Rating:
5 out of 5
About
four months ago, I picked up this little book on a whim, a friend having
suggested it, and figured that it’d be a good backup just in case I ran out of
material to read and I was away from my precious WiFi hub. It was a young adult
fantasy novel, after all, which I’m always game for, so long as it’s decently written. Other
than that, I really gave the book no thought. Hell, I never even read the description
before buying it.
And
then, I forgot all about it.
Then
the day came a couple weeks ago where I found myself at work, having just
finished a fantasy novel by Michael Wallace that ended on a cliffhanger and
salivating to read more. I’d told myself at the time that I’d get the second
book in that series as soon as I got home, but until then, since it was still
my morning break and there’s no way I could even consider going the rest of the
day without reading something, I needed to scour my Kindle library. And there
it was, “Jess, Rising”, sitting front-and-center as the only unread material on
my device. So I opened the book and dove in, not remembering when I’d gotten it
and with no expectations at all as to what might be inside.
By
the time I finished my lunch break, I was kicking myself for not starting it
sooner.
Wow.
Just… wow. This little unassuming book should’ve been anything but. It’s a
typical story for the genre—a teen girl in a new town that has a dark past who gradually
realizes she has untold of abilities and a greater destiny—but that rote
description hides so much narrative depth, so much emotion and
personal exploration, that it’s like a sneak attack, creeping up at you when
you least expect it and shoving a thick, meaty fist right into your gut.
Not
since Wizard and Glass by King and The Cost of Betrayal by Dalglish have I
read a work of fiction that so accurately and succinctly depicts what it’s like
to lose a loved one, that so perfectly illustrates the empty space where that person
used to be and the questions of what life should mean now that they’re gone. And
that’s just the starting point in this little gem! DM Guay does just as
fantastic of a job of carrying the reader through the healing process, and all
the bumps and heartache and doubt that implies. Just as with the best works of
fantasy, the supernatural is used as a proxy for real-life pain and torment, as
well as a way to bring about an emotional climax that makes sense and allows
the story to continue onward without lingering for an extended period on misery;
because, let’s face it, if we linger on loss, we stagnate and die too, in certain
regards.
That’s
not to say this book is nothing but pain and healing. Oh, it’s totally fun and
exciting too. Popular tropes are played with, shifted, perverted, with some
playing up to expectations and most completely skirting norms and coming out on
the other side as something completely different. We get to know Jess, our
protagonist, intimately, with all her faults and hang-ups and desires, and through
that tight point of view we’re just as much in the dark as she is. In fact, Guay
does such a fantastic job of hiding the truth in plain sight that I was
legitimately shocked by what happens at the end. She’d turned the tables on me, someone who usually can guess an outcome pretty easily, and did so in a way that was obvious in retrospect. So, so fantastic. I really wish that I could go into
more depth here, but doing so would be plenty SPOILERY, and part of the joy in “Jess,
Rising” is in the not knowing, so you’re gonna have to take it at that.
This
is a novel that has everything I’d ever want in a work of fiction. Super
powers? Check. Emotional weight? Check. Young love fraught with angst? Check. Unexpected,
graphic violence? Check. An unexpected ending? Super-check. I loved every freaking
minute of the experience, so much so that I grabbed the second and third books
when I was only halfway through the first. And I plan on spending all of my
reading time for the next couple weeks fully immersed in DM Guay’s world, with
Jess and her friends, until there’s no more story to tell.
Honestly,
I think you should too.
