Review: Since You've Been Gone by Mary Jennifer Payne

I have received an advance e-edition of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review of it.

Kids get scared when they lose their moms for a minute, so your mother disappearing in London must be horrifying. This is the set-up for Mary Jennifer Payne’s suspenseful and tragic new novel Since You’ve Been Gone.

Fifteen-year-old Edie is used to being on the run with her mom, but she is especially heartbroken when she finds out that they are moving to her mother’s native hometown of London from Edie’s native Toronto. Not only must she start again at a new high school, every teen’s worst nightmare, but she must also do so in a place where no one speaks or dresses like she is used to. Then it gets worse, and when Edie’s mom doesn’t come home she is sent on a journey across London to discover the truth for better or for worse.

Payne’s depiction of London was phenomenal. My favorite kinds of settings are those that seem to come alive off the page, almost becoming their own character. Here, the reader discovers London through Edie’s eyes, from the slummy section of South London where she lives to the luxurious section north of the River Thames. Payne’s description doesn’t read like a tourist manual of the top ten sites to see in London like some other books. Instead, it reads like a chaotic mess that is intimidating and fascinating at the same time to a newcomer.

However, the same could not be said of the scenes of the book that take place in Edie’s high school, which were to be completely honest a little lackluster. The mean girls were stereotypical, the outcasts even more so.  The dynamics between the teachers and the students were the best part of those sections of the book, but only mildly so.

The best part of the book was the developing relationship between Jermaine and Edie. Payne managed to include a romantic subplot to the story that was like a prepubescent version of Sex in the City. Instead, their love for each other took time to develop, and was full of understanding and simplicity. That part was great.

The overall idea for the book is also worthy of praise. I only wish that the plot didn’t move so quickly so that it might have been even better. The timing of the book seemed to move way too quickly, and Edie’s father’s actions seemed completely unrealistic. I also didn’t really like how everything seemed to be tied up into a bow at the end of the book.  With everything that happened, I expected there to be more loose ends. I wasn’t left disappointed at the end exactly, just disappointed that this book wasn’t as excellent as it could have been. Still, it was a fun read and has several high points in addition to its lows.

3/5 stars 

Review: Day 21 by Kass Morgan

Sequels have a reputation for never really living up to the quality of the original, and there are only a few rare exceptions. Day 21, the second installment in Kass Morgan’s romantic and badass science fiction series, The 100, is one of them.

Day 21 does a great job in continuing the story of the first novel pretty much where it left off, avoiding the odd time gap that sometimes creates an awkward bubble in between two books of the same series. Beginning with a funeral scene, Day 21 was not only going to be a continuation of the plot from book one, but also a continuation of the harsh realities that Morgan mixes with teen melodrama to achieve a balance between the two.

Another continued element from The 100, and one that worked particularly well, was the use of the four alternating perspectives in addition to the alternation between the present scenes that take place on the ground and the past scenes taking place in space, which clarifies important details of backstory for the main characters. While this alternation seemed fragmented and overwhelming in The 100, it felt much more cohesive in Day 21, and the lives of the characters seemed to overlap in a way that made more sense than the first book. This enhanced clarity and fusion made Day 21 feel like one book, whereas The 100 felt like four books that were vaguely connected by some character and plot details.

Another thing that was really wonderful about Day 21 are the differences between the four narrators, and the conflicts that they represent. Clarke, especially in this second installation, seemed to really embody the divide between scientific order and emotional chaos. Bellamy embodies this devotion to family, although I really loved how Morgan found a link between Clarke and Bellamy’s backstory. Wells struggles with the person he is and the person his father wants him to be. Once again, I really enjoyed how Morgan managed to connect his past to Clarke’s and Bellamy’s. Finally, Glass gives insight into what’s going on inside the ship, and she is struggling for survival, as well as the survival of her mother and boyfriend. It was great to see Glass playing more the role of the perseverant survivor than distressed female in Day 21.

Of course, Day 21 was not without its faults. One of the major drawbacks in the novel was the overwhelming focus on romance in this novel. The gritty details of the group’s survival seemed to sometimes be tossed aside in interest of who was hooking up with whom. Some of the romance was sweet, and certain moments between Glass and Luke or Clarke and Bellamy felt earned, but there were plenty of romantic scenes that seemed unnecessary or out of place.  

While there did seem to be a disproportionate amount of romance in this installment of The 100 Series, there were also many unexpected and shocking twists and turns in the plot that were an absolute thrill to read through. Readers will have to pick their jaws up off the floor at several moments in this book, and will often have to wipe the tears from their eyes as well. Morgan does suspense very well and the links she forges between her characters is commendable.

Since this is a series, and considering that there will probably be more books after Day 21, it was important that the book have a cliffhanger that leaves the reader thirsty for more. Morgan successfully did so, and another installment in the series feels natural, not forced, after the ending. However, while there is a cliffhanger, there could have been more unresolved drama left at the end of the novel. Still, the book warrants another in the series.

Overall, Day 21 was a smartly written follow-up to Morgan’s The 100. The novel, and the world that the characters inhabit felt rich, innovative and intriguing. Anyone who has read the first two will obviously want to continue reading, as Morgan makes us care about her characters, even if we might not always agree with their desperate actions both in space and on the ground.

 4/5 stars