64. My Own Lightning

My Own Lightning. (Wolf Hollow #2) Lauren Wolk. 2022. [March] 320 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: I didn't know there was a storm coming. Had I known I might have done things differently.

Premise/plot: My Own Lightning is the sequel to Wolf Hollow (2016). It is a historical novel set in 1943 during the Second World War. Annabelle, our heroine, continues to come of age. Soon after the novel opens, Annabelle is struck by lightning. Miraculously, she survives...with a little help from an anonymous person... but the experience changes her. She finds herself more in tune to understand/relate/communicate with animals.

My thoughts: I didn't love, love, love Wolf Hollow when I read it. It was getting a LOT of buzz when it released. Everyone was talking about how awesome it was. Because it was historical middle grade set during one of my favorite time periods to when about, I wanted to love it. I just didn't. I thought at the time--and I do still think this to some extent--that it was just a difference of expectations. It was too buzzed about. 

I hadn't thought about Wolf Hollow in years. This wouldn't be a book I thought "needed" a sequel. 

I liked this one okay. Probably more than the first book. (Though I think it would have been much appreciated to better sum up the events of book one. Whether you are a first time reader who hasn't read Wolf Hollow OR a reader who read Wolf Hollow years ago (2016 feels like ages ago), there are some gaps. Names are dropped--Betty, Toby--but with NO context really. I was hoping that things would come together. I'd have some memory of the first book. But nope. Plenty of readers, I imagine, would be picking this one up without any previous knowledge of the first book. A little context would make a world of difference. Since this book explores the relationship between Andy and Annabelle. 

There were things I liked about this one. 

Quote:

"Just because he..." My mother let out a little gasp. "Annabelle, there is no just about that." My grandmother looked at me, her face lovely and sad. "But there is forgiveness my girl. A good deed doesn't erase a bad one, but it's worth a lot. And I happen to think it's worth, even more considering...well, considering it's Andy we're talking about."

 

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