Review- Holes (Louis Sachar)

Synopsis

Stanley Yelnats' family has a history of bad luck, so he isn't too surprised when a miscarriage of justice sends him to a boys' juvenile detention centre. At Camp Green Lake the boys must dig a hole a day, five feet deep, five feet across, in the dried up lake bed. The Warden claims the labour is character building, but it is a lie. Stanley must dig up the truth.

                     - Goodreads.com

Review

I must admit this isn’t my first time re-reading Holes, in fact it’s not even my 2^nd time. I’ve probably read this book a good half a dozen times at the least, and it never gets old. I first read this book when I was in middle school (I even stole unknowingly the copy from my school library), and ever since then I feel like I give it a reread every couple of years. There are very few books that I can do that with, besides maybe Harry Potter. 

The story starts with Stanley being sent to Camp Green Lake as the more favourable option rather than going to jail for a crime that he was wrongly accused of. But Camp Green Lake is anything but green; A barren wasteland where every boy is made to dig a hole a day to help ‘build character’. But what are they really digging for? And why is the warden so interested if they find anything of value?

Stanley is a great protagonist, he’s easily likable from the start and you want to empathise with him. There is an array of wacky and odd side characters who all play their roles perfectly.

There’s not much I can say about this book except that I adore it. It’s a quick read with adventure, suspense, and a great woven tale between the past and the present. I highly recommend for all age groups, you'll wizz through it in the blink of an eye and wonder why you didn't read it sooner. 

My Rating 5/5

Review- A Madness So Discreet (Mindy McGinnis)

Synopsis

Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. 

Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

In this beautifully twisted historical thriller, Mindy McGinnis, acclaimed author of Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, explores the fine line between sanity and insanity, good and evil—and the madness that exists in all of us.

                     - Goodreads.com

Review 

By God, Mindy McGinnis has managed to do it again.  As if her ‘Not a Drop to Drink’ duology wasn’t great enough, ‘A Madness So Discreet’ delivered everything I wanted from a slightly creepy and dark novel.

Mindy has an amazing ability to write a great novel without ever really resorting to any kind of romance as a plot device. As someone who enjoys mainly young adult novels where such conventional things occur on the regular it’s refreshing to read something without an ounce of romance in it. There was definitely an opportunity to write a romance into the plot and I’m not going to lie, a part of me kind of wanted it to happen. However, I’m so glad it didn’t. The whole character relationship dynamic would have been destroyed by blurring the lines between patient and physician and I most definitely would have frowned upon the abuse of power.

A Madness So Discreet follows Grace, a girl placed in an insane asylum with questionable standards, by her father while she is with child. Such an occurrence during this time (the setting is historical; I believe the late 1800’s) would be a ‘blackmark’ on the family name. So, she is dealt with until she can return home sans child. The poor standards and severe treatment of the patients causes a defiant outburst from Grace and she is sent to spend her remaining time in an isolated area of the asylum.  But a chance encounter with a visiting Doctor, who performs lobotomies on untreatable patients, allows her to be freed from her physical prison and taken into his care where she is moved to a much more humane facility. Her talents in noticing small detail with her brilliant mind assist the Doctor in his new fascination of solving criminology cases.

The grey areas surrounding the morality of the characters intrigued me. I love it when characters aren’t just black and white. Grace’s past experiences and the way she deals with the fallout from these, are precursors to some of her later actions. Even while she is our hero of the book and we are rooting for her, at the same time she does some questionable things.

The picture painted of mental illness and how it was ‘dealt’ with at the time is vividly accurate. I find it astonishing the things people were put away for, promiscuity, alcoholism and in Grace’s case being pregnant. The fact that a single word to a judge from a (male) family member could get you sent away is harrowing.

There are some dark moments in this book, but the satisfaction felt at the ending was…. well satisfying. The mystery behind the murders the doctor and Grace are solving have a Sherlock type vibe to them, which satisfies the detective in me.  If you’re after something a little dark and different, also dealing with a minority group this would be a good one to pick up. 

My Rating 5/5

Review- Not a Drop to Drink (Mindy McGinnis)

Synopsis

Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn't leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand.

But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it….

With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, debut author Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl’s journey in a barren world not so different than our own. 

                     - Goodreads.com

Review 

Not a drop to drink is one of the most realistic portrayals of a post-apocalyptic world that I have read. It differs from most YA in this category with its lack of zombies and other new world monsters, and sticks to the basics; water. If you were suddenly without it, no longer able to freely access it with the turn of a tap, what would you do?

Lynn and her mother live in an old farmstead. They have everything they need, shelter, a close water source, and a good vantage point for shooting anyone that comes near what is theirs. Not a Drop to Drink is a survival story about something that could easily occur in the not so distant future. The writing is terrific and the author doesn’t beat around the bush describing in depth the hard truths of a world scarce of such a basic necessity for life.

“Regret was for people with nothing to defend, people who had no water.” 

- Mindy McGinnis (Not a Drop to Drink)

The book is told from Lynn’s perspective, describing the only life she has ever known, isolated, hard and wary of any strangers, all traits her mother has passed down to her. Along with the most important rule of all, protect what is yours at all costs.

After a series of events, Lynn is left to make a big choice. Does she open herself up to trusting others or does she keep herself shut off from the world continuing to live by her mother’s rules?

“Killing people was easier when the only face I ever saw was Mother’s back then, anyone else was the enemy and shooting at an outline in a scope wasn’t any different than taking down a deer, just in a different shape.”

- Mindy McGinnis (Not a Drop to Drink)

Wonderful, is the only way to describe this book. I devoured it every chance I got, getting ready in the morning, lunch break at work, or while cooking dinner. It was so difficult to put down because you were never really sure what was going to happen next. The authors writing was raw and gritty, with such a plausible backdrop that you could easily get lost into thinking it was a non-fiction account of real life events.

It was refreshing to have a YA book that was almost void of all romance (there was the smallest mention of some flirting and a crush, but it never came close to being a main part of the story).  Lynn’s background of hardship and devastation makes her a fascinatingly complex character who takes an emotional journey from beginning to end. Unlike many YA contemporary books, where we find angsty teens concerned with such trivial things. We get to follow a strong female lead, hardened by the world with a basic need to survive, slowly letting her guard down and allowing people in.

The ending was perfect if you wanted to read this as a standalone. But lucky for us there is a second book with which we can immerse ourselves (In a Handful of Dust- Review to come soon). I highly recommend you pick up Not a Drop to Drink, to think I waited this long to read it is a shame!

“There's a famous line from a poem about the ocean," Mother had finally said to end the discussion. "'Water water every where, but not a drop to drink.” 

- Mindy McGinnis (Not a Drop to Drink)

My Rating 5/5