In Turquoise, New Mexico, a small group of hippies believe that the mountain north of town emits a constant, resonant hum that is only audible to a chosen few. They call themselves the Hearers, and the fact that fourteen-year-old Kevin Brown has never trusted them makes it all the worse when his own ears begin to ring, and he comes to realize "The Turquoise Hum" may be much more than a sound.
This book was...bizarre. But that in and of itself isn't a bad thing. I don't even really know where to start...
For a book aimed at YA or middle grade, Kevin and his friends didn't read like real kids/teens. In fact, none of the characters spoke with anything other than required exposition. They weren't characters as much as they were pawns. Kevin was really close a couple times, struggling with how to communicate with his father, but ultimately an unseen force (plot convenience) convinced him to stay quiet. There is no motivation behind any character's action, just names acting so that the plot can advance.
Okay, I take that back. The flash-backs did show some actual characterization, goals and feelings and whatnot. Gretchen's was especially fascinating, and I kept looking forward to seeing what had become of her. Unfortunately she became nothing but an exposition-spewing monologuer along with the rest of the cast.
But exposition is to be expected when the world doesn't make any sense. The year is never mentioned, but we're in a time where kids still listen to radio, cell phones are prevalent, and there are digital espresso machines in everyone's homes. Okay, maybe the radio was an individual thing, so let's say mid to late 2000's. The world seems a lot like our own, so you'd assume that any magic stuff going on would be very small so as to remain hidden, right? Or if there was large-scale stuff going on, there would have to be systems in place (like MiB or the Wizengamot) to make sure nothing changed the status quo.
I guess that's really what gets to me is the world doesn't make logical sense. It's intriguing and I'd love to learn more about how it works, but I don't see that happening as I don't think the author put any effort into actually fleshing it out. Why are insects involved in all this magic? Why haven't Hearers been scientifically studied? For that matter, why hasn't the mountain been scientifically studied? I don't see any religious protests going on, so why isn't there any research going on? How do the fantasy elements work? Is there any rhyme or reason to them, or do they just do whatever because magic? Is it truly magic or is it science (honestly I would have believed aliens were behind everything before magic)?
Now, a lot of plot holes or logic failures can be compensated by interesting characters, but as I said before, the only interesting people are relegated to flash-backs and then abandoned for Kevin and his conveniently quirky new friends who he's never seen until conveniently 5 minutes before the adventure starts. Gosh, how convenient!
But enough about that. All that being said, I didn't hate this book. There's nothing intrinsically bad about it, but it's also nothing to write home about. I think it's written lower than it's pitched (middle grade instead of young adult), but it's entertaining for what it is. It might be a gateway into more speculative fiction, but unless it's on sale, I wouldn't bother seeking it out.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
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