A Straw Man

The story:

Melody, the younger sister of Charlie, the main character of the previous book, is now in college. She is smitten with her longtime boyfriend Nate, a handsome football player who is struggling with the part he played in a friend’s death. Rather than let their relationship disintegrate, she uses her “trip” – a sojourn through time – to fix things, despite the serious repercussions altering the timeline can have.


What I loved:

I loved Melody, almost as much as I loved Brooke from the first book in the series. She feels emotions deeply, which area always my favorite characters. Nate, too, was a compelling character, and watching their relationship founder was at times hard to read. But that’s what great fiction does, make you care about the characters! The story, which shifted gears dramatically halfway through, became even more of a page-turner. I was heavily invested by the end, which did not disappoint.


What I didn’t love:

I can’t think of a thing. This story hit every button, checked every box for mse.


My Final Verdict:

A Straw Man perfectly showcases Amalie Jahn’s warm writing style. Her characters are instantly relatable, her stories told with great sensitivity and are totally absorbing. I would highly recommend this story. In fact, this entire series is worth your time.

'A Straw Man' by Amalie Jahn is the third and final installment in her 'Clay Lion' series. Melody, the sister of the main character in 'Tin Men' (the second in the series), is now in college. She and longtime boyfriend Nate are having their fair share of struggles, due mostly in part to the role Nate feels he played in a friend's untimely death. Despite it not really being his fault, he feels responsible, and Melody is having a hard time dealing with the strain that this has put on their relationship. She can't find a way to get through to Nate, to make him realize that the outcome was beyond his control. This, coupled with the fact that Nate is spiraling out of control and finding illegal ways to cope with the issue, threatens to tear them apart.

Melody considers traveling back in time to help him. She knows that if she does this, there can be terrible repercussions. She has witnessed this firsthand when her brother went back in time in 'Tin Men' and she doesn't want to deal with what might happen. Yet she knows that she needs to do something, and she doesn't see a way around taking the trip. She thinks she can certainly help him, but when she does so, something changes in the life she returns to that she can't wrap her head around. Life as she knows it can never be the same despite everyone else continuing on as if nothing has happened – because to them nothing did happen.

As Melody struggles with the ramifications of her time traveling, her life doesn't come together quite as she hoped it would. Her world becomes harder despite her attempts to make it easier. 'A Straw Man' provides in Melody a main character who, despite her most sincere attempts, finds herself at a crossroads that she can't ignore, and struggles with changes that can never be undone. A testimony to the heartache and pain that any decision can cause one to endure, 'A Straw Man' is a satisfying and engaging conclusion to Jahn's series.

n the third and final installment in the ‘The Clay Lion’ trilogy, Charlie’s little sister Melody takes her own trip to the past. Melody learns that small actions can have large and unexpected consequences in the present.

I adored the previous installments in the ‘Clay Lion’ series. I pretty much jumped from ‘Tin Men’ into this one. I could not wait to find out where Melody’s time-traveling journey would take her. The story begins as Melody is starting college. Her first day she meets handsome, sweet, and strong Nate. Nate and Melody fall head over heels for each other.

Nate and Melodie’s lives take a dramatic twist after a tragedy. Melodie decides to go against everyone’s advise and use her one-time-only time-travel trip.

I really loved Nate. Amalie Jahn is so good at making swoon-worthy characters. I can totally understand why Melody fell so hard for Nate and was willing to do so much to save him.

I really thought the details of how a small action in the past can lead to large changes in the future (what I would call the butterfly effect). What really made ‘A Straw Man’ stand out from the first two books in the series is the political stance that Melody takes. It really highlighted how almost anything can become politicized and how even something that is so obviously bad for society is allowed to continue. This story definitely gave me a lot to think about.
Once again a great one from Amalie Jahn. I am really sad the trilogy is over.