Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Year of the Jackal
SERIES: Bramburgh Jackals
AUTHOR: Abby Kaitz
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 292 Pages
RELEASE DATE: February 10, 2023
BLURB:
It’s Silicon Valley meets the Ivy League in this new adult romantic comedy starring a computer hacker moonlighting as a prankster, an angry basketball player who just wants his underwear back, and a small college town full of oversized personalities.
Max Trellis-Tan’s List of Things to Do Before Graduation:
- Find investors for his startup
- Curb his pranking habit
- Get Bramburgh University’s star basketball player to fall in love with him
It wasn’t Max’s fault that Aaron Scudder couldn’t take a prank. But when Max accidentally gets Aaron kicked off the basketball team, he quickly becomes Public Enemy Number One.
No matter how hard Aaron tries to have Max teleported to another planet, the two keep finding themselves tangled in increasingly amusing and bizarre situations around campus. Most bizarre of all is when their animosity starts turning into attraction.
Everything changes when Max gets accepted to a prestigious startup incubator.
Soon he’ll have to make a choice:
- Chase his dreams in Silicon Valley?
- Or take a chance on his growing feelings for Aaron?
REVIEW:
Max is a prankster. When he is hired to steal a star basketball player’s underwear, Max has no idea what the fallout will be. Aaron is very protective of his lucky underpants. When he catches up with the knicker thief, his emotions get the better of him with life-changing consequences.
Year of the Jackal is one of several standalone stories in the Bramburgh Jackal series. I thought it was an extremely cleverly written, well-thought-out, college comedy romance and drama. It depicts the highs, lows, and opportunities the institution offers and the pitfalls of a place full of impressionable, eager, talented people. The story is also one hell of a ride.
The tale is told in the third person, present tense, from the viewpoints of Max and Aaron. I can’t say that I was enamored with the cover, but it had its purpose, and what’s inside is much better than the front page. Worldbuilding is masterfully constructed, and there wasn’t a dull moment. There were plenty of situational and dialogue episodes where I openly laughed. I also liked that intimacy was a natural progression of the story and not written for gratuitousness.
Max is a Sperm Bank Baby and a genius. His emotional journey on this front was one I hadn’t considered before, making it thought-provoking to read. Max’s grandfather, though, is not only a wise one but awesome and a true highlight. Aaron has had his feet taken from under him, but fate shows that life can have more than one path. As for the extended cast – not going to start there, else this review would be a novella.
This novel is an excellent piece of writing, with drama that makes the heart thump. It showed that college years are an assortment of experiences that open the eyes to what can lie ahead. The talented and geniuses are all in one place, and it’s a mixture that can be oh-so fruitful. It’s also where new lifetime friendships form and old ones are cemented.
It didn’t get full marks because, although Max was supposed to be curbing his prankster tendencies, I would have liked to see more than I did. I also felt too old for some of the ‘hip’ references, which alienated me a little. It’s not possible to please all the readers. What is important is that the target audience is satisfied. I’m sure some may not agree, but I feel a younger demographic will get a different reading sensation than those of more advanced years.
RATING: 
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