Wake

Written by Abria Mattina

Goodreads Synopsis: Eighteen isn't too young to run your life into the ground, but it's not too old to fix it, either. The desire for change drives Willa Kirk from St. John's, Newfoundland back to her hometown of Smiths Falls, Ontario, away from her mistakes and the place where her sister died. She's looking for a place to settle and rebuild, but Jem Harper just wants to get out of town, back to the life he knew before cancer. By letting the tragedies in their lives define them, they are both dying a little more every day. Welcome to the wake.

My Confession: So, this is a first, Book Nookers. My first requested review. I had the privilege of meeting Abria when we roomed together (along with two other girls) during my six weeks in New York at NYU. The longest conversations we'd have, crowded around the small kitchen table (there was no living room in our dorm apartments...odd) were about the books we'd written (Abria) and the books we'd almost finished writing (me). I watched her fiddling with her Kindle all the time, and a few weeks ago, I found out why: she self-published Wake, her first novel, as an e-book through Amazon. I'm still warming up to my Nook, but wanted to read this book. From the synopsis, I wasn't really sure what the book was about. Once I started, though, I knew almost instantly where it was going to go.

Wake reminded me quite a bit of Keith, a short story written by Ron Carlson about a cancer-stricken boy who befriends the most popular girl in school, bonding with her over little stupid stuff until the two eventually fall in love. I liked Keith so much, I adapted it into a screenplay for a Screenwriting class I took in college. Wake feels like a full-length version of this short story. Jem is recovering from cancer, and Willa is running from what cancer stole from her. They're thrown together as partners in a Home Ec class, and while they, at first, can't stand each other, they realize rather quickly the important aspects the other brings to their life. I really enjoyed how the story was told from both perspectives, sometimes the same events overlapping for both Jem and Willa. I felt like I really got the chance to know both of them as characters: what they were thinking, how they really felt, what they didn't want the other person to know. It was so awesome to see the same events two different ways; their voices felt so accurate and realistic. The book isn't short, and the length really lets the reader grow more comfortable with Jem and Willa; I felt like I knew them. I grew quickly attached to their relationship and loved the little, unique quirks that made the dialogue pop. I haven't read these characters before, and for that, I give Abria lots of credit.

If I'm going to harp on one thing about this book (and since it's an e-book, I'm still not convinced myself that it matters) it would be the cover. Don't love it. And while I get it, and having read the book, I know where it comes from, I don't think it accurately portrays the story inside. I picture something with a little more color, a little something extra. I actually pictured something like a girl's hand on a boy's chest, covering a catheter (a sore spot for Jem throughout the novel). When I say I went into this book completely blind about the plotline, I mean blind. The cover, title, and synopsis didn't really clue me in. Now having read it, I can see where they work, but I'm still not totally buying it. Now, as an e-book, does the cover totally matter? Not really. But this story's quality lends me to think that I could very well see this on the shelves someday. So maybe just a little something to think about. This book needs--and deserves--every  possible chance for success.

Recommendation: For $3.99, you're not going to find a more worthwhile e-book. It's so well written, and I found myself being mesmerized by the language almost as much as I was drawn in by the story itself. Abria initially warned me that this would be "morbid" book, but I'm not convinced. Sure, the subject matter isn't always super-uplifting, but I don't know about you--books without conflict and struggle just don't ring authentic enough to bother reading. And while you won't be finished in a day, this is the kind of novel that will stick with you. I started reading it at work and had an extremely difficult time putting it down. I'm truly impressed, and I can't wait to read what she comes up with next.

Buy Wake on Amazon here!

Rating: 4.5/5

Wake

Written by Lisa McMann

Goodreads Synopsis: For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.
She can't tell anybody about what she does--they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.
Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant. 


My Confession: This is such a fascinating idea. It's one of those books that causes insane, irrational jealousy to bubble in my stomach as  I question Why didn't I write this first ? And the way Lisa McMann writes this story makes it all the more unique. The chapters are short and serve as more a stream-of-consciousness rather than traditional narration. Very quickly, we get inside Janie's head, right from the moment the book opens. There's no set-up, no "here's how I came to get sucked into people's dreams" explanation. We just jump right into a dream with Janie and don't question the how or the why. It's believable from the beginning. The fragmented sentences and minuscule background mirror the choppy, lonely life that Janie leads. There's no flowery language or upbeat optimism. Janie's not a particularly happy person. At all.

Until Cabel comes along, that is: Of course there's a boy. There has to be a boy. But Cabel? He's just as damaged--if not more so--than Janie. Now, two pessimists together don't exactly bring out the best in each other. Cabel brings out the insecurity in Janie, and Janie brings out fear in Cabel. They both keep secrets close to the chest, and their brutal pasts combine to make for some pretty dark moments. But the ending offers them an opportunity to put their anger and energy into a cause and gives Janie an outlet for her "curse." The story moves along at a fairly quick pace, seeing as how the language is as to-the-point as possible. I think that's why I liked this book so much. It treats the reader like an adult who can follow a slippery premise without loads of build-up and/or flashbacks. This way of writing cut out a lot of unnecessary drama or story diversion that many supernatural-ish books fall prey to.

Recommendation: This is the first book in a trilogy, and the way the story ends here will make you want to go pick up the next two. The covers are quite stunning and seem to mirror the theme of simplicity showcased in the writing. Wake is a really good example of how minimalist, powerful writing really can work in a book universe drowned in verbosity and unnecessary words. Considering this novel is YA, the quickness and brevity to the story really do cater to the assumed audience, but you don't have to be 14 to enjoy this book. It's not super-happy or extremely uplifting. But it's fascinating, and it will leave you thinking about it long after you're finished.

Rating: 4.2/5

210 pages, published by Simon Pulse (March 4, 2008)