For example, the fact that James, Blake, Britt, and Ren all end up on Skid Row seems farfetched the author’s puppet strings become visible.Īlso, the first two quarters of Wonder Valley bounce haphazardly between characters and timelines. Pochoda’s book has many strengths, but the plot feels forced at times. And trust me, there’s always someone whose story is worse than yours.” As the character James says to Ren, “We’ve all got stories. Wonder Valley is a chronicle of the quotidian and the ever-present struggle to rise above it. The novel follows the delicate balance between the life a character lives versus the life for which he or she wishes. Conversely, the tales of Tony and Ren stay solidly in 2010. In 2006, the stories of Britt (a college dropout whose loss of a tennis scholarship is the least of her worries), Blake and Sam (a criminal duo), and James and Owen (twins separated by a traumatic event) all begin. Throughout, readers are volleyed between these years and offered little bridge-building clues to strengthen any links in the timelines. The offbeat early morning run is set in 2010, but the book quickly shifts to 2006.
He becomes the epicenter of this intriguing novel as the text carefully begins unraveling a powerful story of disenchantment, the struggle for more, and the seeming futility of trying to escape the life in which one is stuck. Some already know the runner others have no idea who he is but are drawn to him regardless. In this manner, most of the characters are introduced. As the police and various reporters relay the scene, the book jumps around to different commuters stuck in the jam.
The opening outlines a chaotic scene: a teenage boy running against traffic down L.A.’s Highway 110.
Ivy Pochoda’s third literary outing, Wonder Valley, is not to be missed, though it does contain a few minor flaws.
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