Category Archives: contemporary

2014, action, Book Review, contemporary, mystery, realistic fiction, romance, standalone, YA

[Review] Minders – Michele Jaffe

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Book Title:                      Minders (Standalone)
Author:                             Michele Jaffe
Number of pages:     400

Michele Jaffe - Minders - Cover

Synopsis:

Q: If the boy you love commits a crime, would you turn him in?

Sadie Ames is a type-A teenager from the wealthy suburbs. She’s been accepted to the prestigious Mind Corps Fellowship program, where she’ll spend six weeks as an observer inside the head of Ford, a troubled boy with a passion for the crumbling architecture of the inner city. There’s just one problem: Sadie’s fallen in love with him.

Q: What if the crime is murder?

Ford Winters is haunted by the murder of his older brother, James. As Sadie falls deeper into his world, dazzled by the shimmering pinpricks of color that form images in his mind, she begins to think she knows him. Then Ford does something unthinkable.

Q: What if you saw it happen from inside his mind?

Back in her own body, Sadie is faced with the ultimate dilemma. With Ford’s life in her hands, she must decide what is right and what is wrong. And how well she can really ever know someone, even someone she loves.

 (re: Goodreads @ Minders by Michele Jaffe)

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr spoiler-less review:
  • Enjoy looking through kaleidoscopes? Well, thoughts and emotions are seen in Technicolor. That’s pretty neat.
  • World building takes on contemporary realism with subtle science-fiction elements that aren’t overwhelming for non sci-fi fanatics.
  • The narrative is not anchored by romance in pacing (although I’d imagine you could still ship them); I mean, she’s pretty normal and he exudes the troubled bad boy.

minders-michele-jaffe-scorecard-600x300

Initial Thoughts:

Hmm, neat cover and premise but even neater opening prologue to the story. That’s really all I got for initial thoughts. Ha.

Lettuce explore my mind.

Disclaimer: Potential spoilers inherent to this review from here onward.

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2014, Book Review, contemporary, cultural, death, japan, realistic fiction, Reviews, romance, standalone, YA

[Review] When You Were Here – Daisy Whitney

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Book Title:                    When You Were Here (Standalone)
Author:                           Daisy Whitney
Number of pages:    264daisywhitney_whenyouwerehere

Synopsis:

Danny’s mother lost her five-year battle with cancer three weeks before his graduation-the one day that she was hanging on to see.

Now Danny is left alone, with only his memories, his dog, and his heart-breaking ex-girlfriend for company. He doesn’t know how to figure out what to do with her estate, what to say for his Valedictorian speech, let alone how to live or be happy anymore.

When he gets a letter from his mom’s property manager in Tokyo, where she had been going for treatment, it shows a side of his mother he never knew. So, with no other sense of direction, Danny travels to Tokyo to connect with his mother’s memory and make sense of her final months, which seemed filled with more joy than Danny ever knew. There, among the cherry blossoms, temples, and crowds, and with the help of an almost-but-definitely-not Harajuku girl, he begins to see how it may not have been ancient magic or mystical treatment that kept his mother going. Perhaps, the secret of how to live lies in how she died.

(re: Goodreads @ When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney)

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr spoiler-less review:
  • Predominately takes place in Japan and exposes its culture.
  • Male perspective on grieving losses, optimism, and discovering the nature of life and love.
  • Some characters are refreshing, others are one dimensional, but they’re all interwoven and linked to some degree.
Initial Thoughts:

This book was suggested to me by Savindi.

I had a brief moment after I read the synopsis: could it be that Daniel Kellerman will redeem the name “Daniel/Danny” after my experience with Daniel Kelly (re: Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas)? It’s totally not a coincidence that their names are practically identical right? Twins in another life, maybe. This is a young-adult contemporary about grieving death and meandering through clouded vision of acceptance and finding a way to move on. It has the inner workings to be one of those heart wrenching discovery reads where streams of figurative (or physical) tears eventually flow out of your sockets. But it didn’t get to that point for me.

Let me regale you with my grief:

Disclaimer: Potential spoilers inherent to this review from here onward.

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2013, australia, Book Review, coming of age, contemporary, cultural, sexuality, standalone, status & class

[Review] Barracuda – Christos Tsiolkas

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Book Title:                         Barracuda (Standalone)
Author:                                Christos Tsiolkas
Number of pages:         528

Synopsis:christos tsiolkas - barracuda (cover)

“He asked the water to lift him, to carry him, to avenge him. He made his muscles shape his fury, made every stroke declare his hate. And the water obeyed; the water would give him his revenge. No one could beat him, no one came close.”

His whole life Danny Kelly’s only wanted one thing: to win Olympic gold. Everything he’s ever done – every thought, every dream, every action – takes him closer to that moment of glory, of vindication, when the world will see him for what he is: the fastest, the strongest and the best. His life has been a preparation for that moment.

His parents struggle to send him to the most prestigious private school with the finest swimming program; Danny loathes it there and is bullied and shunned as an outsider, but his coach is the best and knows Danny is, too, better than all those rich boys, those pretenders. Danny’s win-at-all-cost ferocity gradually wins favour with the coolest boys – he’s Barracuda, he’s the psycho, he’s everything they want to be but don’t have the guts to get there. He’s going to show them all.

“He would be first, everything would be alright when he came first, all would be put back in place. When he thought of being the best, only then did he feel calm.”

(an excerpt re: Goodreads @ Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas)

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr spoiler-less review:
  • A coming of age story with converging perspectives to recount the then and now of Daniel Kelly’s life.
  • Prose is expertly versed, imaginative and evocative, even if long-winded.
  • Characters are brutally honest, real, and provoke both negative/positive emotions.
  • The plotting is seemingly basic but manages to capture a variety of genres.
Initial Thoughts:

I am perplexed.

But what I am sure of is that I’m a bit disappointed that the book cover (and its title by proxy) could have made me believe that this kid had some pseudo-merman powers or the like. Seriously.

However, the synopsis is certainly poignant. And if the blurb is of indication of the writing in this book then you’re certainly a winner for picking this book up because everything is meticulously described. To expand upon this point: you just didn’t somehow load up this blog (although that is cool beans as well)—no, that would be too easy… through the reflection of the backlit screen your eyes graze a query into the deepest desires for knowledge. A white manifestation of your soul skeptically hovers, looming, unsure, and you begin to wonder what the heck I’m talking about now…) Yeah, that’s my take on how overbearing and fluffy some descriptions tended to be. But I guess there’s substance in that so I can’t complain that much.

I will admit: I don’t usually gravitate towards novels fixated on a cultural-contemporary nature. Actually, I don’t remember how I came across Barracuda in the first place. But with Sochi (and Olympic feels) rapidly approaching, I felt this to be a great fit to explore the battle of an athlete’s mentality; and all of the inherent struggles and fix-ins that came with it.

Let’s dive right in.

Disclaimer: Potential spoilers inherent to this review have been minimized with exceptions to quotes.

 

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