Review: It's Iso Weaver's story!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 9, 2014
Stay Vertical starts right after Ford Illuminati and Madison Shellmound are reunited. In the aftermath of all the violence and trauma comes a new development - Ingrid Shellmound is dying of cancer. Of her three children, only one can look beyond all the hurt and abuse she caused and come back to care for her: June, and she has to fly in all the way from Africa to do so.June looks at the world through rose-tinted glasses and would willingly care for all the strays she bumps into. With this kind of character, it's not a wonder she ends up in the Peace Corps setting up water systems in the desert. Life is beautiful, despite hardships in living accommodations and weakling boyfriends. For the life of her, she can't understand why her brother and sister have to hand the care of their mother over to her.  Wouldn't it be easier for them since she's several continents away? But a good daughter she is and she comes home.Lytton has family problems of a different sort. He grew up thinking he was full-blooded Apache, until the day he applied for a scholarship to MIT and found out his father was white. Crushed and disillusioned, he uses his knowledge and chemist's degree to put up an organic pot farm on his stepfather's land. He blames his mother for his disappointment and lets his aggression out on a willing rotation of subs.  There's a sort of satisfaction in his life until the fateful day he finds out who his real father is and he doesn't like it. Who the heck would want to be Cropper Illuminati's son?As I started reading, I felt the conversation between June and Layla was really strange. Why are they both so lyrical? I realized I wasn't reading about MC members (although Ford speaks this way too sometimes) but people with high skill sets and doctorate degrees. It's such a wonderful way to set them apart from the rest of the pack.June, though, was so naive! How could you just throw yourself on the newest guy to literally walk into your life? Maybe it was the smell of pot that affected her brains? But, Madison agreed with her choice. After all, they've both had a crush on Ford since forever so it would be logical she falls for his carbon copy. Right? I think?Lytton repelled me in the beginning. There's a mean, suicidal streak to him which, thankfully, slowly disappears the longer he stays with June. He's clinically detached from everything around him - it seems all that keeping him alive is his anger and need for revenge. While his anger is somewhat directed at his mother, it's focused full force on Ford when he finds out they share a father. This character grew on me slowly and by two-thirds of the way through the book, I was rooting for him full force.I just love Layla Wolfe's bits of humor that pepper this book, especially the ones that need to be deciphered. Who else would name an MC member who's so awful with guns after two basic shooting stances? Isosceles Weaver, ha! I had to laugh at that one.Of course nerdy me enjoyed the discourses on different types of marijuana and the eco-friendly, organic way of raising them. Pesticide free? Better hits? Healthy grass? Saving water? Food for thought.Like with The Bare Bones, I'm again struck at the incongruously beautiful writing contrasting with such gritty subjects. Something that would normally repel, like drug smuggling, assault, or simply warring siblings in a bloody fist fight takes on a strange charm with the way it's presented. It's a combination that will have me coming back for more.I do wish Stay Vertical isn't the end to this series. Maybe Ford and Lytton have another brother hiding out somewhere?