Lord's Fall

Lord's Fall by Thea Harrison

I previously reviewed DRAGON BOUND here. It's the first book in the Elder Races series... and Lord's Fall is book 5. I mentioned in my previous review that the Elder Races series jumps around to different characters in the sequel books. ...so I definitely skipped books 2, 3, and 4 because I just wanted to read more about Dragos and Pia. I really don't think I missed anything in the previous three books that wasn't fully covered or summarized in book 5.

This book is also an adult book, and as such, it does have some graphic sex scenes and language in it.

An amazon summary, "In the latest Novel of the Elder Races, two mates find themselves on different paths, torn between their duty to the Wyr and the passion that binds them…

Before she met Dragos, half-human/half-Wyr Pia Giovanni was alone and on the run. Now she’s mated, pregnant and heading south to repair the Wyrs’ frayed relationship with the Elves. Being separated from Dragos is painful, but for the good of the Wyr demesne they need to figure out how to be partners—in more places than just the bedroom.

In New York to preside over the Sentinel Games, Dragos is worried about his mate, but knows that finding two replacement sentinels is essential to show the rest of the Elder Races just how strong and brutal the Wyr demesne can be. But as the Games heat up, Pia’s negotiations with the Elves take a turn for the dangerous, straining her bond with Dragos and threatening everything they hold dear…"AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Pia is off to the elves to smooth over relations that she and Dragos ruined, by well Pia running away after she stole from Dragos' hoard. Then Dragos pursuing her...because well she stole from his hoard. Literally, right towards the beginning of book 1. So the elves were NOT happy with Dragos being in their territory, and Dragos hasn't really done anything to smooth it over. The elves just kind of stopped working with the world. Pia travels down there to hopefully smooth over relations, and kind of get the elves to work with the world again. It's the first time she's been away from Dragos though, so tensions are a little high.

Dragos has to hold the sentinel games, because during the previous three books, two of the sentinels left for other things. Mostly because they mated with someone, and well other things. Dragos is not a happy dragon and his concerns are concentrated on Pia. Dragos can't go with Pia because well, he's the one o who wasn't supposed to be in their turf in the first place, and is still not allowed in for various reasons.

Sidenote, when the amazon summary says, "But as the Games heat up, Pia’s negotiations with the Elves take a turn for the dangerous, straining her bond with Dragos and threatening everything they hold dear…" is kind of garbage. Yeah, the elf situation does get dangerous, but like Pia and Dragos' bond isn't strained any more than it already was by them just being apart.

That's enough summary.

This satisfied my curiosity to an extent about what happened with Pia and Dragos. I also kind of want to know more, but at the same time, this was enough, for now. I'll probably circle back to it in a month or so after I figure out which book highlights Pia and Dragos next. I really love them as characters, I love their dynamics as a couple, and I love all their surrounding characters too. The universe is well thought out, the world building is well thought out, and I'm just happy that the story continues as if this was book 2 instead of 5. It was good.

Happy reading!

Impostors

Impostors by Scott Westerfeld

This book takes place in the Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras world. If you haven't read anything previously in this series, I would highly recommend starting at the beginning and reading them. I adore these books. I also don't think that Impostors is going to make much sense if you haven't read the previous stories. There's a lot of lore in this world that is referenced, which if you've read the previous books make sense. If you haven't... then you'll probably be like, what is a rusty and why does this matter?

I adore Scott Westerfeld as an author. Apparently the only book I've previously blogged about is AFTERWORLDS, which kind of makes sense considering the timeline of my blogging life. Eh. Unfortunate, but it is what it is.

ALSO, check out this GORGEOUS cover!!! It makes a lot of sense to the story, and it's also freaking fantastic.

An amazon summary, "Frey and Rafi are inseparable . . . two edges of the same knife. But Frey's very existence is a secret.

Frey is Rafi’s twin sister—and her body double. Their powerful father has many enemies, and the world has grown dangerous as the old order falls apart. So while Rafi was raised to be the perfect daughter, Frey has been taught to kill. Her only purpose is to protect her sister, to sacrifice herself for Rafi if she must.
When her father sends Frey in Rafi’s place as collateral in a precarious deal, she becomes the perfect impostor—as poised and charming as her sister. But Col, the son of a rival leader, is getting close enough to spot the killer inside her. As the deal starts to crumble, Frey must decide if she can trust him with the truth . . . and if she can risk becoming her own person.
With Impostors, master storyteller Scott Westerfeld returns with a new series set in the world of his mega-bestselling Uglies—a world full of twist and turns, rebellion and intrigue, where any wrong step could be Frey’s last." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Frey is the twin to Rafia (Rafi), and Frey has been raised in secret her entire life. She is designed to be a body double to Raafi, and does all the dangerous things in public when Rafi is required to make an appearance. The building she lives in has been designed with secret hallways and rooms for Rafi to exist in, and there are only a select few people within the staff that know of Rafi's existence.

There's a pivotal moment where Frey is going to make a public appearance for Rafi, and an assassin bursts into the room. Frey saves Rafi, kills the assassin, and it's the moment in her life where she has felt the most alive. Frey spends most of her time in training while Rafi is learning the histories of the world, different languages, the best ways to dress, and so on; everything they need to know for their role in life. Frey spends the next couple years training, when suddenly her training shifts. Frey is going to stand in for Rafi as a hostage to a neighboring country, Victoria. Rafi spends a month trying to learn to truly be Rafi; learning different languages, learning how to eat, learning how to move her body as Rafi, learning how to speak, etc. Be Rafi while she's a hostage in Victoria.

When Frey gets to Victoria, it's nothing like her own country run by her Father. Her father uses spy dust to keep track of all the citizens, he doesn't let anyone dissidence against his reign... but in Victoria, the citizens have privacy. They're able to make choices. Frey is amazed with Victoria, and also amazed with the son of the rival leader, Col. In a pivotal moment... Frey indicates she likes Col to her family...and well, all hell breaks loose.

That's enough summary.

This book is on the same level as all the previous books in the series, well except for Extras, which has it's place, but this book was on the level as the original three books. I loved every moment of it. It was well paced, the technology was still futuristic crazy intense, and the character development stayed on point. It was such a fascinating take and look on how the world has progressed since the events of Tally's decisions so to speak.

I also think Frey makes for a fantastic narrator. I think everything from how she thinks, reacts, and goes into the next situation is very in line with her upbringing, the story, and her hopes.

There's going to be a sequel, I'm pretty excited for it.

Happy reading!

East

East by Edith Pattou

This is one of my favorite stories from my younger years. The sequel West, is going to be published on October 23, 2018. I absolutely had to reread East before I jumped into West. ...so here we are.

An amazon summary, "A beautiful, new edition of the beloved fantasy hailed as “the stuff of epic tale telling” (Booklist), perfect for fans of Beauty and the Beast from New York Times best-selling author Edith Pattou.

Rose has always longed for adventure, so when an enormous white bear appears one evening and makes her a mysterious offer, she accepts. In exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family, she must live with the white bear in a distant castle. But Rose soon realizes that all isn’t as it seems. As she tries to settle into her new life, she makes a devastating mistake. Now she must choose: return to her safe and loving family or go on a dangerous quest to fix what she has broken—and perhaps lose her heart along the way. A sweeping romantic epic as timeless as any fairy tale and thrilling as only the best fantasy novels can be." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Before I summarize, this story is told from multiple narrators. From Rose, to the bear, to her father, to her brother, to even the Troll Queen... there's a lot of different voices for the story.

Rose's Mother is seriously superstitious. She has a belief about everything, especially in regards to what direction a person is born in, is what shapes their personality. Rose's Mother has seven children; one for each direction except north, as north born babies are adventurous and in general worrisome for a mother. However, the east born child falls ill and eventually dies. Rose's Mother decides to have another child that is east born, never north. One day, while Rose's Mother & Father are out in the woods, a terrible storm hits, and during the storm, the babe comes. When the storm clears, the parents see in shock that the baby was born facing north. The Mother revolts and decides she was east born, and is very adamant about it. The father was uneasy about it, but let the child be named after east. So she is named Ebba Rose, but her father secretly calls her Nyamh.

The family lives on a farm, and Rose has tons of area to explore. When she was quite young, she went off exploring, fell down a small cliff and into a lake where she nearly drowned. Her older brother Neddy witnessed her being rescued by a white bear, but the bear did not hurt her and Neddy refused to tell anyone what actually saved her for fear their parents would worry. Since then, Rose imagined herself an invisible friend of a white bear where they would go off on many adventures together. Rose was also a very plucky child. She learned to knit, sew, and weave (but the weaving was through a series of arduous tasks for a widow in the village). One day, her elder sister became sick, the farm wasn't doing well, and a white bear shows up at their door. He speaks and tells them that if Rose comes with him, the sister will get better and their family will know riches. He gives them seven days to think about it.

Rose, of course, accepts the offer.

That's enough summary. Dun dun dunnnnnnn

The good news is, I still LOVE this book. The bad news is, I think it is a little long. I think a good 40 pages could have been weeded out (the book is 494 pages long, it would definitely survive). After reading the author's note in the back of the book, the book is set in sixteenth century Norway. This is a neat tidbit to learn after the story, but I don't think it bears a lot of relevance to the beginning of the story.

The story has a very steady pace, the characters are all well thought out and have their own unique personalities. The different aspects presented in the beginning of the story come into play throughout the story.

It also helps that Rose is a bit of a badass. Something I still find refreshing about the book is there are very few instances where Rose's gender is of any sort of issue to the rest of the world... and it's only when she's getting on boats and dealing with the superstitious sailors. The rest of the world is like, "Oh, you're going on a crazy adventure that will take you hundreds of miles from home? Good luck!" So there isn't anything like, "You're a women, going alone?!? Where are your escorts/male companions???" I still think that's a pretty neat aspect of the story, also too uncommon about stories (and the world in general).

I do wish more of the chapters had been narrated by the white bear, but I also understand why they weren't. There was so much of the curse that had to be left unsaid in order to defeat the curse, which I think is a theme that happens in older fairy tales (and is starting to become more prevalent in the retelling of fairy tales (which is neat)). It would have been cool to hear more from the bear too.

This is a very complicated story as it's told from many different view points that help weave together such an engrossing tale. It's a hard story to talk about in summary when soooo much has happened, has a lot of metaphoric significance throughout the book, and well it's complicated. I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel, West.

Happy reading!

I Felt A Funeral, In My Brain

I Felt A Funeral, In My Brain by Will Walton

This story contains themes of depression, suicide, alcoholism, and is also told in poems. If none of that appeals to you, I'd suggest skipping this book review.

An amazon summary, "How do you deal with a hole in your life?

Do you turn to poets and pop songs?
Do you dream? 
Do you try on love just to see how it fits? 
Do you grieve? 
If you're Avery, you do all of these things. And you write it all down in an attempt to understand what's happened--and is happening--to you. 
I Felt a Funeral, In My Brain is an astonishing novel about navigating death and navigating life, at a time when the only map you have is the one you can draw for yourself." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Avery has a lot of stuff going on in his life. He's got school, a single mother who struggles with alcoholism, a best friend (well, only friend) who he may have romantic feelings for, and he's injured at the beginning of summer break while helping his mom deliver cakes for her cake business.

Avery starts his summer with a ton of books of poetry lent to him by his English teacher. He's a budding poet and getting to read other poets works is really something. When he gets home from school, his mom asks him to help deliver her cakes, but they end up getting into an accident where his foot is pretty damaged and he's in a wheelchair for a while. Then, we get to see more of his mom and her relationship with alcohol and how she's going to go to a rehabilitation facility to help deal with her alcoholism. Meanwhile, Avery's next door neighbor Luca (best friend), and his mother, are there to help Avery with his grandpa and his grandpa's girlfriend. Luca's mom is actually in alcoholics anonymous with Avery's mom and she's Avery's mom sponsor. They're pretty well acquainted with the situation.

But, I'm going to stop summarizing there.

So there was a lot of information packed into one, relatively smallish book, but with the power of poetry, I think it's easier to weave a complex story into a more compact fashion. Not saying that poetry is easy, but just that you get more story for less words. Eh?

This story is in essence, how Avery is seeing all of the chaos going on around him, how he tries to cope with it (and fails at times), but also how he's struggling to well, grow into adulthood.

Personally, I struggled with reading the book a little bit. The poetry was in inconsistent rhyme schemes, and I'm pretty sure there's something clever about it. Like when Avery was reading the books of poetry by other authors, maybe the style of poetry at that point in the story took on that author's style of poetry? I don't know enough about poems or the poetry world to know. However, I did find it a little jarring. I also wonder if that was intentional, to kind of jar the reader during the more intense scenes to help the reader understand some of the emotional turmoil Avery was in? That's all my speculation though.

I did like the story overall, even though it was kind of bleak. Like, everything that could have gone wrong, kind of did but in different ways. It was kind of fascinating to watch Avery's life spiral a bit as he tries to find his place in the world amongst all the chaos of his life. I did find the conclusion of the book to be a little lacking, but I also wonder if that was the point. If the point of the end of the book was to prove that there are no real answers in life, we do what we can and continue on, then it did well. But otherwise, I don't really know what to make of it.

Overall, I think a good book of poetry should inspire curiosity in the world. I think this book did inspire curiosity in me, but maybe in the way that it intended.

Happy reading!

Death Marked

Death Marked by Leah Cypess

I previously reviewed DEATH SWORN in 2014 and was crazzzzzzy about it. ...then I somehow forgot that there was going to be a sequel... until I happened across the sequel. So now here we are! If you don't want anything spoiled about Death Sworn, then I would recommend not reading this review.

An amazon summary, "A young sorceress's entire life has been shaped to destroy the empire controlling her world. She could change history. But everything she thinks she knows is a lie. The sequel to the critically acclaimed Death Sworn will thrill fans of Leigh Bardugo and Robin LaFevers.

At seventeen, Ileni lost her magical power and was exiled to the hidden caves of the assassins. She trained the assassins in magic—and fell in love with one of them. And she discovered her entire life had been built on a lie. After all of this, she wants to see the truth for herself. She infiltrates the Imperial Academy of Sorcery. She will see everything she despises about the corrupt empire—its thirst for power, merciless control, and careless violence. But she also finds something she never expected—friends, and a place to belong. Ileni no longer knows whose side she is on. Leah Cypess spins an intricate and beautiful conclusion to Death Sworn." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

I also didn't reread Death Sworn before jumping into Death Marked. I just kind of assumed my book reading skills would carry me through understanding the book. And they did, but they also didn't.

I will recount everything I remembered about Death Sworn. Main character was a sorceress. She had great power. She was also doomed to lose that power. They test those with magic when they're young to make sure they don't spend their life trying to become a sorcerer/sorceress if they're only going to "burn out" when they get older. Main character went to a cave of assassins to learn about the assassins. To essentially infiltrate them and... figure "something" out about them (this is what I forgot). While she still has some magic, she teaches the assassins basic magics. Super badass assassin in training is like, well a super badass, and has been assigned to kind of look over her. I can't remember if he was supposed to be some sort of mentor or what. He basically makes sure she doesn't accidentally die/get lost while in the labyrinth of caves they live in under a mountain, or like die by another assassin. Story progresses, girl is trying to figure things out but really falling in love with assassin man, assassin man is starting to doubt things about the assassin doctrine. Girl ends up murdering master assassin through like a convoluted, well schemed scenario. Assassin man is shocked, but lets girl run away before the other assassins can find out and murder her. Because love. Oh, also there's this whole thing with the people the girl is from believing the empire is evil, and the assassins also believe the empire is evil. The girl is like yeah, let's go take down the empire. [/End scene]

So that's all I remember. Cool? Cool.

Death Marked starts with an empire sorceress kidnapping the sorceress from the assassin cave (Ileni) and interrogating her. The empire sorceress is super powerful and had been planning on attacking the assassins for years; she needs to be rid of them to save the empire. Ileni is like, "but wait yo, the empire is the actual evil. So I'm going to play this whole thing really close to the chest. I want you to believe I'm on your side, but I'm on the rebellions side. Maybe," and the empire sorceress is like "Skep face". One thing leads to another (I'm glossing over a lot of stuff) and Ileni is training with the other sorcerers, and learning more about the empire. She is able to use magic because of the lode stones...which are created by people dying. She knows they're evil, but she's FINALLY ABLE TO USE MAGIC AGAIN. Now she's got magic back but in the worst way possible (using people's death energies to perform magic) which she knows is bad, but she also really loves being able to use magic. She's trying to figure out how the lode stones are made, and she's also trying to figure if the empire is actually, well evil.

That's enough summary. So much summary this time. Thank you for bearing with me.

I'm going to interview myself because I find it entertaining.

Did you like the sequel? Ehhhh, it may have been better if I had read it immediately after reading Death Sworn, but I kind of doubt it. The language, world building, tone, character dynamics, and all that jazz were there, and they were great. But, Ileni was just so WISHY WASHY. I couldn't root for her one way or the other, and I also couldn't root for the assassins, rebel group of sorcerers, or the empire. Everything seemed to have it's own evil qualities about it. Maybe the book was trying to teach a life lesson of their being no clear answer. If it was, it was kind of flat.

Wait, so you didn't like the sequel? The sequel is sold as a conclusion to the story. The conclusion still felt open ended to me which is kind of annoying since there won't be any more.

But what about Soren and Ileni's romance? [SPOILERS] If you're looking for romance, you get mostly Ileni's side the entire story...and she doesn't really interact with Soren in any great & meaningful ways. [/SPOILERS]

What about the empire, did we finally get to see it? "Yes".

...what the hell, you can't just "yes" and not explain yourself. Explain yourself? "No."

.... for real? Okay fine. We did get to see a chunk of the empire. The implication is that we kind of got to see the capital of the empire, and the rest of the empire exists, is vast, and full of problems.

What about the lode stone mystery? Was the mystery solved? "Yes".

Seriously, stop with the quote answers. Was the mystery solved? ..."yesssssss". BUT, it was solved in the worst Ileni reaction of like, "I'm so shocked this is what the empire does even though everyone I've met that hasn't been part of the empire (and some who are) have told me the empire is evil. STAGED GASP." So yes, but it wasn't a satisfying reveal.

My final thoughts are, I'm glad I read the sequel just to have some sort of resolution to the first book, but I would not go out of my way to recommend this duology to anyone.

Happy reading!

The Glass Spare

The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano

I've previously read and reviewed WITHER and FEVER by Lauren DeStefano. I've also read the sequel Sever, but I haven't reviewed it. ..anyways.

This has been sitting in my stack of books to read since I made a journey to the 2017 ALA conference in Chicago. So it's also an advanced reader's copy; there will undoubtedly be differences between the version I read, and the published version.

...let's just go to the amazon summary, "The first in a new fantasy duology, The Glass Spare is a gorgeously told tale of love, loss, and deadly power from Lauren DeStefano, the bestselling author of the Chemical Garden series. Perfect for fans of Shannon Hale and Renee Ahdieh.

Wilhelmina Heidle, the fourth child and only daughter of the king of the world’s wealthiest nation, has grown up in the shadows. Kept hidden from the world in order to serve as a spy for her father—whose obsession with building his empire is causing a war—Wil wants nothing more than to explore the world beyond her kingdom, if only her father would give her the chance.

Until one night Wil is attacked, and she discovers a dangerous secret. Her touch turns people into gemstone. At first Wil is horrified—but as she tests its limits, she’s drawn more and more to the strange and volatile ability. When it leads to tragedy, though, Wil is forced to face the destructive power within her and finally leave her home to seek the truth and a cure.

But finding the key to her redemption puts her in the path of a cursed prince who has his own ideas for what to do with Wil’s power.

With a world on the brink of war and a power of ultimate destruction, can Wil find a way to help the kingdom that’s turned its back on her, or will she betray her past and her family forever?" AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Wil is the fourth child in the line to the throne. Her oldest brother, Owen, is in line for the throne and is constantly being groomed to be the next king. Her second oldest brother is a jerk who doesn't need a name really. Gerdie is her third oldest brother, and also best friend. When Wil was born, she had a mysterious mark on her chest, and kind of an ominous vibe. Owen is being groomed to take over the throne at some point. Again, the second oldest brother is a jerk, but Gerdie is a fantastic alchemist. Being an alchemist is a little out of place since the technology in this world is kind of an advanced. Wil is a spy, and as she looks nothing like the rest of the royal family, it's easier for her to go into places. The queen is very superstitious and has little rituals she does to keep all her children safe, like counting and such.

Anyways, the story begins with Wil going to the black market to track down a rather elusive drug for Gerdie to use in his alchemy experiments. She has a daring escape where she also frees children from the black market salesman. There are some things that go on in the castle, but when Wil is out with Gerdie one day, the black market salesman finds her. He attacks her, and Wil turns him into gems on accident. Once Wil accidentally turns the salesman into gems, she can't turn her power off. She accidentally starts turning anything alive into gems around her, including the grass and such.

Unaware of Wil's condition, the King sends her off on a dangerous mission. Owen goes to stop her, but Owen is also unaware of Wil's condition... and Wil accidentally turns him into gems. The King finds them and witnesses it, but insists Wil leaves immediately. The King tells everyone else they're dead...including Gerdie. Wil leaves to track down a famous marveler who she believes can cure her of her curse.

That's enough summary.

I thought the story was interesting overall, but I thought a lot of the technology/alchemy/marveling relationships were kind of odd and not well explained. I wish there was a better explanation for that aspect of it.

However, I really liked the story telling. Besides the magic stuff element, the world building was pretty good, the characters were well written, and I loved all the character relationships with each other. I loved the dynamics with the siblings, the story followed different narrators around so we were treated to a very dynamic story as well.

A solid read, and I think a sequel is coming out soon.

Happy reading!

Blood Water Paint

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

This book has themes of the oppression of women, abuse, and rape. If those topics make you uncomfortable, I would recommend not reading this review, or this book.

This story does take place sometime between 1593 and 1654 (when Artemisia Gentileschi was alive), so women were treated vastly different than they are today. ...well hopefully.

This story is told in mostly poetry with some brief short story like segments that happen occasionally.

An amazon summary, "Her mother died when she was twelve, and suddenly Artemisia Gentileschi had a stark choice: a life as a nun in a convent or a life grinding pigment for her father's paint.

She chose paint.
By the time she was seventeen, Artemisia did more than grind pigment. She was one of Rome's most talented painters, even if no one knew her name. But Rome in 1610 was a city where men took what they wanted from women, and in the aftermath of rape Artemisia faced another terrible choice: a life of silence or a life of truth, no matter the cost. 
He will not consumemy every thought.I am a painter.I will paint.
Joy McCullough's bold novel in verse is a portrait of an artist as a young woman, filled with the soaring highs of creative inspiration and the devastating setbacks of a system built to break her. McCullough weaves Artemisia's heartbreaking story with the stories of the ancient heroines, Susanna and Judith, who become not only the subjects of two of Artemisia's most famous paintings but sources of strength as she battles to paint a woman's timeless truth in the face of unspeakable and all-too-familiar violence. 
I will show you what a woman can do." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Artemisia is the daughter of a painter. Due to the time period she lives in, she can't really officially be an apprentice to her father, but none of her father's sons have any skill for the craft of painting. Or, she could go be a nun.

So she paints in secret.

As much as she loves to paint, she also dislikes how men have painted two famous females as they don't capture the female perspective. They don't capture the essence of what they're experiencing in that moment.

Not only does Artemisia paint, but she also does a lot of the chores around the household as well while her brothers get an education. Artemisia also corrects the paintings her father creates, and her father hires her a teacher in secret to help her art. ...but that teacher turns into her rapist.

That's enough summary.

I had some difficulty reading this book just because of my own emotional reaction. There were so many times where I wanted to just scream in frustration for Artemisia for the men not valuing her as a person, for almost scoffing at her for wanting any amount of respect. I just, all the rage.

However, I do think the book could have done a little more expressing the trauma Artemisia went through by just spending more time with her at her worst. ...which would have made it more heart breaking, but with some subject matter, you should break all the hearts. ...all of them. But, I do think it did cover enough of the subject matter to be satisfactory.

Happy reading!

Home After Dark

Home After Dark by David Small

This book does have themes of violence, abusive situations, homophobia, suicide, and racism. If any of those themes make you uncomfortable, I would not recommend reading this book. Especially as this is a comic book, the visual depictions may be more troubling.

An amazon summary, "Wildly kaleidoscopic and furiously cinematic, Home After Dark is a literary tour-de-force that renders the brutality of adolescence in the so-called nostalgic 1950s, evoking such classics as The Lord of the Flies. Thirteen-year-old Russell Pruitt, abandoned by his mother, follows his father to sun-splashed California in search of a dream. Suddenly forced to fend for himself, Russell struggles to survive in Marshfield, a dilapidated town haunted by a sadistic animal killer and a ring of malicious boys who bully Russell for being “queer.” Rescued from his booze-swilling father by Wen and Jian Mah, a Chinese immigrant couple who long for a child, Russell betrays their generosity by running away with their restaurant’s proceeds. Told almost entirely through thousands of spliced images, once again “employ[ing] angled shots and silent montages worthy of Alfred Hitchcock” (Washington Post, on Stitches), Home After Dark becomes a new form of literature in this shocking graphic interpretation of cinema verité." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

The prologue starts with a silent scene of Christmas where Russell's parents are fighting and his mom leaves with his Dad's best friend. The Dad decides to sell the house and move out to California. They were originally going to stay with Russell's Aunt until Russell's Dad can find a job...but the Aunt isn't really having any of it. They drive to San Francisco and find a room for rent from an older chinese couple. Then Russell slowly but surely starts getting more and more involved with the town. There's also a really creepy element of animals being murdered in gruesome ways and left in various parts of the town. Again, as a graphic novel, this is depicted.

...and that's enough summary.

I will say, due to the narrator, era, subject matter covered; I found it really hard to relate to this book. I thought a lot of it was more a study on humanity to slowly depict the different experiences that Russell goes through that define him as a person, and also to show just how strange people are.

However, I don't think Russell had enough of a voice.

We get to see Russell experiencing all of those harrowing, unusual, weird, but also kind moments... without a lot of reactions from Russell. There are facial expressions that give us some idea of what might be transpiring in Russell's mind... but for the most part, I wanted to see more of Russell's voice. I wanted his actions, his voice, and well more of him! I don't want to believe someone would experience everything Russell went through without really processing. It kind of seemed to be like silent processing, absorbing the world, without really giving it a reaction. Almost like he's a sponge.

There is a point where Russell does make decisions which lead to more interesting situations, but there also seems to be this unyielding innocence that is odd.

It was a neat read, but I just wanted more of Russell's voice.

Happy reading!

Game Changer

Game Changer by Tommy Greenwald

In my life, I very rarely have any sort of anything to do with anything with sports. But you know, I still pick up books involving sports and the very complicated relationships people have with sports.

The book also tells the story of Teddy through poetry, hospital reports, social media posts, and kind of interviews.

I would also recommend reading the book again after finishing it, there's just stuff right at the beginning that start to click a lot faster upon a second read through.

An amazon summary, "Thirteen-year-old Teddy Youngblood is in a coma fighting for his life after an unspecified football injury at training camp. His family and friends flock to his bedside to support his recovery—and to discuss the events leading up to the tragic accident. Was this an inevitable result of playing a violent sport, or was something more sinister happening on the field that day? Told in an innovative, multimedia format combining dialogue, texts, newspaper articles, transcripts, an online forum, and Teddy’s inner thoughts, Game Changer explores the joyous thrills and terrifying risks of America’s most popular sport." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Teddy experiences a very serious injury while at football summer camp; he collapses on the field and is rushed off to the hospital. He's in critical condition and in a coma.

The story is told by Teddy's visitors including his doctor, his parents, and his sister at first. There's also a group text from the captain of the varsity team...but it has an odd undertone to it.

I'm not going to say anything else about the plot, because it's a slow reveal. I also really enjoy this style of story telling as well, and I'm always delighted when I stumble across another book like this.

Since the story is told from many different perspectives and voices, I think a lot of them were very unique and well written. I think each character had their own viewpoint clearly established, and they all clearly had their own unique relationship with Teddy. I think the Grandma was my favorite, for kind of all the wrong reasons.

However, I don't think the story really captured enough of the obsession of the sport in terms of the game play especially. I think it captured the intensity of the culture around the sport, but I think it could have done a bit better of actually discussing the game. I did like that Teddy had the occasional note here and there which kind of went into the game a little bit, but I think it would have been plausible for a lot more football references to be made. ...even if they would have gone over my head... but if you're going to write a book about football, it should involve a little more football...right?

I still liked the characters, plot development, seeing a different aspect of culture that I'm not normally exposed to, but it was a bit odd to me how little football was involved.

Happy reading!

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

I'm a litttttttle excited to write this review; after I finished writing the title I clapped my hands together a bit.

More importantly, if you are not familiar with Hank Green, for one, I am sorry, but for two, he is an absolutely remarkable person. It should be no surprise that he can write An Absolutely Remarkable Thing then (ehhhhhhhhhhhh??? I know you come here for the terrible jokes).

Side note, I did attend one of the book tour events that Hank Green had with his brother John Green. It was pretty magical, hilarious, and I would recommend going to one if you can.

Here's the amazon summary, "In his much-anticipated debut novel, Hank Green—cocreator of Crash Course, Vlogbrothers, and SciShow—spins a sweeping, cinematic tale about a young woman who becomes an overnight celebrity before realizing she's part of something bigger, and stranger, than anyone could have possibly imagined.

The Carls just appeared. Roaming through New York City at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship—like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor—April and her friend, Andy, make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day, April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world—from Beijing to Buenos Aires—and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight. Seizing the opportunity to make her mark on the world, April now has to deal with the consequences her new particular brand of fame has on her relationships, her safety, and her own identity. And all eyes are on April to figure out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us. Compulsively entertaining and powerfully relevant, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing grapples with big themes, including how the social internet is changing fame, rhetoric, and radicalization; how our culture deals with fear and uncertainty; and how vilification and adoration spring for the same dehumanization that follows a life in the public eye. The beginning of an exciting fiction career, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a bold and insightful novel of now." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

This story is about April May and her discovery of a Carl. After leaving the office one night, April has to go back to the office to get her card and a Carl has appeared since she left. She calls her friend Andy, they shoot some footage of the Carl. Andy goes home, edits, and uploads the video. April May wakes up the next day to find out the video has gone viral.

The story follows April May's rise to fame, her immersion into social media, and also the mystery of the Carls. Who created them? How did they all show up all at once?

I really think the summary from amazon did a great job. So... I'm just going to leave it at that.

I really liked April May as a character, I loved how the plot unfolded, so much of it felt really realistic, but the style in which the story was told kind of threw me off for a little bit. So it's told from future April May as she recounts the events that happened. It took me just a few chapters to get into it, and a couple times I would forget and suddenly it would be very obvious again. It was a small nuance that I kind of like was, "Oh, right," and went right back to the story.

I also thought the depiction of how social media worked was very interesting, but also how they incorporated the well established big news network too. The depiction of the world was pretty fascinating, but I also found some of the most interesting parts was how the world interacted with April and how April interacted with the world.

You could say, this is a most absolutely remarkable book, and you would not be wrong. ....ehhhh!?!?!?

There will be a sequel. GET PUMPED.

Happy reading!