Turn the World Upside Down by Nyrae Dawn

Hunter Donovan’s life always seemed perfect, but there was something rotten beneath the shiny surface. When the truth comes out and his dad is sent to prison, Hunter can only react with anger. His rage boils out of control, leading to a violent incident at school, and then to Hunter being sent to a mental health facility—Better Days.

Hunter doesn’t see how therapy can help him. If it can’t change the past, what good is it? It’s not like he can go back in time, see the horrible things going on right under his nose, and put a stop to them. No, he should have found that strength when he had the chance, and now it’s too late.

There is a ray of light at Better Days, though, in the friendships Hunter forges. Anxiety-ridden Casey, uninhibited Rosie, recovering bulimic Bethany, and Stray, a self-harmer who’s never had a home, lighten Hunter’s feelings of isolation.

Despite the connections he’s forming—and even the love blossoming between him and Stray—Hunter can’t escape his shame and remorse. If Hunter can’t open up and find a way to deal with what happened, he might end up another casualty of mental illness, just like one of the friends he’s grown to love.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
4 Emotionally Compelling Stars.

Turn the World Upside Down was a difficult book to read, as well as review. The dark subject matter was handled with compassion and from a different point-of-view meant to open minds and widen perceptions. I applaud the author for tackling such subject matter in the manner in which it was handled.

When bad things happen in a family to a singular person by another family member, usually everyone rallies around the victim, leaving the rest of the family to be in the supportive role. But, the problem with this, while the victim needs the attention and compassion, the entire family was the victim as well, leaving other siblings in the dark – forgotten.

Turn the World Upside Down was the voice of those usually forgotten in the shuffle – not the direct victim, but still someone affected by the events, but nonetheless forgotten. I appreciate this differing viewpoint, and it was refreshing to read how the author enlightened readers on how this devastates an entire family, each member in a different way.

Hunter is the older brother of a little sister who was abused. He feels responsible because he was the brother, and it's his job to take care of his sister. He feels responsible for not hearing his sister when she asked for his attention as a buffer, even if the only way to interpret her words were afterward because Hunter was not a mind-reader. His guilt is eating him alive because he loved the abuser – idolized him – instead of seeing what was subtly hiding beneath the surface. The truth.

Angry at the world, but mostly himself due to misplaced guilt, Hunter rages, unable to release the tension on the only person it belongs. I understood Hunter, because I, too, don't believe in burdening others with my feelings, as their feelings are more important and I feel my emotions are private – none of their business unless I feel like sharing.

This rage built until Hunter could no longer contain it, causing his mother to send him to a camp for children with mental illness. Not only is he raging, he feels abandoned, but also understands how his behavior is taking away from the attention his sister needs. But Hunter needs attention too, because he's hurting in a different way.

On the pages of the novel, the reader is taken on a six-week journey as Hunter comes to terms with his emotions, learning he has no fault in what happened, and makes friends with other teens who are struggling.

Even with his new friends, Hunter feels as if he needs help the least, worrying about their issues more than his own, in a place where the teens all have an equal voice and need for help.

The difficulty with the novel is the tough subject matter involving not only Hunter's past and present, but the friends he makes. All have tragic mental illnesses. I couldn't help but feel that the last thing these kids needed to be around were more tragedies they would internalize and devour as if it were their own pain – it didn't feel healthy to me that Hunter would have to be in a place to heal with other children who were hellbent on making his wounds worse, while he dealt with everyone else's issues instead of his own.

While I understood the why of it, and applaud the author for showing this side, the entire situation didn't feel healthy to me. Forging connections and helping one another is fantastic, knowing you're not alone with your mental illness is a comfort, but making and losing friends due to their mental illness, while their illness writes its signature on your psyche is not healthy, especially with the bullying behind the scenes by other teens. Hunter shouldn't have had to deal with everyone's issues when he should have been dealing with his own, compounded by the devastation of losing new friends and being bullied/beaten, all of which were new stressors added on top of 'his' issues. It felt worse, not better.

It just felt as if the child didn't have the fortitude and family Hunter had, they didn't have a snowball's chance of healing due to the influences and pressures from the people in the very place they were placed in order to heal. Counterproductive, trying to find positivity in a negative environment.

The saying 'misery loves company' doesn't mean they ban together and find happiness – it means they dwell together in their misery, making it worse. I understand it, appreciate the angle the author provided, but I don't believe this type of environment is healthy for anyone – anywhere, even if it's reality for so many.

All of the characters were compelling, heart-breaking, and innocent in their mental illness, yet also manipulative and toxic as they tried to keep their issues alive. The friendships forged were inspiring, yet sometimes enabling and destructive to one another. The romantic relationship between Hunter and Stray was innocent and sweet, filled with hope for the future for those who made an attempt at getting better.

All-in-all, Nyrae Dawn created a novel which will make the reader think for a long time after they finish the book, but I can't say I 'enjoyed' it.

I do recommend it to those who won't be triggered by the subject matter, and to those in the right emotional mindset to tackle the story. However, I don't think it's a book for everyone – not that any book truly is. I particularly recommend to those who need the comfort of knowing others are going through similar situations they may be in, and to see a differing viewpoint via the victim who wasn't the direct victim of the assailant.

Hunter had a voice, and I'm glad I got to hear it.

Young adult age-range: 14+ due to bullying/violence, abusive subject matter, mental illness and the effects, and kissing.


Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
This is a powerful and difficult story about a group of teenagers with a range of mental health problems. The story is told from the perspective of Hunter, a boy who has not been able to deal with a horrific family crisis.

Hunter is a flawed, often self-centred narrator and his observations of his friends and peers in a rehabilitation centre give readers glimpses of each character in the centre without ever fully revealing their problems, emotions, and experiences. Hunter is crippled by guilt and his temper is focused inwards. I found it impossible not to care for him, but his destructive behaviour made him very difficult to like.

Hunter’s small group of friends become real characters once Hunter starts to take interest in the world around him. I found it fascinating to piece together each character through Hunter’s observations, even when Hunter himself doesn’t understand what he is observing.

This is more of a young adult story with gay main characters than a gay romance. The romance between Hunter and Stray is sweet and complicated, but it really isn’t the focus of this story. The focus is Hunter’s experiences as he struggles to deal with the responsibility he feels for the incident that shattered his family. His relationships – both romantic and platonic – are part of his recovery.

This isn’t an easy story with a simple happily ever after. There is a raw honesty in this writing that I found very difficult at times. It is a beautifully written story. The author never talks down to her teen audience and she refuses to offer easy platitudes. It is an important and moving book.


Veronica – ☆☆☆☆☆
This is a story about teens struggling with mental health issues, told through Hunter's time at the Better Days clinic. Self-harm, bulling, sexual assault, and suicide are among some of the issues dealt with in this story. At times it makes for difficult reading and I shed plenty of tears, but I loved these characters and this book with all my heart.

I, like many out there, am presently experiencing my own issues and this book hit the spot. In her dedication Nyrae Dawn says "This book is dedicated to you. To anyone who needs it." Well I needed it. Thank you Ms. Dawn.

NYRAE DAWN can almost always be found with a book in her hand or an open document on her laptop. She couldn’t live without books—reading or writing them. Oh, and chocolate. She’s slightly addicted.

She feels a special pull to characters in their teens. There’s something so fresh and fun about the age that she adores exploring. Her husband says it’s because she doesn’t want to grow up. She doesn’t think that’s such a bad thing. Luckily for her, he doesn’t either.

Nyrae gravitates toward character-driven stories. Whether reading or writing, she loves emotional journeys. It’s icing on the cake when she really feels something, but is able to laugh too. She’s a proud romantic, who has a soft spot for flawed characters. She loves people who aren’t perfect, who make mistakes, but also have big hearts.

Nyrae is living her very own happily ever after in California with her gorgeous husband (who still makes her swoon) and her two incredibly awesome kids.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Turn the World Upside Down by Nyrae Dawn to read and review.

Paint My Body Red by Heidi R. Kling

They think I'll be number seven. Unlucky number seven.

Dead teenager number seven. With the rash of suicides at my school, I've been shipped off to my dad's Wyoming ranch for “my own safety.” My mom worries I'll be next—another depressed teenager whose blood will end up on the train tracks. But she doesn't know my secrets...or what I did.

Everything has changed at the ranch since I was there last. The staff is gone, and there aren’t any visitors. The place is struggling, and ALS is destroying my dad. The one bright spot in this mess is his new—and only—ranch hand, Jake. He’s gorgeous, cheerful, healthy and sane. Shadows don't haunt his eyes and eat away at him in the night.

But the ranch and Jake can't save me from the darkness inside, or the knowledge of what I've done. This time, it's up to me to save myself...

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
I wasn't sure what to expect when I began Paint My Body Red. I enjoyed the storyline – the location. Going against the norm, a girl who was born in Wyoming, raised in California, returns to her roots for a few months before she ventures to college on the East coast. Paige says goodbye to the demons of her past while giving her final goodbyes to her father, all the while reconnecting with the land and finding love where she least expected it.

My emotions ran the gamut from smiling to bawling my eyes out, and then back again in a roller coaster ride of emotions. I don't wish to ruin it by giving a play-by-play. But I will say there was no insta-love, no cheesy eye-roll-worthy teenage girl obsessed with boys inner monologue. No overplayed and overused tropes of jealousy and miscommunications to take the place of real storytelling. Fluid, the book flowed as reality.

Paige: a strong female lead. A good role model. Neither whiny nor perfect. Flaws forged the character into someone who acted and reacted most certainly human. As an eighteen-year-old, Paige doesn't fall into the trap of being bossy/TSTL/know-it-all/helpless yet does-it-all. Anti-cliché. The girl was a well-rounded character with traits that followed human nature.

Adult readers may find Paige's earlier actions hard to swallow, but one must remember what it felt like to be newly 18. In my 30s, I'm just now able to recognize things I would have been too blind to see in my late teens. Be empathetic while reading this very tough subject matter.

The parents were flawed as well – all the side characters were, but not overtly so. Even those who could have been vilified were painted with an empathetic brush. There was no right or wrong, only consequences and life lessons worth learning.

My only partial negative, I had difficulty engaging with the book in the beginning. Not the Now sections. Then was difficult for me to grasp at first. The flow was a bit jarring, the Now | Then | Now | Then in short bursts, sometimes only a half a page in a time-frame. I was never confused as to what was happening when. But by the middle of the story, the flow eventually evened out and became fluid.

I enjoyed Heidi R. Kling's voice, storytelling, even with the dark subject matter. I'd recommend it to those who need a highly emotional read, but be forewarned to keep the tissues handy. Anyone who needs a warm, cuddly read, please come back when you're emotionally ready.

Would I read more by this author? I intend to see what other stories Kling has written.

Suggested Young Adult age-range: mature 14 – 16 due to dark content, suicide, grief/mourning, and sexual content. More told than shown, but that didn't dampen the impact of the moral. Parents, gauge your child's maturity level, but I do believe it's an appropriate and necessary read to broaden all minds.

Genre: Young adult | Coming of Age | High School Graduate transitioning to college | Dark subject matter | Slight mystery/suspense feel | Realistic Romance | More heart-warming than heart-breaking |

Heidi Kling writes contemporary novels about young women in fantastic situations and fantasy novels set in our contemporary world. Her bestselling Spellspinners series is a popular serial series leading with Witch's Brew about estranged but destined witches and warlocks. The Gleaning, Devil's Frost and Beautiful Monster are out now with more adventures to follow. Her beloved debut contemporary, Sea, set in the aftermath of the tsunami, was a Summer 2010 IndieNext Pick, Northern California Book of the Year finalist, Gateway Readers Choice Award winner and Scholastic Readers Pick.

Her forthcoming contemporary novel, Paint My Body Red, is a mysterious romance about a haunted girl escaping the pressures of the Silicon Valley after her involvement in a series of "contagious" teen suicides at her prestigious high school. As she learns to face the past while dealing with her father's dilapidated Jackson Hole, Wyoming ranch and withering health, she leans on magnetic ranch hand Jake. Paint My Body Red launches with Entangled Teen Fall, 2015.

After earning her MFA in Writing for Children from the New School, she returned to the Bay Area where she lives with her husband, two children and the fluffiest accidental puppy mix ever, Sailor Lily, just over the coastal mountains from the sea.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Paint My Body Red by Heidi R. Kling to read and review.

Hickville Confessions by Mary Karlik

New town. New look. New beginning. High school junior Ryan Quinn has a past. She will do just about anything to keep it hidden, even if means joining the ultra-conservative, no fun allowed, Purity Club. But secrets are hard to keep in a small town and when the Purity Club girls discover the truth, they viciously attack Ryan.

Justin is the kind of guy who can make Ryan forget her vow to change. He’s the kind of guy she should avoid at all costs. But he knows her soul secrets. He understands her and it is torture when she is away from him. But as she deals with the outward scars on her face and the inward shame of her past and Justin’s home life continues to spiral out of control, their relationship becomes as convoluted as their home life. Will they find the courage to open their hearts to each other in spite of their family drama?

Book 2
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
Hickville Confessions had an entirely different feel than its predecessor. Dark with a wealth of emotional depth. The first in the series, Welcome to Hickville High, was a great Young Adult read. It was a shorter novel but seemed drawn out a bit – light with some depth but didn't hook me. I'd empathized with the narrators, but didn't truly connect with the story. Hickville Confessions, at nearly twice the length as the 1st in the series, was fast-paced and absorbing because of the fact that the 1st in the series set the series up so well. No unnecessary backstory in Hickville Confessions because we had already learned those things in the prior book. 100% solid storytelling.

Welcome to Hickville High was a good book, but if I hadn't been asked to read the second for review, I might have taken a pass on continuing with the series. I would have missed out on something great. Hickville Confessions sunk its claws into me, making me want more of the series as a whole.

Hickville Confessions hits upon a lot of heavy issues plaguing young adult and adults alike: grief/bullying/sexual assault/controlling behavior/religious brainwashing/peer pressure/mental illness/consequences of texting while driving/unhealthy relationships with friends/family/boyfriend/girlfriend. I'd suggest this as a good read for teens, as it would show them never to negotiate with bullies. The strength is in looking them in the eye and moving on with your life.

Without going into detail, the only drawback to the story was the school system. In a school system with a zero tolerance for bullying/fighting/drugs/violence, with the issues with the PC, not once was the lipstick messages on Ryan's locker addressed. That didn't fit the storyline whatsoever. As obviously it was witnessed by school staff on a daily basis. Also, we never learn the identity of the lipstick defamer.

Mary Karlik created a very engaging, realistic town, with diverse characters, and I look forward to reading more by this author.


Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
Ryan's life in Chicago including partying, drugs and sex with boys. Moving to Texas she wants a fresh start and joins the purity club. When Ryan's past is discovered she is labelled easy and is the target for bullies.

Our hero of the story, Justin rescues Ryan from an assault by bullies and the two of them connect. Justin is dealing with his own issues following the death of his sister in a car accident a few years earlier.

Hickville Confessions is an excellent story that covers many important teen issues including bullying, violence, date rape and safe dating, and deciding when the right time to have sex is. It also deals with grief, depression, and loss. There is a seriousness to this story but there is also strength and hope. This is a book I would highly recommend for teenaged girls.

Age recommendation: 13up

Also Available in the Hickville High Series

Book 1
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For reviews & more info, check out our Welcome to Hickville High post.

Following a career as a nursing instructor, award-winning author, Mary Karlik earned an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania. A native Texan, Mary loves horses, dogs, cats, country music, and small town diners. Although she has recently relocated in northern New Mexico, her heart remains in the Lone Star state.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Hickville Confessions (Hickville High #2) by Mary Karlik to read and review.

Come Sit By Me by Thomas Hoobler

The boy who shot seven people in the school library is dead. But did his secrets die with him?

Something terrible happened at Hamilton High last year, and those who survived don't want to relive the past. But Paul has just arrived, and gets the same locker that the shooter used. He wants to know what really happened...and you know what curiosity did to the cat.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
I'm not entirely sure how to review Come Sit By Me. I read it from page one until the end in one sitting without a break, where I now find myself moments later trying to put my thoughts into words. Being speechless is not a common place a writer often finds themselves.

I'll start by saying that if this book had been written in anything other than 1st person, it would not have had its intended impact. The narration runs like a constant stream of thought, actions being told in a storytelling fashion versus being shown. If written any other way, it wouldn't have felt as authentic.

Paul moves to a small town in Pennsylvania (my home state) after devastation rocks the community in the form of a school shooting, taking eight souls: seven innocents and their suspected killer.

Paul begins his senior year, only to find out he was given Caleb's locker – the killer. Interested in journalism, Paul beings sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, connecting events from the 1920s through present time, trying to solve the one question everyone asks but can never answer.

Why?

Tenacious to a fault, to the point he loses focus on his own self-preservation, Paul finds out why. During the journey, he connects to Caleb in a way no one had while the boy was alive.

It was an interesting point of view, being able to be empathetic enough to understand what courses of action brought a boy to commit a string of heinous murders. I, the reader, understood how just a nudge in the wrong direction can derail your entire existence, until you do something you never thought possible.

The narrator takes us on the journey with him, not only seeking truths but showing us how Caleb spiraled down via his own actions, only he had the strengths and intelligence to walk a different path.

I found Come Sit By Me to be a highly intelligent read, with a great wealth of compassion, understanding, and realism.

A lot of healing could be achieved if we all took a step back and looked at every situation with the fresh eyes of someone who wasn't directly involved, leaving our own emotions out of the tragedy.

Right or wrong, there is always more than one side of a story to be told. Just because the point of view being voiced is on the side deemed wrong, doesn't mean the voice holds any less truth.


Christy – ☆☆☆☆☆
This thought provoking book left me in a state of speechlessness. Not something many books can do. The author took on a taboo but very real issue in writing about school shooting not from the survivor or even shooter’s POV but instead from a young student who has to know why. It's the reporter in him coming to life. The author presented with a complex and puzzling why. And even when I thought I knew the answer I was way wrong. The author twists the story and makes you want to know more about the shooter. I was engrossed in the story and found it hard to put down. I will be reading more of this author.


Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
Paul arrives at Hamilton High for his senior year. There was a school shooting the year before and Paul is tasked with writing a story for the school newspaper for those who died. Well all those who died except for the shooter, Cale.

Paul soon sees the things people say about Cale and the shooting don't add up. The story follows Paul's final year of high school as he investigates Cale's life and tries to figure out what Cale's motive was for the shooting.

I loved the mystery and suspense that is created by this story about a very tragic event. But the highlight of the story for me is Paul himself. I loved seeing the world and the high school experience through Paul's eyes.

While the author treats the events and issues surrounding them seriously, Paul's humorous observations about those around him had me snorting and laughing out loud early in the book and this helped the story avoid becoming oppressive. Paul's character and high school issues like girls and bullying keep the story real.

I was sucked in right from the start and read it in less than a day. Come Sit By Me is an excellent read.

THOMAS WILLIAM HOOBLER was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended Catholic schools. He began working in his father’s print shop while still a boy and earned his first wages as a proofreader at the age of ten. He obtained a degree in English in 1964 from the University of Notre Dame, where he was editor of the student weekly magazine The Scholastic. After working on a local magazine and spending a year at the Writer’s Workshop of the University of Iowa, Tom returned to Cincinnati to teach school. He received a master’s degree in education from Xavier University in 1970 and the following year, feeling stifled by the provincial atmosphere of his native city, moved to New York. He met his future wife Dorothy on the first day he was there. He worked on trade magazines and for a textbook publisher in the early 1970s. Besides the books he has published with his wife, Tom also wrote two science-fiction novels with his friend Burt Wetanson. One of them, The Hunters, was optioned many times for motion-picture production and is now under contract to a producer who first read it as a teenager.

In 2001, Tom appeared on the network version of the TV show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and with help from his wife (who was his phone-a-friend) he won $500,000. The Hooblers used part of the money to spend a month traveling in Italy and decided to use the rest to try to write a book for adults. For years, agents and editors had told them that they should confine their efforts to books for young audiences, but publishers have steadily lowered their expectations for the intellectual abilities of American youth, frustrating authors like the Hooblers who write “challenging” material. Helped by their new agent, Al Zuckerman, Dorothy and Tom obtained contracts for not one, but two, adult books. The first of these, Captain John Smith: Jamestown and the Birth of the American Dream, was published by Wiley in the fall of 2005. The second, The Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein, was published by Little, Brown in May, 2006.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Come Sit By Me by Thomas Hoobler to read and review.