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Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield

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The night Becca graduated high school, she and her boyfriend have sex in the back of his car to celebrate. Except, it’s not a celebration when he breaks her heart right there by telling her it’s over. They’re through.

It’s the same night the dead body of a teen girl shows up along the side of the road, rag dolled and broken in the most unnatural of ways.

When Becca hears about the body, her world shatters a little more. She’d always been eager to leave her small town, always ready for a new adventure, but now she’s scared to leave. What’s always been a safe place now feels unsafe, and if she feels that way here, she’s worried how she’ll feel when she’s hundreds of miles away.

With the summer still ahead of her, Becca has a lot of time on her hands to figure out who she is, what her relationship with her (ex)-boyfriend is, and where she wants to go when the season ends. Oh, and there’s also the question of who the dead girl is, how she got there, and how or why she relates to Becca herself.

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone is Kat Rosenfield’s debut and it is a knock out. This book is dark, it’s twisted, and has an incredibly satisfying pay off in the end. Not to mention that it has some of the most lush writing I’ve experienced since Nova Ren Suma’s Imaginary Girls — but more on that later.

The story alternates from Becca’s voice to that of Amelia’s, with Becca narrating forward and Amelia narrating almost backward; since Amelia is dead, we start from the tipping point of her life and watch as events line up that ultimately lead to her end. The two girls share pretty similar stories, and this becomes obvious almost immediately. There’s an age difference between them, as Becca’s just graduated high school and standing at the edge of making a decision of which direction she should go now, while Amelia has finished college and is headed straight for the dream she has for herself. In both cases, the girls have a boy who is a heavy part of their lives.

There is a major difference in their stories though, and that’s perception of control.

While I found myself interested in Amelia’s story, I really fell into Becca’s world. The opening scene is raw and painful — as soon as she’s given herself to her boyfriend James in the most intimate of ways (yes, possible in a car in the middle of no where), he leaves her there naked and broken. And while it’s consensual, what he did to her emotionally and psychologically equates to rape. This is an important plot point, and it’s one that’ll emerge again and again throughout the story in different, and maybe varied and twisted, ways. Becca started dating James roughly a year ago, and it was a bit reluctant. They’re from completely different worlds and backgrounds; Becca’s always been on a scholarly path, always been prepared to leave her small town behind and achieve bigger things at university in a big city. James, on the other hand, isn’t. He’s a townie, never cared about school. Though he’s poised as a typical bad boy, he’s not, and that’s what draws Becca to him. Except she worries by dating him she’s going to break his heart when the time comes for her to leave town. But more than that, she worries by dating him, she’ll give up her own dreams of leaving and choose instead to stay behind with him.

The tension between Becca’s dreams and her reality is believable. We’re immediately thrown into a moment where a decision was made for her, without any input on her part. When the body is found and the town is thrown for a loop over who this is, Becca latches onto solving the mystery. She offers insight into who lives in this small and eerie town, and she points her finger directly at a boy she’s convinced has had a hand in killing Amelia. In the mean time, as much as Becca and James have ended their relationship, they’re still spending time together, and Becca relives their relationships regularly, trying to find the point when things changed. When she changed from being the forward-driven girl to the kind of girl who wanted to give herself fully to a boy and a relationship.

Because I don’t want to ruin the mystery, all I can really add about Amelia and Becca’s criss-crossing story lines is that Amelia’s world is the world Becca deserves, and what Becca’s struggling with is precisely what Amelia figures out. Moreover, everything we’re led to believe about one of the characters ends up changing. Rosenfield does a great job of giving readers a big twist in the story, and while it was something I’d suspected from the beginning, I was ultimately satisfied (and still surprised, not because I “got” it but because it ended up playing out how I hoped it would).

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone offers not only a compelling plot with fully-developed characters, but it’s well-written. The language and description doesn’t take a back seat here. Instead, we’re treated to a small town that feels real and is very visual. The secondary characters — primarily townies, the kinds of people who live their entire lives in these places — don’t feel like stereotypes, even when Becca describes them that way. They’re dynamic, and this comes across through the moments of revealing the mystery of dead Amelia.

Rosenfield’s writing reminded me a lot of Nova Ren Suma’s. It’s literary without being pretentious and without sacrificing plot. More than that, this story had some chillingly similar elements to Imaginary Girls, particularly when it came to setting. When you read a lot of books, it’s always interesting to see where stories are in (unintentional) conversations with one another. While Rosenfield’s story is wholly contemporary, there were a lot of moments when the two stories had a lot of cross overs with one another, and I could so see Chloe in a similar position as Becca and Ruby in the same position as Amelia. Fans of Suma’s book will no doubt want to pick this one up.

I read the bulk of Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone in one sitting, and it’s the kind of book I see myself picking up again to revisit. It’s ultimately a book about life choices and about life and death, as well as how life choices can impact whether you’re living or you’re dying. While there is a lot of focus on romantic relationships and how those impact choice-making, Rosenfield never lays down a message about them. They’re neither good things nor bad things but things in and of themselves and they impact an individual’s choices. Moreover, the book successfully twists reader perceptions when it comes to characters, too: there aren’t clear cut villains or victims (aside from Amelia) but rather, everyone in the story comes to be who they are through the choices they make. This is the kind of book that’ll speak to readers who feel they’re stuck somewhere or stuck in something they can’t move forward from and it’ll appeal to readers who enjoy a good mystery, too. I think it’ll end up being a favorite of 2012 and one that sticks with me for quite a while.

Review copy received from the publisher. Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone will be available July 5.

Come See About Me by CK Kelly Martin

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It’s a freak accident that kills 19-now-20-year-old Leah’s boyfriend Bastien and she is saddled with grief that is much heavier than what she thinks she can handle. She and Bastien had their lives ahead of them: they were living together in an apartment in Toronto, they’d made plans to get a dog in the future, and they’d settle into great jobs and living the life both of them had dreamed of. But now with the accident and Bastien ripped from her life, Leah’s left to pick up the pieces of this future and put them together in a new way. For herself.

The thing is, it is not easy. Leah’s family lives on the other side of the country, and she does not want to move back. She wants to stay where she is because it is where she was happy. But she cannot be happy in her apartment any longer knowing that Bastien isn’t there. She can’t make it through school any longer and drops out. Her job at the museum is also just a little too much to take, so she quits showing up and now, she lacks an income to even pay for her apartment. Time is ticking for her to figure something out.

As luck would have it, Bastien’s aunt has a place in suburban Oakville, and she offers Leah the chance to live there without having to pay rent — she only spends a few weeks a year there to check up on her business anyway, so Leah would have the place to herself. Leah takes the place. It’s not easier, though, as she continues working through the loss and the rattling of what looked like the perfect future. Then she meets Liam. Runs into him quite literally and on more than one occasion. So when Leah finally gets the nerve to talk to Liam and ends up spilling her guts, she starts to realize how different it feels to open up. As she begins opening up to him physically and emotionally, Leah grapples with how she can move forward without Bastien without forgetting who he was to her and without moving on.

CK Kelly Martin’s Come See About Me is an adult novel, and because of a marketing issue, it was hard for this book to find a traditional publisher. So Martin published it herself. While I tend to avoid books that are self-published, Martin’s track record for writing strong contemporary stories appealed to me, and knowing how raw and powerful her YA titles are, I was incredibly curious how she could infuse a book for the adult audience with that power. This book was not disappointing in the least, and if anything, it proved Martin has the ability to write across audiences. And let me say this much, too: she can write a sexy story. Come See About Me is a title that’s going to stick with me for a long time, and it’s one I can see myself revisiting.

Leah is a complex and pained character who is struggling not only with overwhelming grief and loss, but she’s at a time in her life that is already so confusing. She’s on the path she’s been led to believe is the right one — she’s living in the big cosmopolitan city of Toronto, and she’s going to school full-time while balancing a part-time job. But when Bastien dies, Leah finds herself wondering whether or not this is truly what she wants to be doing. It’s not that she was unhappy with her future plans when Bastien was a part of them, but rather, losing him forces Leah to reassess her own life. She comes to the realization that doing so many of these things simply didn’t fulfill her. While she’s letting school and her job go, of course she falls into a deeper stage of grief, but through this, she also begins to learn a lot about who she is and what matters to her. It’s not grades or a full-time career. It’s finding peace in a way that’s not achieved through racking up “adult points.” That is, her happiness and fulfillment aren’t going to be found through finishing college or finding a full-time career. At least not at this point. What she needs to be happy are meaningful relationships. This is part of why her move from the city into the suburbs is huge. It’s the first step in Leah reclaiming control of her own life.

Enter Liam. From the start, he cares about Leah, but the problem is that she’s not entirely ready to let herself become involved in another relationship. Especially one that could become romantic. But without thinking too much one night, Leah has the overwhelming urge to be sexual with Liam. She lets go of the tight control she’s held, particularly over that physical piece of her relationship with Bastien, and allows herself to give into the moment. And it is sexy. In the moment, at least — when Leah pulls herself from the situation later and realizes what she allowed herself to do, regret and remorse consume her. It’s not just emotional either; it’s manifested physically. What scares her about this is that for the first time since Bastien’s death, Leah allowed herself to give into sheer desire. For the first time in a long time, she wasn’t grieving or analyzing her world. It’s in those moments after, though, where things become painful. Leah’s scared to death of what she’s allowed herself to do because she feels like she’s let down Bastien. As readers, we feel the regret she experiences, but at the same time, we want Leah to allow herself the chance to give into her desires, especially with a guy like Liam who is so caring and concerned about her.

Let me not get ahead here, though: Liam is far from perfect. He’s here in Oakville because he, too, is trying to rebuild a life that was left in tatters. He’s from overseas and working on a local theatrical production. After a very public infidelity scandal, he knew he needed to get away and it’s here he has found a safe place. It’s here he hopes to rebuild his image. I wouldn’t say he hides this all from Leah, but he’s not entirely open about it, and part of the reason is this: Leah isn’t necessarily interested in hearing about it. At least at first. Liam can sense that from her and he allows her to take what she needs from him emotionally and physically. He offers himself to her in a way she needs. In doing such, well, what his past is really doesn’t matter.

The more time Leah and Liam spend together, the more intimate they become. And it’s intimacy this time, not simply raw desire. Martin has a knack for writing great sensual scenes in her YA novels, and given her platform with an adult novel, she’s able to amplify this. No doubt, this book is sexy; it treads a very fine line of incredibly tender and slightly dirty. What makes it work so well, though, is that these intimate scenes are powerful for Leah — they open her up in the way she needs to be opened up. She allows herself incredible vulnerability. We feel it with her, and these moments are powerfully mature in a way that goes well beyond how they’re played out physically. Over the course of her time with Liam, Leah begins to understand it’s okay to give into her feelings, into her own desires, and she’s allowed to let herself feel good. That that would be what Bastien would want for her. Leah, though, continues to set up strict boundaries in her relationship with Liam: she wants this to be nothing but physical. She wants no emotional investment in what they’re doing. To her, that would be hurting — almost shaming — what she had with Bastien.

Of course, that cannot happen. We know this. As much as Leah pushes away from the emotional side of her relationship with Liam, she simply can’t. It’s when Leah confronts Liam’s past head on where she discovers that her emotions are much more tied up in this relationship than she expected. She realizes how vulnerable she really is. It’s painful to watch her fall apart, particularly because as readers, we are watching Leah get stronger and find herself, even if she herself isn’t acknowledging it. When Leah approaches Liam about his past, she finally comes to realize that what she’s experiencing isn’t loss or hurt. It’s acceptance: of herself, of Liam. Of Bastien’s death. And just when it looks like everything will be gone, well, Leah will really get a surprise she wasn’t expecting.

One of my favorite threads throughout the story is a small one, but it’s one I think summarizes the entire journey Leah experiences. Bastien was passionate about creating a comic book called “Johnny Yang” — he was a bit of a superhero. Unfortunately, when Bastien died, he hadn’t completed the story. Leah found it important, though, to reconnect with this comic. She wants to finish it, if for no other reason than for Bastien’s dream to become a reality. It’s about a third of the way through the book when Leah finds a real turning point in this goal, where she realizes that “Maybe what [Johnny Yang] needs is another world to tempt him.” More importantly — and sure, this is minor spoiler territory — Leah doesn’t finish the story over the course of the book. It’s a continuing process, rather than something that’s opened and closed. But as readers we know that the process of creation and the process of exploring new worlds with Johnny Yang will help Leah move forward in the future.

Come See About Me is about how life is about stepping forward, even when there are a million things that can hold you back. It’s as much about grief and loss as it is about love and acceptance. Martin strips her characters down to their barest pieces and allows readers to watch as these characters struggle to find themselves. Her writing is strong and engaging. While at times I found myself becoming a little wearisome of the focus on the mundane, these bits of routine were important to the story — they were ultimately what helped ground Leah into her world. It was important when she went to the store to get food for her pet and when she went for a walk. These were aspects of Leah learning how to go through with being Leah. There’s a very fragile balance of being on your own for the first time and learning that you aren’t immune to awful things happening in your life. That you’re not as shielded from pain as you think you are.

It’s that last part that will make this book appealing to both older teens who are mature enough to handle the intimacy aspect, and it’s this very last part that will make this book appealing to adults, as well. Come See About Me avoids so much of what I find challenging about adult fiction in that it doesn’t aim to incorporate every item on the checklist of adulthood. Leah is imperfect, as is Liam, and neither of them are interested in chasing those items that make adults “adults” in our society. Rather than forcing these characters to conform to an ideal, they’re allowed to bend and mold to what they want their own ideals to be. And for me, that’s the truth of what adulthood is. It’s not about settling into a career, into a mortgage, into children and marriage, into saving for retirement and making sure your resume is pristine. It’s about figuring out what matters to you as an individual and making that enrich your life. In my mind, this isn’t a “new adult” novel (a label I really dislike). It’s an adult novel. I think the more we try to segment books, the more we allow ourselves to think of books as one sort of thing or another — just like I did in suggesting why I don’t like adult books. Martin’s book is hugely refreshing, and I think more books like this on the market is a good thing. It’s not entirely new, either: Tom Wolfe did it with I Am Charlotte Simmons, Curtis Sittenfeld did it with Prep, and Megan McCafferty did it with her Jessica Darling series, among others.

Although I could not relate to Leah much myself, I found her reminiscent of so many people I know, and I can see readers easily relating to her.  I appreciate, too, how Martin also made this book incredible diverse without every writing a “diverse” novel. Rather, we know Bastien wasn’t a white character because from the start, Leah says he was not white. But she doesn’t dwell on this. It’s a fact we learn and she moves forward. Likewise, Leah’s friends are not white, and we get that via their names and their cultural experiences that are simply incorporated into the narrative without fuss. Oakville is a suburb of a major metropolitan area, and it’s through this diversity that it comes alive. 

I’m not one to usually write down memorable quotes from books, but there’s one that stuck with me as I was reading this one that summarizes not only the whole of the story but of the power of Liam’s relationship with Leah and Leah’s relationship with Bastien (and, of course, Liam): “Bending instead of breaking. That’s probably always a better option if you can take it.”

Come See About Me is available now in all formats, and it can be purchased digitally at Amazon or Smashwords. It is also available in print via Amazon. This book suffers none of the trappings of many self-published books, so do not worry about any editing issues. Martin’s book is the real deal and will appeal to those who like contemporary fiction, strong characters, emotionally powerful stories, and who enjoy their sex steamy. If you want more or want to check out a sizable sample from the book, Martin’s developed a website exclusively for this book right here.

Finished copy received from the author for review.

A Couple of Disappointments

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As an adult, I’ve come to enjoy realistic survival stories. As a teen, I needed some sort of fantastical element to make it compelling, but I don’t require that anymore – the promise of real-life danger is excitement enough. So when I saw the blurb for Michael Cadnum’s latest, Seize the Storm, I figured it would be my kind of book. The premise is pretty simple: a family is taking a vacation on their fancy yacht and come across an abandoned boat full of cash. They decide to take the cash, not realizing that the drug dealers – including the drug lord’s teenage son – who own the boat (and the cash) are after it too.
It’s a great setup, but I found myself pretty disappointed in the execution. There’s a long list of characters: the teenage son of the drug lord, a teenage assassin, and another man in the employ of the drug lord all on the plane sent to retrieve the cash; plus a teenage girl, her male cousin, her parents, and a teenage sailor all on the boat that took the cash. Cadnum tells at least some of the story through each character’s eyes, which means there’s no true protagonist and we’re encouraged to root for the “bad guys” just as much as the family on the boat. Unfortunately, while Cadnum gives us a little insight – via telling rather than showing – into each of the characters, it’s not really enough to make any of them truly compelling. 
The story itself is surprisingly thin, too. The family finds the boat and takes the cash; the drug runners hunt down the boat and a stand-off ensues. I expected there to be more of a sense of danger, a bit more action, more excitement overall. Perhaps I would have been more invested in the story had I cared about the characters, but what little development we get makes them all pretty unsympathetic. I know it’s not necessary for characters to be likeable to also be well-drawn, but everyone was just so unpleasant, I honestly didn’t care what happened to them. If they all drowned, I wouldn’t have felt much of a pang. 
I went in expecting a survival story, but what I got was more a story about some unpleasant people who make a series of bad decisions. I think kids who go into this book expecting a thrilling read will be disappointed, although I’m sure it will have its fans among those who like books told from the “bad guy’s” point of view.
Justin Halpern’s Shit My Dad Says was a surprisingly fun read for me. I appreciated that it didn’t eliminate sentimentality entirely in favor of the profane humor, and I looked forward to more of the same mix in his follow-up, I Suck at Girls. In this volume, Halpern chronicles his romantic interactions with the opposite sex, beginning as a young child. He strives for ribald humor peppered with deep thoughts, but he’s not terribly successful on the humor front.
There are certainly funny bits – unfortunately, they’re mostly relegated to Halpern’s conversations with his father, which is what made the first book such a stand-out. When it’s just Halpern dishing about his girlfriends, the book is mostly forgettable; when it’s Halpern discussing girls and women with his father, it’s frequently hilarious. What this makes for is an uneven book that doesn’t linger very long in the reader’s mind.
Perhaps part of the problem is that Halpern’s dating disasters aren’t really disastrous – they’re fairly run of the mill and not terribly exciting stories in themselves. He’s got a nice way of writing, but it’s not enough to elevate his pretty pedestrian stories into comedy gold. His father is still the star, and he doesn’t make enough appearances to salvage the book. Still, if you’re a fan of the first book, this is certainly worth a read.
Review copies received from the publisher. Both books are available now.

Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott

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Have I mentioned I like re-tellings of fairy tales? Maybe once or twice (or a dozen times)? I never seem to get tired of them. Cinderella is among my favorite, and Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott is a great example of a stand-out re-telling in a very crowded field.
The setting is feudal Japan – if feudal Japan were a place where a young woman like Suzume, our protagonist, could transform her appearance with a thought.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The story is divided into three parts and begins with Suzume at age fourteen at home. It starts violently: her family is killed on the emperor’s orders and Suzume is only able to survive thanks to the help of a kind servant and a clever hiding place. Her mother, who had been away at the time of the attack, soon returns to find her family destroyed. Luckily (?), Suzume and her mother are taken in by a friend of her father’s, whom her mother soon marries – but if you know anything about Cinderella, you know this newfound stepfather is anything but good.
Parts two and three delve into Suzume’s newfound abilities as a shadow weaver, which gives her the ability to change her appearance. This ability comes in handy when she’s on the run from those who mean to do her harm (including an evil stepfather), and it paves the way for her plan for revenge. Suzume means to get back at those who killed her family and ruined her life, and she plans to do so by becoming Shadow Bride. As Shadow Bride – the mistress of the Prince – Suzume would be granted the ear of the Prince and therefore an enormous amount of power. She plans to use this power to rain down vengeance on her stepfather and those who conspired to have her father killed.
Intertwined with all this is a romance with a male shadow weaver, a visiting noble from Africa. There’s the expected tension between Suzume’s need for vengeance and her desire to abscond with her love and forget about what happened in the past. The end is never really in doubt, but it’s a terrific read getting there.
There’s so much of interest here that sets it apart from a standard re-telling. Marriott has created a unique culture in Suzume’s world as well as that of Otieno, her love interest. It was lovely to read a story that was not only NOT set in a Western locale, but that also featured two non-Western leads.
The mythology surrounding the Shadow Bride was particularly fascinating. The young woman selected as Shadow Bride must demonstrate physical grace and perfection. She is almost always a virgin, dances impeccably, says just the right thing, and ingratiates herself with the right people to win an invitation to the ball that will determine if she is selected. This culture is not only interesting, but is also ripe for discussion about the meaning of physical “perfection” and the toll it takes on a person who pretends to be someone she is not.
A little while into the story, Suzume teams up with a previous Shadow Bride (such brides are given this status for a year only) who promises to help Suzume achieve her goal. This Shadow Bride, however, is very different from what she seems – which makes her a thoroughly fascinating ancillary character.
Shadows on the Moon is an easy book to recommend to fantasy lovers. The writing is lovely, the story unique, the themes well-developed, and the voice authentic. It should be at the top of the list for anyone interested in fairy tale re-tellings or anyone looking for a good fantasy.
Review copy received from the publisher. Shadows on the Moon is available now.

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

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Travis has leave time from the Marines and he’s heading home to Ft. Myers, Florida to his family. But when he returns, he’s not exactly happy. Not exactly thrilled to enter back into his former life. First, his parents aren’t doing so hot — they’re on the brink of divorce and the tension between his mom and dad is palpable. Second, he knows he’s going to have to deal with his ex-girlfriend Paige who dumped him via letter. And not only did she dump him, she left him for his brother. On top of that, Travis keeps having nightmares about his best friend being killed and they haunt him so much he can’t sleep. So much he sees Charlie all over the place.

Oh, and then there’s Harper. Travis runs into her at a party, where she tells him she does not like him. Hasn’t since middle school, when he spread a rumor about her promiscuity and trashed her reputation. But he apologizes, and in that apology, Travis finds himself attracted to her. He knows Harper is the kind of girl he needs right now.

Trish Doller’s Something Like Normal is an emotional read and one that hits every single note right. Travis is a fully-fleshed and authentic male narrator who is grappling with not only the challenges of the home life he returns to, but also with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He’s kept the PTSD private and quiet because he believes it’s something that will just go away. Except it only continues to get worse during his time at home. There are so many stresses in Travis’s life: he’s struggling with how to be a support system to his mother when she and his father argue, and he’s finding himself having a difficult time figuring out what his relationship to his father is. When he was younger, his dad pushed him to be a football player like he had been, and while Travis played along living his father’s dream for a while, he eventually put his foot down and said no more. That’s why he decided to enlist in the Marines in the first place. It was his way of sending a middle finger to his father and his father’s dreams.

There’s also tension between Travis and his brother Ryan. While Travis is in Afghanistan, his girlfriend Paige has been sleeping with Ryan. She dumps him (the classy move, of course) and tells him she’s leaving him for his brother. Ryan sees it as no big deal, and while Travis acts like he’s stronger than some girl’s behavior, he’s really not. We see this when he and Paige confront one another upon his return, and they become intimate again. But rather than make Travis feel better or worse, it sort of leaves him all together empty. It won’t be the only time they get together when he’s back either; when Travis and Harper are seeing one another, he sleeps with Paige again.

The relationship between Travis and Harper is one of my favorite aspects of the story. I’m not a huge romantic and I find often those story lines come off as forced or as underdeveloped in YA novels, but Doller gets it right here. Travis and Harper grow close over the course of his time back at home, and rather than experiencing instant chemistry, the beginning of their relationship is extremely tentative, careful, and cautious. Travis hurt Harper pretty bad in the past, and even though he’s apologized and hasn’t even thought about it for years, she’s nervous to spend time with him. She’s nervous to forgive him completely, too, since she has to protect herself. At the beginning, their relationship is a friendship, and it is the sort of thing Travis needs in his life so badly. He needs that person to turn to and talk with, and she offers him that space. It’s safe to him and, as she learns, it’s safe for her too. While things grow increasingly tense at home and with his PTSD, she’s a solid place for him. Then when he finds out the parents of his friend Charlie — the one killed in Afghanistan and the one who has been haunting him regularly — are hosting a memorial service for him and have asked him to speak at it, Travis knows he can’t go alone. He asks Harper, and she agrees and it’s in those moments where we see the true depths of their relationship. Except, this trip is not just about putting his best friend to rest. It’s putting his mind to rest over the fact he slept with Paige and while he and Harper aren’t anything official, the guilt he has about returning to his ex eats him up.

Travis and Harper have a very healthy relationship, and while she’s understandably angry with Travis when he confesses what he’s done, she also realizes at that point just what she is to him and what he is to her. She seethes, and it’s understandable. But when Travis needs her after the service, when he’s unable to keep himself together alone anymore, she is there for him. It’s in this moment one of my favorite scenes happens, and one that made my heart explode a tiny bit because it was so well-done, so thoughtful, and so realistic — and it’s a spoiler, so drop down to the next paragraph if you don’t want it. While Travis and Harper have been together, they have not been at all intimate with one another, which is part of why their relationship works so well. It’s based on a real emotional connection and understanding of one another’s needs — what  Travis needs after a major PTSD experience is Harper’s support and what Harper needs is to give that to him.

That’s a lot of explanation for why Travis was a knock out character, but it amounts to this: he’s not portrayed as a hero in this story. He’s flawed, he makes mistakes, and he has to learn how to deal with the consequences. He’s got to figure out his role as a son, as a brother, as a friend, and as a boyfriend. It’s not easy, and he’s not given short cuts. He has to work through. Being a Marine doesn’t mean anything more than it has to here, and I think that in and of itself is what makes Travis realistic.

I haven’t touched on the PTSD stuff too much because, as integral as it is to the plot, it’s not the entire story. However, it is addressed near the end of the book in an honest manner that was not only fitting with Travis’s character, but fitting with how I think anyone who is as young as Travis would deal with it. First with ignoring, with repressing, with hiding it, with trying to face it, with hiding it again, and then finally with addressing it through therapy. It’s not at all overly sentimental nor cliche in how it’s presented or dealt with.

There are a lot of plot lines in the book, and while I remained nervous about the resolution of a few of them, Doller successfully ties each of them up by the end of the book. That’s not to say they’re all solved nor are they all closed cases, but each of them is addressed as Travis would address them. While that in and of itself isn’t necessarily the noteworthy thing, what is noteworthy is that this is a relatively short novel — it’s just over 200 pages. It’s tightly written, and there aren’t wasted passages or scenes. Each contributes directly to the execution of the story and the development of the characters. There’s no dwelling. We know how things play out with his parents and we learn how he figures out the best way to approach Paige and Ryan in his life. We also get to see just what happens with Charlie, too.

Something Like Normal will have appeal for both male and female readers, despite the cover that appeals much more heavily to female readers (which is a real shame). Travis is the kind of guy male readers will relate to. He wants to take care of business. His dialog is authentic, his relationships believable, and his struggles are the kinds of things teens deal with regularly. The family and romantic dynamics work without becoming too complicated, overwritten, or just too much. I can see people who loved Dana Reinhardt’s The Things a Brother Knows finding this a great next title — in fact, I can see fans of any of Reinhardt’s titles finding this to be similar in style. While I was reading, though, I couldn’t help think how much Travis reminded me of Nick from CK Kelly Martin’s I Know It’s Over and I think fans of Martin’s books will find Doller writes in a very similar manner. Add this one to your great contemporary stories with great male voices list, as well as your lists about military fiction, as it addresses the issues of the life of a Marine beyond the in-world. Something Like Normal will, without doubt, find itself on my favorites list for 2012 and well beyond. It is an impressive debut, and if you want to know the truth: it made me cry more than once.

Review copy received from the publisher. Something Like Normal comes out today.