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#5 Platform - The Shattering
Dec. 8th, 2011 12:35 amI like some darkness, and I liked Sione. These aren't really related.
Book: The Shattering
Author: Karen Healey
Provenance: Bought from Argo
Getting over the death of a loved one is always difficult, and it's easy to imagine it being still more difficult if it's a suicide. And it's even harder if you're the sort of person who wants to plan for everything, to have an idea of how to handle anything that could go wrong. So it goes for Keri, a tough, hyper-prepared young woman who's had to endure the shock of finding her brother Jake after he had seemingly done himself in, without really giving anyone an idea of why. And so when an old friend of hers approaches her and says they have an idea about who killed her brother, of course she's going to go with it. If you can get a reason, then you're going to want one.
The Shattering is concerned with the search of Keri, along with bass-player Janna, a friend that drifted away and now has come back, and Sione, a shy out-of-towner whose family's been visiting the scenic New Zealand coast town of Summerton over New Year's for years. Both Janna and Sione's brothers also had killed themselves... but they think it was something more sinister, and the three of them are out to prove that there's been a killer preying on the young men in Summerton at the end of the year.
The book rotates between the points of view of the three different characters, and each of them is very nicely presented, realistic and relatable and different. They're written consistently, too, so when you find out more about them, it pays off what's done earlier; you get to know them and have ideas about how to predict where they're going. The secondary characters beyond the main three are sketchier, but still good; I definitely got reminded of some of the Japanese people I've known in one of them, Takeshi, for example.
I'm trying not to go into too much plot detail here, since this is a mystery, and a pretty fast-paced one, at that. All of the events that get rolled up in it, from changes in character to plot developments, come across as real and immediate, and I pretty much tore through it, reading it in whatever free time I had until I'd finished. I feel Healey's writing's grown better and more assured since her first novel, as well; it shows in the characters, and it shows in their interactions. It also shows in the plotting; I called some of the plot twists, for sure, but I missed some other ones, and they all felt real, either way.
So I have to say, I really liked this one. It gives you a feel for a small resort town during the vacation high season, and presents its teenaged protagonists as full people grappling with some hard issues. I left this feeling really satisfied, and I'm betting you will, too, whether you're into YA work or not. Give this one a shot.
Next up: Reading The Flooded Earth now; got some back reviews still, of course.
Book: The Shattering
Author: Karen Healey
Provenance: Bought from Argo
Getting over the death of a loved one is always difficult, and it's easy to imagine it being still more difficult if it's a suicide. And it's even harder if you're the sort of person who wants to plan for everything, to have an idea of how to handle anything that could go wrong. So it goes for Keri, a tough, hyper-prepared young woman who's had to endure the shock of finding her brother Jake after he had seemingly done himself in, without really giving anyone an idea of why. And so when an old friend of hers approaches her and says they have an idea about who killed her brother, of course she's going to go with it. If you can get a reason, then you're going to want one.
The Shattering is concerned with the search of Keri, along with bass-player Janna, a friend that drifted away and now has come back, and Sione, a shy out-of-towner whose family's been visiting the scenic New Zealand coast town of Summerton over New Year's for years. Both Janna and Sione's brothers also had killed themselves... but they think it was something more sinister, and the three of them are out to prove that there's been a killer preying on the young men in Summerton at the end of the year.
The book rotates between the points of view of the three different characters, and each of them is very nicely presented, realistic and relatable and different. They're written consistently, too, so when you find out more about them, it pays off what's done earlier; you get to know them and have ideas about how to predict where they're going. The secondary characters beyond the main three are sketchier, but still good; I definitely got reminded of some of the Japanese people I've known in one of them, Takeshi, for example.
I'm trying not to go into too much plot detail here, since this is a mystery, and a pretty fast-paced one, at that. All of the events that get rolled up in it, from changes in character to plot developments, come across as real and immediate, and I pretty much tore through it, reading it in whatever free time I had until I'd finished. I feel Healey's writing's grown better and more assured since her first novel, as well; it shows in the characters, and it shows in their interactions. It also shows in the plotting; I called some of the plot twists, for sure, but I missed some other ones, and they all felt real, either way.
So I have to say, I really liked this one. It gives you a feel for a small resort town during the vacation high season, and presents its teenaged protagonists as full people grappling with some hard issues. I left this feeling really satisfied, and I'm betting you will, too, whether you're into YA work or not. Give this one a shot.
Next up: Reading The Flooded Earth now; got some back reviews still, of course.
