Cracked Pots

Ari Appleton #2

by Heather Tucker

“It is the voice of the characters, the kindness of strangers, and the ingenuity and determination of our protagonist against terrible forces that make this story sing.” ― San Francisco Chronicle on Tucker’s debut, The Clay Girl From the author of the Indie Next List pick The Clay Girl comes a deeply moving novel about the resilience of a remarkable young woman unraveling the mystery of a missing friend while struggling to grow past the trauma of her calamitous upbringing. From the waning flower-power ’60s in Toronto through her East Coast university years, Ari fights to discover who she is and what it means to be the child of an addicted mother and depraved father. When her friend Natasha, the perfect girl from the nicest family, suddenly vanishes, Ari sets out to find out what has happened to her ― are her troubled parents to blame? With wit, tenacity, and the incessant meddling of Jasper ― the seahorse in her head ― Ari rides turbulent waves of devilry and discovery, calamity and creation, abandonment and atonement on a journey to find her true self, and to find Natasha. Cracked Pots is a story about a girl broken by both cruelty and truth. It is a revelation that destiny is shaped in clay, not stone. It is also a celebration of rising after the blows, gathering the fragments, and piecing together a remarkable life through creativity, kindness, and belonging.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Coming Of Age, Book Club, Canada, Audiobook, Literary Fiction

440 pages, Paperback

Published October 5, 2021

Reviews

[Terrie Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Cracked Post" by Heather Tucker is An Ari Appleton Novel, Book 2.

OH, MY HEART!! I was blown away by the first book, 'The Clay Girl'. I read it to prepare for this one and I'm so glad I did. It was a wonderful reading/listening experience!

Ari Appleton is the sixth daughter of an alcoholic, drug addicted mother and a perverted father. When I first met Ari she's eight years old. As this book opens she is now seventeen years old.

The family Ari is born into is cruel, unloving, not nurturing. Ari strives to keep her life afloat as her family environment continues to deteriorate.

As others begin to fall, Ari falls prey to the unexpected, too but remains strong and a force of hope to others around her. Vulnerable yet resilient, Ari carries on one catastrophe after another, develops a plan, and comes out the other side brighter, wiser and better.

Ari creatively begins to develop her own family through her teenage and young adult years. Her rekindled relationships with her five older sisters, her two stepbrothers, her aunts, even her boyfriends, all become pieces and parts of Ari's new family and her future.

Stone is rigid and unbending but Ari is made of clay. Clay can be shaped into many things. Stone can break a clay pot but the fragments can be gathered, pieced together and reshaped into something different, something better. And so it is with Ari...

You can feel Ari winding down and moving on to the next stage in her life. She's so bright, so hopeful, and it's so exciting to see her grow into herself. I continued to love her story to the very end.

I fell in love with this author's writing style. It's a poetic, witty, and magical journey as she takes me through not quite 15 hours of listening time with the wonderful narrator Laura Kyswaty. I didn't want it to end but I like the way it did! Thank you, Heather Tucker!

Thank you to NetGalley, ECW Press Audio, and Heather Tucker for a free ALC of this book. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review. This audiobook is now available.

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes -- we can't help but say to ourselves -- "God, I am soooo blessed"............
....to have read this book!! To have shared friendship -food - conversations - warm water soaking - heart-to heart conversational-depth-with another incredible human being -- more compassionate than the word itself - matched so well with our own heart......
well,......its 'a blessing'!!! Pure blessing!!!

The physical book "Cracked Pots" might be the most beautiful physical book in your home library.
To hold it -- own it -- touch it - smell it -feel it is breathtaking pure beauty....
The golden color, the texture, the design, the touch, the feelings .....are PERFECTION!!!!!

"Cracked Pots" is the sequel to Heather Tucker's powerful novel (one of the years very best book of first published in 2016) --"The Clay Girl".

If you haven't read "The Clay Girl" -- you might want to begin with that book first -- but the best books can always stand alone -which this book does!) .....
Personally --both books are so good -- I wouldn't have wanted to miss either.

I'm going to keep the details about "Cracked Pots" to a minimum .... and just say a few IMPORTANT things....
....First --Heather Tucker is an artist/writer/poet/thinker/ >> exceptional storyteller!!! both books cover the full range of emotions >> centered around trauma and resilience -- centered around one of my favorite characters in Canadian literature -- Ari Appleton (ie. Hariet with one R)

Ari was born the youngest sister in her family ....
Jennah, June, Jacquie, Jory, and Jullianne, -- as you can see all have names that start with the letter J.
Ari was only 8 years old when we meet her in "The Clay Girl"....
She is now 17 in "Cracked Pots"... Hariet might say -- "she's trouble, from trouble"....(we, readers might reckon t0 differ)! Her mother was a substance-abusive-addicted mother. Her father killed himself in "The Clay Girl"....
We now continue to get the inside scoop of cracked-cruelty-tales -while Ari is trying to protect her little brother, Mikey -(we love this child)
Ari's residence through abandonment, sexual abuse, and savagery....and the ways she reconciles her life -'life-with-cracked-pieces'.... ... discovery of true self -of 'truth'- is enlivening.
We get a little mystery-suspense story, too
...."where is Natasha?" [the Button-collector-dreamer-girl wasn't the type to walk on the wild side]. In her diary-Hariet is mentioned on almost every page --why?

It was a joy to connect with Ari again - older now --catch up on her life -- as she continues to tell us family stories --make new discoveries -shares herself -"destiny is shaped in clay, not stone"....

With so much heart -- (again, it must be said the language Heather writes with is pure luminous-gold)--
Heather explores how love, tragedy, and the need for connection may be the only things that bring us back together.

With a full cast of charming-interesting-characters -dialogue with hilarity --I'll end with a quote that speaks to the heart of 'Cracked Pots'....
"It is with celebration of rising after the blows, gathering the fragments, and piecing together a remarkable life through creativity and kindness".

5 very strong stars --from the brilliant Heather Tucker -- (one of the most beautiful human beings on the planet!)

[❀ Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a spectacular treat it was to reintroduce myself to Ari and her clan of supporters in the sequel of the Clay Girl! I am so privileged to receive an advance reader copy and to share my honest review of Heather Tucker's second book (which I have been waiting for since my book club had dinner with the author to discuss The Clay Girl).

It is hard to imagine that children live through the trauma, abuse and neglect that Ari, her beautiful sisters and her found brothers, Mikey and Todd, shared yet I know that children and families are cracked apart by these horrors and devastating family stories.

Tucker's story weaves together the trauma, abuse, neglect with resilience, love and support with the hope shining through! The theme of hope shines through for better days, enduring love from a caring support network, and beauty found through creativity, art and writing. There is always hope that better days are ahead!

These characters come alive in a readers mind, they are raw, vivid, gritty and open our imaginations. There is a tenseness as the reader copes with all of the trauma yet hopes for better days. The reader finishes knowing that their own actions can make a difference for others who struggle and that sometimes we all need a support net as we are broken and put back together stronger than before!

If you have not already read The Clay Girl, pick it up and get prepared for Cracked Pots which is being published in October!!

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to read an early copy of Cracked Pots, and if I could give it higher than 5 stars I would! Once again, I will be telling everyone I know to read this book because Heather's writing is pure magic - truly poetic and filled to bursting with such beautiful imagery and metaphors that I found myself reading sentences over and over in wonder at her talent. The story flows like a river through rapids and calms, and it moved me every step of the way, filling my heart to bursting with love, laughter, anger, and sadness, but also, and most importantly, hope. The characters are more memorable than any I have ever encountered in a book before, and it's not hard to start thinking of them as best friends and family as we follow them along on their journeys. Ari, in particular, is a character that I will never, ever forget because she has become a part of me. It's almost like experiencing her journey has made me a stronger and better person as well. Heather has a true gift for writing like no other, and her stories always move me to the core. I can't recommend this book and her previous jewel, The Clay Girl, highly enough.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again, Ari and her very extended family and friends welcome us in to their world. I love the lyrical prose that dances across the pages, somewhat like how Ari's seahorse companion Jasper dances through her thoughts. And the analogy of kintsugi, the creation of something beautiful from something broken, resonates solidly throughout the story. What I did struggle with was the untethered storyline. I never felt a story arc. Instead I would read and find several places that I thought perhaps would have made a possibly good ending. But the story continued to ramble on. While I enjoy spending time with Ari, I think this could have either been condensed with a more defined storyline or instead broken (cracked?) into two books that gave more focus and detail to the events all cobbled together in this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.

[Jeatherhane Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the story of Ari, the lioneagle, and her imaginary spirit seahorse. Ari lives in crapdom, She talks in cryptic word play. Jim Morrison thinks she's deep. Everyone around Ari speaks figuratively. By the way, her friend is missing.

Turns out this is a sequel, and I didn't read the first one. I think the story could be standalone, but I am exhausted from deciphering all the trippy, obscure prose. I think this style of writing has an audience, it's just not me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital review copy.

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free electronic ARC of this excellent mid-1980s historical novel from Netgalley, Heather Tucker, and ECW Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to add Heather Tucker to my favorite author's lists and to recommend her to friends and family.

As a ceramist and player of clay for 40+ years, this was a novel I simply had to read. It was a novel that immediately grabbed my attention. I loved Mikey from the git-go, and big sister Ari - Hariet with only one 'R' - was adored quite soon after. And the clay keeps on coming...

Life for the two of them is hard, opportunities are few and far between, and add in a family of criminal misfits that only add to the Maham they exist in, but they muddle through and flourish against all odds. Pleasant Cove, Canada is well defined, a dying little town on the Atlantic coastline with little to offer during these hard times. Winter is imminent and will be as always very long. And Natashia is missing, the latest girl to disappear among many who were never found. Only with the security of their nest and the assistance of their spirit critters will this family make it through.
pub date October 5, 2021
ECW Press
Reviewed on October 18, 2021, on Goodreads, Netgalley, AmazonSmile, Barnes&Noble, and Kobo. Not available for review at BookBub or GooglePlay.

Reread 1-20-2022 - even better, the second time around

[AngelaC · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're considering reading this book, make sure you read The Clay Girl first. I didn't realise this was a sequel to anything else and it made the book more hard-going than it needed to be, I think.
It centres on a teenage girl, her half-brothers and sisters, her kindly aunts, her adult friends and her first boyfriend, all of whom are concerned to create some semblance of a successful life despite a drug-addled mother and her third, physically and sexually abusive husband.
Not, then, a book for everybody and the style can be difficult, even slightly disjointed in places. However, as I said, reading The Clay Girl beforehand would help with the plethora of characters and the storyline is an interesting one.

[Kayla Al-Rawass]

I cannot put my finger on how I feel about this one!!!

[Sue Nieuwenburg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the first book, "A Clay Girl", but I liked the sequel even more! In this book, Heather Tucker demonstrates that she has the mind of a philosopher, the voice of a poet and the vision of an artist. They all come together as the life of the protagonist, Ari, fights to rise above the life she was born into to find her true self and the happiness she deserves.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not sure I have the words to say how amaazing this story is. The words I need are in the dictionary but out of order. Getting the in order will take time because it is amazing and beautiful and definitely a top 5 favorite.

[Candice Putnam · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.5]

[Paige Kilian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved both of these books (this and Clay Girl) for their beautiful imagery and fresh, creative, resilient characters.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved The Clay Girl and Cracked Pots was a great extension to the Ari Appleton storyline. Such a unique and beautifully lyrical novel!

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved "The Clay Girl" so I was ecstatic to discover that Heather Tucker had written a sequel. While this is a difficult book in many regards as it deals with childhood abuse and neglect, it is ultimately a story of hope and rising above your upbringing and circumstances.

Heather Tucker's writing is magical and I hadn't realized how much I had missed it, until I picked up her second book. I love it's lyrical quality and how the writing carries you along. I found myself deliberately slowing down as I was reading so that I would be able to enjoy this book for as long as possible.

I don't think you need to read the first book before reading this as it stands well on it own, but you'll probably want to after reading this one! I would recommend that you give yourself some time to get used to the writing in this book before setting it down or giving up as it is definitely written in a unique way.

Thanks to NetGalley and Misfit Book for the ARC!

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ari is seventeen and living in a very dysfunctional and abusive family. She is trying to find a way out while also trying to protect her brother. Ari also believes that everything that goes wrong in her life is her fault. This is a story of living through trauma and trying to pick up the pieces. Can you ever deal with all the trauma and put it behind you.?

Initially you will have to get into the rhythm of this book. Once you find your footing it is a compelling story and you will want to know what is going to happen next. The story will have your wondering how our minds cope with trauma in order to survive and live. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend giving it a try.

Thank you to #netgalley, @misFITbooks, and @Heather Tucker for a copy of this book.

[Beth Lind · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book to savor because rushing through would mean not pausing to absorb the goodness of Ari nor the magical moments that are sprinkled throughout. Heather Tucker is a wordsmith in the best of ways. I reread words, phrases and sentences that could have been created by the gods.

Ari is someone I totally relate to while simultaneously recognizing her as a misunderstood stranger in our midst. I love her and I cheer for her, cry for her, and want to treasure all my minutes with her.

This book is the sequel to The Clay Girl and could be read alone — but why would you want to deny yourself more time in the goodness of Ari?

[Collette Mcgaahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will own up to being a lazy reader if that explains why I could not get into the confusing prose of this book. It seemed to jump al over the place and back again which does not suit me at all. I will be generous and offer the fact I didn’t read the prequel so maybe that was why I didn’t enjoy it.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sure wish I knew this was a second book before I started. You need to read Clay Girl first to understand a few things. I was a bit lost, feeling like a accidentally skipped a chapter or three. It was a whimsical story and I liked it enough to go and read the first book.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Beautiful characters, gorgeous writing.
Two tiny things- chute not shoot, and Conception Bay is not the eastern most point of Canada.
Still five stars though and that says a lot since screwing up details of NL geography is usually a deal breaker for me. SUCH A GOOD BOOK!

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the first of these two books, The Clay Girl, not as much this one. It takes up where Clay Girl leaves off, with 16 year old Ari leaving her beloved Nova Scotia and bringing her 10 year old step brother Mikey back to the hellish life they had in Toronto.
The story is still focused on how Ari survives all the chaos and meanness in her home life, which is inspiring. And how you can make family from non blood relationships is a sentiment I truly believe and love in this book. Her relationships with her 3 step brothers were interesting and lovely.
However, spoilers, the killing of Natasha was unnecessary and the book then started to be a little Perils of Pauline-ish. I mean what else can happen to this girl! Also, I found her relationship with Aaron a bit ewwwy. I mean he may have been in his twenties but he was still a mentor, although a girl in my high school did marry one of her teachers after graduating, so, still creepy. Not to mention the gangster with a heart of gold. I mean puleez!
And although I liked the author’s other-worldly riddle like dialogue from Ari, it was a bit much and the book could have been edited as the wrap-up at the end could have happened 100 Kobo pages sooner.
So good, but not great.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realise this was a book 2, i having read the first in series. I found the book quite moving and describes a life where nothing comes easy. It is centred around a 17 year old girl living in what most of us term a dysfunctional and abusive family, however this becomes a normal family in many situations. Story of never giving up no matter what is thrown at you, look after each other and learn to look after yourself to survive.Some harrowing situations of abuse and threats however this girl tries her best to break through whilst protecting her younger brother and looking after her incontinent and neglectful mother. The writing and descriptions are excellent and you cannot fail to understand the situations and feelings. Not an author I had read before but will look out for now. It's a long read takes a while to get into the style and the content, maybe because i hadn't read first book, so give it a chance. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

[Linda Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ouch… Ari’s story is painful to read yet amazingly hopeful. Tucker’s prose is psychedelic, beautiful, and I do believe ingenious. Role it around in your mouth as you read. It’s laced with clever bits and imagery that kept me stopping just to savour and I have found myself thinking about this story on and off since I turned the last page. That’s always an indicator, to me, of a book’s success.
Be prepared to set your disbelief on a shelf because the rollercoaster ride is beyond belief.
This is the second and I think the last of the Ari Appleton books. I am going to miss her moxie and so many of her supporting characters. Jasper… I like the way you think 🤭
I highly recommend “Cracked Pots” …. I read “Clay Girl” first and although it’s not absolutely necessary, I would recommend.
Heather Tucker… ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved The Clay Girl and listened to the two books back-to-back. I liked the narration of the first book better and, while there were many redeeming parts of this second book and I stayed engaged until the end, there were parts of this book that seemed unnecessary and disconnected (Natasha’s whole storyline for one) and took away from the good parts of the book. While I didn’t like this book as much, I will miss all the characters and I’m glad I read it.

[Joy Affleck · Rating 5 out of 5]

The lyrical and imaginative writing of these books is what steals my breath most. The Clay Girl had me in a trance and the sequel, Cracked Pots is no different.

I love the characters and the hope that is carried through. It really reminds you of the wonderful people who have coloured your own life.

I will be reading this again and again and finding new treasures each time.

[Mari Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this one even darker than Clay Girl and somewhat more confusing toward the end of the book. The plot seemed to get disjointed, the characters started running together and I lost track of who was who for a bit. Still a good read and for those who feel in love with Ari Appleton and wanted her story to continue.

[MJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a while to get into the style of writing, but beautiful story and continuation to The Clay Girl. A reminder to appreciate all life has blessed you with and to be a helper to others. You never know what someone is going through.

[Marisa Neyenhuis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but some parts were so brutal I kind of wanted to quit. I know the idea of the series is overcoming hardships and breaking so you can grow, but some of the hardships felt excessive. However, I enjoyed watching Ari and the other characters on their journeys.

[Karen Suk-Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the first book - and I loved this book just as much. This is a book about resilience and brokenness - and above all hope and beauty. It is an amazing story, poetically written and will live in your heart in mind, long after you read it.

[Caly ☯ Crazy Book Lady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

Perfect follow up to The Clay Girl and both together make the most beautiful story I have ever read. The writing is wonderful and Ari is someone who will stay in my heart for years to come.