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kungtofu's review
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
mariahistryingtoread's review
1.0
This book was rough. This was apparently Kacen Callender's first book and it shows. All of the same issues as Felix Ever After with none of the strengths. This was so bad I actually started retroactively redoing my Felix Ever After review in my head as this book made me reconsider why I liked it.
It's a brisk read. Its writing style is fast paced. It moves quickly with little time spent on any one factor. It's very close to prose over substance - a disappointing revelation as I felt the subject matter could use more attention especially taking into account its intended audience. I felt like this decision was made in an attempt to emphasize its own importance. Like how you can always tell what movie is Oscar bait right off; it's got a certain tone, certain way of conveying a point, a thin layer of pretension cast over everything.
Caroline is a girl broken by her mother’s abandonment a little over a year ago. She has no one else in the world except for her father whom she was never as close to as her mother. She’s relentlessly bullied at school for being dark skinned, by students and teachers alike. In short, her life sucks. Everything changes when new girl Kalinda moves to town.
First off, this book completely lacks direction. It sets up the pieces fairly well, but there is no pay off. There are so many plot threads to pursue that could easily be woven together to create one continuous narrative. It feels instead like several different isolated events that happen in succession whilst the plot of finding Caroline’s mother runs underneath. Now that could work, but it doesn't here because the transition from one situation to the next is too jarring. If this was in epistolary format, for instance, that would be fine because journal entries or letters can be inconsistent when communicating events. It’s like Callender had a lot of ideas, but didn't know how to effectively intertwine all of it. And rather than just let some of it go they pushed on with it anyways leaving this messy, underdeveloped story in its place.
Caroline wants to find her mother. Her plan is to use her fathers’ boat to sail to wherever she is. Obviously, a silly idea for a multitude of reasons. That’s fine though because I’d expect as much from a kid desperate to see their mother.
The problem is that Caroline doesn’t really do anything whether that be her ill-fated pursuit for her mother or otherwise. Her mother used to send postcards. Turns out her dad got rid of them. So that’s a dead end. Then Kalinda moves to town. Caroline becomes obsessed with her for a while forgetting all about finding her mom at all. Then randomly she starts to think that the strange spirit she has seen since she almost drowned as a child actually kidnapped her. Then this is dropped because her mothers’ whereabouts are revealed. It's resolved without the need for Caroline to ever exert any effort. So then, what was quantifiably accomplished after all is said and done?
Kalinda’s introduction stops the plot dead. When it’s revived, we focus on an element that is largely confusing and ultimately useless. Are these spirits real or a narrative device? It was never clarified whether this was magical realism or if the spirit/demon was a manifestation of Caroline’s trauma. Why is any of the vision stuff included when it takes us nowhere? It's made out to be a central to the conclusion for a couple chapters and then the story pivots away hard.
(Sidenote: I will freely admit that this could be a cultural blind spot. I don’t know if spirits or demons are common in Virgin Island or Caribbean stories. I still think it wasn’t used or expanded on well, if so. I’m just acknowledging that I could be missing a layer of subtext due to my lack of familiarity with the history.)
The line about Caroline searching for her mother in the synopsis amounts to the last quarter or so wherein Caroline figures out where her mother is on a hunch that could have been sought after a lot sooner. A ton of this book is padding. Kalinda needs to show up sooner, and Caroline should have started looking for her mother with her almost immediately. Instead the search is crammed into the last handful of chapters. The spirit feels like a distraction moreso than a legitimate facet of the plot. I don’t care that it’s a fruitless undertaking from the beginning. I wanted her to actually take steps towards finding her mother that would make the book feel like it was going somewhere. As the reader I know it won’t work, but Caroline doesn’t so why isn’t she working at it?
The characters are all so flat. Her friendship with Kalinda is way too strong way too fast. I didn’t feel as if I knew Kalinda at all. They're just hanging out and suddenly the two are super close. Kalinda apparently can also see the spirits/demons so for a while it honestly felt like Kalinda was included as a means of informing Caroline more about that. Which again, is so infuriating because the spirit/demons thing goes nowhere. It’s just enough effort to make her character qualify as a character then all the details that would actually add dimensionality are glossed over. It’s tell not show at its worst. Kalinda has seven siblings. We never even learn the name of one.
The lack of development for Kalinda really tanks the storyline when Caroline’s feelings for her come into play. Her negative feelings on homosexuality are made transpicuous early on. But, there is no examination of her viewpoint. Why does she feel this way? Is it familial pressure? Is it general ignorance? Who knows, it certainly isn’t ever discussed.
Furthermore Caroline’s feelings about the subject aren’t explored either. It’s never definitively stated what she has been taught or what she believes about being gay. She doesn’t seem particularly religious so that’s out. Nor does she express much discomfort outside of a few references to her worry that her mother or Kalinda would think she is a sinner. I’m not going to pretend that I know what it’s like to be a closeted person in a potentially if not outright homophobic household. I have, however, experienced that crushing realization of everyone around me will think differently of me if I express this part of myself. It’s not nearly the same, but it does have some similarities. The main thing is that the conflict of everything you thought you knew about the world and/or yourself versus what you now know to be true can be very distressing when you’re first made aware of it. It can completely rewire your entire thought process as it can call into question all aspects of your life, not just the one thing it specifically pertains to. I did not feel that tension within Caroline. She accepts it quickly and it has no long term effect on her personality.
As for the other characters; Caroline’s father disappears after the beginning, the bullies disappear after Kalinda befriends Caroline, the principal who initially connects with Caroline over her mother as the two were childhood friends disappears after one conversation. No other characters matter.
This book had so much potential. It really could have worked if it had some fine tuning. Cut out all of the spirit/demon stuff that implied it was going to be crucial to the book. It doesn’t need to be removed entirely, just don’t hype it up so much. Actually write interactions with Kalinda instead of skipping a month and telling me they’re friends now. Prove it to be true. Don’t just tell me. Continue the bullying throughout because that’s a huge part of Caroline’s self worth issues. The lack of follow through is also damaging; for example, there’s actually a point where Caroline finds out she has a half sister due to her father’s infidelity. This comes up TWO times in the book, one of which is when Caroline finds out she has the half sister in the first place. After the second time the girl has already gone back home with her mother so that’s the end of that, I guess. I have no idea by the end what impact this will have on Caroline’s life. How does she feel about having a sister now? Did she ever wish to have a sibling growing up? Why didn’t she have siblings? Did her parents not want more than one or were they incapable? If it was started, finish it.
The ending is frustrating. There is a wonderful confrontation between Caroline and her mother. I felt like Caroline unloading all her pent-up emotion was the best moment in the whole book. The fallout was a massive comedown. Caroline is essentially bullied into forgiving her mother.
I am fine if Caroline decides in her own time to do so. This book chooses to shame Caroline for needing time to process. She is pushed to get over it because (paraphrasing here) ‘she’s a self-absorbed child who doesn’t understand the struggles of grown folk’. The reason she left is a sympathetic one. I just do not think it’s right to put the message out to the target demographic that it is necessary to forgive your parents under any circumstances without showing how much work it is to reach that point.
It looks to me as if Callender wanted the story to go in a certain way regardless of whether or not it made sense. They did not compromise on their vision and the result is unfortunate. I started out disliking this book, by the end I hated it. Comparing this to Felix Ever After is like apples to oranges. Even so, like I said before you can see a lot of similar problems in that book that start here. Don’t get me wrong they definitely have improved as an author, I just think that they still have a ways to go. If their other books are anything like Hurricane Child though then I might have to write that one off as a fluke.
It's a brisk read. Its writing style is fast paced. It moves quickly with little time spent on any one factor. It's very close to prose over substance - a disappointing revelation as I felt the subject matter could use more attention especially taking into account its intended audience. I felt like this decision was made in an attempt to emphasize its own importance. Like how you can always tell what movie is Oscar bait right off; it's got a certain tone, certain way of conveying a point, a thin layer of pretension cast over everything.
Caroline is a girl broken by her mother’s abandonment a little over a year ago. She has no one else in the world except for her father whom she was never as close to as her mother. She’s relentlessly bullied at school for being dark skinned, by students and teachers alike. In short, her life sucks. Everything changes when new girl Kalinda moves to town.
First off, this book completely lacks direction. It sets up the pieces fairly well, but there is no pay off. There are so many plot threads to pursue that could easily be woven together to create one continuous narrative. It feels instead like several different isolated events that happen in succession whilst the plot of finding Caroline’s mother runs underneath. Now that could work, but it doesn't here because the transition from one situation to the next is too jarring. If this was in epistolary format, for instance, that would be fine because journal entries or letters can be inconsistent when communicating events. It’s like Callender had a lot of ideas, but didn't know how to effectively intertwine all of it. And rather than just let some of it go they pushed on with it anyways leaving this messy, underdeveloped story in its place.
Caroline wants to find her mother. Her plan is to use her fathers’ boat to sail to wherever she is. Obviously, a silly idea for a multitude of reasons. That’s fine though because I’d expect as much from a kid desperate to see their mother.
The problem is that Caroline doesn’t really do anything whether that be her ill-fated pursuit for her mother or otherwise. Her mother used to send postcards. Turns out her dad got rid of them. So that’s a dead end. Then Kalinda moves to town. Caroline becomes obsessed with her for a while forgetting all about finding her mom at all. Then randomly she starts to think that the strange spirit she has seen since she almost drowned as a child actually kidnapped her. Then this is dropped because her mothers’ whereabouts are revealed. It's resolved without the need for Caroline to ever exert any effort. So then, what was quantifiably accomplished after all is said and done?
Kalinda’s introduction stops the plot dead. When it’s revived, we focus on an element that is largely confusing and ultimately useless. Are these spirits real or a narrative device? It was never clarified whether this was magical realism or if the spirit/demon was a manifestation of Caroline’s trauma. Why is any of the vision stuff included when it takes us nowhere? It's made out to be a central to the conclusion for a couple chapters and then the story pivots away hard.
(Sidenote: I will freely admit that this could be a cultural blind spot. I don’t know if spirits or demons are common in Virgin Island or Caribbean stories. I still think it wasn’t used or expanded on well, if so. I’m just acknowledging that I could be missing a layer of subtext due to my lack of familiarity with the history.)
The line about Caroline searching for her mother in the synopsis amounts to the last quarter or so wherein Caroline figures out where her mother is on a hunch that could have been sought after a lot sooner. A ton of this book is padding. Kalinda needs to show up sooner, and Caroline should have started looking for her mother with her almost immediately. Instead the search is crammed into the last handful of chapters. The spirit feels like a distraction moreso than a legitimate facet of the plot. I don’t care that it’s a fruitless undertaking from the beginning. I wanted her to actually take steps towards finding her mother that would make the book feel like it was going somewhere. As the reader I know it won’t work, but Caroline doesn’t so why isn’t she working at it?
The characters are all so flat. Her friendship with Kalinda is way too strong way too fast. I didn’t feel as if I knew Kalinda at all. They're just hanging out and suddenly the two are super close. Kalinda apparently can also see the spirits/demons so for a while it honestly felt like Kalinda was included as a means of informing Caroline more about that. Which again, is so infuriating because the spirit/demons thing goes nowhere. It’s just enough effort to make her character qualify as a character then all the details that would actually add dimensionality are glossed over. It’s tell not show at its worst. Kalinda has seven siblings. We never even learn the name of one.
The lack of development for Kalinda really tanks the storyline when Caroline’s feelings for her come into play. Her negative feelings on homosexuality are made transpicuous early on. But, there is no examination of her viewpoint. Why does she feel this way? Is it familial pressure? Is it general ignorance? Who knows, it certainly isn’t ever discussed.
Spoiler
When she confesses her feelings for Caroline it quite frankly is ridiculous. How does a staunch Christian girl living in a community which demonizes or at the very least is quietly disapproving of homosexuality come to disavow - or somewhat disavow, it’s not clear how much her love for Caroline has changed her mindset if at all - those beliefs? There are a variety of reasons someone may be in the closet and/or seem outwardly virulently opposed to gay people. It can range from internalized homophobia to genuine bigotry. Under the circumstances of this book, I needed so much more than one scene where Kalinda expresses disgust at seeing a lesbian couple visiting the island. Without any deeper exploration of Kalinda I was unable to tell where her homophobia stemmed from to get better insight into how this affects her relationship or perception of Caroline and herself. Therefore, I could not buy at all that she was also in love with Caroline too. It felt unrealistic.Furthermore Caroline’s feelings about the subject aren’t explored either. It’s never definitively stated what she has been taught or what she believes about being gay. She doesn’t seem particularly religious so that’s out. Nor does she express much discomfort outside of a few references to her worry that her mother or Kalinda would think she is a sinner. I’m not going to pretend that I know what it’s like to be a closeted person in a potentially if not outright homophobic household. I have, however, experienced that crushing realization of everyone around me will think differently of me if I express this part of myself. It’s not nearly the same, but it does have some similarities. The main thing is that the conflict of everything you thought you knew about the world and/or yourself versus what you now know to be true can be very distressing when you’re first made aware of it. It can completely rewire your entire thought process as it can call into question all aspects of your life, not just the one thing it specifically pertains to. I did not feel that tension within Caroline. She accepts it quickly and it has no long term effect on her personality.
As for the other characters; Caroline’s father disappears after the beginning, the bullies disappear after Kalinda befriends Caroline, the principal who initially connects with Caroline over her mother as the two were childhood friends disappears after one conversation. No other characters matter.
This book had so much potential. It really could have worked if it had some fine tuning. Cut out all of the spirit/demon stuff that implied it was going to be crucial to the book. It doesn’t need to be removed entirely, just don’t hype it up so much. Actually write interactions with Kalinda instead of skipping a month and telling me they’re friends now. Prove it to be true. Don’t just tell me. Continue the bullying throughout because that’s a huge part of Caroline’s self worth issues. The lack of follow through is also damaging; for example, there’s actually a point where Caroline finds out she has a half sister due to her father’s infidelity. This comes up TWO times in the book, one of which is when Caroline finds out she has the half sister in the first place. After the second time the girl has already gone back home with her mother so that’s the end of that, I guess. I have no idea by the end what impact this will have on Caroline’s life. How does she feel about having a sister now? Did she ever wish to have a sibling growing up? Why didn’t she have siblings? Did her parents not want more than one or were they incapable? If it was started, finish it.
The ending is frustrating. There is a wonderful confrontation between Caroline and her mother. I felt like Caroline unloading all her pent-up emotion was the best moment in the whole book. The fallout was a massive comedown. Caroline is essentially bullied into forgiving her mother.
Spoiler
Her mother actually attempted suicide then checked into a mental institution before going off on her tour of the world. Caroline did not know this. She just thought her mother was on a trip. However, not only has her mother been living on the island for the duration of this book she’s basically started a whole new family with a single dad and his daughter. Her mother offers no explanation for this other than her mental illness. And quite frankly her apology is cheap. I know that her mother has been struggling. I know that mental illness is debilitating. I know that her mother most likely needed that time away. That does not erase the trauma that her mothers’ actions have now inflicted on Caroline. The woman literally has seen her around the island and still has placed her own fear of Caroline’s reaction above Caroline’s need for a mother. She’s been hiding out a few scant miles away. The fact that this book expects me to accept that in under fifty pages is inexcusable. I could at least understand it, though not excuse it, if the whole book revolved around this. But, it doesn’t. We don’t find this out until the book is nearly over leaving no time for properly delving into how complicated the situation is.I am fine if Caroline decides in her own time to do so. This book chooses to shame Caroline for needing time to process. She is pushed to get over it because (paraphrasing here) ‘she’s a self-absorbed child who doesn’t understand the struggles of grown folk’. The reason she left is a sympathetic one. I just do not think it’s right to put the message out to the target demographic that it is necessary to forgive your parents under any circumstances without showing how much work it is to reach that point.
It looks to me as if Callender wanted the story to go in a certain way regardless of whether or not it made sense. They did not compromise on their vision and the result is unfortunate. I started out disliking this book, by the end I hated it. Comparing this to Felix Ever After is like apples to oranges. Even so, like I said before you can see a lot of similar problems in that book that start here. Don’t get me wrong they definitely have improved as an author, I just think that they still have a ways to go. If their other books are anything like Hurricane Child though then I might have to write that one off as a fluke.
luckytj83's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
asevcik's review
3.0
Wasn’t bad but also didn’t do much for me. I feel like there were some child appropriate lessons but the story didn’t really captivate.
lucyrichards's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
japxican's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
tishywishy's review
4.0
Caroline is grief stricken, trying to deal with a life where she feels as though no one is in her corner. She meets Kalinda, the new girl at her school, and they embark on a journey that will shape Caroline's future. I think the author did a good job of tapping into the riotous emotions of pre-teens and how grief and loss shape behaviours that can be perceived as rude or insolent in the Caribbean. I felt like I appreciated Caroline more as the story kept moving.
This book did double duty as my #PrideReads and #ReadCaribbean.
Also happy to find a lgbtq novel based in the Caribbean, written by a Caribbean author.
Ps. The audiobook was a bit cringeworthy. Get the physical or e-book version.
This book did double duty as my #PrideReads and #ReadCaribbean.
Also happy to find a lgbtq novel based in the Caribbean, written by a Caribbean author.
Ps. The audiobook was a bit cringeworthy. Get the physical or e-book version.
rai's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75