Genre: YA/Paranormal
Description:
“Summer. A time for travel, relaxation, and above all - fun. But for
Charity, her family, and her friends, this summer holds more in store than any
of them anticipate.
While Charity learns to harness her newfound powers, others around her
discover their own surprising abilities. And a vacation to New York becomes a
catalyst that has their paths crossing with the unexpected, yet again.
Emotions run high as life-altering games taunt and test them all. Who
will win and who will lose, during their Summer of Discontent?”
Author:
A former high school math teacher, S.L. Baum now works as a substitute
elementary school teacher, chauffer for her kids, and novelist. She lives with
her family in the Southwestern United States. This book is the fourth in Baum’s
The Immortal Ones series. For more,
visit Baum’s website.
Appraisal:
Since getting my Kindle, I’ve read a lot of YA books and this series
is one of my favorites. One of the main reasons is the main character, Charity.
As an “immortal one,” Charity stopped aging at a point where she appears to be
in her late teens. While she’s much older and has experienced much more in life
than an average teen, Charity has to maintain the illusion of being the age she
appears. This tension, between the older, more mature woman inside, and how
Charity has to appear to most of the world, is an uncommon twist that gives her
character more complexity than the average teen. I think it also makes Charity
more likeable because she shows all the positive attributes of someone of her
physical age, without many of the faults someone of that age might have. Baum
continues to put Charity and her cohorts in more and more difficult situations,
and I continue to care and root for her.
One thing that is different in this volume is the use of several
different point-of-view characters, seven if my count is correct. This could be
confusing for some people, although Baum attempts to minimize the confusion
with an explanation in a note to readers at the beginning, maintaining a
consistent point-of-view character within individual chapters, and identifying
who that character will be as part of the chapter heading. Some readers will
love this (the disparate points of view add to how the reader views and
interprets what is happening), while others may struggle keeping track in spite
of the contextual cues provided.
FYI:
This is the fourth book in the series. I would advise reading the
first two books in the series, A Chance
for Charity and My Link in Time.
The third book, Of Fire and Brimstone,
is not needed to understand the back-story of the characters featured in this
volume, but may be needed for understanding in future books in the series.
Added for
Reprise Review: Our Summer
of Discontent by S.L. Baum was a nominee in the Young Adult category for
B&P 2013 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran September 6, 2012
Format/Typo
Issues:
I reviewed based on a pre-release beta copy and am unable to comment
in this area.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate
word count: 55-60,000 words
No comments:
Post a Comment