LGBT YA Week - Guest Review of Beyond Evie by Rebecca Burton

This review is part of the LGBT Teen Novels Week, Hosted here.

For more information about the week, head over here.

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Please welcome Lauren from I Was A Teenage Book Geek who will be reviewing Beyond Evie by Aussie writer Rebecca Burton.

Summary from Amazon:

Charlotte has a good life. She′s a gifted athlete and she loves hanging out with her friends. It's true, she doesn′t talk much about how she feels since her father′s death -- but that′s just Charlotte. That′s the way she is. Now there′s something else she doesn′t talk about, either. How can she tell anyone about what happened last year? How can she tell anyone about Evie?

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Beyond Evie is not your everyday YA coming out story. It’s the bittersweet tale of sixteen-year-old Charlotte’s first love, as narrated to her first love, the eponymous Evie. By turns frank and wistful, it’s a little like reading a love letter intended for someone else. You, Evie, Charlotte repeatedly addresses her audience, drawing the reader into her confidence with an intimacy both powerful and, at times, even uncomfortable.

Narrator Charlotte doesn’t think of herself as a storyteller; she prefers science to literature, fact to fiction, and she’s not a talker by nature. She’s not used to sharing her secrets, and we soon learn that she’s only doing so now because she’s realised it’s too late. Whatever happened between her and Evie is already over. She never really told her how she felt about her, and telling the story now is her way of working through everything she’s kept bottled up inside for so long.

Evie, in contrast, is an elusive character. She’s wily and impulsive and rebellious.  She’s an enigma for narrator and reader to puzzle out together, but she’s no manic pixie dream girl – Charlotte’s far too pragmatic for that. There’s an ordinariness to her, and that adds to her authenticity somehow; she’s real, and that enhances the realness of Charlotte’s feelings. It’s impossible to read the story without believing, wholeheartedly, in Charlotte’s every word.

Beyond Evie is the work of an Australian author, and she brings a real sense of place to the story. Charlotte’s connection to the world around her comes to life in a way that’s irresistible to the reader; the laugh of the kookaburra, the scent of the eucalyptus trees. It’s vivid and evocative and beautiful.

Although this is the story of one girl’s attraction to another, it doesn’t fit neatly into the category of lesbian fiction. Charlotte’s focus is on distilling the truth of her first love, rather than questioning her sexual orientation or trying to put a label on herself. It’s about her own feelings, not other people’s reaction to them – about love at its purest. It’s a coming-of-age story, and one that will touch the hearts of those who might usually avoid LGBT ‘issues’ in their reading.

Intense and poignant, Beyond Evie is the kind of book that will stay with you long after the last page. If you’re looking to read off-the-beaten-track YA, don’t miss this one.

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Thank you for this review, Lauren! I really like the idea that the book isn't about "being gay" but what Charlotte feels. I'll definitely read this one!

About A Girl - Joanne Horniman | Lesbian Teen Novels Week

I am reviewing this book as part of

the Lesbian Teen Novels Week hosted here.

If you would like more information about the week,

head over here.

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Summary from Amazon:

I remember the first time that we lay together and I felt the crackle of her dark hair between my fingers, and closed my eyes and breathed her in, so that she became my entire world. Anna is afraid she must be unlovable - until she meets Flynn. Together, the girls swim, eat banana cake, laugh and love. Some days Flynn is unreachable; other days she's at Anna's window - but when Anna discovers her secret, she wonders if she knows Flynn at all. A beautifully crafted novel that explores the tension between the things that pull people together and the things that push them apart.

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I found this book in Foyles and the original cover caught my eyes on a table, then I had the pleasant surprise to discover that this was a lesbian young adult novel and that the book was set in the author’s native country, Australia - I couldn't be more thrilled!

The book is about 19-year-old Anna who lives in small town and works in a bookshop. She lives far from her family and has no friends but she finds all she needs in books. Especially the dark ones written by dead Russian writers. Then one day she meets Flynn (well, she really is Rose but everyone calls her Flynn) and Anna realises that she needs more in her life, that she needs Flynn in her life. 

They both fall for each other and they start getting to know each other even if they are cautious to share some parts of their past.

The book perfectly encapsulates the characteristics of first love. It's like being short-sighted all your life and suddenly putting on glasses: you finally realise what you've been missing out your whole life and what you now can't live without. Anna thought her entire life that she was not lovable and that no one would ever love her. The day before, Anna was roughly satisfied with her life (as much as a lonely and depressed 19 year old could be, that is) and the day after she can't stop thinking and obsessing about Flynn. Because love may be a beautiful thing but has some obsessive, absolute and all-encompassing aspect to it. And as Anna and Flynn get to know each other, we get to know more about them and reevaluate what we have been thinking all along since the beginning.

A part of the book tells the teenage years of Anna and how she had to go through the divorce of her parents and how her little sister has learning disabilities. Even though Anna loves her sister Molly, she sometimes resents the attention her sister gets instead of her. Anna also feels "like a freak" for being gay and she closes herself to the people around her. 

One aspect of the story is Anna's depression, and I thought that young adult novels on the subject are far too few. It is very respectfully and realistically described and I thought it added a very interesting layer to Anna's personality.

Creativity is an important part of the book as well: Flynn is a musician and has a very lively personality (she names her belongings and talks to her guitar). It also shows how a creative activity can bring out your deeply hidden emotions which you feel you can't talk about. It definitely reminded me of Melinda in Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson who progressively finds her voice in art class. Some traumas are hard to get out there and I loved how Flynn tried to find a way to express herself.

 

The story is very much centred around the two main characters and their stories. The book is told from Anna's point of view and her obsession with Flynn was hard to follow at times, but the book’s writing kept me going. You might not be able to like the characters or be fascinated by this love story, but the writing is very beautiful that it holds you until the very last page. It really has been a pleasure to read and I highly recommend it if you are reading books leaning on the more literary side of the force.

This is a very sweet love story, but most of all the coming of age story of a girl who needs to get away to find herself. The passages on Anna's depression and on Flynn's creativity as a means to escape and deal with reality as well as the beautiful writing really made this book special for me. I will be looking out for Joanne Horniman's other novels!



About A Girl by Joanne Horniman | 2010 | Allen and Unwin | Bought in Foyles.

The Two Pearls Of Wisdom / Eon - Alison Goodman

Adult cover

Young Adult cover

Summary from Amazon:

Under the harsh regime of an ambitious master, candidate Eon is training to become a Dragoneye – a powerful Lord able to master wind and water to protect the land. But Eon also harbours a desperate secret… Eon is, in fact, Eona, a young woman who has endured years of disguise as a boy for the chance to practice the Dragoneye’s Art. In a world where women are only hidden wives or servants, Eona’s dangerous deception is punishable by death. Still in disguise, Eona’s unprecedented talent thrusts her into the centre of a lethal struggle for the Imperial throne. Summoned by the Emperor to the opulent and treacherous Court, Eona must learn to trust her power and find the strength to face a vicious enemy who would seize her magic . . . and her life. Inspired by ancient Chinese lore and sharing the wonders of films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this thrilling novel is set in a brilliantly envisioned world where both appearances and loyalties can prove so very deceptive…

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This book is like a punch in the gut. Beautifully written and brilliantly crafted, the book tells the tale of young crippled* Eon who hides his identity as a woman to be able to become a Dragoneye. Only men are allowed to be candidates but Eon (Eona) is the most brilliant of all. Not only can Eon feel the dragons and control his Hua the best (energy), but he is the only one who can see all of the dragons as if they were physical beings. 

The plot has the appearance of a coming-of-age adventure of a poor humble child who goes on to save an empire but has in fact strong political and social themes as well as a humanistic approach. Eona's fight and her obligation to transform as a boy in order to have a life is the fight of all women in this world. But the story doesn't only centre on man/woman struggles. The story shows the poverty in some regions of the Empire and the cases of slavery for some people as well as the fight of the less able-bodied (Eona has a crippled leg and her friend Chart has communication issues) to be recognised as proper human beings and not as inferior beings/animals/creatures of the devil.

Eon/Eona is a truly fascinating character. Eon is constantly struggling to bury Eona deeper each day and try to show the world that a cripple can do all these things. Eon's ambition has no end and he will do all it takes to get there. Eon also has a heart and he is generous with people, especially when they don't only see the crippled leg.

All the other characters are multi-layered and have their own private struggle to deal with. I really liked the diversity of characters and loved characters like Lady Della, Chart and Eon who would show that sometimes the outside isn't what is really on the inside. I've always thought that fantasy was a way to talk about reality in other words and I find the characters very realistic and bringing very contemporary themes.

The setting of the story is breathtaking. From the places to the traditions and the organisation of society, Alison Goodman creates a thoroughly and meticulously described painting of Eon's world. The Chinese and Japanese influences are visible but they are masterfully woven with an original fantasy world. The Two Pearls Of Wisdom is one of the most interesting effort to set a fantasy world in an Oriental-inspired world. The cultural aspect is very rich and the whole Empire, with its set of tradition and beliefs is simply flawless. The dragons and the Hua are truly fascinating and the book is a fantastic addition to the genre (as of 2009 of course :) ).




I am literally in love with this book and can't wait to dive into the second book, The Necklace Of The Gods. If you are a fan of fantasy, the originality of the story and the incredible writing and plot will amaze you. Non-fantasy fans may like the writing, the characters and the strong ideas beneath the story. Go read it!

* The word "cripple" has a pejorative sense but is widely used in the book.

The Two Pearls Of Wisdom / Eon | Alison Goodman | 2009 | Bought and read on my kindle