Review: Supergirl: Curse of the Ancients

Supergirl: Curse of the Ancients by Jo Whittemore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Holy Roman Empire, Batman!

(#SorryNotSorry, that one begged to happen.)

Reading the follow-up to Age of Atlantis comes at a strange time for me as a Supergirl fan - or, more accurately, ex-fan, since I've quit watching the show now. It was a long time coming, given how Season 3 was just such a garbage mess of nonsensical doom and gloom and throwing away some of the best characters and pandering to virulent Mon-El haters in particular. Even knowing Jeff Schechter, that old Stitchers top dog, is coming into the picture next year can't convince me to continue. Like a lot of my friends, especially in the Karamel fandom, the show's pretty much ended with Season 2 for me.

But here, just like in Age of Atlantis, we get a strong resurgence of the Season 2 Peak Supergirl vibe. And just like in the first book of this trilogy, Whittemore again gives us superior depictions of the characters, far better than the writers of the actual show were able to give us. Maybe I was a little put off by the inclusion of a few of my least favorite characters, though. Like Lyra, whose relationship with Winn, I still remember for all the wrong reasons. Or especially Lena Luthor - the effects of the titular Curse of the Ancients on Lena were so humorous that frankly I think they'd be beyond Katie McGrath's ability to portray, because she's just so stoic on the show that it consistently crosses the line into wooden.

That said, though, Whittemore makes a lot of my faves pop off the page like they really did step out of an unused Season 2 script. Mon's more of a goofball - he's still not as mature as we know he can become. J'onn and Alex are terrific leaders, as expected. James, he's really coming into his own as Guardian. Winn is made of a million references a minute, just the way I like him. And Kara? She's hit hard with some self-doubt, but that's what her friends are for, to give her the properly timed pep talks she needs. She even gets one from Iris West, of all people, in a surprise cameo that runs parallel to the events of The Flash: Johnny Quick. And while I immediately cringed at seeing Iris because I'm so used to rolling my eyes at the chemistry-free corniness of WestAllen, I quickly overrode that reaction because it's only Iris in this scene, and she's nothing if not motivationally gifted.

Best of all, the very storyline feels like it would've made a wonderful alternative to the Mxyzptlk episode. Not only because of the reality warping, not only because of the bizarre sense of humor (even getting into literal Roman toilet humor at times too), but especially because of a certain scene involving a theater. All that's missing is the Holy Couch, but that's to be expected since this book's geared for kids.

So far there's not much word on the third and final volume of this trilogy. No title, no storyline, nada. But it'll come soon, I hope. And I also especially hope Whittemore doesn't emulate Season 3 too much. Or at all, even. We could do without traumatizing the kiddies with a post-Mon, post-Winn, and absolutely post-canon story.

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Review: Last Night I Sang to the Monster

Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The last of the four BAS novels that my library carries for me to read (though Aristotle and Dante, I had to order from San Diego because my library just has too few copies of it and too much demand, but that's neither here nor there), and for sure one of the best. I think A&D were still a shade better, but this book, more bite-sized and yet more intense, is a very, very close second.

Thanks to Harry getting me acquainted with Sáenz's body of work, I've come to recognize a lot of the same tropes recurring throughout - bad relationships between male family members, anger management issues, and through it all, boys and men learning to love. Maybe my life hasn't been as bad as those Sáenz writes for his characters, but my God, I can connect to them all way too easily. Especially Zach, when he points out that he's been thrown into adulthood and can't fucking swim (paraphrased.)

I'll have to keep looking for more Sáenz books outside my library, but hopefully I'll find more of them soon. And hopefully they'll be on a level with this and A&D for me too.

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Review: Leah on the Offbeat

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"As for the fact that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle appeared to be going their different ways when they were usually inseparable, these things happened as people got older - Ron and Hermione, Harry reflected sadly, were living proof."
-Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

That quote really came to mind to me after I read this latest Becky Albertalli book, a more direct follow-up to Simon Vs. than The Upside of Unrequited was. It's recognizably Becky's style, following one teenage protagonist struggling to come to terms with their identity (in Leah's case, bisexual - she's also fat, but that's something she's much better at making her own) and find some much-deserved love. Along the way, there's a lot of laughs - most of which are Simon's and Bram's faults, of course. Leah, though? Her sense of humor isn't really geared towards making me laugh. She rubs me the wrong way almost from the start, when she's ragging on Journey (was it really called for to compare their music to meth?), and she also has an alarming tendency to rub everyone the wrong way in-universe too. Open mouth, insert foot, chew thoroughly - and because she's Leah, she doubles down on the snark each time she does so, especially to someone she loves. Like her mom. Or the girl she's fallen in love with, who's also struggling to figure out her own sexuality - hell, there's a scene where Leah, while still closeted herself, tells this girl not to waffle on her labels and totally polices her sexual identity in the process. As a bi reader, that actually kinda pissed me off more than a bit, and I know I'm not the only one.

And in between all of Leah's rudeness, nearly everyone in her friend circle is struggling to come to terms with the end of high school and the forthcoming start of college, leading to a lot of drama that plays out like a Super 8-grade train wreck. I still actually kinda wish that Becky could've written a sequel from the POV of Abby or Bram - though we know she wouldn't do so because they're outside her lane racially, but if anyone could pull it off, we all know Becky could.

But hey, Leah and everyone else around her is only human, and they're all flawed as hell. Some more so than others, of course, which is why there's so much train wreckage going on. It makes this book less enjoyable than either of its Simonverse predecessors, but again, it's meant to show that we can't all be as fluffy and adorable as Simon Spider (I still can't stop calling him that, lol) all the time. This book represents all our anger and resentment just as Simon Vs. represents our sweetness and passions, and Upside represents our loneliness and insecurities. And again, Leah's not the only one contributing to the nasty game around here. Look no further than the one person who makes the huge mistake of claiming she didn't get into a certain college because she's white and Abby, who did, is black. (Cue Leah going all the way off in Abby's defense.) I know for certain of at least one black classmate in high school who got this same treatment from people he used to call friends - I didn't know it at the time, but I once found him talk about it in a Dartmouth student paper editorial after a random Google search. And, in hindsight, I'm really not surprised at these old classmates of ours at all.

Like both of Becky's books so far, I'm thinking this one's kind of a 3.5, but this one I'll round down to a 3. It's hard to read a lot of the time because after a while, Leah's whole "I'm a Slytherin, so that means I'm an asshole by nature" shtick really wears thin. But just like the Dracos in the fanfics she loves to read, she does have a soft center somewhere, and that does ultimately come out and win in the end. Even if that end is a little too neatly-tied-up-with-a-bow, but then it wouldn't be Becky if it wasn't.

Now I can super look forward to Becky's collaboration with Adam Silvera on What If It's Us. And seethe that unless my schedule changes, I won't be able to meet them on their Bay Area tour stop, not when it's on a night I currently work late enough to miss the event.

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Review: A Reaper at the Gates

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Most authors in the YA biz give us a new book in their signature series once a year, every year, like clockwork. Sabaa Tahir has always been an exception to that rule, going at least a year and a half between books each time so far, and it's become one of my biggest selling points as I present her books to customers at my work, because I really think it helps raise the quality of the Ember Quartet...along with so many other factors.

Namely, the pure uniqueness of the setting, still the definitive vision of YA sandalpunk - and of sandalpunk, period, as far as I'm concerned. Literally nowhere else will you find Roman and Pakistani cultural influences in the same place - if only the cultures could coalesce, especially in the face of an even greater enemy from worlds beyond. But nope, there's not much room for reconciliation, not when the Martial Empire, and Keris the bloodydamn Commandant in particular, are even more ten-hells-bent on conquest than ever. A lot of fantasy, especially in recent years, has centered on themes of anti-imperialism and analyzing the levels of system-breakage necessary to carry out such goals, and this universe, where the Martials certainly do not have the market completely cornered on historical atrocities, is no exception. It may get analytical, but there's still only one conclusion - the Commandant, for the good of all humanity, needs to get gone yesterday.

Meanwhile, Laia and Elias and their people are still reeling from the ending of A Torch Against the Night, with supernatural horrors creeping closer on the horizon with every page. Elias' chapters, in particular, run red with dread. Ironic, considering this is the book in the series with the green cover accents - I'm still convinced Elias resembles the Green Arrow with that hood. And while these two are no less shippable than ever, leave it to Tahir to turn even their love into a nightmare.

And between Laia and Elias, and Marcus and Keris, we have Helene. Note that her POV chapters are indicated not with her name, but her title of Blood Shrike - I'm thinking that was a deliberate choice on Tahir's part to indicate how little those in charge of the Empire really care about her and her humanity. It's a humanity that's stretched super thin with all the trauma she has to go through - and that includes witnessing all sorts of atrocities happening to her loved ones. For all the flack Helene gets from the fandom, I'm willing to bet her story arc in this book, for sure the most compelling after that of Elias, will help gain her a lot of sympathy. It sure gained mine.

I have no idea how long it'll be until we get the fourth and final book in the quartet, but it'll be another long wait. And a more agonizing one too. Because while the ending of Torch was seriously feels-abusing, this one manages to run even closer to the original maddening Aveyardian cliffhanger of Glass Sword. It even feels, to me, like the ending of Infinity War in a way or two - no, not how you're thinking, but more like just emulating one of those last shots of the movie.

But yeah, it's going to be a long time, waiting for Tahir to finish one of the most intelligent and gripping series in all of YA.

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Review: White Rabbit

White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After Last Seen Leaving, I found myself ready to be super-hyped for any future novels which Caleb Roehrig was to give us. Maybe his sophomore book doesn't quite reach that standard, but it's every bit as compulsively readable as Last Seen Leaving was. Believe it or not, though, the main mystery wasn't the greatest selling point for me, not when it became clear that it involved some of the asscrownest (not to be too Mara Dyer-y) characters you'll ever meet. Seriously, the rich kids who form the ranks of the suspects in this crime, they're all ingloriously gross and grossly insensitive and casually offensive to just about everyone else around them. I almost expected a sort of Murder on the Orient Express situation, to be honest, especially since the murder victim here is pretty much the worst of them all.

But the best part of the story, for me, is the relationship between Rufus and Sebastian (aka "Bash," which reminds me of the nicknaming of Bass Monroe on Revolution, but that's neither here nor there.) Relationship, or as the story begins, lack thereof, the two boys being exes. I've seen a couple of other reviews complain that Rufus is a victim of manipulation on Sebastian's part, especially highlighting the passage where Rufus metaphorizes himself as a violin - useless without being played, to paraphrase him. Admittedly problematic on the surface, but keep on reading the book and you'll also see things from Bash's point of view. While Rufus is out of the closet, Bash is not, and while he's got one public relationship with a girl, does that publicity mean he loves Lia more than Rufus? If he loves Rufus at all? Well, I won't get too spoilery, but Bash more than earns my sympathy. As does Rufus, because I actually super-relate to his little violin metaphor. Not because I was ever played with emotionally, but because nobody has ever wanted to make my heart sing like that, period. And I do, way too often, internalize it as a failure on my own part. So Rufus doesn't always make the best decisions, but that's to be expected when he's a teenager with emotional and mental health issues - he's particularly prone to anger, but he's nowhere near as bad as his bio dad and dangerous brother. (Just for the bio dad alone, this one's going on the reading lists of my Red Rain boys, Alex and Gabe.)

So yeah, I'm still counting myself a loyal Caleb Roehrig fan. And using his books (this one included) as comp titles for my queries because his boys would get along with mine that well.

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Review: Fireblood

Fireblood by Elly Blake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Somehow, my review of Frostblood became one of my most-viewed on my blog - my most-viewed book review ever, I think, and second only to my coming-out post in total views. I'm not sure this one'll come anywhere close to those stats, but if so, it'd be just as weird and random as the Frostblood review, short and little-fanfared as it was. This book shall go similarly little-fanfared by me. It's not a bad book, but not exactly a good one either. Maybe a shade better than its predecessor, especially in the second half when it becomes clear just how sinister the mystery really is. But the first half just feels way too long a slog to get through that it's almost not worth it to get there. Almost. It does validate itself in the end, I promise you that. And as soon as my library gets ahold of Nightblood, I'll be sure to order it. Or maybe wind up waiting several months like I did for this one.

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Review: These Rebel Waves

These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Here's another ARC I'm very happy to have found at work, and to see it being Sara Raasch's first book in two years or so, I'm excited just on that front alone.

It's an interesting world Raasch sets up in this story, separate from her seasonal fantasy kingdoms of Snow Like Ashes and sequels. No, here we get one that's a little more clearly rooted in real-world history in its inspiration. I've noticed for a few years that a lot of Western-based fantasy has shifted away from the traditional styles of Northern Europe - Viking and/or Anglo-Saxon and/or Celtic influence - in favor of Southern European influence. And I Darken, Nevernight, The Young Elites, Ruined, Truthwitch, and now These Rebel Waves all carry strong elements of influence from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece, Romania, and/or the Ottoman Empire.

This particular book is heavy on the Spanish and Portuguese influences - from the Portuguese-sounding language (hell, I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was actually some kind of archaic form of Portuguese) to the heavy dominion of the Catholic-like Church of the Pious God over the royal court and all the culture of Argrid. As you can imagine, it's a highly oppressive Inquisition-like theocracy full of hypocritical assbutts, one that deserves to have a few wrenches thrown into its works.

And among those wrenches are our three protagonists. Adeluna (nicknamed "Lu," which I'm thinking is more than a tip of the cap to Marie Lu and Adelina, because let's face it, this book would pair magnificently with The Young Elites), Devereux (aka "Vex"), and Benat (aka "Ben.") The rebel, the pirate, the crown prince. All have their part to play in this theater, and all subvert just about every expectation you may have of them and then some. They also bring a good amount of diversity to the table - all three have some shade of brown skin (brown is virtually the default in both Argrid and Grace Loray, with white merchants from northern nations standing out like sore thumbs in the region's harbor cities), Vex has only one eye (another Young Elites reference for the list?), and Ben is gay. Openly so, even. Turns out that as nasty and backwards as the Church of the Pious God is, they're not intolerant of gay people, so long as they stay true till marriage. (Cue me and my friend Harry raising our eyebrows.)

But make no mistake, the Church is out for nothing short of power and dominance. They already got beaten back from Grace Loray's shores, and would love nothing more than to swoop in and colonize the place and its numerous magic-enhancing herbs.

Can't have that, can we?

It's a great little book, this one. A little long at times, and I'm a little sad that it's only the first of a duology. But I'm glad I got to read it in advance!

Except, of course, for that ending, undoubtedly the most diabolically Aveyardian since the original Aveyardian cliffhanger of Glass Sword. Even Godsgrave and Empire of Storms didn't make me so mad!

For sure, when this book hits shelves, I'll be hand-selling it to as many bookstore customers as I can, though not without fairly warning them of the weapons-grade cliffhanger at the end.

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