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A review by kblincoln
Gyre by Jessica Gunn
4.0
3.5 stars, actually.
I've never read a beta hero like Trevor before. His emotional inner dialogue, his constant fascination with heroine Chelsea, it was fun to read. I like how he was geeky-cool, willing to be hurt in defense of others, but largely physically inept.
Chelsea, the heroine, on the other hand is bad-ass. Punk band rocker, archeology students, taker-over of kisses in secret submarine broom closets and pushing Trevor against the wall so she can have her way with him.
I dug them both.
But i was confused a lot. There's two secret worlds at war that Trevor only knows about, and things get fuzzy here because they're all stories and secrets and not real to him-- and thus to me, either. And there's confusing political loyalties and agents and alot of characters jumping to conclusions on a variety of micro and macro levels with very little evidence, and with such confidence that it bugged me sometimes.
The biggest ones tended to be Chelsea jumping from 0 to 60 to major conclusions a punk rocker archeology undergrad should have NO way of knowing. Like, when they're being attacked and she's all like "well I know everyone is still alive because this secret society attacking us that I had no idea about just an hour ago definitely will not kill us because they need us" and "I just made the find of the century (and this also bugged me because technically SHE didn't find it, the ensign on the bridge found it) and now I know immediately that I must tell the Captain of this secret submarine to not tell anyone about it because, you know, global upheaval".
I felt like I existed in a fog about the plot at times, and other times I really didn't care because Chelsea and Trevor were so cool to hang out with.
Your mileage may vary. If you have a high ambiguity tolerance about plot and unexplained character actions/motiviations, then you'll enjoy hanging out with them as much as me. If you need a cohesive plot and some consistency to make it easier to suspend disbelief....this one may not be for you.
Ends on a major cliffhanger. While there's some getting jiggy in the broom closet, the actual culmination of their physical attraction is all metaphor and sparkly lights, so fairly safe for your teenagers to catch you reading.
I've never read a beta hero like Trevor before. His emotional inner dialogue, his constant fascination with heroine Chelsea, it was fun to read. I like how he was geeky-cool, willing to be hurt in defense of others, but largely physically inept.
Chelsea, the heroine, on the other hand is bad-ass. Punk band rocker, archeology students, taker-over of kisses in secret submarine broom closets and pushing Trevor against the wall so she can have her way with him.
I dug them both.
But i was confused a lot. There's two secret worlds at war that Trevor only knows about, and things get fuzzy here because they're all stories and secrets and not real to him-- and thus to me, either. And there's confusing political loyalties and agents and alot of characters jumping to conclusions on a variety of micro and macro levels with very little evidence, and with such confidence that it bugged me sometimes.
The biggest ones tended to be Chelsea jumping from 0 to 60 to major conclusions a punk rocker archeology undergrad should have NO way of knowing. Like, when they're being attacked and she's all like "well I know everyone is still alive because this secret society attacking us that I had no idea about just an hour ago definitely will not kill us because they need us" and "I just made the find of the century (and this also bugged me because technically SHE didn't find it, the ensign on the bridge found it) and now I know immediately that I must tell the Captain of this secret submarine to not tell anyone about it because, you know, global upheaval".
I felt like I existed in a fog about the plot at times, and other times I really didn't care because Chelsea and Trevor were so cool to hang out with.
Your mileage may vary. If you have a high ambiguity tolerance about plot and unexplained character actions/motiviations, then you'll enjoy hanging out with them as much as me. If you need a cohesive plot and some consistency to make it easier to suspend disbelief....this one may not be for you.
Ends on a major cliffhanger. While there's some getting jiggy in the broom closet, the actual culmination of their physical attraction is all metaphor and sparkly lights, so fairly safe for your teenagers to catch you reading.