Okay, I’ll give just one spoiler: The ice cream truck on the cover? It shows up like, once. Maaaaybe twice.
Alright, I’ll admit the inside cover drew me in. Kids spontaneously combusting? Not exactly a common trope. So I figured I’d stick with it to see where the plot goes – thoughts are below. I’ve done my best to present an overview sans spoilers.
So Covington High certainly isn’t anything like what I’ve experienced of high school. Granted, I did go to a Catholic school. Also granted, I was a naive wallflower. However, there’s a good amount of suspension of disbelief going on here. Surely there’s more scruples even when kids are exploding? This a minor point in any case. I’ll leave it to you to decide whether Covington High and its students seem realistic or overly stereotypical.
Second point to note is that this isn’t a YA novel. It sure sounds like one – scrub a few dozen swear words and sex references and drug usage out (but leave some of the tamer shenanigans in to give it ‘edginess’), and this book would probably be a hit. The narrator is hands-down the kind of snarky, wisecracking and foulmouthed heroine that teens today love to cheer on or wince at. Sadly, all the R-rated stuff within means it’s not likely to ever find a spot on YA shelves.
As it is, though, Spontaneous sits in a weird spot between YA and adult fiction. It’s hard to identify a core theme that would make it resonate with adult audiences (besides ‘If we’re all going to die, then how do we live?’ which isn’t what most folks dealing with rent and bills and such want to hear, at least not without some practical pointers following that question).
The biggest issue of all: Folks who like all their loose ends tidily wrapped up? You’ll hate this novel. I’m a big fan of questions leading to questions and even I’m irritated that there isn’t an answer at end of this.To be honest, I think the reason why I’m so critical of the resolution/lack of resolution in this novel is because I’ve read Tim O’Brien’s In the Lake of the Woods. Now, that novel is one that never provides a solid answer. What is does provide is solid theories. If you’re going to leave the reader with nothing but questions, you better make sure they have some damn good questions. Specific questions. Questions that point to plot points and not the whole novel.
Let’s compare:“Why are kids combusting? How is this happening?” is a great premise question. The secondary questions that follow don’t get much deeper, though. In fact, Starmer lists them at the end – they’re vague enough that I can summarize here without giving away spoilers. Was it genetics? A government conspiracy? Witchcraft? Mind control? Something?
“Did John Wade kill his wife?” is a somewhat blander premise question – typical of most mystery novels. However, the questions that it leads to throughout out the rest of the novel are far more complex: How was Kathy killed? Why did John boil the plants? Was he insane? Did Kathy actually die? Is John dead, too, or is he still alive?
It’s not enough to leave a reader with questions. You’ve got to leave them with possibility, too. The most intriguing mysteries in the history of mankind are the ones we could solve if only we had just a little bit more information.
Tl;dr: This isn’t a bad read, but I’d recommend it only if you’re someone like me who likes to analyze how writers do plot. Certainly not one to reread and not one to buy for your shelf.
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