Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Coming of Age

FROM BRICK and DARKNESS By J. L. Sullivan – YA Urban Fantasy, Mythology, Coming of Age

Dreams become a reality for a high schooler who gets more than he bargains for when he unwittingly releases a demon in J. L. Sullivan’s urban fantasy novel, From Brick and Darkness.

Fifteen-year-old Baxter (Bax) Allen encounters a creepy homeless-looking man at his apartment complex with purple eyes. The stranger, who asks for Greg, Bax’s estranged father, hands him a ring affixed with a purple stone. The man says that the costume jewelry is valuable, although Bax has difficulty believing his claim.

At school the next day, as he shares his weird experience with his best friend, Jason, Bax accidentally rubs the ring, the stone emits a hypnotic glow, and a small monkey-like creature appears, saying, “How can it serve?” Once Bax and Jason realize that the ring summoned a genie (or Janni, as the creature says), the two plan to investigate this strange phenomenon further at Bax’s house. One thing leads to the next, and before the boys know what’s going on, Ashley, Bax’s neighbor catches a glimpse of Janni. She joins the boys and is sworn to secrecy about this enchanted creature.

Although Janni’s job is relegated to fetching objects instead of granting wishes, Bax wonders if it has untapped power, especially when Bax has a vivid dream involving his estranged father.

The dream activates the ring, causing it to emanate a purple light. Janni, who admits to knowing where to find a more powerful djinn – an ifrit, more akin to a demon – leads the trio to an ordinary box fitted with yet another purple jewel. Bax rubs it, producing a gastly-looking creature that Bax immediately orders back in the box.

That evening, Bax has another vivid dream that, to his horror, exactly matches the death of Nick Ruiz, a popular student at Truman High. The mysterious conditions behind Nick’s demise can only point to one culprit: the ifrit. Bax and his friends feverishly scramble to find a way to stop the demon from unleashing more harm. What the trio doesn’t know is that the ifrit has more sinister plans in the works.

Rising young adult author, J. L. Sullivan, combines mythology, theology, and astronomy to create an invitingly fresh, nail-biting coming-of-age teen tale.

At the center of all the “ologies” is an ordinary teen with ordinary desires, except that he often wonders about the father he barely knew who seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth. Sullivan excels at making not only Bax Allen a real person, but making the entire St. Louis-based environment come to life. In Bax’s world, teens are just teens with hormones, angst, bullies, and rumors galore.

But what happens when, amid a commonplace high school atmosphere, one teen accidentally walks into a realm beyond the three-wish genies’ basic concept? Sullivan’s imagination takes “curiosity killed the cat” to a new level when not just Bax but his clever best friend and Bax’s annoying teen neighbor are grouped as an unlikely trio on a research-driven quest that turns deadly. Because Janni and the ifrit only answer to Bax, he constantly finds himself in sticky situations. Tension builds between him and his mother as his excuses pile on top of one another.

Sullivan’s sure and engaging writing style offers a well-balanced mix of narration and dialogue with a small but mighty supportive cast that provides readers with an inside scoop on the main character’s thought processes and internal struggles. Scenes slowly build, especially while highlighting victims and surly characters, creating non-stop tension and a gripping page-turner.

From Brick and Darkness is guaranteed to become a new teen favorite.

May 16, 2022
The BEST WEEK THAT NEVER HAPPENED by Dallas Woodburn – Teen and YA Coming of Age Fantasy, Teen and Y/A Magical Realism Fiction, Y/A Contemporary Fantasy Fiction

Dallas Woodburn’s debut novel The Best Week that Never Happened is a roller-coaster ride through Hawaii and the mysterious depths of its briny deep, sparkling with unreal magic, a poignant romance, and incessant hope.

Tegan Rossi, a freshly graduated eighteen-year-old, awakens in the secretive hideout she discovered with Kai Kapule as two eight-year-old children on her first trip to Hawaii Island. She needs to make amends with Kai as they had a major squabble over something very important that she now oddly forgets. When Tegan catches up with Kai in Hawaii, she enters her best week yet – the Best Week That Never Happened.

The first-person narrative is a fusion of Tegan’s past three years ago and ten years ago, as well as a mystified chronicling of her present with Kai on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Tegan and Kai run into each other for the second time in Hawaii ten years later. At Kai’s earnest request, they both meet at their childhood hideout The Lava Tubes. Reliving the nostalgia, they re-emerge as inseparable friends, sharing their lives over the phone 4,880 miles apart. Tegan’s reluctance to meet up with Kai’s graduation wish (a visit from Tegan) turns up in the two-months past narrative. With the present time leapfrog, Tegan arrives in Hawaii, fretting over her inability to remember how she turned up there.

In the medical center of Kai’s aunt, Tegan discovers an hourglass tattoo on her body she never had.

A series of incredible happenings follow. Tegan’s suitcase shows up out of nowhere with all she could ever wish for, her mom doesn’t seem to exist, at least she’s not answering her calls. Oh, yes, and the hourglass tattoo is losing sand. Most curious, Tegan discovers her Instagram photo in front of a train with a caption about her departure from Philadelphia to Washington DC. But the train crashed, killing 67 passengers.

In her quest for an explanation, Tegan receives a message, “to trust enough to take the leap.” It is Tegan’s conforming to the message which will eventuate her best week, the week of confessing love, dealing with insecurities, and reliving the déjà-vu moments from the past with Kai into a reality.

The Best Week That Never Happened ushers readers through alternating states of reflection and pessimism, until finally riding the waves of optimism and hope.

Dallas Woodburn explores the complexity of a teenage psyche. Through Kai and Tegan, she reflects on our innate insecurities and the tendency to not embrace new ideas and opportunities out of fear. With the development of the two characters, the narrative tone gradually shifts from a tragic to an optimistic perspective, referencing their development as adults. This subtle shift brings about a symbiotic relationship between pessimism and optimism in which we all live.

The aversion to change and embracing a better future is a predominant theme throughout the book.

This underlying struggle is reflected in Tegan and Ross. Tegan struggles with the decision to confess her feelings for Kai, adamant to keep the relationship unchanged. By not confessing to her feelings, she risks making the best week of her life with Kai only an illusion of reality. Kai dreams of becoming an artist and gets shortlisted to the prestigious CalArts College in Los Angeles. He adores his usual marine life with his family in Hawaii, his paradise, away from the suffocating fear of being stuck “at the bottom of the barrel” outside of Hawaii. Overcoming their fears and insecurities is what makes the debut novel, The Best Week That Never Happened, so very relatable.

With a twist of magical realism and captivating storytelling, The Best Week That Never Happened revolves around the contemporary concerns of teenagers and adults alike. It’s an exciting read with a powerful message borrowed from Martin Luther King, Jr., “Take the first step in faith. You don’t need to see everything on the staircase, just the first step.”

The Best Week That Never Happened by Dallas Woodburn won the CIBA 2020 Grand Prize in the Dante Rossetti Book Awards for Young Adult novels and is one book we highly recommend.

April 4, 2022
SOULMATED (Joining of Souls Book) by Shaila Patel – Paranormal Romance, YA Paranormal, Coming of Age

Eighteen-year-old Liam Whelan must balance the pressure and danger of his new role leading his entire empath clan while searching for a fabled ‘soulmate’ in Shaila Patel’s paranormal romance novel, Soulmated.

Since the age of six, guided by his father’s visions, Liam and his family have traveled across the United States, moving from town to town searching for the girl destined to “join” with Liam. However, no empath in centuries has found a soulmated union. No one knows what joining actually means. Liam tires of his parents’ search for what he considers a fantasy girl, but he agrees to give up one more year of his life. The family moves to North Carolina for Liam’s senior year.

Laxshmi Kapadia will graduate a year early. Her mother, an overprotective and overbearing widow, plans Laxshmi’s entire life. Either her daughter attends med school or marries a proper Indian boy. Neither prospect appeals to Laxshmi, who wants to major in dance and doesn’t even want to start dating, let alone get married. So, when she meets the handsome new boy two doors down from her house, she doesn’t understand why he’s so drawn to her, unaware of her latent empathic abilities.

Liam marvels at Laxshmi’s power, smitten with her mesmerizing eyes. But as the two become closer, a strange power begins to emerge, a force that threatens their lives and draws the attention of the enemies that Liam must face as a leader.

Liam and Laxshmi bear the weight of responsibility, both to the family and themselves.

At barely eighteen, Liam has to prove himself worthy to lead his clan. He embraces the great honor but fears the added burdens of becoming the “prince.” In addition to his rigorous schooling, he constantly reviews the financial documents of his people to be sure of their success. His heightened empathic abilities make him an asset to the entire empath world and a dangerous wildcard. Liam doesn’t want to control the Group of Elders, but his father pushes him toward that future. This responsibility combines with his remarkable potential, and Liam becomes lost in his abilities.

Laxshmi struggles under no less responsibility.

Her father died five years ago, and since then, Laxshmi’s mother has focused entirely on her. Mrs. Kapadia struggles financially and determines that her daughter must do better by becoming a doctor or marrying a wealthy man. Though she balks at her mother’s control, Laxshmi can’t help but feel she must be the dutiful daughter to keep a promise made to her father. Can Laxshmi give up on her dreams for the sake of her mother? Laxshmi honors her mother’s wishes to stay away from all boys, especially those who are non-Indian, though it means she may be missing out on a genuine love with Liam.

Ironically, both Liam and Laxshmi find a certain freedom in the responsibility of a relationship with each other. Though they must invest great emotion, they make that trade for the chance to choose their paths. Rather than being burdened by another’s emotions, they make each other stronger.

Shaila Patel’s Soulmated won 1^st Place in the 2015 CIBA Paranormal Book Awards for Supernatural Fiction.

February 11, 2022
The WORLD PLAYED CHESS by Robert Dugoni – Coming of Age, Vietnam War, Friendship Fiction

Robert Dugoni’s novel, The World Played Chess examines the demands of society and family, through the dawning adulthood of three different men in three different eras.

Vincent Bianco, a Southern California lawyer raises his teenage daughter and high-school-senior son. He unexpectedly receives the Vietnam journal of William Goodman, with whom he had worked construction in 1979. Goodman scribbled the journal in pencil during desperate breaks in his service in Vietnam. This record describes Goodman’s harsh initiation and horrifying acclimatization to the war.

Mirroring the Marine’s rapid maturation in the jungles of southeast Asia, Bianco recalls his own privileged coming of age. He compares it with his son Beau’s coming of age in present-day 2016 and 2017. With each entry in Goodman’s journal, Bianco remembers conversations, events, and decisions of his own pivotal summer. He sees similar decisions play out in his son’s life. What happens when they make decisions without thought, in frustration, or when they don’t make decisions at all?

Tragedies and near-tragedies mark all three of the novel’s timelines. The three primary characters think and overthink their choices.

Goodman’s squad leader, Victor Cruz emerges as the true protagonist of the story. Victor watches over Goodman during his time in Vietnam, providing contrast to Goodman’s background. His actions after Goodman suffers a wound and returns to duty provide the impetus for the shocking key moment in this novel.

We all must determine who we will be. Men, according to Dugoni, find this choice critical to a good life.

Dugoni picks at the threads that have woven the lives of his most important characters. What leads to our academic careers and work lives, what brings us together with the people we care for? These questions, while not always clear, have crucial and sometimes horrible consequences. In the end, we are faced with the lives we have led and can either come to terms with them or not. Either way, one question remains: do we deserve our fates?

Dugoni’s novel zigs and zags, just like the decisions and events that comprise human life. The reader can come to a conclusion about the novel’s characters in a gestalt way, only in the end realizing how artfully the author has led them to self-examination. We live our lives in moments, and, like William Goodman, Vincent Bianco, Beau Bianco, and Victor Cruz, we get the lives we deserve — even if we don’t deserve them.

January 7, 2022
THE MOONSTONE GIRLS by Brooke Skipstone – Young Adult, LGBTQ+ Literature, Coming of Age

In The Moonstone Girls, award-winning author Brooke Skipstone unravels a story about seventeen-year-old Tracy Franks. Tracy has a secret that in 1968 could have deadly consequences. You see, Tracy is gay.

In her hometown of San Antonio, Tracy is forced to hide behind the “girl next door” facade, never allowing her true identity to emerge. Her only confidante is her brother, Spencer. He understands her turmoil exactly because Spencer is also gay.

Neither teenager feels free to talk about their true feelings with their family, especially their father, Art. Art constantly scolds his son for his feminine behavior, his desire to become a pianist instead of joining the military. Though he also shows his displeasure with Tracy, she, unlike her brother, fights back, but only in the privacy of their home.

Tracy keeps her secret from everyone–until the night she is kissed by her friend Ava at a party.

Ava and Tracy decide their relationship is worth exploring, but the two must do so in secrecy, and Tracy decides to pass as a boy whenever she and Ava go out in public. However, their charade is soon discovered, and Tracy’s life becomes a great deal more complicated.

Before long, Tracy will make decisions that will be life-changing and impact her entire family.

The uplifting theme of perseverance in this coming-of-age novel is a treasure. Tracy’s astounding bravery comes from wisdom beyond her seventeen years. She wields immense courage against every challenge, even though she sometimes doubts her abilities.

When Tracy can no longer play on the girls’ basketball team, she immediately plans to join the boys. Despite her frequent and painful injuries, she overcomes and, more importantly, never complains. She refuses to allow the stereotypical beliefs about the mental and physical limitations of her gender stop her dreams and ambitions.

Later, when Tracy plans a solo trip to Alaska, she buckles down and does what she must to reach her destination, a destination that also shapes who she truly is.

This emotional flexibility strengthens her character. Tracy “goes with the flow,” never allowing obstacles to remain obstacles. She chooses instead to make these stumbling blocks into life lessons that pair nicely with her already indestructible self-will.

Tracy and Spencer’s relationship juxtaposes them, in heartwarming and heartbreaking ways.

The two have much in common, but their differences become even more defining. Tracy stays strong under their father’s cruelty. At eighteen, the older of the two, has aspirations of Juilliard. Playing is the only time he feels secure and accomplished.

Their father’s harsh criticism weighs heavily on Spencer in a way only a parent’s disappointment can. To please his father, he must deny his self. Unlike his formidable sister, Spencer cares about his father’s approval. He will go to extreme lengths to chase Art’s blessing. He might even disregard his dreams and give up his chance at real love to please a man who refuses to acknowledge reality.

Though Tracy admits feeling awkward in her own skin, she never allows that to impede her desires. Especially when her father pushes her toward a lifestyle she can never maintain.

The Moonstone Girls reveals the innumerable difficulties faced by young gay people, male and female, in our society today – and in the past. By witnessing these two young people – so diverse in their coping mechanisms – allows readers to understand more deeply the struggles towards authenticity that many in the LGBTQ+ community share.

December 27, 2021
Waking Up Lost: The Adirondack Spirit Series Book 4 by David Fitz-Gerald – Historical Fantasy, Native American Fiction, Coming of Age

Seventeen-year-old Noah Munch craves acceptance more than anything in David Fitz-Gerald’s coming of age novel, Waking Up Lost.

As a biracial boy growing up in a small village in upper New York, Noah doesn’t feel that he belongs to either part of his heritage. Having lost his Native American father before he was born, Noah has spent his short life trying to connect with that missing part of himself. Meanwhile, he has to keep the peace with the Wilmington villagers who find his native side offensive. Noah also protects a family secret. His mother, Mehitable, speaks with spirits and his brother, Moses, has an uncanny ability to predict disaster and show up with inhuman speed to prevent it.

As a result of his complex home life, Noah spends a great deal of time alone. He dreams of someday being a mountain man, living off his wits and the nature around him. However, Noah can’t stop himself from admiring Arminda, the prettiest girl in town. He doubts he will ever have a chance to court the blonde beauty, especially considering the meanest young man in town, Erastus Moss, has spoken for her.

Erastus, whose grandparents died at the hands of Native Americans on a journey out West, begins to harass Noah when he notices Noah’s interest in Arminda.

Noah endures taunts, feeling the burden of prejudice and simultaneously the inadequacy of being the only “normal” member of his family until the night he wakes up on top of a mountain.

He begins to experience strange episodes, which he believes are sleepwalking fits. One night appears inside the home of his beloved Arminda. Once the town discovers his odd behavior, suspicion and fear turn even more people against him, and Erastus uses it as an excuse to escalate his torture. Can Noah stop the crazed man and find a way to control his abilities before it’s too late?

The fourth installment of the Adirondack Spirit Series revolves around Noah’s coming of age.

In true bildungsroman style, Noah embarks on both a physical and spiritual journey. He suffers the distance between himself and other boys, including his twenty-year-old brother. Noah, small, scrawny, and by his own admission, doesn’t have the physical presence that others expect of a boy his age. Though often the most handsome boy in Wilmington, Noah’s dark hair and olive skin set him apart in his racist town.

However, Noah never knew his father’s people, so he has nobody other than his white neighbors to socialize with. He can’t see himself as anything other than a clumsy daydreamer who will never fit in, driving him to live alone in the mountains as his father had done years ago. Noah yearns to connect to the father he resembles, but when he isolates himself, nature and man conspire to bring him right back to the town he hates.

He finds no solace in his mother and brother, even as they assure him that he possesses great power.

Even amongst his family, Noah doesn’t fit. He despairs his ordinary nature with a mother who guides spirits to the afterlife and brother with inhuman speed. If he could rely on a secret talent, he could tolerate his neighbors’ prejudice. But when he does develop an unexplainable ability, it proves nightmarish and deadly. Noah never knows when it will happen or, more importantly, where it will take him. Ironically, this strange power becomes paramount in discovering the very purpose he longs to find.

Faith and trust in God frame Noah’s life.

Noah often relies on his faith to carry him through the unbelievably tricky situations in his life. In pain, he turns to prayer for comfort and reassurance, and later when he commits a crime (albeit justified), he only frees himself of the burden when he seeks absolution from God. Though his episodes sometimes prove horrific, Noah realizes his power borders on the miraculous.

He searches for God’s plan for his life even while questioning how he will know it when he sees it. When Noah hits his lowest point, fearing for his life, he feels the “warmth” of God physically and hears His message that Noah isn’t alone. Noah becomes God’s servant, and he begins to understand that he must become what God expects, not what he wants.

The supernatural elements in the story set it apart from the typical novel of this genre, creating a hybrid between historical and paranormal.

The family members’ unusual abilities heighten their outsider status. Mehitable raised her biracial sons in a town of hate and prejudice for seventeen years. Though she does have a few staunch supporters, these people can’t always keep the wolves at bay. She and her sons suffer from the racism so prolific during the 1800s in America. Compounding her pariah-like treatment, she speaks to spirits and must keep her gifts secret for fear of further mistreatment. Moses must also keep his powers hidden. Noah suffers for his gift. Though he has no control over its occurrence, the townspeople practically exile him, leaving the young man to find a way to bridge this chasm between himself and others.

December 15, 2021
Summer Girl by Linda Watkins – Coming of Age Fiction, Women’s Literature & Fiction, Romance Fiction

Visit an idyllic island off the coast of Maine, long before the days of the internet and social media, in Linda Watkins’ romance novel, Summer Girl.

Jake, a local teenage boy on Cutter Island meets Andi, who visits for the summer with her mom and stepdad. In this summer of 1965 the two hit it off almost immediately, spending every moment they can together.

But not long after they profess their love for one another, tragedy strikes, forcing them apart with little hope of ever seeing each other again.

Twenty years pass until the summer of 1985. Jake, now a successful writer, returns to Cutter Island with his wife and kids for the first time in many years. Andi also arrives with her husband and young son. Once they learn of each other’s presence on the island, all the memories of that summer long ago come flooding back. And so do the unanswered questions of what happened on that fateful night. But a different question burns in their hearts and demands to be answered. Does first love, true love, ever really die?

Watkins’ writing flows elegantly.

Andi and Jake look back on their past with nostalgia, heartbreak, and regret. Cutter Island and the characters on it feel immediately familiar, like old friends in a place we’d like to visit. This summer vacation on a quiet island community off the coast of Maine, with all the fresh seafood at an arm’s reach, comes to life. Past and present in Summer Girl take place in a time before the internet became ingrained into everyday life. Readers can take a momentary break to disconnect and truly get lost in the story.

Jake and Andi show their impressive amount of depth, and accurately portray the simple naivete of youth during the fateful summer in which they meet. Their romance stays grounded and realistic. Watkins’ beautiful writing paints a picture of inexperienced teenagers with honesty and vulnerability that makes their parting even more emotional.

Summer Girl tells a story of love against all odds.

True love leaves an infinite effect on someone’s life, for better or for worse. This story stands on love, hope, and perseverance. Accept the invitation to the remote Cutter Island and smell the mouthwatering preparations of the summer night’s lobster bake. Keep an eye out for Jake and Andi among the hungry locals and vacationers.

Summer Girl by Linda Watkins won 1st Place in the 2018 CIBA Somerset Book Awards for contemporary literary novels.

November 15, 2021
ISLE of DRAGONS by L. A. Thompson – Steampunk Sci-fi, Y/A Sword and Sorcery Fantasy, Fantasy Anthologies and Short Stories

Jade of House Sol has the chance to save her father from the Isle of Dragons, but land, sea, and the guards of her homeland stand between them. Will, her new friends, prove loyal and capable enough to see her journey through, and what will they find on the elusive island?

Carison Sol, betrayed by his fellow nobles, disappears across the sea in the dark of night. Meanwhile, Jade flees the guards chasing her, the leader whom is Kaylen, a former friend. Just as her pursuers close in, a young witch named Miria saves her and offers shelter, but Jade can’t stay still long. Though she doesn’t know much about the Isle of Dragons, Miria and her brother Dan must find their parents, and they offer to join Jade in her quest. Together, the three of them find a dragon who can take them to the magical island. Their journey is full of friends and enemies – and situations that test their mettle and their connection to one another.

Isle of Dragons starts off running, with a tense scene of Jade evading the guards who want to drag her back to the capital. From there, scenes after scenes flow quickly into one another, leading the characters to new and exciting challenges. As they run and struggle, Jade and her companions gradually uncover a dangerous conspiracy that’s shifting the very forces of their world out of balance. They rarely have a chance to rest, constantly on the chase, which relaxes only long enough to prepare the next rising tension point.

Author L. A. Thompson develops her coming-of-age young adult novel with characters that will resonate with today’s audience.

Her characters showcase their personalities and the dynamics they’ll share with those around them, which makes the cast unique and compelling. The journey develops and expands with charming, friendly people who bring Isle of Dragons’ world to life, alongside the callous villains. Kaylen, the hunt’s leader, makes for a villain both relentless, and in her uncertainties, sympathetic. She becomes a strong foil for Jade as the story continues, drawing on their shared past.

Jade’s heart is bare in the prose, showing the strength of her desire to save Carison, as well as her fear of being a burden on her friends, of putting them in danger with her very presence. The relationships and conflicts between Jade, Miria, and Dan remain at the heart of the story, even as Jade and Miria’s determination borders on obsession and threatens to destroy them.

Thompson sets scenes with efficiency and care, with landscapes of fully realized Steampunk, full of color, heat, cold, and history.

The sense of mystery and adventure is vital as the heroes find something new to learn about every place they visit. Their travels begin with fantastic descriptions of fighting, riding, and befriending dragons. They master impressive feats of magic and the mechanical vehicles which roam the land, driven by Jade, Dan, and their pursuing guards. Their flight through these extraordinary settings becomes grander and more complex with every close escape, action scenes growing more intense to match the stakes they hold.

To finish her journey, Jade must learn the importance of not facing the world alone but embracing the community and kindness to save the lost and frightened. She finds that good people are struggling under their corrupt, power-hungry leaders and that the only way to go on is to accept help and offer it to those she meets. Kaylen’s villainy is thrown into stark reality by the unjust law she serves and the cruelty that those above her inflict. Betrayal offers intoxicating power; will Jade resist it and keep her loyalty to those who care for her, or will her old world of scheming nobles drag her back into their fold?

Isle of Dragons is an excellent fit for fans of fantasy and adventure, and those who love to see creative Steampunk mechanical devices, magical fights, and well-developed characters whose story is worthy of reading the next book in the series.

April 14, 2021
The PARTICULAR APPEAL of GILLIAN PUGSLEY by Susan Örnbratt – 20th Century Historical Fiction, Coming of Age Fiction, Historical Romance

Irish-born Gillian McAllister knew she was meant for bigger things than a quiet life among her large extended family. Leaving home at seventeen against her protective father’s wishes, Gillian is looking for adventure – and that’s exactly what she finds. She was a nanny for a maharaja, a caretaker for WWII internees, and a nurse on the Isle of Man before finally becoming a wife, mother, and grandmother in London, Canada, where she spent the majority of her eighty-nine years.

However, with only weeks to live after being stricken by cancer, she knows her time with her beloved granddaughter and namesake is truly precious. Before she goes, she wants to pass on the poems that capture her long, adventurous life to the junior Gilly in hopes the girl will use the poems to write about her adventure – her hidden love story.

While on vacation in Canada, the teenage Gillian meets and falls madly in love with Christian Hunter. Her love of Christian consumes her, but she leaves him at the cusp of a war that soon alters the world’s course. Destiny isn’t finished with the pair, and they reunite after the carnage to find their love is as fiery and fierce as ever. However, even a love this strong can’t outrun fate, and Gillian is determined to find a way to show her beloved granddaughter the truth before it is too late.

The character relationships between Gillian and others is a perfectly developed part of the novel. Gillian’s attachment to her granddaughter is more than just a name. Young Gilly is an aspiring novelist. Both women understand the importance of storytelling and the impact of words. From the moment Gilly was born, Gillian felt the connection between them and believes only Gilly can breathe life into her adoration of Christian Hunter. She entrusts her poems to Gilly without disclosing the story, allowing the girl to uncover the secret hidden for over fifty years. Watching their last days together unfold is touching and reminiscent for any reader who has shared a bond with a grandparent.

Gillian’s secret love, Christian, is another meaningful relationship. From the time she was young, Gillian knew someone was waiting for her, someone drawing closer with each day, someone staring at the same moon and longing for another. When she meets Christian, she just knows as does he, and though, ultimately, Gillian comes to realize that devoting herself to one man when the world is waiting may not be what she truly wants. But Gillian cannot deny the connection between them. The two are the epitome of opposites attract with his easy-going, unrushed personality, but he immediately sees the effect she has on others, her zest for life. No matter how hard either tries to drown out the thought of the other, they can’t escape their entwined destinies, and their contrary natures create a perfect balance. The dance of fate between Christian and Gillian is thrilling and will keep the reader wondering until the end.

The gorgeous settings of Gillian’s life are an integral part of her history. The richly painted scenes are beautiful and inspiring for the character as well as the reader. From the sweeping sea cliffs to the serenity of Gillian’s cottage on the Isle of Man, the setting becomes its own character. Gillian both embodies and is affected by the scenery. In the quiet of a winter-draped meadow and the countryside teeming with life, Gillian sees herself and the many lives she’s lived.

A beautiful theme within this novel is the simple notion of loving life. Even before she steps out into the adult world and leaves Ireland, Gillian knows that life is for living. She wants to squeeze every drop of adventure possible from the time she is given and feast on all that it has to offer. Her ingenuity, spunk, and spicy attitude create an unquenchable need to travel, to meet people, and, most importantly, to make the world a better place. She refuses to settle for a mediocre life and rejects the moderation others preach and try to instill in her. Her “magnificent obsession” isn’t diminished by anything – not heartbreak, a world war, or even death. She lives with passion and gusto, fostering the belief in others that love and laughter, stories and adventures, make life worth living. Her sprawling life’s story is more than just survival and lost love. It’s about finding joy and purpose amongst death and destruction.

The Particular Appeal of Gillian Pugsley won 1^st Place in the CIBAs 2015 CHATELAINE Awards in the category of 20^th Century Historical Fiction.

September 28, 2020
HINDSIGHT: Coming of Age on the Streets of Hollywood by Sheryl Recinos, MD – Medical/Professional Biographies, Memoir, Teen Abuse/Homelessness, Mental Health/Family

Hindsight: Coming of Age on the Street of Hollywood by Sheryl Recinos presents a childhood fraught with family dysfunction caused by mental illness and emotional and psychological abuse. The two formative figures in Recinos’ life were negligible participants instead of the supportive, loving parents all children need to grow and thrive into adulthood.

While this memoir takes place in the 1980s and 90s, we can only hope the services that support runaways and dysfunction within families have improved. For example, her father’s main go-to plan for dealing with his daughter was to commit her to an asylum instead of doing the hard work of parenting.

Homelessness, a significant theme in this memoir, is continuously in the news, an issue that plagues every major city in America and occurs even in small towns and rural settings. Homelessness is one of those issues that many in America turn a blind eye to and ignore, but Recinos shines a light, bright and clear, on this issue, and knowing her story helps us understand this issue in a new way. It brings a face to embody homelessness and a possible answer to the question, why?

Why do people choose the street? Why do people refuse shelter? Why do some kids become flight risks? The answers may surprise you.

Recinos never places blame, of which there seems plenty to go around. Never blames her mentally ill mother, who, during a psychotic episode, put her and her brother in danger. She never blames her father and portrays him as a figure that we can sympathize with at times. She never blames the legal system that failed her time and again, penalizing her but never breaking her spirit. And she never condemns any of the men that rape or attack her. She doesn’t blame drugs or alcohol or any “friends” she meets along the way who rob her or worsen her situation.

Instead, Recinos tells the story of her teen-years with a pragmatic focus on the events. She never imposes her adult understanding of this world but focuses on her mental state at the time. What she produces is a raw and unapologetic story of a girl misunderstood, trying to survive in a world of neglect and abuse.

That she survives is a miracle. That she finds her way out of homelessness to become a successful contributing member of society, becoming a loving parent with no role model for such a thing is another.

Recinos breaks the cycle of abuse that drove her to the streets. She has become a champion of homeless teens. Her ability to see the injury she suffered through an unfiltered lens, and not accept it or be shaped by it, is why we love Dr. Recinos and her story.

This memoir is a page-turner, a tour de force, a blockbuster read that will have you laughing, crying, cringing, and hoping for something better for this young woman. You won’t be disappointed. Recinos delivers, and she does so with grace and talent. We highly recommend this intense and eye-opening memoir.

August 17, 2020