C. K. Kelly Martin

A page-turner I was happy to curl up and live inside for a few days. Full of vibrant, diverse (yay!) characters, it felt like high school. Martin captures a teenage boy's voice perfectly--I know boys like Mason and totally fell for him. It was also a book which sparked a lot of questions. Even though it's all about relationships and sex, it would be ideal to discuss with a kid, or, even better, for kids to discuss with each other. It's frank and brave enough that it might empower teenagers show more to share their honest thoughts. show less

Originally reviewed on A Reader of Fictions.

My second C. K. Kelly Martin book has me convinced that I need to write every single thing she writes. Martin has a very distinct style. Her writing is wonderful and her concepts, at least for the two books I've already read, are entirely original. Yesterday didn't remind me of any other dystopia, a very rare experience.

Yesterday is one of those stories where you'll spend most of the book confused, unsure what the heck is going on. However, rest show more easy with the knowledge that you WILL be given answers; Martin will explain everything. Her vision of the future is dark and complex, taking into account various ways that humans could destroy the world. Not only that, but, of course, the meddlesome government will take charge in a harsh way to try to control everything.

I really cannot say much of anything else about the world building aspect of Yesterday, because spoilers would be unavoidable. The only other things I need to point out in this regard are the reasons I rated it down a little bit. First, there was the clunky info dump when Freya realized what was going on. I'm not sure if there was a better way to do that, but that chapter read like a history text. I also felt like her memories came back too quickly and easily. Second, the time travel aspects were questionable, but, then again, I almost always have big suspension of disbelief issues with time travel.

Yesterday made a really nice change from most of my other reads, because of the unique setting. For one thing, the book is set in Canada, taking place largely in Toronto. Very few books I've read have had a Canadian setting, though I'm a bit surprised by that. Even more uncommon, Yesterday is set primarily in the 1980s. I loved all the mentions of music, like The Smiths, and other bits of pop culture from that time period. Also, picturing everyone in the horrific clothes greatly amused me.

Freya won my affections early on. She's gorgeous, in a way that could have made her completely obnoxious; literally, everyone stares at her. However, she is completely uncomfortable with that. She doesn't try to be popular; instead she befriends the goths, and even does a makeover on herself so people will pay less attention to her. I loved that, despite her beauty, she doesn't take advantage of it nor does she deny it.

Freya has premonitions, visions of the near future. These really could have felt out of place, and I am curious about them, but Martin made them work. They did not come off as an unnecessary paranormal addition to the plot, thank goodness. I love Freya for her intelligence, her forthrightness, her courage and her anger. She feels so real. It also entertained me that in this case, it wasn't a heroine falling for a vaguely creepy, gorgeous guy who stalked her; she does the stalking, although she does have her reasons.

Garren definitely was less dear to me, but I liked him because Freya did. I still question him a bit, because he had a girlfriend at the beginning. The switch of his feelings from Janette to Freya seemed rushed and unnatural. However, I can accept it, since, though they get close to one another VERY quickly, they don't instalove all over the place. In such a stressful situation, emotions developing is not a surprise, but I would have punched everything if they were declaring eternal love for one another. Thankfully, they did not. As an added bonus, Martin is a genius at writing steamy scenes, as evidenced here and in My Beating Teenage Heart.

Reading Yesterday was a pleasure from beginning to end, a refreshingly original addition to dystopian fiction. Now I need to go add her other books to my wishlist... show less

This is the type of book that I wish was around when I was a teen. Perhaps there was one out there, but I wasn't lucky enough to find it. It is the type of story that draws you in, even though it deals with some tough issues. Pregnancy, divorce, abortion, it all makes for a gritty and realistic read. Martin writing is deep, and its brutal honesty shines from the page. I would compare this to Sarah Dessen, but more real and less sugar coated.

The story is told in first person, from Nick's show more point of view. It is hard for me to explain just how refreshing it was to see a topic like teen pregnancy looked at from a male point of view. Generally books that deal with these types of subjects are from the female point of view, and we see how a teenage girl deals with this life changing turn of events. To see this from Nick's side was so different. I was really surprised at the range of emotions that he felt throughout the book. I suppose what I'm saying is that C.K. Kelly Martin shows us that not all boys in his position are "unfeeling bastards" as the norm would tell us. Nope, Nick is quite an enigma.

From Sasha's side, we see the way that an issue like this affects a family. Sasha is the type of girl who strives to live up to a certain expectation. Her family wants her to do well and so she does her best to make them happy. That being said, when the pregnancy comes to light Sasha is torn. The story shows the reader how a family like Sasha's will take control as well. I won't spoil this book for anyone who is interested, but Sasha doesn't have much of a say in what happens to her and the life living inside her. This too, is so true to life.

As an older reader, this book was really impressive to me mostly because of how true to life the characters and their emotions were. The sheer weight of what was happening weighed down on both of them, but they chose to handle it differently. C.K. Kelly Martin doesn't berate her characters for choosing their path, but she does show the true consequences that come along with it. She subtly conveys the simple message that we are ultimately responsible for the consequences of our actions. Unfortunately, sometimes this means being responsible for someone else as well.

Overall I really enjoyed this read. There were times when I was so drawn in that I literally wanted to jump into the book to hug, or possibly punch, a character. The honesty that I Know It's Over is written with is refreshing! I would recommend this book to any teen that is able to deal with sexual encounters. This might be one that a parent reads first, or even with their teen. show less

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These days, I don’t read too many indie books. Actually, I never really have. Pretty close to the only exception I make is for authors I already know to be of good quality. This was my sixth C.K. Kelly Martin book, so I was pretty sure it was a fairly safe bet. Martin is an author whose books I love to read because she pushes boundaries and manages to make me interested in topics that really don’t work for me usually. Her show more fiction is hard-edged and doesn’t shy away from the darker side of teenage life. The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing fits that mold well, but is also on the lighter side of Martin’s fiction.

Serena has a whole host of issues to work through in The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing. First, there’s the boyfriend. Or, more aptly, the ex. Serena dumps Jacob, he of the sexy basketball player arms, after he tries to force her to make out with another girl at a party. That was the straw that broke the relationship’s back. He’d been pressuring her for sex and to do things she wasn’t ready for or didn’t want to do. The fact that he tried to make her hook up with some other girl for the entertainment of his friends was one step too far. This scene is how we meet Serena, and I think it’s a good one. We see that beneath her insecurities, there is a very strong girl who will not let this guy force her into anything.

Then there are her friends, Izzy and Marguerite, who Serena still likes, but who do not understand what she’s going through. The whole Jacob fiasco has really messed with Serena’s head and they don’t really get how she’s feeling. As a result, they drift apart a bit and Serena ends up making friends with some other girls who have been wronged by boys at their high school. Genevieve, Nicole, and, later, Aya become Serena’s support system, as they all resolve they’d be best off not dating. I really like Martin’s take on friendship. I like that her early friendships sort of drift away but that Serena later makes a conscious effort to restore them. I like that Serena gains an understanding for the girl in the opening scene, the one who was going to make out with her. There are fights between friends, but they work through them. It’s very healthy and realistic. I love the way they support each other and do what they can to help others attacked by gossip as well. The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing has a lot of great things to say about slut- and virgin-shaming, and I love it all.

Then there’s Serena’s body. Until partway through freshman year, she was always chubby. Due to stress, she stopped having an appetite and dropped 29 pounds. Suddenly, she had male attention (Jacob). Before that, the only cute boys who would make out with her later pretended it hadn’t happened. Throughout The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing Serena struggles with her body image. She’s constantly worrying about what she’s eaten and weighing herself to see if she’s put on weight. The resolution isn’t addressed directly, but I do think that she stops thinking about this quite so much when she’s actually getting happier. It’s a classic effort to control something in her life.

The biggest issue in Serena’s life is her family. Her brother Devin left them months ago, after problems with drugs, and they don’t even know if he’s still alive. Serena’s mom doesn’t do anything but bid for crystal on eBay and her dad pretends everything is fine. Her family’s got all the emotion of a bunch of zombies. Devin was the family member she was closest to and he said horrible things to her before he left, including insults about her weight. It’s no wonder that she’s a mess after being treated this way by the person she was closest to in the world. The family stuff doesn’t tie up all neatly, but I think it’s wonderful how Serena gets closer to her other brother, Morgan, and learns to see things from his perspective.

While all of this is going on, Serena meets Gage, a customer at the store where she works. He asks her out and, despite the boy ban, she agrees to go. This romance is not one that I would ordinarily be able to get behind because 1) he’s 19 to her 15 and 2) he has a four year old child. However, though they don’t handle everything perfectly, Gage genuinely is a nice guy and he’s really good for her right now. The relationship is managed in a really non-creepy way, even for me, which is impressive. Also, it’s nice that being in the relationship with Gage doesn’t magically solve Serena’s problems. She still has to work through her family and friend stuff alone. Having a boyfriend doesn’t disappear insecurities either.

C.K. Kelly Martin’s latest contemporary YA novel is one I would recommend to readers of Courtney Summers, in its unflinching honesty and the way that I end up caring about things that I usually don’t. I’m always so impressed when a book can get me to put aside my judgmental nature for a bit. show less