Book Review – ‘Been Here All Along’ by Sandy Hall

A contemporary love story that transverses gender… but lacks a little substance.

Genre: Y/A, Contemporary, LGBT

No. of pages: 214

From Goodreads:

Gideon always has a plan. His plans include running for class president, becoming head of the yearbook committee and having his choice of colleges. They do not include falling head over heels for his best friend and next-door neighbour, Kyle. It’s a distraction. It’s pointless, as Kyle is already dating the gorgeous and popular head cheerleader, Ruby. And Gideon doesn’t know what to do . . .

Kyle finally feels like he has a handle on life. He has a wonderful girlfriend, a best friend willing to debate the finer points of Lord of the Rings, and social acceptance as captain of the basketball team. Then, both Ruby and Gideon start acting really weird, just as his spot on the team is threatened, and Kyle can’t quite figure out what he did wrong . . .

This is an adorable cute contemporary. I enjoyed it immensely. A quick diverse read you can complete in a day.

Some points that count against this novel for me are around it’s lack of substance. We get representation of two male leads, one identifying as gay, the other bisexual, but they don’t really delve into how that changes them. The story is solely about their coming together after they realise how they feel about each other. It’s all very fairy-floss and lollipop land. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I indulge in a positive, happily ever after ending every now and then. Plus the tone and demographic of this novel I can see why Sandy Hall has written the novel this way… but skipping over so many aspects poignant to the characters development takes ‘Been Here All Along’ from brilliant and memorable, to sweet and totally forgettable.

We see this same treatment of introducing a storytelling element and then not going anywhere with it. Cyber bullying, Dyslexia, Poverty, Graduation, and College. They are all introduced, but nothing is done with them. All excellent obstacles to overcome and our main characters to grow through the experiences… but it’s left on the side of the road in favour of a cutesy sunset ending. I mean maybe if we got a little bit more of each of these affecting the cast strongly in some way the story would have been much more compelling. But these points are me being very critical and wanting more from the story.

It really is a deliciously innocent lgbtqia contemporary, more suitable for the younger end of the YA demographic.

I loved the fact that coming out, sexual preference, and a gay relationship was handled respectfully and without fear or hate. How friends and family were supportive. We don’t have enough of these types of stories.

We get a mix of perspectives: our protagonists Kyle and Gideon, best friends who develop a crush each other. Ruby, Kyle’s girlfriend. And Ezra, Gideon’s older brother back from living in L.A. and surfing for the past few years. There is a strong sense of family with all the characters. Plus, given the ‘vanilla’ Disney style to the story telling, expect it to be tropey and sugary as apple pie.

The two male leads, Gideon and Kyle don’t have much of an arc or development other than getting together. Ezra is really a complimentary character to help drive the plot forward. It’s Ruby who really shines when you take character development and growth into account.

And as happens in most contemporaries, just as the protagonist makes some resolution on the main goal or journey, it ends. With all the other good bits just coming to a head…. How does Kyle deal with his dyslexia? How do the couple deal with the cyberbullying incident? Will the girl responsible be held accountable? Will Ruby be punished? Will she get to college? Will Gideon win the class elections… so many unanswered questions that were set up in the narrative. So grimacingly frustrating.

So while this was a relaxing way to spend an afternoon reading, I was really hoping for more gravitas to the story. This would be best recommended to those who love quick cute romances and younger YA readers. Connoisseurs of lgbtqia contemporaries may find this a little bland. ‘Been Here All Along’ was a great novel to introduce me to the writings of Sandy Hall, but I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to pick up another one of her titles.

Overall feeling: Cute. That’s all. Just cute.

© Casey Carlisle 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

#bookporn

I’m going into this book by Laura Tisdall with no advanced knowledge – like a lucky dip read. But I’m wondering if it’s anything like ‘The Net’ that Sandra Bullock movie?

Does anyone else pick up random books just to see if they are any good?

Active voice – in health and writing

A short life update from a writer, taking a break from other book related content.

From the start of the year I challenged myself to start making writing a priority again. I mean I was always writing, but over 2017-18 my habits had strayed from my goals. Distracted by creating online content, bidding for copywriting jobs, and last Christmas when I took stock of my progress, it depressed me a little. So 2019 is all about prioritising and finishing projects. Also about my health. Since taking on this penmanship dominated career, my weight had dramatically increased, and my stamina for any type of physical activity dropped.

So that’s the reason my activity on this blog has decreased a bit. I’m out there living life. Going to the gym, concentrating on writing, and finishing a number of projects I’ve been half-way through for years.

It’s working! I’ve had success with my body mass index shrinking, my strength increasing – and a lovely side effect is I feel energized and clear headed for writing. A creative career has a lot to do with stimulation – if you’re not feeding your imagination (and keeping your brain at optimal health) it will start to stagnate.

So I’m enjoying my new push of productivity. Though I have to admit, I feel a little guilty that I’m not reading as much, and consequently not posting reviews as often. I also loved researching writing topics for posts; and again, I have little to no time for that right now.

This is pretty much a mid-year(ish) check in. Not quite where I want to be with writing achievements, but it’s better than it has been in years. I feel healthier. I’m socialising more. Even today, after three solid days of non-stop rain, I’m out on the balcony writing and feeling positive, happy, and productive. Music by Andrea Kirwan in the background supplying the perfect atmosphere for the flow of words.

To all my fellow writers – keep up the struggle, find that balance, and push those book babies out into the world.

© Casey Carlisle 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – ‘Contagion’ (#1 Contagion) by Erin Bowman

A brilliant surprise of a read!

Genre: Y/A, Science Fiction, Horror

No. of pages: 432

From Goodreads:

It got in us.

After receiving an urgent SOS from a work detail on a distant planet, a skeleton crew is dispatched to perform a standard search-and-rescue mission.

Most are dead.

But when the crew arrives, they find an abandoned site, littered with rotten food, discarded weapons…and dead bodies.

Don’t set foot here again.

As they try to piece together who—or what—could have decimated an entire operation, they discover that some things are best left buried—and some monsters are only too ready to awaken.

I picked this up one evening intending to read a few chapters and get a feel for ‘Contagion.’ Skip to 3am and I was halfway through. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was a little bit ‘Illuminae’ and a little bit ‘Alien.’ I was hooked from start to finish.

The only point that played against ‘Contagion’ for me is a tiny one. We get introduced to a lot of cast members in the debut chapters and it took a lot of concentration to keep it all straight. I nearly sketched up a diagram… but as the narrative began to focus on a small handful as the story progressed my enrapture increased exponentially. This is a real thrill ride.

We get many different perspectives in the novel, some only lasting for a paragraph or two. Normally I would find this jarring, but it drove the story forward, each new member bringing something unique to the storyline, or revealing a plot point. The main characters we end following the most, however are intern scientist Thea (to a Dr. Tarlow – who is also important to this story), Black Quarry survivor Coen, student pilot Nova, and young ambitious captain Dylan. They all have their secrets and all have an individual drive to be where they are. ‘Contagion’ reads a lot like a mystery thriller as each of their back stories comes to light. I loved Erin Bowman’s writing style, it totally captivated my attention from start to finish. The cast all have their own arcs and have changed by the conclusion of the novel. Bowman did not miss a beat. She has made me an instant fan from this book alone.

Be warned – ‘Contagion’ ends on a cliff hanger. You might want to pick up the sequel ‘Immunity’ straight away… if you’re one that does not have a lot of patience.

There were many plot twist revealed in ‘Contagion.’ Many I did not see coming, and I loved the surprise! I had a few predictions, but none of what I thought came about (well one sort of did, but that’s another story.)

This novel plays with themes of trust, fear and paranoia, the science of how epidemics come about, isolation, zombies (of sorts), and greedy corporations.

An excellent read that I am giving the highest recommendation.

Overall feeling: Holy fuzzknuckle what a ride!

© Casey Carlisle 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

#bookquotes

Enjoyed the rebel cause mixed in with computer games and VR. Now I want to go back and read Marie Lu’s Legend series!

(original fanart created by Erika on her blog The Nocturnal Fey)

Book Review – ‘Someday’ (#3 Every Day) by David Levithan

A peep into the mythology of A, a change in direction, but there’s still more story to tell.

Genre: Y/A, Fantasy, GLBT

No. of pages: 393

From Goodreads:

Every day a new body. Every day a new life. Every day a new choice.

For as long as A can remember, life has meant waking up in a different person’s body every day, forced to live as that person until the day ended. A always thought there wasn’t anyone else who had a life like this.

But A was wrong. There are others.

A has already been wrestling with powerful feelings of love and loneliness. Now comes an understanding of the extremes that love and loneliness can lead to—and what it’s like to discover that you are not alone in the world.

I loved the themes and philosophy ‘Someday’ forces you to think about.

There are a lot of perspectives in this novel, but it stays mostly focused on A, Rhiannon, X, and Nathan. I’m not sure if that’s the reason if felt slow with pacing (especially in the first half of the novel), or the amount of information needed to explore the themes of the novel, and while I enjoyed the head-jumping, I’m feeling like it wasn’t really all that necessary to the story. It left ‘Someday’ feeling bulky.

We get glimpses into other body jumpers – but I have to ask from a reader’s point of view, getting invested in these characters, what was the point? Yes, it goes to establish some evidence of others like A, and reinforce the good and bad choices we make – but I was left with the start of a story… and then nothing.

So too was the concept of A discovering others out there like them. Learning about their condition, the mythology, their origin. I also wondered about A and X’s theory that they are born normally and simply jump to another body after the first day… does the baby then die – it would be soulless right? I hurts my brain. I am still wishing for more exploration into A’s condition and for there to be a connection to some sort of community. Also, for a more solid answer to what A and Rhiannon’s relationship is going to be like into the future. It’s touched on briefly as a concept, and we get different ideas of what it could be like through the experiences of other body jumpers – but it’s not an answer.

It feels like there is at least another sequel to explore A’s existence and a happily ever after yet.

One thing that did stand out to me in ‘Someday’ that was missing – both ‘Every Day’ and ‘Another Day’ also had ties with family (Rhiannon’s) and A beginning to explore the boundaries of his existence. We have those dismissed in this third novel of the franchise and it left me with a feeling of being somewhat untethered. Was it intentional to highlight the loneliness A was experiencing? It left Rhiannon not as complex as she was in the previous two novels.

Loved the development of Nathan. His perspective felt like it represented one of acceptance. Of societies acceptance. Of how many of the LGBTQIA+ community shape their own family. But again in the previous novels we see him struggling with questions around faith and they seemed to have been abandoned in ‘Someday.’

X/Xenon/Poole, although clearly making some harmful choices, does raise the issue as to when are you able to look after yourself, chase your own needs and wants: and is that even possible for beings like X and A? It was something I would have loved to seen explored (or even discussed further. It felt like we suddenly humanise X, get a brief discussion and then it was all over.

I’m really hoping we get another instalment to tackle issues like family (biological or community made), faith, self-care, and ambition; along with the mythology around A and his kind. See him finding a place where he fits.

Discussing the themes of this series with a few friends, we thought it was a nice analogy to those with disassociation disorders. A friend who has undergone gender confirmation surgery, but was born intersex, said having lived through the experience of people perceiving you as one gender and then another – almost like different people in different bodies was very similar to A’s experience. You perceive things differently, there are different physical sensations and others relate to you differently. I think it’s marvellous that we can have discussions like this, brought up from popular YA novels; it’s not something that I would have been exposed to in my youth. We are getting a language and awareness of the human condition through novels like ‘Someday.’

I definitely did not predict what was going to happen in ‘Someday’ at all. As I eluded to I previously, I was expecting quite a different story. The themes were different to those tackled in the prequels, and I still got no resolution to what I wanted after reading ‘Every Day’ and ‘Another Day.’ I really enjoyed the tension and direction of the plot, but felt it could have been 100 pages shorter and told the same story.

I think this is more a book for lovers of Levithan’s writing, those who loved ‘Every Day’ and are keen to continue with A and Rhiannon’s story, and those who enjoy queer literature, I’m on the fence if I’d recommend this to anyone outside those circles.

Overall feeling: Swinging between enlightened and unfulfilled.

© Casey Carlisle 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

#bookporn

Another novel that has been hiding on my TBR shelves for ages – starting to find enjoyment from contemporary titles again. I’m also looking forward to exploring less popular titles… let’s see what ‘When You Were Here’ can offer, slotting it into my bedside table stack to get to it sooner.

#bookporn

Dying to get into another Sci-fi – I’ve had some brilliant luck with my picks of late and want to continue the streak.

Whats the best science fiction novel you’ve read of late?