Books on Marrs

REVIEW: Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey (Allen & Unwin, 2010)

2012-02-22T18:17:00.000-08:00

I wrote this two weeks ago in 20 minutes flat before I jumped on a plane to go on holidays. I've decided to keep it because the sentiments are true, but be warned it is a quick and dirty review! I hope I'm not being disrespectful and anyway, I am sure given all the time in the world, my words will still come out like jdjfoehehmskslks, so please pardon me!

Jasper Jones is the the "bad boy" of a small rural town in Western Australia, who comes and knocks on the window of shy and ordinary Charlie Bucktin one night. Charlie has been seemingly picked at random and once he crawls out of his window, both him and the reader are basically picked up and smashed upon the wall of the uncaring, senselessly random and fatalistic universe of this book.

I read the whole thing with a dread that never left me. At the beginning I protested and flailed around. The narrator sounded too old and wise for his age. There are passages of conversation that while witty and delightfully are self-serving and went around in circles and are too long. If you want to read the gripes, go and look at the one and two stars reviews from people quoting "you must nevers" like "how to write a novel" manuals are going out of style.

How to Write a Novel manuals are for people who aren't geniuses. Rules like "show and not tell" are for ordinary writers who if they fail this rule, will suck. A genius writer is someone who decides to break this rule (and boy does Jasper Jones break it bad) and yet manages to write a novel of such suspense, eeriness and slow burning goodness that I simply couldn't tear my eyes away.

I don't care what Craig Silvey does or doesn't do. His writing is masterful and absolutely beautiful. And the novel just builds and builds, getting better and better until the end where it finales with an equally shocking and stunningly beautiful ending. I challenge anyone not to be moved by the end of it all. If you didn't, I think you must have spent too much time picking at it the whole time and to that I say "bad luck". You missed the the journey and never got to the destination. I would choose every time, an imperfect, brave novel that haunts me, over a perfectly written piece that makes me go "nice writing, is that all?".

For me, this novel went 3.5 stars, 4 stars and then 5 stars. I'm a sucker for a "picture perfect" scene at the end that summarises the whole novel up in one visual (much like a closing statement in an essay - which in itself is an artform) and reflects how I am feeling on the inside. I got that. That's what separates the men and women from the boys and girls for me.

This novel is the Aussies doing what they do best - underdog characters, prejudice, struggle, hatred, hopelessness, fatalism and hope. But in the end being able to show how the seemingly randomness of life actually means something, makes sense, is worth it all. And I am so proud that is is Western Australian.

I read an article once that remarked how different Western Australian writers were compared to the authors found elsewhere around the country. That just like the frequent bushfires and the heat and the barrenness, that the writers were like their environment - a lot harder, vicious and unrelenting. I found this somewhat curious and offensive at the same time, but now I know that it is true. And it is the ultimate compliment for Craig Silvey.

In time, my emotions and feelings are going to become so entangled up with this story (I can feel them still growing) that one day, when I think about this book, I will think of it as legend.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Mars Bars !!

This review originally appeared on Goodreads (with extra bonuses)

REVIEW: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (MTV Books, 1999)

2012-01-18T21:13:00.000-08:00

"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite." URGH! I hate that quote! It smacks of a forced whimsy and I bet you that nobody actually knows what it means because they don't want to be outed as a non-cool kid, so everyone pretends that it's deep instead of perhaps the matter of the truth - that it probably doesn't make any sense and therefore means squat all.

This quote just makes me think of this: The Infinite Cat Project. But that type of infinity is better because it a) involves cats and c) is actually cool because it knows that its own infinity doesn't have a point. As you can probably tell, I went into this book not expecting to like it much. Actually secretly, I probably just wanted to make fun of hipsters and also the very Nineties photo of the author on the back cover (is that a chambray shirt I see?).

What I didn't expect was to like it. Yes. I really liked The Perks of Being a Wallflower! I am not as pugnacious as not to be won over by excellent writing, characterisation and this oh so black and dry sense of humour. If this humour was any blacker and drier, it would be beef jerky. Written as a set of letters from a young teen Charlie to an identified reader, this format is fraught with danger. I mean, to read like a proper letter, each 'chapter" can't be too long, it must be frank and it can't smack of looking like it has a plot because then it might as well be a normal chapter book. On the other hand, can letters be interesting and can it possibly amount to anything in the end?

The verdict on my behalf is mixed. Chbosky nails the letter part. Charlie's revelations don't hold much back and they read very naturally and convincingly. The portrait that he paints of his friends and family are beautiful - and even managed to melt my heart in Part 2 with the descriptions of the extended family and the grumpy old Great Grandfather in particular. And it is dead funny. Especially the straight-face and dead-pan narrative of Charlie and his first girlfriend Mary Elizabeth who wants to "expose" him to the cool things in life, which manages to poke fun at hipsters ... within a book aimed at hipsters. Just like that song Pumped Up Kicks that makes the hipsters want to dance, but it actually about domestic violence. Stephen Chbosky, your humour pleases me.

On the "undecided" front, I am not sure about Charlie himself as a character. He doesn't seem smart enough to be the genius he is touted as (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time runs rings over this) and the fact the author wants to make him some type of Holden Caufield shows and is awkward. But I like Charlie and his good intentions, even though I am not convinced of him. Like how he believes he should buy a present for his mum on his own birthday cos she was there too.Wow. Like, seriously, you're making my heart drop.

On the no-no-no front... I was going to cruise home with four stars, but the ending ruined it for me. Stephen Chbosky - why do you take a wonderful female character that you have so carefully built with so much respect for womankind, who ends up as my favourite character - only to have her sprout some out-of-character drivel (that makes even less sense that your la-la-la about infinity) and then proceed to destroy her? I know you wrote a book about self-sabotaging emos, but are you one yourself? And also. An epilogue. What? This is a set of letters, you didn't want to write a traditional novel remember? Why does it have an epilogue then? I've never received "an epilogue" in the post before. That kinda snapped me out of the special space where I believed I was the receiver of Charlie's "letters" and then it suddenly made me realise I was reading a "novel". Aww, disappointed.

Finally, let me address you directly, dear author, in the spirit of The Perks.

Dear Mr Chbosky,

Overall, a brave and different novel. I like the way that all the violence against the passive females in the text made me, a female reader, feel extremely aggressive and I went ahhhh. I know what you are doing. I love you Stephen (can I call you that?). You are smart. You almost had me. Not quite, but if you're in town and still have that chambray shirt and that slicked back hair - call me. Leave that pick up line of yours at home.

Love, Shirley

Rating: 3 out of 5 Mars Bars

This review also appears on Goodreads here.

Review: Dress Rehearshal by Zoe Thurner (Fremantle Press, 2011)

2012-01-12T19:38:00.000-08:00

The boards bounce beneath us, and the stars, the air, his smile, my heart vibrate in tune. The set ends in a guitar solo that unzips the night and ruptures the edge of the world. It takes the dancers by the tip of the spine and whips them around the pier.

Nice huh? Truly magical writing with a bit o' edge to it.

But the story behind me and Dress Rehearsal has been a long drawn out one. I would go to the bookstore. Dress Rehearsal would stare at me. I would stare back. Then I would make advances towards a different book. The sole reason was because of the cover. It was way too pretty. The vintage wallpaper design, the title that looked like it was painted with glossy white paint, leaving a careless drop here and there.

I thought the book would be too light contemporary for me. I like a bit of darkness and edge. I thought it would be about a fluffy high school production like Pink. But I can only resist a gorgeous cover for so long so Dress Rehearsal finally came home with me.

Boy were my preconceptions wrong. I knew this would be my book when in the opening scene, MC Lara Pearlman is stuck in a change room with one hand on the zipper of the dress she just split, and one foot on the random hand in her cubicle, attempting to steal her handbag.

Dress Rehearsal ended up delighting and challenging me beyond my expectations. To explain to you what the book is about, let me propose what two different publishing houses and two different authors might have done with One Dress Rehearsal. Novel 1: Lara Pearlman is a 180cm tall, size 16 teenager. She will have run-ins with mean girls. This will be an "topical issue" book where at the end Lara Pearlman realises she is beautiful, just the way she is. Novel 2: A highschool decides to stage a production based on refugees and displaced people. There will be lots of soapboxing. There might be Russel Crowe and some Romper Stomping. This will be a "topical issue" book where in the end, both sides reconcile somewhat.

Now, I'm not saying that either of these novels would be bad. They are just so typical, so hackneyed so... zzzzz (what? I'm in the middle of reviewing. Okay, let me wake up). Dress Rehearsal is anything but typical. The novel is about Big Girl Lara Pearlman, but her size is normal to everyone. She's just one of the girls. In my head she's a teenage Florence Welch; an Amazonian beauty. Some of the boys thinks she hot. Which is believable as the novel is set in a small coastal town, where everyone has grown up together and know each other intimately. It's just part of life. Lara likes to eat and makes no bones about it. Because she's a true character (and not just a walking metaphor for body image), we get to know her and how funny, witty, flawed and petulant she is. As a human being. And Lara Pearlman is one of my favourite characters I have met for a long time!

As for the elements of the play, I loved how it is interwoven into the lives of Lara and the wonderful characters that surround her. She will suddenly reflect on her privileged white-bread life and think of the refugee people who have nothing, very naturally just like that. No big soapboxing. And it still has the essence of making one think about the problems of the world. In fact the displacement of Lara and the immediate people around her loom to the forefront while the play goes to the back, which is a wonderful feat.

Yes, there is a robbery and an abduction that occurs as hinted in the blurb and these events are dealt with in a quiet strong fashion by the characters. Acknowledge, accept, resolve, keep carrying on. I've realised there is one perfect word to describe this in essence and that is Australian. And so very Western Australian. What a coupe, Fremantle Press.

The other big positive is skinny blond teenage Chelsea who everyone takes for a drunken skank. As someone who starts out as an antagonist, her character arc is beautiful. She is handled with as much love by the author as Lara from an emotionally generous author.

The negatives? I wasn't entirely satisfied with the lead up to the ending. In fact, I can't even remember the ending, it wasn't memorable. It was moving toward a serious and slightly romantic finish and I expected Lara's dialogue to perhaps reflect the maturity she had gained during the "dress rehearsal" of her life. But she was still cracking snarky one liners after serious statements and I wanted to some reigning in with the editing. Plus I didn't find the ending romantic when it had the potential to be a sweet bang-on moment. It ended with one of Lara's clangers. Cue embarrassed silence. Like at the barbie when Uncle Andrew drops a drunken joke and no one laughs. Zoe Thurner, Clown School is not for you.

Well... overall, a stunning debut from a first time author. Please grow her Fremantle Press, she's a real keeper.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Mars Bars

This review also appears on Goodreads here.

Review: Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1) by Susan Ee (Feral Dream, 2011)

2012-01-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

Whenever a "self-published" author talks to me about their "innovative business model" and "seizing control of their own publishing destiny" I go uh-huh, yeah you do that you... pioneering...genius... you, but secretly on the inside I'm thinking, yeah, but if you got a chance to be repped by a massive traditional publishing house and got to work with top shelf editors and wear an exclusive design by award-winning cover designers and hobnob with other A-grade authors you wouldn't be saying that would you? Call me unconvinced. But when Susan Ee talks about the urgency of getting this Angel book of hers out to ride the wave and all her other reasons for self-publishing, suddenly I am all ears and believing her.

Why is that? Because unlike most other self-pub peeps this woman can write! She's got all the basics of how a novel should be written down-pat and on top of that heaped a massive pile of imagination and creativity. From the credits I can tell she's got an editor and proofreader, but her resources don't scream massive to me. So with her limited amount of help she has... come up with this? Get outta here! And looking at the themes of this book - allegories to modern warfare, natural disasters and politics, all I can think of is smacking this book on the hind and telling it to go go go!

A disclaimer: I am not a fan of paranormal, especially not ones with a series. Angelfall is a novel involving dystopia, Angels and other paranormal beasts and activity. My plan was to read this novel in small cautious chunks as opposed to inhaling it, trying to evaluate whether it is any good or not, regardless of genre.

I have to admit that at the beginning of the novel I could tell it was self-published. I won't lie. I planned to go in being hard on this book. The beginning was bumpy for me. I noted examples of repetition (especially when Penryn keeps reminding the reader that she needs to save her sister), instances where sentence structure could be tightened up and missed opportunities for more world-building and character development while the going was still slow and warming up. But as I read more I actually become engrossed in the story and by the end I was kinda pumped up, so I actually stayed up late to see how the ending panned out!

I have to admit that I thought the climax weird. Hear me out - I'm a realistic contemporary reader, okay? The end of the world stuff I can do quite easily... the weird fantasy/sci-fi stuff? I don't think my mind was quite prepared to suspend reality that far. So for me, I found that part the least enjoyable, although to the book's credit I found the battle scenes quite interesting. That's a compliment. Battle scenes being my least favourite thing ever in a book.

So what wins? The dialogue is awesome. I couldn't help but smile. I understand why all the girls are going weak at the knees while pulling out the quotes. The banter between Penryn and Raffe is intelligent, funny and sassy. These two main characters have bags of personality and are both equally strong and perfectly yoked. And the small moments of intimacy that the author creates are lovely. I'm impressed that Susan Ee has the ability to go mean and hard at one end of the spectrum, and then tempered and soft at the other - the equivalent of having a large octave range as a singer. Not a lot of authors have this sensitivity.

The world building is evocative. The savagery is creative.

A few other things: the writing itself I have mixed emotions about. It is very easy to read and has a shiny, commercial appeal, but in spite of the descriptions of goriness and all the blood, the writing itself is not gritty. There's something awry in the mix for me. Maybe I expected a different depth or tone to go with the content. Plus I thought that some of the hooks used at the end of each chapter were a bit cheesy (such as "and they were heading straight for us!") and probably below the age-group of the intended audience.

Overall, I am impressed. I thought the ending was heartening and nicely open. If any traditional publishers are looking at this - you go sign Susan Ee up right now. I can just imagine what she can do with an experienced editor and guidance team behind her.

Okay, since I said I would eat a hat (an Aussie one with corks) if I enjoyed this (oh sceptical mind, how you betray me so), excuse me while I tie a napkin around my neck and grab a bottle of chili sauce.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Mars Bars

This review also appears here on Goodreads

Retro Review: Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan (Laurel Leaf Books, 1974)

2011-12-29T22:30:00.000-08:00

Before I begin: it's retro lulz time! A description of the leading male hottie, the music teacher who is "slim and fine-boned, with glossy black hair which framed a face so perfect in feature that it might have belonged to a television star" ...

"Jules Duret was waiting for her in the music room. He was wearing a pale blue shirt, open at the throat, and a pair of white flared pants"

Did anyone say Saturday Night Fever? You can tell this novel was written in the 70s can't you? I wonder if they will update any subsequent re-releases to have Jules in skinny leg jeans... but jokes aside, I want to very seriously say that I really enjoyed this book.

Let's get this straight - I'm not one for paranormal. I generally find it full of cliches, the same carbon copy template that has been used so many times that the ink has definitely run dry, sloppy editing, cardboard characters, look I could do on (but I won't). It's gotten dire to the point I generally shun all paranormal and I have forgotten what was popular back when I was in high school - yes, kiddies - supernatural horror! Stuff by Christopher Pike et al. And books exactly in the vein of Down a Dark Hall, which unfortunately I didn't get a chance to read back then, or else teen Shirley would have absolutely adored it!

This novel is about Kit Gordy, who sadly gets shunted to a girl's boarding school when her mother remarries and as you do, wants to dispense with the inconvenience of a teenager she's had on her hands for too long and go on a European dream honeymoon.

From the first page, I was reminded why creepiness is called exactly that. Because it slowly creeps up on you and this is what this novel does. To the initial blood-freezing description of the mad, internally burning mansion that is the school, to Kit's dawning dread that the school has only accepted four students. Think deliciously Gothic creepy as in Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. Slowly the girls start going mad and if you like that sort of thing, you will love this!

Despite other reviews calling Down a Dark Hall heavy handed in it's imagery, I found it beautiful. It's Gothic and has gothic literature ever been... light handed? Even when I read Mistress of Goth Angela Carters' stuff I feel like I'm being hammered over the head by a overly opulent, bloody jewel studded saucepan and her work is considered modern classics. I guess the only thing about Down a Dark Hall is that it includes a rather cheesy supernatural plot line, which gives it a rather mass paperback feel. But hang on. It is a mass paperback. If you view this story in its historical context and influence as an early example of the young adult paranormal genre and as a forefront example of a mass produced piece of work, then it's hands down a pulp classic!

And I love it! I love old school cheese. And this cheese ladies and gents, has matured perfectly.

Compared to modern paranormal dross, which doesn't even handle seem to be able to handle basic plot and pacing, I'm impressed that this novel has an excellent story that unfolds at a perfect pace, enough explanation is worked into the actual narrative to prevent data dumping and an excellent ending with a haunting, lingering finish. You only have to suspend your belief when it comes to the actual supernaural part - not over how stupid the heroine is etc etc (anyway, in this case Kit is an awesome heroine). I only have a minor gripe to do with one character's change of heart (too abrupt) during the climax. But that is a plotting issue. Hurray! This novel has a plot in order to have a plotting issue!

Overall: Yum. I always have an appetite for good solid writing, And I have a taste for this sort of paranormal.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Mars Bars

Thanks to the wonderful Wendy Darling who sent me this book along with a whole stash of American candy and goodies! Check it out:

So I got a bonus: my copy of the book smelling like Sweet Tarts whenever I open it. Can't get that with a Kindle, hey?

This review also appears here on Goodreads.

Review: Ruby Redfort Look Into My Eyes by Lauren Child (HarperCollins, 2011)

2011-12-19T20:22:00.000-08:00

Shirley's One-Sentence Summary: Veronica Mars in Sin City for Tweens

I'm a fan of the precocious teen girl.

I love...

and...

And most of all...

Yay! Show Aussie Ja'mie "Soo Hot!" King some love!

So therefore I should love Ruby Redfort, a rich-and-it-shows, super-smart, attitude-laden spunky spy girl in Lauren Child's new lower YA detective series.

The thing with rich girls is, no normal person actually really likes them, so they're best done with a tongue-in-cheek, almost satirical way because truth be told, we just want to snark at them. Unfortunately, I struggled with the first four chapters because Lauren Child's wants you to take Ruby Redfort seriously. Yes, one wall of Ruby's room is an entire bookshelf, she drinks banana milk imported from Europe, wears Oriental Rose perfume and is "one of those girls who people talked about as 'having her own style'" (actual quote). And "when you met her you felt a strong need for her to like you" (also another verbatim quote).

Look, I'm no detective and I know that this novel is set in a reality-suspended, high fantasy world, but the alarm bells are ringing a little Mary Sue!

Luckily on page 46 the storyline kicks in and I was able to become absorbed in the plot, which is complete with a secret agency, high dramatic baddies and a plot that I hoped would be full of juicy clues and be twistier than... well... a bag of twisties.

Actually, about that. I recently read The Secret Seven (The Secret Seven #1) for the first time since I was eight and was surprised at how well the mystery was formulated. The final reveal and twist were genuinely good. So yes, despite the fact that adult-eyes allows me to see that Peter is a controlling monkey and no one knows what Pam and Barbara actually do... but back then I was kinda excited that a bunch of kids used a shed out the back as headquaters and went on adventures. I lived through them vicariously.

With Ruby Redfort I understand that it's set in a super glammed-up versian of the real world. The secret agency and the baddies (including a head honcho who liked to dangle victims over volcanos) are nods to the classic crime genre and it's all in good spirited fun. But I felt empty and bored. Like I couldn't really connect. The novel is scattered with little brain teasers and codes to crack, but I didn't want games, I wanted to participate heart and soul, like how I badly wanted to it to be The Secret Eight so I could be in it too.

The other thing is, I grew up watching cartoon films like:

I don't understand this new shizz:

And like the majority of modern animation films, I felt that this book was crammed full of "adult" content, for adults to indulge in. The adult characters (like Ruby's mum and dad, and the adult agents and villains) shine a million times more than Ruby. And there were in-jokes and other delightful things in this book that pinged and tingled on my adult-radar, but didn't really awaken my sleeping inner child.

Maybe I just come from a different era and modern kids love this sort of thing. I've never read any of Lauren Child's famous Clarice Bean books and I am most definitely not in the appropriate age group. I'm just saying all this as a fan and reader of teen fiction.

This book is immaculately written, full of wit and charm, that playes out like a Sin City for Tweens in my head, but ultimately did not look me in the eye (ha ha!) and win me over.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Mars Bars

This review originally appeared on Goodreads here.

WINNER: Pan's Whisper goes to...

2011-12-19T05:15:00.000-08:00

*drum roll*

Congrats to Flannery (from The Readventurer), your prize will be out to you shortly!

Thanks to Bellatrix the Cat for being the beautiful (as always) Prize-Pickerer.

And thanks to everyone to entered, sorry Bells didn't choose you, but there will be more prizes in the future.

Disclaimer: no catnip or other kitteh goodies were involved in determining the draw!

GIVEAWAY: Pan's Whisper by Sue Lawson

2011-12-14T06:32:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone, welcome to my new book blog! To kick things off, we're proud to be one of the destinations on Sue Lawson's Pan's Whisper Blog Tour!

To celebrate, we've got:

A Guest Review by the Awesome Reynje from Goodreads

An Interview with Sue Lawson about her new book

And I've got one copy of this book to give away, courtesy of Walker Books, open to international readers!

All you have to do is either become a follower of this blog or leave a comment on this post for instant entry. If you do both then you get two entries! And if you leave a comment on any of the other two Pan related posts, then you can score up to two more entries.

Competition closes Monday 19th December.

All entries will be screwed into paper balls and the winner will be randomly chosen by my cat.

You know you want this book because it is a) Aussie YA and b) it's only published in Australia. If any of you from the US & The Old Continents were to order it, it might cost you a squillion bucks.*

Check out my own Goodreads review to see what I personally and honestly thought of Pan.

Go on, get investimigating and entering!

*maybe not that much, but a certain online retailer rhyming with... err... dishfrond might charge you a completely random amount that is not the RRP.

Guest Review: Reynje on Pan's Whisper by Sue Lawson (Black Dog Books/Walker, 2011)

2011-12-14T06:10:00.000-08:00

Today we welcome special guest Reynje from Goodreads to give her lowdown on this book. Here she comes now, trying to fit through the doorway with all the balloons she brought along for the celebrations. Please enjoy!

“Seems to me, we all have these places, like rooms, deep inside us where we lock away everything we can’t or don’t want to face. Some of us have something so big, so terrifying inside us that it takes up a whole room. I reckon ignoring that thing only feeds it, making it grow so huge that it spills out of the room to search us out, sucking up all our light and joy as it goes.”

Reynje says: We often talk about catharsis in terms of its benefits, and the good that comes of opening up things held tightly inside. We talk about the relief, the release, the freedom that comes with letting go. But we don’t always talk about the process, how hard it is to let things out, how it can feel more painful than anything else. We don’t always talk about how much it goes against the grain to fight our own defences, like resisting the urge to clamp down on a wound and watching it bleed out instead.  

When Pan Harper arrives at her foster home, she is holding her past tightly inside, wrapped up in layers of anger, pain, and denial. She wears her distrust like armour, believing that to be open is to be vulnerable, to accept her situation is to negate everything she knows about her life. So she holds the world at bay with her aggression, her clothes, her black eye makeup. And she clings to her memories, or rather, the version of events her memory chooses to retain.  

Pan’s Whisper is the story of just what it takes to open up, and to realise that the truth is not always what we believe it to be.  

From the outset, Pan’s anger is palpable. Her voice is hard and clear in the short, blunt sentences as she relates her arrival at the McMinn’s home and her start at a new school. Yet from beneath this, through the fragments of information she reveals about her childhood, her pain seeps through, raw and stark. While Pan fiercely pushes away those around her, as a reader it’s hard not to want to draw closer, to sense that she is damaged and needs to be loved. Honestly, when Smocker makes his first appearance around page 21, I was already fighting a lump in my throat and wiping my eyes.  

Pan’s unfolding is told from her own perspective, the letters she writes to her older sister Morgan and fragments of the past where Morgan appears. The pieces come together gradually, the past layering with the present, to bring the full picture of Pan’s history into focus. It’s not always easy to read. It’s occasionally confronting and often painful. But the clearer the image of Pan’s life becomes, the more emotionally engaging the story grows.  

One of the themes that runs throughout Pan’s Whisper is that of family – what it means to us individually and how that definition can change and expand. This was definitely one of my favourite aspects of the story, especially how Lawson developed the relationship between Pan and Morgan through their respective memories of their Mum. The complex bond between the sisters rang true for me and was incredibly moving. Having two protective older sisters myself, the difficulty of Morgan’s position and her courage was really resonant, along with Pan’s need to reconcile the versions of Morgan that existed in her memories and in reality.  

While the story is pretty emotionally intense, and deals with some tough subjects, it’s prevented from being overwhelmingly heavy by the style it’s related in. Lawson’s writing is clear and understated, and the emotion bleeds through without the need for overblown emo-prose. Pan’s voice feel authentic, and there is a distinctly Australian style to the dialogue and he interactions between the teenagers. While I occasionally find some high school settings in US YA hard to get a handle on, this felt familiar and realistic to me. A very small exception to this was the role Hunter played. I loved him as a character, and the subtle way Lawson approached the tension between he and Pan, yet I have to admit that occasionally I found the parallels in their situations to feel a little too.. coincidental? The fact that two people feeling similar pain might be drawn to each other is fair enough, but I don’t necessarily think his backstory was pivotal to Pan’s being unlocked.  

That said, the climax and ending of Pan’s Whisper were brilliant. I read the final few chapters with my heart in my throat, half afraid, half already heartbroken, completely invested. It was powerful and honest and basically the perfect note to end on.  

Pan’s Whisper is a strong, gorgeous book that backs quite the punch. This is contemporary Aussie YA on its game: honest and achy and unflinching. Read it.

Reynje rates this: 4 out of 5 Rad Red Frogs

[Thank you to the lovely Shirley Marr for proving a copy of Pan’s Whisper. No vegemite scrolls or cat-shaped cakes were exchanged in return for this review. Although I’m pretty sure she owes me a dink on her BMX.]   

This review also appears on Goodreads here.

  Like the sound of this book? This blog is giving away a copy (internationally) here, so what are you waiting for!

Interview: Sue Lawson on her Latest Novel Pan's Labyrinth

2011-12-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

We welcome Sue Lawson to BoM as part of the Pan's Whisper Book Tour and probe her about inspirations, writing process, love stories and demand the answer to why she likes to make everyone cry.

Congrats Sue on the publication of Pan's Whisper. Your main character is called Pandora. The question I have foremost on my mind - is this novel in any way inspired by the Greek myth of Pandora's Box?

Totally inspired by Greek mythology and other legends…ahem…
I can’t claim any deliberate inspiration from Greek Mythology, though I know all our stories are influenced by myths and legends on some level.

Pan’s name was Carrie until the second edit with Maryann and Melissa. While we were tossing around possible titles (I am SO bad at titles!), Maryann mentioned that Pan’s cat, Smocker, where she keeps all her precious bits and pieces, was like Pandora’s Box. That sparked a conversation about Pandora’s Box and how the last thing left in the box was hope. The pieces clicked into place and it became clear Carrie had to be Pan – Pandora.

The story centres around foster families - do you have a personal connection and how did you go about researching?

I don’t have a personal connection to foster families on a very close level, but I have taught kids who were living with foster families and had family friends who took on foster kids.

When I started planning Pan’s Whisper, I read an article in The Good Weekend about a foster mum and her now adult foster daughter. Their story was so inspiring. The foster mum had made such a huge difference to this girl, so much so that the girl is involved in fostering now. It was wonderful to read about such a positive experience because so often in the media we only read negative ones. Having Pan live with a foster family fitted perfectly with what I had planned.

I love research – though I do tend to over do it. I keep notebooks filled with character collages, house/school plans and endless notes about the issues the book is dealing with – grief, foster families, bipolar etc.

My biggest issue is knowing when to stop. That and my note taking – my handwriting is pretty ordinary!

Can you guide us through the writing process - did the story come easy and organic or was it a difficult one for you to write?

The finished story is always quite different to what I expected it to be. I had intended Pan to be totally off the rails because of an abusive step father and for her to be angry with her mother and sister for not protecting her. When I started planning, that idea morphed into something far stronger and it became clear the issue was Pan’s mum.

Thankfully my publishers are used to me pitching one thing and writing something different – though essentially the bones of the story are the same.

Hunter is one of my and my editor’s favourites. He didn’t appear until I was writing. I love his quiet, self assured nature. He’s different and happily so.

Pan and Hunter. Pan and Morgana. Do you see the novel as a love story between a girl and a boy or one between a girl and her sister?

Hmmm – love story – not in a romantic sense, no. Pan’s Whisper is a story about love between siblings, friends, families, and explores how love can truly heal. Gawd, that sounds very airy fairy, but it’s true. Love and patience, and taking the time to see the real person buried beneath the pain.  

Sue, every one of your novels make me cry - are you doing this on purpose!?

Yeah, sorry about that. It truly isn’t deliberate. If it makes you feel any better, they make me cry too, and I worry about my characters as though they are real – which they are to me. My previous editor, the amazing Karen Tayleur, stopped wearing mascara to work when she was working on my books.

The next one will do the same…sorry!

Thank you Sue!

Thank you so much for inviting me to visit your blog, Shirley! Tomorrow I'm off to visit the incredible Steph Bowe at Hey! Teenager of the Year, where I'll chat about my crazy notebooks a little more!

Does this interview make you book-curious?

Check out Reynje's Guest Review on this blog

Win a copy, open to international readers!

BONUS TIME (cos there is always time for Bonus Time):

Check out the visual inspirations from Sue's personal files of her main characters Pan and Hunter!

Thanks Sue! Awww The Princess Bride is one of my favourite childhood movies!

If you like the sound of Sue, make sure you check out her Official Sue Lawson Author Website

Review: Dark Water by Laura McNeal (Knopf Books, 2010)

2011-12-12T04:20:00.000-08:00

There is so much outstanding Aussie YA that I find I rarely find myself wandering from the field. When I do stray into USA YA - this book is exactly what I look for! I'm sorry USA, but I don't want to read the Disneyfied American High School stuff or the whitewashed stuff involving Angels that could be set anywhere. I want to know what makes you You. And the more left of centre and the more problems (societal and internal) it touches on, the better.

Dark Water examines the summer 15-year-old Pearl Dewitt comes of age. It addresses not only the emotional problems of Pearl (toward her parent's separation, her attraction to migrant boy Amiel who works on her Uncle's avocado farm) but weightier issues involving illegal labourers and the community's view of them.

From the onset we are told that a fire will come and rip through their lives, which you can view as either cleansing or destructive. The Dark Water of the river may drown or it may be the saviour from the flames. It is upon these twin symbolic foundations that the novel builds itself with the heart-wrenching idea of: what could make someone head towards the flames when everyone is trying to flee?

I love the writing. It is poetic and haunting and very deftly manages to weave together symbols that it carries right to the end without a single loose end. The crescendo is well handled and the author is surprisingly able to switch her languid style to one of more urgency near the end, nicely pacing the novel to its gut-wrenching climax. The denouement is exactly the right length and the ending bittersweet. If this were an Olympic diving contest, you would say that the author performed a perfect pike.

What I wasn't so convinced about was the romance vs "the other stuff" (ie: her mum's mental decline, her uncle's cheating, her cousin Robby's revenge plan, her best friend getting a boyfriend). Pearl has one brown and one blue eye and she has been warned about her magical thinking that makes her think she belongs in two worlds.

I think Laura McNeal took on way too much when she tried to balance the two plot strands together. Either the romance has to be over-ruling or it becomes smaller to accommodate the other stuff. If you try to make them equal and devote the same amount of time to them, then both stand the chance of becoming diluted. I was left feeling generally ambivalent about both.

I felt that the scenes where Pearl sneaks down to the river to meet Amiel a bit hackneyed, as I am sure this storyline has featured in every other Bruce Springsteen song. Plus they're kinda... boring. Sneak down to the river. Hold hands. Sneak away. Repeat several more times. And the Robby storyline, going so strong at the start, left me uncaring of its outcome by the end, as it had been pushed to one side to make way for Amiel and then returned to too late. Nothing stood out from the mix in the end. I didn't feel that big 5 Star impact.

I am giving this book 4 stars because it is masterfully written and I applaud the fact the author explored the topic of illegal workers. The scene involving the workers pleading for work as Uncle's Hoyt truck pulls up at the day labour spot really hurt my heart. As a volunteer, I stand for sometimes 5 hours at a stretch at a shopping centre looking for donations, while people refuse to make eye-contact with me and tell their children not to go near me, so I know all too well the feeling of being a second-class citizen.

How successfully and how far she should have pushed it is open to discussion, but I feel a fair, understated message was made.

Thank you to Reynje for the copy of Dark Water

This review originally appeared on Goodreads here

Rating: 4 out of 5 Mars Bars

Review: A Tinfoil Sky by Cyndi Sand-Eveland (Tundra 2012)

2011-12-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

Firstly, I see the author of this book, Cyndi Sand-Eveland has worked as a teaching assistant for children with learning difficulties, an ESL tutor and helped with the homeless - in other words the woman is a saint. A Tinfoil Sky is story about homelessness based on an encounter she had with a young girl in real life. So y'know, good on her. The novel is the fictionalised account of twelve year old Melody and her mother Cecily, who find themselves through circumstance, living in their car before Mel is taken into custodial care by her grandmother who treats Mel like she's an unwanted burden.

I'm a passionate champion of the unrepresented and I find myself instantly favouring (and bumping up the ratings) on any book that attempts to deal with the underclass or societal issues, because what better use for a medium that puts anyone it reaches into a one-on-one head-lock with the opportunity to tell the reader something important and worthwhile? Telling them about how the other half live is certainly going to be more worthwhile than the regurgitation of a tepid tale of forbidden insta-love and <insert choice of monster and/or natural catastrophe> just because ~~jumping abroad the Twilight Gravy Train~~ guaranteed publication means you get to be an author (pfft, c'mon people bloody starve and do it for the art!).

I am a fan of this as long as a) it's not a preachy-preach tale that attempts to be a novel just so the author can get it smuggled into classrooms en mass as a teaching tool and b) it stacks up as a good story. Which means all the elements need to be there: decent storytelling, decent plot, characterisation, structure, narrative, maybe a bit of that elusive X Factor to bring the baby home.

So, how does A Tinfoil Sky stack up to all this?

I can confidently say that here are many things I like about this book. Firstly, I think the characters are lovely. The immature and wayward mother Cecily is beautifully rendered, reminding me of many young mothers I know - still intent on following their dreams, taking off when it suits them, wanting to come back and live with the parents when it also suits them. I think this is a universal character and Cyndi Sand-Eveland has nailed it, making us shake our heads, but at the same time seeing the little redeeming notes in her that bond her to her daughter.

I love Mel as well, she's extremely loveable in her combination of innocence and world-weariness. Plus she also has little bursts of tantrums sometimes which instead of turning me off, makes me warm to her. She's not an angel 100% of the time. She's real little girl (thus the author has achieved her aim).

Sand-Eveland also has a light touch when it comes to writing the grandmother, the old cranky "villain" who really displays some awful behaviour toward young Mel. Villains always get an awful wrap in literature, often only serving as two-dimensional props to ensure the heroes prevail, but the author here has invested a lot of love and sympathy because she obviously has a big heart, and we see the real Granny emerge in time.

To see the positive portrayal of three generations of woman and also many other positive females (a library worker, a soup-kitchen cook) within the book - me likey.

The pacing of the novel is also good. Very readable to me and I suspect middle-grade and lower high-school.

Now, here we come to why I haven't given the novel a higher rating.

So far all the elements have been tick-tick-tick. The part where the novel falls over for me is the author's voice.

The author has gone for third-person POV with the voice of innocence. So it's a bit American innocence of To Kill A Mockingbird combined with the slightly child blinkeredness of The Boy in The Striped Pajamas. The crucial difference being that with the two novels I've mentioned, the authors hit the mark perfectly by balancing the innocence with a bit of punch and shock.

There's no immediate danger in A Tinfoil Sky. Therefore using this voice does not provide a balance to anything. The voice comes across as overly juvenile instead. Okay, so we're dealing with a heavy topic (homelessness with a touch of possible domestic violence) and I can see the balance the author is going for, but there's something awry with the mix that makes me say: it's a nice novel, but without anything else (other than a good intent) it isn't a memorable novel.

I know it might not be the authors intent to go dark or to be controversial, but when I think of this book, all I can remember is nice characters, nice little story about dysfunctional families. It could have very much been told in the same way without the homelessness factor.

The other thing with the writing steams directly from this blurb pointed out by a prominent GR reviewer (which the blurb writer didn't seem to register):

"A Tinfoil Sky is a hard-hitting novel that literally aches with longing. At its heart is a twelve-year-old girl determined to beat incredible odds and steer her own destiny, as she sweeps the read along with her to that one special place called home."

Literally aches? The guffaws coming from GR must have burnt Tundra's ears as the blurb has since been changed and they are now going for "can't-put-it-down" instead of "literally aches". The jury though, may still be out on the replacement wording…

Okay, so I thought the above was funny as well until I read the book and found that nothing could be more fitting than the word "literal" at times! Oh the irony! (I'm hoping I'm using ironic correctly, unlike Alanis Morissette) For most part the prose works. But there are times, when the literalness of it literally had me pulling my hair out! Eg:

"Mel could feel the hair on her scalp warm and itchy and uncomfortable. She wanted to run, but couldn't if she tried. The tingling patch of skin behind her knee began to sweat. The sweat began to drip down the back of her calf. There was a tug on her head, not a real tug, but the kind of tug..."

Argh! My figurative-speaking button is broken!

Even the title A Tinfoil Sky is off. It's not describing the sky as impenetrable or as some other metaphor for the novel... it LITERALLY refers to the fact that Mel's grandmother plasters the window with foil, therefore the sky for Mel LITERALLY IS MADE of tinfoil!

Overall, a nice novel. I'm not shouting it from the rooftops, but it's nice and solid and I think a lot of people are going to enjoy it.

THANK YOU to Netgalley and Tundra Books for providing me with a galley to read. I have the greatest respect for this book and Cyndi Sand-Eveland. As for my less flattering comments, can we say all is fair in love and war?

This review originally appeared on Goodreads here

Rating: 3 out of 5 Mars Bars

Review: The Bridge by Jane Higgins (Text Publishing, 2011)

2011-11-30T05:13:00.000-08:00

The Bridge is the 2011 winner of The Text Prize, an annual X-Factor contest of the Australian publishing world where the prize is a publishing contract and a $10,000 advance (which btw, is huge, trust me - starving authors are salivating from a distance as we speak). I admit it - I've been watching this contest like a hawk since its inception.

The inaugural winner was The Billionaire's Curse. Like Johnny Ruffo - it's young and immature and when it comes to the crunch - talentless. This was followed by Leanne Hall's This Is Shyness (which I will liken to Declan Sykes), a quirky and delightful choice I highly applauded. This brings us to this novel. Which is like... Three Wishez. Y'know - all styled up in their post-apocalyptic Mad Max garb and threatening to implode with internal politics.

The Bridge is a dystopian thriller set in a landscape where the world is broken into two banks - Southside and Cityside - linked together by a series of bridges that span all the way down the river. Our main character finds his somewhat idyllic existence on the Cityside disrupted when his school is bombed. A young child that he regards as his own family is kidnapped by the "hostiles" from across the bridge and Nik embarks on a mission that becomes both a spiritual and physical journey.

Let me start by saying that this is not an easy book to read. The topic (which actually centres more squarely on being a political examination than an actual "thriller") is heavy going, the storyline is heavy going and the writing itself - sombre and gritty - offers little if no respite. It felt like I was literally wading through the pages just to get through. When I had to stop, I found that I actually wasn't that keen to get back into it, even though I didn't have intentions of abandoning it because it was a good book. And at the beginning, this kind of got me into a mood where I was yelling "why don't they just bloody get rid of the bridges then to solve this problem?!"

Slowly though, as I got into it, little gems that made the reading worthwhile started to appear. I liken the experience to crawling through a mining shaft and having to work in back-breaking conditions, but eventually finding more gold and then at the end seeing a vague light.

I'll tell you what I dislike - "war themed" novels (which I won't call by name) where "our" side is fighting against a faceless "enemy". I know that these novels often go out of the way to disguise the enemy so that it possibly couldn’t be any recognisable country, but to imply that there are factions of humanity which can be discounted and abandoned to just "evil" does NOT float with me. So to find The Bridge, a novel that presents both sides of the story and paints in shades of grey, absolutely resounds with me. Its crowning glory is the fact that it starts on one side, works itself over the bridge to look at the other and then in the end leave with a note of both sorrow and hope.

The world-building is excellent (I wouldn't expect less from an author who is also a social researcher). The characterisation is strong, I really loved the MC Nikolai and at the point when he discovers who he is <spoiler>neither of the City or South, but of both<end of spoiler> really bonded his connection with me. Female character Fyffe makes me want to shout "now THIS is how you write a gentle feminine character without tipping into Weakling area!" I love the subtle touches, such as "cross" (to do with the bridges) being at the same time a religious symbol. In fact, emotionally, this ticks all the boxes for me and my heart wants to give it Five Stars, but relentless Brain has a few issues to pick at, mainly:

At times the plot is driven by random discoveries which seem too slight to actually be plot drivers (ie: I found this small piece of info so that means this massive event is going to happen). And if not for the fact that I was so emotionally invested that I stopped caring - there are chapters near the end that consist of pages and pages of dialogue verbatim. I thought a good editor could have tightened this up for greater impact. After all, as Ronan Keating (bear with me, Ronan's an X factor reference) says: You say it best, when you say nothing at all.

Other than that, I am highly impressed with this brave choice by Text. I don't think it's going to spawn a novel of great popularity, but it succeeds in showcasing impressive talent.

It will be interesting to see if a sequel results from this.

The 2012 Text Prize book I've heard is The Relic, about mythological creatures that invade suburban Perth and threaten the world. It will be published in August 2012.

Okay. I'm from Perth and it sounds like I’d be down with that. Text Publishing, you know I love your work, but just don't let that winner be a The Billionaire's Curse ver 2 mmkay?

This review originally appeared on Goodreads here.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Mars Bars

Welcome World!

2011-11-27T20:48:00.000-08:00

I'm going to start publishing everything I put on Goodreads here, just quietly and on the sly. I'll launch it properly soon (as in offish and all) with stuff you can win :)