psychology

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

| Tasha
Cover image for A Lesson in Vengeance.

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee (9780593305829)

Felicity is returning to Dalloway School after the tragic death of her girlfriend ended her previous senior year early. But it’s not easy to return to the ivy-covered school that is filled with dark legends that Felicity finds herself drawn to. The early days of the school date to the witch trials and five Dalloway students died early in the schools history, their deaths filled with connections to witchcraft. As Felicity starts her senior year again, she meets a compelling new student, a young novelist who is working on her second book. When Ellis reveals her book is going to be about the Dalloway Five, Felicity agrees to help her with her research. As the two research documents, they also form their own coven and begin to explore the occult. There is so much history filled with questions, and that includes the death of Felicity’s girlfriend a year ago too.

This book is beautiful and delicious. I love that it has its own distinct vintage style too, combining elbow patches and fifties sweaters with cell phones. The witch elements of the story are an invigorating mix of real history with existing covens but also may be covering up more realistic reasons for the deaths of the five girls. The setting itself is marvelously isolated and allows the characters a lot of freedom. These are wealthy girls, who flaunt their privilege at times and deny it at others.

The book is layered and complex. It turns from being a gothic, vintage witchcraft tale to something even darker. As Felicity’s mental health destabilizes, the truth emerges in fits and starts. The book becomes far more about the power of young women, the way society has frowned upon them gaining agency in the world, and what that means today. Beautifully, that doesn’t mean that the bloody nature of the book goes away. Far from it.

Dark, dangerous and delightful. Appropriate for ages 14-18.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Delacorte Press.

Review: The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

| Tasha

half life of molly pierce

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Molly has memory problems, she will awaken driving her car on the highway miles from home.  She will find herself on the couch watching a show on TV with her little sister when she had just moments earlier been at school.  She wakes up with her homework half finished and she doesn’t remember even starting it.  So when an unknown boy crashes his motorcycle in front of her and then calls her by name, Molly knows that there is more to her blackouts than she might have thought and that it is time to come clean about them with her parents and therapist.  As she starts to sort out what happens to her when she isn’t there, Molly meets Sayer, the brother of the boy who crashed and someone who seems to know more about Molly than she does.  Molly has to figure out not only what is happening to her but how she is connected to Sayer and his brother.

In this debut novel, Leno skillfully crafts a book of psychological suspense and mystery.  Cleverly, it all takes place in a single person who can’t remember it at all.  The result is a riveting read, one that is emotional and raw.  Molly is a great example of the unreliable narrator, one who knows that she doesn’t have the facts but also one who is incapable of putting it all together.  Readers may guess what is happening in the novel before Molly realizes it herself, but the book won’t let you go until it is revealed in its entirety.

Leno’s writing is noteworthy too.  She beautifully captures falling in love through physical, tangible reactions and poetic language.  She also gracefully shows the physical reactions of Molly as she struggles to live a normal life, such as this passage from the beginning of Chapter 8:

The next day at school I move through the hallways like they’re flooded.  Like I’m swimming through them, coming up every so often for air and clawing my way through seaweed that would hold me down, choke me, suffocate me.  My lungs burn with the effort of breathing.  What I wouldn’t do for gills.

This startling puzzle of a psychological thriller will have readers riveted from the very beginning.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Edelweiss and HarperTeen.

Review: Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn

| Tasha

complicit

Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn

Jamie and his sister Cate were adopted by a wealthy couple whose own children died.  But money can’t fix everything.  Two years ago Cate was sentenced to juvenile detention for burning down their neighbors horse barn and injuring a girl.  Now Cate is free and she’s returning to Jamie’s life though he wants nothing to do with her.  When Jamie had first heard of the barn burning down, his arms went completely numb and non-functional.  He’s gotten better in the last two years, but hearing that his sister is returning and looking for him specifically has his arms going numb again.  Cate bears a truth that Jamie might finally be ready to hear, and Jamie knows that there is something about the fire at the barn that just isn’t right.  This tense and twisting thriller will keep readers enthralled right to the incredible ending.

Kuehn won the William C. Morris Award for her first book, Charm & Strange.  Her skills is on display here too as this second book is a completely engrossing read that is one wild ride.  Told entirely from the point of view of Jamie, readers can only guess at what he is hiding from himself.  Tension builds as Jamie starts to piece together clues about Cate and what she was doing the night the barn burned and then why she turned herself in days later.   As Cate starts to call Jamie and provide hints herself, the tension creeps up higher.  The explosive ending will confirm some reader’s guesses but will also stun with its revelations.

Skillfully written and plotted, this novel explores mental illness in a very close and personal way.  Jamie is a wonderfully flawed narrator, filling the pages with his unique point of view that readers know from the beginning is skewed though they are not sure exactly how.  That is part of the brilliance of the book, that there are many ways in which Jamie can be misunderstanding his sister and his past.  That’s what keep readers turning the pages, the need to know what in the world is the truth.

A riveting and breathtaking read, this is a perfect summer read to share between friends.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from digital galley received from NetGalley and Macmillan.

Review: Never Ending by Martyn Bedford

| Tasha

never ending

Never Ending by Martyn Bedford

Shiv is unable to live with her brother Declan’s death, particularly her own role in it.  So she is sent to the Korsakoff Clinic where she hopes to be cured and be able to continue her life.  Unable to see past her own guilt and loss, Shiv finds herself in an unusual clinic where she is first forced to focus on her brother and then forced to look directly at his death without turning away.  She is joined in the clinic by several other teens who all lost people in different ways but all feel as responsible and guilty as Shiv does.  As they are forced to see the truth of their loss, all of them react in different ways.  When hope is highest though, the ground falls out below Shiv and she must figure out that saving someone else may be the answer to saving herself.

Bedford has created a very compelling read.  He slowly reveals Shiv’s life before Declan’s death.  Along the way, readers get to know Shiv and Declan and their warm and loving parents.  They see directly what grief and loss do to people and the way their relationships are torn asunder.  They also see how hard it is to return to life after such a loss.  Bedford maintains a large level of complexity throughout the novel, moving into flashbacks and also showing Declan as a human rather than a lost angel.  The relationship between the siblings is good until a gorgeous young man enters their lives and creates waves for both of them.

As the flashbacks to Declan’s final days continue, the tension in the book mounts.  The pressure is also building in Shiv’s recovery as she starts to recover and then suffers setbacks.  There are no easy answers here.  Declan’s life as well as Shiv’s are complex.  The therapy she undergoes is unusual but it is up to Shiv to really do the work of recovery. 

Beautifully written and structured, this novel of recovery, pain and guilt weaves a mesmerizing web for the reader who is never quite sure how things are going to end.  Appropriate for ages 15-17.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House Children’s Books.