dark topics, I wouldn’t recommend this for older teens. I think it’s a wonderful choice for high school classrooms, forthcoming summer reading lists, and book discussion groups.

Protected, by Claire Zorn ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Australia, Bullying, Coping With Loss and Grief, Family Relationships, Friendship, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

276 Pages

Synopsis: I have three months left to call Katie my older sister. Then the gap will close and I will pass her I will get older. But Katie will always be fifteen, eleven months and twenty-one days old.

Hannah’s world is in pieces and she doesn’t need the school counsellor to tell her she has deep-seated psychological issues. With a seriously depressed mum, an injured dad and a dead sister, who wouldn’t have problems?

Hannah should feel terrible but for the first time in ages, she feels a glimmer of hope and isn’t afraid anymore. Is it because the elusive Josh is taking an interest in her? Or does it run deeper than that?

In a family torn apart by grief and guilt, one girl’s struggle to come to terms with years of torment shows just how long old wounds can take to heal.

Australian author Claire Zorn’s Protected has been nominated for and won several awards, and after reading it, it’s easy to see why. With the many issues it brings up it’s a difficult read at times, especially as it’s so believable, but take my word for it, this is a book worth picking up.

The story begins in the present day, with the one year anniversary of the death of Hannah’s sister, Katie, approaching. The family is in crisis, with the mother being severely depressed and the father being under investigation as he was driving the girls at the the time of the accident. Complicating things further is that he has amnesia due to his injuries. Hannah also claims to have amnesia, and is now facing a meeting with investigators. 

As the story unfolds, you see that fifteen-year-old Hannah’s trauma started long before the accident. She has been a victim of a vicious and frankly, depraved campaign of bullying since her first year in high school. Despite a caring teacher and school counsellor, the adults here are oblivious to what’s been happening until after the accident. Hannah’s well-meaning parents discover how much their youngest daughter is suffering, but with Katie’s untimely death, the bullying is forgotten. If there’s a silver lining in all this, it’s that now, Hannah’s tormentors have somewhat grown a conscience and leave her alone. 

Hannah is such a relatable character, and my heart ached for her. Her grief is palpable and as the story goes back and forth between the present day and the past events which lead up to the fateful day, it’s obvious that this young girl is a lot stronger than she appears. Her first person narrative is full of raw emotion and I honestly found myself stunned at times at the way she was able to push through the trauma and grief and guilt. 

The reader also sees the difficult relationship that existed between the sisters. Katie knew about the the bullying, but as the popular older sister, not only didn’t want to get involved, but actually blamed Hannah. The quintessential party girl, Katie was completely self-absorbed and viewed Hannah with a mixture of scorn and bitterness. I found myself wondering if she had lived, if their relationship could have been saved once they reached adulthood. My one criticism is that I thought Katie was a little too one dimensional. Sibling relationships can be complicated, but there was nothing likable about Katie whatsoever, and I wish she had been fleshed out a little more.

Hannah’s mother and father are both loving parents, but since the accident, her mother has completely withdrawn from the world and only shows emotion when she’s bitterly blaming her husband for Katie’s death. There is a family support system in place of sorts, with grandparents trying to help, but I found it hard to believe that no one brought up the idea of professional counseling for her. The father and Hannah have a closer relationship and I appreciated how even facing the possibility of legal repercussions, he urged her to tell the truth. 

The two people who ultimately help Hannah get past what has happened though is Anne, the quirky school counsellor and Josh, a fellow classmate. Both of them determinedly set out on bringing Hannah out of her shell and showing her what a wonderful person she is, and that she did not ask for or deserve anything that’s happened to her. I enjoyed the burgeoning relationship between Josh and Hannah. He made me laugh out loud more than once, and he’s exactly what Hannah needs as he patiently coaxes her back into the world, The ending is bittersweet but filled with hope as you can see that Hannah is going to be alright. 

Claire Zorn’s writing is incredibly vivid, from her descriptions of the Blue Mountains of Australia, to the bullying and the consequences that result from it. Hannah is such a sympathetic character that I think she’s going to stay with me for a long time. Protected is a perfect book for classrooms and book discussion groups and I highly recommend it. It’s the first book I’ve read by this author, but it certainly won’t be the last.

13 Minutes, by Sarah Pinborough ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Bullying, Mystery, Psychological Thrillers

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: October 3rd, 2017

320 Pages

Synopsis: Natasha doesn’t remember how she ended up in the icy water that night, but she does know this—it wasn’t an accident, and she wasn’t suicidal. Her two closest friends are acting strangely, and Natasha turns to Becca, the best friend she dumped years before when she got popular, to help her figure out what happened.

Natasha’s sure her friends love her. But does that mean they didn’t try to kill her?

I’ve been a fan of Sarah Pinborough for years, and have come to realize one thing when picking up one of her books: expect the unexpected. 13 Minutes, which I believe is her first YA novel, is full of secrets, lies and deception, which makes it a perfect read for fans of Pretty Little Liars.

I have to be honest and say this isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, mainly because of the characters. Natasha, Jenny, and Hayley, aka The Barbies, at first come across as your typical mean girls. You really don’t find out what truly makes them tick until the second half of the book. Becca, who used to be BFFs with Queen Bee Natasha’s, before she was kicked to the curb for not fitting ideals of physical attributes, is the one I emotionally connected with the most. She’s a deeply flawed character, but I completely understood some of her questionable actions and decision making. I found myself not only emphasizing with her, but also rooting for her.

The majority of adult characters are in the background as is expected in a YA novel, but I was appreciative that for the most part they were portrayed realistically instead of cardboard cutouts which I’ve been finding in so many YA books lately.

The plot kept me guessing the entire time I was reading. It seems like the central mystery is solved about 60% of the way in, but it’s not. While shortly after that point, I began figuring out what really happened, the hows and whys continued to elude me until shortly before the end.

And, that ending! I still can’t decide whether I loved it or hated it. While the mystery is solved, there are some loose ends that Pinborough left dangling, I suspect deliberately so. It was brilliant yet frustrating at the same time.

I think with 13 Minutes, Sarah Pinborough has again showed herself to be a master of psychological thrillers. She does a great job at getting into the heads of her YA characters and bringing them to life, and if you’re a parent this may leave you wondering what’s really going on in your teenagers lives. Although this is a YA book the story is quite complex and I think adult readers will enjoy this. It seems as though Netflix is going to be making a series from this and I’m hoping they do it justice.

Blackbird Season, by Kate Moretti ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Autism, Bullying, Drug Abuse, Mystery, Poverty, Rape, Self-harm, Small Towns, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Release Date: September 26th, 2017

304 Pages

Synopsis:

Where did they come from? Why did they fall? The question would be asked a thousand times…

Until, of course, more important questions arose, at which time everyone promptly forgot that a thousand birds fell on the town of Mount Oanoke at all.

In a quiet Pennsylvania town, a thousand dead starlings fall onto a high school baseball field, unleashing a horrifying and unexpected chain of events that will rock the close-knit community.

Beloved baseball coach and teacher Nate Winters and his wife, Alecia, are well respected throughout town. That is, until one of the many reporters investigating the bizarre bird phenomenon catches Nate embracing a wayward student, Lucia Hamm, in front of a sleazy motel. Lucia soon buoys the scandal by claiming she and Nate are engaged in an affair, throwing the town into an uproar…and leaving Alecia to wonder if her husband has a second life.

And when Lucia suddenly disappears, the police only have one suspect: Nate.

Nate’s coworker and sole supporter, Bridget Harris, Lucia’s creative writing teacher, is determined to prove his innocence. She has Lucia’s class journal, and while some of the entries appear particularly damning to Nate’s case, others just don’t add up. Bridget knows the key to Nate’s exoneration and the truth of Lucia’s disappearance lie within the walls of the school and the pages of that journal.

The Blackbird Season has one of the creepiest openings I’ve ever come across, and while there were some slow periods and I thought the mystery was a bit predictable, it’s a great look at small town life and an interesting character study.

Please be warned there’s a lot of social issues examined that could be triggers for some readers including bullying, self-harm, drug abuse, poverty and rape. These are not gratuitously written in, but instead are layered in to the complicated tapestry that makes up this town.

Mount Oanoke, a small Pennsylvania mill town is your typical small town Americana, and depicts both the best and worst of living in rural areas. On the one hand, there’s less crime and people look out for one another. On the other, residents are gossipy, judgemental, and they’re losing their young people who flee to greener pastures as soon as they graduate. 

The story is told from the perspective of the four main characters: Nate, Alecia, Bridget and Lucia. Except for Bridget, none of these characters are one-hundred percent likable, although in the end I did wind up feeling sympathetic towards them, especially Lucia.

Nate is an ex-jock who at best shows some truly atrocious judgement and at worst is a neglectful father and husband. While I felt a modicum of sympathy for his predicament, his complete and utter cluelessness in regards to both his family and Lucia had me wanting to slap him more than once.

I initially disliked Nate’s wife, Alecia and frankly, found her to be kind of a witch. However, seeing her struggles trying to raise her five-year-old autistic son basically by herself, is heart wrenching and as the story unfolded I found myself appreciating what she was going through more.

Bridget is struggling herself having lost her husband to cancer the year before. She’s a loyal friend to both Nate and Alecia, and is one of the few adults who are truly concerned about Lucia.

And there’s eighteen-year-old Lucia. Just thinking of her even now, two days after I finished the book, brings me to tears. There’s no doubt she’s a prickly personality, and there are times that she certainly doesn’t do herself any favors, but she’s someone who from the beginning is never given a chance and watching what she goes through is heartbreaking.

The story itself is interesting and while I found the pace lagged at times, I still for the most part stayed engaged. While I wasn’t initially sure how the deaths of the blackbirds was related to the main plot, I liked the way the author managed to tie them in. I have mixed feelings regarding the ending though. While it answered the central mystery, there’s some side plots that I think could have been tied up a little more smoothly.

It probably sounds like I didn’t enjoy The Blackbird Season, But I actually did despite the issues I had with it. I would recommend this for not only fans of Kate Moretti’s previous books, but also readers who enjoy dark, multi-layered, slow-burning suspense.

The Luster Of Lost Things, by Sophie Chen Keller ~ 5++++++++++ Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Bullying, Disabilities, Family Bonds, Friendships, Magical Realism, Societal Roles

Thanks to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for providing an ARC in exchange for and honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

304 Pages

Synopsis: Walter Lavender Jr. is a master of finding. A wear of high-tops. A maker of croissants. A son keeping vigil, twelve years counting.

But he wouldn’t be able to tell you. Silenced by his motor speech disorder, Walter’s life gets lonely. Forth he has The Lavenders—mother’s enchanted dessert shop, where marzipan dragons breathe actual fire. He also has a knack for tracking down any missing thing—except his lost father.

So, when the Book at the root of the bakery’s magic vanishes, Walter, accompanied by his overweight golden retriever, journeys through New York City to find it—along the way encountering an unforgettable cast of lost souls. 

Steeped in nostalgic wonder, The Luster of Lost Things explores the depths of our capacity for kindness and our ability to heal. A lyrical meditation on why we become lost and how we are found, from the bright, broken heart of a boy who knows where to look for everyone but himself.

You guys! This book! I’m not sure how to even begin except to say that while I’ve read some fantastic books so far this year, The Luster of Lost Things surpasses them all!

Walter Lavender Jr. is a thirteen-year-old boy who is not only dealing with a motor speech disorder that makes it difficult for him to communicate, but he longs for his father who went missing before he was born. Because he’s “different” from his classmates, he doesn’t have any friends, and is the victim of bullying. But he has his loving and devoted mother, Lucy, and their magical bakery, The Lavenders. There, it’s completely normal to see chocolate mice jump rope with licorice, and other desserts come to life. The source of the magic is the Book, a gift given to Lucy, one cold winter’s night by a woman to whom Lucy gave shelter. I’m trying really hard not to include any spoilers, so I’m just going to say that ever since the Book was left, the, desserts came to life and the shop prospered. 

When the Book mysteriously disappears, the magic also departs and the future of the shop is in peril thanks to a new greedy landlord. So, young Walter, who has an uncanny knack for finding lost things, accompanied by his best friend and Golden Retriever, Milton, embarks upon a quest to find the missing book. Along the way he meets some incredible people who turn his journey into much more than a quest to find a magical book. This turns into a voyage of self-discovery, where Walter gains confidence in himself which in turn leads him to successfully form lasting connections to the people he meets. 

Walter is one of the most likable, charming and relatable characters I’ve come across in a very long time. By the end of the first chapter he stole my heart and I felt as though I was inside the story accompanying him and Milton as they traveled through the gritty streets of New York City on their mission. All of the characters in this book, including Milton are vividly brought to life, and each of them have a hand in young Walter’s transformation. 

There are really three parts to this book. The beginning which is set in the bakery and is full of magical realism. Then there’s the middle, where Walter is away from the warmth and safety of his mother and their shop. And finally, the ending which has Walter back where he began, albeit a much different boy then when he left. There have been many reviewers who have commented that they loved the beginning, but found Walter’s journey too slow. I have to respectfully disagree. While Walter’s quest does depart from the magical realism the book opens with, that doesn’t take away from the connections he makes with the quirky people he meets. And while, they all help him in some fashion, the positive impact he has on them is truly remarkable. 

Writing an adult book from a child’s perspective can’t be easy, and when that child suffers from a speech disorder, well, that’s almost unheard of. The only other book I’ve read that’s successfully done this is The Curious Incident of the Dog In Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. Sophie Chen Keller brilliantly brings to life this young boy who is highly intelligent and knows what he wants to say, yet frustratingly struggles to say the words out loud. We see the story unfold through his eyes and thoughts, and it’s a wondrous thing because Walter’s world is amazing and beautiful. 

The Luster of Lost Things is one of those rare books that if you read it, you’ll remember for it a very long time. I wish I had tons of money, because I’d buy hundreds of copies and leave them in train stations, subways, park benches, restaurants, mail them to all of you and, well, you get the picture. As I’m not rich, I’m just going to encourage everyone who reads this review to buy themselves a copy, or borrow it from their library. This is an uplifting and beautifully told tale with a boy who will touch your heart in ways you can’t imagine. It’s a confectionery delight that is a lovely respite from the real world. Please, give yourself a gift that will not only give you the warm fuzzies, but will also remind you what’s truly important in life.