Margaret Bearman's "We were never friends"

 

You can find this book here.

This book is adult fiction; but a lot of the perspective is of the protagonist when she was younger (so it may have the feeling of Youth Fiction, if that is something you want to be wary of). It follows Charlotte, known as Lottie, as she looks back at her life and friendships and the impacts of the past on the present and choices and lives we live. Its themes revolve around friendship, but also family dysfunction and what 'artistic genius' is. 

When I read this book, it seemed very raw and real. It seemed like the relationships fit with families and friendships not only in the past, but how they are dealt with now (just with less focus on social media). Charlotte summed up teens well and how they possibly relate as they move into adolescence. Whilst I didn't want characters to act or be the way they were necessarily throughout the whole novel; it showed how change, or its lack, can also impact on relationships. 

The setting is Canberra, so yay for Australian authors! Whilst characters had problems with the birds (I love hearing the magpies!), the setting does take a backseat for this novel. The protagonist's emotional journey is more important. 

Because the focus is on Lottie's emotional journey, the remaining characters are not necessarily well understood or fleshed out. I believe this could be because of the point of view it holds, which limits what we can see and know about the rest of the characters. and possibly adds to the self-involvement Lottie has about people in her life like Larissa who trumps, at that time in her life, relationships with her family. However, for this reason, it may not be a well-rounded read to some of you. 

The book is an easy, quick read. The author is Australian, and apparently has a great history in research as a professor at Deakin University. I like these points. I also recommend this book if you like rawness of emotion of characters as they try to work through life (or adolescence).

Links for you

Read-a-likes in the Library:

Husband's secret

Liane Moriarty

This is where I leave you

Jonathan Tropper

Read-a-likes in CloudLibrary:

Ask again, yes

Mary Beth Keane

This book looks at memory and the past and its impact on the future of adulthood. This book focusses more on the adult-side, unlike Bearman's.

We are water

Wally Lamb

Jack Heath's "Hangman"

 

You can find this book here.

'Hangman' is a thriller where Timothy 'Tim' Blake looks for a kidnapped adolescent. One of the twists is that as a consultant to the FBI; whilst he is a genius, he is also a dangerous criminal that shouldn't be trusted. But, if need be, you call the genius in to solve the hardest puzzles and cases there are. And to the protagonist, this one turns out to be one he can't solve so easily. 

As a protagonist; you may not like Tim Blake. Or maybe he will grow on you. He is an anti-hero. But he is engaging and a fresh perspective on a genre you may have read a lot of. The background, education, life and choices of the character are also interesting and add more depth to Blake. I think it is helped that the setting for the novel is Texas somehow; like all the bad things anybody has ever mentioned about Texas has been included, and so the characters seem to fit into their setting. Of course, this could make it more unrealistic and believable to other readers. The choice is yours.

The pace is quick and easy; you will finish it quickly. It is a darker novel, with a lot of gritty elements; so it might not be for you if you prefer a lighter crime or thriller fiction novel. Heath is also an Australian author; if this matters to you, but may also then turn you off reading it if you think he can't possibly hold the setting truly. 

From the acknowledgements, Heath seems to have done some serious research to make the novel, and especially the characters, believable. Give it a go and see if you like it. 

And then you can read the rest we have in the series:

Hunter

Hideout  (this book is not out yet; but you can reserve it)

Links for you

Heath in the Library:

Shockave

(a Junior Fiction choose-your-own adventure story)

Cut out

(a Young Adult novel - part of a series)

Read-a-likes in the Library:

Silent wife

Karin Slaughter

In this novel, a lot of the themes are the same in terms of death row and kidnapping. The genre is also the same, as well as the level of violence.

Dexter: an omnibus

Jeffry P. Lindsay

Whilst the characters are different in background; the way they work to stop crime and the level of violence is similar. However; Dexter, as a character, is probably not as flawed.

Hannibal rising

Thomas Harris

The characters are similarly twisted and dark within this novel and Heath's.

Staff pick: Sophie Hardcastle's "Below deck"

This book can be found here.

On the surface, a simple story of a young woman deciding to take her life in an unexpected direction after the death of her grandfather. A chance meeting with people who ‘get’ her more than she has ever felt from her parents, takes her part of the way on this journey and they remain a support system as she travels on by herself.

The words flow seamlessly in circles of colour, in streams of light and dark, in visceral description and battered and baffled feeling. The story of Oli, of how she meets, evades, excels and ignores other people’s expectations is tender and hopeful. She goes to sea which is both the answer and a terrifying question. She finds people who will test her and some who will support her but eventually she must go back to the sea to find her own answers. Oli has synaesthesia which means she hears the world in colour, but she has the same difficulty as any other young person in making sense of her world. There is a large cast of supporting characters who are developed enough to move the story forward, but this is Oli’s story alone and we hear it in her own voice and in her own colours.

 ’Someone told me a special story about death,’ Maggie says. ‘She told me that we are like rivers, all of us. We begin as clouds, and then one day we rain down and become a trickle. We grow into a stream…thicken into a river. We travel great distances, wind through all kinds of valleys and forests. Sometimes we come together with other rivers, flow together, swirl together in great lakes, part ways, flow alone…But we all meet again in the end at the river’s mouth, where we empty into the sea.’ pp. 54-5.

Oli’s sailing takes her to the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Southern Ocean; seeing whales, penguins, icebergs and the vast, restless colours of the waters of the earth. On land, she works in an art gallery and meets creative women developing their craft and asserting their own identities.

This is a debut adult fiction although the author has already published a memoir re mental illness and a YA novel. But this is grown-up territory, a poetic muse on being an adult and making adult choices; about finding your own voice and making your own space to live.

I imagine that this wind first circled in Antarctica, that it was born of silence. I imagine how it thickened, changed shape, changed direction. I imagine how it licked the sea, clawed at it, dug up waves from the deep. I imagine how it screamed in the night, shaking sailor’s knees.

And as it tears through my hair and up behind me, I find a sense of awe blooming inside my body, a deep and unswerving respect for these coarse grasses, that mother with her child, this purple earth, these people, all these wildflowers.

It’s a wild wind. Fierce and bitter and alive. Ushuaia endures.

And in that thought, I find solace. For I, too, endure. P. 252

For other books (or versions of this one), go here.

To read an article on Hardcastle's writing process, go here.

-- Wendy

Jay Kristoff’s “Lifel1k3”

This book can be found here.

‘Lifel1k3’ (or 'Lifelike') is the first in Kristoff's new young adult, dystopian series. As a note, I think the genre really works and the level of writing that Kristoff offers makes this dystopic future believable and realistic. It is gritty and dark and the language that is littered through is stunning, true cert. Though he did describe Ezekiel’s eyes the same way almost every time I was reading about Evie looking into them. You might get bored of that.

The novel centres on a character called Eve who when fighting a machina in WarDome is found to be able to fry electrics. From this moment on she is hunted by multiple factions, including the Brotherhood (the religious order of the day who want to kill her for being impure) and Daedalus (a large corporation of two that controls society so that their way of life and business may continue). Amidst trying to deal with all of this, Eve is confronted by an android called Ezekiel, who challenges everything she has grown up knowing whilst trying to help her save her captured grandfather.

I found the characters very solid and believable. I think Eve was well-done and I think the secondary characters were fun and strong enough to hold their own in the novel. The secondary characters are also given a stronger focus in the second novel; so if you really enjoy them, persevere and read the series!

It is fast and furious (and vehicles do play a nice part); and I also like the dire vision of the future that is played throughout. Kristoff also writes with great depth and has some solid moments of humour.

This is suited for a young adult audience, but if you don’t like gore or swearing, then don’t read it. If you like a mix of grit, humour and solid battle scenes, then read this book!

Links for you:

Jay Kristoff in the library:

Stormdancer ; Lotus wars 1

Kristoff in cloudLibrary:

Aurora rising ; Aurora Cycle 1

Nevernight ; Nevernight Chronicle 1

Author read-a-likes in the Library:

Red Queen ; Red Queen series 1

Victoria Aveyard

Aveyard was chosen because she writes strong rebellious characters and teenage relationships . The work is also dystopic.

Ninth house ; Alex Stern 1

Leigh Bardugo

Bardugo was chosen for the author’s world-building detail and creating characters that are flawed.

Havenfall ; Havenfall 1

Sara Holland

Holland was chosen for her detailed world-building and strong female characters.

Author read-a-likes in cloudLibrary:

Throne of glass ; Throne of glass 1

Sarah J Maas

House of earth and blood ; Crescent city 1

Sarah J Maas

Sarah J Maas has been chosen not just because of the genre connection; but because of how the author world-builds: detailed and descriptive.