When I look at the cover of Martina Boone’s YA debut, Compulsion, I immediately think of autumn what with the orange color scheme and all of the leaves on the cover. It’s a cover that actually makes me feel simultaneously peaceful and longing for a pumpkin spice latte, although I will admit it does not take much to trigger that pumpkin spice longing. I obtained Compulsion at a luncheon hosted by Simon & Schuster at BEA and honestly, it probably would have languished in my TBR pile for some time, had I not been invited to join the Mundie Moms tour — and what a tragedy that would have been! Seriously, I am all for books that put me in a seasonal sort of mood. While this book takes place during summer, there’s this feel of fall in the air and again, I can’t help but think autumn thoughts while reading. It is one of those quintessential Southern gothic books where the creepiness is hidden among polite words and you don’t even notice it’s going in a scary direction until THERE IT IS. Friends, this book definitely exceeded my expectations.
Barrie’s mother, Lula, has died and her mother’s personal assistant and surrogate father Mark is dying of cancer. There’s no one in San Francisco who can take care of Barrie. Not that she knows many people, given that her mother was kind of a shut in. So, Barrie is forced by circumstances to fly out to South Carolina where she must live with her new guardian, her aunt Pru, who is a virtual stranger to Barrie. Upon arrival at the airport, no one is waiting for Barrie with open arms, so she cabs it to her aunt’s island plantation home. There, Barrie meets her aunt Pru who is railing against the decrepit house and Barrie is all, what the hell did I just get myself into. However, with the arrival of a super good looking boy who goes by the name of Eight on her doorstep, Barrie is determined to fit in on Watson Island and to unlock its secrets.
Barrie is the sort of main character where I immediately felt some sympathy for her, but it took me time to really warm up to her and care about her. First off, she’s got this cool ‘gift’ where she is able to find lost things or else if she ignores the pull, she feels an ache. She is so determined to do what she wants, even to the point of disregarding Pru’s instructions and also disregarding Eight. I bring this up because Barrie has this cousin named Cassie and she is determined to be her friend, only Cassie isn’t quite the person she seems to be. In fact, there’s something sinister going on with her. Now, if this was a movie, I would want her to examine her life choices, but because this is a book, I get Barrie’s motivations and even though her choices aren’t the best, I got it and felt for her. I have to say that yes, Barrie totally did end up winning me over in the end, even if parts of Compulsion felt like a learning curve, when it came to liking Barrie’s character.
Assuming you’ve taken a glance at the cover, chances are that you realize Compulsion contains romance. Barrie and Eight have this instant attraction. Only, Barrie feels this strong pull to her new home on Watson Island and has what feels like a physical inability to leave it, whereas Eight has the deepest desire to get out of dodge, play baseball in college, and never look back. Furthermore, Barrie isn’t so sure she can trust her relationship with Eight because he’s got some secrets too. I won’t tell you what they are except to say that he also has an ability like Barrie has an ability. There is kissing though. I am not 100% in love or swooning my face off with this romance, but it’s not terrible and actually makes sense.
Boone’s debut encompasses a whole lot of creepy, leading right up to an explosive ending. There’s something unsettling about the book, but as the world building and setting of Compulsion is explored, that feeling gets stronger and stronger. There are age old feuds. There are spirits who don’t seem to have a clear moral state (good or bad, it’s hard to tell at first). There’s a Fire Carrier, which I am still not entirely sure I understand, but yay magic! There’s definitely SECRETS galore, including a sort of mystery and some SHOCKS. The setting feels heavy and oppressive, but eventually not so sinister. This is a book that I really enjoyed because of the atmospheric writing and how it totally consumed me. I would recommend this if you want to be transported by words on the page to a world that could coexist with our current world. ALSO, the ending. This book says it is the first in a series, but the ending is not a cliffhanger and actually wraps the story up quite well.
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I recently read and really enjoyed Compulsion! I loved that there was no cliffhanger – I seriously don’t like cliffhangers 😀 I’m excited about book two!
Excellent review, April 🙂
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
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Ooh, another novel set in the South! I always like giving those a shot, since that particular area and the culture of it fascinate me. Plus, this sounds compelling (See what I did there?). I’m glad you found the mystery and the characters both challenging and interesting!
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