The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind by Jackson Ford

For Teagan Frost, sh*t just got real.

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…

That’s a hell of a title, huh?

And if that strikes a chord with you, then you’ll be glad to hear that the book is pretty much what you’d expect. There is a girl, and she does indeed move shit with her mind. Teagan is a snarky, contrary, foul-mouthed young woman with a bit of a fucked-up past (editor’s note: understatement). She’s impulsive and reckless, to the point where the book begins with her throwing herself through the window of a skyscraper.

She sounds pretty fun, right? Such a shame that she dies on page two after hitting the ground. (I’m kidding)

Teagan is part of a secret government-backed group in Los Angeles, and the rest of the people in this group make up the majority of the named character cast. Unfortunately, these side-characters didn’t really feel real to me. Whereas Teagan is lively and flawed and three-dimensional, I thought that the rest of the cast felt like a bullet-point list of personality quirks. This wasn’t much of a problem — Teagan is charismatic and entertaining enough to carry a novel by herself, especially in the first-person — but I do tend to connect more with novels with more depth of character, and unfortunately I didn’t find that here.

Over the course of the story, Teagan and co become involved in a bit of a murder mystery. Unfortunately for her, she’s the primary suspect. She manages to buy a bit of time to try and clear her name, but not much, and so much of the book is a frantic search for clues and for the real killer. There are car chases, a bunch of swear words, and copious amounts of shit going flying through the air. It’s fast-paced and a lot of fun to read. There are a bunch of pop-culture and rap references littered throughout too, for those who live for that sort of thing, but I have to admit that most of them went over my head.

If you’re looking for a high-action contemporary fantasy with a bunch of irreverent humour, then this is your book. If you’re looking for something deeper and character-focused, well, there are a few introspective scenes here, but they aren’t the book’s strong suit. This is a modern action movie that just happens to be in book form. If that appeals to you, then go ahead and pick it up.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Orbit books for providing this review copy!