Incomplete by Ann Anderson

Incomplete by Ann Anderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What a great romp through a few days in the life of a teenager nearing the end of her high school days. Not that it's anything you'd expect, apart from the Mean Girls clique. Lauren is a bit of a nerd, quite an outcast, and the focus of mean behaviour from her nemesis. At first I wasn't 100% sure about whether or not I'd enjoy this, as I'm way past the teen angst stage. Then the surprises started. A demonic pyramid scheme, the sale of part of her soul, a clever monkey (literally). Full of twists and surprises, Incomplete is engaging and fun, while not shying away from serious topics such as domestic abuse. The writing is also a pleasure - correct grammar and spelling makes a huge difference and Ann Anderson is spot-on with her metaphors and descriptive passages. As for the characters, I went through several stages of hating some, laughing at others, pitying a few, and ending up surprised and pleased by the satisfying ending. A sequel would be great, but all in all, Incomplete is a perfect stand-alone novel.

Disclaimer: I received a free advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.



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Mine, all mine!

So it turns out one of the houndlings is a klepto. Guess which one?

No, not Mojo. THat's right! Our sweet, cuddly, beary boy is a shoplifter.

We took them to Twisted Whiskers pet spa today, for shampooing and clipping and trimming and all sorts of fun stuff. (As an aside, McGee is actually a pale wheaten lab. Who knew, under all that dark muck?)

We left 'em there, having decided to finally get my drive(s) - now I can finally say thanks to the gang for my 2008 birthday present! Got a bit of a talking-to from the spa lady when we fetched the muttskis, given the incredible size of Mo's gnawed-away hotspot; not that we haven't been trying, as we explained, but she's licked off the ointment, the Allergex is too weak and come on! She managed to rip off the cone and chew it to bits! So, back to the vet tomorrow.

Anyway, managed to get them into the car without McGee slipping off the back of the SUV - it's pretty high for his old bones - back up to the steps at home so he has an easy exit, turn around to put the seats back - and there's a chewie. Couldn't be Mo, she gets so excited she runs around with her mouth open.

No wonder he put his head down and bulled his way out of the shop!

New name: Criminal. Not that he looks ashamed. In fact, he laughed at me when I phoned the shop to confess! Then he got all cute and rolled over to show his nice, clean belly.

He's still not getting the chewie, though.

Japan’s first lady adds a cosmic twist to business of government

I love it! Talk about adding interest to the boring world of politics. I'd vote for a politician who had such an interesting spouse! Yes, call me shallow; it's not like voting for particular parties causes any improvement, anyway. Might as well choose the unusual ones!

Odd dreams

1. A journalist receiving a briefing from President Obama somewhere in what I assume was the White House; suddenly skylights smash and armed men drop into the room (been watching too many bad action movies lately?). Lots of shouting, lots of shooting, although thankfully none of ours die. Aftermath: sitting on a couch, discussing events and what to keep out of the media. "For better or worse, you're part of our team now," he says gravely.

2. An argument with MadCat (masquerading as Deafboy in a particularly irritating phase) for no reason other than he asked me to replace the town portal, while being snarky about me taking too long to get ready for work. (Being woken by Mojo at 3am might have had this effect.) Lots of door slamming, lots of anger.

3. In some sort of casina / house / mall, with what I can only assume are Bad Guys and Girls, who look like wrestlers and drag each other around the room with chains around necks for fun. Not sure what was going on here, but MadCat and I were not happy about being here and tried to find ways to escape.

4. We escaped, but suddenly I ended up on a plane that was going to crash. Fortunately it didn't end up in the Hudson, but landed sedately alongside the Riverside Cafe. Chaos and screaming; MadCat wasn't there, but he found me later.

5. Finally, driving off to the wedding, frantic because I'm late. Look up in time to see that I'm about to drive off the highway overpass, which is hundreds of metres up in the air. Fortunately the barrier seems to be elastic and as I turn the wheel, it keeps the car's right-side tyres on the road so that I don't fall into the chasm looming at my left. As I get back onto the road, discover that the brakes don't work and I'm careening through crowds of schoolkids. Fortunately I don't hit anyone, but this was the scariest component of my multiple dreams.

Jaffar! Kri!

I had quite a nice dream this morning ... odd (as usual), but enjoyable. Except for the part where I was being held hostage. But it was okay, 'cos I'd managed to spirit my cellphone out of my jeans pocket and had slipped it behind my back, in dialling mode, so MadCat could find his way to me and hear what was going on. Sneaky! Of course, being tied down didn't help, but at least I was ready for a rescue. Odd, though, since generally I'm the one doing the rescuing ...

Anyway, MadCat and Teal'c showed up in good time and vanquished the hostage-takers (especially that highly irritating blonde woman who kept pestering me with questions). Then when we got outside the - shop? house? warehouse? I couldn't really tell, except that there were racks of clothes inside - Teal'c turned into a dragon and flew us out of range of the mortars. Well, not a dragon per se - a black snakelike creature that breathed fire and had wings.

Then, a dream I've had before (I think) showed up, and MadCat had to "sell" items from a car on a highway somewhere, but then he changed into a dragon. That's when things went a little wonky and he started trying to eat me (at least, I assume that's what he was doing, chasing me all over the house and through passages and stuff). I wasn't really scared though, just startled; not everyday one's MadCat turns into a devouring monster!

In any event ... lots of side-details, but ones I can't articulate (I'm no descriptive Dean Koontz). It was still a lot of fun, though.

Flight

I saw two white doves today, beating away frantically as they winged across the highway in a high-speed game of tag.