Official Review: The Student Council by Lee Stone

[bookowlie]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Student Council" by Lee Stone.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Lee Stone takes a dip into the Young Adult genre with his latest novel, The Student Council. He has previously written two adult mysteries. In fact, the first book, Free Fish Friday, was featured in the Book of the Month discussion forum.

A new school year begins for sixteen-year-old Amy Westin and the other students attending Oil City High School in rural Pennsylvania. When her father’s construction business goes bankrupt, Amy springs into action with a wild yet well thought-out plan to reverse her father’s fortunes. She is a powerful orchestrator, giving “suggestions” behind the scenes to put her plan into motion. Her unwitting “puppets” include Noah, a student who loves causing trouble, and her best friends Paul, Sam aka Google, and Billy, who are members of the Student Council. Actually, her friends are not totally unsuspecting, but they don’t realize Amy’s motivations or the full extent of her plan.

I quickly became absorbed in this story. This came as a surprise because I didn’t think I would become so captivated by a book about high schoolers. The writing has a casual, conversational flow with an intelligent wit. Here are a few nuggets – “he had let out the handsome,” and “he would introduce her to dinner guests as his triplets: a beautiful daughter; a cook; and a housekeeper.” One of my favorites is the Council President’s twist on the No Child Left Behind Act - the Get Your Ass to School Act.

Although the central plot is not apparent in the early chapters, the author does a great job of setting the table with characters and setting. Once the story progresses, an edgy thriller element emerges. The plot is jam-packed and slow paced at times, but the side stories are also interesting.

Amy is a memorable character, fascinating in her machinations. Within a few pages, I felt like I knew her well as a quiet, intelligent girl, but reading another chapter or two proved there is more to her than meets the eye. She is manipulative and the power behind her friends. There are even more surprises in store as the story progresses. All of the characters are well developed. There are small details that add depth to the characters, such as Google’s tendency to add or substitute the letter “f” at the beginning of a word. Amy and her friends fit together like interconnecting puzzle pieces, despite their different interests.

The setting is vividly described. I felt like I was transported to Oil City, PA which I discovered is an actual town in western Pennsylvania. The once-thriving oil and gas city’s fortunes have gone downhill in recent years, like so many areas in the Rust Belt.

Although the Prologue intrigued me, I don’t normally like “flash to the future” information used as a plot device. I feel it is a gimmick used to grab the reader’s attention and a small spoiler in most cases. Some parts of the story are far-fetched, including Noah’s willingness to follow an anonymous directive, Amy’s anonymous business dealings with a drug dealer, and the ability to pull off major proposals and projects so quickly. Amy thinks so fast on her feet that it’s as if she is a super-duper genius/mad scientist who can solve any problem in the blink of an eye.

There are a handful of errors in the story, including missing or extra words, incorrect word usage (decent/descent, who’s/whose), and missing end quotation marks in dialogue. In addition, Amy’s friend Billy is suddenly and only referred to as William after the early chapters. This may have been intentional on the author’s part, but I found it odd. It should be mentioned that there are a few curse words in this book, as well as a discussion of one character’s private parts.

I thoroughly enjoyed this quirky, creative story. Since the system doesn’t allow half stars, I am giving a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. Despite the aforementioned issues, the highest rating is deserved for the author’s excellent writing style and ability to surprise with a fresh plot that moves in interesting, unexpected ways. Although the main characters are teenagers, I think the book would also appeal to adult readers. Adults should look past the Young Adult label and give this one a whirl.

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The Student Council
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Like bookowlie's review? Post a comment saying so!

[gali]

Sounds good. I have read and enjoyed his other books, so may give it a try.

Thank you and congratulations to the author for the excellent review!

[bookowlie]

Thanks Gali! I think you would love this book. I would love to know what the author's inspiration was for the story, since the plot is so inventive.

[Heidi M Simone]

I enjoyed reading your review, bookowlie. It definitely sounds like a good story, and one that I might be interested in. I love when a story gets you right from the beginning. Great review! Congratulations to the author for receiving a positive review!

[bookowlie]

I enjoyed reading your review, bookowlie. It definitely sounds like a good story, and one that I might be interested in. I love when a story gets you right from the beginning. Great review! Congratulations to the author for receiving a positive review!

Thanks Hsimone for the feedback and for your patience! Even though I edited it down a bit, my review is still very long. Hopefully, no one will fall asleep from reading it.

[Heidi M Simone]

I enjoyed reading your review, bookowlie. It definitely sounds like a good story, and one that I might be interested in. I love when a story gets you right from the beginning. Great review! Congratulations to the author for receiving a positive review!

Thanks Hsimone for the feedback and for your patience! Even though I edited it down a bit, my review is still very long. Hopefully, no one will fall asleep from reading it.

No worries, bookowlie! Sometimes there is a lot to say and it's a shame to leave things out. I was captured the entire time reading it.

[bookowlie]

It's a jam-packed plot with a lot of strong elements, so it was hard to figure out what to omit from the review.

[Heidi M Simone]

It's a jam-packed plot with a lot of strong elements, so it was hard to figure out what to omit from the review.

Exactly! I think you would be doing Lee Stone injustice if you didn't mention everything you did. This is what makes you a great reviewer

[bookowlie]

You are too kind. I am not sure if the author will agree with all of my opinions, although overall I really enjoyed the book. The main character is so interesting that I hope the author considers writing a sequel.

[Vermont Reviews]

Excellent review

says Vermont Reviews

[Lee Stone]

I am deeply appreciative when any reader takes a leap with me, doubly so when a thoughtful response accompanies it. It is unusual for a writer to jump genres, and I have done that with TSC. On a personal note, I am absolutely infatuated with the outcome. I wanted to take one grand swing for the literary fences and if this book doesn’t do it, it ain’t ever happening.

My take on my effort: Amy Westin is a fictional whirling dervish. I’d put her in the ring with any contemporary female character. Her magical power is an incredible understanding of human nature and how to put it to use. If she’s your friend, you have it made. If she’s not ... Of course, such a unique character is wasted without a romp-worthy venue. Our dated public education system provides it. In addition to all her self-serving interest in destroying old Oil City High, she is hell-bent on ushering public schools into the 21st century.

On the Y/A genre: This is a young adult story at the inception. Just kids doing their high school thing. The true story is about how Amy ushers her friends into adulthood in the aftermath of the fire, at about the 20% mark. It becomes adult fiction at that point. Note: The reviewer referred to a name change that occurred, Billy to William. This was a reflection of a character’s own changing view of himself, of growing up.

On the very brief prologue. There’s no spoiler in reflecting on the forthcoming fire, which is mentioned in the first line of the summary. The burning of the school is a trigger to the plot, nothing more. The purpose of having a town watch that blaze is to set the mood, stir imagination, and encourage reflection on high school days. It’s an open invitation to readers of all ages: YOU LOVED HIGH SCHOOL! COME REVISIT THOSE DAYS WHETHER YOU GRADUATED IN 1950 OR 2015!

A crucial reviewer observation: “some parts of the story are far-fetched.” I disagree. ALL parts of the story are far-fetched. What fun is near-fetched? The trick for me, as the writer, was trying to sell the unlikely. By and large, I believe I did that. Don’t you, Owlie?

When I saw this review come up early yesterday, and noted that the reviewer found a few errors among the 400 pages, I spent the next twenty hours reviewing the text. Those items have been found and corrected, and the book republished.

Speaking of which, the beauty of ebooks is the ease of correction. It’s not just typos that can be fixed. Text can be changed. New passages entered or deleted. Unlike print copy, ebooks are living organisms that can always be improved.

With that in mind, I hope every online book clubber will read “The Student Council” and share thoughts that I may well incorporate into an ever-improving story. I’ve been told that this book will capture every imagination and is dang near impossible not to like. One thing is certain: Despite being contemporary, it is an absolute, you've-never-read-anything-like-it original.

[eskimoses]

My personal favorite is chapter 28. If you doubted Amy's resolve or questioned the lengths she would go to craft her agenda, she clears that up for you in a big way during this passage. It's as big a "wow" moment I can remember since Michael Corleone whacked Sollozzo & McCluskey... Only Michael was an army vet, and Amy is a sixteen year-old girl. Great writing.

[bookowlie]

Eskimoses - I agree with you that the book is very well written. I assume you are referring to the scene with Paul's father? It's a great scene and a perfect example of Amy's personality. There are so many wonderful scenes in this book that it's hard to pick a favorite - so many inventive plot points.

[eskimoses]

Yes, that is the scene exactly. My jaw just sort of dropped.

I enjoyed your review. I was curious what exactly you found far-fetched though? To me, the believability of the story is what made it work. I only mention it, because other notable female characters, like a Tris Prior from Divergent, or Katniss Everdeen of Hunger Games fame, were cartoonish to me on many levels because of the storylines. However, I don't recall many people saying either story was "far-fetched."

[bookowlie]

I am deeply appreciative when any reader takes a leap with me, doubly so when a thoughtful response accompanies it. It is unusual for a writer to jump genres, and I have done that with TSC. On a personal note, I am absolutely infatuated with the outcome. I wanted to take one grand swing for the literary fences and if this book doesn’t do it, it ain’t ever happening.

My take on my effort: Amy Westin is a fictional whirling dervish. I’d put her in the ring with any contemporary female character. Her magical power is an incredible understanding of human nature and how to put it to use. If she’s your friend, you have it made. If she’s not ... Of course, such a unique character is wasted without a romp-worthy venue. Our dated public education system provides it. In addition to all her self-serving interest in destroying old Oil City High, she is hell-bent on ushering public schools into the 21st century.

On the Y/A genre: This is a young adult story at the inception. Just kids doing their high school thing. The true story is about how Amy ushers her friends into adulthood in the aftermath of the fire, at about the 20% mark. It becomes adult fiction at that point. Note: The reviewer referred to a name change that occurred, Billy to William. This was a reflection of a character’s own changing view of himself, of growing up.

On the very brief prologue. There’s no spoiler in reflecting on the forthcoming fire, which is mentioned in the first line of the summary. The burning of the school is a trigger to the plot, nothing more. The purpose of having a town watch that blaze is to set the mood, stir imagination, and encourage reflection on high school days. It’s an open invitation to readers of all ages: YOU LOVED HIGH SCHOOL! COME REVISIT THOSE DAYS WHETHER YOU GRADUATED IN 1950 OR 2015!

A crucial reviewer observation: “some parts of the story are far-fetched.” I disagree. ALL parts of the story are far-fetched. What fun is near-fetched? The trick for me, as the writer, was trying to sell the unlikely. By and large, I believe I did that. Don’t you, Owlie?

When I saw this review come up early yesterday, and noted that the reviewer found a few errors among the 400 pages, I spent the next twenty hours reviewing the text. Those items have been found and corrected, and the book republished.

Speaking of which, the beauty of ebooks is the ease of correction. It’s not just typos that can be fixed. Text can be changed. New passages entered or deleted. Unlike print copy, ebooks are living organisms that can always be improved.

With that in mind, I hope every online book clubber will read “The Student Council” and share thoughts that I may well incorporate into an ever-improving story. I’ve been told that this book will capture every imagination and is dang near impossible not to like. One thing is certain: Despite being contemporary, it is an absolute, you've-never-read-anything-like-it original.

I hope I can do justice to your comments in my response.

First, I would like to say that, as much as I loved Free Fish Friday, I loved this book even more. Both books sparkled, but this one just had that extra-special something. You make a good point about "selling the unlikely." Although there were many parts that were far-fetched, everything came together well as a whole so you did a great job of "selling the unlikely." I guess my issue was more about some parts being a little too over the top. Still, I really enjoyed the book and thought of it as one wild ride...maybe exceptionally wild at times. I even think this book would make a good movie or TV series due to the wow factor.

I did mention in my review that I thought the name switch from Bill to William may have been intentional. Still, I did feel it was too subtle. However, it was interesting that later in the story, Amy sometimes would call him Billy - I assume this was also intentional for those particular scenes.

Whirling dervish - what an apt description! I originally wrote a line in the review that I edited out before publication - that she is a crazy hodgepodge of former Vice President Dick Cheney and Martha Stewart, with a dash of borderline personality disorder. I decided to omit my description because I thought most people wouldn't get the Cheney comparison (the machinations and pulling the puppet strings behind the scenes) and it might offend others. I had the same concern with referencing a disorder. I can honestly say that Amy is one of the most memorable characters I have come across in a book in recent years. I tip my hat to you.

You certainly succeeded in your leap to a different genre. Bravo!

One extra shout-out to Eskimoses - it's such a weird coincidence that you brought up the Godfather scene where Michael shoots Sollozzo and the cop. The entire Godfather saga was on HBO last night and I watched Part I (I have seen all three parts a zillion times). Sheer perfection.

-- 23 May 2016, 19:39 --

Yes, that is the scene exactly. My jaw just sort of dropped.

I enjoyed your review. I was curious what exactly you found far-fetched though? To me, the believability of the story is what made it work. I only mention it, because other notable female characters, like a Tris Prior from Divergent, or Katniss Everdeen of Hunger Games fame, were cartoonish to me on many levels because of the storylines. However, I don't recall many people saying either story was "far-fetched."

I am not familiar with either Divergent or the Hunger Games stories, but aren't those true fantasy novels? I guess I view The Student Council as a more realistic book that doesn't have supernatural, fantasy-style themes. When you read a book that has a regular girl (not a vampire, witch, futuristic character) doing things that are totally unrealistic, then I think of it as far-fetched. That being said, the book is fiction so it's not like I expect every aspect to be totally realistic. However, some parts jumped the shark for me, such as Noah being completely willing to commit a crime based on an anonymous directive and the drug dealer's willingness to enter into business dealings with someone anonymously (what if she was a cop?). I don't want to discuss more parts since I don't like giving away too much of the story in a public forum. I guess we can agree to disagree. As I previously mentioned, I loved the story overall.