Watching July

Even though the events in Watching July are improbable, they are possible, and so it is still a good dramatic read. Sixteen-year-old July Mackenzie, after the death of her mother in a car crash, must face the loss of her mother. And is now in the interior of B.C. starting a life quite different from that she knew in Vancouver. Maybe finding friends and even love?

As she is sorting through her life, mourning the sudden passing of her mother, adjusting to a new life in a small town, July is being watched. Strange things happen. And they aren't what you might expect.

Thrilling, well written, and a great read, this young adult novel by Christine Hart delves into the lives, loves, struggles, and obsessions of rural youth culture, of one young woman whose life careens down a path she would never have expected. Author Christine Hart is a gem: a great writer, editor, and up-and-comer.

July is a 16-year-old who moves from her familiar urban life in Vancouver to the interior of British Columbia. Instead of her friends, easy mobility and the mall, she is confronted with a new school and countryside which seems both interesting and frightening at the same time. On top of this physical upheaval, July has to deal with her emotions following the death of her mom in a hit and run accident and a new lifestyle with Marie, her other parent.

Eventually July has a new girlfriend, Kari, and a boyfriend who lives just down the road. But as the story goes on, Ryan becomes more and more demanding and controlling. What starts out as love and attention begins to turn ugly. Added to this are various weird happenings, 'freaky stuff' that July just can't ignore: the sensation that someone is watching her, strange words appearing in her diary, her mother's jade ring turning up in odd places. Is her mother trying to tell her something from beyond the grave? Was there more to her death than July has realized?

This young adult novel includes elements of both suspense and romance and is vividly set in the interior of British Columbia. Hart understands her characters, and so their speech and their actions ring true. July is a strong female protagonist dealing with demanding relationships: her new classmates, her second mother, her sister, her boyfriend. This romantic relationship is especially important in the book and leads to questions around exploitation and abuse. July confronts these and many other issues in this contemporary coming-of-age novel.

If there are any concerns, they are that Hart has perhaps been too ambitious for one short novel. She touches themes of teenage rebellion, peer pressure, lesbian relationships, mental illness, relationship abuse, grieving and the supernatural. At times, there seems to be too much for July — and the reader? — to handle. One feels Hart wanted to pack everything in this first novel.

That criticism aside, the book moves quickly, and readers get a good sense of July's feelings through her diary entries. Young adults will be caught up in the roller coaster of emotions and events which make up this most readable novel.

... Watching July is without a doubt aimed at young adults ... but carries over into the line of mature subject matter that holds its own to older audiences. The setting of the novel in the in the BC interior and the storyline where the barriers of the living and dead are worn thinner and thinner are the most appealing parts of this novel...

Watching July also leans into the alterna-punk scene, making the protagonist a lovesick revolutionary. Hart writes July as a realist teenage girl — curious, unsure, and coping with family ordeals that are out of her control.

A very good novel, worth the short but sweet read for young adults, as well as the not-so-young adults.

The roller coaster ride that is one's teenage life is the setting of Watching July, which reveals the rural youth culture of British Columbia through the eyes of sixteen-year-old July. With the death of her mother, July barely escapes depression as she finds herself immersed with new friends and boyfriends, but as a roller coaster goes down, then up... it goes down again as well. Her world turns weird and her dreams get weirder, in this riveting young adult novel. Watching July is highly recommended for community library young adult fiction collections.

...I was pleasantly surprised that the descriptive flowing style of the work invites the reader right into the life of July MacKenzie to the extent that it feels as if she is a friend...

...This story is gripping, sometimes dark, and honest about the turbulent emotions of teenage years. It explores obsession, love and troubled, abusive relationships. That said, there are also light, happy moments to the book, and though the conclusion is rather chilling, the story will not make you feel depressed. I found the book thought-provoking, and spent the rest of the day after I had finished reading it thinking about certain events of the plot, and even re-reading some parts to further enjoy the details, now equipped with the knowledge of the conclusion.

...Overall, Watching July is a cunningly written book, with strong and vivid characters, plot twists and turns, and dialogue that is only occasionally stitled. There is even a touch of the supernatural in the book, which adds to the suspense and makes it difficult to put down.