REVIEW! The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie.

(Hardback and paperback, respectively.)

The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie

Jaclyn Moriarty

FROM THE COVER:

Bindy Mackenzie is the smartest girl at Ashbury High. She memorizes class outlines to help her teachers. She records transcripts of everything said around her. She offers helpful critiques for her fellow students. And she wears crazy nail polish to show she's a free spirit.

But then Bindy's life begins to fall apart. She can't stop feeling sleepy and she fails an exam for the first time ever. And--worst of all--she just doesn't care. What could be the cause of all these strange events? Is it conspiracy? Is it madness? Is it . . . murder?


Lots of people hate Bindy Mackenzie--but who would actually want to kill her? The answer is in Bindy's transcripts. The detectives are her fellow students. But Bindy has made every one of them into an enemy . . . and time is running out.

My rating: 3 stars.

MY THOUGHTS:

I had high hopes for this novel because I really enjoyed Moriarty’s The Year of Secret Assignments. But The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie is bizarre.

The story is told through Mindy’s viewpoint, in the form of diary-like entries; some are lists, some are ramblings. Mindy’s got a type-A personality: she’s proper, a perfectionist, hopelessly arrogant in what she thinks is a nice manner. Sometimes her personality is utterly ridiculous and comes off humorous. Other times it’s just plain annoying. I sure didn’t form any connection to her. She’s too outlandish in her nitpicking – like a cartoon character.

The other characters are so-so. Basically, they each represent a stereotype, and sometimes break free from it. The typical, Well that was unexpected of someone like them! situation.

The plot isn’t any better. For the entire novel the plot takes you in one direction, then right at the end it abruptly changes course. And it didn’t work for me. At all. Everything suddenly seemed out of place and the story tried to turn itself into a murder/mystery.

The writing itself works. It’s fitting. There’s not too much of either dialogue or description. There’s a balance. It just doesn’t save this mishmash of a story.

REVIEW! The Year of Secret Assignments.

The Year of Secret Assignments
Jaclyn Moriarty



FROM THE COVER:

Three girls. Three boys.
Two rival schools.
This could get messy.

The Ashbury-Brookfield pen pal program is designed to bring together the two rival schools in a spirit of harmony and “the Joy of the Envelope.” But when Cassie, Lydia, and Emily send their first letters to Matthew, Charlie, and Sebastian, things don’t go quite as planned. What starts out as a simple letter exchange soon leads to secret missions, false alarms, lock picking, mistaken identities, and an all-out war between the schools – not to mention some really excellent kissing.


My rating: 4 stars.

MY THOUGHTS:

Letters, diary entries, intermingling narration - they make for a unique, albeit strange, novel structure. But the book, like its characters, is quirky. The plot is nothing special, but I wouldn’t say it’s entirely predictable. Moriarty does throw in a few twists to keep readers in check.

The characters are real and unreal, likable and not likable; it’s a bit of a toss-up. They all have distinct personalities that are conveyed well through whichever device (letter, diary, etc.) is used, but sometimes the situations they find themselves in seem a bit far-fetched. But for having to read six different viewpoints, Moriarty manages to keep the reader tuned into how each acts.

The book is less about descriptions, and more about dialogue and how that dialogue is expressed. It works. Instead of an information overload, you get to briefly be in someone’s mind for a chapter, then switch.

The writing itself is simple and appropriate for the age level of the characters. However, at times, it seems a bit typical and expected – boring. Still, The Year of Secret Assignments is catchy in a weird/humorous/fun way.