Bristles Aside, The Porcupine is a Harmless Creature

I finish reading Butterfly Porcupine by Susan Francis. My response to this book baffles me. As someone who writes I can get picky about stupid things. In the beginning, so much exposition. That's what I'm thinking. Then those back and forth scenes between Tasha and Kai that cover the same ground. I'm like, hmm. Finally, the prologue—okay, I confess—doesn't thrill me, but there's that interesting point about Natasha (Tasha) Wood growing up in Trinidad.

What can I say, I love reading about foreign countries even if I've never had a chance to travel there, maybe more so when I've never had a chance to travel there. Other cultures fascinate me.

Gradually, this book sucks me right in. I finish it in about twenty-four hours spread over two days…

The first thing that hooks me is the rhythm. It's steady, but not heavy or droning. Something like a flutter, maybe a heartbeat. Whatever, it's sheer reading pleasure, this rhythm. Everything paced, even, nothing rushed.

Tasha grows on me. She's not easy to get to know. She's a bit sensitive, self-conscious, very reserved. By the time my kindle is showing 40% I'm wondering why I have to read Kai's bits.

Then somewhere along the way I stop being irritated when their points of view cover the same ground.

When did that happen?

Not sure.


There are thoughtful, insightful perspectives woven into the story. How teenagers segregate themselves, how they deal with their problems in constructive and not so constructive ways, how they self-destruct and re-construct themselves, how they reveal themselves. And I really like that these two teenagers, Tasha and Kai, have families with problems. Broken families functioning as best as they can, and yet as-best-as-they-can wears on everyone involved.

My favorite part of the book is the very last section of Chapter Thirty-Three. I won't give it away because it's the end—right before the epilogue. A big smile burst on my face and I got a little chill.

Perfect.

Crescendo.

I love love love how the quotes for Part One and Part Two pull the story together in a poetic way along with that intriguing title: Butterfly Porcupine.

Scavenging

It's a desperate search. The one for my next read. I'm sifting though all of my books in the Cloud.

It seems like I'm downloading and opening every last one of them. I start reading one and get hung up on the fact that a truly frantic writer would stab pages with inkless indentations rather than ever consider rationing ink. But when I try to imagine balling up a notebook…it's on to the next one. It's pretty well-written, but honestly, I'm just not that into vampires so…another teenager in the snarky first person who's passed over for…the smell of bread…for two whole pages…the first ones...maybe a computer game…Wait. Is he being tortured? Did you watch Scandal last night? Nope. Not interested in reading about torture. At all...a birthday party with dad's girl friend, ticking off her flaws…first one up: that lead-in discussion of lip gloss…okay, maybe the hard-core fantasy with dragons…Oh. The prerequisite bar scene and brawl…onto the sci-fi sex club. Have degenerate sex clubs become a sci-fi trope? I mean this isn't the first one I've come across…in less than a month. SIGH.

Finally. I settle on Until Tuesday. A dog. A golden lab. With sad eyes, a big goofy smile, and a regal bearing. Yes. This was the book I was trying to find.

The Red Dress

UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale) by Chanda Hahn, what a fun, clever read. When I become a fan of a story there is always that moment when the writer hooks me. In UnEnchanted it is at the red dress. Everything about that scene is the perfect melding of fairytale and real world. And right before we get there, I love this line:

To Sara, vintage meant cheaper than the mall and one step up from a thrift store.

Not that there aren’t some other great moments and lines before then. Two:

Thankfully, he didn’t try to start any more conversations with her. Maybe it was because Mina kept glaring at him and holding up her textbook like it was the Great Wall of China.

And…

“I’m so sorry!” Ming began pulling out of the dented holder and flung them at Brody. She was so distressed that she accidentally pulled the casing off of the napkin holder, which flew across the floor and spun to a stop by a wide-eyed Mrs. Wong.

Perfect for readers who love fairytales carried forward into the present day with a little bit of humor, an endearing main character, and a clever plot.