The Changeover by Margaret Mahy

 

This 1980s New Zealand YA is so weird... and apparently in 2017 it was made into a movie with that one actor who was in Purple Hearts and Red, White & Royal Blue. Small world, am I right? THE CHANGEOVER has been on my to-read list for a while because I have a soft spot for old YA and it was on a list of retro paranormal books I was interested.

Laura lives with her single mother, Kate, and her younger brother, Jacko, where the three of them skirt the poverty line. Laura is "sensitive" to paranormal happenings and one day she gets a warning that she shouldn't go out that day. Her mother refuses to heed it, and then Laura and her brother encounter a creepy old man who basically puts a curse on her little brother that will ultimately lead to his death.

There isn't a lot of plot to this beyond "must save brother." There's an older "hot" guy who is an interesting love interest because he is totally disconnected from his emotions, has a stutter, and reads romance novels. In an era that was filled with heroes that were kind of junior Alpha Jerks, it's weird to see a guy who is so calm and in touch with his feminine side. He's also a witch, so that's cool.

This isn't a bad book and it deals with a lot of subjects very maturely: there's themes of coming of age, watching your parents date again, pushing against and establishing boundaries, and vengeance vs. justice. It was a little too weird for me but I mostly enjoyed the story. The writing style was reminiscent of L.J. Smith and Liz Berry. Several times while reading this, I thought of THE CHINA GARDEN.

2.5 to 3 out of 5 stars