Regardless of a person's opinion about the contents of this novel, I think many of us can agree that the cover is phenomenal! Now, I don't always choose to pick up a book based on its cover, and I didn't entirely choose to read this one based on that either...But it was most definitely a major consideration. I love fairy stories, and I also really enjoy the ones that have fairies as they were before Disney got a hold of them. As in, what the stories used to be before PG ratings existed. I'm talking about the Fair Folk, the Fae, the Tuatha Dé Danann. Sarah J. Maas, Holly Black, Melissa Albert, Sarah Porter, and Megan Shepherd, are all wonderful authors who have written these types of books (there are many more, I just can't necessarily think of them off the top of my head) and I am so happy that this is a recent trend because I love reading books like that. So after I read Margaret Rogerson's book Sorcery of Thorns (another wonderful book I suggest you read) and saw that her debut novel was about the fae and had a phenomenal cover, well I was hooked. The gist of the story is that in the land of Whimsy, the fair folk and mortal humans live in a sort of harmony. Humans are able to use "Craft" (creation of things really, so cooking, writing, drawing/painting, etc.) and the fair folk live for a very, very, very long time and have magic. To be mortal is to be vulnerable, but you can trade the results of your craft to the fair folk in exchange for enchantments (e.g., having the most gorgeous blue eyes, having sheep that only bear twins, etc.) but as with most stories about the fair folk, there's almost always some fine print. Isobel, our main heroine, is a master at her craft and creating bargains that have no loopholes that will hurt her or her family. But then she makes a mistake and paints what she sees in the eyes of Rook, the Autumn Prince: a human emotion. He takes her back to his court to face punishment, but they get waylaid by the wild hunt and end up illegally falling in love as they attempt to navigate a mysterious putrefaction of the Summer lands and the intrigues of the spring court. Will they be able to save themselves or will tragedy tear them apart? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out. ;) Now, on to the review which may contain minor spoilers, but I'll try to keep it mostly general. I enjoyed the book. It portrayed an interesting relationship between human and fae, and it left a lot of room for continued novels in that world. But there was also definitely something that kept it from being phenomenal for me as a reader. It's hard to describe exactly what it was, but the romance seemed rushed without being rushed. There was, to some extent, plenty of time for actual love to grow between Isobel and Rook, but because of Isobel's constant musings about how that would be horrific the sudden fathomless depth of her feelings near the end of the book seemed very jarring to me. I think that the book also didn't quite follow through with all of the descriptions about it. Particularly the one on Goodreads which states, "Because secretly, her Craft represents a threat the fair folk have never faced in all the millennia of their unchanging lives: for the first time, her portraits have the power to make them feel." The significance of this isn't really discussed in the book, at least not the danger it presents to fair folk, except as a glossed over detail that enables a particular battle to fall in Isobel's favor. I hope that if Margaret Rogerson writes further stories that take place in the world of Whimsy she goes into greater detail about it. So overall, it wasn't my favorite book ever about the fair folk, but it was another good read to add into my reading list. And seriously everyone, that cover. I love how it looks so much! And definitely try this book out. It's a world I hope to see more of in the future. Happy Reading!
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I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm going to have new posts on my blog sometime early in the week (e.g., Sunday or Monday). And sometimes I'm going to be later than that. Overall, though, I've been much better about updating this blog than any other blogs in the past, so at least there's that...Now, on to the main event! A review of a book by one of my favorite contemporary YA authors: Rainbow Rowell. I was first introduced to Rainbow Rowell when my bookclub read her YA book, Fangirl (yes, you should all read that one too) and I was so happy I read it. So of course I read Carry On, too. Carry On is the fanfiction that one of the characters in Fangirl was writing, and I'm so happy Rainbow Rowell actually wrote it (the sequel to Carry On, Wayward Son, is also coming out in September, just saying). Then I read Attachments, which is an adult contemporary novel by Rainbow Rowell, and I was not disappointed at all. That being said, up until yesterday, I hadn't read the book that many people think put Rainbow Rowell on the map: Eleanor & Park. But now I have, and I'm ecstatic that I did. Because it was awesome!!! There are definitely times that I've avoided contemporary novels in the YA genre that deal with romance. I have found that many of them feel too dramatic for me, and I sometimes end up wanting to yell at the main characters. Part of this is probably because I was homeschooled, so the "normal" high school type relationships have always been slightly foreign to me. I'm also not going to lie, I get this way about many adult/new-adult contemporary romance novels. While there are things that I can shrug off when it's fantasy, paranormal, sci-fi, or historical romance (because obviously I have no real experience with those so I can't complain too much if there's bits of it that annoy me because maybe that's just how it was/is in those settings) it is harder for me to do so when the setting and characters are real-time and my age or an age I've already lived through. I say all of that to set the scene that it takes a really good contemporary YA novel to keep me reading. And I finished this book in a single day. Eleanor & Park hit that perfect spot between sweet and hot when it came to the romance, but this book was about more than just two slightly misfit teens finding each other and embarking on a relationship that may last past their formative years. It was about finding yourself even as you find another person. I get that that isn't necessarily encouraged when you think about things logically. You shouldn't be using another person as a crutch to tell you who you are. That tends to end badly even in books. What happens in this book, however, is more of two people meeting, interacting, and then being willing to explore more of their own wants/needs because they realize that not everyone has the same options and/or they now have a safe place to make those explorations. It is a story of friendship as well as love, and there is plenty of tension (romantic and otherwise) thrown into the mix. Lovers of Sarah Dessen and Rainbow Rowell's other books are probably going to enjoy Eleanor & Park. The characters draw you in and the sweetness of the romance is well balanced by the realities of life (some of which are relatively universal teenage troubles and some of which are ones we thank a higher power that we never had to experience). I wish I had read this book earlier in some ways, but I'm very glad that I read it now. I think I can appreciate some parts of it more as an adult (though still a new one) that I may not have as a teenager. As with many books, this one may not be for everyone, but I suggest everyone give it a try anyway. And if you read any of Rainbow Rowell's books, let me know in the comments. I'm always happy to talk about them! Happy Reading! So, I meant to write this post last week, but time got away from me. It's a sneaky little thing, time. And I missed yesterday's normal posting time too. That was more procrastination and working on another project (one that might get me at least partial funding for my PhD so I consider it a worthy sacrifice), but still. I apologize for the lapse in posts. Regardless, today's post is a book review about Lost Boy by Christina Henry, which was amazing and I really want to suggest everyone read it! Now, the premise of Lost Boy is that Captain Hook used to be one of Peter Pan's lost boys and this book is the true story of what happened to make him Peter Pan's worst enemy. It's a dark tale, to be sure, and one that involves quite a bit of gore. In some ways, it reads a bit like Lord of the Flies on steroids with giant spiders. If you can say one thing about this book, it's that it isn't your Disney Peter Pan (which, honestly, you can say about most stories that became Disney movies). Lost Boy is a book that explores what truly makes a monster, a villain, a boy, and a man; and it does so through the eyes of the first of Peter's lost boys: Captain Hook, nee James. While the narrator, James, is not exactly reliable, readers get the sense that he's at least more reliable than Peter is. After all, even in the Disney version of the story, Peter's pretty much a jerk most of the time. Peter Pan is narcissism and privilege personified, and it shows really well in Lost Boy. *****Spoiler paragraphs. Skip ahead until you read the book. And you really should read the book.***** In Lost Boy, a key component of the book is about how all the boys love Peter, and while they stay young he seems to love them back. Mostly. James is really the one who takes care of them though. And cares if they die. Because that's the part you forget about with Disney and even the original story. These boys fight pirates. They have no care for personal hygiene until Wendy comes along. And they live in a tree in the middle of a forest where there are creatures like crocodiles and bears and tigers. Not to mention, in Lost Boy there are the addition of the Many Eyed. Translation, gigantic spiders that eat meat. It's not really a safe place where you can stay young forever. It's a place where, generally, you're still young when you die. And the boys that do grow up are then sent off to the pirate camp and they die too, because when Peter goes raiding he doesn't just steal trinkets. Throughout the book James feels himself growing in small spurts, but doesn't really know why. That is, until Peter threatens boys more innocent than usual and James remembers how he really came to Neverland. James loses his love for Peter and suddenly he's a grown man. A man who's cursed to never leave even though everything he's wanted to save has now been destroyed by this selfish boy who seems more monstrous by the day. I'm not sure I can put the lesson here into words. Maybe it's personal for all of us. But I think it's very powerful and important. Growing up means letting go of things. It means recognizing that we aren't the center of the universe and that what we do hurts others. Growing up is painful (though hopefully not as painful as what James went through). But staying young forever, staying with Peter...it's not a viable option. I know I wish for those carefree days of childhood again sometimes. No bills. No obligations. But then, I'm privileged. I had time to be a child. Many children don't. So I think the important lesson this book gave me is actually about memory. Remember your childhood. Remember your mistakes. Remember that you are fallible and that is okay. But always try and become better than you were. Otherwise you get stuck in a cycle where you're either Peter or Captain Hook. And neither one of them has a charmed life. ****Spoilers Finished**** So in conclusion (and yes, do read the book so you can read my "insightful" interpretations of its lessons in the above two paragraphs), I suggest reading the book. It is, I think, a carrier of many lessons wrapped up in a package that turns a story we loved as children on its head. It is dark. It is horrifying. And it is so good! I literally read it in a single day. It's a short read and it's a quick one. The characters grab you, the language is fantastic, and the setting is appropriately idyllic and disturbing. It is a great read for lovers of fractured fairy tales, YA books, and people who actually enjoyed Lord of the Flies. If you do read it, let me know what you think in the comments.
Happy Reading! I love Young Adult novels. Not all of them are good, but that can be said for any novel at any age level. What I like about YA novels though, is that the good ones often present a view of the universe that is very nuanced and help expose young adults (and all other readers) to ideas about what is, what should be, economic systems, social issues, etc., within a safe world. Readers are free to explore these topics without having to "worry" about whether the vast majority of their friends will agree with whatever political view the book takes, because it's just a book. I'm not saying this doesn't happen for adult books, but oftentimes adults take adult books too seriously and can get offended if they see someone reading a book they think contains ideas that are "wrong." Young Adult books don't necessarily carry this stigma (though you always have to be careful for those people worried about whether it is "appropriate" based on cursing, sexual activities, etc.). The point is! Young Adult novels are a great way for people to gain basic understanding of complex ideas without worrying that someone is going to slap a book out of their hands or dismiss its ideas because it's written by a "radical."
The Red Rising trilogy (which is the opening salvo of a larger series) is an example of a YA series where there's a lot that can be unpacked if you want. Or there's the option of just enjoying the story. Overall it help tells a message about the dangers of white-supremacy (or any sort of supremacy but in our current world it's white-supremacy), capitalism, technology, and societal norms. It does not go the way of Dune and the Butlerian Jihad (i.e., robots/AI taking control of everything and humans fighting back), but in some ways is much more insidious. It's biological science technology involving genetics, the reproductive system, and micro-chipping. Things that seem hugely science fiction right now, but which aren't actually that far away. The basic premise of of the series is that humanity has been separated into different colors, each color holding a place in the hierarchy of society. Reds at the bottom, Golds at the top. Through genetic engineering Golds are superior in size, strength, and supposedly everything else. Reds and other colors (Grays, Obsidians, Pinks, Violets, Blues, Oranges, etc.) are useful but inferior. Society has rules, Golds enforce those rules, and everyone is happy. Except, obviously to the reader, they aren't. Darrow, a Red hell-diver, is called upon by the Sons of Ares to infiltrate the Golds and help bring about the revolution. He is remade as a Gold and pushed into what amounts to a military academy. And let me tell you, it's way worse than the Hunger Games. The series is violent, disturbing, and heart-rending. I've cried and yelled and almost thrown the book (yes, I stopped myself in time but did end up slamming it against my table). It is not a story that has a happy ending, though I suppose Pierce Brown may pull something out of his hat in this last book, but it is a very important story to read. Even if you don't read it as a commentary on capitalism, white-supremacy, social norms, technology, and/or the human condition it is a series worth reading. Because as much as I love happy endings, it's important to be reminded that sometimes things don't turn out well. There are wars, traumas, and horrors in our world, but that doesn't mean we give up. That is, in my opinion, the most important message of this series (though there are a whole lot more if you read deeply). So read those happy books like I do, but maybe pick these up too. Because it never hurts to be reminded that we can always get back up again and there is always something worth rising for. Happy Reading! This past weekend I read The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. A popular YA novel in its own right, it is also now a major motion picture. But before you decide to write it off as just another dystopian novel that got turned into a movie, I suggest you actually read the story (heck, I'll accept reading the synopsis on Amazon.com or listening to a family member or friend describe the plot to you).
First of all, this book is only as dystopian as our current society here in the United States of America. Now, for those of you who still think our country is the absolute greatest in the world, we're still living in a pretty dang dystopian society. And from my perspective, it's been getting worse for a number of years. But back to the novel. The gist of the novel, for those of you who didn't go and read the synopsis, is that it is the story of a black, teenage girl who witnessed one of her best friends getting shot by a police officer at a traffic stop. The boy who was shot was black. He was unarmed. He was not making any threatening moves to the police officer. That isn't a spoiler, by the way, because it all happens in the first few chapters. The rest of the book details the weeks that follow. Starr, the main character, has to navigate talking to the police after the "incident", dealing with gang activity in her neighborhood, trying to stay afloat in a private school where she is one of three black students, and deciding whether she should talk to the media about her, and her deceased friend's, side of the story. It is a commentary on racial tensions in the U.S.A. and the unacknowledged racism that is shoved down our throats every single day until it seems natural rather than learned. It is depressing, rage-inducing, and a book I think everyone should read (but especially white people, because we need to get our ish together). What I want to focus on today, though, is not how well-written and timely this book is. I'm not going to discuss anything related to a reference interview; sometimes I will, but not today. Today, I want to talk about a very specific sub-plot in the book between Starr and a classmate she used to think was a good friend, Hailey. Hailey has...issues. Hailey is, I think, what many white people are when they think they are being "good" but missing the point entirely. Now, Hailey says some very racist things throughout the course of the book. But when she's called out on it by Starr and others, she responds with an outraged, "I can't believe you're calling me racist!" Do you see the problem? It's not just in books. See, racism is systemic violence, and it is pretty much baked into every single day of our lives. Unfortunately, racism is framed as a personal failing of the individuals of our society. So rather than white people recognizing that something they said/did was racist and taking the necessary steps to stop saying/doing that racist thing, white people respond defensively and try to use logic to worm their way out of responsibility. This actually makes the whole situation worse, because the person who was the object of the words/act now has additional violence heaped on them because they are being told that their feelings do not matter, only white people's feelings matter. This is a subtle violence against minorities in some ways. It isn't something that is easily called out. After all, if all a white person has to do is say "But I'm not racist" to get out of taking responsibility, then what is the point of a minority even saying something? We even saw this issue in the recent congressional testimony of Michael Cohen (Lind, 2019), where a mention of a racist act by President Trump was conflated to be an accusation of racism. Regardless of your opinions about whether President Trump is or isn't racist (we're not going to get into it here), the pattern is the same. Rather than a discussion about how a white person could take responsibility for doing something racist and then make efforts to not do it again, it became a back and forth argument about how you shouldn't call someone racist. First, if someone is racist you should call them out on it. Second, that ignores the fact that racism is not a personal failing but a systemic problem. The Hate U Give gives us white people insight into how anyone can say/do something racist. It isn't the main point of the book, and is in fact a very small subplot, but I think it is just as important and ties into the broader theme. For example, characters in the book say that the cop who shot the black teenager wasn't racist, he was a nice guy, his life has been torn apart by this too. But why did he stop the kids in the first place? They weren't speeding. All that was wrong was a broken tail-light. How can that turn into a shooting? Because we are all trained to be racist by our society. And it is an active fight not to be. And even when you're fighting it, you can still do something racist. You can still say something racist. But what needs to happen then is not to get defensive about being a good person and not being racist. It is to accept that what you did was wrong and then take steps to make it better. And once you've done that, don't do it again. It isn't something you can say sorry for and then repeat. This is a longer post then I meant it to be, but I think that's what is so great about the book. The Hate U Give made me think, and it made me focus on things that I do and that I see others doing. It has given me a better awareness of my own prejudices, and I hope it has given me even greater motivation to watch what I say and do. The Hate U Give shows us some of the issues in our society in a well-written and accessible novel. I encourage everyone to read it and find their own lessons in its pages (it's also on audiobook *wink*). Happy Reading! References: Lind D. (2019).This Cohen hearing fight was everything wrong with how America talks about “racism”: An argument about whether Trump is “a racist” became a heated fight between House Democrats and Republicans. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/27/18243173/cohen-hearing-trump-racist-comments Thomas, A. (2017). The hate u give. |
AuthorThe author is a librarian who reads "too much" (is there such a thing?) and talks just as much. As an aspiring author she gets bogged down by grammar rules when she just wants to forget them to make a sentence flow, but never seems to be able to. She appreciates thoughtful comments and constructive criticism, but internet trolls beware, she's read enough fantasy novels to know how to defeat the monsters. Archives
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