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A review by simsbrarian
Red Ink by Julie Mayhew
4.0
What did you like about the book? A 15 year old second generation Greek girl living in London, Melon hates her name. She hates hearing her mom's "Story" about why she HAS such a strange name. But when her mom gets hit by a bus, she tries to cope with her grief and it leads her on a journey to find out the truth about her mom's "Story". This is a very well written short book in two parts. The first and longest slowly unravels the story of what led up to the events of the day on which Melon's mom is killed. The last and smaller section deals with Melon and her kinda-sort-step-dad-guardian Paul grieving together and finding solace in trying to reconnect with Melon's Greek family. There's a lot of mystery, a lot of YA angst (friends who leave because they can't deal with grieving, unrequited crushes, etc), and a lot of heart. The prose is gorgeous in spots and while the format of the story is highly annoying (each chapter is marked only by the number of days before or since the death of Melon's mother and it is in seemingly no logical type of order; also interspersed are chapters from Melon's mom's "Story" so it can definitely get confusing!); the story itself and the journey of Melon (and a bit of her mom's black fiance, Paul) is one worth reading.
To whom would you recommend this book? Good read for those who enjoy realistic slow-build life mysteries with great prose. These others come to mind with a similar strong writing and dramatic YA life story: Impossible Knife of Memory or perhaps Calvin. The theme of grief and odd jumping timeline format could appeal to readers who enjoyed Looking for Alaska.
Who should buy this book? Public libraries and high schools.
FTC Disclosure: The Publisher provided me with a copy of this book to provide an honest review. No goody bags, sponsorship, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
To whom would you recommend this book? Good read for those who enjoy realistic slow-build life mysteries with great prose. These others come to mind with a similar strong writing and dramatic YA life story: Impossible Knife of Memory or perhaps Calvin. The theme of grief and odd jumping timeline format could appeal to readers who enjoyed Looking for Alaska.
Who should buy this book? Public libraries and high schools.
FTC Disclosure: The Publisher provided me with a copy of this book to provide an honest review. No goody bags, sponsorship, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.