Report: The Mind Readers

mind

Buy it here!

Cameron reads minds, and she always has, something she has learned to hide as it tends to freak people out.  In addition, she and her grandmother have spent years running and hiding from a vague threat.   So, when we first meet her she is a people pleaser, trying to fit in and get people to like her, eager to have a normal life.

Normal life?  Not super interesting.  A murder takes place. A mysterious, handsome new boy appears in school, one that makes Cameron get all tingly, and one who seems to be able to read her mind, while hiding his own thoughts.

Whaaaaat?

Naturally, chemistry ensues, and soon Cameron is swept off to a special academy for mind readers, where she is promised she will learn to use her powers, and also be accepted for herself, with no need to hide.

As the book progresses, one of the themes that emerges is freedom. Everyone wants to control Cameron.   First, her grandmother, then the leader of her school.   More and more, she finds that people want to use her, while few seem to really care about her beyond what they can get from her.

A fast-paced read, the book teases mercilessly as Cameron constantly asks questions and rarely gets answers.   Cameron is a admirable but flawed character, who often sabotages herself as she alternately depends too much on others and then rejects them when they fail to live up to her expectations, only to sometimes swing right back to them.   How many of us do the same thing, right?

It’s a fun, frustrating read, and one that leads to many more books with twists and surprises, so if you love series, check these books out!

 

Report: If I Was Your Girl

covershot2

Love it.  The end.

I probably could and maybe should end with that, because anything more i say will simply be a less awesome version of the experience you would get if you read this book– which, why haven’t you?   Get it and read it now!

If I Was Your Girl is a coming of age novel, and as such it hits many of the beats you would expect.   One thing that makes this novel different, however, is that the main character is a very typical insecure young woman going through all the changes and insecurities that come with being a new girl in a new school, falling in love for the first time, trying to relate to her estranged father, but who happens to have been born in the wrong body.   She was born male, but always knew she was a girl.

In addition, the story takes place in the American South, and the character was raised as a fundamentalist Christian, thus having to deal with the conflicts created by an upbringing that says she will burn in hell for being true to herself, while also insisting she should be true to herself.

What’s especially beautiful is that we see that she is a person, and I would say just a person.  She has the same needs and wants, the same fears and insecurities as anyone else.   But, of course, she also has additional fears, fears of rejection, fears of being the target of violence, which she has been subjected to throughout her life.

This one brought tears to my eyes more than once, but it also brought laughter and joy, and ultimately great admiration for the craftsmanship of this author.  Can’t wait for more!

Here is it.  Read it now!