Two Terrific YA Reads: Kind of a Big Deal and The Lake House

Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon Hale

There was a period where I seemed to be reading books that were… different, when it came to format, or style. This was one of them. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Our main character here is a young woman who peaked in high school. I say that, and you might think I’m being mean, but honestly, she believes that. A big star in her small(ish?) school, with a voice that everyone thought would take her all the way to Broadway, Josie left school and tried to do just that. When she failed, she basically ran away from her problems, and ended up as a nanny for a 5 year old girl, living in Minnesota.

I can understand how that would feel, and understand Josie being… alright, a little b**** about it all. She shuts herself off from friends from home, is scared her boyfriend wants to leave her because she’s no longer a “Big Deal”, and generally is probably depressed. Lucky for her, she finds a bookstore (with a cute clerk), and books to fall into. Literally.

The story follows Josie as she jumps from book to book, unsure of how this is happening. She will start reading a book, and then, all of a sudden, she’s in the book. The book and the story become real, except the people in the book look like people she knows. She can control the story, somewhat, which usually means song and dance numbers.

This is one of the parts that I really liked about the story. I enjoyed that the author kind of took the tropes of the stories - zombie apocalypse, rom-com etc, and leaned into them with “an over the top, this is the worst writing ever” type mentality. At least, I hope that was the intent, the rest of the book was well written, so I have to believe!

Overall, I liked this book. The main character was a little insufferable, but she was meant to be. It was a fun story, and I enjoyed listening to it. It’s a little niche, but overall a good, solid, quick YA read. Content warnings - gore?, hospitals. Rating: 4 stars.

The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst

I am a little weirded out by the fact that I don’t remember the ending of this book. If you read it, you’ll understand.

I thought about leaving this review just there, just that one line, because hey, maybe that might make you want to read it! But no, I am here for more than just a one liner. I enjoyed this book. I think it was spun as like a “Yellowjackets meets One of Us is Lying” - which, by the way, is a pet peeve of mine, why does the creativity have to stop with the author?? - and I thought it might be worth a read. It’s not like One of Us, and not really like YJ. But still. Will I re-read it? No, probably not. But I wouldn’t have an issue recommending it to others.

It’s part survival, part fantasy/horror/thriller. It’s well written, and I was impressed, listening to it, at the overarching vision of the author. I can’t tell you much more about that, because spoilers, but it was just so well done I was genuinely stoked.

In terms of themes, it wasn’t really my thing, I wasn’t super keen on the paranormal aspect personally, but that’s just me. I think if I was into it, I would have thought it was well done as well. It was nice to have some characters I actually learned things about, who had lives outside of the Lake House - they weren’t just thin layers on a body (yes, I am in a salty mood today, sorry!).

I did very much like Claire’s anxiety/OCD presentation, while it is never named/labeled other than her parents calling it “episodes” (eat dirt, those parents), it was portrayed well, and the coping mechanisms she used were also legit (and sometimes work, sometimes not, but it was also good that that was specified!)

I can’t say much more, it’s a straightforward story, good characters, good plot, good audio narrator.

Content warnings: injury, gore, death, house fire, dead bodies, guns, threat of starvation, horror, paranormal, mental health

Overall rating: a solid 4 stars

Reviewed by Li

15 April 2024

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