Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com
On the night after a great performance in his high school play, Mason Rice finds himself having a wonderful time celebrating. Little did he expect to find himself having sex with his best friend, Kat. He's always been attracted to Kat, but so has their other best friend, Jamie. Which is the main reason why neither guy has ever made a play for Kat. No one wanted to mess up their solid friendship.
But the aftermath of their encounter effects all of their mutual friendships. Mason finds himself cast into the unknown and discovers how lonely he is. So he is taken by surprise when he meets Colette, a friend of his future step-mother. Though Colette is only in her early 20's, it's a wide gap from Mason's sixteen years.
Soon, Mason and Colette are "running into each other" at a local coffee shop. It isn't long before they are meeting secretly at Colette's apartment. From the beginning, Colette and Mason admit it can never be anything more than it is. But that doesn't stop them from taking things further. Mason knows there's another guy in Colette's life, but he doesn't care. Or does he?
As the spring of Mason's school year is winding down, Mason comes to terms with what is happening around him, and he forces himself to confront his friends and the situation he currently is in.
The title, THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE AND DEATH, leads the reader to believe that the story will be just that - "light." But there is a deeper story between the covers that the reader will discover as they venture into Mason's turbulent life. As with other works by Ms. Martin, the story is deep and real and heartfelt.
On the night after a great performance in his high school play, Mason Rice finds himself having a wonderful time celebrating. Little did he expect to find himself having sex with his best friend, Kat. He's always been attracted to Kat, but so has their other best friend, Jamie. Which is the main reason why neither guy has ever made a play for Kat. No one wanted to mess up their solid friendship.
But the aftermath of their encounter effects all of their mutual friendships. Mason finds himself cast into the unknown and discovers how lonely he is. So he is taken by surprise when he meets Colette, a friend of his future step-mother. Though Colette is only in her early 20's, it's a wide gap from Mason's sixteen years.
Soon, Mason and Colette are "running into each other" at a local coffee shop. It isn't long before they are meeting secretly at Colette's apartment. From the beginning, Colette and Mason admit it can never be anything more than it is. But that doesn't stop them from taking things further. Mason knows there's another guy in Colette's life, but he doesn't care. Or does he?
As the spring of Mason's school year is winding down, Mason comes to terms with what is happening around him, and he forces himself to confront his friends and the situation he currently is in.
The title, THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE AND DEATH, leads the reader to believe that the story will be just that - "light." But there is a deeper story between the covers that the reader will discover as they venture into Mason's turbulent life. As with other works by Ms. Martin, the story is deep and real and heartfelt.
Stephanie S. (skywriter319) -
C.K. Kelly Martins third novel, THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE AND DEATH, is a nuanced tale of the complexities of contemporary romance. It doesnt quite have the punch and memorability I seek in contemporary realistic fiction, but it will nevertheless find fans among those who like their love stories quieter and subtler.
I adore Mason, the protagonist, in a way that is less than adulation but more than pleasant enjoyment. He is the realest boy I have read about in a long time, with typical male desires for female attention and a conflict-free lifestyle, but with the determination to get through the hardest parts of his life with as much dignity and open-mindedness as possible. As I was reading I kept thinking, YES, this is how a boy thinks! even though I clearly have no personal experiencebut it felt right, the way C.K. Kelly Martin portrayed Masons thought processes.
The two girls, Kat and Colette, were less fleshed out than I wouldve liked, paling in the shadows of Masons three-dimensionality. Mason likes to say that Kat is adorable and alluring, but I never really saw her being as cool as he described her to be. Mason spends a lot more time and space in the book with Colette, and so I can understand her conflicts a bit more, and their affair works for me despite its unconventionality and taboo implications.
Overall, THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE AND DEATH didnt take me by surprise or anything, but it was still a smooth read that I was invested in while I was reading it. C.K. Kelly Martin will either strike the perfect chord with your contemporary fiction desires, or else be a nevertheless intriguing book that was obviously skillfully written.
I adore Mason, the protagonist, in a way that is less than adulation but more than pleasant enjoyment. He is the realest boy I have read about in a long time, with typical male desires for female attention and a conflict-free lifestyle, but with the determination to get through the hardest parts of his life with as much dignity and open-mindedness as possible. As I was reading I kept thinking, YES, this is how a boy thinks! even though I clearly have no personal experiencebut it felt right, the way C.K. Kelly Martin portrayed Masons thought processes.
The two girls, Kat and Colette, were less fleshed out than I wouldve liked, paling in the shadows of Masons three-dimensionality. Mason likes to say that Kat is adorable and alluring, but I never really saw her being as cool as he described her to be. Mason spends a lot more time and space in the book with Colette, and so I can understand her conflicts a bit more, and their affair works for me despite its unconventionality and taboo implications.
Overall, THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE AND DEATH didnt take me by surprise or anything, but it was still a smooth read that I was invested in while I was reading it. C.K. Kelly Martin will either strike the perfect chord with your contemporary fiction desires, or else be a nevertheless intriguing book that was obviously skillfully written.
