Review: "The Order of Things" by Kaija Langley

The Order of Things by Kaija Langley
Published June 2023 via Nancy Paulsen Books
★★★★

April has a good life—she and her mother and their neighbours, Zee and Papa Zee, have cobbled together a well-oiled routine that turns friends into family. Zee is a violin star, April is learning the drums, and together they have big dreams. But when things change—and change again—April is at a loss for what to do and how to process it all.

First things first: Don't read the official book description—just don't do it. It covers almost the entire plot and leaves too little unsaid.

There's a lot that I love here, starting with the family structure. April's mother is a single parent, and the two of them are making it work—April's mother works night shifts, meaning that April often sleeps on Papa Zee's couch , and I love that this is just sort of...treated as a matter-of-fact 'we're making it work' thing. There's not a lot of money to go around, but there's enough, and it occurred to me, reading this, that I don't see enough of those stories—the ones floating between 'the power has been cut off again' and 'my family is taking our annual monthlong trip to Greece'. April's mother is also a single parent by choice, again not something that I see a lot of in fiction. There's not a ton of detail about that (probably because of the target age range), but it's something that's nice to see. Also, a small thing, but the characters all wear earplugs when there's going to be loud music (especially drumming)—and that's something I can absolutely get behind! Save your eardrums! The book is written in verse, and it's fine but not standout for me. There are some lovely turns of phrase:

Working night shift
loading trucks means
Mama sleeps most of
the day, works most of
the night, and we live
in the quiet moments
in between. (5)

I start off the way I usually do,
warming up my arms and legs
by hitting my sticks together,
the clack-clack-clack-clack
and boom-boom-boom-boom
from hitting the bass drum pedal
vibrating through my whole body. (66)

On the whole, though, when I read books in verse, I'm usually hoping for a bit more...verse...and fewer full sentences with line breaks. This does better than many, but the verse wasn't bringing as much to the table as I'd hoped. That said, worth the read for the themes of loss and grief. (The metronome—ooh, and A+ for that symbolism, even if it isn't overt—broke my heart a little, because I had a very similar experience with holding on to a gift for a while, waiting to put it in a Christmas stocking, only for...well, different situation but the same outcome, also right before Christmas.) 3.5 stars.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.