Slay

Slay by Brittney Morris

I LOVE THIS BOOK. I know that's a big lead in, but hear me out.

I did read the advance reader's copy of this book even though it was published on September 24, 2019. Undoubtedly there will be some differences between the version I read and the published edition.

I need to say that this book tackles a lot of hard conversations about race, racism, and it does specifically speak of black culture. If that doesn't appeal to you for any reason, perhaps it's best not to read this book.

An amazon summary, "By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of Black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY. No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are partially responsible for the “downfall of the Black man.”

But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, news of the game reaches mainstream media, and SLAY is labeled a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals. Even worse, an anonymous troll infiltrates the game, threatening to sue Kiera for “anti-white discrimination.”
Driven to save the only world in which she can be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity and harness what it means to be unapologetically Black in a world intimidated by Blackness. But can she protect her game without losing herself in the process?" AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

To be clear, I think it's beneficial for me to say that I am a white person. There were many things in this book that I've never heard of before and this read has been a very enlightening experience for me. However, as a white person, I think there are many nuances and aspects that I lack personal experience with black culture that my appreciation and even understanding of the book can only go so far. I'm going to do my best to discuss the subject matter, but I'm a human without personal experience in this realm, so I apologize if I stumble through some things, or if my revelations seem lacking in any manner.

Anyways.

Kiera is a bonafide badass. By day, she's an honors student, math tutor, and has a boyfriend who she's pretty serious about. After hours though, Kiera is the creator of Slay. A game designed to celebrate and create a space to be prideful about many different aspects of black culture from all over the world. She's created a way for players to customize their avatars in ways that other games simply can't or won't. The game is also designed for black players to be able to share a passcode with other black people, to preserve the integrity and space of the game. Plus, it's fun! Like most games, the online massive multiplayer has many different aspects to play, explore, and especially duel.

So, during the day, Kiera is also one of the only black kids at her school. As such, her friends try to use her as the sounding board for all manners to deal with racism or being politically correct. But at home, Kiera is able to simply be in the most freeing of ways. She also has help creating and maintaining Slay from one other mod, so when one player gets killed over their Slay account, Kiera is at a loss for what to do. Especially when the world seems to suddenly be out for her non-virtual blood. However, Kiera and the other mod have been very diligent in hiding their true identities so the media is an uproar trying to figure out who they are.

That's enough summary.

There's a lot to unpack about this book, so I want to start with one of the aspects I was more at odds with; Kiera hid her playing video games from her parents and sister. Period. Like, that she even has virtual reality equipment, that she even locks her door, locks her VR equipment in her desk, and makes sure she knows what everyone else in the house is doing before she plays. I'm wondering if I missed something within the book, but I don't understand why she hid all of it so well for so many years. Like.... what's wrong with playing video games?

Secondly, her relationship with her boyfriend Malcolm. Personally, I think the relationship was kind of a good depiction of how a relationship can be toxic at an early age in life. I really liked how the writing didn't shy away from his behavior, ideas, and also didn't hide how Kiera reacted to him in all senses. It felt very real (for lack of better wording) and I also had a real sense of Kiera through every scene with her boyfriend or when she was thinking about him.

Thirdly, what the hell is up with white people. I kind of adored to hate Kiera's white friends who seemed to be stumbling puppy dogs for personalities. They REALLY want to do the good thing, they're just not sure how to do the good thing, so they ask Kiera how to do the thing as if she's the resident expert.... Then they also clarify their lack of knowledge about doing the good thing and they want to do the good thing to be respectful. They were pretty clumsy as people, but it also felt like people I've encountered in my life.

Fourth....ly? SLAY THE VIDEO GAME SOUNDS AMAZING. SO. A-MAZ-ING. I wish it was real, and I wish people got to play it.

Fifth.....LY. I also really appreciated the relationship Kiera had with her sister, and well just Kiera herself. She got herself into a situation, and she was so relatable and honest about everything that was going on in a play by play situation that I found myself cheering for her throughout the whole book.

Finally (ha), there was a ton of references throughout the book that I had to google because I've never heard of them before (like the brown paper bag test). So, specifically for me, this was a really eye opening experience that gives me a better understanding on some level of my own privileges. One of my friends recently shared a post about how privilege isn't just about the things you were given. It's about the things you were never subjected to. I don't need to go on a big explanation of my own privileges, but I think this book really helped me better understand the kind of privilege I experience on a daily basis. I don't know.

I just really loved this book. Great plot, great characters, great progression of story/pacing, lots of great points about black culture, and I kind of really hope there's a sequel because I want to know how Kiera keeps slaying.

Happy reading!

The Nameless Queen

The Nameless Queen by Rebecca McLaughlin

This book will be published on January 7, 2020. I read an advance reader's copy and undoubtedly there will be differences between the version I read and the published edition.

...but honestly, when I first saw this book, I thought it was a Holly Black book because I'm so ready for the third book that I picked it up with way too much excitement.

But, I mean, it kind of turned out okay? Kind of?????

An amazon summary, "One girl must make a name for herself--or die trying--in this royal fantasy where an unknown peasant becomes the ultimate ruler. But how long can she keep the crown if everyone wants her dead? Perfect for fans of Furyborn, Red Queen, and Everless.

Everyone expected the king's daughter would inherit the throne. No one expected me.
It shouldn't be possible. I'm Nameless, a class of citizens so disrespected, we don't even get names. Dozens of us have been going missing for months and no one seems to care.
But there's no denying the tattoo emblazoned on my arm. I am queen. In a palace where the corridors are more dangerous than the streets, though, how could I possibly rule? And what will become of the Nameless if I don't?" AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

One girl, who goes by the name Coin, lives on the streets of the kingdom, just trying to survive. She's part of a class of people referred to as the Nameless, and they don't have much of any access to the day to day things you would expect in regular society (shelter, food, water, etc). If they can work, they work the worst jobs, and they don't have anyone looking out for them. The other two classes are essentially the nobles and the royals.

The funny thing about this kingdom, is that the crown is passed on through magic. As the king/queen is dying, they say one last name, and the magical arm tattoo crown passes onto that person as the king/queen dies. One day, Coin woke up with the crown even though she has no known name (she picked out Coin as a way to reference herself). Bewildered, Coin tries to hide at first before she steps in to save her friend, and reveals the crown. She's rushed to the palace where there's a whole different set of rules on how to survive. Maybe she can pass on the crown to someone else without dying.

Dun dun dunnnnn

That's enough summary.

I really liked the beginning of the book? I felt it was well paced, was setting up the characters nicely, positioning them in ways that they'd be able to grow, and all sorts of fun world building stuff. But... something happened where the main character, Coin, seemed to kind of lose confidence in herself. The magic started to get kind of murky and lost explanations sometimes, and there were a few moments where it seemed like a random side character just appeared to make a one sentence quip to rectify some situation so the book could move on with the story.

It seemed like it wanted to talk about the class system and how unfair it was, but then it deviated grossly to political manuvering, but didn't really do too well at making all the characters coherently function in that setting, so it became inner speculation about Coin's life. It was all a little haphazard and weird. There was also too few guards on the freaking crowned queen. But okay, sure.

I also didn't really have a sense for how big the town or kingdom was? At times it seemed HUGE, like sprawling, full of slums, the whole nine football fields. Then there were other times where it was like, wait, so there's a castle, surrounded by little houses for the nobles kind of? Huh????

Ultimately, I think it was trying to build up to some political upheaval with the class system, neighboring countries maybe being at war, and magic being unleashed to the world again??? But trying to build it up for a book two rather than solve anything in book one. Except for where the nameless were disappearing too, which was still a troubling part of the story. It also felt VERY IGNORED until it was WILDLY RELEVANT again for the climatic bits at the end of the book.

At this point, I don't think I'll pick up the sequel unless someone can change my mind.

Happy reading!

Red Hood

Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold

This book is an advanced reader's copy and will be published February 25, 2020. Undoubtedly there will be changes between the version I attempted to read, and the published edition.

Full disclosure, I got to about page 78 and got a strong case of the willies and had to stop reading.

An amazon summary, "You are alone in the woods, seen only by the unblinking yellow moon. Your hands are empty. You are nearly naked. And the wolf is angry.

Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel has lived a quiet life in a little house in Seattle. She’s kept mostly to herself. She’s been good.

But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and between trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her.

A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises. And with it, questions.

About the blood in Bisou’s past, and on her hands as she stumbles home.

About broken boys and vicious wolves.

About girls lost in the woods—frightened, but not alone." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

First of all, this story is told in second person. This is something that also kind of wrankles at me since it demands my entire attention to assert it is essentially happening to me. It is happening to the reader in me and that just like ....no. You can't tell me what to feel! Things.

Secondly, the book kind of opens up with an open conversation about menstruation and sex, kind of. Like, not shying away from the topics when they emerge.

Thirdly, but there's also violence and murder right away too.

Soooo, all those factors really kind of put me off from the book even though at large, it seemed right up my alley. I just couldn't stomach reading it. There's a note from the author in the front of the book that acknowledges they're books aren't comfortable and take you to deep dark places but she will bring you back out. I couldn't stomach it. Maybe at a less spooky time of the year, or in the summer, I could pick up this book and try again. It seems very promising.

Happy reading!

Splinters of Scarlet

Splinters of Scarlet by Emily Bain Murphy

This book will be published on July 21, 2020. I read the advanced reader's copy, and there will undoubtedly be differences in the version I read and the published edition.

I previously read Disappearances by Emily Blain Murphy (but failed to blog about it *cough*) but I loved it! It was AWESOME, and had a storyline that lingers in the back of my mind to speculate and wonder about some more. It was delightful.

I was pretty excited to pick this up. Then as I started reading, I was even more curious about where the story was going to wind up.

An amazon summary, "For Marit Olsen, magic is all about strategy: it flows freely through her blood, but every use leaves behind a deadly, ice-like build-up within her veins called the Firn. Marit knows how dangerous it is to let too much Firn build up—after all, it killed her sister—and she has vowed never to use her thread magic. But when Eve, a fellow orphan whom Marit views like a little sister, is adopted by the wealthy Helene Vestergaard, Marit will do anything to stay by Eve’s side. She decides to risk the Firn and uses magic to secure a job as a seamstress in the Vestergaard household.
 But Marit has a second, hidden agenda: her father died while working in the Vestergaards’ jewel mines—and it might not have been an accident. The closer Marit gets to the truth about the Vestergaard family, the more she realizes she and everyone she’s come to love are in danger. When she finds herself in the middle of a treacherous deception that goes all the way up to the king of Denmark, magic may be the only thing that can save her—if it doesn’t kill her first." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Marit's father died when she was fairly young (her mother was already dead), and it was just Marit and her older sister for a bit. Her older sister used too much magic one day, and ends up dying from the firn (think like small blue chunks building up in veins that stops blood flow. Often appears as blue lines of the wrists as a sign of fatal use of magic). Since her sister died, Marit went to live in the orphanage where she met a much younger girl, Eve. The two acted like sisters. Marit winds up aging out of the orphanage, and starts work as a seamstress for a local shop. It's considered probably the best situation she could wind up based on her circumstances. ...but her sister Eve is a brilliant dancer; she aspires to be a ballerina on the same level as the famous Vestergaard that also came from the same orphanage they were raised in. Prospective parents come to the orphanage, and Marit ends up using some of her magic to finish Eve's costume on time.

Eve performs very well, but not well enough for the prospective parents to adopt her. Luckily, there was another adult in the crowd, the famous ballerina who was raised in the orphanage, a Verstergaard, who has decided to adopt Eve. Marit's heart soars for Eve to be adopted, but also breaks over the loss of her sister. Her sister is also being adopted by the woman who owns the mines her father died in, something that Marit will always harbor against her. In a desperate attempt to have the madam take Marit with her, and therefore with Eve, Marit 'accidentally' rips the madams coat. She impeccably fixes it with a bit of her magic. The madam recognizes her use of magic and hires her. Marit isn't sure what she got herself into, but at least she'll stay close to Eve.

Dun dun dunnn..... that's enough summary.

So, there's also a random kind of trail of bread crumbs that Marit's father left for his children to see if they could stop what was going on. But what exactly was going on?

The interesting part about this story is that it kind of presents itself in a bare bones manner of like, "This is just a couple of orphans trying to keep the family they found for themselves" but in the midst of those bare bones it's also like, "MAGIC! MURDER! MYSTERY!" and it's a little disjointing sometimes, but works out beautifully in the end.

I also think some of the mechanics of the magic were a little wonky? Like there seemed to be some people who could use a LOT of magic kind of frequently, and other people who used a little bit and were in danger from the firn. A lot of different factors could be at play like lineage, age, and I don't know, use while growing up? I know they don't know all the ins and outs of magic, so maybe if there's a sequel, there might be more there? But if there's not a sequel, I would be content with that too.

Overall, it was a good read, but I kind of wish the pacing of the story had been a little more steady/consistent.

Happy reading!

Stay

Stay by Bobbie Pyron

This is a little bit of a younger narrator than what I normally read, but it made the subject matter a bit more digestible I think.

This story does center around a family being homeless and homeless people who may not live in a shelter as they care for an animal. If you find that subject matter to be uncomfortable for any reason, I would recommend not reading this book.

An amazon summary, "Piper’s life is turned upside down when her family moves into a shelter in a whole new city. She misses her house, her friends, and her privacy—and she hates being labeled the homeless girl at her new school.

But while Hope House offers her new challenges, it also brings new friendships, like the girls in Firefly Girls Troop 423 and a sweet street dog named Baby. So when Baby’s person goes missing, Piper knows she has to help. But helping means finding the courage to trust herself and her new friends, no matter what anyone says about them—before Baby gets taken away for good.

Told in alternating perspectives, this classic and heartfelt animal tale proclaims the importance of hope, the power of story, and the true meaning of home." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

This story is told from the perspective of Piper and also the dog, Baby (and kind of Baby's owner Jewel). Piper is a kid whose mother and father lost through jobs through various circumstances, so now her family has moved around to try to find a place to live and gets jobs again.

It essentially follows the story of how Piper's family has to adjust to living in a shelter, different avenues of getting food, and meeting other people who are in similar situations, and learning their stories. The other part of the story lingers around Jewel and Baby. Jewel lives on the streets with her dog, Baby, and she struggles to survive even when the soup kitchen has to turn her away due to her dog (no dogs allowed inside).

That's enough summary.

Due to being told mostly from a kid's perspective, there seemed to be a lot of scarier aspects of being homeless that were just kind of glossed over. They point out that the mom, daughter, and brother were staying in a different shelter than their father at first, but I think it kind of glosses out over the different levels of violence that are known to happen in homeless shelters, more so in the men's shelter than in the family's shelter. Anyways.

I also thought there was too much innocence for their situation from Piper based on what their allegedly experiences were leading up to this point. She seemed too young sometimes, but also out of it or something? Kind of like, "This sucks, but I'll wander over here and find something better about this situation, wheeee". 

I just wanted a bit more understanding about the homeless situation. I think the intention was to show more of an understanding for kids about what that world looks like, but I don't think it did a great job of portraying the full scale of the situation. Honestly, the Baby and Jewel aspect seemed to distract from the situation rather than enhance it. It didn't really seem, well sad at all. There were moments where she'd be like, "I sure do miss my friends" but then it would immediately shift focus to something else.

I don't know, it was pleasant enough of a story, but it wasn't great in terms of capturing the homeless situation I think.

Happy reading!

The Gilded Wolves

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

I've previously read and reviewed THE STAR TOUCHED QUEEN and A CROWN OF WISHES by Roshani Chokshi. So I kind of knew somewhat of the quality of writing I'd encounter in this book, but I was truly blown away. It was awesome.

An amazon summary, "No one believes in them. But soon no one will forget them.

It's 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

To hunt down the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin calls upon a band of unlikely experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian banished from his home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in arms if not blood.

Together, they will join Séverin as he explores the dark, glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the course of history--but only if they can stay alive." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

So, a huge aspect of this story is forging. Forging is kind of like magic in the sense that different objects are made with certain aspects or qualities by people with the gift of forging (who all have different alignments so to speak with their forging). Not everyone can forge, and there are also four houses who oversee what are believed to be the source of the forging power. One of the houses has been removed from memory due to their activities, another house has no heir, and two houses remain. The houses kind of serve as the governing body over forged objects, and objects that have the house mark on them are like extra special. There are also kind of like smaller magics around that anyone can kind of do depending if they have the right ingredients, circumstances, and willpower. ...uh... A lot of this will make sense when you read the book because the book explains everything very well in a timely manner.

Anywho, so there are like five main characters, and then like a secondary character who should be a main character. The entire story is told in third person, but each chapter follows around a different main character in very fluid storytelling style. There is the architect of plans (mastermind if you will - Severin), the dancer (Laila), the engineer (Zofia), the historian (Enrique), and the gardener (Tristan - brother to Severin). Each of them have found Severin over time for their own goals or purposes. Severin's ultimate goal is to be reinstated as the heir to the fallen house (not the house which had been removed from everyone's memories). To do this, he's been searching for various forged objects that will help him achieve his goal (which, they explain in the book, I'm trying to avoid a lot of spoilers here because this is a very intricate story). The secondary character who should be a main character is the head of one of the other houses, dun dun dunnn.

Everyone has a different stake in what Severin is doing and only time will tell if his plans play out successfully.

That's enough summary.

I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. It's one of those stories that seems to start slowly, but it's a trick where it's actually weaving an intricate story while not overwhelming the reader with details, and slowly leading to this amazing climax and this cliffhanger ending which makes me want to demand the sequel from whoever can produce it (looking at you Roshani).

I would say it also took me a little longer to get through this book than normal because I simply wanted to savor it. The character development was so unique for each character, the plot had such a good pace, and there were also elements of mystery, suspense, action, love, morals, and kind of life lessons (kind of) sprinkled throughout. It was such a well told story.

Plus, there's going to be a sequel. Maybe even a series. I'm just very hopeful over here.

Love, love, love this book. The world building was also so on point with it being set in 1889 but definitely being alternative historical fiction with enough elements of how our world was back then, but changed enough to match how the forging would have shaped society. So good.

I can't recommend this enough.

Happy reading!!!!

The Chaos of Stars

The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

I've previously reviewed IN THE SHADOWS by Kiersten White, but I've also read And I Darken, Now I Rise, and Bright We Burn (Which was a fabulous trilogy that I highly recommend regardless of my lack of blog posts about them).

I was pretty excited to stumble across this paperback book in a random book store.

...but I haven't blogged in a bit, and it's because I'm quite at odds with what to actually say about this book. It's all rather vexing.

....an amazon summary, "Isadora’s family is seriously screwed up—which comes with the territory when you’re the human daughter of the Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris.

Isadora is tired of her immortal relatives and their ancient mythological drama, so when she gets the chance to move to California with her brother, she jumps on it. But her new life comes with plenty of its own dramatic—and dangerous—complications . . ." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

So, long story short, Isadora is the daughter of the Egyptian gods, Isis and Osiris. For those of you (like me) who are unfamiliar with Egyptian mythology, prepare to learn random tidbits about Egyptian mythology with snark from Isadora peppered throughout the history lessons. Isadora gets pretty teenage cranky at her mom, and decides that she's going to go live with her brother over in the united states to escape from all the immortals in her life and try to live as a regular mortal. She knows she has no chance of becoming immortal, so she wants to start living as a mortal as soon as possible. But, something from Egypt seems to have followed her to the united states, and for what?

That's enough summary.

Alright, I love any time an author takes a mythology and tries to bring it into the modern day. Sometimes the attempts are quite successful (ahem, looking at you Rick Riordan), and other times not so much.

On the one hand, I really appreciate what this book attempted, on the other hand, I feel like it fell flat on its face quite a few times. It's like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be about mythology, romance, finding yourself, following your passion, or mocking the mortal realm. It kind of seemed to hopscotch around quite a bit while managing to tie it all into Isadora's story.

But, there's this one reveal about a certain character that I still can't wrap my head around as actually making sense. It kind of defies the mechanics of how the world is set up to work (it seems) and it seems like such a big thing to reveal in the swirling midst of the already climatic part of the plot. Looking at you mr. romantic interest and your convenient explanation for all things odd about you. MMM-HMMMM.

Anyways.

I think there was a lot of content to this book that could have easily expanded into another fifty pages at least. A little more substance, a little less chaos, ehhhhhhhhhh?

But I'm still mad at Isadora for mostly being a brat. She kind of throws these adult-ish tantrums a few times that I was so over before I finished even reading the paragraph.

All the grumpy noises.

All the grumpy noises of how they decided the mechanics of the immortals works. Didn't really seem to have all the dots connected. Don't go messing with the mythology unless you know what you're doing on some level, eh?

Happy reading!