Micah Johnson Goes West by Sean Kennedy

Micah Johnson is living two separate lives. On the field he’s making a name for himself as a rookie with the AFL football team the Fremantle Dockers—at just eighteen. But when he steps off the field, Micah is a mess: confused, away from home for the first time, and feeling isolated from family and friends three thousand kilometres away. The foster family he’s staying with is nice, but Micah isn’t ready to open up to them about what he’s going through. Distracting himself with hookups and partying seems like a good idea until a friend’s life is changed by misfortune and Micah’s own health is threatened by his behavior. Micah knows he has to make a change, that he can’t do it alone, and that maybe there’s no shame in reaching out to others.

Book 2
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
Micah is finally working as a professional footballer! Living far from his friends and family, Micah is a little less abrasive than he’s been in the past but he’s still struggling with the whole adulting thing.

In Micah, Sean Kennedy has created a beautifully flawed and honestly human character who will resonate with teenage boys everywhere. I still don’t know whether I love or loathe Micah and in this story, my feelings for him changed from moment to moment. He’s alternately infuriating and completely loveable. He is impossibly arrogant and terribly insecure. His temper is a little more contained than it was a year ago but he is still terrible at relationships.

This is a pretty gritty look at Micah’s first year away from home. Micah’s introduction to life as a professional sportsman is a little less gilded and a little more realistic than he might have expected but he still manages to get himself into some frightening situations. While Micah is still pretty self-absorbed, part of his growth in this story involves Micah starting to demonstrate some empathy and insight into the people around him.

This is actually quite a slow story but Micah had my attention the whole way through. He is a fabulous antihero and I’m already looking forward to his next adventures.


Erica – ☆☆☆☆
As this is the second book in a spin-off series, I do not recommend reading as a standalone. Please read Tigers and Devils onward first.

Micah Johnson Goes West picked up where the previous book left off. Moving away from his home to Perth, Micah is a rookie for the AFL team, Fremantle Dockers. On the field, he's focused – tight – but off the field, he's a train wreck.

Without spoilers, or giving specific plot points away: Micah is more mature in this installment, after showing growth in the last book, but he has a lot of growing up to do. Homesick, feeling adrift without his mentor and ex, he feels isolated, yet it's his own need to close himself off to others that is fueling this emotion. It's in Micah's nature to lash out to keep others from hurting him first, but it makes dealing with him difficult for anyone who wants to get close to him.

To be honest, it was difficult to read Micah's spiral downward. I was muttering at my Kindle, wishing I could shake some sense into Micah, then give him a hug.

Micah is always getting in his own way – creating what he fears – and this leads him to make poor choices, devolve. But this is par for the course in a coming-of-age book, needing a catalyst for change. Without Declan, Micah has a new support system he comes to depend on, developing another set of side characters for the readers to connect with.

The pacing was a bit slow for me in places, but not enough for me to lose interest. However, I could see where this may become an issue for readers who are used to more 'exciting' reads. There isn't a bunch of bells and whistles with the plot, and low on romance. This is a coming-of-age journey as a young man finds himself, showing character development via interaction with others.

Also Available in the Get Out Series

Book 1
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For reviews & more info, check out our The Ongoing Reformation of Micah Johnson post.

SEAN KENNEDY lives in Perth, Western Australia, but his heart still belongs to his hometown Melbourne—which is also the home of Simon Murray and Declan Tyler from his series Tigers and Devils. A disciple of cult leader David Lynch, Sean is breathlessly awaiting the revival of Twin Peaks in 2016.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Micah Johnson Goes West (Get Out #2) by Sean Kennedy to read and review.

The Ongoing Reformation of Micah Johnson by Sean Kennedy

There is no Plan B.

After being outed in an especially brutal way and briefly running away from home, Micah Johnson has sworn to get his life back on the straight and narrow. Well, not so much straight, but you know what he means.

Unfortunately the path to redemption is not an easy one. With fights at school and on the football field and an all-round snarky attitude as his number one defense mechanism, will Micah survive the school year and the training camps to achieve his dream of making the national draft and becoming a professional AFL player?

His mentor, Declan Tyler, believes in him, but Micah wishes he had the same confidence in himself. Only time will tell if the ongoing reformation of Micah Johnson will be successful.

Book 1
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
Micah Johnson is a fabulous character. Obnoxious, insecure, and arrogant, he is a wonderfully memorable anti-hero. This story of Micah’s progress from complete asshole to not quite as much of an asshole is alternately funny and frustrating.

Readers will spend most of the story cringing as Micah continually makes bad situations worse. He alienates his friends, antagonises the bullies, and constantly reaffirms his asshole reputation. For most of the book, it is almost impossible to like Micah. I had some empathy for the homophobic behaviour Micah faced – until his reactions made the situations worse. This is a story of personal growth and I actually really liked the absence of any sort of ‘come to Jesus’ moment. Micah’s progress is pretty limited. As a result, he feels like a real kid rather than a literary hero. He is far too familiar and his mistakes are painfully funny. I may not have liked him but there were many moments where I completely loved him.

This is very much a sports story. In his last year of secondary school, Micah is preparing for the AFL draft. The story tracks him from the end of school through summer selection camps. Many of the sports tropes in this story are a bit tired and the blatant homophobia feels outdated (though maybe not in Australia). Sports fans will enjoy the competitive tension and I found this a welcome change from all of the books about traditionally American sports.

I am annoyed that this book is marketed as the first in a new series. If I hadn’t read the Tigers and Devils series first, I would have been lost. As it is, I read the earlier books some time ago and I still found myself trying desperately to recall events and characters that the author assumes readers will remember. This is not the start of an autonomous series. It is an extension of the Tigers and Devils series and I really could have used some recap summaries at the start of this story because it took me a long time to properly get into this book.


Erica – ☆☆☆
3.5 Stars

A word of warning: as this is listed as the first in a series, I tried to read it shortly after its release. After three attempts, I realized my error. While it's listed as the first, it's a spin-off of an adult series (Tigers and Devils). I understand listing it separately, as it is geared more toward younger readers, with a younger narrator, it's nearly impossible to get heads or tails without reading the Tigers and Devils series first. Micah's journey 'begins' during Tigers on the Run (Tigers and Devils #3), as is obvious by the 'ONGOING' in the title. So my warning is to readers thinking this is truly the first in a series – it's not. Go read Tigers and Devils first.

After reading books #1 and #3 of Tigers and Devils, I restarted The Ongoing Reformation of Micah Johnson with great ease now that the info-dumpage from past books makes a whole lot of sense. I felt connected to the environment and the characters, and was able to read as if this was book #4 being narrated by Micah.

Micah is a difficult character to enjoy. He's arrogant and irritating, all a cover for his insecurities. While he wasn't a pleasant narrator, he felt real – emotions dictated by human nature. Every interaction is tainted by Micah's antagonism, no matter with who or whether they are being nice to him. This makes for a stressful read, where it's with great difficulty for the reader to connect with the narrator, because he rubs everyone wrong – friends, family, enemies, bullies – the reader. No matter how stressful to read, the author is authentic with Micah's personality, never deviating from the uncomfortable nature.

Micah encounters homophobia as he finishes out his high school career, enters camps, to prepare for the AFL draft. Heavy on Micah's personality, The Ongoing Reformation of Micah Johnson is also a sports story. One of the first I've read where it's not just used as a prop to propel the main character to a love interest, with a few passages to affirm it in the sports genre. Light on romance, Micah is an athlete dealing with homophobic and closeted jocks, while simultaneously reveling and fighting his antagonistic nature.

Recommended to LGBTQ fans, who enjoy reading coming-of-age characters, with a story based on character development instead of focused on romance and between-the-sheets action.

SEAN KENNEDY lives in Perth, Western Australia, but his heart still belongs to his hometown Melbourne—which is also the home of Simon Murray and Declan Tyler from his series Tigers and Devils. A disciple of cult leader David Lynch, Sean is breathlessly awaiting the revival of Twin Peaks in 2016.

Connect with Sean

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Ongoing Reformation of Micah Johnson (Get Out #1) by Sean Kennedy to read and review.

Donna by V.C. Andrews

Book Two of the Girls of Spindrift. From the New York Times bestselling author of the Flowers in the Attic and My Sweet Audrina series, now Lifetime movies, continues a haunting new series featuring highly intelligent teenage girls who struggle to survive a specialized high school and find their place in a world that doesn’t understand them.

Such is the burden of being brilliant.

Being gifted is not something Donna ever wanted. It’s difficult enough to have a Latino father and Irish mother, and her genius only separates her even more from the other girls. They don’t say it, but they blame her for everything that goes wrong, just because she’s different.

And on the precise day she tries her hardest to fit in, everything turns out a disaster. A fight breaks out, and somehow Donna ends up in the middle. It’s not her fault, but it’s her word against theirs, and this time, the other girls aren’t going to stay quiet. The only solution might be to escape to the mysterious school her counselor is telling her about: Spindrift.

The four Girls of Spindrift novellas together form a prequel for Bittersweet Dreams—available now!

Book 2
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
5 Gimme More stars

Reading Donna on the heels of Corliss added to the overall experience. Donna's introduction flowed more smoothly with the added information from the first serial in the prequels.

Donna is other. That's the only way to describe it. Her mind works so differently than what society calls the norm, that there is no gauge of understanding. Legally obligated to go to school, Donna does independent study all day in a private room in the library, in what used to be the in-school suspension room (from what I gathered). She is more removed from her peers than Corliss was in this regard, as she goes all day without interacting with anyone.

Added to her otherness is the fact that she is mixed heritage – a Latina with an Irish mother. Not only is she fighting the fact that she doesn't have the foundation most teenagers do with their peer group – friends and classmates – she's not enough of either heritage to fit in, and is bullied because of it. Donna's classmates think she feels above them, but she doesn't. Her intelligence is a cross she bears – a curse.

Donna has a friend/savior/guy who wants to date her. He's sweet and genuine, and I felt the emotions Donna portrayed realistic and not at all forced in so few pages. But, for Donna, there is a war waging between her mind and her heart. With an intellect so powerful, emotions confuse the teenage girl. Emotions aren't rational. Love can't be measured. In this prequel, that was a powerful message.

Life changes quickly in the blink of an eye, and this is no different for Donna. I was pleased that the reader was able to visit Spindrift for a few pages, as well as see Corliss there.

At the end, the overall emotion I am feeling is gimme more. But the other two serials aren't available, and it's going to take all of my self-restraint not to purchase Bittersweet Dreams, which is the full-length novel these four prequels are based upon. I will be patient. I will wait. I will read the prequels first for optimum reading fulfillment. Maybe.

Young Adult Age-Range: 12+ Kissing and violence.

Also Available in the Girls of Spindrift Series

Book 1
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For reviews & more info, check out our Corliss post.

One of the most popular authors of all time, V.C. Andrews has been a bestselling phenomenon since the publication of the spellbinding classic Flowers in the Attic. That blockbuster novel began the renowned Dollanganger family saga, which includes Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, and Garden of Shadows. Since then, readers have been captivated by more than sixty novels in nearly twenty bestselling series. V.C. Andrews’s novels have sold more than 106 million copies and have been translated into twenty-two foreign languages.

Sadly, V.C. passed away in 1986. She left several unfinished manuscripts and outlines that were completed by Andrew Neiderman.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Donna (Girls of Spindrift #2) by V.C. Andrews to read and review.

Dolphins in the Mud by Jo Ramsey

Stranded. Hopeless. Trapped. No one to turn to and no way to reach the freedom just beyond his grasp…

That’s how Chris Talberman feels when his family moves to an isolated New England coastal town and leaves him alone to care for his severely autistic sister, Cece.

Chris knows how the dolphins stranded in the cove near his home must feel—he understands their struggle better than he can express. But the tragic event has a silver lining. It’s there, while chasing his sister, that Chris meets Noah, a boy his age who is as kind and handsome as he is fascinating. Not only has Chris found the friend he needed, but the possibility for love—

Until Chris’s mother abandons the family and Noah reveals his own hidden pain. Now Chris must care for the person he thought would care for him.

2nd Edition
First Edition published by MLR Press, 2012.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
3.5 stars

16-year-old Chris is struggling to keep his head above water. His 9-year-old sister is autistic, and as soon as he and his sister get home from school, his mother has to run 'errands' unbeknownst to his father, who is at work. The father believes everything is being handled, between the autistic school, the therapists, and the mother taking care of the girl.

Chris is good with his sister, understanding her in a way no one else does. The mother acts as if it's something to be ashamed of, whereas the father sees it as a nonissue dealt with by others. With his sister needing all the attention, Chris' parents don't give him necessary attention, with too much falling upon his shoulders, while they don't take care of their own marriage at the same time. It's a stressful situation, where it could be bettered, but pride and miscommunication always get in the way.

There is a mystery thread of sorts – the brooding boy on the cove who keeps himself apart from the rest of the teenagers. This storyline wasn't so much romantic as it was a mystery. What made the boy tick, what were his secrets? Noah kept Chris in suspense too.

Dolphins in the Mud is a coming-of-age tale, as a young man struggles with adult issues within his family, as well as worries for his new friend, all the while finding his voice. I appreciated how romance didn't overpower the importance of the message.

However, the reason I couldn't rate this five stars was the slow-pacing and the lack of spark to keep me hooked. I was intrigued by some aspects, interested in others, but the pacing kept me from emotionally connecting. It was the miscommunication that was my biggest issue. There wasn't a single character who could hold an honest conversation and clear up the problems. This was obviously a plot device to continue the story, used as a conflict, but it just left me feeling as if everyone on the pages was emotionally bankrupt/immature, no matter their age.

I felt the autism aspects of Dolphins in the Mud were handled, not only with compassion, but authenticity. The patience needed to make the girl's life run smoothly, the stress when the schedule was off kilter, and the toll this takes out on an entire family.

I felt for the mother in the beginning, and it wasn't her absence that changed my mind. Mom's need to look like the perfect mother was the downfall, not asking/accepting help in the need to appear 'normal'. In actuality, she wasn't raising the child any more than Chris was. On weekdays, the girl was at school, then Chris was home at the same time the girl was. On the weekends, it was the whole family. No doubt there was a large toll on the mother, but she had 7 uninterrupted hours per day, to where she could have been running 'errands.' Just felt the need to point out how I wasn't sure when Mom was parenting either child, to be honest. How was that any different than Dad being at work?

Chris was struggling, but I do have to place the blame on his shoulders. This is a coming-of-age tale, and as the novel evolved, Chris realized it was the miscommunication/not speaking in general, that was his downfall.

I also felt Chris was incredibly rude at times, and I don't just mean to his parents. Chris was devoid of empathy with anyone but his little sister. There was no need to take Brad's mother for granted, treat her so disrespectfully, when she was coming to his rescue for nothing but the goodness of her heart. Entitled. Even in inner monologue, Chris belittled the former special education teacher. It made me think less of Chris, and not see him in a very good light. The woman had no need to be there, to take on the responsibilities of their family because they refused to do it, yet from day-one, they treated Brad's mom like she should just do for them, no questions asked and no thanks given.

Also, in regards to Noah, I felt Chris' responses/replies where short and rude ("I snapped") when this thread was meant to be a budding friendship/crush. They were learning who the other person was, but most of their conversations were like reading shorthand, neither giving anything, so the reader also couldn't connect. Both rude, and frankly, I wasn't sure why either would want to spend five seconds together with all the 'snapped' going on. I flinched every time I read it.

I won't ruin the mystery, but Noah's answers made more sense dealing with his secret, but what excuse did Chris have for being so short/rude/nasty in conversation? Noah's whiplash made sense, but why was Chris speaking that way too? Often times, I couldn't differentiate between their dialogue if it hadn't been for who was speaking, it was so interchangeably rude. These interactions, which were supposed to feel like budding friendship/crush, felt combative and made me uncomfortable.

While I felt the autism aspects were written authentically, in juxtaposition, I felt Noah's issue wasn't at all realistic. While I realize this is fiction, this is an issue close to my family. Noah wasn't a clingy sociopath, but he was written out to be one due to his 'illness.'

On the whole, it was refreshing to read a book where the romance wasn't front and center, where actual character building was at the forefront, showcasing stressful lives in a way where the reader could empathize while receiving an education.

Young Adult age-range: 14+ due to possible mental health triggers.


Sarah – ☆☆☆
This is a slow, gritty story of a teenage boy struggling with more problems than he can manage.

Chris has recently moved home, leaving his friends and his boyfriend behind. Caring for his autistic sister leaves him with little time to make friends or join teams. And there is something off about the one boy he starts to get to know. As Chris’ problems escalate, he feels trapped by his responsibilities. We only see glimpses of Chris as a person beyond his problems. I felt sorry for Chris but I’m not sure I knew him well enough to really care for him.

This story is tagged as a romance but there isn’t really any romance in the book. Chris forges a tentative friendship with a boy who might become something more but the focus is on both boys’ problems, not their feelings for each other.

At times, this story reminded me of the topical ‘after school specials’ I remember from twenty years ago. It is a story about difficult family relationships, and it provides an educational introduction to autism and mental health difficulties. A little bit infomercial and a little bit family counselling session, I found myself thinking more about what the author was trying to teach me than about what the characters were thinking and feeling.

As a teen, I found this kind of writing quite patronising and I don’t feel much differently now. There were some sweet moments here but the pace is incredibly slow and the character development is disappointingly superficial.

JO RAMSEY is a former special education teacher who now writes full-time. She firmly believes that everyone has it in them to be a hero, whether to others or in their own lives, and she tries to write books that encourage teens to be themselves and make a difference. Jo has been writing since age five and has been writing young adult fiction since she was a teen herself; her first YA book was published in 2010. She lives in Massachusetts with her two daughters, her husband, and two cats, one of whom likes to read over her shoulder.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Dolphins in the Mud by Jo Ramsey to read and review.