Review of John’s Pond

[OTrain Disene]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "John’s Pond" by Donna Lynch.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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They say love prevails. They say love doesn’t see colour, gender, ethnicity, or anything that separates and differentiates us, but it, rather, sees the goodness we possess. So, even if two families are at loggerheads with each other, people can still fall in love and bring those families together as one. John’s Pond is a romance and human drama novel by Donna Lynch. This novel follows two people who are born into different parts of society that are constantly at war with each other but who are determined to bridge the gap.

Tobin is from a Wampanoag tribe that is currently pursuing a lawsuit against the appropriation of their tribal land by private and public entities. The Wampanoag feel robbed by systemic racism and brutality. Tobin is just a regular guy who doesn’t hold much power or status in the tribe. But he’s prepared to help in any way to assist where he can.

Laurie is a white suburban girl who does not see eye-to-eye with her mother. Her mother is against the Wampanoag tribe in this lawsuit they are pursuing, while Laurie is not. Laurie doesn’t understand how her mother could be a bigot like that. She follows the lawsuit with vigour and even attends court hearings in disguise. That’s when she sees this guy who catches her eye. She realises that she doesn’t love the boy she is currently dating, so she breaks up with him, receiving much disdain from her friends.

Tobin and Laurie’s relationship is bound to draw pushback from all spheres of the society they live in, their immediate families, friends, and their neighbours. How will they navigate this to make sure they prosper? Is that even possible? How much are they willing to lose to be together? What lengths will they go to see this through?

The very first few pages of the book had me thinking that it was yet another typical novel about race and discrimination. It opened with a court trial that was packed with action. So I thought it would take that route and end up being a law drama. But that was not the case. It quickly switched to romance seamlessly, which blew me away. It is very rare to come across a book that switched genres without glitches like this one. I feel like the author could have expanded a little bit more in the court scenes to give a perspective of what the tribe was fighting and how their land was so important to them. This would have enabled me to sympathise with them more and lean to Tobin’s side. I understand that the author didn’t want to make court scenes the book’s focal point, but I feel like she has denied the urgency of the plot to stand out to the reader.

The book rushed past through the scenes. That’s because the chapters were short. She divided them into many parts. This didn’t allow the author to expand more on the scenes. This was a huge let-down in the book. This meant that the narration had to overlap the dialogue, ending up with many descriptions that gave out too much and left nothing for the imagination. The dialogue itself felt robotic. It was so monotonous in its routine that the characters ended up lacking their own personalities.

The plot was realistic and well-structured. It retained its sense of mystery and suspense to keep the book going. There were a lot of sharp turns that made me want to read more to find out what would happen. This I liked a lot because it saved the book from its shortcomings. The plot carried on when the narration and dialogue failed. The romance aspect was tastefully executed. It wasn’t like any other teenage romance, although it contained some clichés here and here that guaranteed some feel-good entertainment.

The characters served as the backbone for the plot to thrive. The fate of some of the characters, like CJ and Basil, made the book heart-breaking and lovable because it proved that anything could happen when you least expect it. The backstories were given out in the later stages of the book, and that was when everything started making sense. I understood why Laurie’s mother acted the way she acted.

The book had a couple of errors that were far in between. They didn’t take away the quality of the text, although the book could do without them. I rate this book three out of five stars because of the reasons mentioned above in great detail. It is a book that had great potential but fell short of delivering the quality it demanded to be outstanding amongst the pile. I would recommend it to readers who love YA romance novels that have feel-good happy endings.

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John’s Pond
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[shahmeen munawar]

This book has alot of touchy subjects and looks very good i love my self a good romantic or anything in that category and i think this would be a good book