I reviewed Terry Fallis’s last book on this blog a few years ago, it was called No Relation, and I really enjoyed reading it. No surprise then, that I really enjoyed his latest, Poles Apart. Similar to my last review, my only quibble with Fallis remains the same; his protagonists are basically the same guy, over and over again. However, this reason alone will never keep me from picking up his books. In fact, I’ve read all of them so far, and I look forward to reading his next story (which will inevitably come in a few years, because I know he’s an avid writer who’s eager to keep going).

Pearl commends Fallis on his effort to bring feminism to the forefront

Poles Apart is another feel-good book that features a humorous, male character who has one quirky aspect to his personality. Everett Kane is a struggling freelance writer with a passion for feminism. After being exposed to the feminist movement in his university years, he has never given up his undying desire for women’s equality. He moves down to Orlando temporarily to help nurse his father back to health after a serious stroke, and while there, he begins an anonymous feminist blog called “Eve of Equality” that becomes a runaway success overnight. Its fame is due to a post he writes that criticizes a high-end chain of strip clubs opening up, and he later discovers that he actually lives right above one of these clubs. To make matters worse, the owner of this chain is an extremely powerful, wealthy and dangerous man whose business is suffering due to this famous blog post, and has no qualms about ‘roughing up’ the author  to back off on his or her views. So, Everett is in a bit of danger, especially being in such close proximity to this man.

The plot line is probably the most complicated thing about this book, and although it sounds a bit convoluted as I write it out here, I promise it’s much clearer when you read the book yourself. And Fallis rewards readers for sticking around; the dialogue is hilarious, there’s a few love stories woven throughout, and just enough action to keep the plot moving quickly. Like always, you are laughing along with the characters as soon as the first page is turned, and the good guys always win, so you put the book down feeling content as well.

Another entirely new reason I enjoyed this book was the focus on blogging. As Everett comes to learn more about managing and growing a highly successful blog, I mentally made notes on things I could be doing better as a blogger myself. I’ve only been writing on this blog for 3 years now, which isn’t very long compared to many other people in the blogosphere, especially book reviewers, there’s a ton of us! So Fallis not only kept me highly entertained, he taught me a few things too, so I couldn’t ask for much more in this very funny book.