Signs Point to Yes
Sandy Hall
By trying frantically to avoid going to work with her mother all summer, Jane finds herself looking after the three kid sisters of her mortal enemy’s best friend – Tao. Who happens to have some issues of his own, but it’ll all be sorted by summer’s end. Won’t it?
I kept putting off reading this novel for a very long time. The colour of the cover didn’t speak to me, the blurb put me right off… and it the end, it was 3 stars. It passed GO, but it certainly wasn’t any sort of master piece.
What is which that freaking Magic 8 ball? She doesn’t even need it! Honestly, even though it was obviously included in order to provide a title for the novel, it wasn’t really adding anything.
This was too light. Compared to all the other wonderful YA fiction I have been reading lately that tend to explore deeper issues than just cute ol’ love, this one is nothing special. It’s ticking boxes of being modern (gay character? working mom? check. check.) yet not giving anything new or exciting to the reader.
I can see a target audience for this – teenage girls who want a nice simple romance with not too much thinking required. That sounds so uncharitable of me doesn’t it? There is attempts to add depth and variety – Ravi hating Jane, Jane’s sister Margo, Jane’s college decisions – but overall it’s just about Jane and Teo’s cute little crush on each other.
I’d rather re-read Girls Love Travis Walker – also a light fiction romance but so much better written and with characters that make me want to come back for more. 3 stars from me.
The premise of this book is so cool. Gottie is studying physics at school, and is interested in how time-travel might occur. Underlying her enjoyment of school is her fear of moving on to university. In order to motivate her, her physics teacher asks her to come up with a theory of time-travel, and then she will write a bright recommendation letter to get her into any college.
Marin! You great idiot. What were you thinking? You caused alllllllll of those issues. And then you wonder why people are mad. I guess you do sort of redeem yourself.
There’s not much I can really say here, it is such a tiny little volume. I snaffled it up in around a half-hour. The action is fast-moving, and tries to keep your attention that way. I did drift off at points, but I think that’s just me.
There’s little bit of swapping between perspectives when they are all fighting in the Dream, which is not highlighted by different chapter breaks. This still works though because it feels like you distinctly stepped between each character in different places.
This novel had some fantastic laugh out loud parts that I couldn’t help sharing with my partner. And then she laughed as well. I really enjoyed it for those moments, and the language twists and the sheer absurdity of the fights that take place.
This novel was slow. Very, very slow. The first half of the novel happened, and nothing had happened. The princess they set out to see isn’t all that exciting. I thought she might be in peril! And additionally, 2/3 explorers already knew who she was.
The synopsis might not set you on fire, but I’d advise jumping right in anyway. The front cover might make you feel like it’s just for cutsie little kiddies, but really it isn’t. There are real issues being explored, it’s just that the backdrop is of fantastic dragons!
Max’s unique mature mindset makes it possible for the author to expose monstrosities in a matter-of-fact manner that nonetheless touch the reader and leaves them thinking about humans in general. Sometimes it felt like there was too much to absorb.
Normally I couldn’t tell you the names of half the characters, but the advantage of this novel being pretty much from Monica’s perspective (which is limited to dealing with people as she can’t really go out very much) meant that I got a good solid grasp of them in my mind. When the perspective changes up, you still don’t know the whole story or a truth.