I hadn't heard of Sara B Larson's debut, Defy, until it showed up in my mailbox, which is shameful of me, because I'm normally pretty on top of anythiI hadn't heard of Sara B Larson's debut, Defy, until it showed up in my mailbox, which is shameful of me, because I'm normally pretty on top of anything that even hints at the phrase "gender-bender." (I blame this almost completely on Tamora Pierce, and probably a little bit on movies like Rocky Horror, Ladybugs, To Wong Foo and Just One of the Guys. My formative years in a nutshell, friends.) So even though I had no plans to read this, and a whole stack of other things that needed to be read instead, I promptly sat down with this one almost immediately upon opening the package. And for all my high hopes and a fairly strong start, I was sadly disappointed.
Defy was an oddly confused piece of writing. It doesn't know if it wants to be the next big smexy romance novel or a straight-forward epic fantasy, so it tries to do both, and fails. 'Hot and bothered' just doesn't work as well when there are more pressing concerns like fighting for your life. Now, I've always been one to say that romance still has a place - maybe even more of a place - when the setting isn't all that conducive to a romance; people still fall in love in the middle of wars. Emotions are heightened, life seems short, and people carpe the hell out of their diems. But... if that's the case you wanna make, then that mentality, that forced, manic, precarious vitality has to be represented and believable. And those other concerns, like war and death and hurt, loss, pain, anxiety — they need to intrude, need to make up a bulk of the characters' thought-space, even. Otherwise, it makes your characters seem vapid and self-absorbed, and all of the potential tension in your story (beyond the sexual) goes right out the window. If they don't legitimately fear for their lives, we won't. If they only care about the ills of society in a cursory way, when forced to, we'll either stop caring about the world, or stop caring about the characters. (And by we, I mean me, but I'm guessing some of you, too.)
Defy felt like a lot of potential, wasted. And I don't just mean the more dire aspects of the society, and the seriousness of the situation. Even Alexa's disguise as Alex felt wasted. Larson does have talent that tries to rear its troublesome head, but beyond the lack of depth and the apparent obviousness of Alexa's disguise (who doesn't know? I think just adults, who presumably are too busy or too obtuse to pay attention to anything around them...Like the fact that one twin matures from boy to going-on man while the other remains sexless and ambiguous. Or the fact that one twin (the not-boy one) seems to spend most of his/her time openly leering at all of the sweaty dreamboats in his/her regiment...), I just felt like there needed to be more follow-through, follow-all-the-way-through, in Defy. There needed to be some psychology, some cause-effect, and all those fundamental hallmarks of good world & character building. Two apparently-straight boys are in love with someone pretending to be a boy - shouldn't there be...a grappling with confusing feelings? As a woman in a society where women are forced into brothels to be brood mares for the army, shouldn't their be some real hatred and bitterness? More distrust, more paranoia and caution in regards to the "disguise," or some acting-out, and even some self-loathing for being a member of the Army that helps prop up this institutionalized sex trafficking? Though there was a scene - a single scene - of disgust for the world Alexa lives in, I can't say that it was really more than set-up for a pivotal moment of the book -- a means to an end, and not a real analysis or condemnation of the world. It was well-done in the moment, and then relegated to the d-plotlines once again.
There were things that should have been explored and capitalized on, that should have had a greater share of the focus, over faux drama and twu wuv. So Alexa's the best fighter ever, and she's maybe magic ooh ahh. She's also smart and resourceful (one assumes), so let us see some more of that. She shows moments, but let's have more than moments; let's have that be the bulk of the narrative instead. Not confused longing and a lip-service condemnation of the serious ills of the world, before getting back to the Very Urgent Business of who's hotter, the prince or the pauper? I try not to get too moral when it comes to a book and how it presents its story -- I generally don't feel authors have some sort of "responsibility" to...well, anything, really, other than the story they set out to tell. But as amoral a reader as I am, I couldn't help but be bothered by the shock tactic of using the forced prostitution of children as an easily-discarded frame for a story about how Alexa's milkshake swordplay brings all the boys to the yard.
Now. I've gone very negative, and some of that may be the wine talking (but probably not), so I do want to say that some of this I just saw as rookie mistakes. The story could have done with a lot of lengthening, which, beyond making more depth likely, would have allowed for more of an exploration of some of these difficult plotlines. The timeframe is very compressed, and if you're rushing to get your main characters alone in the woods together so they can get their angsty-flirt on, you're bound to neglect some of the more troublesome aspects of the story. They're just not as fun, amirite? The story as a whole would have benefitted from a slower pace, and I know I'm not the only one who thought that:
And while we're talking about rookie mistakes, even though it seems silly after the more serious stuff: the names! What was with the names? They were so jarring to me; every last one of them seemed like something the author thought sounded cool, and not at all like something that fit the world being built. Cultures have patterns, languages have forms and cadence and a feel to them, and these things all make part of a believable world. Names are a much bigger part of that than you'd think, because they represent the characters who are our 'in' to the world, and therefore represent the world itself; you can't have:
This one is Frenchish, and this one's English-like, this sounds kinda Spanishy, and ooh, this sounds "exotic" and maybe a little ethnic, so that's perfect - let's toss them all together into my insular, isolated world! Perfect! No one would ever believe they didn't develop organically as an extension of the culture and language of a people! *pats self on back*
Choosing something with no real rhyme or reason other than it sounds badass is something a budding writer does in middle school. You gotta murder your darlings, baby, and you gotta make sound decisions rather than "cool" ones. I just had to get that little rant out of the way, 'cause it bothered me...
BUT, all that said, it is very fast-paced, and managed to be engaging even when it was getting under my skin. I saw enough in it that I would read the follow-up, even if it won't be high-priority; there is talent there, it just wants developing, and I'm curious to see what Larson does in the future. And I think I'll get that chance, as I have a feeling Defy is going to find a very devoted audience. (In fact, judging from some of my GR friends' reactions, it already has.) No matter how much we all rail against it and its predictability, there's always a huge market for love triangles; everybody wants to be Team Somebody. Defy will have that in spades. It's just the rest of it - all of its other bookness - that failed to deliver. It's probably a good "epic fantasy" for people who don't actually like epic fantasy, but want to feel like they're reading one - it gives you the bare bones of such a thing, with some vaguely jungle-ish world-building, looming war and atrocities, and mad swordplay skillz, but in the end, it's really just a standard YA love triangle dressed up in epic fantasy's clothing, like a child wearing her mother's heels and playing house. ...more
2.5ish territory, but this one has a pretty fluid rating, I think - apt to change depending on my mood.
Okay, Shadowlands...I feel like I would write a2.5ish territory, but this one has a pretty fluid rating, I think - apt to change depending on my mood.
Okay, Shadowlands...I feel like I would write a different review of this every day of the week. Frankly, I'm really torn, and have even held off giving it a rating on Goodreads. Here's the thing: There are going to be people that are so shocked and amazed by the way this ends that they'll love it. There are going to be people that are so shocked and dismayed by the way this ends that they'll hate it. There are going to be people that find this gimmicky and disjointed, something that relies too heavily on a twist (and today, at least, that's where my opinion is hovering.)
This is a difficult book to talk about without spoiling something, but essentially, Shadowlands is a contemporary thriller that reads like a movie trying to be a book. And that doesn't really work. Things that work in movies often don't work so well when they're written out because your brain processes them differently. Fog, for instance; fog rolling up right at the opportune (or inopportune) moment, there at the height of tension and then gone - seeing that on a screen works, even if later you think it's cheesy; we sort of process it in the background. But when in writing, it ceases to work because it's being pointed out; you are forced to focus on it, which gives you the time to reflect on it, realize how cheesy it is immediately, roll your eyes, and then begin to question everything. It jars you out of the flow a little, and each time this happens, you get further and further away from connecting with or believing in the story. Things like this, and the unrealistic way characters react and/or interact with each other, kept eating at me. But this is where it becomes tricky, because those same things can actually be kind of interesting by the end.
I spent the first half of this book being really frustrated with damn near everything, laughing and rolling my eyes when I should have been, I don't know, shivering in sympathetic terror, I guess. And then there came a point right about the middle when I thought, you know what would be kind of neat? If this had a twist ending where [big fat spoiler]. And then I started to think that the only thing that could redeem the book and make me look at all of my little annoyances in a different light would be that [big fat spoiler]. But the book kept going on and on, and though things got a little weirder, and then occasionally less-weird, I started to doubt the book would be redeemed. But wouldn't you know it? [Big Fat Spoiler] right there at the very last second. Well, I'll be. And so there is was, the BFS, and I'm sitting there thinking 2 things: 1. This gives the book interesting reread potential, which is funny because I didn't think I'd want to finish it, let alone reread it; and 2. This is going to piss people off. Or maybe amaze them. Or mostly piss them off, but amazingly so.
So it happened, the one thing I thought could maybe save this and make me like it, and for that, I have to kind of smile at Kate Brian and admit that there's a part of me that likes this. But I have to wag my finger at her, too, because she really drew it out to the very last minute, and is it too little, too late? Well...sorta, yeah; there needs to be a balance. In the end, the things I didn't like about it made sense and even seem almost necessary, but to get to a place where it works, readers have to make it all the way to the end. In an often-frustrating book, that may not always happen.If this weren't fairly engaging and quick, I probably would have given up on it, and I never would have known that things worked for the world. You have to give the reader a reason to go with it, and if you don't, it doesn't matter how snazzy or perfectly-suited your twist ending is. If you give me piece of pie and the first few bites taste like crap (or even just bland and pedestrian), you can't be surprised when I don't want to finish it, even if you insist that the last few bites will totally change my mind. I want the whole slice to be good, dammit. There are a lot of calories in pie. Each bite should be worth it.
I've gotten offtrack.* What I'm trying to say is, I'm TORN. A twist ending is 10% of a book, tops. I need to care about the other 90%, too. So, yes, part of me likes this in hindsight, and even thinks it will make for an interesting reread; but part of me thinks it's just silly and slapdash, and full of really unlikable characters and unlikely events, that is hastily (but interestingly) pulled together in the end. Personally, I could have done with a lot fewer cliches and a lot more slow-burning thriller. There could still have been unlikable or questionable bits that click into place in the end, but with something more worthy to pull me along. But this would make a good movie, I think, and I have to wonder if perhaps it was written to be? A lot of authors seem to be writing things with the goal of having it optioned and potentially making bank on a franchise, and though that's another pet peevish trend I do want to discuss someday, I'm not going to use Shadowlands as a platform to do so. In the end, this book is truly going to come down to each individual reader, and I find it nearly impossible to predict which side of the fence any one person will fall on. Maybe it comes down to whether you figure out twists waaaay too f*cking far in advance (like me =/) or whether they sneak up on you. I dunno. I will go so far as to say that I'm curious enough about the setup for the rest of the series - and more specifically, the main character's reaction to it - that I may even read book 2. So there's that. But there are a lot of pages in a book. Every page should be worth it.
See, it all comes back around...
OH! OH! OH! AND: This cover? Pretty much nothing to do with the book.
*Have you guys ever noticed how many food metaphors I use? Lest you think I'm some binge-eating, calorie-counting, obsessive foodie**: 1. for a long time I thought I was going to be a chef; 2. everyone eats. Food is something we can all relate to, so it's a good go to. At least, that's what I'm going to tell myself the next time I compare a book to food. **Okay, I sort of am an obsessive foodie. But not of the binge-eating type, and certainly not of the calorie-counting type. shudder....more
This review has been a hard one for me to sit down and write. Crewel was one of my most anticipated books of this year (I mean, hello, buzzwords!), anThis review has been a hard one for me to sit down and write. Crewel was one of my most anticipated books of this year (I mean, hello, buzzwords!), and I was all ready to be impressed and count it among my favorites. But sadly, it ended up being one of my biggest letdowns.
Crewel lured me in almost immediately - the intro was strong and compelling, Adelice's predicament in trying to hide her talent, and all of the chaos and confusion of the beginning chapters were really effective and interesting. The world that was set up had all of the building blocks for something cool and memorable (though I sometimes had to fight through Albin's occasionally muddled writing to see those building blocks), and Adelice's voice was engaging - basically, the elements were there, and I was ready to love the story. BUT.
But then it just kind of fell apart. Albin sets up a world that isvery repressive, with very strict rules on pretty much everything, most especially gender roles and norms. There is strict gender segregation in nearly every aspect of life (especially for the young), a limited amount of jobs women can are allowed to perform, and ways in which they are expected to look while performing those jobs. Flirtation and gender-mingling is pretty much non-existent, and talk of sex and sex-related things is, understandably, taboo. This is the world Adelice has known, so when she's thrust into the world of the Spinsters (which is still really regimented and gender-segregated), and suddenly finds herself moving about in the world of lecherous, creepy Powerful Men, she's pretty shaken. This could have been really, really cool (and sometimes was); it had a Mad Men-esque vibe that made my skin crawl, and I really liked seeing the juxtaposition of naive-in-the-ways-of-the-world Adelice (and all of the other young Spinsters and Spinster-wannabes) with the really, supreme ickiness that men brought into this world. It was reminiscent of The Handmaid's Tale (which I love), and it was an element I wasn't expecting, so I was excited. BUT. (Again, there's that but.)
But when these two worlds collided, the characters and the rules became really inconsistent. There was a lot of slang (like, our slang, not slang of the Crewel-world), and attitudes toward sex/boys/attraction that just didn't gel with the world that had been set up. It was really hard to believe that all of these girls who had been raised with strict gender segregation and hardcore rules about sex would suddenly speak very freely about sex and teh hawties, that they'd be borderline predatory - and catty, and jealous, and vapid, and a million other things that just didn't suit - and that nobody would bat an eye. I suddenly found I didn't buy the characters or how they fit into their world - who they are and how they interact, relative to the world, caused a huge disconnect, the world was weakened, and I felt cheated. Things just didn't work with the world as it was set up. They could have* - it would have only taken minor tweaks - but instead things were contradictory and discordant, and they kept shaking me out of my WSOD. I felt deprived of what could have been a really interesting world - but a world very different from our own with characters like us superimposed on it just doesn't work. It feels phony and almost lazy.
Also - this had a serious case of the Typical YA Romance blahs. A touch of romance potential (a lingering look, a fastly-beating heart, a burgeoning curiosity**) to be built up over the length of the series, pitted against the icky aspects of Mad Men-style sexualization would have been much more interesting and believable. Instead, it was all Insta-Love-Triangles™ all over the place, and again, I felt cheated of the build-up and the potential power. Add to this all the jealousies and plots and it all became a little too soap opera for me. It did have some interesting dynamics I'd like to see explored more, but I want to see them explored as I think characters from this world would explore them, and not characters from our world. If you're going to tackle sexualization, sexual intimidation, homosexuality, gender roles, etc., please, Ms. Albin, do it as these characters from this world with this set of experiences would do. That has the potential to be so much more fascinating and powerful and memorable than Crewel as it is now, which unfortunately faded pretty quickly from my mind.
Essentially, I was looking for impact, but I got write-by-numbers - stock characters, lack of believability, and everything built on a foundation of sand. But maybe it wouldn't be such a letdown if I didn't see potential. Then, I could just write it off and be done with it. But the fact that it sort of actively disappointed me means that I saw where it could have been incredible (especially after that strong beginning), and it was so close, that I was left feeling cheated - but also hopeful that the series can somehow get back on track and leave me feeling more fulfilled than this book did. I guess only time will tell.
If you're curious, you can read chapters 1-5 here for free.
*A case can be made that the girls - even in their gender-segregated lives - were raised to be this way. And I would buy that - if it had been shown. There are touches (like girls growing up knowing that they can be only a handful of things, or like the girlish fantasy of being a Glamorous Spinster) that would begin to make a case for...hmm, indoctrination, I guess? into this type of role/behavior. But more was needed if that's the way this story was going to go.
**But good god, nothing so purple-prosey as that. =P...more
I feel bad about what I'm about to do. Honestly. I'm not one of those people who just writes snarky, mean-spirited reviews, just for the sheer black-I feel bad about what I'm about to do. Honestly. I'm not one of those people who just writes snarky, mean-spirited reviews, just for the sheer black-hearted, puppy-kicking glee of it. As tempting as that sometimes it, I just am not that reviewer (generally). I like puppies. And Leigh Fallon seems like a really nice person, and I had high hopes for this book. And everything I'm about to say makes me feel like a bully, but no. Just - no.
I knew almost immediately that I was not going to like this book. You may be asking yourself, then, why the hell I kept reading. Generally, I would not. But there were a few reasons in this case: 1. When it's a book I requested, and it's for an event like this, then I absolutely will make myself finish. 2. I was curious enough and it was a quick enough read that I was willing to give it a chance - and then at a certain point, when you get so far, you just can't back down. But mostly 3. I kept noticing these little things (that added up to one very big thing) that were driving me out of my mind, so I had to finish it just to see how many I would come across. (The little things are spoilery and rant-like, and OHMYGOD I could go on about them forever, but instead they comprise a chart at the bottom. Read at your own discretion)
Beyond the one-very-big-thing-comprised-of-little-things, I never connected with the writing in this. The characters speak like they're in an after-school special. It was strange: by turns formulaic, other times robotic, and often just not natural. They were caricatures rather than characters, and they crossed the line into cheesy one too many times for my liking. It was all these stupid, seemingly insignificant things (for example: people don't generally say each other's names a lot in conversations. If someone were to speak to you like this: "Hey, Mary. What are you doing later today, Mary? I was thinking, Mary, that maybe we could go to the mall - what do you think, Mary?" you would be like, WHY THE F*CK DO YOU KEEP SAYING MY NAME?! It's weird. It's uncomfortable. And it makes it seem like the characters aren't well acquainted, like they aren't comfortable enough with each other to just talk.
Sort of in-line with that, the characters have a tendency toward woodenness. Megan's dad is ridiculous, as cardboard and saccharine as they come. There's never any tension or discover with any of the characters because they are all basically what they enter the story as, and what you are expecting them to be. Rian is the only one who changes(ish), but the rest pretty much leave the story as they entered it.
And I think this is emblematic of the problems with the book as a whole: there isn't enough depth and tension. There's an immaturity to the writing that deprives the story of tension, of struggle, of that key element that makes you sit on the edge of your seat. Instead, everything is obvious and the reader is hit over the head with it. But worse, everything comes so easy. Megan accepts what she is too easily, she transitions into the deRis family too easily, she and Adam fall in love too easily, become comfortable with each other and the situation to easily - everything just happens and it's not really built on any kind of foundation other than "I say so". The monk and the bird and the rumors and the OBVIOUSNESS of it all, and the suddenness and the easy acceptance - the way is cleared time and time again for things to just happen and as a result all chances at the delicious tension readers crave is killed. There's never very much of a struggle on Megan's part to understand* or accept this whole new way of thinking about the world and herself. It's frustrating.
The only thing I can really say in its favor is that it did actually start to pick up at one point. The only thing is...that was 200 pages in. And for a review, I'll stick with it, but for pleasure, you are NEVER going to get 200+ pages out of me before I can call it enjoyable. That book will be put down (like a rabid dog).
*And on the note of "understanding", I do have to make a mention of the times when understanding does not come easily to Megan. There are times - huge swathes of the story - when Megan's intellect and powers of comprehension seemingly revert to that of a 4 year old. Every time one of the deRis' begin to tell her of the history of the Marked and all that jazz, she peppers them with "why"s and "what about"s and "I don't understand"s and "but"s - and it's all a sneaky little set-up for Fallon to do massive amounts of info-dumping in the guise of dialogue. I mean, paragraph upon paragraph, page upon page of convoluted, over-sharing info-dumps, with set-ups you can see coming a mile away. All for the sake of trying to explain what is a fairly strained mythology and backstory. It just - no. Just no.
And now: The Little Things: aka The Carrier of the Twilight Mark by Leighmeyer Stephallon; or, The Tale of an Epic Rip-Off (unless Misty is just hyper-aware of these things...)
This was a recent book club pick, and while many (most) of the books that have been picked for the 1st half of this year elicited an underwhelming amoThis was a recent book club pick, and while many (most) of the books that have been picked for the 1st half of this year elicited an underwhelming amount of excitement, I was at least moderately looking forward to this one: they almost always let me down, but I can't keep myself from reading about faeries.
This one, unfortunately, was not an exception to that rule. I missed the first part of the book club meeting, but from what I did see, it seemed that the disappointment was pretty universal. I think part of this was that it suffered from First Novel Syndrome. There was A LOT of repetition and useless blahdeeblah that just irritated me to no end, and showed McGuire's immaturity as a writer <-- not uncommon in a first book. There were kinks and pet peeves that just needed to be worked out, and mistakes and awkward style that just come with the business of writing when you're still trying to find your style. I found myself skimming l a r g e sections of the book, just wanting her to get on with it, already.
But perhaps the biggest turn off for me -- and I shouldn't have been surprised -- was the noir style. I'm not generally a fan of noir to begin with, and this just seemed to really drive that home to me. Everything I don't like about noir -- the endless talk, the posturing, the ceaseless introduction of new characters who may or may not be shady, and the inane conclusion-jumping coupled with the ability to overlook the obvious* -- they were all present and accounted for. I felt like, were I to listen to this on audiobook, it would be narrated by a female Humphrey Bogart wannabe in a cheesy "Now look heah, seeEE?" voice. It never felt like it's own thing, but like a concept McGuire was going for + a need to play fill in the blanks. And there was SO MUCH info-dumping, and SO MUCH writing in circles, I felt like I was going to rip my hair out. And the whole time, the WHOLE TIME, I was left wanting to shake Toby and ask her, If you're supposed to be this smart, kick-ass, unusual and good detective, WHY don't you seem to understand what's going on around you? Ugh, I could go on, there were more things that irritated me, but it's really not worth it.
It was a shame, because I saw good elements there that made me think I might want to read further in the series, but I absolutely won't until a)someone tells me McGuire's writing undergoes a serious transformation, and b)it's a really rainy day that I'm ready to throw away.
*I mean, seriously. EVERYONE in my bookclub pegged the bad guy ON THE PAGE HE WAS INTRODUCED ON. He's described as a complete creeper, make-your-skin-crawl jackass that TOOK ADVANTAGE OF Toby when she was a kid, and STILL she doesn't suspect him?
[image]
Also, it disappoints me a little because I wanted to read Feed, but um, I just found out that it's written by McGuire using a pseudonym.
Side note: I much prefer the German cover of Rosemary and Rue --->
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...more
2.5 I did another video review for this one (and if you want to watch it, you can here.) But if you're not into video reviews, here's a brief written r2.5 I did another video review for this one (and if you want to watch it, you can here.) But if you're not into video reviews, here's a brief written review, in the language of Bumped:
It was like, rilly rilly all about young girls pregging for money. Like, for seriously young. But it was okay, 'cause they were being, like, patriotic, and all the hot girls go Pro anyway, and it's just a delivery, so who cares? And if creepy old guy agents are making you major bank on that pregg, and your creepy parents are encouraging it, and you get to bump with like, the hawtest hunkaspunk in, I dunno, the whole Uni, then why the eff not, right? And, so, yeah, sometimes people die or have, like postpartum pyschosis, but it just means that they are rilly, like, not ProAm material, they are totally neggy.
But there are these Churchies, too, and they are total creepers who believe in keeping their preggs and having like, lots of them. And they want you to have god, and be obedient and whatevs, but maybe they wouldn't mind a little erection perfection themselves... But, yeah, they're still creepy.
So when these 2 sisters, one who's totally going to bump with, like, the cockjockey, and one who's like a total Churchie, get together, it's like for seriously predictable, and is rilly gonna get banned for like sex + religion stuff. Like total Sexigion. And yeah, some neggy people are going to be all like "Oh, where's the science? Why don't they just do like, artificial bumpage, blahblahblah" But that's just cause neggy people don't get it, right? Cause it's satire, bitches.
Oh, and it for seriously ends in the middle of a scene in a rilly irritating way....more
"I hate skin; I hate bones and bodies. I want to curl up inside of him and be carried there forever."
Earlier this year, I fell in love with La2.5 - 3
"I hate skin; I hate bones and bodies. I want to curl up inside of him and be carried there forever."
Earlier this year, I fell in love with Lauren Oliver's debut, Before I Fall. So understandably, I was very excited to hear about her next book, Delirium. A dystopian world where love is a disease, written by the clearly very talented Oliver? Yeah, I can get behind that. I settled in to wait the long, cruel months until the February release date, when I got a surprise package in the mail from the Polish Outlander -- her ARC of Delirium! Imagine my delight. I held off reading it for a few days, just to give myself some distance from Matched, which has a very similar concept, and which I'd just finished. But I didn't want to wait too long, so, similarities be damned, I went ahead and read it.
I'm going to try to not keep comparing this to Matched, which isn't fair -- Matched had its own review, after all -- but I do have to say that, though each is its own thing, the similarities are pretty strong, and my reaction to each was the same -- I wanted so much more than I got.
Lest you think this review is wholly negative, let me start with the things I did like. I love the concept, and think it has the potential to be really powerful and fascinating. There is a flow to it most of the time that kept me reading even when I was frustrated by other things. And there are these moments that shine through, these beautiful little word gems that Oliver creates, that reminds me of why I loved Before I Fall, and why I was so excited to read this. But.
But I was so very, very excited for this that I think I was even more let down by it than Matched, which was also something I was eager for. Before I Fall was fresh and compelling, and I felt like so much of Oliver, so much heart and so much work, went into it. I didn't feel the same about Delirium. I'm not going to accuse Oliver of selling out or hopping on a trend, but I do wonder how much passion was behind this story. It seemed sort of sloppy (and yes, I know, I read an ARC, and that may account for some of it). But there were so many inconsistencies and questions I had that I couldn't ever commit. I could only go along so far until logic would intrude. I would be forced to ask myself things like, If Lena was just bitten (badly) in the leg by a dog, why does Alex kissing her seem to erase not only any pain, but even any mention of the bite, until it's like an afterthought? How does her family not notice that either a) she's wearing pants in the middle of sweltering August, and limping, or b) she's not wearing pants and the scar is showing and she's limping? Because it has to be one of those 2 things. And though the "cure" may not make them care for her safety so much, it doesn't take away their suspicious natures. [Also, setting aside the fact that she walked home, how did they just walk home? Just like that. With raiding parties everywhere, and her bitten terribly, they just strolled on home, illegally, down the street? How do they get away with all the shit they get away with, in this repressive society? Hmm...] Things like this were peppered throughout the story, and they just made it nearly impossible to buy in to what was going on.
Smaller things, too, like words and phrases and things we have now that I don't see any use for, or don't believably buy would be in the world Oliver created. And, of course, the much bigger things, like how did all this -- the discovery of the "deliria", the cure, the restrictions, the beliefs, all of it -- come to be? I know it may not be what Lauren intended, but with such a seemingly science-influenced dystopia, I need some good scientific reasoning, some "evidence" -- real or gov't created -- that backs everything up, some explanation or plausible scenario that lets this total overhaul of human beliefs and passions come to be in a matter of 60 years or so. That's a very, VERY brief period of time for such a huge and total change to take place, so I need reality to intrude a little. I need either some hints of a really big conspiracy, or something so huge and devastating that people as a whole almost go into a state of shock or numbness that allows this to happen. Because, as a general rule, people don't willingly submit to mass lobotomies or the eradication of their feelings for the people they love -- or hate -- without some serious something acting as a catalyst. Petty strife and crimes of passion may make you think of Eternal Sunshining your mind spotless, but in an abstract, angry, wouldn't-it-be-lovely kind of way, and not a bring-on-the-procedure kind of way. Some science, some history, some dogma, some thing beyond the sometimes eerie, sometimes meh snippets of "texts" that start every chapter, would have gone a long way toward helping me willingly suspend my disbelief.
But even if I could have set the worldbuilding and believability aside -- no easy task in a concept novel like this -- for it to be saved, the characters and plot would have had to really shine. But I felt like everything was a little wooden, a little cardboard, a little less than believable and real. The love interest, Alex, was okay enough, but why should Lena care about him, and why should I? I understand why he cares about Lena, but that's not something we really find out until Lena is already head over heels infected/in love, and I don't understand how she got there. As a reader, in order to take that leap with a character, we need to know why, we need to feel it. All I got was that he was a boy who payed attention to her, he winked, he smiled, he seemed a bit smarmy and she's hooked. Now, yes, I get that's enough for a teenage infatuation, and it may be heightened by the taboo nature of it. I even get that his more easy manner reminded Lena of her mother, who was incurable.
But for Lena, who has always been terrified of the deliria, which tore her world apart, and who has always looked forward to her procedure, and been so afraid of stepping out of the box, who is afraid to say, to even hear, the word love -- for her to completely flip and become reckless and passionate and all the other stuff that comes with being the things she's always feared...hmm. The only way this really works for me, the only thing that would make me buy it and appreciate it, was if it took the slant that the deliria was real and she'd become infected. Otherwise, I have no choice but to think this is a cheesy, run of the mill YA romance where one look from a guy makes a girl throw her entire being out the window and become a swooning, fluttery mess with no relation to the person she once was, and who would die for the roguish boy she knows nothing about. Which is, apparently, what every teenage girl is secretly waiting to do. Maybe the deliria is real.
I am a bit in love with the idea of this book. I've always been so caught up in Lizzie and Darcy's story that I've sort of ignored all of the other coI am a bit in love with the idea of this book. I've always been so caught up in Lizzie and Darcy's story that I've sort of ignored all of the other connections in the book. I think each is really worth being explored - Lydia's disastrous marriage to Wickham, Charlotte's desperate marriage to Collins -- but especially the nearly thwarted love between Jane and Bingley. Here we have a couple who are enamored almost from the start, and there has to be a reason more than their general amiability. The idea of getting to explore this and experience all of the little flutters of budding love between these two, and then their painful separation, in which each is convinced the other doesn't love them, culminating in their glorious reunion -- this really appeals to me, and I think there is a lot of potential in it for a great stroy.
Unfortunately, I felt like I was reading a first draft of this story. I don't know if I've ever talked about my years spent as a college-level writing tutor (helping people write better papers, not helping people learn to write -- it always amuses me when people mistake what I did), but reading this, I felt Tutor Misty kick in. My hand was itching for sticky tabs and colored pens. I often had to read things over a second time to get the correct tone of it -- commas were misplaced or misused, or not in use at all when they whould have been; quotes were unattributed, and pronouns were often unclear (ie: who the hell is talking, and who the hell is being talked about?). There were missing and incorrect words (dual v duel, etc -- and that's setting aside the fact that there was an effing duel in the story). I know there are people who can set things like this aside, or who don't know grammar rules themselves, so things like this just slip by them. I, however, had a hard time getting past it. I couldn't get into the flow becuase I was constantly wanting to correct.
I also wasn't totally convinced of the story Miller created. Jane and Bingley's time apart was filled with instances that I just didn't buy, and I felt the characters through out the book (not just J & B), as well as their dialogue and actions jsut felt a bit forced and inauthentic. Things felt obvious and heavy-handed at times, and the prose was underdeveloped in favor of placing info and actions in the words of the characters, creating forced and unnatural dialogue, as well as a sense of dissatisfaction overall -- like I wasn't getting the meat of it, I was never really getting to delve into this hidden in plain site love affair, which I was looking forward to doing.
Now, I hate writing really negative reviews, and I don't want to completely warn people off of this book. I think that with work and development, I could actually like it quite a bit, but the combination of a pure "fanfic" feel, my expectations and desires for a nuanced and somewhat bittersweet love story, and my uber-tutor spideysense worked together to make me pretty critical of this one. I'm sorry that's the case, and I hope I don't make Ms. Miller mad, or regret participating in Jane in June, but such is life. I am always honest, if not completely tactful. ...more
I received this book as part of the Other Shelf Tours, and I requested it on pure cover appeal alone -- and since we all know how this typically worksI received this book as part of the Other Shelf Tours, and I requested it on pure cover appeal alone -- and since we all know how this typically works out for me, I'll just hold out my hand to be slapped now.
I don't know why I don't learn. I sort of don't know what to say about this book. It's not that the writing was awful, per se, it's just that I was completely indifferent for a majority of the book. This is a suspense novel, and it should have been riveting. These kids are stranded in a brutal environment with an apparent truckload of maniacs on the loose, and horrible, absolutely horrible, things are happening to them -- and I didn't care.
McAuly never made me feel like Courtney or her friends were real, and even though they were in near-constant danger, I never felt as though they were -- I never had that tension that you should have with this type of book, the tension where you jerk upright and hunch over the book, or literally sit on the edge of your seat in some weird mimicry of the events, as if you may get up and run or fight or whatever the case may be. Courtney's narration was sort of apathetic and disjointed, which is maybe a realistic shock reaction, but which doesn't lend itself to the excitement of a suspense story -- and this feeling carried over even into the parts where Courtney claimed to be terrified. I found myself apathetic in the same way, at one point calmly thinking, "Yeah, ___________'s going to die," and moving on like it was nothing. I should care if a main character is about to bite it. I have to put this on McAuly -- you can't just say there's terror, you have to prove it. Make me terrified, make me give a damn. If brutal, horrific things are happening and I feel nothing more than mild disgust, that's an issue.
There did come a point near the end of the book where I started to feel a little more tension -- when Courtney is finally faced with the decision to confront the situation and be active on her own -- and from then on it was more enjoyable -- but in a 300 page book, to become invested in the last 50 pages is unacceptable. That's 250 pages of wasted potential. And even though I felt the tension then, it was too little, too late. By that point it was too close to the end for me to care who made it out alive, if anyone. I was over it. That budding tension should have happened in the beginning and been built upon throughout, so that by the end I was ravenous to know what happened. That's what a thriller should be. If this hadn't been a book specifically for review, I wouldn't have made it past 50 pages. I don't even know that I would have made it to 50 pages. If I don't care enough about the characters by then to worry when they're in imminent danger, then it's too late to make me care at all....more
Hush, Hush is the story of Nora Grey, an average high school student going about her business as usual -- until her BiNOW WITH SPOILERY RANT @ BOTTOM!
Hush, Hush is the story of Nora Grey, an average high school student going about her business as usual -- until her Biology teacher rearranges the class seating and places her next to the dangerous-looking new kid, Patch Cipriano. Nora gets a weird feeling from Patch, and things just keep going from bad to worse as Nora becomes convinced that she is being stalked, and may even be the target of murderous intentions. Add to the list Nora's strange feelings about the Archangel ride at the amusement park and her constant near death experiences, and well, Nora's life is becoming anything but average.
When I finished reading Hush, Hush, I had to mull it over for awhile. I really wasn't sure what to say. I am absolutely enthralled by the cover (athletic looking, darkly mysterious fallen angel, contorted in mid-air in grayscale? What's not to like?). I had to have it because of that cover*. But I had a sneaking suspicion that a cover that good had to be masking something. Yep. It's a bright light to dazzle the eyes and make you *ahem* overlook any faults. It didn't work.
Inside was the most confused, schizophrenic piece of writing I've read in some time. Becca Fitzpatrick didn't seem to know quite what she wanted, only that it had to be Ominous and Scary and Dangerous -- and Titillating, of course, and Mysterious and Sexy. So with those buzz words in mind, she threw a bunch of things together and let her narrator, Nora, sort them out. Nora, understandably, had some trouble with this, and the result is a thoroughly frustrating heroine who jumps to insane conclusions based on inane evidence one moment, and the next goes blithely along into obvious danger.
Patch is intriguing, and perhaps the most consistent character**, and I was fully prepared for an 'anti-hero as the hero' story. I wanted a little boundary-pushing and a not entirely likeable or trustworthy male lead who may or may not redeem himself, but who gives you the dangerous and alluring in spades. For the most part, Patch wasn't a let-down in this regard, and as screwed up as it is to like him, he was the stand-out character for me. (Not to say I didn't have issues with him, too.)
But it wasn't enough. Patch's bad boy antics couldn't save this book from itself. It was self-indulgent, cheesy, melodramatic in the worst sense, and confusing. I wanted to like it; I loved the fallen angel premise, the idea of an anti-hero, and bits and pieces of the writing throughout. But Hush, Hush suffered from too many villains and too much shock and awe, and not enough thought and follow-through. Maybe Fitzpatrick can pull it together for round two, and with some strong convincing by trusted, like-minded people, I may be willing to give her another chance (never gonna happen). But this was a monstrous let-down for me. You've been warned.***
*We all know how that whole so-pretty-I-just-had-to thing works out. See my guest post on Jo's blog about this. **And by 'consistent' I mean he was consistently a douche. Vee was pretty consistent too, and was a lot of fun, but she started to get annoying and a little strange... ***You're still going to read it, aren't you? Damn you, James Porto and your beautiful, beautiful cover!
***HERE THAR BE SPOILERS***
If you haven't read Hush, Hush and intend to, or if you don't want me dissing the melodrama that is Patch and Nora, look away....NOW!
Commence rant:
You already know I had issues with this book. I think a lot of people are going to take offense to the idea of Patch as the hero, as teen girls' fantasy, just as they did with Edward in Twilight. Patch goes beyond the simple term "bad boy" in that yes, he does actually mean Nora harm. Consistently.
I'm not going to go into that, because frankly, I don't care. He can be an anti-hero all he wants, whatever. If that's where the story's going, fine. Most of my issues -- but not all -- lie with Nora.
Here's the thing:
Nora is that girl you yell at in the horror movie, the idiot that goes up the stairs instead of out the door, or reaches to turn over the downed bad guy just to make sure. We all know that's frustrating, but we've come to expect it in movies, and that dumb big-breasted, scantily clad girl normally gets killed off.
Nora is so much more frustrating than that.
The many sides of Nora: She continually suspects Patch (and Elliot, and just about everyone else in this story), and with good reason. However, she then continually ignores her instincts and puts herself in danger. In fact, she can't seem to agree with herself. She will think to herself that Patch is stalking her and trying to kill her, and then within pages think 'Oh, but he could never hurt me.' This just cycles and cycles throughout the story.
Also throughout the story, Nora makes insane jumps in logic -- whether they turn out to be true or not, it's not believable when she immediately jumps to the most bizarre conclusions and then acts on them. At the same time, she will be directly confronted with some piece of real evidence, something that would make a normal, non-fictional person take notice and say something's not right here -- and she will completely ignore it. It's like she's being willfully obtuse.
Examples:
* Early(ish) in the story, Nora hears a voice in her head and thinks Patch has "breached normal communication methods and could, at will, speak to me without ever opening his mouth." Naturally, she thinks she's delusional. Hearing your name and a few inane comments would make one think they are imagining things, and this I could buy. Even Nora not being exactly sure what happened and being creeped out I could buy. But she proceeds to ask Patch how he's able to speak directly to her mind, making her look like a loon. I wouldn't be even all that bothered by this, if it was consistent throughout the story; if Nora either consistently thought that she was going crazy because of all the implausible things that are happening, I could buy it; if she wanted to prove she wasn't crazy and kept confronting Patch and sleuthing, I could buy it. It would be 1 solid choice on Becca Fitzpatrick's part. She could be the ultra-paranoid girl who thinks she's going crazy and jumps to conclusions about everything. Annoying, but doable. But to present this as if it's normal...and I'm out.
* Conversely, near the near the end of the story when the shit's really beginning to go down and nearly everyone has become a villain, Nora and Patch walk out of a movie theater to find that "...both the tires on the driver's side were flat: '"I can't believe it!" I said. "I drove over two nails?"'
O_O ???
She thinks she's being stalked, she thinks her best friend has been kidnapped by a teenaged murderer named Elliot, and by this point she thinks she's the target of not one but two murderous angels, and yet all she can come up with is that she ran over two nails? Come on! If Nora will jump to conclusions on the barest of evidence, how in hell does she not comprehend the obvious?
* Throughout the story, Nora thinks everyone's out to get her (she's right, but I'll get to that), especially Patch. Patch is Ominous, capital 'O', and yet...And yet, no matter how much Nora thinks he's badbadbad, she trusts him. Why? Weirdest of all, when Nora confronts Patch about his intentions, he admits he wanted to kill her; her reaction? 'I know Patch could never hurt me' -- and she trusts him implicitly from that point on. Really? The whole story, you've suspected him and been insistent that you should stay away on the barest of evidence, but once he's confessed his (albeit previous) intentions of murder, you trust him. Really. Her sudden bizarre trust of Patch comes too late for any real belief in their romance. Or her sanity.
There is no consistency in Nora's thinking. I just can't understand why Becca Fitzpatrick couldn't pick one Nora to write and stick with her. She could have just always thought she was losing her mind; self-doubt would have been interesting, and made her root-forable. If she had just been reckless and always convinced that yes, maybe something is a little off about Patch, but she still found herself attracted to him, it would have been interesting, and could have been used to slowly reveal the truth and up Nora's anxiety. If Nora had just been naive and always convinced that everything was fine despite any indicators, it would have built tension. But combining it all made Nora seem confused and a little off herself, and made the writing seem schizophrenic.
Too many villains: Fitzpatrick makes the rookie mistake of lack of restraint. Nora suspects everyone, and everyone does in fact seem to be a villain. This makes the book seem unfocused and sort of cheesy. When everyone is under suspicion, and everyone seems to be a bad guy, it makes it seem like no one really is. It's like if you use a really great word once or twice it's going to stand out. But if every word you use is some great, unusual word, none are going to stand out. There's no negative space, no background to make the focal point pop. Everywhere Nora turns, someone's trying to kill her. It just gets silly after awhile. Also, it has the added negative effect of making it hard for Fitzpatrick to "top" as it were. Where does she go from here? If there are 4 different people trying to kill Nora in book 1, how many people will there be out for blood in book 2? She didn't leave any room to grow the suspense.
Another bad thing about the amount of villains and Nora's instant suspicion (and the overall over-the-top nature of the book) was that there was precious little suspense. By giving everything away rather freely, Fitzpatrick deprived the reader of the slow build-up and the privilege of the mystery; we never got to have any suspicions of our own, or choose sides. There was too much in the way of ominous overtones, and not enough restraint.
On a side note, not that I'm calling Vee a villain, but even she became a little weird* as the story went on. It's one thing to be the wild and crazy girl in the best friends dynamic, but constantly trying to get your best friend alone with a guy who she says makes her uncomfortable, who she believes broke into her house and may be stalking her, and who she knows was a murder suspect is reckless beyond the pale, and shitty, shitty friendship.
*By which I mean she goes from being quirky and funny to a godawful, shitty friend. You know, for no other reason than apparently to help lure Nora into bad/ridiculous situations. Plot device: ☑
The writing overall: I saw glimpses in Fitzpatrick's writing that demonstrated how this could have been a good book. She does sexual tension and confrontation scenes fairly well, and there is some good humor. Vee -- in the beginning, at least, before she becomes a really reckless, really bad friend -- was pretty amusing as the traditional sidekick. Patch had great one-liners, both funny and smoldering. But for all the occasional good, there was quite a bit in the way of bad. The dialogue was often stilted and weird. The analogies were completely out of left field. They were those turns of phrase that you can tell were used because they sounded cool, or because one was needed, but they don't mean anything, or they leave you thinking wtf? "His eyes looked like they didn't play by the rules." What does that even mean? What rules do eyes usually play by? Does he not blink? This is a mild example, but I got sick of making note of them. I got this really hit-and-miss feel about the writing and the language in the book. Pieces of literary crap mixed in with the really good bits blended to form a "throw it all in and something's bound to work" style. A total lack of finesse made it hard to want to keep reading -- and made me feel like if I kept rolling my eyeballs, they were going to roll right out of my head.
I'd been hesitant to read this one. On the one hand, it has a beautiful cover and I'd heard a lot of omging raves about it. On the other, I have yetI'd been hesitant to read this one. On the one hand, it has a beautiful cover and I'd heard a lot of omging raves about it. On the other, I have yet to read an angel book I liked, and I never really trust the OMGers of the world... (sorry. sort of.)
When I first started it, I thought maybe this was the angel book that was going to break the mold and live up to what it promised - And then Luce met Daniel.
Republished under the name Belle, Belle and the Beau tells the story of Belle Palmer, an escaped slave who is taken in by a family of free blacks -- tRepublished under the name Belle, Belle and the Beau tells the story of Belle Palmer, an escaped slave who is taken in by a family of free blacks -- the Bests -- in Michigan. Belle must learn to adjust to free life and the idea that she can make her own choices and pursue her own goals. Belle and the Beau is part of a series of books (Avon True Romance) written by multiple authors, and reads as the hack job it most likely is.
Basically, there is only one circumstance that would make this book worth while to read, and that is as an American history companion in a 5th or 6th grade class. It is (heavily) peppered with facts from the era (Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Frederick Douglass' Paper, various Af. Am. firsts, etc), but the way they are worked into the story is fairly lazy. It really seems as if Jenkins took a history lesson from a text book and put names to it. Everything is done fairly shallowly, and though it may help some students connect to the time a bit, there are much more worthwhile reads out there that work in the facts unobtrusively and realistically instead of resting them on the surface.
The writing too seems very lazy. It felt at times like I was reading a literature Mad Lib. So many of the sentences were set up the same way, with minor details changed: a fill-in-the-blank book. EVERYTIME a character made a joke or said anything remotely funny/sarcastic/etc., Jenkins would write "s/he cracked." Apparently the only way to tell a joke is to crack. Also, the only way to show mock anger is to plant one balled fist on one out-thrust hip. Everything seemed so half-hearted and churned out and formulaic. Even though Belle is an escaped slave living very near fugitive slave catchers, there is never any real sense of danger or tension. Every character is one-dimensional and cheesy. I feel like a traitor; this was written by someone from my region (which is why I read it), but Jenkins could have done a much better job and put a bit more heart and thought into this book. I don't know what age she was aiming for, but there is no excuse: there is a difference between simple and bad....more
I read this as part of a challenge, and I had to go to the library and pick two books with my eyes closed. The first was excellent (Little Brother, reI read this as part of a challenge, and I had to go to the library and pick two books with my eyes closed. The first was excellent (Little Brother, review is here ); the second was Betwixt. If I hadn’t been reading this for a challenge, I would have put this book down after about 20 pages. Actually, I probably would have thrown it out the window....more
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a spoof retelling of the classic Jane Austen romance, with the addition of, well, zombies. Or I should say 'insertiPride and Prejudice and Zombies is a spoof retelling of the classic Jane Austen romance, with the addition of, well, zombies. Or I should say 'insertion' of zombies, because they were basically plopped down in the middle of the story; it was like reading Regency-era zombie Mad-Libs (trust me, that sounds more exciting than it is).
The five Bennet sisters have been trained in the deadly arts to slay the zombie menace, and second sister Elizabeth is the premier fighter among them; she's sworn off men and just about everything but her bloodlust -- until some new people take up residence in her town, and she finds herself the object of the grand Mr. Darcy's attention. The story that follows is pretty well-known: it's basically the original "romance" story, the template for all that followed (and never quite matched up), but with "extra violent zombie mayhem." I'm not going to waste any more of your time on a synopsis; the story is known, and Grahame-Smith didn't change much in terms of the fundamental story.
What he did change was the essence of the story. I was really looking forward to this, as it sounded like a brilliant idea for a spoof, and the first chapter led me to believe that I was going to get what I wanted. I didn't.
The original P&P has some of the most famous lines in English literature, and where Grahame-Smith altered them to fit the context of a zombie novel, there were moments of brilliance, and some great humor. But most of the time, the alterations weren't really in the favor of context; there were random bizarre changes that didn't lay the groundwork for zombies, and didn't serve to do anything other than muddle the flow and make the story confusing. This may just be that I know the text so well that the changes threw me, but really, there were so many unnecessary changes that I didn't see a need for and just didn't get. Also, there were times when he simple cut some of the best lines/sections in the book -- he didn't alter them or cut them to fit context, he just cut them completely for no apparent reason, or altered them in his own words, which were always more clumsy.
Another big issue for me is the alteration of the characters. Of course, to make the principals fighters of the undead. I was expecting some overhaul, and I was prepared for it. But I think he used too heavy a hand. One of the delights of the original is Lizzie; she's funny and lively and doesn't let things get to her too easily. In G-S's version, Lizzie is blood-thirsty and overly-aggressive, and really not all that likable as a lead. Every perceived slight is a dishonor punished preferably by death. Sometimes her reactions are funny and read a little more true, but most of the time, it's just like, 'Really?'
There didn't seem to be much effort made at melding the two aspects of the story (original romance and G-S's zombie story); it read more like a writing exercise in which G-S printed out the original text and slipped in lines here and there, or chunks of fighting, and left them as he thought of them, rather than smoothing them into the text and making it flow. The two halves were often disparate and at war with each other. Sometimes, it was like he wasn't sure what feel or tone to aim for, so he tried a bit of everything, which meant that nothing worked in the end.
The discussion questions were funny in that G-S poked fun at himself, too. And there were times when he struck just the right tone, or twisted a classic scene to fit his context, and it worked perfectly. Sadly, those parts were few and extremely far between. All in all, it will probably work as a movie, and it may have worked as a book in more deft hands, handled effectively, but as is, it is a disappointment
I have more to say about this book, but as it gets spoilery from here, I will leave off. You can access it in full here on my blog....more
The Luxe is about turn of the century New York socialites falling in love and misbehaving. New York's darling debutant, Elizabeth Holland is poised toThe Luxe is about turn of the century New York socialites falling in love and misbehaving. New York's darling debutant, Elizabeth Holland is poised to marry one of the most eligible (and debaucherous) bachelors in the city, but her perfect life is not what it seems.
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