Holly Nicole Hoxter

Lainey’s world is falling apart. A few months after Carl, her mother Lisa’s boyfriend, is killed when his motorcycle skids off the road, Lisa commits suicide, hanging herself in the basement. Several days later, Lainey’s older sister, Vallery, who she hasn’t seen in ten or more years, appears on her doorstep. Lisa named Vallery the guardian of seventeen year old Lainey and her special needs, five year old adopted brother, Collin. How is this going to all work out?

Grief exhibits itself in different ways in different people. For Lainey, it is the fear of going down to the basement. She can’t even do her laundry and resorts to buying bulk underwear from Walmart and digging through the clothes on her floor to find something clean. It is lashing out at Riley, her long time boyfriend, who adores her. It is not being able to make a decision.

Add to this Vallery’s attempt at supporting the family and her unfamiliarity with Lainey and Collin and his needs, and the stress on Lainey increases many-fold.

Lainey and Vallery’s mom was a life counselor to local women and, while surprisingly to Lainey, helped many women, she also spouted forth many platitudes. It’s interesting how, as Lainey reads her journals, she ridicules but also adopts many of the sayings, as she learns to accept her circumstances.

The Snowball Effect, Holly Nicole Hoxter’s debut novel, is a very readable book. Readers will certainly empathize with Lainey, if they can’t relate to her because they haven’t experienced a similar loss. Lainey’s reactions and confusion are true. You’ll like the characters. The events are real. I didn’t love the ending, though. I thought it was a little too pat, too predictable. Given Lainey’s frame of mind, I’m not sure she would have done what she did. (Notice, I’m not telling you the end.) But, you might feel differently. So, read and enjoy The Snowball Effect and then let me know how you feel about the ending.… (más)

18 year old Lainey Pike is reeling from three recent deaths in her family including her mother’s suicide. Unsure about what to do with her future, Lainey pushes away her long-term boyfriend and high school friends, immersing herself in the care of her troubled 5 year old brother with her estranged older sister and hanging out with "slurpee guy".

I think Lainey’s voice is done extraordinarily well. As someone who experienced a similar spate of deaths in the family when I was 19, I can vouch for the authenticity of Lainey’s prickliness. The bitchy way she dealt with her boyfriend, poor, understanding Riley, was a lot like they way I treated my college roommate freshman year (poor, understanding Lua – thank you for putting up with me!). I really loved Lainey’s realization that certain people come into your life for a particular reason, and not all relationships need to endure for you to grow and to get something out of them. The novel also ended on a perfect note, which definitely warmed up my feelings towards it.

What I wasn’t so crazy about was the lack of a strong narrative arc. Instead we get a series of episodes, which realistic as they were, started to get boring after a while. Also, Lainey went off on far too many tangents for my taste – most where she related past events in far more detail than I really thought necessary (such as listing what she had done for each of her 18 birthdays!!).

It’s definitely not flashy, but if you like deep explorations of character and don’t mind an absence of urgent, driving plot, then you’ll probably find THE SNOWBALL EFFECT to be as ultimately rewarding as I did.… (más)

Lately, people have been doing a good job of leaving Lainey Pike’s life. A few months ago, her stepfather Carl was killed in a motorcycle accident. Then her beloved maternal grandmother died of avoided terminal illnesses, and then her mother hanged herself several days after Lainey’s high school graduation, leaving her with her adopted 5-year-old brother, Colin. Lainey’s older half-sister, Vallery, moves back in with them, but Lainey still feels her life spiraling out of control. Her relationship with her perfect long-term boyfriend Riley hits the rocks, and she starts seeing another, totally different guy. What will it take for Lainey to begin to feel more like herself again?

THE SNOWBALL EFFECT is an endearing debut novel that explores the different types of enduring—and finite—relationships that are necessary in life. Its wonderful characters are hindered by a plot that seems to move around in circles with no satisfying closure, but on the whole it is an enjoyable read with a unique moral.

Lainey is a relatable, though not always likable, protagonist. Her no-nonsense narration flows smoothly and never feels forced in the shadow of all the tragedy and hardships that have befallen her. THE SNOWBALL EFFECT is a character-driven novel with a memorable cast of characters—even if not all of them have been thoroughly developed in the text. Besides Lainey, her boyfriend Riley is the strongest character, albeit a static one. His consistency and domestic intelligence is an assuring light in the alley of Vallery’s pouty tantrums and Colin’s inexplicable development problems.

I would have liked THE SNOWBALL EFFECT to have more of a distinguishable plot arc. Lainey works through her stages of grief in the changing ways she deals with her interpersonal relationships, but her life is mostly stagnant, and the “revelation” event near the end of the novel is never fully satisfying as a resolution-forming climax.

THE SNOWBALL EFFECT is refreshingly different from your typical “coming to terms with grief” YA novel. If you have a pragmatic outlook on life, like your contemporary YA readable, and don’t mind dealing with a circling plot for those characteristics, then you’ll really enjoy your book. THE SNOWBALL EFFECT should be a book that finds its ways into the hands of girls with so-called unprivileged backgrounds, for socioeconomic status is strong in this novel and fills a sorely underrepresented bracket in YA lit.… (más)

Have you ever read a story where it felt like you were actually part of the characters lives? The Snowball Effect is one of those kinds of stories, and Lainey Pike is one of those kinds of characters.

Eighteen year old Lainey is your somewhat typical jaded teenage girl, except she has bigger issues to deal with. Her stepfather died in a motorcycle crash, her grandmother died shortly after that, and her mother fully lost it and hanged herself in their basement…two days after her high school graduation.

Sounds like a lot to deal with, right? Well, there’s more…Her mother left behind another child, Lainey’s brother, Collin, is five years old and has sever behavioral problems, and now there’s someone else to add to their dysfunctional family, Vallery, Lainey’s long gone older sister. Vallery hasn’t been in Lainey’s life since she was a very young child, and Vallery never even knew Collin existed, until now. And now, Vallery is back and in charge of Collin, but not willingly and definitely not patiently.

To add to everything else in Lainey’s already chaotic life, there’s Riley, her adorably sweet boyfriend, who wants them to move in together and start a life of their own. But now that Vallery is back and they’re sharing the responsibility of Collin and for everything else, Lainey has way more to deal with than she ever has.

Now, Lainey has to get to know Vallery all over again, and get Collin to not only behave, but behave for Vallery and come to trust her. Then there’s the task of trying to find a way to forgive her mother for being mentally absent and leaving her. But how easy can it be to make peace with a dead woman?

There was so much about The Snowball Effect that I absolutely adored and it’s hard to know where to start! Lainey is one of those characters that is so easy to relate to. She’s frustrated with her siblings and her job, she has her friends and relationships to deal with, and it’s all complicated.

Holly Nicole Hoxter has an adorable hit on her hands. The story did tend to jump around a bit, but it made up for that with it’s realistic look at a teenager’s way of coping, while trying to move on and improve their life, plus dealing with whatever else life throws their way. Then there’s Riley, whom I absolutely adored! He’s kind and sweet and totally loves Lainey, no matter how she treats him. Talk about a fantastic boyfriend! There’s also the relationship that Lainey, Collin, and Vallery forge with one another, and I found it to be realistic and beautiful.

But there’s more to The Snowball Effect than the story itself. Hoxter’s writing flows so beautifully, and she has a talent that few writers have. There are few writers that have the ability to take an incredibly sad situation, such as the loss of a loved one, and make it so hilarious, yet moving. This is an author that I not only look forward to reading more from, but I also know will go far.

Watch out for Holly Nicole Hoxter, she’s a talented author and an awesome storyteller. The Snowball Effect actually reminded me somewhat of a Sarah Dessen novel, and that is always a good thing! I definitely recommended this to all teens, and adults, that enjoy a good, realistic, entertaining story.… (más)