Book Reviews: Lovebirds Fly South by Chris Leite

Warning: The book in today’s review, Lovebirds Fly South by Chris Leite, contains depictions of sex, violence, and severe mental illness. If you wish to avoid these issues, proceed with caution.

Happy Saturday, everyone! I want to start this weekend with another review, this time of a book that’s drastically different from The Darkling Threads and The Gospel of Nicholas. This novel is called Lovebirds Fly South by Chris Leite, and I don’t remember the last time I’ve read a book like it. My fantasy and science fiction readers may not be into it, but those who enjoy coming-of-age stories, pedestrian fiction, and incredibly insane (in the literal sense of the word) characters will love Leite’s work.

We all know what high school can be like: catty, backstabbing, full of drama. At least, that’s what I’ve seen in shows like Degrassi: Next Generation, and it’s what I’ve heard through second-hand stories. Personally, I never had to suffer through that sort of high school experience. (Thank God!) But plenty of us have, and it’s that sort of drama and craziness which Leite plays on in this book.

Kit is new to Brockton High, having decided to attend that school rather than one where he and his parents live so that he can play basketball. Little does he know that his appearance is about to turn the entire school upside-down as he becomes mixed in the affairs of Casey (Brockton High’s resident hot jock), Ashley (Brockton High’s resident hot mess), and Lucy (Brockton High’s ugly-duckling-turned-swan and Kit’s elementary school crush). What should have been a happy reunion with his old friend, Lucy, quickly morphs into a twisted world of scheming, cheating, dating, double-crossing, and insanity. Everything is not what it seems at Brockton High, a place where everyone’s motives are questionable and people are willing to do anything to get their way or preserve their reputations. So, pretty much, it’s like any other high school. But who will hook up with whom? Who will be betrayed, and who will be the traitors? Most importantly, will everyone survive to see their first real days of adulthood?

Lovebirds Fly South is a roller coaster ride of tension, relationships, and mystery. As often happens in life, the plot only thickens as the story progresses and layer upon layer of questions is added to the mix right to the very last page. I was hooked the moment that Kit and Ashley had their first “moment/not moment” during homeroom, and I had a hard time setting the story aside until I was finished with the entire 323 pages. Of course, each chapter—section? I’m not sure what to call them—is pretty short, usually only a few pages at a time. The shortness of these sections combined with the mystery and tension made it very easy for me to zoom through parts of this book before I would realize how late it had gotten.

I must also attribute this easy read to Leite’s writing. He develops a very unique narrator with a relatable, easy-to-follow voice, almost as though the narrator were right in front of me telling the story as part of the town’s latest gossip. This feeling especially appears whenever the narrator breaks the fourth wall and hints at future plot points or says things like “and the plot thickens.” Leite’s humor adds to this feeling and was one of my favorite parts of the book. My favorite line in particular is when Lucy’s stepfather says, in response to Lucy asking about work, “It’s good. Sometimes I fantasize about jumping out of the window and landing on my head, but other than that, it’s great.” These gems are prominent throughout the novel, and, for the most part, it made the drama and tension much more palatable.

Still, this humor and voice sometimes gave the characters a one-dimensional feel; in fact, many of the characters were very stereotypical. I’m particularly pointing to Ashley’s henchmen: Holly, Polly, and Molly. They were such Valley Girl sheep, Ashley could have told them to jump off a cliff and they probably would have while only being concerned about chipping a nail on the way down. I wanted to strangle them, and not just because they did something I disagreed with. They flat out annoyed me and, sometimes, pissed me off. The only saving grace with this sort of character development is that Leite probably made them flat on purpose. Within the context of this novel, I see these one-dimensional characters as satirical commentary on teenagers and young adults in the modern era. In fact, I’d argue that all the characters are remarks on modern society, particularly modern youth, in one way or another.

My favorite character is Sabrina with my second favorite being Cheri. Ashley is wonderfully unique and insane—I’m pretty certain she’s schizophrenic, based on her symptoms—but her malicious side makes it too difficult for me to connect with her like I usually do with mentally-ill characters. Sabrina, on the other hand, is a genuine and beautiful young woman despite her shortcomings. She has her insecurities like all of us and that leads to some very bad choices, but she still stays true to herself as much as possible. Cheri only appears briefly throughout the novel, but I love her attitude and strength. She had the courage to stand up to Ashley and she is unapologetically herself, even with her boyfriend J., and I think that such female characters are too underrepresented in literature even today.

For the first few sections, the plot seemed a bit disjointed. Leite throws multiple perspectives at the reader in a short amount of space, and I originally worried there would be no clear connection at all. Nevertheless, the connection soon became clear as Ashley’s mental state was revealed. Leite masterfully weaves each character’s story with the others after that point, which actually also helped to add more dimension to previously flat characters such as Casey.

Overall, this book is wonderful, although not my typical read. It is full of suspense, drama, twists, and emotional turmoil. Not all of the flat characters gain dimension, but those who do really come into their own and those who don’t serve as great comic relief. I noticed a few missplaced commas and missing words throughout the novel, but it’s nothing that another round of proofreading with a fresh set of eyes can’t fix. It certainly isn’t a reason for people who love edgy coming-of-age to not read Lovebirds Fly South. I also think that Leite left the perfect opening for more books with these characters, and I can’t wait to see where he takes them.

You can buy Lovebirds Fly South by Chris Leite as an e-book on Amazon.

Do you know of any books I should read? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can arrange something.