“Stay Awhile” follows Fair, Gomery and Monty Overbove, and Fair’s best pal Sutton Von Hunt as they attempt to find out where the cousins’ mothers might be and why buildings seem to be moving under their own power. Several weird discoveries are made during the quartet’s mountain road trip, leading the young hotelier to land on a major decision, and announcement, about the motel’s pool and the futures of her two nice neighbors.
How she arrives at her life-changer of a decision, and the journeys she and her friends embark on, are in the light-hearted mix. As is Gomery Overbove, who is about a billion times more important in the heiress’s mind than 24,500 gallons of chlorinated water and some old diving board.(GoodReads).
It took me a while to get back into this story, but eventually when our wacky group got moving again, I enjoyed this read. Hold on to your socks, kids, this is a wild ride.
Level of Originality: 10. Rooms and buildings move around, not to mention the whole "someday science" of metaphysics and the World's Basement! i can't say more than that, but WHOA this book exists in a crazy/fun/imaginative world where literally anything is possible, and trust me, you have never seen it before.
Level of Absurdity: 10. Everyone is totally zanny. Fair still wears a snood, the Overbove boys have magical space-travel bumper stickers, and
Level of Paranormal Romance: 6. I luuuuuvvvvv the buildup between Gomery and Fair. This book is bittersweet though, so the score is not as high as the swoon-inducing book 2 Redwoodian. But I do enjoy that these two know they are moving in on something epic, and they are taking their sweet time, giving the reader just enough jaw-unhinging statements of what WILL go down when they finally get together. It involves a meetup under the diving board in the motel pool in the dark of night. YUM.
Level of Harry Potterness: 7. Magical realism! The talky-talk here is not as accessible as your general fiction, but once you get into the language of the story, there is a lot of fun to be had.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a review copy from Alysia Gray Painter. Happy reading followed. (We do not accept or receive compensation for reviews at YAF and WS.)
You know, I don't think I've ever tried a book that was magical realism. I kind of want to say it's not my thing, but I really shouldn't knock it til I try it.
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