Readers may not understand what's happening, but they’ll probably keep reading.
Grief and self-discovery combine to change one young woman's life.
In the year since her mother's death, Sovern has become nearly mute, started dating the wrong guy, and begun to cut school to go snowboarding. With her dyslexia battling with her genius at math, school is difficult for Sovern. But then a snowboarding accident opens a new world for her. When Sovern touches a certain kind of spruce tree, she is rocketed into a variety of alternate universes: worlds where her mother is still alive. Confusingly yet compellingly, this also brings her into contact with a handsome, young Ute man who, over a century before, roamed the Colorado mountain where Sovern lives. Getting to know Súmáí creates a connection between them, and Sovern falls in love with him. But Sovern will have to see if she's strong enough to handle another tragedy. What with a surfeit of plot elements—time travel, alternate universes, dyslexia, grief, and family dynamics—the novel is overstuffed. There's too much going on already by the time readers reach Sovern's extended stay in the past with Súmáí. Nevertheless, Sappenfield has created engaging-enough characters to keep the pages turning.
Readers may not understand what's happening, but they’ll probably keep reading. (Fantasy. 16-18)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7387-4730-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Flux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
An unflinching portrayal of the devastating effects of domestic violence.
After a horrific domestic violence incident, Zoey Ward and her family finally find their footing in Las Vegas only to have their lives overturned by a house fire.
Learning that her father has been recently released from prison, Zoey suspects he had something to do with the blaze. After their lives go up in flames, literally, Zoey along with her mom and her younger siblings, Kate and Cole, flee Las Vegas with the help of her older brother, Will, and his best friend, Tristan. They take refuge in California, where Tristan and his sister welcome them into a world where things seem hopeful and more stable than anything they have ever known. Yet the fear of being hunted down by her father consumes Zoey. The story is narrated from Zoey’s and Tristan’s first-person perspectives, and Gray (Run Away With Me, 2017, etc.) has masterfully captured the uncertainty and terror that come from domestic violence. Tristan and Zoey share a budding romance in which Zoey slowly but surely learns to love and be loved in a nondestructive, healthy way despite her fears and reservations. With everything she has been through, Zoey is the underdog readers will find themselves rooting for. Gray spares no detail in this intense tale. All characters are assumed to be white; Tristan is dyslexic, and there are several queer characters.
An unflinching portrayal of the devastating effects of domestic violence. (Fiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-4281-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
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