Book Review- Liana Maeby's South on Highland

I'm a Los Angeles native and I get a kick out of reading stories set in my hometown. Thank you to Little A for an advanced copy of Liana Maeby's South on Highland, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT - Leila Massey is talented and lucky. Her screenwriting career took off before she could finish college, so she dropped out to chase her dream. The only thing standing in the way of her success is a drug problem that is quickly going from recreational to functional to full-blown-out-of-control. As her career is taking off, Leila makes a series of wrong choices with the wrong men and quickly finds that Hollywood will not wait around for her to clean up her act. Will she be able to get clean and salvage her career?

LIKE - Leila is a mess and that drives the story. She's impulsive and rarely says no to trying any new experience, which means pretty much any drug that comes her way. While these experiences may be good for her writing career, they are destroying her life. Just when it seems like Leila had to have hit bottom, she would get herself into another heap of trouble. There is no end to the trouble that she manages to find.  I kept turning the pages, just to see where this train wreck was headed next. What's fascinating about Maeby's novel, is that it allowed me to go through Leila's experiences, but from the safety of my own couch. The story is visceral, intense and graphic. 

South on Highland is fiction, but it also supposedly mirrors the life of Liana Maeby, which is probably why it rings so true. I wonder how different this story would be, if Maeby had written her memoir instead. I suspect some of the more outlandish parts of South on Highland are actually based on real events. 

I enjoyed the Southern California setting, which was not limited to Los Angeles, but also extended to the desert, when Leila takes a road trip out towards the Coachella Valley to do research for a script. It's funny and completely believable that there could be a commune/cult of twenty-somethings living a permanent Burning Man existence in the desert. 

DISLIKE- Many sections of the story are spliced with a screenplay style, which sometimes highlights an event that just happened or continues the story. I often found it to be a distraction to the flow of the story. It felt like a gimmick to me. It was odd to use the script to retell a scene that had already occurred, backtracking the story. This device wasn't consistent in how it was used and it came across as awkward. 

RECOMMEND- Yes. For a story about addiction, South on Highland is surprisingly fresh and humorous. In theme and style, I was reminded of Bret Easton Ellis, an author that I really love. South on Highland is a quick read and a real page turner. 

Book Review- Earl Javorisky's Trust Me

Thank you to Lou Aronica at Story Plant, for sending me a copy of Earl Javorsky's Trust Me, when I was having problems downloading it through NetGalley. Lou came to my rescue and due to the mix-up, I also accidentally discovered Christopher Slater's hilarious novel, Pup. The mistake on Netgalley, ending up being a benefit to me!

PLOT - Earl Javorsky's suspense/crime novel, Trust Me, follows an ensemble cast through the city of Los Angeles. Several beautiful women have been turning up dead around the city from apparent suicides. When Jeff learns that his sister, Marilyn, is the latest victim, he strongly suspects foul play. Jeff sets out to solve the mystery of his sister's death, which seems to point to her involvement in a local cult. Jeff's detective efforts are further complicated by his own issues, which include owing money to drug dealers and being investigated by the police. Jeff meets Holly Barnes, an actress who becomes involved with the Saving Our Lives cult, as she is trying to escape an abusive relationship. Will Holly be the next cult victim? Can Jeff solve his sister's murder before the rest of his life catches up with him?

LIKE- I like stories about cults. They are mysterious and a bit kooky. I can't imagine what drives people to join them, which makes for fascinating and flawed characters. I highly suspect that the Saving Our Lives cult is modeled after something that really exists, probably in Los Angeles. I so intensely curious, that I wish I could call up Javorsky and ask him. Javorsky- if you're reading this, inquiring minds want to know?

Javorsky has assembled an interesting cast of characters and he has given them high stakes. I kept turning the pages to see how they could possible get themselves out of their sticky situations, especially Jeff. This is very much an ensemble story, but if there has to be a main character, Jeff is the guy. He a very strong character due to the duality and conflicts in his behavior. On one hand, he's a nice guy trying to look after Holly and figure out his sister's murder. On the other, he is a drug dealer and many of his problems are self created. In Trust Me, he has the opportunity to make better choices and be a better person, but he is constantly under tremendous pressure. I enjoyed following him, because he was a loose cannon.

Admittedly, I don't often read thrillers or crime novels. This was a fun, fast-paced read and a nice change from my normal picks. It was very cinematic.

DISLIKE - I was very hooked on the story until the last quarter, where the climax and resolution fell flat for me. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the excitement and mystery that drove me through the novel, rarely putting it down, slowed at the end. I read the first 3/4 in a couple of days, but it took me over a week to finish the last 1/4. 

RECOMMEND - Yes. Trust Me is entertaining, suspenseful and filled with memorable characters. Fans of the genre will probably eat it up.  

Book Review- Annie Liontas' Let Me Explain You

A decade spanning, multigenerational family comedy from an emerging author? Count me in! Thank You to Scribner for providing me with a copy of Annie Lionatas' debut novel, Let Me Explain You, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Stavros Stavros Mavrakis has seen a vision and he is convinced that he will die in ten days. In his final days, he writes a cruel and scathing letter to his three adult daughters and to his ex-wife. The letter explains how each of them has been a disappointment and it gives them his perspective on how they should change to better their lives. Of course, while stubborn Stavros, never thinks that he might be part of the problem, his daughters struggle to relate to their pig headed father. The story bounces between the past and present, showing how the choices that Stavros made as he immigrated from Greece, married several women and became a successful business owner, all impacted the way he raised his daughters and his relationship with them.

LIKE- Liontas has created a world filled with strong, rounded characters, especially female characters. Although this story has some magical and dreamlike elements, the family dynamics always remain realistic. I doubt that anyone could read this story and fail to relate to at least some aspects of it. The three sisters, Stavroula, Litza and Ruby, each have very distinctive personalities and create a variety of dynamics with one another and the other characters in the story. It's these dynamics and oppositions that keep the story interesting and fresh.

My favorite part was the backstory of Stavros in Greece and meeting his first wife, Dina, the mother of his eldest daughters, Stavroula and Litza. They immigrate to America and start a family, but Dina is a drug addict, who ends up leaving Stavros with his two young daughters. Unable to cope with his children while he is struggling to start a business, he sends the girls back to relatives in Greece, until he can get settled. This portion of the story is well planted in the last half, after it is established that Stavros is a difficult man and that his daughters are suffering. We learn that he has suffered and sacrificed, which balances the scales in the story and is well timed. If the story has a central theme, it must be the idea of perspective and trying to see the perspective of others.

I liked the character of Marina, who slowly became an additional member of the Mavrakis family. She's the glue that brings a lot of the characters together and is tough, no-nonsense, even in sentimental situations. She is the one character who seems to see the entire picture and is wise in understanding the family dynamics.

DISLIKE- The pacing occasionally ran slow and I was unevenly interested in the story. There are sections with Stavros and a goat that seemed to go on forever. The first half is much slower than the second and the story took time to build steam. 

RECOMMEND- Yes. Liontas has a keen wit and a solid grasp on writing family dynamics. Let Me Explain You is an entertaining and affecting first novel, but even more, it leaves me excited to experience her future efforts.