Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Even though this book was published on August 28, 2018; I read the advance readers copy. Undoubtedly there will be some differences between the version I read and the published edition.

That being said, I loved this story. I loved the culture, family, and self perspectives. SO GOOD. An amazon summary, "Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He’s a Fractional Persian—half, his mom’s side—and his first-ever trip to Iran is about to change his life. 
 Darius has never really fit in at home, and he’s sure things are going to be the same in Iran. His clinical depression doesn’t exactly help matters, and trying to explain his medication to his grandparents only makes things harder. Then Darius meets Sohrab, the boy next door, and everything changes. Soon, they’re spending their days together, playing soccer, eating faludeh, and talking for hours on a secret rooftop overlooking the city’s skyline. Sohrab calls him Darioush—the original Persian version of his name—and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he’s Darioush to Sohrab. Adib Khorram’s brilliant debut is for anyone who’s ever felt not good enough—then met a friend who makes them feel so much better than okay." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Darius is persian, well half persian. His mother is persian and his father is an american. Darius has grown up in the states where he loves tea. He works part time at a tea shop where he's a little horrified with how the owner prepares tea (with tons of sugar). He also gets picked on by some of his classmates. Darius also has clinical depression, as does he his Dad. His little sister Laleh is quite a bit younger than him, but he adores her...even if he thinks she was born to replace him.

However, Darius has never met his mom's side of the family. He's talked to them on skype, but he's never seen them in person. So when his Babou (grandpa) has a brain tumor and started to decline, his family decides to travel to Iran to see them.

In Iran, Darius gets enmeshed in his family's history, his culture, and he starts to discover his whole family. He also meets his best friend, Sohrab, who seems to have a better and deeper understanding of Darius than anyone has ever had before.

That's enough summary.

I really loved this story, I know I said it once before but it bears repeating. I loved reading about the friendship with Sohrab, I loved reading about Darius getting to know his family, his family history, and his family's culture. I also learned so much about food that I'm going to Google some recipes for the foods they talked about in the book.

I also thought it was good to see all of Darius's thoughts as he reacted to different situations. It felt very authentic, and a kind of felt like what I imagine someone with clinical depression would think in different situations. The whole narrative felt authentic through and through.

Eh, as is my curse, it's hard to explain precisely why I love a book as much as I do. But I'm pretty sure all the Star Trek references helped in this case. :)

Happy reading!

Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc

Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc by David Elliott

This book will be published on March 26, 2019. I read an advance reading copy and there will undoubtedly be some differences between the version I read, and the published version.

I was pleasantly surprised this book was told in poetry. I picked it up because I had the, "OH SWEET! Joan of Arc!? Hollllllaaaa" kind of reaction. Plus, based on my experiences last year with really good poetry books such as POET X and LONG WAY DOWN, I was undeterred (yes, all the shameless links).

An amazon summary, "Bestselling author David Elliott explores how Joan of Arc changed the course of history and remains a figure of fascination centuries after her extraordinary life and death. Joan of Arc gets the Hamilton treatment in this evocative novel. 

Told through medieval poetic forms and in the voices of the people and objects in Joan of Arc’s life, (including her family and even the trees, clothes, cows, and candles of her childhood), Voices offers an unforgettable perspective on an extraordinary young woman. Along the way it explores timely issues such as gender, misogyny, and the peril of speaking truth to power. Before Joan of Arc became a saint, she was a girl inspired. It is that girl we come to know in Voices." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

HOLD. THE. PHONE. Whoever wrote that amazon summary, compared this to Hamilton. Excuseeeeeeee youuuuuuuuuuu?!?!?! No no no. Joan did not get that treatment, and no one will ever create a fabulous musical based off of this book. Joan's story, probably yes; this book? Not so much. Let me explain why.

If you're unfamiliar with Joan of Arc, here is a suuuuper brief, oversimplified history lesson. She was a farm girl who had visions of saints who beseeched her to return the rightful king to the throne of France. Once the king was crowned, Joan suffered a defeat on the fronts, and was put on trial...where they burned her for her 'crimes'. ...grossly oversimplified but yeah, let's roll with it.

This book is a book of poems about Joan, about the people surrounding Joan, and of the objects surrounding Joan. It really reminded me of the style of October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard, which is done really well and makes you cry and all of these wonderful things that emotionally connect you directly to the heart of the story.

...this book told the story of Joan, but it was frankly hard to digest. Not in the sense of the subject matter, portrayal of events, etc; but the poetry was not written in an interesting manner. Plus, when there were poems from different objects, sometimes the poems were in the shape of the object? Which is visually cool, but some of them were WAY more effort to read than what it was worth. I also took issue that a lot of the poems had the same tone/voice to them except for Joan's, even though they were supposed to be done by different people and objects.

This book also didn't offer me any new insight or compassion for Joan's story. It kind of tried to a couple times, but it just didn't bring anything new or interesting to Joan's story. This is the kind of book where you go, "Hey, I like poems and know nothing about Joan or Arc, I'll give it a try. *reads* Alright, I guess I know something about Joan of Arc now." Very just, subdued reactions would be had. ...which is fine if that's what you want.

Happy reading!

Bloodleaf

Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith

This book will be published on March 12, 2019. I read an advance reading copy and there will undoubtedly be some differences between the version I read and the published edition.

But, that cover art. Gorgeous. Don't judge a book by it's cover, but like always admire art. ammmmm I righttttt (yeah!)

An amazon summary, "A roar of a dark and luscious epic fantasy that’s layered with heady romance, bloodthirsty magic, and ghostly intrigue—an absolutely wicked delight.

Princess Aurelia is a prisoner to her crown and the heir that nobody wants. Surrounded by spirits and banned from using her blood-magic, Aurelia flees her country after a devastating assassination attempt. To escape her fate, Aurelia disguises herself as a commoner in a new land and discovers a happiness her crown has never allowed. As she forges new bonds and perfects her magic, she begins to fall for a man who is forbidden to rule beside her. But the ghosts that haunt Aurelia refuse to abandon her, and she finds herself succumbing to their call as they expose a nefarious plot that only she can defeat. Will she be forced to choose between the weight of the crown and the freedom of her new life?" AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Princess Aurelia is a princess in a hellishly suspicious kingdom. They're running around and prosecuting people (mostly women it appears) for being witches. They, being a council that isn't really a governing body but has elevated itself to basically be able to act without consequences. ...Kind of salem witch trials style mixed with a very small hint of the spanish inquisition ...except magic really does exist in this world. There are three different disciplines, and Aurelia happens to use blood magic. The kingdom can never know or they would have her hanged. But, the kingdom strongly suspects and relentlessly bullies Aurelia so she has nothing that remotely resembles a healthy life except for a loving mother and a maid who is pleasant.

Anywho, so Princess Aurelia is supposed to marry a prince from a neighboring kingdom not only to form an alliance between their kingdoms, but to protect Princess Aurelia's life and maybe unseat some of the wannabe spanish inquisition types. A, let's call him an advisor, comes from her suitors kingdom to help safely escort her to other kingdom. But there's an attack! He ends up staying behind to protect her mother, while the princess and prince flee into the night with the princess's most trusted guard....and the least trustworthy advisor to the queen., plus his daughter ...but one thing leads to another on their passage to the other kingdom and her guard dies, the princess escapes the advisor, and tries to make it to the other kingdom alone. Which she does, and after a few misadventures, she finds the other kingdom in it's own turmoil.

That's enough summary.

I really liked Princess Auerlia. She felt balanced between her flaws and strengths, so I was rooting for her throughout the entire book. The elements of magic were well done, had some sort of rhyme or reason to them instead of that wiggly finger "it's magic!" effect to explain everything (but I suspect we'll see more magic mechanics in the second and third books), and I loved the rich history woven into the story. It feels like an entirely different world with enough familiar elements to it that you're not lost wondering if a brownie is a food or a creature when casually yet briefly mentioned in a sentence (bad, memorable experience. Can you tell?)

On the back of my edition it's like, "oh man if you like Maggie Stiefvater and Sarah J. Maas, well you'll probably like this too!" which I kind of can see? Ehhh? I didn't really have a point there. ... it's fine.

There were two reveals that I whole heartedly disagreed with, but, as they're reveals I'm not going to delve into them. I did find her ability to see ghosts a little strange but useful? But I also wonder if that's specifically her gift, or if other people are able to do it too. I don't know, but I do know that I'm looking forward to the sequels.

Happy reading!

Rise of the Dragons

Rise of the Dragons by Angie Sage

This book will be published on February 26, 2019. I read an uncorrected proof edition (aka advance reader's copy) so there will undoubtedly be some differences between the version I read and the published edition.

That being said, a book about DRAGONS?! HELLO, THIS IS MY ALLEY. ...however, I have some strict requirements for good dragon books....... an amazon summary, "Comes with 9 collectible game cards that allow YOU to join the dragon battle!

Once our world was full of dragons who lived in harmony with humans. But after a group of rogue dragons, the Raptors, tried to take over Earth, all dragons were banished to another realm.
Most humans forgot about the dragons, claiming they never existed. Eleven-year-old Sirin knows the truth -- she grew up with stories passed down through the generations. However, when her mother falls ill, even Sirin has trouble believing in magic . . . until she sees a mysterious streak of silver in the night sky. 
Sirin becomes the first child to "lock" with a dragon in centuries -- forming a deep friendship unlike anything she's ever imagined. But Sirin learns that not all dragons returned with good intentions, and soon she finds herself at the center of a battle between the dragons who want to protect the humans . . . and those who want to destroy them." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

First things first, this book is being advertised as coming with 9 collectible game cards.... excuse me? Well really, excuse you? Usually you wait for something to be wildly successful before branching out into other merchandise. If your gimmick is to make kids want to read by introducing a card game where reading probably isn't required to understand the card game.... they're probably not going to read the book.

SECONDLY, the book title is Rise of the Dragons. Why is there a Wyvern on the cover? Wutttttt?!?!?

Thirdly, the actual book summary. After reading the amazon summary, I have surmised the published edition will most likely be quite different from what I read. What I read is about two siblings who live in an alternate earth of sorts and have become indentured servants after their parents were eaten by Raptor dragons. Raptors are basically a gang of bad guys running around and destroying the other dragon factions and pillaging whatever they like. Sirin does exist, in the 'actual' earth, where her mother is tremendously ill and she's taken away to live in foster care. ...so like what the amazon summary is portraying doesn't seem to be quite the same book as what I read. Sirin's chapters were like maybe..... 15% of the book? Maybe? The bulk of the book took place in the alternate earth where the two siblings are working but dreaming of escaping. And... one of them has a giant dragon egg almost dropped on top of them. A silver dragon egg. A silver dragon is legendary for the rumor it is able to access other worlds. ....but like none of the other dragons seems to have any special abilities due to their scale colors. Also, I'm not sure why it's beneficial, at all, for a dragon to Lock with a human (essentially a telepathic bond). There seems to be one way benefit; as in the human gets protected by a dragon and gets to fly on the dragon. WHEEEEE

Fourth...ly, the book's writing style disagreed with me...but I still read the entire damn thing. It took me like 40 books years to finish this book and even then it was just a spiteful, I will finish reading this book rather than I enjoyed reading the book. To backtrack, the writing style is third person omniscient and has just enough detail to get a sense of the scenery before plunging into thick action and dramatics that kind of felt like being forced to eat the sugary cereal as a kid. I also think the language was too...clunky and basic? It kind of felt like the author didn't trust anyone to know what they were talking about and spelled it out.

Fifthly, there will probably be a sequel. A sequel that I will not read. I said GOOD DAY!

Happy reading!

Wicked Nix

Wicked Nix by Lena Coakley

This book was published on October 9, 2018. I got my hands on the uncorrected proof version, so there will undoubtedly be some differences between the published version and the uncorrected version.

This is a pretty short book, so here's the amazon summary, "Mischievous woodland fairy Nix is up to no good. His beloved fairy queen has gone away, leaving him with a very important job: He must protect the forest from a most dangerous enemy—humans.
           When a determined invader trespasses on his territory, Nix’s skills are put to the test as he invents several wicked tricks to chase the sorry fellow away. But when his efforts don’t go quite according to plan, it becomes clear that this intruder—and this sprite—may not be at all what they seem.           This gorgeous new fairytale by acclaimed author Lena Coakley, with illustrations by rising illustration star Jaime Zollars, explores the timeless bonds of family and the joy of finding home in unexpected places." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE 

The Fairy Queen and fairy court have gone to the summer country, and have left Wicked Nix behind. Wicked Nix has been keeping watch of the forest. One day, a man moves into the abandoned cottage in the forest. Wicked Nix knows the Fairy Queen despises humans, and is determined to make the man move out of the cottage before she returns. He's decided to play tricks on the man to get him to leave, maybe then the fairies won't forget him the next time they go to the summer country.

Since this is a pretty short story (the version I read is only 110 pages), I'm going to stop the summary there.

I find this story pretty adorable. The narrator, Wicked Nix, was pretty perfect as he slowly revealed what was truly going on in ways that he didn't quite catch onto himself. The illustrations were lovely, and I enjoyed the sense of the fairy tale being told by the fairy.

It also dealt with the serious yet sad ramifications of a child being stolen by fairies in a digestible, thoughtful, but still kind of terrifying way.

Mr. Green was also very wonderful.

Happy reading!