The Bitter Kingdom
Fire and Thorns, Book 3

Author: Rae Carson
Narrators: Jennifer Ikeda & Luis Moreno
Duration: 12 hrs, 57 mins
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Read: August 27-September 1, 2013
Source: Digital copy from publisher

Description from Goodreads:
The champion must not waver.
The champion must not fear.
The gate of darkness closes.

Elisa is a fugitive.

Her enemies have stolen the man she loves, and they await her at the gate of darkness. Her country is on the brink of civil war, with her own soldiers ordered to kill her on sight.

Her Royal Majesty, Queen Lucero-Elisa née Riqueza de Vega, bearer of the Godstone, will lead her three loyal companions deep into the enemy's kingdom, a land of ice and snow and brutal magic, to rescue Hector and win back her throne. Her power grows with every step, and the shocking secrets she will uncover on this, her final journey, could change the course of history.

But that is not all. She has a larger destiny. She must become the champion the world has been waiting for.

Even of those who hate her most.

Previous Books in Series:
1: The Girl of Fire and Thorns
2: The Crown of Embers

Review:
My relationship with Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns series is a complicated one, and probably always will be. When I first read The Girl of Fire and Thorns, I did not like it. As time passed and endless praise rolled in, I felt like maybe I'd not given the book a fair shot, so I tried again, this time with the audiobook. Why reread a book I didn't like? Because tastes can change. In this case, though, they really didn't. However, I still went ahead with the audiobook version of the series, which I'm sure would be looked at askance by many. Why would a person read the sequel to a book they've disliked twice? Because you never know. This time my persistence paid off, and I found myself wholly wrapped up in The Crown of Embers. Though I still have some rather large reservations about books two and three in the series, I also loved them in some ways. Make of that what you will.

Though I do love romance in books, it's not often what makes a book for me. Generally, I would say I love the characters first and the romance between them second. In the Fire and Thorns series, the romance comes first. The arc of this relationship gets a full five star fanfare of cellos and unicorn whinnies, okay? (I'm just going to assume that would sound awesome. Roll with it, yo.) Hector and Elisa go from having no real romantic attachment in book one (note that this is the book I didn't like), but with a nice solid foundation of respect and mutual admiration, to love and impending marriage in The Bitter Kingdom. They do so slowly and with quite a bit of swoon.

The ending scenes of this book almost made me happy cry, something I do much more easily than sad cry. Attending weddings of friends, I find a lot of the trappings of them quite sexist and unappealing. Carson's series is, I think, at its most beautiful and woman power-y right there at the end in a traditionally patriarchy-dominated ceremony. Hector loves that Elisa is powerful, and is man enough not to feel challenged by that, and just so much yes to all of that.

One of the key selling points of Fire and Thorns is Elisa's weight. There aren't many novels about non-skinny heroines, and even less so in the fantasy genre. Now, Elisa does lose a good deal of weight over the course of book one while tramping about in the desert. This did concern me a bit, especially since the romantic interest in her really kicks up at that juncture. However, now that it's done, I'm really happy with the portrayal of weight in the series. Elisa never gets thin or reaches her society's standard of beauty, which is slim like our society currently holds up as ideal. Elisa will always be curvy or even overweight. Hector finds her very sexually attractive, and that's fantastic. What really makes the portrayal of Elisa's weight issues so powerful, though, is that Elisa herself comes to love her own body and to stop yearning to be someone else with a different body type. The reason people are beautiful is their uniqueness, and Elisa's road to self-love has been long and bumpy, but she made it and I think I finally like her as well.

The Bitter Kingdom also spends much less time on the religion elements which made me so batty in book one. While I know this worked for some, I found the fact that it was basically relabeled Christianity both lazy and preachy. By The Bitter Kingdom, Elisa has no real idea what the deal is with god. She still prays and believes somewhat, but she's questioning. She no longer has that certainty that her way is right and is really seeking knowledge. Where before the series came off as dealing with religion, The Bitter Kingdom takes a much more theological angle, which I love. Fun fact: I minored in theology.

So far as the cast goes, this is one of those rare books where I feel things but don't really identify with the heroine. Though I do have some commonalities with Elisa, we have never been able to bond. I respect her now and admire her, but we would never be best friends (maybe because I'm plotting her death to steal Hector? - kidding...mostly). Hector is everything fabulous, and other YA love interests should learn from him. He walks the line between protective and trusting perfectly. There's a place for protecting your lady and a time to step back and let her get shit done, and he knows when to do which thing. My favorite characters are Mara and Belen, and they are both just the cutest. The Bitter Kingdom gave me a couple of new ships, and I actually would really like another book set in this world about one of them. *coughs* (Who would have thought, right?) I'm a little disappointed that Rosario basically didn't show up in this book, since the little prince is kind of important, but oh well. (I'm asking for more moppet? What has this book done to me and my values?) Oh also, Red is an incredibly adorable moppet as well, and, yeah, she's the best, even if her name is straight up My Little Pony.

The plot of The Bitter Kingdom meanders a little bit. There's a lot of journeying to one place and then hearing about a thing and needing to go somewhere else and OH HEY a plot point. It's not a huge issue, but I also wasn't really all that concerned about the plot overall. You basically know what the endgame is and ride that train all the way around the theme park until it gets to the final stop. There was one part that was straight out of Lord of the Rings basically, which was a little bit ridiculous to me, but, again, not a major problem for me either. Carson also took things a bit easily, with Lord of the Rings being a good comparison actually. The stakes are always really high, but she's not merciless to her characters, which I know some people love but I like knowing that anything could happen at any time.

Only one aspect of The Bitter Kingdom seriously irked me. To explain it, I will have to delve into SPOILERS in this section, so stop here if you do not want to know, mmkay? In The Bitter Kingdom, Carson throws in this huge world building twist, but doesn't really address it. She just throws it out there like it's no big deal and I'm like WHUT. Anyway, Elisa and company learn that if an Invierno mates with a Joyan, their offspring will be unable to reproduce. These offspring are referred to as mules.

Now, I seriously suck at science, but this immediately set off serious warning bells, because the reason mules, the product of horse and donkey sex, cannot reproduce is because they come from two disparate, if similar, species. Considering all of the racial themes in the series, this made me really uncomfortable, especially since the word mulatto, came from the same root word of mule. Now, it turns out the Joyans actually came to the planet and colonized it much like the Europeans came into the Americas, so they are actually not the same creatures, but I still feel like this is some really messy, sensitive subject matter to throw into book three. I especially do not feel like enough world building was put into this, since apparently one or the other of them is not human but alien. This begs so many questions. It's a pretty cool twist, but leaves me feeling hyper-curious and not entirely satisfied with the world building.

The audiobook versions of this series have been marvelous. Jennifer Ikeda does a fabulous job with the different characters all the way through. I'm not as thrilled with the casting of Hector, who sounds a bit too much like Kevin Spacey for any guy as sexy and hispanic as Hector is in my head. Still, he doesn't do a bad job. I'm also not entirely sure Hector's POV was necessary in The Bitter Kingdom, but whatever.

Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns series is one that I do think is well worth reading, even if it has always been varying degrees of problematic for me personally. The series gets better as it goes along, and features one of the best and healthiest romantic relationships.

Rating: 4.5/5

Labels: 4.5 star, Audiobook Reviews, fantasy, racism, religion, romance, war, young adult

Cold Fire
Spiritwalker, Book 2

Author: Kate Elliott
Pages: 652
Publisher: Orbit
Read: June 11-15, 2013
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review
Recommended by: Nafiza of Bibliophilic Monologues

Description from Goodreads:
They did the impossible, deposing the godlike being whose brutal rule had lasted a thousand years. Now Vin, the street urchin who has grown into the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of an empire.

They have barely begun when three separate armies attack. As the siege tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.

It may just be that killing the Lord Ruler was the easy part. Surviving the aftermath of his fall is going to be the real challenge.

Previous Books in Series:
1: Cold Magic

First Sentence: "It was a cursed long and struggling walk hauling two heavy carpetbags stuffed with books across the city of Adurnam."

Review:
You know what I love? A series that just gets better and better as it goes along. Cold Magic had a rocky start, and took a couple hundred pages before I really started enjoying it. Cold Fire caught my interest right away, amping up to a finale that stomped on my heart and made me need to read book three posthaste. The Spiritwalker Trilogy boasts one of my favorite romances, and I'm going to need to fangirl about the feels.

Know that there's totally a lot more going on in Cold Fire than romance, but that I'm mostly going to blabber on about that, because, being totally honest here, THAT is what I care about most. BY FAR. I make no secret of the fact that I burn for hate to love romance arcs, and this one is SO well done. Gah. There's a very Pride & Prejudice sort of emotional arc that just makes me swoon. When they meet, Vai is dismissive of Catherine, which is all sorts of awkward, since they're forced to marry at the beginning of the first book. However, you find out that he's just sort of awkward and makes disdainful faces when he's uncomfortable, but that he actually really cares for her. Cat, on the other hand, does not forgive or trust easily, so she has little interest in Vai for most of Cold Magic.

In Cold Fire, my ship finally takes sail, and, oh my, was it ever glorious. There's also a sort of vaguely Tamora Pierce-ian element to the romance, wherein Cat has a dalliance with someone else. Even though I ship them so hard, I loved this, because in some ways it was needful. There's just something so freeing about the heroine making her own choices and being more informed. And, yes, technically it was adultery, but they were forced to wed, so that doesn't bother me in this instance.

Once Vai and Cat are together again, the sexual tension is something fierce. They have crazy amounts of chemistry, and Vai is being such a freaking sweetheart. He KNOWS she hooked up with someone else, and he's still so understanding even though she's technically his wife. He keeps feeding her all of this delicious fruit, and omg it's so hot I can't even. Plus, these two and their banter. Oy, it's fantastic. She's under a bit of a curse thing where she's not allowed to impart certain information, so she has to respond to certain questions with questions, which sort of becomes a flirty banter thing for them and I love it so much. Yes, I do realize I'm a bit incoherent, but GOD I LOVE THEM. Vai loves her for her spirit and strength and the fact that she can be so damn stubborn, and just LOVE.

Obviously, I would rate the romance a full five glorious stars, but, despite those feels, I still had to rate the book a four overall, because I feel like Elliott's still getting a hang of the pacing and plotting. Parts of the book do drag (like when Vai and Cat are not together duh), and it feels like not all that much is actually happening for a lot of the book. The plotting really does pick up towards the end, when Elliott decides to wreak havoc on my emotional state, but the rest felt like a really long way to get there, not that it was not worth it for Vai and Cat.

The world herein is quite lush, but I still don't entirely understand its underpinnings, though I vaguely remember it was some sort of alternate history spun off from Roman times, I think. What I love is how diverse the characters are, many of them mixed race. There are a lot of messages about cultural sensitivity, which is great.

While I think this series has some drawbacks, for me, it's ONE HUNDRED PERCENT worth the slow moments for the epic ship of Cat and Vai. I am all kinds of glad that I sort of neglected to read this review copy for a shameful amount of time, because I would have HATED waiting for book three to come out, because THAT ENDING.
Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote:

"'Catherine, I promise you, no one will ever make you feel as good as I will.'
     As the djeli said, "Men act humble until they get what they want." Although obviously the djeli who said that hadn't met you. Anyway, wouldn't a person of scientific inclination say that to verify such a statement I would need to make a significant number of comparative tests with other subjects?'
     His eyes opened as at a shot. 'No!'
     'Then I could never actually know.'
     He pushed up onto one elbow, dislodging my head from its pleasant resting place, and brushed hair from my cheek. 'You can't possibly have any complaints.'
     'But I do.'
     His hand stilled. 'Name one.'
     'You're talking.'"

---

Up Next:
The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta, with the other books in the Lumatere Chronicles following as time permits. So freaking excited to read my first Marchetta ever. Let's hope I love it! Thanks to Steph of Cuddlebuggery and Lynn for requesting it!

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Labels: 4 star, adult, epic fantasy, magic, racism, romance, sadie hawkins sunday

Earth Girl
Earth Girl, Book 1

Author: Janet Edwards
Pages: 271
Publisher: Pyr
Source: Gifted - thanks Kayla!
Recommended by: Kayla Beck of Bibliophilia, Please

Description from Goodreads:
2788. Only the handicapped live on Earth. Eighteen-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at birth to save her life, she has been abandoned by her parents. She can’t travel to other worlds, but she can watch their vids, and she knows all the jokes they make. She’s an “ape,” a “throwback,” but this is one ape girl who won’t give in.

Jarra makes up a fake military background for herself and joins a class of norms who are on Earth for a year of practical history studies excavating the dangerous ruins of the old cities. She wants to see their faces when they find out they’ve been fooled into thinking an ape girl was a norm. She isn’t expecting to make friends with the enemy, to risk her life to save norms, or to fall in love.

First Sentence: "It was on Wallam-Crane day that I finally decided what I was going to do for my degree course Foundation year.."

Review:
Honestly, I'd sort of dismissed this book, because I saw the pretty cover and then never heard another thing about it. Only when my friend Kayla tweeted me about how good this book was and how much she thought I would like it did I look into it again. That was when I realized why I'd heard so little buzz about it: the cover I was familiar with was for the UK edition, and it's only just now publishing in the US. So, basically, Kayla knows me well and this book is stellar (see what I did there?); pay attention to Earth Girl.

The world building in Earth Girl is astounding. Seriously, there's so much going on in here, and with so much of it well-explained. Though the Earth and surrounding solar system are nothing like they are now, I always felt completely grounded in Edwards' world. At no point did I feel like there was clunky infodumping or that I was at a loss, confused about why something was happening. There are some infodumps, but they're done in the guise of a classroom lesson, so they work perfectly. I'm not going to try to explain all of it to you, because there's too much and I would make it really complicated; if you're curious, trust in Janet Edwards.

The biggest theme tackled in Earth Girl is that of racial tensions. Well, I'm not sure if racial is precisely the right world, but the strain between people from different planets and cultures. Although all originally from Earth, the humans who still live there are seen as neans (a shortening of neanderthals) or apes. No one would live on Earth at all anymore, since other planets have been located with far better conditions, but some people are unable to survive anywhere else because of a rare condition. Even among those not dwelling on Earth, there are stereotypes pertaining to every planet, like the idea that all Betans are promiscuous.

Jarra is one of my new favorite heroines. She does not let people mess with her one bit, sarcastic and no-nonsense. Who doesn't love a heroine who throws a guy who tries to get fresh across the room? Well, probably lots of people, but I, for one, think that's awesome. Handicapped, the term used to describe those unable to survive off of Earth, Jarra resents the way her kind are viewed, and decides to do something drastic to prove a point. She enrolls in a history degree for a college on another planet, since the first year is taught on Earth. If no one notices that she's an "ape," then obviously the stereotypes are wrong. At the end, she plans to revenge herself on these narrow-minded exos (a slur for those who don't live on Earth) by revealing the truth. Over time, though, it becomes clear that there is more to every person than stereotypes, a lesson that's always important to remember.

Though it's not the main focus of the story, Earth Girl does have one heck of an adorable romance. Jarra, in spite of herself, is highly attracted to Fian, a guy who just happens to rather resemble her favorite vid star. They develop a really natural bond by working to gether and playing together. I really love the way they swap episodes of their favorite shows, secretly pointing out their crushes on one another. These two have some great banter and I am a big fan.

Though Earth Girl is nigh perfect for me, I do think it might be tricky for those with a bit less patience for science fiction. There are a lot of pages of description about the methods by which historians research pre-historic Earth (in this case, New York City). These might bore some readers, though I found them incredibly exciting. The closest comparison I can make would be to the various lessons in Ender's Game, as they play the battle simulation game. There were also a couple of spots that lagged a bit, but far more that made me laugh out loud or want to fistbump Jarra for being so damn cool.

Science fiction fans, you're going to want to get yourself a copy of Earth Girl ASAP. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to order the UK version of book two, just so I can have a shorter wait.
Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"'Delta sector is heavily into science, like Beta sector is heavily into sex, but I can't see the appeal of it.'
     I laughed.
     'I meant I can't see the appeal of science, not sex. Sex is . . .' Fian shoook his head. 'I'm digging myself in deeper here, aren't I?'"

---

Up Next:
The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna. This suggestion comes from Lilian of A Novel Toybox! I already have a copy of this one I've been meaning to read, so this is perfect.

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out THIS FORM with a book suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Labels: 4.5 star, Book Reviews, racism, romance, sadie hawkins sunday, science fiction, young adult

When We Wake
When We Wake, Book 1

Author: Karen Healey
Pages: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 5, 2013
Source: Publisher

Description from Goodreads:
My name is Tegan Oglietti, and on the last day of my first lifetime, I was so, so happy. Sixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl living in 2027--she's happiest when playing the guitar, she's falling in love for the first time, and she's joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental collapse, social discrimination, and political injustice.

But on what should have been the best day of Tegan's life, she dies--and wakes up a hundred years in the future, locked in a government facility with no idea what happened. Tegan is the first government guinea pig to be cryonically frozen and successfully revived, which makes her an instant celebrity--even though all she wants to do is try to rebuild some semblance of a normal life. But the future isn't all she hoped it would be, and when appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: Does she keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better future?

Award-winning author Karen Healey has created a haunting, cautionary tale of an inspiring protagonist living in a not-so-distant future that could easily be our own.

First Sentence: "My name is Tegan Oglietti."

Review:
Just yesterday, series information was added to Goodreads for When We Wake. I'm so glad that happened before I wrote up this review, because, honestly, the open-ended ending might have left me rather unsatisfied if I didn't know there was going to be more. Plus, I'm just excited there will be more, because When We Wake was a delight all the way through, populated with lovable characters, science-fictiony goodness, and references to The Beatles.

Before I get into the serious plot stuff, I have to talk about all of The Beatles love in this book. My parents raised me on music from the 60s and 70s, so, though I'm not a child of that age, I sure do know most of the music, and The Beatles have always been amongst my favorites, even if my favorite album changes through the years. Every chapter title is a Beatles song, but the references go much deeper than that, and you better believe I adore every single one. The songs do even serve a plot point, providing a link to her old life and a way to connect with the people of 2128 through music.

Tegan makes a wonderful heroine. Awakened over a hundred years after her last memory and informed of her death and revival, she is, understandably, freaked. However, after some time to mourn over her old life, she makes the best out of her new situation. She is helpful, hopeful, loving, determined, and sarcastic. Her voice thoughout When We Wake is a delight, and I connected to her immediately, not just because of her love of The Beatles.

Reviving Tegan a century later enables Healey to impart information to the reader in a logical way. Tegan really does not know anything about the world she's in and can ask questions and receive answers without it feeling like an infodump. Healey uses the device to the fullest and spaces out Tegan's education well. Healey does not feel the need to drop everything on the reader all at once, taking breaks for character development or to talk about less serious things like slang or toilets (in this future, people poo into compost buckets).

What makes this novel stand out from many others is that the society in which Tegan awakes really does seem to verge on utopian for quite a while. Sure, it's not completely perfect, but it seems largely better than the past. The world has warmed due to the depletion of the ozone layer, but mankind is now living in such a way as to diminish the negative effects on the environment. Homosexual love is now valued just as highly as heterosexual love, something our society really needs to learn to accept. The more Tegan learns, the more negatives appear in this future world, including continued racial tensions.

When We Wake, though not focused on romance, does have a couple of very sweet relationships. Tegan develops a crush on a Abdi, a musically-gifted, clever boy from Djibouti. Watching them slowly overcome the difficulties their situations (he's a thirdie - from the third world - and she's the Living Dead Girl) place on a relationship is adorable. I also really love Joph and Bethari, and I hope those girls can work out their issues and get back together.

The only thing missing from the novel for me were high enough stakes. There's some action and they are in danger, but, for whatever reason, they never felt especially imperilled. Perhaps this is due to the lack of death toll in the novel, or the narrative device whereby the entirety of the book is a broadcast being issued live by Tegan, since that means she survives to the end. In the sequel, I hope to see more from the dystopian government, so that I can really feel scared for Tegan and her friends.

Karen Healey was unknown to me prior to When We Wake, but I will definitely be reading more of her books, including the sequel to this novel. When We Wake is a must-read for Beatles fans and for those who enjoy dystopian stories that don't focus entirely on romance.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote:

"'And then what?' she demanded.
     'Classified.' My whole body was buzzing with the memory.
     'Teeg, I will kill you and sink the corpse in the river.'
     I snorted. 'What river?' The Yarra ran through the city, but you couldn't hide a body in that shallow brown flow.
     'I will dig a river and fill it with my tears, because I will be weeping from the betrayal of my best friend not giving me every damn detail!'"

Labels: 4 star, Book Reviews, dystopia, dystopian february, lgbt, racism, science fiction, young adult

Cascade

Author: Maryanne O'Hara (Website|Facebook)
Pages: 368
Publisher: Viking Adult
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours

Description from Goodreads:
During the 1930s, a conflicted new wife seeks to reconcile her heart's ambitions with binding promises she has made

1935: Desdemona Hart Spaulding was an up-and-coming Boston artist when she married in haste and settled in the small, once-fashionable theater town of Cascade to provide a home for her dying father. Now Cascade is on the short list to be flooded to provide water for Boston, and Dez's discontent is complicated by her growing attraction to a fellow artist. When tragic events unfold, Dez is forced to make difficult choices. Must she keep her promises? Is it morally possible to set herself free?

Fans of Richard Russo, Amor Towles, Sebastian Barry, and Paula McLain will devour this transporting novel about the eternal tug between our duties and our desires, set within the context of the Depression, NYC during Roosevelt's New Deal era, and the approaching World War.

First Sentence: "During his final days, William Hart was haunted by drowning dreams."

Review:
Cascade caught my attention when Aubra of Unabridged Chick wrote a glowing review of the novel. Of course, the incredibly gorgeous cover does not hurt either. My tastes do not align with Aubra's all of the time, but, when she raves about a novel, my interest perks. Thus, when I had the opportunity to get onto a tour for Cascade, I jumped for it. Though I did not get quite as swept up into the flow of Cascade, I did love its simple beauty and pitch perfect portrayal of the the time period.

Though set during the 1930s and 1940s, Cascade does not focus on the more traditional subject matter of the Great Depression or WWII. Both affect Desdemona's life, but only indirectly. The foundation of the book focuses on Desdemona's relationship with her father and his Shakespearean theater. Their relationship was a close one, and she would do anything for him, even sacrifice her own quality of life. When the theater had to close due to monetary concerns in the economic downturn, Desdemona wed a persistent, fairly well-off suitor, Asa Spaulding, so that she and her father could have somewhere to live without having to sell the theater. Her father passes not long after, asking Desdemona to swear that she will reopen the theater.

While the business with the theater frames the plot, the real crux of the matter is Desdemona's desires and the way they contrast with society's expectations for her. Her husband expects her to birth his children and iron his shirts. Her dad has made her promise to put the theater first, and,unfortunately, has given it legally to Asa as a dowry of sorts, tying her to his fate. What Des really wants is to live by her art, and to do so with Jacob, a fellow artist. Though Asa is a nice man, he and Des do not share interests or dreams.

Love triangles and infidelity are not plot lines that I generally prefer, but Maryanne O'Hara parallels Desdemona's romantic life with her professional life. She cannot be everything at once or please everyone. To be an independent woman in that era, a woman had to make certain sacrifices. Though Des didn't always make what I deem the right choices, she does take responsibility for her own life. She does not mope or live regretfully; she tries, even when she knows she probably shouldn't.

O'Hara's depictions of both the small town of Cascade and the city of New York shine with authenticity. Even the pace of the story matches the different settings, with the parts of the book set in Cascade flowing by slowly and calmly, while New York passes by in a swift, almost confusing blur. More details in the New York section might have left me a bit more satisfied with the way the novel ended, but, from a compositional standpoint, it is brilliant.

While beautifully done, Cascade is a slow read. The pages did not fly by, particularly towards the beginning. If you like a fast pace, you will likely struggle. Once Des began to spread her metaphorical wings and stop living in the shadow of society's expectations, the novel really picked up speed. The focus here lies more on mood, setting, art than on any sort of action.

Cascade will delight readers who appreciate lush writing and atmosphere. Though slow, Cascade certainly is worth pushing through for those who appreciate historical fiction with a unique viewpoint.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: "And Dez had no patience with these movies that had people simply looking at each other and falling in love. Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind. Where was the connection, what linked them together? Common interest? Understanding of the other? In the book, Vronsky so clearly saw and was attracted to Anna's nature. The movie should show that, show her nature revealed somehow, should make clear that it was her soul that he loved."

Labels: 3.5 star, adult, art, blog tour, Book Reviews, gender, historical fiction, love triangles, racism

The Diviners
The Diviners, Book 1

Author: Libba Bray
Pages: 592
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Nabbed at BEA

Description from Goodreads:
Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies." When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

First Sentence: "In the town house at a fashionable address on Manhattan's Upper East Side, every lamp blazes."

Review:
Woohoo, I finally finished The Diviners. This thrills me both because it's insanely original and good, and because it's so incredibly long and took me forever. Partially, this was because it was my secondary book, but still...oof. Libba Bray has firmly cemented herself in my mind as an Awesome Author, both for her hilarious personality and her talented writing. Though I didn't like A Great and Terrible Beauty when I first read it ages ago, I loved Beauty Queens and now this one. Libba Bray is one of those authors with the remarkable ability to do something entirely new and astounding every time.

Though The Diviners was pretty slow-going for me, I really did pos-i-tute-ly love it. The storytelling style Bray uses appealed to me entirely. She tells the story in third person, but with a sort of magical realism flair to it, sometimes following a character and sometimes trailing the wind. This fit the story like a glove, and really set up the precise tone needed to pull this tale off.

On the downside, I wasn't entirely sold on Bray's use of multiple perspectives. I love them usually, whether third or first person, but it felt forced here. Basically, most of the book was Evie, with a smattering of chapters from Memphis' perspective, and then random bits of chapters following other characters/things. For the most part, the narration that didn't follow Evie found my mind wandering off course just a bit. I just feel like Memphis didn't do enough to justify his having such a large chunk of narrative relative to his importance.

The paranormal plot line, though clearly not yet fully-fledged, still opening up like a bud to become a bloom, delighted me too. Diviners have abilities, sort of like X-Men, which you know is totally one of my favorite things. Evie can see a bit of the past when touching objects. Memphis can heal. The powers are different for each individual and all fascinating. As I said, this was not as big a part of the book as you might expect yet, but will clearly be more central to the next installment.

Another aspect that Libba Bray gets just right is the creep factor. If you're someone who's scared by books, she will no doubt have you cowering into your blankets. Thankfully, I'm not bothered by horror in books (though I can't stomach it in the slightest in films), so it didn't scare me. I could still admire, however, her ability to create suspense and an eerie scene. I suspect that the story is told the way that it is precisely so we can pop over to the victims' points of view.

On top of that, I loved Evie. She starts out as this shallow, selfish girl, who I definitely still loved, but grows into this even more loveable girl throughout. I say that, but her core doesn't really change at all. She lets more of her good qualities shine through, but she's not magically a good girl or something; she still loves to party, to drink, to manipulate people and to be the center of attention. Evie is straight up hilarious, and I like that, much as she's a party girl, she really doesn't seem all that bothered about boys. Romance doesn't seem to matter to her all that much, except in the matchmaking sense, determined to help her straight-laced friend Mabel land her crush.

I never quite felt the same liking for any of the other characters that I did for Evie. Jericho and Will I like, but I don't know enough about them to be super invested. Memphis really does seem like a marvelously nice guy, but he just bored me, and I'm really creeped out by pretty much every other character in his story line. My least favorite character, though, by far was Sam. Intellectually, I know he's sort of the more messed-up, male version of Evie, but, for whatever reason, I just cannot stand him. Maybe I just can't get over the fact that he stole from Evie when he first met or how freaking cocky he is.

While The Diviners was not a perfect read, I still declare myself awash in admiration for Libba Bray's talent. This book is so unlike anything else I've read and the writing is superb. For those with a bit of patience, you will not want to miss this one, as it is remarkable.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote:

"'I thought you went to the library,' Uncle Will said.
   Evie cut her eyes at Will, who didn't look up from his book. 'Why do you think I'm so exhausted? If you'd like to know anything at all about this city in 1876, please raise your hand. No show of hands? Pos-i-tute-ly shocking.' Evie bunched a pillow into a corner of the settee and rested her face against it. 'There is a hideous invention called the Dewey Decimal System. And you have to look up your topic in books and newspapers. Pages upon pages upon pages . . . .
   Uncle Will frowned. 'Didn't they teach you how to go about research in that school of yours?''
   'No, but I can recite 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' while making martinis.'
   'I weep for the future.'  
'There's where the martinis come in.'"

Labels: 4 star, beautiful writing, Book Reviews, cults, fantasy, ghosts, historical fiction, love triangles, murder, paranormal, racism, religion, romance, serial killers, young adult

Zom-B
Zom-B, Book 1

Author: Darren Shan
Pages: 173
Publisher: Little, Brown BFYR
Publication Date: September 27, 2012
Source: Little, Brown at BEA

Description from Goodreads:
Zom-B is a radical new series about a zombie apocalypse, told in the first person by one of its victims. The series combines classic Shan action with a fiendishly twisting plot and hard-hitting and thought-provoking moral questions dealing with racism, abuse of power and more. This is challenging material, which will captivate existing Shan fans and bring in many new ones. As Darren says, "It's a big, sprawling, vicious tale...a grisly piece of escapism, and a barbed look at the world in which we live. Each book in the series is short, fast-paced and bloody. A high body-count is guaranteed!"

First Sentence: "Then...It was the darkest, most wretched hour of the night when the dead came back to life and spread like a plague of monstrous locusts through the village of Pallaskenry."

Review:
My only prior experience with Darren Shan was the first book in the Cirque du Freak series, which we read for my Young Adult Services class in Library School. I remember mostly enjoying it, but for some potty humor kind of stuff I really could have done without. I was expecting something similar here, something for younger YA that like violence in humor. Actually, I think the gore and darker tone of this one definitely skew it up more than I was expecting, despite its brief length.

Another thing I was not expecting: how incredibly British this book is. Seriously, I don't remember if Cirque du Freak is set in Britain, but this one's set in London. There's slang and all of that, which made for a nice change.

Our MC, B is not the typical hero. B leads a group of no-account ruffians, that frequently take sickies from school. They beat up other kids, they pass their classes because the teachers don't want to risk and attack, and they are generally awful, violent people. Expect the first hundred pages, except for the prologue, to be entirely about B's life and little gang, not zombies. If this a concern, don't worry: you'll get plenty of zombie mayhem in gore in the last 70 pages, and, presumably, in the following books.

Yet another surprise waiting for me in Zom-B were the serious themes, both of racism and of parental abuse. B's father clearly turned B into this violent creature, as he regularly beats on B and B's mother whenever displeased. Were their cards for being a racist, B's father would surely be carrying one proudly. He wants all of the foreigners out of England, and doesn't care how that happens. B doesn't believe those same things, isn't a racist. Well, B doesn't think so anyway. However, racist sayings and thoughts creep in and emerge from B's mouth. I thought these themes were just a bit heavy-handed, but I was really glad to see that there was substance to the book, not just gore.

As promised, there is horror galore. The zombies are creepy, with bones spurting from everywhere and the ease with which they can infect. Ugh. There's plenty of brain-chewing to keep the zombie-enthusiasts pleased. Most disgusting and horrifying scene for me was most definitely B's dream about zombie babies on an airplane. Glad to know I'm not the only one terrified by babies. *shudders*

Zom-B offers all the gore its creepy cover promises. You want kids trapped in a school with hungry zombies and plenty of death? You got it. Also, expect twists that you probably won't see coming. Shan certainly surprised me.


Favorite Quote: "It's hard to believe I can make a joke at a time like this. But as awful as this is, as shocking as it's been, I have to go on. At the moment I'm alive. Those of us in this group have a chance to get out and fight another day. We have to cling to life as tightly as we can, put the atrocities from our thoughts, deal with this as if it were a surprise exam. What I've learned today is that when crap hits the fan, you can sit around and get splattered, or you can take it in stride and do what you must to get away clean. I'll have nightmares about this later, maybe full-on nervous breakdown, but only if I keep my cool and stay alive."


Remember: Every comment on a post during Dystopian August is an entry to win one of fourteen dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels IF you've filled out the form from this post.

Labels: 3 star, abuse, action, Book Reviews, horror, post-apocalyptic, racism, violence, young adult, zombies

The Thing About Thugs

Author: Tabish Khair
Pages: 244
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date:  If pre-publication
Source: TLC Book Tours

Description from Goodreads:
In a small Bihari village, Captain William T. Meadows finds just the man to further his phrenological research back home: Amir Ali, confessed member of the infamous Thugee cult. With tales of a murderous youth redeemed, Ali gains passage to England, his villainously shaped skull there to be studied. Only Ali knows just how embroidered his story is, so when a killer begins depriving London’s underclass of their heads, suspicion naturally falls on the “thug.” With help from fellow immigrants led by a shrewd Punjabi woman, Ali journeys deep into a hostile city in an attempt to save himself and end the gruesome murders. Ranging from skull-lined mansions to underground tunnels concealing a ghostly people, The Thing about Thugs is a feat of imagination to rival Wilkie Collins or Michael Chabon. Short-listed for the 2010 Man Asian Literary Prize, this Victorian role reversal is a sly take on the post-colonial novel and marks the arrival of a compelling Indian novelist to North America.

First Sentence: "This is what I see across time and space."

Review:
The Thing About Thugs is not precisely my ordinary reading material. Howe cover, I have always been morbidly fascinated by books about serial killers, although I'm not sure that designation is quite right for what happens here. At any rate, I was also drawn in by the racial tensions and the unique sound to the story. Sadly, The Thing About Thugs did not turn out to be precisely my kind of read.

What was really cool about this book was all that I learned about the study of phrenology, or trying to read the human skull, something I knew little about previously. I think I'd heard of it, but that's about it. The study itself, while creepy, is also scientifically and psychologically interesting. While the debates about phrenology might tire some readers, I found those sections to be most illuminating.

So, too, did I enjoy the parts about the murders. More than that, I enjoyed the whole way the scientific process sometimes worked back then, with some men robbing graveyards for the bodies to be used in experiments. What grisly work! People would go to such lengths to study such things. It amazes me that there was a whole underworld industry for that.

What lost me more than anything else as a reader, though, was the structure Khair used to tell this story. While Khair's writing itself is good and not without appeal and skill, I didn't care much for the organization or narration style used. I found that I was constantly withdrawn from the story and that the focus was often on the least interesting (to me) aspects.

Khair told the story through multiple media: newspaper articles, letters written by Amir Ali to his love (though never sent), transcripts of Amir Ali's story to William T. Meadows, first person narration (though we don't know whose for a long time), and even (I think) some omniscient third-person narration. This was just too much. I feel like it would have been a stronger novel with more of the third-person narration. The first person narration was jarring, especially following third person sections. I had so much trouble trying to figure out what was going on and I don't think that added to the story in any way.

Amir Ali's story is an interesting one, and he is a compelling character. However, I didn't feel like I particularly came to know him, probably because all I really learned about him was from his letters. This means I was only TOLD who he was, rather than getting to see him interact with anyone too much. 

Obviously, this book has been lauded, what with being shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. Though it was not my cup of cocoa, I think other readers will likely enjoy this Victorian mystery, in which prejudices are generally wrong. I am giving away my ARC to one of my readers!

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "Forgiveness and vengeance are easy only in thought, when language pretends to tell us all about life."

Labels: 2.5 star, adult, blog tour, Book Reviews, giveaways, historical fiction, murder, racism, revenge

The Orphanmaster

Author: Jean Zimmerman
Pages: 416
ARC Acquired from: Penguin

Description from Goodreads:
From a debut novelist, a gripping historical thriller and rousing love story set in seventeenth-century Manhattan

It’s 1663 in the tiny, hardscrabble Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, now present-day southern Manhattan. Orphan children are going missing, and among those looking into the mysterious state of affairs are a quick-witted twenty-two-year-old trader, Blandine von Couvering, herself an orphan, and a dashing British spy named Edward Drummond.

Suspects abound, including the governor’s wealthy nephew, a green-eyed aristocrat with decadent tastes; an Algonquin trapper who may be possessed by a demon that turns people into cannibals; and the colony’s own corrupt and conflicted orphanmaster. Both the search for the killer and Edward and Blandine’s newfound romance are endangered, however, when Blandine is accused of being a witch and Edward is sentenced to hang for espionage. Meanwhile, war looms as the English king plans to wrest control of the colony.

Jean Zimmerman brings New Amsterdam and its surrounding wilderness alive for modern-day readers with exacting period detail. Lively, fast paced, and full of colorful characters, The Orphanmaster is a dramatic page-turner that will appeal to fans of Hilary Mantel and Geraldine Brooks.

Book Trailer:


First Sentence: "On the same day, two murders."

Review:
The Orphanmaster is Jean Zimmerman's debut novel. It is not, however, her first foray into publication by any stretch of the imagination. Zimmerman is, first and foremost, a historian. Earlier this year, I read her recently published Love, Fiercely, and quite enjoyed it. Despite that, The Orphanmaster wasn't really on my radar, and I was going to let it pass me by. Then, one of the lovely folks at Penguin offered me a copy for review, and I couldn't say no. Guys, I am so, so glad that she offered me an ARC of this and that I accepted.

The first thing I have to mention is Zimmerman's writing. She has a way with words. The novel is complex and beautiful. I learned new terms and got to appreciate just how crazy Dutch looks. Reading The Orphanmaster is simply a pleasure, through all 416 long pages. This book took me some time to get through, but it was never a struggle.

Now, the story. The story is completely epic. From the first sentence, which definitely had me hooked, I was completely entranced by this whole other world, the past, which Zimmerman transported me to. Set in New Amsterdam in the 1660s, a gigantic cast of characters is centered around the mystery of a series of murders of orphans, done either by a psychopath or a demon.

The plotting and characterization reminded me somewhat of Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth, another book I love, although I think this one is better. In the first couple of chapters, I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters I was introduced to, all with very weird names, like Aet and Blandine. I worried I wasn't going to be able to track who was doing what, but Zimmerman does an excellent job, and after the initial onslaught, I had no issues with that.

Blandine was by far my favorite character, which should come as no surprise. She's an independent, headstrong lass. An orphan herself, she is 22 and as-yet unmarried, though she certainly could be if she wanted to be. Instead, she works (very successfully, I might add) as a trader. I loved her strength, and her openness to other cultures. There are strong themes of racism through the book, and Blandine is a wonderful person who judges people by their actions, not their skin color.

Just to warn you, this book can be quite gruesome. There are rapes, skinnings, murders and cannibalism. This is not a book for the faint of heart. None of this is done to excess or just for shock value, I don't think, but it is there.

Prior to reading this book, I knew almost nothing about the Dutch presence in what is now New York. I knew they were there for a while, and that the Brits pushed them out. That was about the extent of my knowledge though. I think that period was generally glossed over in history classes as not especially important, or maybe I just forgot. Either way, getting to learn about that colony was totally awesome. There are so many completely fascinating historical goodies in here. If you like to learn from your books, you will love this.

From start to finish, The Orphanmaster is dazzling. Historians should write historical fiction more often. I eagerly anticipate more novels from Zimmerman in the future!

Penguin has generously offered up two copies of this wondrous novel to one of my readers. US only. Enter via the Rafflecopter below. All of those options are one-time entries to keep things simple. :)

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "Drummond appreciated his guest's initial silence, his respect for the ancient, sacred act of imbibing. Drink first, talk later."

Labels: 4.5 star, adult, Book Reviews, colonization, historical fiction, love triangles, murder, mystery, racism, rape, romance

Next to Love

Author: Ellen Feldman
Pages: 320
ARC Acquired from: Random House via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
It’s 1941. Babe throws like a boy, thinks for herself, and never expects to escape the poor section of her quiet Massachusetts town. Then World War II breaks out, and everything changes. Her friend Grace, married to a reporter on the local paper, fears being left alone with her infant daughter when her husband ships out; Millie, the third member of their childhood trio, now weds the boy who always refused to settle down; and Babe wonders if she should marry Claude, who even as a child could never harm a living thing. As the war rages abroad, life on the home front undergoes its own battles and victories; and when the men return, and civilian life resumes, nothing can go back to quite the way it was.

From postwar traumas to women’s rights, racial injustice to anti-Semitism, Babe, Grace, and Millie experience the dislocations, the acute pains, and the exhilaration of a society in flux. Along the way, they will learn what it means to be a wife, a mother, a friend, a fighter, and a survivor. Beautiful, startling, and heartbreaking, Next to Love is a love letter to the brave women who shaped a nation’s destiny.

First Sentence: "In the year and a half Babe Huggins has worked for Western Union, she has been late only once before."

Review:
Next to Love is much larger in scope than I anticipated, again because I tend to avoid reading blurbs in full, since they occasionally have spoilers. Anyway, I expected this to be a novel about WWII, and certainly that's a big chunk of it, but, even more, this is a story about war and its effect on families, especially women.

The novel tells the story of three different women, friends, Babe, Grace and Millie. All three get married before their husbands ship off to fight in Europe. These women are all different in their situations, their motivations and their expectations. Two of them do not get their husbands back; one does. One can recover from her husband's loss; one cannot. Even the woman who got her husband back discovered that just because he returned, it does not mean he is the same man that you married years before.

The perspective of these women waiting at home is entirely engrossing to me. They get jobs, do their part in the war effort, knowing, whether they will it or not, that they will have to give up their new found independence when the men come home. The whole concept of war brides, of all of the marriages that take place as men are about to set out for war, is entirely absurd to me. I mean, I get the desire for closeness and comfort, but the men are going to come back so completely different, and, in most cases, the courtship is so rushed they hardly knew one another in the first place.

Once the war ends, Feldman treats us to a view of post-war America, incorporating the fight for civil rights and the effects of WWII upon the next generation. The women's kids are now old enough to be dating and getting married and holding down jobs, and they are so completely messed up. The loss of their fathers or the mother's reaction to his loss is something that affects them permanently, or so it seems.

Next to Love is not a happy story. Actually, it left me rather emotionally ravaged at several points. Both of my favorite characters are raped (one instance might not be, but it was definitely in the date rape family). Even the most solid relationships have serious issues that never really get resolved. This is not a book to read when you're hoping to be uplifted.

What I love about WWII historical fiction is how many tales there are to tell, and, many as I've read, I still learn something new in every book. Next to Love makes a wonderful addition to this category, especially because of its focus upon the role of women.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: " 'The official line is that, after the war, women couldn't wait to leave the offices and assembly lines and government agencies. But the real story was that the economy couldn't have men coming home without women going home, not unless it wanted a lot of unemployed vets. So the problem became unemployed women. "How you gonna keep us down on the farm after we've seen the world,"' she ad-libs to the old World War I tune. 'Enter the women's magazines, and cookbook publishers, and all these advertising agencies carrying on about the scourge of germs in the toilet bowl, and scuffs on the kitchen floor, and, my favorite, house B.O. Enter chicken hash that takes two and a half hours to prepare. I can just hear them sitting around the conference tables. "That'll keep the gals out of trouble."' "

Labels: 4 star, adult, Book Reviews, gender, grief, historical fiction, infidelity, marriage, PTSD, racism, rape, sex, WWII

The New Republic
Author: Lionel Shriver
Pages: 400
ARC Acquired from: HarperCollins via NetGalley

Description from NetGalley:
Fat and ostracized as a kid, Edgar Kellogg has always yearned to be popular. When he’s offered the post of foreign correspondent in a Portuguese backwater that has sprouted a homegrown terrorist movement, Edgar recognizes the disappeared larger-than-life reporter he’s been sent to replace, Barrington Saddler, as exactly the outsize character he longs to emulate. Infuriatingly, all his fellow journalists cannot stop talking about the beloved “Bear,” who is no longer lighting up their work lives.

Yet all is not as it appears. Os Soldados Ousados de Barba—“The Daring Soldiers of Barba”—have been blowing up the rest of the world for years in order to win independence for a province so dismal, backward, and windblown that you couldn’t give the rat hole away. So why, with Barrington vanished, do terrorist incidents claimed by the “SOB” suddenly dry up?

A droll, playful novel set in an alternative past on a fictional European peninsula, The New Republic is a fast-paced, plot-driven thriller. Addressing weighty issues like terrorism with a deft, tongue-in-cheek touch, Shriver presses the more intimate question: What makes charismatic people so magnetic, while the rest of us inspire a shrug? What’s their secret? And in the end, who has the better life—the admired, or the admirer?

First Sentence: "Whisking into his apartment house on West Eighty-Ninth Street, Edgar Kellogg skulked, eager to avoid eye contact with a doorman, who at least got a regular paycheck."

Review:
Lionel Shriver's The Post-Birthday World is a very clever book. I read it a couple of years ago, and, although there were things I did not like about it, the good things definitely outweighed the bad. After I read that one, Shriver got put on my list of authors to watch, which is why I requested this one, despite the disgusting cover (note: I hate smoking).

Immediately, I was once again impressed by Shriver's incredibly writing talent. I love the way she writes; there were so many stellar quotes. The writing is definitely the best part of this book. Edgar I never really attached to as a character, as he's like me but only in the worst ways (The Judgment Express is currently leaving the station).

I also really appreciated her coverage of the theme of popularity. Certainly, I have known some of those people that others just gravitate to and desperately want to be best friends with. Obviously, this gets covered a lot in YA books, but isn't something that's done too much in books for adults, even though jealousy and cliques do not exactly go away, even if the effect is often minimized just by the fact that you're not generally stuck together in big groups like in high school/college.

Unfortunately, the second half of the novel really dragged for me, as the focus switched more to satire and terrorism. Although I do think Shriver has done something very clever, it wasn't especially for me. The more politically-inclined will likely really enjoy what Shriver has done here. If politics aren't your thing, I would recommend starting with one of Shriver's other novels.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "At only ten a.m., Edgar found himself already eyeing the Doritos on the counter. One thing he hadn't anticipated about the 'home office' was Snack Syndrome; lately his mental energies divided evenly between his new calling (worrying about money, which substituted neatly for earning it) and not stuffing his face."

Labels: 3 star, adult, Book Reviews, literary fiction, popularity, racism, terrorism

Glow

Author: Jessica Maria Tuccelli
Pages: 320
Review Copy Acquired from: Viking

Summary from Goodreads:
A breathtaking Georgia-mountain epic about the complex bond of mothers and daughters across a century.
In the autumn of 1941, Amelia J. McGee, a young woman of Cherokee and Scotch-Irish descent, and an outspoken pamphleteer for the NAACP, hastily sends her daughter, Ella, alone on a bus home to Georgia in the middle of the night-a desperate action that is met with dire consequences when the child encounters two drifters and is left for dead on the side of the road.
Ella awakens to find herself in the homestead of Willie Mae Cotton, a wise hoodoo practitioner and former slave, and her partner, Mary-Mary Freeborn, tucked deep in the Takatoka forest. As Ella begins to heal, the legacies of her lineage are revealed.
"Glow" transports us from Washington, D.C., on the brink of World War II to 1836 and into the mountain coves of Hopewell County, Georgia, full of ghosts both real and imagined. Illuminating the tragedy of human frailty, the power of friendship and hope, and the fiercest of all human bonds-mother love-this stunning debut will appeal to readers of both Sue Monk Kidd's "The Secret Life of Bees" and Amy Green's "Bloodroot."
Review:
Ordinarily, I write my own summaries of books, but try as I might, I could not manage to sum Glow up in a paragraph. This novel, though not especially long, is dense and complex. There hardly is a plot, but a whole lot happens. Nothing is stated explicitly; it's left to the reader to suss out the meaning.

Glow did not especially grab me, but, despite that, I can still appreciate the artistry of the book. Jessica Maria Tuccelli displays evident talent both in the unique construction of a narrative and in the writing of disparate characters.

Tuccelli tells the story using multiple points of view, a very effective narrative style, but a very dangerous one as well. Only authors talented enough to write easily distinguishable characters by voice alone can pull it off. Tuccelli does so with ease. Each of the assortment of characters that narrate their perspective have very particular methods of speaking that clearly distinguish them. Most all of them speak in their own particular dialect, all quite distinct even though they all live in the same small town. One character's brief section seems more like poetry than prose, and, though unclear, conveys perfectly the confusion and tragedy of a little girl's death.

In Glow, Tuccelli tackles a number of serious issues, most importantly that of racism. The characters in the story come from an array of backgrounds, but are mostly black and Indian (as in Native American). The story spans all the way from before the Civil War era to 1941, from the era of slavery to the fight for civil rights.

When I first started reading Glow, I tried to read it like I do most books, quickly, devouring. This was, I realized later, a mistake. By reading so fast, I became confused about some of the action and the relationships between moments. When I began reading more slowly, giving myself more time to mull over what was going on and to really savor Tuccelli's talent, my joy of the book most certainly increased.

If you like beautifully-written historical fiction that will really make you think, try Glow.

Rating: 3.5/5

Labels: 3.5 star, adult, Book Reviews, bullying, gender, ghosts, historical fiction, lgbt, magic realism, multiple points of view, racism, slavery

Revealing Eden
Save the Pearls, Book 1

Author: Victoria Foyt
Pages: 243
ARC Acquired from: Sand Dollar Press, Inc.

Brief Summary:
In a futuristic world where mankind has gone underground after they destroyed the surface of the earth with radiation, those with lots of melanin are the cream of the crop, because they are better able to resist The Heat, a disease that kills many. Albinos are killed and Pearls, white-skinned people, are thrown above to succumb to The Heat if they do not mate by 18 for girls or 24 for boys. Eden, a Pearl, is 17 and needs to choose a mate soon, however, she is unwilling to settle for another Pearl, dooming her child to a lifetime of the prejudice she has had to suffer. Instead, her only hope is Jamal, who has been flirting with her for ages. Unfortunately, she finds out he was only using her is kidnapped, along with her scientist father, by her boss, Ronson Bramford, one of the richest and most powerful Coals, black-skinned people, in the world. Oh yeah, and her dad just turned Bramford partially into a jaguar. He's a jaguar man.

Review:
This was a seriously weird book. Like way weird. The main plot line is, in fact, about a jaguar man. This is not a joke. At least it's not about were-panthers right. Although he kind of is a were-jaguar, only it wasn't an inborn power; it was science. But still...

Moving on, the reason I chose to read this was because it is a dystopia. Gotta read 'em all. What intrigued me about this one was the power reversal that happened at some point. Old white men no longer control the economy or politics. Now, young black men are the most powerful and desired. Unfortunately, whoever is in power, they are assholes to everyone else. To avoid being treated too harshly, the Pearls have to paint their skin and hair black.

What really weirded me out about this novel was the romance aspect. To begin with, Eden hates Bramford and has no real interest in him. She thinks he's vaguely attractive, but mostly just a jerk. And you should probably stop reading now if you don't want spoilers. I don't think they are very surprising plot-wise, but just saying.

Okay, so then Bramford gets transformed into a jaguar man. He's still on his hind legs like a human, but he has a thin coating of black fur, long black hair (he was bald before) and a vaguely feline face. As soon as this happens, Eden wants him like none other. She begins panting after him now that he is not wholly human. She is so drawn to him that she cannot think about anything else when he's there; when he's not nearby, she insults him and continues to think he's the biggest douchebag ever. Creepy!

Overall, Revealing Eden reads like a romance novel. However, the themes of racism and what it does to people are interesting. This wasn't a bad read, just a strange one.

Rating: 1.5/5

Labels: 2 star, adult, dystopia, genetics, racism, romance

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Author: Mark Twain
Narrator: Ian Lynch
Duration: 7 hrs, 12 mins
Publisher: Cherry Hill Publishing

Allow me to preface this review by informing my reader that I do not much care for southern accents. I do not find them appealing. I say this as a southern girl (with no accent...I'm Atlanta born and raised). This audiobook definitely plays up the southern-ness of the story. The narrator pulls out the accent, which, perfectly fitting to the story though it may be, annoys me greatly.

In middle school, I had to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which seemed to me at the time to be essentially a form of torture exacted by my teacher. I can say, gratefully, that this one was not so bad, although whether that is the audio format or the different, shorter book, it's hard to say.

The story did not hugely impress me, although it was interesting to learn the details of a book about which my only knowledge was drawn from Wishbone. True fact. As I was listening, I kept trying to remember what I knew about it and I just now realized that all I know is thanks to a spunky Jack Russell terrier. Man, I miss that show.

Anyway, the book was not too bad. Except for the blatant racism. The discussions of black people and of Injun Joe were certainly what would be expected of a man of Twain's time, but definitely are completely awful. Also, there was one scene in which Tom was talking about being a pirate in which he describes how pirates or robbers get ladies; his description is essentially of Stockholm Syndrome. Terrifying!!!

Lynch did, accent issues put aside, a really good job with the book. His voices were really unique, almost always allowing me to know who was speaking, even if I missed the part that said who was talking. Aunt Polly's voice definitely grated, even beyond the accent, but I thought his Tom definitely conveyed the excitement of a young, incorrigible boy.

The production of the audiobook seems to have been done pretty well. I liked the music, which had a sort of slouch-y, casual southern feel to it that fit perfectly. What was odd, though, was that the music seemed to occur at completely random intervals.

Labels: Book Reviews, children's literature, classics, racism, southern