The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind – Jackson Ford
Teagan Frost is having a hard time keeping it together. Sure, she’s got telekinetic powers—a skill that the government is all too happy to make use of, sending her on secret break-in missions that no ordinary human could carry out. But all she really wants to do is kick back, have a beer, and pretend she’s normal for once.
But then a body turns up at the site of her last job—murdered in a way that only someone like Teagan could have pulled off. She’s got 24 hours to clear her name—and it’s not just her life at stake. If she can’t unravel the conspiracy in time, her hometown of Los Angeles will be in the crosshairs of an underground battle that’s on the brink of exploding…
Review:
With a title like that it’s not hard to imagine this book grabbed quite a few people’s attention since the publicity campaign for it launched. I have to admit that when I found the book on my doorstep I immediately thought that this story was going to be so much fun. The title, the colourful cover, the mysterious author, it all made me want to pick up the book right away and start reading.
The main character is Teagan Frost, a sassy woman who has a very special gift. She has psychokinesis, meaning that she can move objects with her mind. This gift does not come without its limitations though: she can only lift a certain weight, within a certain distance and it can’t be any organic matter. This power of hers would have led to a future as a guinea pig for scientist trying to figure out how she was genetically engineered to be this way. However, Teagan gets recruited for a covert government black-ops group full of misfits with valuable skills and a questionable past: China Shop. They work under the guise of a moving company but mainly deal with highly sensitive situations or get their hands on information from potential criminals. The latter is where this book starts off.
Well, I say that’s where it starts but we actually fast forward a bit to the end of this mission that has gone horribly wrong. Safe to say we as readers get thrown into the deep end here with Teagan dropping from a skyscraper with only her (limited) psychokinesis to save her. We quickly find out what has happened and how Teagan got in this awkward situation (mostly her own fault). This certainly sets the tone for the rest of the book: non-stop action from the first till the last page.
Teagan is quite the character, her petulant nature sometimes really getting on my nerves. I did, however, enjoy her sassy remarks most of the time and I liked the dynamics with the other China Shop team members. Her personality clashes with quite a few of them, but throughout the book they have to rely on each other so much that they manage to find a middle ground. I do like a bit of character relationship growth!
It takes quite some time before we find out more about Teagan’s past, only really getting some details later in the book. Teagan has always believed to be the only one with a psychokinesis gift because her parents genetically engineered her to have a special power. When Jake enters the stage, another psychokinetic in search of his past, many questions pop up. Where did he get his ability? Who were his parents? Are Teagan and Jake connected somehow? And if he exists, are there more people like them? The knowledge that Jake exists throws Teagan’s whole world upside down and adds another layer of mystery for us to speculate about.
Overall my initial assessment turned out to be right: this is a fun, action-packed, fast-paced book. It’s the perfect urban fantasy for anyone who just wants to have no-nonsense action without a lot of embellishment. The ending leaves us with a few unexpected twists that open up a whole host of new possibilities for a sequel. Although the book didn’t really blow me away, it was an entertaining read and I’m curious about what will happen next.
Release Date: June 18th, 2019
Publisher: Orbit
Age Group: (Young) Adult
Pages: 496
Format: Paperback
Source: Received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
