Olivay (Book Review and Giveaway)

Title: Olivay
Author: Deborah Reed
Publication: Lake Union Publishing, July 2015, available in trade paper and eBook
Genre: Fiction

Plot: Olivay has not recovered from the tragic death of her husband a year ago, but one night she picks up a stranger and brings him home. Unfortunately, in the morning, her new acquaintance Henry doesn’t want to leave. Olivay is regretting the impulse that led her to spend the night with him when there is an explosion outside. Suddenly, all of Los Angeles is in chaos and Olivay herself is covered with broken glass. Henry, the mysterious stranger, cares for her tenderly, but bit by bit reveals information about himself, including that he has been stalking Olivay for some time. Confused and injured, Olivay retains enough of her wits to catch Henry in lie upon lie, and she begins to wonder exactly who is this man?

Audience: Fans of literary suspense

What I liked: This is an unusual but extremely readable book. The author does a good job of conveying Olivay’s misery at the loss of her husband – particularly, the fact that he was killed at a time when they had been quarreling. Henry is transformed from a slightly overeager one night stand to someone who begins to seem very dangerous indeed. I am afraid it is hard not to be slightly critical of someone who brings a total stranger into her home, but although I had certain suspicions I wasn’t totally sure what was going to happen, and I appreciated the element of suspense.

What I disliked: I had a hard time deciding if I liked or disliked this book. In some ways, it left me cold because both Olivay and Henry were so peculiar and unappealing but in others I really admired the creativity of the author.

Source: I received this book in return for an honest review.  Please join Deborah Reed as she tours the blogosphere with TLC Book Tours. 

• Monday, July 6th: Peeking Between the Pages
• Tuesday, July 7th: For the Love of Fictional Worlds
• Wednesday, July 8th: 5 Minutes for Books
• Thursday, July 9th: Kahakai Kitchen
• Friday, July 10th: One Curvy Blogger
• Monday, July 13th: A Reader’s Oasis
• Tuesday, July 14th: Kritter’s Ramblings
• Tuesday, July 14th: Sara’s Organized Chaos
• Thursday, July 16th: Kari J. Wolfe
• Friday, July 17th: Many Hats
• Monday, July 20th: Kissin’ Blue Karen
• Tuesday, July 21st: FictionZeal
• Wednesday, July 22nd: From the TBR Pile
• Thursday, July 23rd: Patricia’s Wisdom
• Friday, July 24th: Bell, Book & Candle
• Monday, July 27th: The Bookish Universe
• Tuesday, July 28th: Palmer’s Page Turners
• Wednesday, July 29th: Book Lovin’ Hippo

The publisher has provided a copy of Olivay as a giveaway – please leave a comment and I will pick a winner at the end of the tour.

Apocalyptic fiction

I find this trend (mini-trend?) toward apocalyptic YA novels a bit odd but any time Newsweek decides to write about children's books it should be encouraged. Coincidentally, I decided it was finally time for me to read Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life as We Knew It, and began reading last night. I have read many, but not all of her books, and among my favorites are Starring Peter and Leigh, The Year Without Michael, and Most Precious Blood (which I got to read in manuscript form when I was at Bantam, I believe). Those may be more my style but several friends whose taste is similar to mine really liked Life as We Knew It. Moreover, I admire authors like SBP who don't simply write the same book again and again. On the other hand, she has written some real potboilers such as her books about the March girls.

1) Note that apocalyptic is not easy to spell!

2) I remember now that I didn't care for the acclaimed How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, which also falls into this genre, but that was partly because the heroine's relationship with her cousin seemed kind of creepy and incestuous. The author's deliberate lack of punctuation was annoying but I think I just found the book boring once the heroine left New York.