Waiting on Wednesday (81)

Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

Playing Hurt centers on two former athletes: Chelsea Keyes, a basketball star whose promising career has been catastrophically snipped short by a horrific accident on the court, and Clint Morgan, an ex-hockey player who gave up his much-loved sport following his own game-related tragedy.

Chelsea meets Clint (who's working as a resort fishing guide) soon after arriving with her family for a summer vacation in Lake of the Woods, Minnesota. Sparks fly, igniting the pages, even though Chelsea has a boyfriend back home in Missouri...and even though Clint has sworn never to put himself in the position to be hurt emotionally again.

Their unlikely romance has the potential to heal their heartache and force Chelsea and Clint to realize just how timidly they've been living - but are they really ready to give themselves completely to one another? How will the weeks spent in another man's arms play into Chelsea's feelings for her boyfriend when she returns home? Will Clint allow himself to fall for a woman who's bound to leave him at the end of her summer vacation? By playing hurt - entering into a romance with already-broken hearts - are they just setting themselves up for the kind of injury from with they could never recover? Will Chelsea and Clint pull away from each other before they have a chance to find out just how beautiful their story could be? [summary from Goodreads]

 I thoroughly enjoyed Holly's debut novel, A Blue So Dark. I love her writing style, which is a soothing blend of the descriptive and the succinct. A Blue So Dark focused more on familial relationships, so I'm excited to see how she will deal with a more classical contemporary romance setup. Plus, there will be sports!

Playing Hurt will be published in paperback by Flux on March 1, 2011.

What are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Review: A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler

Tags: YA, art, schizophrenia, mental illness, family, mother-daughter relationships

Summary

Ever since her dad left for another woman, Aura Ambrose has been alone with her mother, Grace, and it's been far from easy. Grace, a talented artist, has schizophrenia, and is often immersed in episodes where she confuses what's real and what isn't. Aura is terrified that, thanks to genetics and her own creative proclivities, she will also become crazy like her mom, and so she shuns her art in order to stay sane. As Grace spirals more and more out of control, however, Aura can no longer hold things together on her own.

Review

A BLUE SO DARK is an astonishing achievement by debut author Holly Schindler. Aura's story is horrifying, enthralling, and touching all at once, and will certainly open readers' eyes to situations they've probably never considered before.

I have never read a book about schizophrenia before, but Holly Schindler writes these heartbreaking scenes between Aura and her mother with a conviction that thus carries into the reader, absorbing us until we, like Aura, cannot escape from the horror. This writer's confidence shows in the character of Aura, who doesn't necessarily approach her situation with more aplomb than reasonable in a teenager, but who also doesn't dissolve into histrionics. Aura keeps her narration poetic yet direct, even as her mother further deteriorates, and this contrast in situation vs. presentation only serves to amplify the terror that she--and we, connected as we are to her--feel as we watch her mom.

A BLUE SO DARK is really a story about family, and thus while some non-family characters are not quite as strongly developed (e.g. Aura's crush and best friend), we really get a complete sense of the important family members: the three generations of women in Aura's family, each of whom is satisfyingly different in action yet similar because they are family.

A BLUE SO DARK, with its evocative cover and fascinating premise, blew me away with the way it handled such a delicate issue. This is a real good one to read if you're looking to expand your experience with books about psychological illnesses. Can't wait to see what Holly has for us next!

Similar Authors
Julie Anne Peters

Writing: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5


Cover discussion: 3.5 out of 5 - It's a beautiful, eye-catching, haunting cover, but after reading the book, I'm annoyed. Yes, dealing with a family member with a mental illness, as well as fearing for your own sanity, is a lot like trying to survive underwater. But where are Aura's curves??!? When will publishers stop this ridiculous idea that only skinny people can be models??! *irked*

Flux / May 1, 2010 / Paperback / 277pp. / $9.95

Book received from Traveling ARC Tours.

Waiting on Wednesday (56)

A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler

Fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose has been hiding a secret. Her mother, a talented artist and art teacher, is slowly being consumed by schizophrenia, and Aura has been her sole caretaker ever since Aura's dad left them. Convinced that "creative" equals crazy, Aura shuns her own artistic talent. But as her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet draws Aura toward the depths of her imagination. Just as desperation threatens to swallow her whole, Aura discovers that art, love, and family are profoundly linked—and together may offer an escape from her fears.

I'm fascinated by the depiction and workings of mental illness in YA lit. I can't explain it. Books with narrators on the autistic spectrum, depression, hallucinations caused by borderline "insanity" so that you can never be sure whether they're really or not... and now schizophrenia, one of the trickiest mental illnesses to catch, define, and treat--if there is even a need for treatment: some people function better under schizophrenia than they would without. This sensitive and deep subgenre never fails to draw me in and make me think. Holly's book is the first I remember coming across that deals with schizophrenia in teens. I'm looking forward to reading it!

A Blue So Dark will be published in paperback by Flux on May 28, 2010.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?