Anatomy of a Girl Gang is a raw, gritty novel, about a gang of teenage girls in Vancouver, told in alternating chapters from each of their perspectives. There is the leader Mac, her second in command Mercy, high school dropout Kayos who is also a single mom from a privileged family, Sly Girl who battles drug addiction, and Z, a graffiti artist. Little succeeds in giving each character a distinct voice and storyline that all somehow come together seamlessly to form a unified tale. Vancouver itself is a character as well, a somewhat maternal voice whose interjections remind us that, despite their bravado, these characters are still little more than children, and vulnerable on some very dangerous streets.

I was completely blown away by this novel, and by these girls’ stories. Mac’s long-term game has always been to save up enough money that they can live in comfort and potentially leave the gang life behind, and the stakes in the novel are raised when a crime places that goal in jeopardy. The blurb in my advance review copy calls the book “a narrative punch to the throat,” and I cannot agree more. It’s raw and powerful, and just absolutely brilliant.

Little pulls no punches — by allowing each girl the chance to tell her own slice of the story, and more importantly by allowing these slices to overlap in spots so that a single conversation can be remembered by two or more characters, the author presents us with a discordant, multi-layered chorus of voices that are never quite in sync but nevertheless create a sort of harmony. Despite the violence and dangers, Anatomy is at its heart about connection and friendship, and I love how the characters find a sense of belonging with each other, and how this connection manages to feel both unbreakable and tenuous at the same time. For example, Mac and Mercy’s best friendship defines the core of their gang, even when one of them inadvertently commits a crime that places the gang in jeopardy, yet the friendship is tested when Mac’s relationship with Z comes to light.

Also, within the current conversations around diversity in literature, Anatomy deserves a shout-out for the relationship between Mac and Z as well as main characters who are Punjabi (Mercy), First Nations (Sly Girl) and Asian (Z).

I cannot recommend this novel enough — it’s powerful and raw and just beautifully written. The range of distinct narrative voices is impressive, and success in pulling it off is a rare feat, so much kudos to Ashley Little for this.

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Thanks to Arsenal Pulp Press for an advance reading copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Modern Romance is a fun, entertaining book about dating in the 21st century. Aziz Ansari teams up with NYU sociology professor Eric Klinenberg to provide us with a range of research about how the ways that people meet romantic partners have evolved over the past few decades. Whether you’re geeking out over the (actually fascinating) research or laughing out loud at Ansari’s running commentary, you’ll find plenty in this book to keep you engaged.

For example, did you know that the family was the most influential matchmaker in the lives of heterosexual Americans in 1940 (24%), and this changed to friends (38%) in 1995? Also in 2010, while friends were still the primary matchmaking factor, the proportion had declined to 29%, with bar meet-ups increasing from 19% to 24%. And finally, while online dating had been a minuscule 2% in 1995, the number had shot up to 22% in 2010. (By 2010, family had dwindled all the way down to 7%.) Isn’t that fascinating?

Yet the rise of online dating carries with it its own set of problems, as anyone who’s ever tried online dating can attest. Ansari makes a good case of how the anonymity of online dating makes people feel empowered to say things they would never actually say in real life — not so much in terms of screwing up the courage to talk to an attractive person, but saying things that are downright gross. Ansari cites an example of a man who messages a woman with “I like your tits,” and notes that in real life, that same man would presumably have a much better way to start a conversation. Ansari also points out that texting and typing, unlike in-person conversations, are not forgiving mediums for mistakes, because they don’t allow for body language, tone of voice and other non-verbal clues that can mitigate whatever it is you actually say. Another problem is that online dating presents us with such a wide range of choices that it may be more difficult to choose one person, always believing that there may be someone better still out there somewhere.

Ansari alternates between research (statistics, interviews), witty and rather insightful observations, and amusing anecdotes. At times, the insertion of humour feels a bit forced, for example when he’s talking about something interesting then pulls back to make a random joke. But overall, I think the tone works, and highlights the absurdity that sometimes happens with online dating.

Modern Romance is a fun read, and certainly, if you’ve ever tried online dating, you’ll find much to relate to and laugh about in these pages.

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Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.