JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Her advice, spot on. Her love life, way off.

Darcy Phillips:
Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes – for a fee.
Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
Really cannot stand the new Australian jock at school, Alexander Brougham.
Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke…who is in love with someone else.
Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

But when Brougham catches Darcy in the act of collecting letters from locker 89 – out of which she’s been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service – that’s exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back.

Darcy has good reason to keep her identity secret. If word gets out that she’s behind the locker, some things she’s not proud of will come to light, and there’s a good chance Brooke will never speak to her again.

Okay, so all she has to do is help an entitled, bratty, (annoyingly hot) guy win over a girl who’s already fallen for him once? What could possibly go wrong?

Sophie Gonzales’ Perfect on Paper is her second contemporary YA novel, once again set in the halls of high school and exploring sexuality, friendship, family and budding romance. Earlier this year I read Only Mostly Devastated. and loved it, so I’ve been excited to read this next one from Sophie.

The concept is enticing — Darcy runs an anonymous advice service for fellow students, and she’s very good at it. But when her secret is discovered, she teams up with an unlikely classmate to help him win back his ex-girlfriend. Young readers will devour this one.

“I sent back a text to Brooke. What I wanted to say was abso-fucking-lutely she could come over, as soon as possible, and in fact, she could also move in, and marry me, and mother my children while she was at it, but my extensive study in relationships had taught me wild obsession wasn’t cute.”

Perfect on Paper features bi-sexual representation, and issues around queerness and identity. The chemistry between Darcy and Brougham is evident from the beginning, setting up a really sweet love story between two unlikely allies.

As with her last book, Sophie’s strength lies in her first person narration. We get an immediate and all-encompassing sense of who Darcy is based on her voice and her narration. She’s flawed, yes, and she makes poor choices when she’s blinded by love, but her heart is in the right place even when her mind isn’t. Over the course of the novel, Darcy comes to understand the importance of being honest and owning up to past mistakes. The fallout may be damaging, but in the long run, it’s best for everyone.

Sophie captures that ache you felt as a teenager when the person you loved didn’t feel the same way — even adult readers will be able to relate to Darcy in this way. I think, deep down, Darcy knows Brooke doesn’t like her in that way, and it’s devastating. Darcy is so good at advising others on how to pursue their interests, but she can’t follow her own advice. She struggles to work up the courage to communicate with Brooke about how she’s feeling.

“He held eye contact with me, and I felt like maybe I should be waving, or something? But what if Finn noticed, and asked how we knew each other? And then what if Brougham told him, and Finn told literally everyone he’d ever met, and then my whole life fell apart?”

Darcy’s inner turmoil and emotional pain about not being ‘queer enough’ felt a little underdeveloped in the plot, and subsequently its resolution at the end of the novel felt a little rushed.

Additionally, some of the conversations in the novel ran a little long, and the banter a little dragged out. Whilst conversations felt relatable and authentic, some of them could’ve used some trimming to make scenes more succinct.

“As usual, getting a message from Brooke made me feel like the law of gravity had declined to apply to me for a beat. She was obviously thinking about me instead of doing her homework. How often did her mind wander to me when she started daydreaming? Did it wander to anyone else, or was I special?”

Tender and charming, Perfect on Paper is suitable for teenage readers. 12+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect on Paper
Sophie Gonzales
March 2021
Hachette Book Publishers

New Animal by Ella Baxter

It’s not easy getting close to people. Amelia’s meeting a lot of men but once she gets the sex she wants from them, that’s it for her; she can’t connect further. A terrible thing happened to Daniel last year and it’s stuck inside Amelia ever since, making her stuck too.

Maybe being a cosmetician at her family’s mortuary business isn’t the best job for a young woman. It’s not helping her social life. She loves her job, but she’s not great at much else. Especially emotion.

And then something happens to her mum and suddenly Amelia’s got too many feelings and the only thing that makes any sense to her is running away.

It takes the intervention of her two fathers and some hilariously wrong encounters with other broken people in a struggling Tasmanian BDSM club to help her accept the truth she has been hiding from. And in a final, cataclysmic scene, we learn along with Amelia that you need to feel another person’s weight before you can feel your own.

Ella Baxter’s debut novel New Animal explores sex, family, death and grief. Our protagonist — Amelia — is using sex to mask emotional pain. Not quite ready to process the suicide of a friend one year earlier, her chaotic life is disrupted even further when her mother unexpectedly passes.

New Animal certainly feels unique, a compact read sitting at just over 200 pages. It almost feels like a slightly extended short story, delicately weaving through Amelia’s life with intimacy and ease. The reader feels like some sort of passenger along a journey, intimate enough that we quickly grow to love Amelia, but at times so closely following this life that we find ourselves feeling a little claustrophobic — in a good way — when Amelia’s experiments with sex escalate.

Trigger warning around suicide and also BDSM. There is one particular scene in a Tasmanian BDSM club that took me quite some time to process.

“Once, I told a man what I needed from him and he recoiled, appalled. He said that I was basically using people, crushing them between my pincers. He tapped his thumb and forefinger together to demonstrate.”

Ella’s biggest strength is how easily and expertly she writes in first person. The prose is eloquent, as if pored over for hours. But we also get such fascinating insight into Amelia’s state of mind — her pain. Amelia’s observations about others are insightful and imaginative, but the prose is also lean and brief, allowing for a succinct and quick-moving plot.

Another admirable aspect to the book is the family dynamic, and Ella’s ability to capture Amelia’s family with an authentic sense of warmth. Despite Amelia’s struggles, she’s got a really beautiful family who all come together in a crisis. Their voices are very different, and Amelia’s relationship with both of her fathers adds layers to the family make-up.

“People can sometimes act boldly around the bereaved. They can quickly take care to an unfathomable level. It’s part of the horror of it all really. One person rolls out of your life and half-a-dozen others roll right in. I’ve seen people turn up to funerals ready to harass Judy for extra biscuits or seat cushions. In it for the long haul.”

I think there was room to further explore Amelia’s relationship with her family, in particular her fathers. Her siblings in particular are absent for most of the novel, and I think there was more that could’ve been explored with their presence in Amelia’s life.

Interestingly, a lot of messaging around this novel positions it as ‘funny’, which isn’t how I would describe this. I found the story moving and tender, at times situationally awkward. It’s heartbreaking, yes. But I wouldn’t call this a laugh-out-loud comedy.

“Most nights I find myself trying to combine with someone else to become this two-headed thing with flailing limbs, chomping teeth, and tangled hair. This new animal. I am medicated by another body. Drunk on warm skin. Dumbly high on the damp friction between them and me.”

Original and engrossing in style and characterisation, recommended for readers of literary fiction. Ella offers incredible insight into humanity and its multitude of emotions. Readership skews female, 25+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

New Animal
Ella Baxter
March 2021
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers

Fog by Kaja Malanowska

She thought she was done with the trances. She risked too much. Not just her own life, but also the lives of others.

When a young woman is found murdered in her Warsaw apartment, the investigating detectives—Marcin Sawicki and his new colleague, the talented but enigmatic Ada Rochniewicz—are under pressure to close the case quickly. But Ada’s powers of intuition have already got her into trouble once before. And the sexist police force is not on her side.

As the investigation proceeds, we meet the victim’s jilted lover, a mentally unstable working-class youth; her cleaner, a Chechen refugee in desperate circumstances; the man who broke her heart and joined a cult. And let’s not forget Ada’s eccentric sister, Kasia, nor her grumpy cat Albert-Amelia.

Getting to the truth becomes a darker and more complex matter than Marcin and Ada can imagine, as they confront a corrupt political and religious establishment. Translated by Bill Johnston.

Translated into English, Fog by Polish writer Kaja Malanowska is an enticing crime novel that investigates the murder of a young woman in her Warsaw apartment.

Written in omniscient third person, Fog has two protagonists — the secretive, blunt but intelligent Ada, and the brash, impulsive and overtly sexist Marcin Sawicki. They each bring different personalities, opinions and tactics to their detective work.

Whilst Marcin’s methods could be deemed questionable at times, even Ada makes mistakes in her career. As a team, they’re able to work together to solve the crime, uncovering all the layers to the murder that were not immediately obvious.

“Normally he was annoyed when fellow officers were talkative — it tired him to have to take part in a conversation, react to jokes. He knew he had a reputation as a curmudgeon and a loner. Today, though, with Ada, he felt bothered by the quiet.”

It’s hard to know whether this is compliment to Kaja or Bill, but the prose is exceptional. Particularly description around dialogue — describing Ada and Marcin’s interactions, facial expressions, movements in a way that conveys their characterisation really vividly.

There’s a lot of elements to this novel, between the characters and their secrets, the murder itself and how that evolves into something larger than anyone expected, but also the office politics in Warsaw and the secrets that Marcin and Ada’s colleagues are hiding. Whilst other reviews point out this might’ve been too many elements for one novel, I liked it. Fog is complex and layered, intriguing the reader and keeping them engaged throughout.

“She knew Sawicki felt uncomfortable in the presence of women, but that he would step out of their way rather than try to dominate. Why did this nice young woman with her broad, bright face and round eyes rub him up the wrong way? One moment more and they wouldn’t have got another word out of her.”

Fog is unnecessarily long — 400 pages, small font, small margins. The story did lull a bit through the middle, the intensity wavered, and I think a procedural crime story such as this could have progressed more succinctly. Ada’s ‘visions’ that are mentioned in the blurb don’t actually seem to have a large presence in the novel, and I think they’ve could’ve been cut from the entire story.

Additionally, some of the characters weren’t overly likeable. Even Marcin is a sexist, homophobic, judgemental character, and some of his outbursts didn’t seem overly authentic. The dynamic between him and Ada felt too much like Kaja was trying to establish ‘good cop bad cop’.

“He trailed after her, struggling to keep up; he was moving as if he were in a bubble. He stared at Ada’s back, resenting the fact that not once had she allowed her emotions to get the better of her. At the same time he was immensely grateful to her. His memory of the last hours blurred into a multicoloured haze, like a film projected too quickly.”

Compulsive and addictive, Fog is a procedural thriller that crime readers will devour.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fog
Kaja Malanowska
March 2021
Text Publishing

Cuckoo’s Flight by Wendy Orr

When Clio’s town in Bronze Age Crete is threatened by seafaring raiders, she faces the greatest sacrifice of all. Can Clio, her herd of horses and a new young friend find a way to change their destinies?

When a raiders’ ship appears off the coast, the goddess demands an unthinkable price to save the town – and Clio’s grandmother creates a sacred statue to save Clio’s life.

But Clio is torn between the demands of guarding the statue and caring for her beloved horses. Disabled in an accident, she must try to put aside her own grief at no longer being able to ride – and in the process, save a friend’s life and stop a war.

Cuckoo’s Flight is Wendy Orr’s third middle grade novel set in the Bronze-Age Mediterranean, following on from Dragonfly Song and Swallow’s Dance. Whilst this is the third novel set in this time period, and there is some overlap in characters and history, you don’t need to read the other two novels to be able to read Cuckoo’s Flight.

The setting is one of the strengths of this novel, as well as the seamless transition between prose and poetry that readers will recognise from Wendy’s other works.

Wendy captures the era with accuracy and thorough research. Immediately, you’re swept up in Clio’s saga. She’s tenacious, resilient and strong, brave and confident. She doesn’t conform to what the community expects of her, and looks for alternate solutions. She’s self-driven, but she’s also a great teacher of others. She doesn’t let her disability — a stiff, twisted leg from when she fell off a horse as a young girl — stop her.

“Clio can’t imagine life without her grandmother. She knows that only the gods live forever and that all other living creatures — birds, beasts and people, dragonflies and dolphins — will return to the Great Mother one day.”

Wendy’s Bronze Age trilogy are all female-centric, with young female characters as the protagonists. They are all disadvantaged in some way. Perhaps they’re physically disadvantaged, or they’re an outcast in society. Perhaps they’re poor. Wendy crafts her protagonists so that readers can watch them rise above what others expect of them. Young readers will feel reassured that bravery and courage will always save the day.

Whilst this may appear to be an adventure series, a rollercoaster of a journey for all the characters involved, there’s a lot of heart and depth to these novels. They’re multi-layered and offer insightful characterisation — all readers will find something to love within these books.

“The gully at the river’s bend
carved from the steep bank
washes silt to the water
trapping the pebbles from the creek above —
gravel and silt forming a ledge
across the river, nearly to the other shore.”

Admittedly this story takes a bit longer to engage with the characters than the previous two works. I felt like the opening started in the wrong place. We’re thrust into Clio’s life a little too chaotically, and it does take a few chapters for the reader to settle into the story. Additionally, the pacing in the novel is quite fast so we don’t have a lot of time to really sit with the characters. Cuckoo’s Flight is very much a plot-driven novel.

“On her wooden stage in the dim light of the courtyard, with the east mountain looming darker behind her, the Lady begins to sing. Slowly, slowly, she calls the sun up from behind the mountain into the pale sky. Blinding the audience, streaking the sky with pink and gold, the miracle of sunrise happens again.”

Imaginative and enticing historical fiction, Cuckoo’s Flight and its two predecessors will engage any young reader.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Cuckoo’s Flight
Wendy Orr
March 2021
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers

The Gaps by Leanne Hall

When sixteen-year-old Yin Mitchell is abducted, the news reverberates through the whole Year Ten class at Balmoral Ladies College. As the hours tick by, the girls know the chance of Yin being found alive is becoming smaller and smaller.

Everyone is affected by Yin’s disappearance—even scholarship student Chloe, who usually stays out of Balmoral dramas, is drawn into the maelstrom. And when she begins to form an uneasy alliance with Natalia, the queen of Year Ten, things get even more complicated.

Chilling and haunting, Leanne Hall’s latest YA novel The Gaps follows two high school students after one of their classmates is abducted. At first, the novel feels like a psychological thriller, like the crime is the central focus and we’ll find out what happened by the end of the novel. But, soon after 16-year-old Yin goes missing, the book unfolds into a nuanced tale about fear, vulnerability, and the frightening reality that Yin’s abduction could happen to any of the other girls in this book.

The novel feels very close to reality. Women being abducted, and often murdered, is a common occurrence in the news. Women don’t feel safe walking down the street, or even in their own homes, and Leanne takes that very real fear and embeds it into a really fantastic novel for teenagers. Young women reading The Gaps will relate to the sense of foreboding in the novel, the tension, and how scared the characters are.

“There had been a lot of gossip going around about various teachers, but the police profile seemed to have put an end to it. It said that the offender might travel with his job, and would definitely be away from home or work regularly. That couldn’t be any of our teachers.”

The Gaps navigates two different POVs. First, we meet scholarship student Chloe, who didn’t really know Yin but they shared classes together. Chloe is mature and compassionate, and possesses quite a calm yet fragile personality.

And then we meet fellow student Natalia, queen bee and resident popular girl in the school. She was best friends with Yin before high school, and holds great regret about the way their friendship fizzled. Natalia is traumatised by what’s happened; she’s snappy and spiky, with a short fuse. She’s angry, but she doesn’t quite know where to channel her energy.

Chloe and Natalia’s voices are unique and distinct, capturing very different teenagers. However, what they both have in common is a raw, emotional response to Yin’s disappearance. They can’t shake the feeling that they’ll never feel truly safe.

Leanne’s characters are expertly crafted and immensely relatable. Chloe and Natalia, among the secondary characters, are brave, bold and fierce.

“I want to ask her how that can be fair — what if there’s information that could keep more girls safe, if only they knew it? But I swallow the question, because the last thing I want to be, or look to be, is scared.”

Leanne’s writing is enchanting. She writes first person incredibly well, describing events around the characters with poise and visuality. Each chapter is a snapshot into Chloe and Natalia’s life, capturing moments of tension and wariness, but also great exhaustion. Women are sick of feeling so vulnerable, and scared of events that are outside of their control.

Chloe and Natalia are both insightful and observant, and incredibly likeable. Despite its harrowing subject matter, readers will love this book.

“I wonder if I can turn this burning feeling into anything good, anything meaningful. It seems impossible, I’m not even proper artist. Still, I open my sketchbook, find a blank page and start writing.”

The Gaps is a poignant, raw exploration of teenage friendship, grief, terror, and the fears that women develop from a young age. Highly recommended for readers of all ages.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Gaps
Leanne Hall
March 2021
Text Publishing