Review: Girl in the Air

Tyler Pike is an extraordinary storyteller who takes his readers on a suspenseful, mystical, and s­urprising journey in his YA novel, Girl in the Air. Guiding us on this thrilling adventure is a remarkable heroine: fifteen-year-old Alice Brickstone. Alice is a young woman very much at a crossroads in her life—a place where secrets from her childhood on an ashram in India collide with her present existence in the Rocky Mountains. In Alice's lonely and sad Colorado home, her detached parents—plagued by their own problems and preoccupations—force self-reliance upon her. It is this self-reliance that makes Alice so special.
 
Alice "had me" from the very beginning, even before her paranormal powers came into full force. As the story develops, and Alice grows, she reveals herself as a fully formed character. She is strong, but vulnerable; wise beyond her years but also naive. She is smart, curious, intuitive, funny, and unstoppable. But most of all, she is refreshing. And as she travels through the narrative to find the truths about her past, the circumstances leading to the death of her twin, and her own place in the world, she becomes, in a word, unforgettable.
 
The author masterfully manages a complex plot, and his well-drawn heroine continues to surprise and delight as she navigates many twists and turns and encounters the unexpected and the unexplainable. As the story develops and Alice's special talents are revealed, I was impressed by Pike's grasp of the magical realism genre—not an easy accomplishment. But Pike pulls it off beautifully, with vivid imagery and top-notch writing. I look forward to reading more from this author. And after you've finished Girl in the Air, I know you'll want to dive right into The Feeling of Water, book two in the Alice Brickstone series.
****Four stars