Leslye Penelope: "The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass" (ARC Review)

Title: The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Leslye Penelope [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Thriller or Mystery, Sci-Fi
Year: 2026
Age: 16+ (the book is marketed to adults, but the protagonist is in the NA age range, and parts of the novel are set in her or her sister's past. See the WARNING! section though)
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Interesting blend of magic and technology with an intriguing mystery core. Puts a strong sibling relationship front and center.
Cons: Requires some suspension of disbelief. A couple of twists aren't hard to figure out. The main character comes across as younger than her age. Too much focus on lust/potential romance.
WARNING! Blood, violence, injuries, death, illness (sickle cell disease), kidnapping, earthquake-like events, bugs, snakes. Alleged mental illness (delusions/obsession), forced hospitalisation, racism, anorexia/fatphobia (mentioned), OCD, masturbation.
Will appeal to: Those who can appreciate a magical twist on the Millennium Bug crisis. Those who enjoy sibling narratives with strong characterisation.

Blurb: In April 1995, Zahara watched her twin sister, Annica, get hustled into a stranger’s car and disappear - only to return to a world where no one has heard of Annica. Not her mother. Not the police. No one. Four years later, as the world braces for the looming Y2K crisis, Zahara finds evidence proving her sister was real and hires a private investigator to dig into her family’s shadowed past. When the investigation leads to two charismatic men who once served with her father in Vietnam, Zahara realizes she and her sister may be pawns in a dangerous power struggle with unthinkable consequences. To find Annica, Zahara must face the truth about her family, her memories, and the power lurking within her. But the sisters’ reunion comes at a price - one that could bring about the end of the world. (Amazon)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

PECULIAR PATCH-WORLD

A number of books are capitalising on the '90s nostalgia lately, but TIUOZD is one of the rare exceptions where the time setting is actually integral to the story: the plot deftly incorporates the Y2K (Millennium Bug) scare, when half the world was afraid technology would stop working (or at least mess up big time) as soon as the computer clocks hit 00:00 on January 1st 2000. While - based on the synopsis - I was anticipating your typical multiverse scenario, the story went in a direction I didn't expect, weaving Caribbean folklore/magic and technology, sisterly love (of course) and family secrets, past, present and future, in a very satisfying way. If the explanation behind Annica's disappearance and the retconned world it spawns needs some suspension of disbelief, it nevertheless creates the path for a wild, high-staked adventure that I haven't seen the like of in any other story - and if it takes some time to get there (the real, sometimes madcap action isn't introduced until the last third of the book), that doesn't mean it isn't time well spent. Along the way, we get glimpses of Zahara's experience as a Black ballet soloist, while a number of flashbacks recount Annica's battle with sickle cell disease and the rise of her hacking abilities, and their father's brush with the supernatural while he was serving in the Vietnam war - with the author making use of chats/computer entries and tape recordings as narrative devices for the latter two narrators. [...]

Amelinda Bérubé: "The Dark Beneath the Ice"

Title: The Dark Beneath the Ice [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Amelinda Bérubé [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Thriller/Mystery
Year: 2018
Age: 14+
Stars: 3.5
Pros: Frantic, creepy ride, with a twist you won't see coming. Sensitive handling of the coming-into-one's-sexuality theme. Provides an all-too-real social commentary about girls/women. 
Cons: Most of the supernatural incidents give off a déjà-vu vibe. The family drama is a bit over the top. A character gets accidentally outed.
WARNING! Mental illness; drowning.
Will appeal to: Fans of classic spooks with an unexpected edge. Unlikely-friends/allies-to-lovers enthusiasts.

Blurb: Something is wrong with Marianne. It's not just that her parents have finally split up. Or that life hasn't been the same since she quit dancing. Or even that her mother has checked herself into the hospital. She's losing time. Doing things she would never do. And objects around her seem to break whenever she comes close. Something is after her. And the only one who seems to believe her is the daughter of a local psychic. But their first attempt at an exorcism calls down the full force of the thing's rage. It demands Marianne give back what she stole. Whatever is haunting her, it wants everything she has - everything it's convinced she stole. Marianne must uncover the truth that lies beneath it all before the nightmare can take what it thinks it's owed, leaving Marianne trapped in the darkness of the other side. (Amazon)

Review: I actually enjoyed this book a tad more when reading it for the second time, hence the added half star. I found that knowing what it was doing actually enhanced my reading experience. That's one of the reasons why I try to read my books at least twice until I write a full review...first impressions are important, but since I'm a strong advocate for rereading, I do my best in order to give a book a second chance at getting the best rating/review I can give it 🙂. 

UNCONVENTIONAL BEAUTY

The best thing about TDBTI is that, classic spooks notwithstanding, it ultimately goes in a completely unexpected direction when it comes to both the entity and the reason behind them, and it has something to say about what society (and even family) expects girls to be/act like - not to mention, the harm such expectations can cause. Marianne is trapped into a vicious circle, with an unhappy, mentally strained mother who - despite being unable to cope anymore with the role she's expected to play in her family - doesn't know how to let her daughter choose her own happiness. Add to that a workaholic father (who just left home for good) and a well-meaning but clueless aunt who both still see Marianne as a little girl, not a young woman, and her lack of a social life. So, one wonders, why should the nameless entity who's after her be convinced that Marianne stole something from it and has to give it back? A few answers are on the table, but one by one they get discarded, until the (articulated) reveal that ties in the paranormal and the mundane and doubles as a cautionary tale/social commentary. [...]

Lauren Karcz: "The Gallery of Unfinished Girls"

Title: The Gallery of Unfinished Girls [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Lauren Karcz [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary with a Twist
Year: 2017
Age: 14+
Stars: 4.5/5
Pros: Atmospheric, surprising, with a strong art commentary and a poignant coming-of-age message.
Cons: The side characters might use more depth. If you like spelled-out endings, you won't find one here.
Will appeal to: People who make art. People who don't, but want to peek into an artist's mind. People who like to read about a teen's family dynamics and personal growth. Most of all, people who crave for spellbinding books with a huge twist.

Blurb: Mercedes Moreno is an artist. At least, she thinks she could be, even though she hasn’t been able to paint anything worthwhile in the past year. Her lack of inspiration might be because her abuela is in a coma. Or the fact that Mercedes is in love with her best friend, Victoria, but is too afraid to admit her true feelings. Despite Mercedes’s creative block, art starts to show up in unexpected ways. A piano appears on her front lawn one morning, and a mysterious new neighbor invites Mercedes to paint with her at the Red Mangrove Estate. At the Estate, Mercedes can create in ways she hasn’t ever before. But Mercedes can’t take anything out of the Estate, including her new-found clarity. Mercedes can’t live both lives forever, and ultimately she must choose between this perfect world of art and truth and a much messier reality. (Amazon)

Review: This is a debut book, but you would never be able to tell. Also, this is a book with less than a thousand ratings on Goodreads, and that, my friends, is a crime. I hope that some of you will get inspired to pick it up and right a wrong after reading my review 😉.

MAGICAL LYRISM

Back when I started blogging, I didn't even know "what" magical realism was (which explains my "contemporary with a twist" label for certain books). Fast forward eight years, and it's become one of my favourite genres, second only to afterlife. What I'm trying to say is, though I wouldn't call myself a MR expert (whereas I claim the title for afterlife 😊), I've read a decent number of books in the category, and TGOUG is one of the most lyrical and exquisite I've ever encountered - plus one that pulled a huge twist on me (yep, this is a "contemporary with a twist" book after all, for more than one reason). I came for the magical mystery (which didn't disappoint - on the contrary, it was more exciting than I expected) and stayed for the art commentary and the teen experience with regard to family, love and life in general. [...]

Nova Ren Suma: "The Walls Around Us"

Title: The Walls Around Us [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Nova Ren Suma [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary with a Twist, Supernatural
Year: 2015
Age: 12+
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Engrossing story (or stories) told in a lyrical prose that never feels overdone. Surprise ending in a magical-realism vein that still feels very rooted in the story - and emotionally satisfying..
Cons: May sound confusing to some. One of the characters is NOT likeable - though the author does a great job making us experience her feelings. 
WARNING! Some violence, both graphic and implied. A sex scene (not overly graphic).
Will appeal to: Those who love ballet. Those who love prison stories. Those who don't necessarily love either, but can't resist strong - if flawed - leads, and ghosts, and magical realism.

Blurb: On the outside, there’s Violet, an eighteen-year-old dancer days away from the life of her dreams when something threatens to expose the shocking truth of her achievement. On the inside, within the walls of the Aurora Hills juvenile detention center, there’s Amber, locked up for so long she can’t imagine freedom. Tying their two worlds together is Orianna, who holds the key to unlocking all the girls’ darkest mysteries. A supernatural tale of guilt and of innocence, and of what happens when one is mistaken for the other. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: I love this book. Can we leave it at that?
Um, I suppose not. Maybe you want my reasons for loving this book. Also because, hello? this is a book blog - set up in order to REVIEW books. It's just that...it's hard not to spoil this one. Harder than with any other book I've reviewed in almost four years. And mind you, I'm not saying that TWAU loses its charm once you've read it for the first time and discovered all its secret. NO. EFFING. WAY. I'm just saying that I have to do this book justice and still let you go blind into it, which is a challenge. Well, OK, I'm up for a challenge. I CAN DO IT I CAN DO IT I CAN...*repeats self-motivating mantra* 

OFF TO A GREAT START

I always read the opening pages on Amazon when I plan on buying a book. No mindblowing story idea can convince me to read a book if me and the writing don't click. And boy, this one. Mind you, I don't do flowery prose. And TWAU doesn't have it. This is writing at its best - lyrical and poignant (but also raw when needed...I mean poetically raw...if you get what I'm trying to say) without turning into an exercise of style. This novel has one of the strongest first chapters I've ever read, for three reasons:

1. it's told from a choral perspective, in a first-person plural which is fresh and powerful;
2. it thrusts you knee-deep into the action;
3. have I mentioned the writing already?

CUTS BOTH WAYS

The story is told in alternate chapters, by two narrators: up-and-coming ballet dancer Violet and juvenile detention center inmate Amber. And despite what you may think of them, BOTH girls have been through their own private hell, and are still stuck in there. Because yes, there's also a hell in wanting something so desperately that your whole life becomes your goal, and everything gets blown out of proportion, until you snap and do the unforgivable. It should be easy to hate one of the girls and to pity the other. But then again it isn't, because your heart will ache for both of them, AND of course for the third girl, Orianna. And even for all the other inmates at Aurora Hills. Because here's the fact: sometimes there's guilt in innocence, and innocence in guilt, and there's always pain in being human, whether you're at fault or not. And Nova Ren Suma makes us feel that pain - oh so bittersweetly. [...]