Layoverland is a frolicking romp through purgatory. Full of laughs, insights and memorable characters this debut novel will leave you looking forward to additional works by this new author.
The setting for this book really is inspired and I am convinced the author must be a world traveler. If you travel as much as I do, likening an airport to purgatory is pretty much spot on. And I love that this airport is a little bit nineteen seventies, a little bit tacky, and a whole lot of plastic chairs bolted together. The setting is just detailed enough that you can quickly picture the whole layout but just vague enough that it could be any place in the world (or outside of it too).
Casting in this book is somewhat limited in that there aren’t a lot of characters. Really, there are only a handful of major characters at five to six. This kept the book easy to follow and gave a decent amount of time to development of the characters without adding a lot of length to this quick 300-page read. The two main characters, Caleb and Bea, are instantly relatable. One being an over-achiever and the other a closed-off personality with walls upon walls around their emotions. It was a really interesting contrast and I love that neither was perfect but had flaws and positive aspects all around.
There is definitely a little humor in this book and the lighter side made the heavy topic matter of death and forgiveness more palatable for a younger audience. I could see the author parlaying this cast into sequels, but if none is ever forthcoming the book ends on a high note that is satisfying.
Review of an Advance Reading Copy
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Razorbill
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 21 religious exclamations; 11 mild obscenities (hell as a location/place were not included in language count); 9 derogatory names; 10 scatological words; 10 anatomical terms; 3 f-word derivatives.
Violence/Gore: Two telling/re-telling instances of car crash with multiple deaths; reference to mother being killed by drunk driver; verbal fight escalates into food/drinks being thrown on individual; woman hits knife-wielding male with car killing him; reference to girl hitting man over the head with a skillet; verbal threat; fall resulting in broken hip.
Sex/Nudity: Reference to songs about sex; two multiple-page conversations about birth control, abortion and sex (not graphic); couple caught on verge of having sex (no nudity described); five instances of kissing one with hands on waist and under female’s shirt; implied male erection; hand on small of back.
Mature Subject Matter:
Political conflict, death, abortion, divorce, serious illness, abandonment, ethics, bribery and murder.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Teens drink alcohol.
