Christina McDonald author of The Night Olivia Fell Joins SI Meeting Recap

 

**SPOILERS AHEAD** This author review discusses Christina McDonald’s first book, The Night Olivia Fell. If you haven’t read it yet, (and we certainly recommend you do), go grab a copy, a cup of coffee, and find a cozy spot to read before continuing.

 

We started off our discussion with a who’s who of who has had Covid and which variants. Small talk and ice breakers have certainly changed in the past two years, haven’t they?

 

Christina was pregnant, and then raising an infant when she was writing this book. One day, while rocking her newborn for two hours just to get the little guy to sleep, she read a tragic news story about a young girl who had become brain dead due to complications from a medical procedure. Processing this tragedy, combined with caring for an infant, got her ‘what ifs’ going, and they led her to her story’s premise.

 

The chapters of The Night Olivia Fell alternate between two narrators; Protective mom Abi, and good teen gone curios Olivia. As a club, we appreciated the shift not just in perspective, but in time, with these chapters. By doing this, Christina crafts two stories to tell one greater story, while also giving us a break from Abi’s grief. While each character might describe themselves as being followers, we get to see them charge ahead to find the truth.

 

The Olivia chapters felt bright, optimistic, nostalgic, and bittersweet. The care that went into these chapters is evident, so it’s no surprise that Christina was challenged most by writing Olivia’s perspective. Getting into the point of view, the tone of voice, and the language of a teen is no easy task for anyone, and Christina’s hard work at this pays off well.

The Abi chapters felt relatable, and heartbreaking, as we grieve with Abi, and reconcile with her what different ways love and protection as a mother can look like.

 

If you, like us, were thinking Olivia’s fall was caused by Gavin, or even Kendall, just know that Christina was right there with you. The ‘aha’ moment Abi had that her initial suspicions of Tyler was right is the same ‘aha’ moment Christina had when she was writing her first drafts of the story. Crafting and adjusting her characters around her story, Christina’s writing process led her along each chapter, alternating Abi and Olivia along the way, with her readers, giving the story an authentic feel that keeps the pages turning.

 

We discussed our ‘what if’, ‘what do you think’, and ‘I wonder’ thoughts, too, like if we thought Madison would make a good aunt (Brooke was hopeful that she would be a fun aunt, Christina thought she would unfortunately remain a ‘mean girl’), why Madison and Derek had such a dysfunctional relationship (parental involvement or lack thereof, the sociopathy that is being a teen, maybe a combination of both), and what Olivia’s life would be like had she not fallen, or survived her fall (Abi and Olivia working as a team, Olivia and Derek maybe still going to school but perhaps not surviving the hardship of dating as young parents). I always appreciate when authors are game to go down the ‘what if’ road with us as readers, and Christina was happy to indulge us, and herself.

 

This book was more challenging for Christina to write than some of her other works. “Some books come out easier than others,” she says. We discussed her typical writing day, where she literally rolls out of bed to her laptop and starts her day with her project. A lunch time walk with the dog to clear her head, perhaps a bit of more writing or author admin work in the afternoon, and then picking up her son from school in the late afternoon rounds out her day. Sounds idyllic, until we dig into what author admin means; really makes us appreciate the hard work authors do just to promote their work!

 

Luckily for Christina, she doesn’t get too many complaints or negative comments about her work, and she’s wise enough not to engage in comment sections. She did let us in on one complaint she received about assigning a character to one political party over another; she had a 50% of pleasing that one person and lost. Such is the life of an author.

 

You won’t be seeing Christina doing TikTok dances with her books (although you just might see some Shelf Indulgence members doing it for her!), but you can find her on Instagram at christinamac79.

 

Christina took the opportunity to ask us as readers a few questions of her own. Do we get twist fatigue, as in…are readers really bored with books with twists? For us, it was a resounding ‘no’, with the caveat that we aren’t tired of good twists. Out of left field, too frequent, or clichéd twists can go away, but those slow burn, right there in front of you but you just didn’t see it twists? We want them, we need them, we don’t want writers to stop writing them.

 

She also asked us about our thoughts about Covid being peppered in what we read. We all agreed that a sniffle of Covid was fine, but a full fever and coughing fit of Covid was just too soon. We want to escape our daily pandemic filled lives with murder and betrayal on the pages, not reminders of what is still lurking around in our grocery stores, at work, and our kids’ day care. It's fine to include it, it just doesn't need to be a central theme to the plot, please.

 

We don’t know what’s coming next from Christina McDonald, only that she’s working on something new, so we will be eagerly awaiting her next book. If she includes a quilting circle murder, though, know that she got the idea from us first at Shelf Indulgence.

Posted by book lover: Jessie T.