Review: Hooked by Liz Fichera

Synopsis:

Get Hooked on a Girl Named Fred...

HE said: Fred Oday is a girl? Puh-leeze. Why is a girl taking my best friend’s spot on the boys’ varsity golf team?

SHE said: Can I seriously do this? Can I join the boys’ team? Everyone will hate me—especially Ryan Berenger.

HE said: Coach expects me to partner with Fred on the green? That is crazy bad. Fred’s got to go—especially now that I can’t get her out of my head. So not happening.

SHE said: Ryan can be nice, when he’s not being a jerk. Like the time he carried my golf bag. But the girl from the rez and the spoiled rich boy from the suburbs? So not happening.

But there’s no denying that things are happening as the girl with the killer swing takes on the boy with the killer smile....

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4 out of 5 Stars

There were so many things I liked about this debut novel from Liz Fichera. It really tackles some heavy themes of prejudice, bullying, racism, and peer pressure to name a few, and the book handles these with equal measure of horror and hope.

Fred Oday is a young Native American woman with athletic prowess. She’s honed her golf skills for most of her life, and when she is offered a spot on the boys high school golf team, she decides to take it. She struggles a bit with her decision, knowing it won’t be easy, but she doesn’t let her fear defeat her, even though the rest of the team is upper crust and seemingly perfect. You can’t help but cheer for her as she drags around her old, second hand, ugly golf bag and plays without a decent pair of golf shoes. She loves the game, and that’s what matters.

Ryan Berenger is one of the rich white boys on the team. When his best friend loses his spot on the team to Fred, he’s caught in a situation that has him questioning his own behavior. Should he be loyal to his friend and give Fred a hard time, or does he act on the feelings he starts to develop for this talented athlete from outside of his circle? When Ryan makes his choice, he starts a series of situations that will challenge them both.

And then there is Seth, Ryan’s best friend. When his jealousy, anger a over losing his spot on the team gets the best of him, his racism and hate brings about some very serious and deadly consequences for Ryan and Fred. I can’t tell you when I disliked a character more and yet I also know that there are many people just like Seth in this world and the high school environment.

I loved the Native American aspects in this book and that Fred honored her heritage in many ways, especially as a coping mechanism when things got rough. I loved that she felt self-empowered to join this golf team, in spite of how difficult she knew it would be. I loved that she saw her skills as a means of being the first on the reservation to go to college. I really loved Fred. She wasn’t perfect, but she acted with integrity.

Ryan was a little more complicated. It takes him some time to get things sorted out, and I thought that was very authentic. His path to self-discovery was much more difficult than Fred’s, and by the end of the book I still wasn't convinced he had it together.

The romantic part of the story was believable and engaging. One of my favorite scenes in the book occurs the Monday after Fred and Ryan have their first date. She’s unsure, wondering how what transpired between them would change her life. I don’t want to say how it all turns out, but I thought this scene really captured the high school experience. It’s touching, sweet and very poignant.

So why isn’t this a 5 star review? I did have a problem with the ending. At close to the end of the book, a crisis with Fred’s father sets up some situations that provides convenient means for Fred and Ryan to get over their relationship issues. Ryan’s involvement seems very contrived to me, especially since I don’t recall the contributing details mentioned earlier in the book. Everything gets wrapped up after that point and it just seems abrupt and it took me out of the moment. I would have liked to have more discussion regarding both Seth and Ryan's behavior in regard to bullying and racism. This ending seemed like an easy way around those hard topics.

So overall, I did enjoy the story, apart from the way it ended.

Contains: violence, alcohol use, kissing.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequinn Teen for a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Review: The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

Synopsis: I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.

Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay.

All Josh Bennett wants is to be left alone, and everyone allows it because they all know his story: each person he loved was taken from his life until at seventeen years old there was no one left. When your name is synonymous with death,
people tend to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, a new girl in town who won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of a mystery she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding--or if he even wants to.

The Sea of Tranquility is a rich, intense, and brilliantly imagined story about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.

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5 of 5 Stars
Atria Books

Meet Josh and Nastya, two young adults learning to live in the aftermath of their own personal tragedies. They’ve both suffered great loss at a young age. How do they cope with what has happened to them?   The Sea Of Tranquility is their first person journey, unveiled slowly through the use of alternating point of views.  

This book “stuck” with me for quite a few days after reading it, and I’m still having a problem articulating how I feel about it beyond proclaiming The Sea of Tranquility one of my favorite reads of the 2012.

It is clear from the start that Nastya has suffered something. She hasn’t spoken in 452 days  and generally does everything and anything to keep those around her at arms length. It would be easy to caste her behavior as self-indulgent or self-pity.  She doesn’t want you to like her.

Josh Bennett has lost every member of his family. He takes refuge in building furniture. He doesn’t want to get attached to anyone either, but that doesn’t stop what transpires between them.

Their relationship develops slowly, until circumstances and personalities cause everything to fall apart.The writing here is very personal and at times, gut-wrenching. These are not teens dealing with the normal teenage “stuff”.

Quite a few themes weave throughout this book, such as high school politics, the dream of second chances and coping with tragedy.  I thought Josh said it best when he observed that “every normal family is one tragedy away from complete implosion.”  Even though its been many years since I’ve personally experienced high school, these were themes I could relate to.

Josh’s best friend Drew is an awesome supporting character in this story. He’s a more typical teen, but I liked his relationship with both main characters. He’s also dealing with a need for a second chance, and Nastya helps him along that path. She’s drawn to him from the start and their unlikely relationship is a bit of a relief from the heaviness of what Josh and Nastya are dealing with.

The Sea of Tranquility is a very intimate and emotional character study. Katja Millay does an excellent job of taking us inside the mind and heart of these characters. You can’t help but want them to have their second chance. The language, particularly in the final scenes, captures both the hurt and hopefulness perfectly.

“And with every brush of his lips against mine, I know what he’s giving me and what I’m giving him and what it will cost us both. And, for once, I am not afraid.”

“And if my Sea of Tranquility were real, it would be this place, here, with him.”

Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for the review copy.