The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June

by Robin Benway

[Joni Reads]

I was super excited when I opened up the envelope from Razorbill and saw this book! I read Audrey, Wait! a few months ago and I LOVED it, so I was excited to read Robin Benway's new novel. I flew through this book. It was so different from Audrey, Wait! but that is a good thing. That means that the author has the ability to write about a variety of subjects.

It was so easy to just dive right into the characters lives and right away I got a feel for dynamics of the family. April, being the oldest, was kind of like the second mother. She was very protective of her sisters, and she was very very controlling of all things in her life. May, the middle sister, slipped into the background. She had the hardest time dealing with her parents divorce, though she never shared that with her sisters. June, the youngest, was the playful of the three. She is the typical young teen girl that wants to be popular and make the most of high school.

I was excited to see how they would discover their powers. I never like books where it is all played up and you go through the "trying to convince everyone that you really the powers" bit. Thankfully, Extraordinary Secrets spared me of that. I will not tell you how the powers are revealed, but it is not all long and played out and you will not get frustrated and want to throw the book. Trust me on that.

Each girl has a power that is very fitting for their role in the family as well. April can see the future, which is perfect for the girl who always needs to be in control. It is much easier to keep a grip on things when nothing surprises you. May can disappear, which is fitting because it is something that has felt like she has been doing her whole life, as the middle child in the family. June can read minds, and to me she just has the perfect personality for that ability. She uses it for good, but she also has the most fun with her gift as well.

I loved the dialogue in this book. It flows very easily and it is never interrupted by "he said" or "she said", and yet you can easily follow along and know who is saying what.

The cover is beautiful. Honestly. if I had never heard of this book and I had walked by it in Barnes and Noble, I would have picked up simply because I love the cover so much.

This novel is fast-paced and easy to read. I felt like I was watching everything take place and not just reading about it. This is a book where I found myself getting personally involved with the characters. When April sees a vision that scares her and she refuses to share it with anyone, I was yelling at her to stop being so controlling. When May starts disappearing more and more and I wanted to be there for her to talk to. When June started pulling away from her sister's to try to be "popular" I wanted to smack her upside the head like I was her sister and tell her to get a grip. Closing the book, I was sad that it was over. I knew I was going to miss those sisters.