MYSTERIOUS WAYS, by Wendy Wunder, Wednesday Books, Aug. 27, 2024, Hardcover, $20 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
A teen who can read minds struggles to make meaningful connections in Mysterious Ways, a young adult novel by Wendy Wunder.
Seventeen-year-old Maya knows everything. When she looks at someone, she instantly knows their history, their private thoughts, their secret desires, their most tragic failures. Combine these private miseries with the general state of the world, and it’s easy to see why Maya’s power starts to get her down…
Which is why she was sent to the Whispering Pines Psychiatric Facility, and also why starting at a new school is going to be such a challenge. Now, faced with Tyler, a cute guy she actually wants to know everything about, Maya realizes that maybe her power isn’t so horrible after all. Maybe she can use it for good. Maybe she can even get the guy. Or maybe there really is such a thing as knowing too much. —Synopsis provided by Wednesday Books
Mysterious Ways has the opportunity to be something special, but that potential is never fully realized. There are two major things that get in the way — pacing and a lack of focus.
Author Wendy Wunder’s writing has a real stream-of-consciousness, acquired taste feel to it. The narrative gets bogged down by rambling that is often easier to skim rather than wading through. The more time you sit with Wunder’s prose, the more comfortable it gets, but many readers won’t have the patience.
With a lot of storylines and sub storylines running throughout Mysterious Ways it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on and who’s who, making you want a flow chart to keep everything straight. Themes of climate change, mental illness, feminism, societal pressures, and first love all come into play in one giant smooshed up mess.
And maybe that’s what Wunder was after.
Life is messy. And this latest generation of kids is dealing with a lot at once. It is hard to juggle it all. Expectations are high but feel unattainable. In that way, Wunder is successful. And young adults feeling this will certainly relate.
Still, there’s room for improvement. I suggest checking Mysterious Ways out from the library to see if it’s a good fit prior to purchasing.
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