Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

| Log in
  1. Follow us on Facebook
  2. Follow us on Twitter
  3. Follow us on Instagram
  4. Follow us on Goodreads
  5. RSS Feeds

  • Home
  • About
    • About CBR
    • Getting Started
    • Cannon Book Club
    • Diversions
    • Fan Mail
    • Holiday Book Exchange
    • Book Bingo Reading Challenge
    • Participation Badges
    • AlabamaPink
  • Our Team
    • Leaderboard
    • The CBR Team
    • Recent Comments
    • CBR Interviews
    • Our Volunteers
    • Meet MsWas
  • Categories
    • Review Genres
    • Tags
  • Fight Cancer
    • How We Fight Cancer
    • How You Can Donate
    • Book Sale
    • CBR Merchandise
    • Supporters and Friends of CBR
  • FAQ
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Follow Us
> FAQ Home
> Genre: Fiction > Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

February 8, 2021 by Jake 1 Comment

A Simple Favor is one of my favorite movies from the last few years. I love quirky crime comedies and the leads have great chemistry. But I also enjoyed how it depicted female relationships, especially in an unconventional manner. A Simple Pod, hosted by three journalists who also love the movie, unpacks this a little, talking about the queerness of the movie and the de-centering of men in its tale.

We Ride Upon Sticks isn’t a crime story but it still hits a similar sweet spot for me. Quan Barry’s unclassifiable novel gets to the heart of female relationships, experiences, and what makes them so powerful in the past and present. The eleven characters she focuses on are richly described; their experiences unfamiliar to a cisman such as myself but appreciable. Rare is the high school novel that doesn’t give me uncomfortable flashbacks but this is one.

Also, as someone who played sports in high school, I appreciate how Quan Barry doesn’t skimp on the field hockey aspect of the story. It’s the string that ties everything together, literally and figuratively. Knowing the ebb and flow of team sports in high school: the bonding, the long bus rides, the wins and losses, the coaches…she makes it all come alive together well enough.

Lastly, there’s the witchcraft or alchemy that makes the Danvers team dominate. Wiccans may be disappointed if they’re coming to this book for familiarity as Barry plays with the concept in an interesting way. I don’t want to spoil anything around it; just know what you’re getting into. The witchcraft is a fun angle but it’s not the reason to read this book.

Overall, this was an enjoyable, humorous, profound, engaging read. Unquestionably, one of my favorites in the new year.

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: field hockey, Massachusetts, Quan Barry, salem, We Ride Upon Sticks, witchcraft

Jake's CBR13 Review No:19 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: field hockey, Massachusetts, Quan Barry, salem, We Ride Upon Sticks, witchcraft ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

About Jake

CBR13 participantCBR12 participantCBR11 participantCBR10 participant

I love reading! View Jake's reviews»

Comments

  1. andtheIToldYouSos says

    February 8, 2021 at 12:47 pm

    hooray for the A Simple Pod shout-out; they have a limited collection with Super Yaki out now. I have to stop myself from ordering it all!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.



Recent Comments

  • Zinka on Holy MolyI meant to also say I love your review of it as well
  • Zinka on Holy MolyI loved this read! It was one of those books I started later at night then I should have and the stayed up all night...
  • andtheIToldYouSos on “Mama always knew the wrong thing to say.”oooh! great news!!!!! I had not heard that, so thank you! and yes, I'll put up with SO much musical nonsense, but I have much...
  • llamareadsbooks on Twisty mystery and snarky humorIf you like paranormal romance, especially first-person POV with super messy characters, you'll love this series!
  • Ale on Diving into a complicated re-readI love this review. I have also been thinking about ways to reincorporate this series with the knowledge we all now have, and I love...
See More Recent Comments »

Want to Help Out?

CBR has a great crew of volunteers, and we're always looking for more people to help out. If you have a specialty or are willing to learn, drop MsWas a line.

  • How You Can Donate
  • FAQ
  • Shop
  • Volunteers
  • Leaderboard
  • AlabamaPink
  • Contact

Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo
  3. Google Pay
© 2021 Cannonball Read | Log in