Flannery

by Lisa Moore

A spellbinding story about chasing love, fighting family, losing friends and starting all over again, from the internationally acclaimed Lisa Moore. Sixteen-year-old Flannery Malone has it bad. She’s been in love with Tyrone O’Rourke since the days she still believed in Santa Claus. But Tyrone has grown from a dorky kid into an outlaw graffiti artist, the rebel-with-a-cause of Flannery’s dreams, literally too cool for school. Which is a problem, since he and Flannery are partners for the entrepreneurship class that she needs to graduate. And Tyrone’s vanishing act may have darker causes than she realizes. Tyrone isn’t Flannery’s only problem. Her mother, Miranda, can’t pay the heating bills, let alone buy Flannery’s biology book. Her little brother, Felix, is careening out of control. And her best-friend-since-forever, Amber, has fallen for a guy who is making her forget all about the things she’s always cared most about ― Flannery included ― leading Amber down a dark and dangerous path of her own. When Flannery decides to make a love potion for her entrepreneurship project, rumors that it actually works go viral, and she suddenly has a hot commodity on her hands. But a series of shattering events makes her realize that real-life love is far more potent ― and potentially damaging ― than any fairy-tale prescription. Written in Lisa Moore’s exuberant and inimitable style, Flannery is by turns heartbreaking and hilarious, empowering and harrowing ― often all on the same page. It is a novel whose spell no reader will be able to resist.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Canada, Fiction, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Teen

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2016

About the author

Lisa Moore has written two collections of stories, Degrees of Nakedness and Open, as well as a novel, Alligator.

Open and Alligator were both nominated for the Giller Prize. Alligator won the Commonwealth Prize for the Canadian Caribbean Region and the ReLit Award, and Open won the Canadian Authors' Association Jubilee Prize for Short Fiction.

Lisa has also written for television, radio, magazines (EnRoute, The Walrus and Chatelaine) and newspapers (The Globe and Mail and The National Post).

Lisa has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. She also studied at Memorial University of Newfoundland, where she became a member of The Burning Rock Collective, a group of St. John's writers.

Reviews

[Esil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read many YA books, but an ARC of Flannery showed up in my mailbox and I was pretty excited when I saw that it was written by Lisa Moore. Moore is one of our excellent Canadian writers, and -- better yet -- many of her books are set in Newfoundland -- one of my favourite provinces and the setting for some great Canadian writing. Moore usually writes adult fiction, and I believe that this is her first try at YA fiction. I am happy to say that while this isn't a usual genre for me, I quite loved this book. At one point, I realized that I had become completely immersed in Flannery's world, and that I needed to know how things would turn out for her. Flannery is a sixteen year girl who lives in Saint-Johns, Newfoundland, with her mother and younger brother. She has never known her father. Her mother loves her to bits but is at times infuriatingly eccentric -- always wearing a tiara -- trying to earn a living as a conceptual artist and blogger means that finances are tight -- even Flannery's biology textbook is a luxury they can't afford. The story takes place over a few months of Flannery's life in high school involving the usual ups and downs of teenage life, but which to Flannery understandably feel earth shattering -- a lost best friend, an unrequited crush, some bullying and some tension at home. But the writing and Moore's eye for detail make this book a particularly strong read. Flannery is a great character -- she is insightful but still very much an impulsive teenager. And while Moore covers many of the bases one expects in YA novels of this type, the characters pop out as interesting but real. I am certainly going to pass this one on to my teenagers, but I expect it will work for many adult readers too. And it's a good reminder to read some of Moore's other books. Thank you to Anansi Press for sending me an advance copy in exchange of an honest review.

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable intimate storytelling with a couple of marvelous 'aw-inspiring' characters. Actually, 'all' the characters are well developed. A book for teens - that many adults will relish.

Flannery is 16 years old, attends Holy Heart High School, in St. John's, Newfoundland.
She's the 'aw-inspiring' girl ....( growing up is hard to do).....but Flannery has a few more hardships to live with than many teenagers.
She has no father, ( her mother doesn't even know her biological father's last name).
She has a younger half brother name Felix. Felix does not know the name of his father either. She is a spirited, sensitive, bright girl..... More conservative than her mother, who isn't influenced by wrong choices peers might make.

Miranda, 'the mom', is a texture-eccentric-interesting mother. ( not typical in any shape or form). With all the things one might fault this single mother, I absolutely adored her. I melted in her company...she's as comforting as warm apple pie. ( dazzling & real)
There is no question that she loves her children. Miranda is 'very' creative with her "conceptual art projects". The only problem is none of her talents are enough to pay their bills. She's on welfare. Miranda also has a parenting blog. There is a moment in this story where we read one of her blogs. I think it's wonderful. A mother - with daughters at home might want to print it out and post it on their refrigerator:

"Magnificent Mothering with Miranda"
"A 16-year-old girl with a broken heart is reckless. Those of you who have daughters in love, listen up! How vulnerable our young women are, with their too-long limbs, their new curvy bodies, and their too-big hearts."
"Don't let those tulip-tender faces and beautiful hazel-green eyes so full of trust fool you into thinking they are gentle girls. Our daughters feel desire as big as the universe and they are willing to do what it takes to get what they want."
"They are changelings now, and they are growing away from us and they have to do that. They must."
"They have to rebel and they have to love and will probably get on backs of motorcycles and smoke pot and drink too much and generally put themselves in danger, just as we did when we were sixteen, just as some of us are still doing, and we have to be vigilant and we have to watch out and we have to know what's going on and we have to hold our daughters close. But we also have to let them make mistakes. We have to let them put their heart of glass out there on the sidewalk. Little glass hearts just waiting to be smashed. We have to trust that they will be OK. They are out there making magic, every single day, and they were fine love."


Most of the story centers around Flannery at school, her best friend Amanda, other classmates, her projects, and ...the Tyrone ( the boy she is crazy about - yet seems every girl in the school is goo-goo over too). In fact... There are several compelling themes & issues to focus on - think about and discuss. If teens have book club groups, this would be a great choice. One of the themes is about 'friendship'. The author did a terrific job with the many complexities of friendship: best friends, rivals, anger, hurts, jealousy and competition, one- up-manship, withholding self-expression, and the cost of not being true to one's self.

There is an interesting course taught at Holy Heart High School ...
"Introduction to Entrepreneurship". The kids in the class are assigned a partner. They are to create an innovative project ( ideally a project towards saving our planet)....'very cool project assignment'. All the High Schools in the province compete. Flannery gets teamed up with Tyrone.
Working on the project with Tyrone isn't smooth sailing. ( however there is lots of drama to keep you turning pages) ---and I loved many of the authors idea she picked to tell this story.
In another class - the kids had to carry around eggs in a bag without them breaking.
This review is getting long enough - but I swear, I haven't given away 'the juice' ... ( just the cup).

I read this story in one sitting (spinning on the bike for most of it...great company!) I also believe this story will continue to grow on me - over time...( a book I won't forget).
Wonderful book for mom's and daughters to 'both' read....
I suspect some great dad's of teenagers might find value in it also.

Thank you Groundwood Books, and Lisa Moore.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally reviewed at The Book Adventures.

Flannery Malone is sixteen years old and she's been in love with Tyrone O'Rourke since she was a little girl. Sadly, this love is unrequited. However, things start looking up when Flannery is paired with Tyrone on their entrepreneurship assignment. Together, they have to create a product, a product that up until this point there has been no desire on the part of consumers to actually own (apparently this is the basis of being an entrepreneur). Tyrone suggests that he and Flannery make magic potions for their assignment; after all people will be willing to spend their money on a magic solution "Especially if they start to believe in it" (p. 52). The funny thing is that people do start believing in Flannery's potions. Now, if only Flannery had a magical solution to solve the problems in her own life.

The premise to Flannery sounds simplistic as well as light and fluffy. Many readers would assume that this is a lighthearted romance where Flannery woos the boy of her dreams during the course of their assigned project. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Yes, Flannery is dealing with her feelings towards her homework partner, but she also has to cope with her best friend's withdrawal from her life, a scattered mother, and the inability to purchase a mandatory biology textbook. Rather than a romance, Flannery is a coming-of-age story that focuses heavily on the theme of love, whether it be romantic, familial or friendship. Not one of these types of loves can be managed with the help of a potion, which is something Flannery discovers through the course of the novel.

What resonated throughout Flannery was the awkwardness that is high school. Flannery has to navigate high school knowing that she is different from the other kids. Her mother is an artist and has raised Flannery and her young brother rather...unconventionally. Due to her mother's approach to life, Flannery often steps into the role of caretaker. This lifestyle means that Flannery is that kid who's family lives on food stamps and can't afford to buy the mandatory supplies for schools. What's great about Flannery is that she never lets the negatives get her down for long. Flannery deals with the awkward situations at school with aplomb. And despite her mother's scattered approach to parenting, Flannery actually has a positive relationship with her mother. No, the relationship with her mother and brother is not perfect, they fight and Flannery feels resentful at times, but what's notable is that Flannery and her mother actually have a dialogue about what's going on. Flannery's mother doesn't always understand Flannery's viewpoint, but she is at least discussing it with Flannery. The complexity of familial love are alive and well in Flannery.

The way that female friendship is depicted is another highlight in Flannery. Amber is Flannery's best friend; however, since finding herself a boyfriend, Amber has started to pull away from Flannery. Flannery feels hurt and confused by Amber's changed attitude towards her, but this change also allows Flannery to start to form new bonds with other people. A friendship may end, but that relationship has made an impact. For Flannery, this enduring friendship means that she can't abandon Amber when she needs her help the most. Despite the fact that they will never be friends in the way that they used to be, Flannery helps Amber when she could have simply walked away. Rather than getting revenge on a friend who has hurt her, Flannery chooses to help Amber when she needs it most.

Finally, romantic love is the last type of love explored in Flannery. For years Flannery has been convinced that Tyrone is the guy for her. But loving someone from a distance is not the same as loving that person once you get to know them. Again, Flannery is presented as a strong willed character as she learns this lesson about romance throughout the course of her entrepreneurship project. This is certainly not the most important lesson Flannery learns throughout her journey, but the realization that Tyrone is not exactly the person she thought he was is an important lesson for Flannery to learn.

Flannery was a quirky, fun, and ultimately positive coming-of-age story. This contemporary young adult novel gives readers a heroine that is easy to relate to as she goes through the growing pains that is high school. Recommended for fans of realistic fiction that's on the lighter end of the spectrum.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can just hear the automated phone call now. A child in your household named FLANNERY was absent from fifth period and she walked home all by herself, snuffling and bawling, and it was a very long, lonely, miserable walk.

I think I've read everything by Lisa Moore – I love her – so when I recently checked to see if she had anything coming out, and discovered that she had, indeed, recently released a YA novel entitled Flannery, I had to really think about that: YA is not my favourite genre (I prefer real books, thank you very much), so would this be worth my time? In the end I took a chance, and was I disappointed? Short answer: no. Longer answer: hell no. Long answer: I should never have doubted Moore's talents as a storycrafter; she is an artist in words, and while this book might be classified as YA because of the age of the protagonist and the particular situations she finds herself in, Moore certainly created a real book here. Repeatedly capturing honest human moments (forcing me to repeatedly wipe the tears from my eyes so I could continue reading), Moore didn't write a simpler novel because of her intended audience, and repeatedly, I was aware of the respect she had for this audience. This is a fine and true book about being a teenage girl; both specific to our particular moment and universal in its truths. Loved it.

Flannery Malone is the sixteen-year-old daughter of a feminist/environmentalist/artist/single mother (there is also a younger brother from a different father; neither man is even aware of these children, let alone providing support), and as the book begins, things are going pretty well for her: Flannery is starting grade twelve, her best friend Amber is in most of her classes, and her childhood friend/crush (Tyrone, who moved away but returned to the same high school, and would be totally out of Flannery's league if they hadn't been raised together) has been assigned as her partner to develop a sellable product for their Entrepreneurship class. Tyrone suggests they sell love potions (as a “gag” product, like pet rocks), and a storyline begins that made me worry, “Uh oh, is there gonna be some kind of predictable, accidental magic subplot here?” But, I should have known I could trust Lisa Moore. 'Nuff said about that. Amber is a successful competitive swimmer, and this is Flannery describing the girls in a swimming race:

They are silver arrows they are eels they are licorice they are Lycra they are muscle they are will and will not and want to be and winning, for the first few seconds they are all winning and winning and winning and they are can't and must and will never and don't.

Now, that kind of stream-of-consciousness, listy writing makes me swoon, so I will allow that sometimes this book might be appealing primarily to my own idiosyncratic tastes (but don't worry, it's not all like that). While Flannery is unsuccessfully trying to get Tyrone to participate more in their project, Amber is falling in love with her own partner for the project, Gary: a basketball-playing, band-fronting, drug-using hoodlum who quickly takes over Amber's life – causing her to skip swim practises, lie to her parents, and drop her lifelong bestie. Moore is so specific in the details of Flannery's memories of this waning friendship that it felt perfectly universal; this is what all teenage girls feel for their best friends:

If you want to forget about that summer Miranda took us to Northern Bay Sands and we stayed in the ocean until our lips were blue and our teeth chattered and afterward we had a bonfire and jumped up and down on the bed until we broke the bed frame, and we had to sleep with the bed on a tilt and we kept rolling onto the floor, that's fine with me.

Meanwhile, Flannery's mother Miranda (a perfectly wonderful character who can live a life based on progressive ideals without it feeling either flakey or preachy to the reader) doesn't always have the money to pay the heating bills, or understand the point of boundaries, or even act like the adult in the family most of the time, but when one of her kids is hurting or in danger, Miranda's love is unquestioned and fierce.

So in that moment, yeah – I understand the extent of Miranda's fear, though she tries with all her might to keep it hidden. Miranda is afraid of whether or not there will be enough nutrition in our diets, and she's afraid she's going to accidentally kill Spiky and/or Smooth and that I'll never speak to her again, and she's afraid that her art isn't any damn good at all, because she really believes in that stuff, and it means a lot to her, and she's sacrificing a lot to keep making art, but she's thinking maybe she doesn't have the right to sacrifice so much when she's a mother with two kids to feed.

So basically, Flannery is a coming of age story about a loving and loveable main character who has extraordinary challenges in her love life (if she can't convince Tyrone to do his share of the homework, how will she get him to notice her like that?), and in her social circle (is Amber staying away because she knows Flannery doesn't like Gary, or is it because Gary doesn't like Flannery?), and in her home life (it's hard to be poor and relied upon so heavily). That's what makes this a YA book, but what elevates it is the writing: there's a wonderful chapter where Flannery is remembering the day she knew she was in love with Tyrone. They were nine and at the wedding of Miranda's ex-boyfriend, and Flannery intersperses memories of all of Miranda's boyfriends (leading up to the details of the wedding itself) with a story about Tyrone water-skiing behind his stepfather's boat, and the back and forth between the mundane of the one and the menace of the other (resulting in Flannery acknowledging that until that point her mother had successfully shielded her from the existence of true evil) was simply a masterpiece of writing: this chapter could stand alone as a short story, and yet this particular device was never used again. There's another scene where Flannery is upset, and as Miranda is rocking her, she asks to hear the story of her father one more time. And as first Miranda and then Flannery add the details of the mythical one night stand, they correct each other (usually with Miranda attempting to deromanticise the whole thing), and the back and forth felt so right: yes, it would happen just like that. I loved the image of Flannery getting into bed with her little brother after a dangerous event, curling her body against his back, and then having Miranda enter later and curl herself against the both of them; an embrace and an absolution. I loved the honesty of the snarky things Flannery sometimes couldn't stop herself from saying. I loved that Lisa Moore is never afraid to embrace the Canadianness of her settings: using the proper names for buildings and streets in St. John's without attempting to map it all out for the unfamiliar; not afraid to namedrop Zellers and Tim Hortons and Measha Brueggergosman. And the book is set in our own times in a way that I often complain is absent in books: when a kid gets arrested, it's all over Instagram; boys huddle around their cell phones to evaluate someone's girlfriend's naked pics; there's blogging and texting and Facebook: why don't all authors write about these things we all see every day? Flannery is a real book in every way, and I'm so glad I got over myself and picked it up.

There's a glass case full of chrysalises. Tiny, papery-looking sacs, each carefully pinned to a wooden slat. One papery sac has a hole punched in the bottom. I watch a wing unfold. It's black and white with a strip of fluorescent pink. It unfolds in the way all unfolding things unfold: pup-tents, origami cranes, inflatable rubber dinghies, the rest of your life. Popping out, unbuckling, flinging itself into being, already knowing what it will become. Unable to stop itself and not knowing but thoughtful about each unfolding pucker and undinted, undented, smooth and trembling wing, and yes, yes. This is it.

[Ɛɾιɳ ẞҽҽ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flannery is a story about a girl who has a crush on a boy. They get paired together for an entrepreneurship project and decide to make colourful love potions in fancy blown-glass bottles, which are supposed to be a gimmick but seem to actually work. But friends, Flannery is so much more than that. After reading the synopsis, I thought it sounded a little bit cheesy but I expected to enjoy it, especially since it's set in St. John's, but I had no way of knowing that I'd fall THIS madly in love. Hmm, maybe the potions really do work... and maybe I drank one that made me fall head-over-heels in love with this book. I must have. Lucky me :D

If you're late for school you get an automated phone call. A fake-human voice, faux-friendly and regular-guy-sounding, calls to rat you out.
A child in your household named -- and when it says "named", the voice changes. A completely different voice inserts your name right into Regular Guy's sentence.
And the second voice is very disappointed in you. They second voice sounds all blamey and sad and rumbling like a clap of thunder.

A child in your household named ERIN was absent for period one on September 17th while she stayed in bed to finish reading Flannery.

This book was so good! My only regrets in life are that I didn't discover Lisa Moore years ago and that this book didn't exist when I was in high school. As a born-and-bred Newfoundlander, it was such an amazing experience to read a contemporary YA novel set in the place where I grew up. It's set in St. John's and, technically, I'm from Conception Bay South, which is 30 minutes outside of St. John's, but I moved to St. John's eventually for university, and both of my parents worked in town, and I had to go there for music lessons and performances, shopping and watching movies, visiting Nan and Pop, and all kinds of other things.

Mainlanders (Canadians not from Newfoundland :p) and people outside of Canada probably won't care about any of this, but there were references to Ches's Famous Fish and Chips, Lime Crush, Signal Hill, Topsail Beach, St. Philips, the Waterford River, Symes Bridge, streets I know (Long's Hill, Livingstone St., Queen's Rd., Water St., Duckworth St., George St., Prescott St., Waldegrave St., Bonaventure Ave., Allandale Rd., Thorburn Rd.), schools I know (Holy Heart of Mary, Gonzaga High, Booth Memorial High, Prince of Wales Collegiate, Brother Rice Junior High, Macdonald Drive Junior High, and Bishop Field Elementary), the Arts and Culture Centre, the ducks in Bowering Park, skinny-dipping in Bannerman Park, the Aquarena, Freak Lunchbox, Eastern Edge Gallery, the historic St. John's waterfront, The Narrows, the Avalon Mall, Chris Moose, the Glacier in Mount Pearl, Pipers, Distortion (a bar), Mile One Stadium, the youth corrections facility in Whitbourne, Queen's Rd. Convenience, Newfoundland Power Company, The Southside Hills, the old train station, The Newfoundland Buy and Sell, NTV, and Captain Newfoundland. And I was born in the Grace, the same hospital that Flannery and Tyrone were born in.

The author mentioned Charlotte's Web, one of my favourite books; Nirvana, one of my favourite bands; M.I.A., one of my favourite rappers; as well as Banksy :D

Mr. Galway owns all the radio frequency bandwidth available in Newfoundland. He started one of the first television stations here, back in the seventies. It's rumored that he himself was Captain Newfoundland, the superhero who appeared after midnight on NTV back in the nineties, dressed in a hooded cape and a face mask with the map of Newfoundland drawn on it. His cape fluttered into a background of zooming comets and blasts of disco-funk. A deep voice intoned that the captain was the Spirit of Newfoundland who lives in the hearts of all of us. You can still see it on YouTube.

This book was sweet and funny and whimsical, and it reminded me of all the things I love about Judy Blume's older YA books, and excellent YA contemporary fiction in general, except with the added bonus that it's SET IN NEWFOUNDLAND with NEWFOUNDLAND CHARACTERS (townies, but still :p)! I'M SO HAPPY just knowing that this book exists. I'm definitely buying myself a copy to read over and over again because it was delightful and entertaining!

Forget it, Amber. My days of saving you in class are over. If you want to forget about that summer Miranda took us to Northern Bay Sands and we stayed in the ocean until our lips were blue and our teeth chattered and afterward we had a bonfire and jumped up and down on the bed until we broke the bed frame, and we had to sleep with the bed on a tilt and we kept rolling onto the floor, that's fine with me.
Or if you want to forget about going to circus camp together when we were seven and spotting for each other when we were learning somersaults on the trampoline, go ahead, forget all about it.
Or when we got those glasses that are actually clear plastic drinking straws and you put one end in your lime crush and suck and the crush goes up the straw and circles one eye, and goes across the bridge of your nose and then it circles your other eye and behind your ear and into your mouth and we sat there watching each other's glasses until we were laughing so hard lime crush came out our noses. Go ahead, forget it.
Or when Miranda's former boyfriend Hank made us stilts and we climbed the fence to get up on them and then learned to walk through the boulders at the edge of the ocean in Broad Cove looking like elegant flamingos, okay, go ahead, yup, forget all about that too.

I absolutely LOVED the characters. Flannery Malone is awesome. I loved everything about her, including her name (if I had a baby girl, I would name her Flannery, after this book), which is also the title, written fancy on the cover like a teenage girl would write it. Have I mentioned how much I love the cover? And her mother (mudder, if you're from Newfoundland), Miranda, is such a unique and vibrant character. She's an artist, a feminist, an environmentalist, and a great mom to Flannery and her little brother, Felix, despite having financial struggles, like not being able to pay the bills on time or afford Flannery's biology textbook for school. She even has a parenting blog! Flannery's father, however, isn't in her life at all. The only things Flannery knows about him (other than what he looks like; she has inherited his long eyelashes), are that his name is Xavier, he cared about the environment, and he sailed away from St. John's leaving nothing behind except a red-tinfoil-wrapped chocolate heart that Flannery plans to keep in her jewelry box forever.

She carved the ice with a chainsaw, chisels and drills, and she polished it with a blowtorch. She wore goggles and a snowsuit, her steel-toed boots. Yanked the pull-cord on the chainsaw and there's a cloud of blue smoke. She touched the chainsaw to the block of ice and a giant fan of ice chips flew into the sky.
I don't know how she could see the shape in the block of ice, but she walked around it and stood back and moved in. She scratched some lines on the surface. Then the saw squealed and ground and ice flew some more and, little by little, the shoulder of a lumbering, downcast momma polar bear emerged, the surface roughed-up like fur, the big head swinging to the side to check for her cub, the doomed little family emerging in the evening light.
Melting is part of the piece. It's a comment on global warming, Miranda said.

Tyrone O'Rourke (AKA SprayPig) did some really stupid things, like shoplift headphones by putting them in Flannery's sweatshirt hood, so that she was the one who got picked up by security, but I mostly liked him and his motorcycle-driving, Santa-Claus-pin-wearing, graffiti-and-mural-painting ways, and I understand why Flannery had a huge crush on him. I loved that he was "too huggy" and I hated how his stepfather Marty treated him. Marty should have been thrown in Her Majesty's Penitentiary for that water-skiing accident. I hated him. Fuck Marty.

Tyrone was not a gronky, sweaty, profane, pretending-to-be-fencepost-stupid, arrogant, loud, math-failing, poetry-hating, eat-a-whole-pizza-by-yourself-in-less-than-five-minutes-and-burp-the-loudest, fart-joke-telling, buy-a-40-ouncer-off-a-taxi-driver-and-get-drunk-at-parties-and-puke-all-over-somebody's-carpet, typical high-school person of the male persuasion.
Tyrone had become an artist.
A graffiti artist.
An outlaw.
His tags and murals are all over St. John's and there have been letters in the paper. The cops have even come out with a statement. They'll stop at nothing to find SprayPig -- that's Tyrone's tag.

Flannery's best friend, Amber Mackey, treated her like crap throughout a lot of the book. Amber may have been the best swimmer in all of Newfoundland, but I really didn't like her at times. We hear a rumor that she's being controlled by her boyfriend, Gary Bowen, and she also gets bullied in the worst kind of way, so we gain sympathy for her as readers later on. My only complaint about the ending is that Gary didn't get his comeuppance. I would have liked to see that part of the story carried through to a more satisfying end. Revenge? Punishment? Both? I'm not entirely sure what, but something. Maybe I'm a horrible person.

Okay, wait. Let me explain Amber because this is not her best moment. Amber has puffy black circles around her eyes from her swimming goggles getting suctioned onto her eye sockets, and she smells like chlorine and has to be nudged awake every five minutes or she'll be snoring her head off.

Of course, I can't talk about the characters without mentioning Kyle Keating ♡ I'm so glad that Flannery had Kyle around because Kyle was BEST KIND. I loved the shit out of Kyle. He treated Flannery like gold and I rejoiced every time he appeared because not only was he cute, but he brought the sunshine with him (whereas Gary Bowen brought rain, drizzle, and fog). I want Flannery and Kyle to be together and live happily ever after.

Just like I thought, he says. Tastes like spinach. It's spinach water, everybody. Just spinach and water is my guess. Is that right, Flannery?
I can feel my shoulders slump a little.
Yup, I say. He swirls it around. And takes another mouthful.
I'm getting nutty undertones, he says. It's fruity, am I right? Hints of cherry? Maybe some oak in there? Definitely an oak base. And it follows through with a hint of anise. Light but full-bodied? (When he says full-bodied he actually lets his eyes slide all the way down my body and back to my face, and wiggles his eyebrows.)
Actually it tastes pretty good, Kyle says. This is probably the best spinach juice I've ever had.
Nobody asks if he's ever had spinach juice before. Who drinks spinach juice? But he's looking straight into my eyes and takes another sip.
You have green eyes, he says. I never noticed that before. Really green. Not many people have green eyes. Not like yours. Like, a stormy sea-green. Like the green in the Northern Lights. Your eyes are beautiful, Flannery. I guess you get that all the time.
I can feel a blush flooding into my cheeks. I mean, I know he's joking around but he doesn't look away and he sounds dead serious.
And your freckles are like cinnamon. (Now he's really hamming it up.) Shall I compare you to an October's day in Newfoundland? he says.
You have the most beautiful freckles I've ever seen, Flannery Malone. Like autumn leaves scattering in the wind.
I punch him gently on the arm.
Aw, shucks, I say.

I would quote the entirety of chapter 6, if I could. It's a chapter about how much Flannery loves her little brother, Felix. I mean, how could you not love Felix?? Especially since he busked with a glockenspiel to make enough money for Flannery to buy her biology book. Felix wins the Best Brother Award. Flannery tells us about this one time when she was in the bathroom, daydreaming about Tyrone because she thought she was alone, and then Felix jumps out from behind the shower curtain with a Super Soaker and scares the crap out of her, as little brothers sometimes do. That's one of my favourite parts of the book. There's just SO MUCH CREATIVITY between these pages that I can't even. Lisa Moore is the Queen of YA Contemporary fiction, in my opinion, and Flannery is my newest favourite book.
Here is part of Flannery's daydream:

And you suddenly imagine yourself dying young.
That is a vulnerable moment.
It is a glance into the abyss. You actually tippy-toe around the abyss of loneliness. Look down. Vertigo. You're dizzy and nauseous and not loved, that's what you are. And, okay, a little self-indulgent, maybe.
But, what if you were to die in some horrific way before true love can find you?
Perhaps you imagine darting out into a busy street to save a toddler from an oncoming bus. Yes, there is a bus. There is a toddler. Cue the violins, slo-mo turn of your head, hair swishing over your shoulder, eyes wide with horror and you start to run. You're running as though through a river of molasses -- slow, graceful, beautiful -- and you gather up the toddler in your arms and toss her/him/it to the side in time but, alas, too late for you to save yourself.
The bus pile-drives you into tomorrow.
Cut slow-mo; hold the violins.
Oranges and apples burst from your shopping bag and roll downhill. The crowd on the sidewalk screams in terror.
Everything is growing dark. Death has opened its great black maw to swallow you whole. You are prepared to go gently. Goodnight, you think. Goodnight moon, Goodnight bowl of milk, Goodnight cat, Goodnight Tyrone O'Rourke.
But wait! You notice Tyrone O'Rourke, who has been, as divine intervention or sheer coincidence would have it, a passenger on the very bus that has been your doom. He has run to the front of the bus and is smashing his fist against the window. Now, for the first time in your about-to-be-cut-tragically-short life, Tyrone O'Rourke notices you. He finally notices you. Notices your shy beauty, your great spirit ebbing slowly from your half-closed eyes...
Tyrone, Tyrone, you whisper. But there is no sound.
He sees you lying on the pavement and thinks of how you have known each other pretty much all your lives. Tyrone is just coming home from hanging at the mall, and he has witnessed the accident and he has had a revelation.
Tyrone O'Rourke loves you.

Bonus points because this book taught me how to do CPR. You just have to sing Stayin' Alive by The Bee Gees and time your chest compressions and breaths to the rhythm :p

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

While dealing with her artistic mother's impractical handling of money, sixteen-year-old Flannery Malone is crushing on Tyrone O'Rourke, a childhood playmate who grew up to be quite attractive. But Tyrone rarely comes to class, and when they are paired up for a school project, he leaves Flannery holding the bag. There is clearly more to Tyrone and his absences than Flannery knows. Most disturbingly, though, for Flannery is how quickly her best friend Amber Mackey is swept up in a relationship with musician Gary Malone. Suddenly, the world-class swimmer is skipping practice, blowing off Flannery's calls and messages, and immersed in Gary's life. Even though it's clear to everyone else that Gary is a controlling, womanizing jerk, Amber can't see it until the evidence is presented to her in a most public way. Readers will be caught up in all the drama and root for Flannery to find some measure of happiness, maybe even her own biology book, which her mother has been unable to afford, as they race through this book. What is most notable is how complex the characters are. The situations they face are ones with which many readers will be familiar, even while pondering how they might react if they were in the characters' shoes. By turns quite funny as well as heartbreaking, the book shows how some teens are more mature than their own parents and how much they may long for a connection with both parents. Yet, despite her flaws, Miranda, Flannery's mother, helps her when she needs assistance, even coming up with suggestions for her love potion project for school.

[Cait · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: I read an advanced copy of this book

I blew through this book and read it in about 3 sittings. I love Flannery. She is such an amazing character.

The book is well written, highly engaging, and doesn't skirt around the hard issues that teenagers have to deal with. The story felt real, and so did the characters. I also loved the style of writing. It's incredibly refreshing.

I highly recommend this book to teenagers and adults alike. It's a great read and Lisa Moore does not disappoint.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa Moore's first YA book and it's a doozy. I absolutely loved this book. Great writing and a great narrative voice. It was a thoughtful YA, and there were a few scenes that made me cringe and shudder. I think Moore tackled a lot with this book- class difference, bullying, friendship struggles and romance. I loved that it was set in Newfoundland.

Great book, great story. She's a fantastic writer.

[Kara Babcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of my young adult reading this year has been on the … intense … side. Lots of stories about what teenagers, and particularly young girls, go through. So it was with some relief that I discovered Flannery. I don’t want to give the impression that this is a fluffy book devoid of important themes. Our eponymous protagonist has to deal with an immature mother whose impulsive spending means they might not make rent. She has a crush on a childhood friend who has his own problems, and whose unreliability has left her working solo on their entrepreneurship class partnership. And her best friend is slipping away from her under the bad influence of the new boyfriend. Yet in the midst of these issues Lisa Moore brings us humour and compassion.

I received an ARC of Flannery from Groundwood Books, and I have been a bit remiss in reading it before its publication date (it came out at the beginning of May). I’d like to think, however, that what I lack in punctuality I shall make up for in enthusiasm for this book, because I really liked it. You too can send me free books that I may or may not like but will certainly review (maybe even on time for once).

This is the kind of book that wins you over because of the main character’s voice. For example, Flannery confesses to us that, “I’ve had the school glockenspiel hidden under my bed since I quit band in grade five…. It took me so long to return the glockenspiel that after a while I was afraid to return it at all. It lives under my bed, silent in a glockenspiel coffin, a heavy, velvet-lined box of guilt….” Flannery takes the reader completely and utterly into her confidence, sharing with us her darkest secrets, deepest regrets, and most fervent dreams. Moore captures the earnestness of a sixteen-year-old girl with this voice while avoiding making Flannery come off too generic. In no time flat, we have a good sense of her personality. She is fiercely independent, because she has learned she can’t rely on her mom, but she can also be impulsive. She wants to do well, but issues of money and time and family weigh on her in ways they shouldn’t at her age.

Beyond the main character, the book offers so much more in the way of humour and compassion. As a teacher, I had to giggle (in a kind of “oh my god” kind of way) at Mr. Payne’s use of a laser pointer. Pretty sure shining a laser pointer at students’ foreheads is a good way to get in trouble, whether or not you actually manage to blind someone. Let’s not even start on Mr. Green’s headlocks. Newfoundland has quite the … interesting … educational system.

I say “compassion” in addition to humour because these two ideas form the emotional core of Flannery. As an example, consider one of the most serious events in the book, where several of Flannery’s peers attack her in the school parking lot and nearly make her swallow the contents of a used condom. Only the timely intervention of the school secretary, a character who might otherwise be considered chaotic neutral at best, saves Flannery from a fate both gross and, potentially, seriously harmful. I remember thinking at the time that this scene was so jarring compared to the overall tone of the book, which always acknowledged the presence of terrible moments but had, so far, declined to actually depict many.

Compassion is an important mediator for how Flannery relates to the other characters as well. Her brother Felix antagonizes her in typical six-year-old-boy ways. There were times when I was so angry with her mother Miranda, but Moore also puts Flannery in positions where she, and by extension we, must empathize with Miranda’s situation. And then there’s Tyrone. I am so pleased with the way that Flannery’s romantic life works out in this story! Some YA is just so obvious about the arc that two characters’ relationship will take, so I’m always happy when the author chooses the less conventional paths. Tyrone’s behaviour, fleshed out by the details we learn about his home life, provides another data point in our understanding of Flannery’s world.

And then we have Amber … oh, Amber.

This was the subplot that really got to me. The way that Amber and Flannery drift apart is tragic enough, especially because it feels so realistic. There is nothing melodramatic about this, and I imagine that many teenagers reading this book will feel some pangs as they see this rift occur. I love the ending; without spoilers, can I just say that I love the Moore does not want to give us easy outs? She commits to delivering us doses of reality even amidst all the weird and zany events this novel serves up, yet somehow it just all works. That climactic moment when Flannery discovers the depths to which Amber has been betrayed by her boyfriend … man, that’s a sucker punch right to the gut. And again, Moore draws on some very topical behaviour that is happening all too often among teenagers right now.

Flannery prompted me to finally create a new shelf on Goodreads: teachable texts. I’ve been talking a lot about books I am teaching, have taught, or would teach given the right circumstances. This book definitely falls into that last category. I’m not so sure I’d choose it for my current students (adults), but I’d love to teach it in a high school class, or put it on a list of novels for students to select for an independent study. While not a long or overly complicated book, there is just so much of note happening here, that it is a rich and thought-provoking story nonetheless.

Perhaps the only real downside is the way that Moore eschews quotation marks for dialogue. Longtime readers of my review know that this is a huge literary turn-off for me, to the point where I have discarded entire books for committing this sin. Granted, this book’s style is not otherwise opaque or hard to follow, so in this case the absence of quotation marks is more bearable. But I just want to emphasize that I still love Flannery despite its treachery in this instance, and I want you to understand how monumental that is for me.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

To start with Lisa Moore is a wonderful award winning Canadian writer! I love her style and how truly Canadian her stories are.
In Flannery we meet 16 year old Flannery Malone, she lives in Newfoundland and attends High School. She's in love with a "bad boy", her best friend is throwing her life away for a boy, her younger brother Felix is spinning out of a control, and her mother Miranda is very eccentric and is struggling to provide for Flannery and her younger brother.
In order to graduate Flannery must complete a particular project for school. She decides to make a love potion. Then word spreads that it actually works! Through a series of disastrous events Flannery learns some hard truths about real love and life and just how complicated it all is.
I enjoyed this one quite a bit.
Its a touching and funny coming of age story. Flannery is a great character, very relatable. I also enjoyed her mom even through her faults. Moore's proficient storytelling shines throughout. I think even readers who dont typically read a lot of YA would enjoy this one too.
•
Thank you to the publisher for #gifting me this book. Opinions are my own.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein überraschend süßes Buch. Ich finde der deutsche Titel und das deutsche Covet nicht so gut wie das Original Cover. Aber Flannery und ihr chaotisches Leben das hat mich einfach mitgerissen und es ist wirklich mal eine süße Geschichte fürs Herz. 🦋

[Griinsekatze · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Das Glück hat vier Farben" von Lisa Moore ist ein Buch, dass zu viele Geschichten zeitgleich erzählt und somit den roten Faden verliert.

Der Klappentext verspricht einen Jugendroman, ein bis über beide Ohren verliebtes Mädchen und Zaubertränke. Leider bekommen wir das nicht ganz oder eher gesagt nur ansatzweise. Wir bekommen eine Geschichte über ein naives verliebtes Mädchen, kaputte Familien, Gewalt, Verrat, Drogen, zerbrochene Freundschaften und noch mehr. Es ist einfach zu viel auf einmal und von dem eigentlichen Thema ist kaum etwas zu sehen.

Flannery ist seit Ewigkeiten in den coolen Tyrone verliebt. Hoffnungslos verliebt. Anfangs ist diese Verliebtheit noch ganz süß, aber irgendwann fragt man sich einfach, wann sie aufwacht und endlich merkt, dass er es nicht wert ist, unglücklich zu sein. Flannery ist eigentlich ein vernünftiges und liebenswertes Mädchen. Manchmal hat sie sehr naive Momente, erst gegen Ende wird sie stärker und akzeptiert, dass nicht alles perfekt ist. Die Zaubertränke, die angekündigt wurden, existieren wirklich und ihre Wirkung ist sehr unterhaltsam, allerdings geraten sie auch schnell wieder in Vergessenheit und sind nicht der Rede wert, das könnte ich verzeihen, wäre die Liebesgeschichte stärker gewesen. Flannery ist in Tyrone verliebt, der absolut nicht greifbar ist. Warum, werdet ihr beim Lesen sicher selber feststellen. Ein Junge, der durch seine Familiensituation auf die schiefe Bahn geraten ist und den man besser kennenlernen müsste, um Sympathie für ihn aufzubauen, was wir aber nicht haben.

Es werden verschiedene Geschichten erzählt. Natürlich dreht sich alles um Flannery, aber wir erleben die Geschichte über ihre Mutter und ihren Vater, den Vater ihres Bruder, Anekdoten aus ihrem Leben, ihre aktuelle Liebessituation, das Schulprojekt, ihre Familienprobleme, ihre zerbrochene Freundschaft, die Probleme ihrer Freundin Amber ... und das alles immer wieder angerissen. Es wirkt dadurch manchmal zusammenhangslos und der rote Faden ging für mich unter. Es passiert so viel und alle Klischees sozial schwacher Schichten und jugendlichen Leichtsinns werden eingebaut.

Die Geschichte lässt sich durch den einfachen Schreibstil gut lesen und es werden Situationen teilweise sehr originell umschrieben. Die Autorin war auch sehr einfallsreich, was die Charaktere anging. Wir haben viele eigenwillige Charaktere und keiner gleicht dem anderen, aber das reicht nicht aus, um die Geschichte besser zu machen.

Fazit
Ein irreführender Klappentext, wodurch ich mit falschen Erwartungen an das Buch herangegangen bin und enttäuscht wurde. Abgesehen davon war es mir ein bisschen zu viel ... zu viele Familien und Jugendlichen mit massiven Problemen und zu wenig Liebesgeschichte.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been somewhat disappointed with a few of the young adult novels that I've read this past year, but Flannery has restored my love in the genre! It was a such a great book; I've had a joy reading it. It's about a high school girl just trying to make it through and graduate and deal with all the punches life deals her, and there are a lot of punches. She's supported by her wonderful family throughout the process of figuring out who she really is, and trying to help her friends through their struggles as well.
I really enjoyed this book because I felt like the characters acted like real people (well except the main bullying scene seemed a little crazy to me but I don't know, I guess it could happen) and were relatable. Though her mother is...unconventional, the love and support she gives Flannery is beautiful. And I love how Flannery grows up in the novel, and how she sticks up for herself at the end. It's a very natural progression of how she grows up. And the love potions drifting through it all can't help but bring a smile to your face :)
I received this book in a Goodreads Giveaway.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful surprise this book was. I didn't realize it was YA and Canadian to boot. I really enjoyed 16 year old Flannery and the true to life descriptions of teenage girl friendships and the all encompassing drama of teenage girl crushes. Sad and sweet and beautifully written. I'd proudly display it on my bookshelf right next to Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park.

[Angel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I should have stuck with it longer (got past 100 pages), but the mom was just too ridiculous to be believable and I couldn't take any more of the manic pixie dream mom thing. Flannery's character is boring. Her crush is an asshole. Meh.

[Lauren (Shooting Stars Mag) Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique Format: None of the dialogue is in quotes like "". Bit hard to explain, but it wasn't confusing while reading, which I was afraid it might be.

[Magdelanye · Rating 3 out of 5]

In North America we search for meaning in our lives through conspicuous consumption....We spend, therefore we are. This behavior is akin to spiritual annihilation. p37

How lonely people are, sometimes for their whole lives. They just want someone to notice their worth. p131

Profound insights from a precocious teen as Lisa Moore captures Flannery, raised on the fringe of the mainstream by her single mom, a feminist artist who likes cursing on principle.

curse words...have a radical power and they can make huffy, uptight people uncomfortable. p109

If you are at all huffy and uptight, but even if you are merely tender and sensitive, this may be an uncomfortable book despite its exuberance and quirky, endearing characters. Flannery is not rebelling against her upbringing but using her outsider insight to apply herself to understanding the world around her and her place in the world.

We used to be called the working poor, but now we're just plain old poor. p72

Probably in another mood I would have rated this higher...pushed 3.5 up to 4 rather than down to 3 for GR.
5/7 is more accurate: it's funny and determined not to be ravished by cynicism. Nevertheless, if you want an inside look into teenage angst, this will give it.

[Cris]

DNF at ~ pg. 110 — no fault of the book, but I just couldn’t get into it. Fantastic prose, but it couldn’t carry me through the story (which, again, wasn’t at all bad, I just don’t do contemporary high school romance).

(Lauren if you’re reading this, I’m so sorry.)

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

**3.5**

I CANT BELIEVE I FINALLY FINISHED THIS

[Eileenxy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5

[Emily White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful coming-of-age story. Flannery has to question everything about her life, and she eventually discovers what is true.

[Michelle (FabBookReviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Canadian author Lisa Moore is a critically-acclaimed writer with adult fiction work long listed for the Man Booker Prize (February) and Scotia Bank Giller Prize (Open and Alligator). While I had not yet read her adult fiction, I was immediately intrigued when I first read the description of Flannery. Such was my enthusiasm for Flannery that I featured it in one of my Must Read Monday posts! Always on the lookout for more Canadian reads and Canadian contemporary YA, I could not wait to dive into Moore's utterly unusual and terrific-sounding young adult debut.

And readers, it did not disappoint whatsoever. An intense, sophisticated, raw, and beautifully written novel, Flannery is one of those reads that the young adult genre should be proud to have in its category.

In the first person narrative of sixteen-year-old Newfoundlander Flannery Malone, readers are sucked into her troubles, aching heart, and difficult circumstances. As we read from the book description, Flannery has just about too much whirring around in her mind: she is in heady love with the gorgeous, brooding, unfocused and troubled Tyrone; frustrated with her single mother Miranda's lack of earning enough money; overwhelmed by her responsibility for her younger brother's well-being; and frightened of what's happening in her best friend's new relationship. Flannery is stuck in circles of what seem like mostly hopeless, depressing situations.

There is one possible light on the horizon, though: partnered up with Tyrone for an entrepreneurial project at school, Flannery considers that this might be IT. The chance to be with Tyrone, to spend time with him, to maybe, possibly turn her silent love into something more. With the idea of marketing love potions as their project- something fake, but covetable and profitable- Flannery takes reins of the project, hoping and waiting for Tyrone to join her.

While it would appear, initially, that Flannery's intense lifelong adoration for Tyrone is the heart of the story, there is indeed so much more to Moore's novel than a story of a teen in love with a gorgeous boy who doesn't love her back. Here is where Moore excels: she ties the heart of the story and the love potions project seamlessly, perfectly, with multiple plot lines occurring throughout the story. Some of which- like Flannery's self-awareness of her family's state of poverty and her best friend's descent with her brutal boyfriend- are heartbreaking and disturbing. In her portrayal of teens (both boys and girls) and their behavior to one another, Moore is pretty unflinching- there are a few scenes in particular that made me shudder. Flannery, however, is not without some hope, kindness and surprise- though this hope comes at the end of some crushing revelations and distressing events.

Lisa Moore has done a fantastic job here with her already-acclaimed young adult debut: for any readers who love stand-out, unique, contemporary young adult fiction, or Canadian lit, I would highly recommend Flannery. Readers looking for a more complex, fierce and sophisticated read- think along the lines of writers such as A.S. King, Laurie Halse Anderson, Susan Juby or Rainbow Rowell- might especially appreciate the beauty of Flannery.

I received a copy of this book courtesy of Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and comments are my own.

[Sophie Bergeron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Flannery quite a lot, but I can't give this book a full five stars since some aspects of it did bother me a little. To illustrate this, I decided to separate this review in categories: things I liked and things I liked a little less. Let's get starting!


ASPECTS OF THE BOOK I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED

First and foremost, this book scored major brownie points with me for being so relatable!
The book opens up with Flannery explaining to the reader why she can't be late to school, again, because she is she'll get another automated phone call. I was reading the first pages and all I could think was "YES! Thank you! Somebody else who ackownledges how ridiculous those phone calls are!"

Also, FLANNERY is written in first person and while this can be a tricky thing to do, Lisa Moore executed it perfectly!

Another thing that I liked about this book was the humour. I'll be honest, this book isn't filled with witty comeback or stupid one-liner so not everyone will find it very funny. But me? I found myself laughing because I could identify with the situations presented in FLANNERY and I could imagine myself reacting the same way!

The characters were another major plus for me!
Every single characters were very well developed and my favorite one had to be Miranda! See, Miranda is Flannery's mother and she insists that her children call her by her first name. She's kind, creative, owns a parenting blog in which she sometimes shares personal anecdotes about Flannery, she's a free spirit... Her presence in the book was like a breath of fresh air!
I admired her strength as a single parent and her devotion to her family. It was inspiring, really.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the way Lissa Moore incorporated some sensitive subject in her novel. Without giving away spoilers, this book does talk about abusive relationships and I thought it was very well done.

Finally, part of the reason I enjoyed this book so much was because it got to me on a personal level. Flannery's relationship with Tyrone hit close to home; instead of simply reading about her thoughts and emotions, I was living them with her.


APSECTS OF THE BOOK THAT MADE ME CRINGE A LITTLE

It may sound like I'm contradicting myself here, but I'm not, promise!
While this book was relatable, as a whole it was unreal. By that I mean that the situations that were thrown at the characters were relatable if you looked at them individually, but together they created this chain of events that seemed very unlikely to happen.

The main thing that irked while I was reading was the time line. A story that would've made sense if it happened over the course of a year somehow happened in two months. I found myself confused at times regarding how many hours or days had passed between certain events and because of it, I had trouble making sense of what was happening.

A thing that I wasn't expecting was the darker tone of the story. It didn't make me dislike the story, far from it, but I went in thinking I was going to read a cute contemporary and that's not exactly what I got.


FINAL WORDS

FLANNERY was a really good book that conveyed some powerful lessons. Although it had some flaws, it still lived up to what it claimed to be: heartbreaking and hilarious, empowering and horrowing... GREAT!

"But we have lots of reasons to feel emotional. Life isn't fair. There's nothing wrong with emotion Flan. That's how we know we're alive. It's good."

[Favola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Von Anfang an bekommen wir einen guten Einblick in Flannerys Leben. Sie hat es nämlich nicht leicht. Sie wohnt mir ihrer Mutter und ihrem kleinen Bruder in einer Sozialwohnung, ihren Vater kennt sie nicht. Die Mutter ist Künstlerin und ihre unkonventionellen Projekte bringen kaum Geld ein. Und wenn sie doch einmal Geld hat, gibt sie es lieber für völlig Unvernünftiges aus als zum Beispiel die Stromrechnungen oder das Biobuch, das Flannery dringend für die Schule braucht, zu bezahlen.

So muss Flannery schon viel mehr Verantwortung übernehmen, als es es für eine 16-jährige sein sollte. Dazu kommt, dass ihre beste Freundin plötzlich lieber die Zeit mir ihrem Freund verbringt, der wohl ein Keil zwischen die beiden Mädchen treiben möchte. Einziger Lichtblick ist Tyron, den Flannery schon immer kennt und in den sie total verliebt ist.

Als sie dann mit ihm zusammen ein Schulprojekt auf die Beine stellen soll, hat sie grosse Hoffnungen. Schnell muss sie jedoch erkennen, dass sich Tyron wirklich stark verändert und ganz andere Prioritäten hat als sie.

Wenn man die Inhaltsangabe von "Das Glück hat vier Farben" liest, erwartet man eine süsse Liebesgeschichte mit der witzigen Idee, bei einem Schulprojekt Liebestränke zu produzieren, die in der Schule dann einen regelrechten Hype auslösen. Und ja, zu einem Teil erfüllt Lisa Moore auch diese Erwartungen. Doch die Mixturen-Sache kommt erst recht spät ins Spiel und die ganze Geschichte ist nicht wirklich süss, sondern holt einen ganz schnell auf den Boden der Tatsachen zurück.

Dies ist meiner Meinung nach jedoch kein grosser Kritikpunkt, denn Flannerys Geschichte ist ernster und tiefgründiger als man erwarten würde und so bietet "Das Glück hat vier Farben" viel mehr. Es geht um eine Familie, die trotz Problem zusammen hält wie Pech und Schwefel. Es geht um Freundschaften, die sich verändern und dass nicht jeder Lebensabschnitt, jedes Buch mit einem Happy End abschliessen muss, sondern dass es vor allem darum geht, welche Lebenserfahrungen man daraus zieht.

Lisa Moore Schreibstil ist angenehm und erfrischend zu lesen und enthält oft einen ironischen Beigeschmack. Auch wenn "Das Glück hat vier Farben" ausschliesslich aus Flannerys ich-Perspektive geschildert ist, setzt sich die Handlung aus ganz vielen kleinen Geschichten um die verschiedenen Charaktere zusammen, was das Buch zu etwas Besonderem macht.

Fazit:
feinfühlig, emotional, authentisch
"Das Glück hat vier Farben" ist so viel mehr als die erwartete süsse Liebesgeschichte. Lisa Moore beginnt ihre Geschichte ganz schlicht, bringt dann jedoch immer mehr kleine Geschichten rund um ihre lebensnahen und facettenreichen Charaktere ein, so dass die Handlung immer komplexer und scharfsinniger wird und einen richtigen Lesesog ausübt.
Ein Buch, wie es das Leben schreibt.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Das Glück hat vier Farben klang für mich nach einer zuckersüßen Liebesgeschichte mit einem Hauch von Magie und so war für mich klar, dass ich mich sehr aufs Lesen dieser Geschichte freute. Die Idee mit den Liebestränken, die vielleicht tatsächlich Wirkung entfalten, klang einfach innovativ und ich war gespannt, was sich Lisa Moore damit ausgedacht hat. Im Laufe des Buches wurde ich dann jedoch sehr von der Geschichte enttäuscht.
Fangen wir jedoch zunächst einmal mit den positiven Aspekten an. Der Schreibstil war absolut passend für ein Jugendbuch und lies sich sehr angenehm lesen. Sehr schön besonders deshalb, da die Autorin normalerweise nicht in diesem Genre zu Hause ist und ich solch eine Wandlungsfähigkeit bewundere. Außerdem gefiel mir sehr gut, dass durch das ganze Buch hindurch Lebensentwürfe angesprochen werden, die nicht den klassischen Bildern entsprechen und der Geschichte so eine Menge Diversität mitschwang.
Dennoch konnte mich Das Glück hat vier Farben nicht von sich überzeugen. Trotz den oben genannten Punkten glich es mehr einer 0815 Liebesgeschichte bzw. Contemporary Geschichte und konnte sich nicht von der Masse abheben. Die Sache mit den Zaubertränken, die mich angezogen hat und die ich sehr innovativ fand, nahm leider keinen großen Platz im Buch ein und war schnell wieder vergessen. Auch die Liebesgeschichte zwischen Flannery und Tyrone, die im Klappentext noch sehr thematisiert wurde, verlor sich leider zwischen der Vielzahl an anderen Themen. Bei diesen war es aber genauso, weshalb alle parallel laufenden Handlungen auf mich sehr blass wirkten und keine so richtig herausstechen kann.
Das Ziel von Contemporary Büchern ist für mich immer ein Reifen der Protagonistin anhand der gegeben Probleme und Tatsachen. Davon hat Flannery eine ganze Menge, denn ihre Mutter kann nicht mit Geld umgehen, sie ist in ihren Freund aus Kindheitstagen verliebt, der sich verändert hat und ihre Liebe scheinbar nicht so wirklich erwidert und seit ihre beste Freundin einen Freund hat, benimmt auch diese sich total merkwürdig. Das bietet eine ganze Menge Potential, das leider nicht genutzt wird. Alles muss Flannery vorgelegt werden und 90% der Dinge merkt sie erst im letzten Kapitel. Den Rest überhaupt nicht. Somit hat mir nicht nur die Geschichte selbst leider nicht zugesagt, auch der eigentliche Sinn eines Contemporary Buches wurde in meinen Augen leider nicht erfüllt.
Fazit: Obwohl ich den Schreibstil von Lisa Moore sehr mochte, konnte mich Das Glück hat vier Farben leider nicht von sich überzeugen. Die Geschichte blieb zu blass und auch die Protagonistin Flannery macht in meinen Augen keine Wandlung durch. Schade, denn der Klappentext machte so viel Lust auf die Geschichte.

[Jennifer]

Lisa Moore is one of Canada's most celebrated writers. I've read, and loved, February and Caught (shortlisted for the 2013 Giller Prize) for different reasons, but I mostly admire Moore for her rare ability to create startling and gorgeous images of the everyday with just a few choice words.

So when I heard about her new YA novel, Flannery, I knew I had to give it a go.

In short, Flannery Malone is in love with Tyrone O'Rourke. Has been since they were children and spent almost every waking minute together. Over the years they've grown apart, but fate intervenes when they are paired together for a school project. But Tyrone isn't the Tyrone she used to know. In fact, it seems no one is: not Tyrone, her mother, or her best friend Amber, who is going down a very dark path of her own.

All in all, Moore's first YA novel was ... okay. I enjoyed it, and Moore's talent shines through, but I felt as though many things were left incomplete. The story line with Tyrone is meant to carry the novel, yet for a few powerful scenes he is largely absent. I was much more interested in Flannery's changing relationship with Amber, a girl throwing away all she has known and loved for a boy, although Amber barely makes an appearance. The climax of her story serves as to that of the book, but as a result it feels out of place. At home, Flannery must deal with her flighty, artistic mother, grapple with having to care for her much younger brother, and ponder how different her life would be should she have known her father.

By the end, I felt like Moore had started all these very interesting and in-depth plots, only to hastily tie them together in a way I'm not sure worked. (Some, like the issues with her family, simply disappeared.) Things seemed to magically work out, though not always easily, and the last few chapters felt rushed. One hundred, or even fifty, more pages may have helped make the book more cohesive.

So, give it a go for the gorgeous writing and exploration of different relationships, or if you are looking for a light, enjoyable read. Until then, I eagerly await Moore's next return to form.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a quick, but heartbreaking read. The reason it is not ranked higher is the writing style. It was kind of annoying to have the dialogue bounce between past and present and at times mixing making it extra confusing for me. Also there was a continuity issue. In the beginning Flannery and Tyrone have been friends since their mom's gave birth to them within hours of each other. Then half way through Tyrone is more than a year older- 'I was almost nine and Tyrone had just turned ten'. Then it was her friend Amber who was born the same day. Then when she is nine and her mom is in labor with her brother she starts mixing up things that happened when she was a teenager and saying that was why she had already knew things that other kids didn't know, like how earlier she makes it seem like her mom didn't get on welfare until the last couple of years, but in that moment talks like they have been on welfare since before her brother was born. I don't know if it was supposed to be like that?
It just bugged me that no one else caught it and was like 'I thought Tyrone and Flannery were born on the same day not Flannery and Amber?' Or 'Hey, how does Flannery know so much about welfare at age nine if they didnt' get on welfare until she was fifteen? Let's rewrite this section.' I felt like Flannery grew up a lot but the ending just skimmed over a six month period and it was hard to really feel it.
On the whole it just felt like the author had a great idea and at certain points she strayed from her original plot with these other, although great and really real moments of being a poor, emotionally confused teenager who just barely has it together and is going through a lot for someone her age moments that don't really go with her original plot and instead of just changing it and rewriting the beginning to go with the new stuff, she just kept it as is. Either of the ways she approached this could have been so much better if they were a whole book themselves and not just half the book this way and half the book that way.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

At age 16, Flannery is dealing with huge issues. Her mother, an artist, is unable to pay for her biology book or heating bills. Her best friend, Amber, has a new boyfriend that Flannery does not trust because he is over-controlling and their friendship is falling apart. And now Flannery has been put into a Entrepreneurship class project with her long-term crush, a graffiti artist who seems to think he’s too cool for school. So she is left doing all of the work for their project herself. Flannery works to hold it all together, even managing to create a project that sells out: love potions. While Flannery may realize they are entirely pretend, everyone who drinks one seems to be finding love. As things start to shatter around her though, Flannery discovers who is there for her and who is not.

OK, everything I read about this book seems to focus on the love potion aspect. This book does have that, but oh my it is so much more. The writing here is strikingly unique. Moore does away with quotation marks, creating dialogue poetry on the page, the voices running together exquisitely and somehow becoming even more clear without the punctuation. That is great writing. She plays with the mysticism of love, the power of control, and the illusion of it as well.

Beyond the love potions, this is a book about a teenager finding her own strength, her own voice and her own way of living which is not about conforming at all. Flannery knows throughout the book that she is unique and in love and that everything is not what it should be. Still, there are revelations even as she lives her truth, ones that change her point of view and make her grow. That is done so naturally and organically. Beautiful.

A stunning teen read, pick this one up not for the love potions but for the deep story and strong unique heroine that you will want to meet. Appropriate for ages 14-18.

[Matthew Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flannery by Lisa Moore was an intriguing YA/teen book. The characters in this book are highly developed and feel as though they could be real. The main character is a 16 year old girl named Flannery. This book is told in such a poignant way, every page is different, and the writing style is unique in the good way. This book made me think about relationships in a new light, as little bits and pieces of Flannery’s relationship’s with people and her family are revealed. The story starts in Flannery’s class, they are doing group assignments and she gets paired with the boy she has always had a crush on and used to be very close to when they were younger. Tyrone has become some what of a “bad boy” now and sometimes doesn’t come to class. This book is very real and this makes it stand out from a bunch of YA books that are on the shelves today. When reading this book I thought this could be someone I know. This was about growing up and getting through high school, The reader gets to watch Flannery make decisions, and grow as a person. This was my favourite part usually in teen books the characters seem 2-d and never have any depth but Flannery grew a lot. It shows you the way teens really are as her best friend is ignoring her and all her goals (she used to be a competitive swimmer who would practise a lot) for her boyfriend. This book takes you through mistakes, downfalls and also rises and how to cope with mistakes.

[Tiger Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give this book a 3.7.

The writing style in the book confused me a bit, in the sense that it did not use quotes, so it was hard to tell when someone was talking. The character development however was top notch, each character was in depth and realistic.

Although the writing was good the book was more so interesting I guess you could put it. You see the book had some good text but then again other parts where a little too exaggerated and in my case a little- no way to old for me. What I am conveying is that some of the context is inappropriate.

Luckily for my lovely mother, after reading Dante and Aristotle ( another charming book with new topics for us ) she picked Flannery. I will be honest, I don't understand her book choosing methods. My mom apparently loved the cover and thought it looked cute, I however was more cautious, asking the appropriate questions as to "Is It Appropriate?"

Even though it might not have been the right context for me, I am glad I read it, because it shows me how different authors have different styles of writing and it is also a great book when looking for character development. In conclusion though Flannery is a 3.7 because of context, writing styles, age level appropriacy.