Review: Mistwalker

By Saundra Mitchell
Available now from HMH BFYR
Review copy
Read my reviews of Shadowed Summer and The Elementals

Willa Dixon's life changed forever when she made a rash decision that led to lasting consequences for her family (and career).  Despite her guilt, she's not ultimately responsible.  But when that person might get off scot-free, it just makes everything worse.

Enter the Grey Man.  A local legend, they say he can grant you anything you want.  Since MISTWALKER switches between his point of view and Willa's, it quickly becomes clear that that is not true.  He's the prisoner of a curse, and Willa just might be his way out.  Ordinarily I like books with multiple point of views, but I'm not sure the Grey Man's worked for me.

I really enjoyed Willa's story.  She's going through an unbelievably tough time, and it is uncertain whether she can make it through.  She's got what it takes to make it through, but she also has reasons to self destruct.  I also liked that romance wasn't a big part of her story.  She has a boyfriend, but he's rarely the focus.  Her best friend and her parents are far more important.  The ocean is more important too.  Willa is a fisherman, and her number one goal and interest is getting her own boat.  There's absolutely nothing between the Grey Man and Willa, which meant no love triangle.  Thank goodness.

The Grey Man's story didn't work quite as well for me.  He's pitiable, and never quite as sinister as he should be.  The atmosphere is terrific, all small coast town smothered in fog, but it's undercut by the sense that the Grey Man doesn't have it in him to truly threaten the town.  He'd be so much more forceful as an enigmatic mystery.  He doesn't quite make the emotional journey that Willa does either, mostly serving as a walking plot device.  I appreciated his epiphany in the end, but just felt that the book would've been stronger and scarier focusing totally on Willa.  (Plus, his fate left so many lingering questions for me, questions that might not have occurred without reading passages in his point of view.)

I thought MISTWALKER was a fine atmospheric, short read.  I liked the details of the setting and the relationships between the mortal characters.  Saundra Mitchell continues to combine contemporary issues with paranormal activity in original, meaningful ways.  MISTWALKER has some truly heart-wrenching moments, all leading to a wonderful catharsis.

The Elementals

By Saundra Mitchell
Available now from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt BFYR
Review copy
Read my review of Shadowed Summer

I enjoyed Saundra Mitchell's debut SHADOWED SUMMER, and I've always meant to read her new books but never quite managed.  Thus I haven't read THE VESPERTINE or THE SPRINGSWEET, the companions to THE ELEMENTALS.

I've been told the first two books stand very well on their own, but I wish I had read them before reading THE ELEMENTALS.  There is a reasonable amount of background, but the villain is entirely motivated by events that happened in one of the earlier books, which I could merely make educated guesses about.  I feel like there would've been more of a sense of something building if I was familiar with the characters and their relationships.

The main characters of THE ELEMENTALS are the children of the main characters of the first two books.  Kate has been raised all over the world, always partying, never working.  Her dream is to become a Hollywood director, and it becomes far more possible once she finds her muse.  Julian has been raised on a farm, where he does the chores that don't tax his bad leg, lost to polio.  Both of them also have a power: Kate can stop time for thirty seconds and Julian can raise small animals from the dead.  Inevitably, the two meet.

I feel like there were glimmerings of a more interesting, more complicated novel.  For instance, there's Kate's relationship with her muse, a girl who is the consummate actress and determined to get her way, qualities Kate notices but doesn't comprehend until too late.  Saundra Mitchell is terrific at creating characters who don't fit the normal mode, but the plotting isn't quite there.  What carries THE ELEMENTALS is the writing.  Mitchell's writing is wonderfully atmospheric, from Europe to the farm to summery Los Angeles.

The simple plot might've worked if not for the ending, which is quite rushed.  It makes a vague sense with the themes of the novel and the rules of Kate and Julian's power, but there's no time for consequences.  How do Zora and Amelia and Emerson and Nathaniel, fairly important characters at the beginning of the novel, react to their children's actions?  It felt like the actual fate of the families was left hanging.

I enjoyed reading THE ELEMENTALS, because as I said before, Mitchell could write.  But when the book ended, I was left with the nagging sense that part of the book was missing.  I feel like this one could've used another round of polishing.  All the same, I still want to read the first two books and I'm interested in reading future books from Mitchell. 

Review: Shadowed Summer

By Saundra Mitchell
Available now from Delacorte BFYR (Penguin)
Review copy

Iris and Colette are bored of small-town Louisiana. They're too old to be happy hanging out at the Dairy Queen and too young to drive anywhere more interesting. So they hang about places with atmosphere like the cemetary and cast "spells." It's just play-acting fun until Iris actually encounters a ghost - a breeze and a male voice asking "Where y'at, Iris?"

Logically, Iris wants to know who the voice belongs to and what he wants, especially as his attempts to get her attention become more petulant and violent. (Understandable given the age he died and why.) Before his attempts become more noticeable she's more interested in proving to herself that she's not going crazy. She enlists bestie Collette and platonic male friend Ben to help solve the mystery of Elijah's disappearance. Of course hormones get in the way of that since both girls are kind of interested and Ben encourages both by being a generally nice guy and they're all young teens, bored in the summer.

I saw the twist(s) about Elijah's death coming, but I think that says more about a certain type of book I read rather than the quality of the writing. And I think Saundra Mitchell's description of his behavior towards Iris is supposed to key the conclusion I came to. Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Some of it was needing something to relax with after the hell week before Spring Break; the rest was SHADOWED SUMMER reminding me of the books I read in elementary like Mary Downing Hahn's I'LL COME TO YOU BY MOONLIGHT.

I've only been to Louisiana briefly (with no intentions to stay longer), but Saundra Mitchell captures my impression of the state. (At least, the fact that no one there can drive is intact. Seriously, driving through Louisiana sucks.) People's tempers do get shorter during the longest days of summer. It does have several notable graveyards as well.

Those expecting SHADOWED SUMMER to be scary might be disappointed, as it's more creepy than anything. The mystery plot is done well, mingling with the other events in the books. I really liked Iris and Ben's relationship - I thought it progressed naturally and made sense that Iris didn't like it as she couldn't take it further. The brevity makes it more suitable to elementary and junior high readers, though teens will probably enjoy SHADOWED SUMMER if they pick it off the library shelves.

You can find out more at the SHADOWED SUMMER website as well as Mitchell's website and blog. The book is available now, though only in hardcover. Mitchell is also a screenwriter. She's a member of the 2009 Debutantes - I'm reading all sorts of debut books this year!