Reviewed by Donna
Title: Every Inferno
AUTHOR: Johanna Parkhurst
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press/Harmony Ink Press
LENGTH: 180 Pages
BLURB:
Depressed. Defiant. Possible alcoholic. These are just a few of the terms used to describe fifteen-year-old Jacob Jasper Jones. Lately, though, JJ has a new one to add to the list: detective. He’s been having strange dreams about the fire that killed his parents ten years ago, and he thinks he finally has the clue to catching the arsonist who destroyed his family.
A murder investigation isn’t the only thing the dreams trigger for JJ. They also lead to secret meetings with his estranged sister, an unlikely connection with a doctor who lost his daughter in the fire, and a confusing friendship with McKinley, a classmate of JJ’s who seems determined to help him solve the mystery.
All JJ wants is to shake the problems that have followed him since that fire, and he’s convinced he must catch the arsonist to do it. But as JJ struggles to find the culprit, he sees there’s more than one mystery in his life he needs to solve.
REVIEW:
Every once in a while I’ll agree to review a book from our long list of author request titles and then think – why on earth did I say I’d read this? That’s what happened with this particular book, Every Inferno, by new to me author Johanna Parkhurst. The author very kindly sent the book to me months in advance so I should have been organized and finished ages ago but instead I left it till the last possible moment, the day before the book’s release to get it read and reviewed. Why? Because it’s definitely not what I’d normally read and I just couldn’t drum up the interest to start.
You would think by now that I would have learned. Every single time this happens the book turns out to be something special that I sadly would have missed out on if I hadn’t agreed to just read something a bit different than my usual choices. And I really do think this book is something special. Loaded with an abundance of interesting characters that are all expertly woven into a young adult suspense/mystery, this is one of those stories that will mean different things to different people.
Not that you need to go searching for a clear or subliminal message in the book. I never start a story thinking; I wonder what this will mean to me? But Every Inferno spoke to me loud and clear and for me, this story is about accepting that nothing and nobody is ever perfect. Also, that shit happens and you need to get over it and move on. Well I’m sure the author probably conveys that message in a more eloquent way. Actually, no wait…
“The world shits all over a lot of people,” JJ replied coldly, opening his eyes again to make sure Cara was listening when he said that. “All kinds of people.” Then he remembered something Maggie had said to him once. “You can’t ride on the coattails of your pain your whole life.”
The afore mentioned JJ is the hero of our tale, a fifteen year old who doesn’t like to talk to people, doesn’t like to touch people and who drinks to forget when his nightmares become too much. JJ is smart enough to realize that he’s reached a crossroads in his life and if he wants any chance of being happy he needs to man up and face is demons. Pretty heavy for a kid? Well, JJ wasn’t exactly blessed with a normal childhood.
I miss them. I miss my mom and dad, and most of the time I have to miss my sister too. People wonder why I don’t like to answer questions or talk very much. There just isn’t much good to say.
When JJ was five he survived a fire at the local movie theatre that claimed the lives of both of his parents and dozens of other people. He was separated from his little sister and taken in by his Aunt Maggie who struggled to raise such a solemn, angry child. JJ has nightmares about the night of the fire but lately the nightmare has changed and he’s starting to wonder if it isn’t a memory rather than just a dream. Where before there were flames and pain now there’s a faceless man with a very distinctive tattoo across his hand and wrist. Could this man be the arsonist who was never caught?
As JJ’s life starts crumbling at the edges he is fortunate enough to find support in the shape of new friends and Maggie, who has been in his corner from the start. He realizes that his life has become a cycle of negative experiences and negative behavior causing more negative experiences and behavior and he bravely decides that he needs help.
How did you break a cycle when the cycle was your whole life?
JJ decides that the only way to break the cycle is to go back to the moment his life started falling apart. He needs to find the man who killed his parents. And with the help of his new friend/boyfriend McKinley, he sets out to do just that.
This “teen detectives” part of the story was quite convincingly written but was still a lot of fun. Although the mystery that the two boys are trying to solve is the murder of dozens of people it still somehow adds a refreshing lightness to what would otherwise be another depressing story about a very troubled teenage boy who is questioning his sexuality.
I don’t mean that as an insult to all those stories that focus on teens confused about their sexuality. Or teens who deal with bullying and homophobia. I truly believe that those books are important but in this instance I enjoyed the fact that this story focused on other problems that teens can face. I also have a tendency to avoid YA books because good lord, teenagers are angsty! But, like I said, this book is different.
I really can’t recommend this book enough. Watching JJ fight to escape the depths he is fast sliding into was emotional to read, especially as JJ tracked his own progress through his poem “Unbreakable Cycle” which he continued to revise throughout the story. I loved that the ending didn’t tie everything up in a big red bow and slap it with a “perfect” sticker because honestly, the boy is fifteen so how can it really be the end? Rest assured, JJ does finally manage to achieve “happy”, he just realizes that it’s something he needs to work for rather than something that’s just handed out.
“I might slip up.” JJ shrugged. “Nobody’s perfect, you know.”
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Amazon