LitBit Speaks

Psycho. Sick. Dangerous… Réal Dufresne’s reputation precedes himself. But except for the nightmares, all Ré remembers is beating the living crap out of Shaun the night of his death. Now Shaun’s girlfriend, sixteen-year-old Evie Hawley, I pregnant and the father of her baby is dead. Their grief and guilt draw Evie and Réal together. But the closer they get, the faster things seem to fall apart. And falling in love might just be the card that knocks the whole house down. McDonell’s novel is not one that was immediately on my radar, but Andrew Smith asked me if I had come across it, and what my thoughts were. So I am grateful to both Andrew and Orca Books for bringing this beautiful and painful novel to my attention. McDonell’s background in creative writing and poetry is evident in this excellent debut novel. The pain and angst of each main character is palpable, and the struggles they each face within their individual relationships as well as their shared community as large are re...

Eight teens are dropped off on a remote west-coast island for a week-long treatment program called INTRO (Into Nature to Renew Ourselves). The story is told by two of them: Alice, whose police-officer mother believes Alice might have a substance-abuse problem, and Caleb, who assaulted his abusive stepfather. They are joined by six other miscreants and three staff: a psychologist, a social worker and an ex-cop. On the first night, one of the girls disappears from her cabin. There is a panicked search of the island, but she is nowhere to be found. The adults seem oddly ineffectual in dealing with the crisis—and then the ex-cop gets sick and dies. The radio has been sabotaged, and there is no way to call for help. When the social worker also becomes ill, the kids decide to take matters into their own hands and track down the killer. I'm a bit biased since I know both Harvey and Stevenson, however I still think I'm able to judge the book with a bit of an objective lens. So fun...