Monday, December 31, 2018

Review: The Women's War

The Women's War The Women's War by Jenna Glass
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Trigger warnings for this book: rape, institutional sexism.

For this ARC, the last one I finished in 2018, I'm going to give it a 2.5 and generously round it up to a 3. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot going for it, especially with its promised #MeToo and #Resistance-era political relevance. But it does have this unfortunate and persistent feeling of half-bakery underlying the whole thing for a ton of reasons. Namely, the generally slow pace, brought on by the story's tendency to wallow in long and interminable scenes when we really want to see more machinations. I mean, the book is called The Women's War, but for all the war we get in this book, that title might've been better off saved for one of the sequels.

Sunday, December 30, 2018

My 2018 Favorites: The Fourth Annual Pinecone Awards!

Welcome back, Pinecones, to the latest in my annual end-of-year Pinecone Awards! As always, it was a real roller-coaster of a pop-cultural year, with more than a few surprises in store as I worked to compile the rankings. Though I thought I'd be keeping the Special Salute back and saving it for more of an every-three-years thing - since I introduced the Special Salutes with the Third Pinecones last year - I had to bring them back, because they make it so much easier to honor more deserving creations. And what a bunch of deserving creations there were, especially the Special Salutes. And the first-place finishers.

Hopefully this year will be the last that I'll be waiting in vain for my own books to be published alongside the likes of those who win Pinecones year in and year out. But until then, let's start, as is traditional, with the best books of 2018!

Saturday, December 29, 2018

Review: Queen of Air and Darkness

Queen of Air and Darkness Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I do believe Children of Blood and Bone has finally been brought down from #1 to #2 on the Pinecone Awards list, and that's on the strength of this book, the biggest one Cassie Clare's published for us yet. Almost 900 whole pages! And as the conclusion to her best series yet, The Dark Artifices, it's also every bit what we expect a big-name YA finale to be. I'm talking on a level with Deathly Hallows, Mockingjay, or Allegiant here. And that was already to be found in the previous series finales Clare's given us, City of Heavenly Fire and Clockwork Princess. Both of those were epic in size and scope and in feels...but here, she's well and truly outdone herself.

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Review: Words of Radiance

Words of Radiance Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Almost four years after my first read of this book, I'm now back with my second read-through of Words of Radiance - or, as I'm tempted to call it after its working title, and one of the other in-universe big holy texts, The Book of Endless Pages. Taking thirteen days in total to read through this book instead of (somehow) speeding through it in three like I did before was, as with the first book, a major boon. Now I get to remember a lot more details, things that had passed out of my brain in the almost half-decade since I first read this one. A lot more of the ongoing missions and travels of Kaladin and Shallan, the impending apocalypse...it's like, how is this gonna be a ten-part series again? What more could Sanderson write in the remaining eight? Well, yeah, it's supposed to be two five-part segments, but still. There's so much more to look forward to, and I'll be reading that which Sanderson's already given us soon - Edgedancer and Oathbringer, of course. And in the meantime, I'll wait and see if my friend at work figures out which book on the table nearest the door is the source of the character of Lift.

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Friday, December 21, 2018

Review: Skyward

Skyward Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The latest from Sanderson takes us back into the YA sci-fi realms he visited for three whole books on The Reckoners - this time playing out a little more like Ender's Game, if Ender were a girl and instead of Battle or Command School, Spin's got an entire planet to defend already. If she weren't so afraid, not only of having to deal with her father's cowardly reputation, but also that her own fear will sink her chances of defending her people from Formic-esque alien invaders and their jellyfish-shaped ships. I believe this one will be starting another trilogy here? If so, it's off to a bit of a rocky start, I'm sorry to say. The book does move fairly fast for one of its size - it certainly doesn't require nearly as much slow savoring as, say, The Stormlight Archive - but it also tends to feel its length and then some, because the plot is largely very predictable for anyone who's read Ender's Game as many times as I have.

Monday, December 17, 2018

Review: White Cat

White Cat White Cat by Holly Black
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think I've finally found a Holly Black book I super-enjoyed the first time around...and I think a lot of that owes to the fact that this one would make a great comp title for my own literary agent querying. That is, if I query again. I seem to have run out of literary agents, though there could be more that I haven't tried yet.

But the point that I'm really trying to make here is that there's quite a few surface similarities between this book and mine. Like, the fact that it's an alternate world with more than a bit of influence both paranormal and X-Men. And that they have two-word titles with the first word being a color. And that the main character is a teenage boy attending a boarding school, with sleepwalking problems, and a hell of a lot of family secrets to discover. For bonus points, Holly Black even writes Cassel as an example for TVTropes' "Ambiguously Brown" page, not unlike how I do with Alex Snow - though Alex's darker skin owes to Moroccan and Maltese blood instead of Indian like for Cassel.

Saturday, December 15, 2018

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse - Hate To Say It, But Did Sony Actually Get One Right?

***THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW.***

Well, this was a terrible movie to watch...

...on a day when I'd been fighting off some kind of tension headache.

What, did you think I was going to do what a small number of assbutts did by contributing to the loss of this movie's perfect 100 on Rotten Tomatoes? Perish the thought. Though the two Amazing Spider-Man movies remain my favorite Spidey-films ever purely because of how much Andrew Garfield mirrored my own personality - and because of how much he and Emma Stone, as Gwen Stacy, formed the platinum standard for fictional ships for my own writing to aspire to - Into the Spider-Verse, our film debut for numerous incarnations of webslingers including the great Miles Morales, is a smaller, and yet bigger, masterpiece of cinematic awesome.

Also: god DAMN, I wish those kicks of his weren't so spendy IRL.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Review: The Way of Kings

The Way of Kings The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A pretty good little piece of epic fantasy, this Sanderson book - which so many at my work have been reading lately, and I'm very glad I picked it up again for the first time in almost four years because, frankly, I'd forgotten most of the details up to now. Rereading this first book of Sanderson's magnum opus, though, it's easy to see just how well-thought-out his work really is. Maybe there's a lot of stuff that's a little harder to follow because some characters keep coming and going maybe once every 600 pages if we're lucky. But such is the nature of the genre, and such is the nature of how much this book benefits from not being speed-read - even if I found myself often reading the book while drinking coffee right before work. (Don't kill me, Sanderson. I know that's against your religion, but it ain't against mine, lol.) Next up, tomorrow will begin my first reread of Words of Radiance. Stay tuned.

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Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Review: The Supervillain and Me

The Supervillain and Me The Supervillain and Me by Danielle Banas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Was it SwoonReads where I first read this manuscript in its original form, or Wattpad? Either way, I'm very happy to see it finally published formally. Though I'm not happy to admit that it took me this long to finally pick it up again after its publication. Probably owing to the fact that my library, for whatever reason, never picked up this book and I had to special order from Sacramento like so many others.

Saturday, December 8, 2018

Review: Someday

Someday Someday by David Levithan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As the official follow-up to Every Day - notwithstanding the semi-concurrent companion piece Another Day - Someday continues the story of A and Rhiannon and especially of Nathan, with a few new additions - namely, some random POVs of a very diverse group of people scattered here and there throughout the narrative. And also, X. Dear God, X. This guy was such a piece of work, taking A's unique body-surfing abilities and gaining a certain measure of control over them - and also being pretty callous and cruel in his treatment of the bodies he gets ahold of, and those he meets as well. And then he also talks up a good game about needing to maintain one's own humanity in a world where, by his very existence being so transient, he doesn't really get the chance to have any. He almost makes me want to come to his side just because of how much I relate to his feelings of disconnection from any kind of sense of soul.

And then there's A, who may not live in any body for more than 24 hours, but still has the most soul of all. I'd rather grow up to be A for sure.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Review: An Assassin's Guide to Love and Treason

An Assassin's Guide to Love and Treason An Assassin's Guide to Love and Treason by Virginia Boecker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I feel like there's been a bit of an uptick in books rooted in the historical conflicts of Protestants and Catholics in Elizabethan England lately. Earlier this year, Nadine Brandes gave it a magical twist in Fawkes, and now, Virginia Boecker makes her return to alternate-historical YA with a less magical but still pretty fun read. Though Assassin's Guide is a little more slow than I'd like at times, and the two POVs of Katherine and Toby are sometimes a little hard to tell apart, it's got a lot going for it too. Queer rep, for one thing - Toby's bi, and very deep in the closet because of how rampantly phobic pretty much all of Europe was back then. Crossdressing rooted not only in spycraft, but also in the first production of Twelfth Night - and with Shakespeare himself as a major supporting character, possessed of a sharp wit and more than a touch of madness. And of course the big reason, I think, why Elizabethan English religious strife has been so popular in lit and film lately: a reflection of today's bitter political divisions. This book is pretty standalone, but there's for sure room for a sequel, which I'd be happy to read if it ever happens.

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Saturday, December 1, 2018

Review: Archenemies

Archenemies Archenemies by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*sees the cover*

*SCREAMS IN FANBOY*

My favorite cover of 2018. Hands down. No question. Period.

Monday, November 26, 2018

Review: A Very Large Expanse of Sea

A Very Large Expanse of Sea A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's a very different kind of book from Tahereh Mafi, being a contemporary romance - well, not exactly contemporary. It's set in 2002 and very steeped in its time period, with computers that felt like dinosaurs even back then, only one Harry Potter movie in theaters - and how was Shirin to know it was almost three hours long? - and costly cell phone minutes and texts, and no fancy touch screen models either.

Sunday, November 25, 2018

Review: Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Darius the Great Is Not Okay Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Adib Khorram debuts strongly in this story of a biracial Persian boy coming to understand his own identity a bit better - not only as a Persian, but also as a depressed young man. There's a lot of talk in this book about what's passed down genetically, and in addition to certain deep aspects of Persian culture - Nowruz festivities, the game of Rook, daddy issues rooted in certain legends of warrior fathers accidentally killing warrior sons - Darius can also tell you that depression is genetic too, because he and his (white, German) dad both take medication for it.

Friday, November 23, 2018

Review: Villain

Villain Villain by Michael Grant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Who else thinks this cobra-head guy on the cover looks like he stepped out of the Stargate to lay waste to us all? Kinda like this or something.


Ralph Breaks The Internet: Oh My Disney, This Movie Is Awe And Some!

***THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW.***

"Hello hello
Let me tell you what it's like to be a zero, zero
Let me show you what it's like to always feel, feel
Like I'm empty and there's nothing really real, real
I'm looking for a way out!"
-Imagine Dragons

Let me also tell you that I'm very glad Imagine Dragons made "Zero" part of their brand-new album the way Fall Out Boy did for "Immortals" and Big Hero 6 roughly this time four years ago, because it totally deserves album inclusion for greater exposure...but I digress. The real genius of that song, though, is how it kinda low-key spoils one of the great themes of this really long-awaited Disney sequel, except not really. Because while it does give away that this one deals with loneliness - appropriate for a movie about the internet, no? - it doesn't say which major character has to grapple with this conflict, and in different ways, it's both our movie's stars who do. And along the way, it's a fun-tastic ride through cyberspace, but not at all without a serious emotional core like the best Disney movies.

Oh hai, Shank. I wanna get the right threads to cosplay as you next.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Review: Dry

Dry Dry by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While we wait for Neal Shusterman to bring us the third and final Arc of a Scythe novel, here he collaborates with Jarrod Shusterman on a more contemporary, and yet more terrifying, dystopian kind of novel. Twenty Minutes In The Future, the California drought - particularly in the more arid Southland - has grown so bad that now all the taps have run dry, and in a period of two weeks or so, pure apocalyptic chaos erupts in and around Los Angeles. Up to and including some nice gated communities of Orange County. Though the book's a bit brought down by its weird array of multi-POVs that switch at an erratic rate - and the characters feel strangely little fleshed-out, with the exception of Jacqui and Kelton; but Henry is particularly annoying a character whom I grew tired of very quickly - it's very effective in its exploration of a dangerously plausible disaster. Even more dangerously plausible when the weather in California, IRL, is more broken than ever.

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Monday, November 19, 2018

Review: The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Honestly, it's weird how much every time I try a Kiersten White book, I never really get into it. Though this one's my favorite of hers that I've read so far - and I'm more than hopeful that the very forthcoming Slayer is quick to take over that throne - it's not saying much when all the other Kiersten White books I've read have really disappointed me. Not unlike my strange inability to really get into Holly Black's book, though I did rather like The Wicked King more than I expected. This book, though, is still somewhat disappointing, largely because as reverential and yet revolutionary as it is in its retelling of Frankenstein from Elizabeth's perspective, it does feel more than a little leaden in its pacing. But the twists, especially for someone who's read Frankenstein at least a dozen times now in various forms, are extremely unexpected and yet make all the sense. All in all, this latest from Kiersten White is a nice little stand-alone, a little slow, but legitimately very terrifying.

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Sunday, November 18, 2018

The Crimes Of Grindelwald: "You Never Met A Monster You Couldn't Love."

***NO SPOILERS FOR THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD, BUT SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST FANTASTIC BEASTS FILM, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE HARRY POTTER NOVELS, ABOUND HEREIN. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.***

Over the years, it's become a running gag of sorts that J.K. Rowling will drop a whole new bit of long-hidden behind-the-scenes Potterlore on Pottermore, and virtually the entire internet rolls their collective eyes at her for having done so. Me, I'm enough of a lore fiend who's memorized so much trivia about the entire franchise that I've always dug it, and even had a private laugh at how much, to my perception, everyone else was just reaching for a reason to compete to see who could lay the sickest burn on one of my greatest inspirations. But this time I may have hit my limit? And not because of there being too much lore, but because I think this time, while sitting down to type up The Crimes of Grindelwald, JKR may have left her story bible behind in her other Scottish Highland mansion and saturated this screenplay, twisty as it was, with a few annoying continuity errors. So, yeah, in the twenty-four hours and counting since I've seen this movie, a lot of thoughts have percolated about it in my mind, all of it mixed. But I'm not about to toss the franchise in the trash heap, not by a long shot. It'd take a hell of a lot of Mooncalf shit on JKR's part to get me to jump on that bandwagon, and sure, we've never been closer to that hell of a lot. But for all the faults this movie's got, so much of it (*cough NEWT SCAMANDER MY AUTISTIC HERO cough*) shines jewel-bright like the Occamy's silver eggshells.

Everyone looking good and stylish. Except that bleached asshole on the upper right.

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Review: Muse of Nightmares

Muse of Nightmares Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think I could've done with a reread of Strange the Dreamer before tackling Laini Taylor's latest, especially given that the first book came out over a year and a half ago and I kinda forgot most of what happened. Well, to be fair, that first book was baroque as hell and, dare I say, a little self-indulgent in its weirdness. And in hindsight, it really does feel like a major case of Prolonged Prologue leading up to Muse of Nightmares, which I feel is the story Laini Taylor really wanted to tell. She just had to set up the world first, and maybe got a little carried away in the process. But here, we get a story that, while not entirely divorced of its predecessor's severely bloated overlength issues, still gives us some very high stakes indeed. Not for nothing am I reminded why I've used Taylor's books as comp titles in my own queries. Especially her Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, but this book especially plays out in a few ways like my own Blue Monday. No spoilers, of course, but I'll tell you that it's one of the sweetest tragic love stories I've seen yet this year - and I just saw The Crimes of Grindelwald, which reminds me that I've got to review that one next. I'll just close out with a little bit of hope that, like with V.E. Schwab's Vengeful, this one actually proves to be the end of a duology. I'm not sure my heart can take any more nastiness happening to these characters!

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Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Review: The Traitor Baru Cormorant

The Traitor Baru Cormorant The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this one on Alta's recommendation and my feelings about it are...decidedly mixed. I mean, she compared it to The Fifth Season - pretty high praise. And when the book opens up, it pretty well lives up to such a comparison by plunging the reader straight into a world where a distant empire enforces an oppressive regime, forcing its colonies to adhere to a certain unreasonable standard of racial and sexual "purity." No shit, they have institutionalized conversion therapy, among other horrifying tools in their bag. It's dark as hell, and that for me is a point where I find myself a little overwhelmed, in fact. Not least of which because they start with the conversion therapy - Baru, our protagonist, being gay and hailing from a land where the population is pretty much queer by default. And while I do feel that after a while, the characters devolve into more chess pieces than anything else - a case of the Ann Leckie effect where the author's better at writing machines than people - that's also pretty much the point. After all, a lot of the best dystopian narratives involve members of the oppressed underclass rising up and finding some way to infiltrate the privileged - Red Rising still being my top example, itself taking a ton of inspiration from Gattaca. This, though, is probably the only time I've seen someone use the power of math to pull it off, so props to Dickinson for that clever and original spin on the formula. Hopefully I'll be able to read the second book soon, but I'm also hoping The Monster Baru Cormorant is a much-needed improvement.

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Monday, November 12, 2018

Review: Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee

Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another ARC I've gotten at work, and here it's Jeff Zentner's third novel. He really wowed me with The Serpent King a few years back, getting five stars for feels alone just like Adam Silvera does with all his books thus far. Now, we get a good spiritual successor to Zentner's debut in Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee, which plays out like a sort of cross between The Serpent King and iCarly, if you can believe that.

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Review: Kingdom of Ash

Kingdom of Ash Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I like the title a lot more than I should. People who know me well enough will know why.

Though I'm not impressed with that bright yellow background on the cover. It's like they wanted it to look like someone got into the printer's room and went number one all over every copy. I mean, it looks better in person when the colors are a little more muted and the title shines more brightly and silver-like, but printed here on GR it looks a little...yuck.

And also...992 pages? What the bloody hell? This book is almost too thick to put on the shelves at work!

Friday, November 2, 2018

Review: The Luminous Dead

The Luminous Dead: A Novel The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, thank you, Harry, for bringing this ARC to my attention.

Harry told me today that he was really amazed by the level of talent displayed by Caitlin Starling in this, her debut novel, and I have to say he's very well on the mark. I can see the comparison to Annhiliation from the back-cover copy pretty easily, though it manages to be more minimalist - driven mostly by two characters, one of whom is predominantly offscreen in a mission-control role whom Harry compared to GLaDos, and whom I compare to Sally from Oblivion - as well as more straightforward - though not without a certain level of mind-screw - and more creepy. Dear sweet Jesus, Em.

Monday, October 29, 2018

Review: Vengeful

Vengeful Vengeful by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The follow-up to Vicious could very well be the end of another duology for Schwab, which I rather hope to be the case given how long and arduous and difficult the process for writing this book was, according to her. But also because it finally builds up to a really satisfying ending - even with a hint of "And the adventure continues!" - that I'd really, really, really hate to see her write a third book that overrides it. Once again, I find myself wondering, are we really supposed to NOT root for either Victor or Eli over each other? I mean, the series is called Villains, but Victor, as bad as some of his actions have been known to be, isn't anywhere near as bad as Eli, not by a long shot. And there are worse people out there. Better villains, too. Well-rounded, well-developed villains on the level of recent Marvel baddies like Killmonger or Thanos. I'm especially looking at Marcella, who's proof that if there's any writer besides Margaret Stohl who should get the job of writing an all-women Marvel movie, Schwab needs to get in there too. Maybe this one was a little difficult to read, due to the short chapters that keep flipping around between POVs and going all over the place in the timeline like Arrow on steroids - I actually managed to forget that Vicious was super-anachronic too, but checking a copy of that book on the shelf at work today reminded me - but it was also a blazing fast and blazing fun read too. If there is, in fact, a third book, I'll read it for sure...but again, despite how little I like the whole duology trend, I really actually do hope this is the end of the road for our Villains.

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Sunday, October 28, 2018

Review: As She Ascends

As She Ascends As She Ascends by Jodi Meadows
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"It's just building and building and becoming more and more toxic! It's a botched job!"
-The Thirteenth Doctor

I feel like not enough people are reading this trilogy, and when it comes to selling them at work...well, to paraphrase that one Imperial official whom Darth Vader was telling off at the start of Return of the Jedi say it, I shall double my efforts. Especially in the wake of this, the middle entry of the trilogy, which I'm feeling to be the Catching Fire high point - and, for sure, Jodi Meadows' best novel yet.

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Review: Dactyl Hill Squad

Dactyl Hill Squad Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think this is Older's first MG book? Whatever the count of MG books he's got, this one's one of his best by far. It's a concept that's unbelievably imaginative, a historical fantasy centering black and brown kids in 1863 New York, fighting a society that even though there aren't supposed to be slaves in New York, it's still racist af and there's one Magistrate Riker (for whom Rikers Island was not, in fact, named, per Older's author's note) who's looking to capture as many black people as possible and sell them as far south as possible. (And I'm not just talking the Deep South either.) But there's one secret weapon the people of Dactyl Hill can use to really stick it to their white oppressors: dinosaurs. It's perhaps the most unique and unforgettable steampunk twist since Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy, and for that, I'm here to get this book in the hands of as many kids as possible who cross my path.

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Saturday, October 20, 2018

Review: The Storm Runner

The Storm Runner The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The latest in the Rick Riordan Presents lineup brings an #ownvoices look to Mayan mythology in the very style that we've come to expect from Percy Jackson and all the rest of the Camp Half-Blood multi-pantheon universe. Yes, I'm pretty sure all the Rick Riordan Presents titles are part of the same 'verse too. That's official, right? If not, why not?

Review: The Flash: The Tornado Twins

The Flash: The Tornado Twins The Flash: The Tornado Twins by Barry Lyga
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"IT'S BANANA PEELS!!!"
-Ezra Miller

The last of Barry Lyga's Flash adventures for kids? Say it ain't so! Also say it ain't so that I'm the first to leave an actual review on Goodreads for this one? *checks* So I am. Shame, y'all are sleeping on these Flash stories. And Jo Whittemore's Supergirl books, too, but that's a story for another day.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Review: Lethal White

Lethal White Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lethal White.

Now THAT is a title.

It's been too long since our last Cormoran Strike story, and now I see why, with the sheer length of this book in addition to J.K. Rowling's other projects (namely, the Fantastic Beasts screenplays) keeping her busy. I hate to say it, but perhaps this book is a little too long and complex for its own good. I mean, when was the last time you saw a mystery novel over 600 pages long? Not that Galbraith slacks in the character department - there's a ton of them to go around, and a ton of potential motives and scenarios to go around too. And of course the personal-life subplots for both Strike and Robin, ongoing as they are. No spoilers, but Robin's storyline in particular will make you feel all the sympathy for her.

Saturday, October 13, 2018

Review: Tricks for Free

Tricks for Free Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

To hear Seanan McGuire tell it, Annie's become her favorite of the three Prices to write, and so it's pretty clear now that we're not done with her after this book. Not when the whole "Money for Nothing" parody naming scheme is gonna continue with at least one more book, That Ain't Witchcraft. What is some good witchcraft, though, is McGuire's continued grasp on the fine art of, you know, having got it. And it, of course, is some serious paranormal shenanigans with Annie at the center, surrounded by a cast of weirdos and cryptids who work with her at Disney - sorry, Lowryland. (Though the map at the start of the book looks a hell of a lot like Disneyland, right down to the logo on top.) I think the only real point against this book is that there's no Aeslin mice - at least not in the main story; they get their own novella attached to the end of this printing. But yeah, I'm a little bummed that those cutie-patootie creatures aren't there to really liven up the fun. Though Annie's my favorite of the three Prices too, especially because she's such a Gwen Stacy fan - something that I feel is all too rare these days.

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Friday, October 12, 2018

Review: Mirage

Mirage Mirage by Somaiya Daud
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Veronica Roth's recommendation was what got me to read this book first and foremost, and I'm pretty glad I did. Not only because it's very #ownvoices, steeped in cultural influence from across the historical Muslim world, but also very Roth-like in a lot of ways. Though the world-building barely scratches the surface in this book, it's still as rich and detailed as you can hope for. Maybe the book's a little shorter than I would have liked, and a little harder to savor slowly, and a few of the characters do feel a little one-dimensional (particularly Maram and Nadine and other such villains.) But Amani and her family are lovely people, extremely easy to root for, and so is Idris. I mean, sharing a name with a certain sex symbol actor is good enough, but Idris is such a beautiful, sensitive sweetheart that he and Amani make a ship worthy of status in the pantheon with Tris and Tobias. Coming next year, Court of Lions, in which I hope Daud really cuts loose with her world-building and reader-surprising skills.

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Thursday, October 11, 2018

Review: A Map of Days

A Map of Days A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



My reaction, when thanks to Tahereh Mafi tweeting about it, I knew this book existed and all I could say was: I. AM. DECEASED.

The fourth book in Riggs' signature series plays out a bit like Iron Gold for me in that it's long and a little bit on the slow side sometimes, but it does a great job of expanding the world as built in the original trilogy too. Though Riggs doesn't do the four-POV route like Pierce Brown did - once again, Jacob's our sole POV character. But since he's about as new to the expanded peculiar world - and especially peculiar America - as the rest of us, it's to be expected that he remains our main window.

Peculiar America didn't get any exploration in the original trilogy, and now that we're getting a glimpse of it at last, it's not hard to see why. Not unlike America in real life, it's an enormous place, but unfortunately still suffers from a certain Wild West lawlessness too. Sharp sectarian divisions among America's peculiardom also reflect the bitterness of the political landscape, especially today. It's not unusual, of course, for Riggs to draw on history to shape his story. After all, the very premise, going back to Book 1, is rooted in a nightmarish metaphor for the Holocaust turning out to be the actual monsters all along. Now that we're on US soil in several times and places, Riggs doesn't waste much time putting both peculiar and non-peculiar America on blast for a long, ugly history of racism and colonialism and subjugation of anyone remotely different. On a more positive front, though, we get a very diverse and international cast of characters, even if most of them are minor at best - but at least this book is nowhere near as predominantly white as the previous three, or the movie, for that matter.

It's a heavy book, hard to digest at times, but Riggs does keep things light a lot of the time too. Jacob and Emma's relationship, for instance. Early on in the book, Emma ribs Jacob a bit for his lack of love experience - he's barely been kissed and is a virgin, which is par for the course given that he's always been kind of a loner (more than ever, in this book, I code him as a fellow autistic dude.) Jacob, in his internal monologue, talks about how much he knows he shouldn't internalize his virginity as a failure, and yet he can't help himself. But at least Emma knows the right thing to say to him, complimenting him for being careful with his heart.

I won't spoil anything about the developments in the plot or subplots, except to say that not unlike the very first book (and to a lesser extent, the second), there's a particularly diabolical weapons-grade cliffhanger.

As the peculiar world grows, everything explodes, and we're all guaranteed to never see anything about any of our faves the same way again. A Map of Days is Ransom Riggs' most timely novel yet, and I'll be eagerly awaiting the fifth book in the series - though remembering the long gaps between books in the original trilogy, it'll be an unbearable wait.

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Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Review: Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)

Jack of Hearts Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) by Lev A.C. Rosen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When my friend Harry brought this ARC to my attention, he and I both worried that the book would rely a little too much on the "promiscuous gay" stereotype. And when I finally opened it up to read the prologue, talking about all sorts of "fourgies" and our protag Jack's reputation for hooking up with literally every man he can, was that a confirmation of our worst fears?

Well, then Chapter 1 comes along and we finally get Jack's POV for the rest of the story. Yes, he's very sexually active. Yes, he's unapologetic about it. No, he's not nearly as promiscuous as his overblown reputation implies, and a lot of that may just lie in people's perception being skewed by stereotypes without being tempered by, you know, actually getting to know the guy.

But yeah. Jack's had sex of all sorts, and done it with guys of all sorts. Gay, bi, straight - yes, there's one scene of a straight-identifying guy taking it up the ass and enjoying it, even if he makes it clear it's just a one-night stand experiment. But you know what? I liked that Rosen wrote in a cast of characters who were very open-minded when it came to sex. (Not everyone, of course. We gotta have our villains here.) But Jack, Ben, Jenna, Charlie, Peter, Ricky, Caleb, and of course Jack's mom, they're a diverse and welcoming lot, always a plus.

The central mystery was a little bit half-baked at times, I found. It got to the point where I found myself skimming pages a bit just to get to the next funny part, or else cringing a bit at some maneuver Jack pulls to try and solve the mystery - like, inviting one of his prime stalker suspects over for sex and peeking at the other guy's phone under the pretext of trying to get a look at his porn history. But when the solution finally comes out, it makes a ton of sense, and reinforces one of the book's key themes with profound resonance.

Not unlike with What if It's Us or Odd One Out, I read this one while laughing a lot, even if I also felt a certain cynical despair because I've never really had friends I could get high and drunk with, a parent who allowed me the freedom to explore my sexuality and tolerance for vice, and a network of people with whom I could explore said sexuality to my heart's content. Or maybe not "heart's," because Jack makes it pretty clear that love and sex aren't the same thing. Ehh, you know what I mean. But perhaps the best part of the book, for me, is Jack's advice column. Not only because of how witty as hell he is, or how much he takes care to provide the best advice to straight, gay, bi, ace people - I was especially pleased with his response to an ace-spec classmate's question about why they felt so "broken," and his insistence that they're perfectly okay as is. And also with when he gets a question about tops and bottoms that's so awkwardly worded it could only have come from a straight person, whom he well and truly takes to task. But also because, like everything else in his life, he's not afraid to get dirty but clean at the same time. He has standards, which he shows in his sex life and his advice column. Always use protection, always have consent, that sort of thing.

And also, whatever your needs for sex and love may be, don't let anyone - and I mean ANYONE - tell you they're not worth pursuing.

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Friday, October 5, 2018

Review: Smoke in the Sun

Smoke in the Sun Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wasn't a big fan of the first book in this series, but the conclusion to the duology is a welcome step up. Like The Heart Forger to The Bone Witch, Smoke in the Sun takes its predecessor's world and zooms in on the court-intrigue part to present some seriously heightened stakes. And with the magical elements of the story being much more in the foreground, that's an improvement too. Though the book does still feel a little long and muddled and hard to follow at times, it's pretty well-stocked with the dark-and-full-of-terrors atmosphere we've come to expect from Ahdieh. And some strong commentary, especially of the feminist variety, which rings especially true now that this world's really struggling to reckon with too many centuries of patriarchy. While I'm still not a big fan of the whole duology trend, Ahdieh does a good job bringing this one to a nice, neat close.

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Thursday, October 4, 2018

Review: The Heart Forger

The Heart Forger The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Let me be perfectly clear, this sequel to The Bone Witch is every bit as unique as its predecessor, and every bit as uniquely hard for me to rate. The world-building work has mostly been done in the first book, so this one's a little less dense and meaty on that front. But it's still a very long read all the same. That said, though, the stakes (I almost typed "steaks" because I'm watching tonight's episode of The Good Place, set in a parodic "American" steakhouse in Australia, as I type this) are significantly higher here in The Heart Forger, and it really shows in the increased intrigue in the court as well. And luckily, I did a quick reread of The Bone Witch first. Maybe I'll do the same for both the first two books when The Shadowglass comes out soon.

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Saturday, September 29, 2018

Review: Anger Is a Gift

Anger Is a Gift Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Apparently this one began as a sci-fi book, and there are still elements in the final print that read like they should belong there. A most literal police state, armed with high-tech riot gear that they're shamelessly deploying against high school students in West Oakland, dangerous military-grade technology that has a habit of malfunctioning horribly - and, by all accounts, intentionally - when put into use...yeah, there's a reason why one of Oshiro's characters says something about this story playing out like one of those "trendy dystopian novels" with white people running scared, except it ain't white people running scared, and it's a scary, scary reality.

Though I live near Oakland, I don't go there very often. West Oakland, I can honestly say I've only actually seen from the freeway or the BART tracks. But from what I know of the city's recent history, Oshiro nails it, right down to the ongoing issue of police brutality. I believe Aimal said in her review that setting the book in the Bay Area, long hailed as a progressive bastion, showcases how that "progressiveness" really only applies to places full of rich white well-meaners like Berkeley. Or Piedmont, home to Esperanza's parents, whose being white makes them ignorant af - and not in a malicious way either, which makes it almost worse.

So, yeah, there's a ton of maddening unhelpfulness from those with power, or PR-like wishy-washiness when confronted with how much hurt their privilege has wrought. But like a lot of other recent YA titles that deal with modern racism head-on - I'm especially thinking of The Hate U Give here - it's not all riots and protests. There's a lot of enjoyment of the little things in life, like friendship, especially. And what a support system Moss has got, from his mother to all his friends - who span a wide spectrum of racial, religious, and gender identities, also very true to the book's Bay Area setting - and of course his boyfriend, Javier, with the relationship between them being one of the cutest you'll ever see.

I won't sugarcoat it, though - this book is bloodydamn brutal. Though there's a lot of moments of various characters - not just students, but the teacher Mrs. Torrance too - reacting to escalating conflict at the school with world-weary snark worthy of an N.K. Jemisin novel to cut the tension, Oshiro doesn't hold back. You'll cry a hell of a lot reading this book, of that I'm sure. And when it all ends - in bittersweet fashion at best, and with a stern message from the youth whom the police have spent so long harassing and attacking - you'll probably find yourself staring into space for a good long while.

This world's too real. We need to stop letting that be so, like it's some kind of inextricable fact. We can be better to our fellow humans, treating them with the utmost respect they deserve.

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Thursday, September 27, 2018

Review: Let's Talk About Love

Let's Talk About Love Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's been a while since I first saw this book appear on the shelves at work, and I feel like it took longer than it should have for me to finally pick it up and read it. In the weeks between me picking up the book at the library and finally reading it, I heard a few rumblings about it possibly being problematic. Something about it being lesbophobic because our main character, Alice, her ex Margo is a bit of a nasty type who breaks up with Alice because they're not sexually compatible and then starts acting pretty damn racist when confronted about it (basically saying that Alice can't be ace because she's Black, a stereotype that I've actually seen one Twitter mutual talk about because it made her hard to accept her own Black ace identity for a while.)

But I have one biromantic ace friend who read this book #ownvoices and loved it - five stars, in fact! So I go by her opinion, and with that in mind, I found Let's Talk About Love pretty enjoyable. Well, except for Margo. She's the worst. But Alice, she's one of the loveliest main characters in the various SwoonReads books I've seen in my time, and considering she's in company with Taylor and Charlie from Queens of Geek and Teddy and Bennett from Love Scene, Take Two, that's saying something. This whole book, it's a bit of a hot mess at times, but when love in any form is involved, when is it not? It's a sweet hot mess and I'm here for that and anything else Claire Kann writes for us. Especially because I'm always super psyched to spread the love for fellow Bay Area writers!

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Review: The Reckoning of Noah Shaw

The Reckoning of Noah Shaw The Reckoning of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Even though the first book disappointed me a bit, I'm still super-psyched for The Reckoning because dammit I want Noah and Mara and Jamie and all their peeps to make it out of this new series happy!

Except if this ARC is anything to go by, they don't, but what else is new?

This one still isn't as good for me as the original series was, mostly due to a somewhat unfocused second half that kinda drags it down. But the first half, when we get an extended flashback to the time when Noah was, um, in captivity during the better part of The Retribution of Mara Dyer and Mara thought he was dead, it feels like Hodkin does a great job of finally filling in this narrative gap. Then, while that second half does feel unfocused, it unleashes a whole torrent of surprises on us the readers - including, of course, a cliffhanger just as weapons-grade as the one we got in Part 2 of Hodkin's last trilogy, if not more so.

Again, I'm really sad that the happy ending of the original trilogy is pretty much all gone at this point. But now I only have to wait maybe a year for the end? Hopefully no more than that.

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Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Review: From Twinkle, with Love

From Twinkle, with Love From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Though unrelated to When Dimple Met Rishi, Sandhya Menon's second book captures a lot of the same style - very #ownvoices Indian, very YA, very rom-com. Though I had to say while Dimple was more of a 3.5 rounded up to a 4 for me, From Twinkle, with Love was more easily a solid 4.

I think part of the reason why I enjoyed this one more was because of the use of first-person POV instead of third - which makes sense since this one uses an epistolary style, composed mostly of Twinkle's letters to numerous influential women filmmakers (Ava DuVernay, Mira Nair, Jane Campion, Kathryn Bigelow, and more are name-dropped as recipients of the letters that form most of the book, in between various email and text exchanges between other characters.) But yeah, POV - those who follow my reviews know that I've often found myself downgrading third-person POV novels just because I've found it harder to connect to those characters. And also because Twinkle and her friends focus more on the A in STEAM, which immediately gets me more interested than the more scientifically-minded Dimple and Rishi because my trade, creative writing, definitely falls more under art. And what an art Twinkle wants to make, Dracu-lass, for which I'd frankly pay good money for the inevitable movie adaptation just so I can see at least some amount of Twinkle's project come to life. And then, of course, there's the very intriguing little love-triangle twist, in which Sahil's crushed out on Twinkle but she thinks his identical twin Neil is her secret email pen pal? One of the best in the business right there - though don't go by me too much; I'm not exactly a romance expert and I almost always ship wrong. This time, however? I shipped right.

So while this one's not directly connected to Dimple, it's still nice to know that Menon's coming back to that 'verse with There's Something About Sweetie next year. And hey, what if that book proves to be the crossover between its two predecessors? I'd love to see more of Twinkle and Sahil and Skid. :)

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Sunday, September 23, 2018

Review: Dear Evan Hansen

Dear Evan Hansen Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A novelization of a play I've been low-key really wanting to see someday, especially given that its title character fights severe social anxiety? I could read this ARC #ownvoices just on that level alone, and so I did.

Maybe if I'd already seen the musical first, I could have enjoyed the book a bit better, but...no, especially not if it were a faithful adaptation of the musical already. Which, from what I understand, it pretty much is. And what I'm seeing here, as much as I was dying to connect super-well to the material, it just felt a little too John Green for me. Like, the whole thing starts out as a coincidence leading to a little white lie that somehow balloons into a national movement rooted in sympathy for a boy all because of his bond with another boy that never really was...and the more I think about it, the more I just feel uncomfortable with the way it's all handled. Kind of like with a John Green book, this one just fails to hit me in the feels, because I feel like it's not genuine emotion they're trying to evoke here. It's too manipulative.

Not to mention, actually kinda problematic. I found myself really cringing at the initial description of Connor, with his long hair and all, as "school shooter chic." (I later found out that that line was part of the original Broadway production but has since been edited to something less insensitive, and I'm hoping that the final printed copy of this novel follows suit as well.) The whole plot that unfurls around a nonexistent friendship sounds like it should be cute and charming, but instead just comes off creepy because of how it basically takes advantage of a family's grief after their son's death by suicide. (Not to mention how Evan basically tries to use this as an excuse to get Zoe to kiss him. Which pissed me off a bit. Honest to God, I have enough trouble getting dates as a socially anxious autistic dude without having to put up with the stereotype that people like me are manipulative at best and heartless at worst.) Then, as a bi guy, I wasn't thrilled about the way queerness was woven into the novel. As I understand it, there's no explicitly queer characters in the musical (though Jared and Connor are commonly assumed to be so); here, Connor confirms he's gay, and it's implied that getting his heart broken led directly to his death. And that's after a sort of running gag of Jared, while pretending to write letters to Evan from Connor, deliberately writes sexually charged stuff until Evan makes him stop - I guess that's why fans think Jared is gay, but it makes me think more of the trope of "he's so fixated on other people being gay that he must be gay himself."

That's not to say, though, that the book's a complete and utter failure. Like I said, I do relate to Evan on the level of being very, very, very, extremely socially anxious. I'm in therapy for it too, along with depression. My therapist has tried to have me try and do similar self-improvement exercises to the ones Evan does - most notably, the iconic "Today is going to be an amazing day, and here's why" letters that Evan's therapist has him write. Though I'm actually glad my therapist hasn't actually enforced me doing such things, because I've found that actually taking steps to ensure that today will be an amazing day, instead of repeating that same platitude over and over again and not taking actual action, has better results.

That said, though...I would never consider Evan Hansen a good role model for how to cope with mental illness. I have a lot of friends with mental health issues similar to mine. We all cope in our own ways, as best we can. Even if a lot of those ways involve some level of substance abuse. (Socially acceptable substances, that is. Coffee. Booze. Weed.) But Evan, who can only make friends by lying to people, and makes zero effort to call for help when he falls out of a tree after he, rather stupidly, climbed it? That part in particular, the revelation of how he broke his arm to begin with, that completely microwaved my mind trying to make sense of it and the fact that this is the guy we're supposed to root for.

One of my dearest friends, he cares a great deal about getting mental health rep out there. You should see how much he goes off about the garbageness of 13RW. Like, that's the lowest of the low as far as he's concerned. I'm not gonna say that Dear Evan Hansen is anywhere near that bad, but if it's to the point where I would recommend he avoid it (because I bet he'd take issue with a lot of the same stuff I did, especially since he empathizes very well with the need to defeat negative stereotypes of socially anxious and/or autistic people), I would therefore recommend everyone else avoid it too.

I guess that's another strange case of "Adam Silvera liked it, but I somehow didn't."

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Saturday, September 22, 2018

Review: Shadow of the Fox

Shadow of the Fox Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kagawa wasn't done with 2018 when she put out the fifth and final Talon novel - nope, now she's ready to start a brand-new, very #ownvoices fantasy series, a trilogy that's promising us all the usual we've come to expect from her and more. The ARC I traded for, it shows us how well-fed Kagawa's keeping us, her fans, with kitsune and demonslayers and ronin and samurai and eight clans of elemental magic.

Maybe there's a tad less romance in this book - okay, maybe a lot less than usual for Kagawa, which makes me low-key wonder what Harlequin TEEN's doing publishing it. Maybe it's a little hard to follow the POV switches between chapters because unlike, say, in the Talon Saga, they're not clearly indicated and I found myself having to stop frequently to absorb all the context clues to figure out who was narrating. (Maybe that'll be fixed in the final print? I hope.)

But for sure, Kagawa's still one of the best in the business at the fantasy-action game, and Shadow of the Fox, this monstrously magical first part of the trilogy, is no exception. And it all builds up to a nasty little cliffhanger that owes a lot to both Victoria Aveyard and Marie Lu in its execution, which leaves me extra-dying for the second book. (The title of which is revealed at the end of this ARC, but GR lists something different, so I'm gonna go ahead and assume Soul of the Sword is the official title now. This is an old ARC anyway, predating the cover art, even!)

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Thursday, September 20, 2018

Review: The Poet X

The Poet X The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I haven't read too many novels in verse, but those few that I've read, I've loved. Long Way Down, of course. The poetry sections in Bronx Masquerade. And now, The Poet X, possibly the longest novel in verse I've read, and for sure a gripping read all the way through. Acevedo knows how to make use of so much blank space on the page to paint a stark picture, and wastes no time in not only smashing the patriarchy, but also taking conservative Catholicism in general to task. Though I'm not Dominican and my family's not nearly as strict as X's, I can feel so much of myself in both her and Xavier the Twin because they each have their own rebellions. Rebellions that shouldn't be rebellions. Xiomara, being an artist. Xavier, being gay. As a queer writer myself, both twins are like my biggest alienating-from-my-family sides brought to life - just like how I did with the Snow Bros in my own books. I'm for sure going to add Acevedo to my "I'm gonna read all her books now" list, and hopefully not be late to the party on them like I shamefully was with this book.

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Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Review: Impostors

Impostors Impostors by Scott Westerfeld
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was pretty surprised when Westerfeld announced that there would be not only this extension to the Uglies series, but that it would be the first of a new four-part sequel/spinoff series. It's for sure the best book Westerfeld wrote in this universe since the original - especially since Specials and especially Extras played out increasingly nonsensically and weirdly, though I'm sure I'd appreciate them better on a second read.

As for this first of the new series, it's not half-bad, but sure as hell doesn't hold a candle to the original. (Fun fact: as I typed that last sentence, a candle appeared on my TV screen in the background from the title sequence of American Horror Story: Apocalypse.) The premise is a promising one, with the idea of identical twins and body doubles, but in practice it feels a little half-baked because we're led to believe that there are bunches of "First Families" making use of this method and it seems, instead, it's just Frey and Rafi. Though this is supposed to be well after the original series ended, it still seems that there are a ton of Pretties and Specials running around, and copious use of silly "bubbly" slang and all those infamous crappy MREs (SpagBol, of course, being the most common.) So while I'm sure there's something to be said for next to nothing having actually changed - Pierce Brown and Tahereh Mafi explored similar themes in their own dystopian series continuations this year - here, it just feels a little underdone, and it's very hard to connect with most of the characters as a result.

Though, again, that's probably the point, because Frey needs to really learn how to be herself, if you know what I mean. And for the less-than-stellar worldbuilding (honestly, I managed to fool myself into thinking most of the book takes place in Europe for the longest time), Westerfeld does make up for it with some kickass action, easily outclassing any such scenes the original series ever had.

So I'm for sure not done with Impostors, but I'm hoping for a better book next year. And that we get some of Col Palafox's multilingual POV. (Also, who else sees him and his name and thinks of Cal from Red Queen?)

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Review: What If It's Us

What If It's Us What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Weird. I'm reading a book that Adam Silvera wrote and I didn't rate it five stars. But then, it's also a Becky Albertalli book, and I haven't rated a single one of hers five stars yet, not even the iconic Simon Vs. I just wish this one, which I read as an ARC that I picked up at work, could've been the five-star read I expected from a collaboration between two of the YA community's best and brightest.

That's not to say that this book's a bad one, not at all. A large part of why I'm giving it a good four stars (it's really a 3.5 but I'll round it up) is the hilarious dialogue, especially whenever Dylan opens his mouth ("GENTLEMEN. PLEASE UNHOOK YOUR DICKS NOW.") Also the sheer number of Harry Potter references, proving that this book is part of the Albertalli-verse if nothing else (and not the Silvera-verse where it's Scorpius Hawthorne books and movies instead, though maybe this is one of the alternate 'verses Griffin kept proposing in History is All You Left Me?) And how generally sweet and fluffy the atmosphere was, because of course Albertalli's going to give us something positively theatrical and perfectly capable of - at least temporarily - taking away from my perpetual cycle of love-related cynicism because while there's literally nobody out there for me, at least the universe is determined to ensure Arthur and Ben get together to some degree.

I can tell you that both Harry and I agreed on one thing - the ending was a little disappointing. I mean, it kinda makes sense in context, but it also comes off a little too much like Silvera had his influence and prevented Albertalli from tying it all up neatly with a bow like she usually does. Though given that Albertalli tied things up a little too neatly with Leah on the Offbeat, maybe that's for the best. Not to mention, when the fluff goes out the window, it self-defenestrates while singing "I Am Not Throwing Away My Shot" at the top of its lungs. At least Arthur and Ben get a bunch of do-overs with their initial date fails, but still, some of those date fails felt like they could've been more easily avoided.

There's at least one non-fluffy moment, though, that brought me to actual tears. I guess that's a tad bit Silvera's fault? Of course it is; he's the King Tearjerker of YA. But still, did Silvera have to write Dylan so much like one of my best friends? Did he have to give him a moment that so eerily parallels a distressing story my friend once told me?

Naturally, that scene ensured that like all other Silvera books to date, this one earns the famous crying Andrew Garfield GIF.



I do hope that Albertalli and Silvera collaborate again in the future, I really do.

And I hope by the time they do, I'll finally be proven wrong about my own inability to be loved just like Arthur and Ben.

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Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Review: Picture Us in the Light

Picture Us in the Light Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This one, I think I picked it up because Harry said it was good. Or that he was hoping to read it himself. Having read it, I have to say, I'm...not all that impressed? I mean, it wasn't a half bad book. Danny was a most likable MC, and the Cupertino setting felt pretty real - though I have to admit, the most of Cupertino I've seen is the rather scuzzy Homestead Bowl, not exactly the luxurious place where everyone knows each other from school or the learning center. But from what I've seen myself, working at a tutoring center in Union City, it does seem like the whole "family and friends" network is real.

Though how easy is it to make friends when your parents don't want to?

Now that, I could relate to the best.

Though the book's kinda hamstrung by a slow-moving first half to two-thirds - which is a big part of why the rating went down to three stars for me, that plus the constant and abrupt shifts in time like we're on an episode of Arrow or How to Get Away With Murder - I have to say that I was entirely surprised by all the twists. I thought I had a prediction of the secret of Danny's parents as far back as page 50? Suffice it to say I was so, so wrong.

I hope to read more of Kelly Loy Gilbert's books in the future, especially since I always enjoy boosting Bay Area talent whenever I can.

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