Gift

Gift by Andrea J. Buchanan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received this from NetGalley for review, and boy am I glad I did! What a pleasure.

This was a fun read. It took awhile for me to really figure out what it was about. Was it reincarnation? Special powers? Ghosts? Turns out, it's a combination of all of those, nicely rounded out by an evil villain who's a psychopath.

The main protagonist and hero of the story is Daisy Jones, a typical high school sophomore. She's pretty average other than the fact that she short-circuits electronics around her, meaning she can't have a cell phone or tv or computer. This makes her guarded, which makes her a bit awkward around friends and boys in particular. She has some maturity, though, probably because of the way her "power" has caused some problems in her life. Being normal is important to her. She held a lot of interest because of the way she behaved in the story; she fell prey to some selfish thinking and had to find her way out. This is typical of most people and not surprising in a person her age. It enhanced both her character and the story, and made me cheer for her all the more when the really bad stuff started happening. She was entirely likable.

Danielle, Daisy's best friend, absolutely stole the show. She was smart but hilariously funny in a "valley girl" kind of way. Reading her dialogue had me laughing out loud. She was the perfect outspoken skeptic, always speaking aloud what everyone else (and me as a reader) was thinking.

But the best part about Danielle was that while she was initially drawn as the stock sidekick, Buchanan chose to develop her character and give her some real dimension. She wasn't just funny; she was scared, withdrawn, boisterous, frustrated. I cared about her as much as I did Daisy.

Vivi and Kevin, the other secondary characters, were also well-developed. Buchanan gave Kevin a maturity that was consistent with his age difference as a high school senior. Vivi was the brooding introvert and Mr. Perry was a lot of fun with the California surfing references.

The plot was generally entertaining, maintaining some suspense while still moving along at a good pace. The climax and plot twist at the end was not predictable and took me by surprise. And the dialogue, oh, the dialogue! The best part of Buchanan's writing was her ability to capture a California high school teenager. Also notable is the way Buchanan brought epilepsy in, framing it as a relatively common, non-threatening condition that is sometimes stigmatised.

I read this as an ebook, although it is available on audio. Listening to a sample indicated that it would be well-narrated by a competent voice actor. In addition, it is really impressive that included with the book are a short story from Danielle's perspective, a graphic short story from artist Vivi's perspective and two songs from Kevin (YouTube links were provided) that he wrote for Daisy. An author who can write songs and draw? Apparently the genetics in Buchanan's family favoured her in terms of artistic ability!

I'm giving this 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. It's a quick read and altogether an absolute pleasure. I highly recommend it.

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