It happens all too often: you're reading a book, getting steadily absorbed in a plot, and then realize, to your dismay, that it's exactly like a million other plots you've read before. Congratulations, you've found another plot cliche.
These kinds of tropes and cliches bother me perhaps more than they should. When I read a book, I want something new and different. It doesn't have to exactly revolutionize fiction, but it shouldn't remind me of every other book I've read in my life, either.
That's why I always love it when I come across a book that seems like it's going to plant itself smack dab in the middle of cliche-land, and then ends up being completely different. One example I can think of is Fair Coin by E. C. Myers - you think it's going to be a stereotypical "wishing" book but then whoa, plot twist.
What other examples can you think of?
Break: Review
Author: Hannah Moscowitz
Release Date: August 2009
Published By: Simon Pulse
Pages: 262
Goodreads Rating: 3.95 stars
Review: Jonah is on a mission to break every bone in his body. Everyone knows that broken bones grow back stronger than they were before. And Jonah wants to be stronger—needs to be stronger—because everything around him is falling apart. Breaking, and then healing, is Jonah’s only way to cope with the stresses of home, girls, and the world on his shoulders. When Jonah's self-destructive spiral accelerates and he hits rock bottom, will he find true strength or surrender to his breaking point?
I picked up BREAK for two main the reasons: (1) I'm a follower of the author's blog and she's amazing, and (2) the concept is very intriguing. There are many books out there where characters deal with issues of self-harm, but nothing is quite like what the summary of this novel portrays. And of course, once you actually start turning pages, it's striking how honestly everything is shown.
In particular, I thought the relationship between Jonah and his brother was wonderfully depicted. His brother struggles with food allergies, and not just the kind you may be familiar with - violent allergies to seemingly everything that require him to be on guard everywhere he goes. This leaves Jonah feeling protective of him, and the actual dynamics of the relationship are very moving. While it didn't draw tears from me, it did come close.
However, I did think that his relationship with his parents seemed more odd than real. His parents were written as ridiculously oblivious, and I just have trouble believing that they could be so ignorant of what was going on. They were supposed to be generally okay parents, not abusively negligent or something, but the slips they kept making with Jesse's allergies or the fact that they would question Jonah's broken bones and then drop it struck me as weird.
All in all, BREAK was an emotional, moving story about a boy's struggle to cope with his crumbling world in the most destructive way he knows how. There's not a huge emphasis on love, which is refreshing, but rather his relationship with his brother. I did wish that his relationship with his parents was more realistic, but it didn't mar the story too much and I would still recommend this to any fans of contemporary fiction.
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Perfect Escape: Review
Author: Jennifer Brown
Release Date: July 2012
Published By: Little, Brown
Pages: 368
Goodreads Rating: 3.73 stars
Review: Kendra has always felt overshadowed by her older brother, Grayson, whose OCD forces him to live a life of carefully coordinated routines. The only way Kendra can stand out next to Grayson is to be perfect -- until a cheating scandal threatens her flawless reputation. Kendra decides to drive away from it all -- with enough distance, maybe she'll be able to figure everything out. But eventually, Kendra must stop running and come to terms with herself, her brother, and her past.
As one might hope to expect from a novel with "perfect" in the title, PERFECT ESCAPE does a perfect job of drawing emotions from the reader. There were several places throughout the novel where the story was so moving that it even drew tears from me, which is difficult for a book to do, and I found myself relating so much to the protagonist and her brother even though I don't deal with similar issues in my own life.
Speaking of the protagonist, I loved how realistic she was portrayed. Sometimes authors will depict siblings of kids with issues as super-human beings with incredibly empathy who never have ill will towards their challenged brothers or sisters, but that wasn't the case here. While Kendra definitely loved her brother, she experienced immense frustration with him, and that made her seem like such an honest character.
My only complaint about this book is that I really wanted more out of the ending. I didn't feel like everything was wrapped up as well as it could have been, and while I guess I can understand why, stylistically, the author chose to end where she did, I really wanted more in the way of resolution, such as the characters' relationship with their parents. It left me wanting to know more, which is definitely not what a stand-alone novel should do.
All in all, I really enjoyed PERFECT ESCAPE, from the emotion it inspired in me to how honest and real the protagonist felt. It's true that the ending definitely could have been improved, but I still loved it and would freely recommend it to anyone, especially those who are fans of contemporary "issue" books. This is a fantastic depiction of mental illness - OCD, in this case - and I encourage everyone to pick up a copy.
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Waiting on Wednesday (58)
This week, I'm waiting on...
Games by Barry Lyga. Here's what Goodreads has to say: Billy grinned. “Oh, New York,” he whispered. “We’re gonna have so much fun.”
I Hunt Killers introduced the world to Jazz, the son of history’s most infamous serial killer, Billy Dent.
In an effort to prove murder didn’t run in the family, Jazz teamed with the police in the small town of Lobo’s Nod to solve a deadly case. And now, when a determined New York City detective comes knocking on Jazz’s door asking for help, he can’t say no. The Hat-Dog Killer has the Big Apple–and its police force–running scared. So Jazz and his girlfriend, Connie, hop on a plane to the big city and get swept up in a killer’s murderous game.
I loved the prequel, I Hunt Killers, so I have no doubt that this sequel is going to be amazing as well!
What are you waiting on this Wednesday?
I Hunt Killers introduced the world to Jazz, the son of history’s most infamous serial killer, Billy Dent.
In an effort to prove murder didn’t run in the family, Jazz teamed with the police in the small town of Lobo’s Nod to solve a deadly case. And now, when a determined New York City detective comes knocking on Jazz’s door asking for help, he can’t say no. The Hat-Dog Killer has the Big Apple–and its police force–running scared. So Jazz and his girlfriend, Connie, hop on a plane to the big city and get swept up in a killer’s murderous game.
I loved the prequel, I Hunt Killers, so I have no doubt that this sequel is going to be amazing as well!
What are you waiting on this Wednesday?
