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A review by darkpsychereads
Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare
3.0
Atmospheric, claustrophobic coming of age debut thriller.
This was compelling enough to finish in practically one sitting. Clever, deceptive and eerie. It forces you to contemplate many of it's themes and motivations post-reflection. But the theme/plot was ordinary enough to take away a lot of the thrills. Most of the time I felt uncomfortable and captive, uncertain and waiting, as I experienced Evie's own captivity in the remote countryside of New Zealand. I'm sure that was intentional as the plot covers trauma, gaslighting and abuse. It also covers a lot of those awkward young love moments, difficult friendships, drunken parties, sexual consent, sexual victimizing of young women and online privacy. These things are meant to be uncomfortable. I think I struggle with reading YA perspectives in general, I don't enjoy the chronic awkwardness of teen nostalgia, I wanna be as far away from it as possible, so I didn't know I was getting into that with this book. Consent, heh.
Despite the intentionality of exploring abuse, I think I would have enjoyed this more if I was a teen, and if this was marketed as a YA thriller. I just couldn't connect with the main characters, I went in expecting more thrills less slow drama. There was a never ending tug of war with her captor and with her memories. And so the story slugged along with me captive to being indifferent. The ending was somewhat rewarding, at least alleviating my confusions.
Another minor reason I couldn't enjoy the book as much (at no fault to the author) was that I think part of my discomfort was reading fiction too close to home when there were descriptions/memories of Melbourne. It broke the fiction fantasy a little and that's just my preference for reading about some other place I can use my imagination, instead of actually knowing the details and having personal memories of my own attached. I think I may just prefer to read foreign material.
It's an alright read, and honestly a great debut and great for post-discussion. I could see this used in high school reading curriculums, with potent and relatable content for teens to contemplate, moving into adulthood as well as a digital age. I'd recommend if you're looking for a psychological, deceptive and claustrophobic read with not much action.
(Irrelevant side note- It was funny/weird knowing many of the Melbourne attractions and suburbs mentioned. Oh I'd been there. Oh I know what that place looks like. Even down to St Kilda police station
This was compelling enough to finish in practically one sitting. Clever, deceptive and eerie. It forces you to contemplate many of it's themes and motivations post-reflection. But the theme/plot was ordinary enough to take away a lot of the thrills. Most of the time I felt uncomfortable and captive, uncertain and waiting, as I experienced Evie's own captivity in the remote countryside of New Zealand. I'm sure that was intentional as the plot covers trauma, gaslighting and abuse. It also covers a lot of those awkward young love moments, difficult friendships, drunken parties, sexual consent, sexual victimizing of young women and online privacy. These things are meant to be uncomfortable. I think I struggle with reading YA perspectives in general, I don't enjoy the chronic awkwardness of teen nostalgia, I wanna be as far away from it as possible, so I didn't know I was getting into that with this book. Consent, heh.
Despite the intentionality of exploring abuse, I think I would have enjoyed this more if I was a teen, and if this was marketed as a YA thriller. I just couldn't connect with the main characters, I went in expecting more thrills less slow drama. There was a never ending tug of war with her captor and with her memories. And so the story slugged along with me captive to being indifferent. The ending was somewhat rewarding, at least alleviating my confusions.
Another minor reason I couldn't enjoy the book as much (at no fault to the author) was that I think part of my discomfort was reading fiction too close to home when there were descriptions/memories of Melbourne. It broke the fiction fantasy a little and that's just my preference for reading about some other place I can use my imagination, instead of actually knowing the details and having personal memories of my own attached. I think I may just prefer to read foreign material.
It's an alright read, and honestly a great debut and great for post-discussion. I could see this used in high school reading curriculums, with potent and relatable content for teens to contemplate, moving into adulthood as well as a digital age. I'd recommend if you're looking for a psychological, deceptive and claustrophobic read with not much action.
(Irrelevant side note- It was funny/weird knowing many of the Melbourne attractions and suburbs mentioned. Oh I'd been there. Oh I know what that place looks like. Even down to St Kilda police station