Review: Sanctuary

Wicked Lovely (Desert Tales Vol. 1): Sanctuary - Melissa Marr

This is the first part of a story (parallel to the books, not a retelling) about Rika, one of the girls who came before Ash in the long line of humans that Summer King Keenan tried to make his curse-breaking Queen.  After being released from her part in the game by the next in line, Donia, she retreated to the desert to hide from the faerie courts and the cold.  Now she likes to invisibly follow around a handsome human boy.  But he gets tangled up in faerie politics when she makes herself visible to save his life.

I am comfortable with the visual language of most comics, but not so comfortable with manga, and this book (published by Tokyopop) was often visually difficult for me to follow.  Also, and maybe it’s just more of my biases showing, I thought this skewed younger than the series it’s connected to but don’t think it has much appeal other than to readers of Wicked Lovely.  I think one of Marr’s strengths is at constructing secondary characters, but this ultimately feels like more of a cynical marketing ploy than a true story expanding her world.

Playing Catch-Up

Tap and Gown – Diana Peterfreund

Just as promised, Amy finally stopped acting like an idiot about her kidnapping in this book.  But it took her way too long to stop acting like an idiot about her relationship with Jamie.  I did not love-love-love this the way I did the earlier books in the series, but it also didn’t make me angry like those books sometimes did.  I think I’m ready to move on from Amy, but am very happy that as I do, I have a soon-to-be-released YA book of Peterfreund’s to look forward to.  I think, like Fire below, that my passionate crush on this series did this volume in it no favors.

Fragile Eternity – Melissa Marr

I don’t think I ever recorded here the related novel in this series, Ink Exchange, which I really liked.  But I loved this one and Wicked Lovely.  The plot goes to surprising places and I didn’t even mind that the budding romance of the first book was no longer as budding or romantic (which allowed the plot to move forward and the relationship to mature).  If I ever read another modern Fairie story again it’ll just be because I’m chasing after the appeal of this one.

Fire – Kristin Cashore

I know I’m pretty much alone in liking Graceling more, but I keep reminding people that it’s only because of how much of a crush I have on that book and not because this isn’t a stronger book.  I agree that this probably is.  And it tackles the male gaze, which is one of my favorite things ever to think about.  But I love the way that Cashore writes banter and sexual tension and those were missing from this book.  So I’ll just anxiously await whatever bits of Katsa and Po I’m given in her next book.

Once was Lost – Sara Zarr

I don’t personally find faith interesting, but I find Zarr interesting enough to go along for the ride when she explores it.

Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins

I’m sad that the first book in the series lived up to my expectations but this couldn’t handle the pressure.  I didn’t hate it, or even dislike it, I just hate that I only liked it.  The spoilery text of an email I sent to a friend in white text:

But one of my biggest frustrations with Catching Fire was the pacing of her “radicalization.”  That she was intuitive enough to read intention into the timing of the gifts she was receiving in the arena, but not to understand that her pin had become a symbol of the resistance.  And that an organized resistance was clearly forming but that it took her until the end to see it.  And I didn’t buy that the resistance would trust using her without her knowledge to go well, when that clearly didn’t work out for the government the first time around.  I did like the way she adjusted to the arena, that she realized things were going on that she didn’t understand and went with it.  I just felt more manipulated by the plotting of this story than the first one.

Lips Touch: Three Times – Laini Taylor

This book had the great premise of three fairytale love/forbidden desire stories that hinge on a kiss  and ended up being so much better than I expected while not really fulfilling the promise of the hook.  Another instance where David Levithan lied to me (I’m writing this bottom-up, see the review below) but I’m happier this time to have listened to him anway.  And as much as like Jim Di Bartolo’s illustrations, I don’t like the cover design.  Because it’s a much more serious, even grown-up, book than it seems.  And yes, each story in some way revolves around a kiss and the manifestation of physical desire, but I often related more to the other wishes and dreams of the characters.  The third story is an epic love story crammed into 110 pages that improbably has you siding with the evil witch-type by the end.  I’m not entirely sure how that narrative flip was even accomplished, but it was very skillful.  The first two stories have their charms, but the last is the one that really wowed me.  I don’t know if I’ve ever bought myself a real copy of a book after having read the ARC, but in this instance I might just for the illustrations.

Shiver – Maggie Stiefvater

Ultimately, I don’t think I liked this book.  At Day of Dialog, David Levithan swore up and down that this book transcended the otherworldly creatures (werewolves in this case) genre but I don’t think it does.  I think it was just okay with hints of being something wonderful.  Maybe someone else will read this and see what I’m missing.  There’s another story of doomed love that this reminds me of, but I can’t figure out what. *UPDATE.  The Universe just handed this to me on a plate: The Time Traveler’s Wife. It’s got the same “when will he disappear..possibly forever” tension.* It is very moody and atmospheric, but I never became fully invested in it.

Ash – Malinda Lo

Other than the lesbian love story aspect of this, it’s a pretty traditionally told Cinderella story.  The Fairy Godfather is actually a tricky, non-altruistic fairy, and it’s here and with the love story, where Lo carves her own space, that the book is the most successful.

Juliet, Naked – Nick Hornby

Technically this book has no business being here, as it has zero teen appeal, but I really enjoyed it.  And will stretch and say that it explores the flip side of the “Nick and Norah” music-obsessed-teen coin.  But it’s all about being a grown up, the disapointments and compromises and joys, and how not even a rock star can escape that.  This is the first Hornby book in years that I’ve enjoyed as much as I wanted to.

Scott Pilgrim vs.the Universe – Brian Lee O’Malley

I didn’t mind that Scott’s life kind of falls apart during this volume, I guess I’m turning into a cold-hearted grown up who didn’t expect his slacker lifestyle to be sustainable.  The cover is also very shiny and pretty.

Gregor the Overlander and Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane – Suzanne Collins

I’d been interested in this series ever since reading Hunger Games, but didn’t want to read a library copy because the paperback is both cheaply printed and very popular.  So I finally bought my own copy and once I’d finished, went out and immediately bought the second, which I read in one sitting.  I think the strength of these is Gregor.  He’s really likeable and resourceful.  And if too many of the books in this roundup feature kids who are destined to save the world, having a character who doesn’t act too stupid about the whole thing helps the over-used conceit go down easier.  I’m a little bit worried, and will have to be careful not to get too spoilery, that Collins may rely to heavily on formula with her plots.  These two books both follow similar arcs and this worry of mine is related to the aspect of Catching Fire that I wasn’t too impressed by.  I really wish these were collected in one volume, something with higher quality paper, so that you could easily read the whole saga in one go.

Blackbringer (Dreamdark) - Laini Taylor

I’m upset because I thought the sequel to this was already out but will instead have to wait until September for it.  So while that’s lame, I really enjoyed the story.  I like the way it maintained internal logic really well, how the strength of the god character was used to trick it, how the evil character was as much an important part of fairy history as anyone, how it feels like a complete story while making you want more, and how it might have the first fairy world I’d actually want to live in.  It would be really easy for me to talk about appreciating this book for all of the pitfalls it avoided, but that’s not very exciting.  This books seems to have initially been marketed as middle grade but then as YA for the paperback edition.  Which is funny, because I think it’s an easy sell to adults as well.

Updates and speed reviews

Because of my hectic new schedule where I’m thinking about work and emailing about work as much from home as from work (I got my very own, not even open yet, branch and I just started on Monday), I am falling behind in my reviews but also reading.  Who has the energy?  Not me.

Wondrous Strange – Lesley Livingston

I liked this Shakespearean, urban fairy tale.  If there’s a sequel I don’t know if I’d care enough to bother, but I did really enjoy it.  A few weeks ago, and my memory is horrible.

Avalon High – Meg Cabot

How did I not know about this sooner?  Arthur and his court reincarnated as American teenagers is the exact high concept I’m looking for.  But it still had all the fun high school romance and angst stuff.  Also, I could really relate to Ellie because all she ever wanted to do was float in her pool.

The Wordy Shipmates – Sarah Vowell

This doesn’t really have much YA interest, but I did read it and feel accomplished.  Vowell can make nearly everything interesting just because of her infectious enthusiasm, and she almost succeedes here as well.  But it’s still the Puritans arguing over the finer points of a religion I am only slightly interested in.  I think I got as much from hearing her talk about this book in interviews as I did from reading it.

Violet in Private – Melissa Walker

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the previous two in the series, but it was still pretty fun.  I’m just sick of being teased with the resolution of the same “man vs. himself” plots that have been happening since the first one.

Evermore – Alyson Noel

I didn’t like this book.  People who think Edward Cullen is the dreamiest might like this book.  ‘Nuff said.

Review: Wicked Lovely

Wicked Lovely – Melissa Marr

I’d been wanting to read this for awhile, but there were never any copies on the shelf. Now that it’s on the Summer Reading Club list, there were some new copies floating around. I took one with me on my Memphis trip.
And it was such a refreshing change from Need. On the surface there were similarities: faeries, a human girl who gets mixed up in it all and is destined to play a big part in their games, a not entirely evil faerie king who’s looking for a queen. But Aislinn, a teenager living in a disintegrating Steel Belt city so that she can try to avoid the faeries only she can see, is so much cooler and more resourceful than Zara. And the romance is the most fun I’ve read about since Graceling (which I just noticed is discounted to only $6.75 at Amazon, I’m buying a copy).

I think I’m most impressed by how well Marr straddles the difficulty of making a modern teenager’s strength in the face of ancient power both relatable and realistic. I genuinely like Aislinn and how she accepts the things she can’t change but forces everyone else to accept her on her own terms 90% of the time.

There’s a related novel already out, and a sequel coming before too long. And I’m there. I’m totally buying into this storyline. Which is a little unusual for me with books about faeries. I like them in theory more than I do in actuality, and I’ve rarely read beyond the first in a series. Maybe it’s just because I think Seth is dreamy, too.

Review: Need

Need – Carrie Jones

Instead of a plot summary, I will cheat and just say: Twilight. This book is Twilight with pixies and werewolves instead of vampires and werewolves. Its “appeal characteristics” are nearly identical to those of Twilight and it really is a perfect readalike for anyone who loved that series. Which is not to say it was any good (though the material its clearly seeking to emulate isn’t that great itself). It was often fun and exciting, but at the same time, the pace of revelation and acceptance is really bizarre.

This is the first in what was accidentally a series of farie books I read. It was very unsatisfying (though luckily the next couple weren’t). I don’t think it’s worth saying more, bothering to talk about how I didn’t really like the main character, because I don’t think this book is intended to stand on its own. To repeat: pass it along to kids who liked Twilight. It doesn’t have vampires, but it has strong and “dangerous” men who really want to take care of you. It also has a teenage girl plucked from obscurity who struggles to find a place for herself in a scary and mythical world, who thinks that martyring herself is probably the best way to accomplish that. So yeah.

Review: City of Bones

City of Bones – Cassandra Clare

Clary thinks she’s a normal girl living in a normal world until she starts seeing violent people and things that don’t make any sense.  It also doesn’t make much sense to anyone else in this urban fairytale because normal humans, “mundanes,” shouldn’t be able to see the fey or the demons that move through the world.  But it doesn’t take long for Clary and the demon hunting “Shadowhunters” she falls in with to realize that Clary isn’t a normal girl and everything she thought she knew about her family was a lie.  So obviously the group of teens decides it’s up to them to go up against the ultimate big-bad and retrieve their society’s most sacred object.  And of course things go wrong at every turn because their plan is stupid and misguided.  But if they’d actually talked to any adults, they might have realized that.

Lots of teens here love this series and the hints I’d heard of sexy incest made me want to give it a chance. I was sort of underwhelmed. I think it’s for a younger audience than it looks like and definitely not the 14+ that I’ve seen in reviews.  Sexy incest or no, ’cause it’s not that sexy.  There’s romance and action, but also a lot of stupid plotting and too much telling with not enough showing.  And maybe if I was 11 I wouldn’t have figured out all of the “surprising” plot elements well before the characters, sometimes hundreds of pages before the characters.  The bad guy is a little bit of Voldemort a lot a bit of Darth Vader, and he’s not the only thing that feels derivative.  Despite myself, I kind of want to know what happens in the rest of the series.

Review: Kin

Kin (Book 1 of The Good Neighbors) – Holly Black and Ted Naifeh

This is a story about the dark side of faerie and how they want to take over our world.  The only person who can stop it was raised as a human by her human father and faerie mother.  But now her mother is missing, and that mystery seems more important than stopping her grandfather from taking over the world.

I think I’m annoyed at this book for being the first in a series and for not telling me the complete story. I want the complete story and don’t feel satisfied with the amount of story I was given here. The art is amazing though. I especially love the way Rue, the main character is drawn and feel compelled enough by the depiction to care about the character.

Review: Tender Morsels

Tender Morsels – Margo Lanagan

This is one of the most startling things I have ever read.  In both premise and execution it went places I never knew I wanted a book to go.  I absolutely loved it and think it may be one of my favorite books ever.  I have often discussed with people that one of the reasons I left contemporary literature behind (and by that, I mean keeping up with and reading much of what was being newly published and talked about) is because so many “important” books are men’s stories.  They would be beautiful and illuminating,  would have nothing to do with me or my life or anything I’d ever felt, but more importantly ignored or dismissed the existence of women altogether.  And that can still be a valid reading experience, but not all the time.  I’m tired of so much of the dominant artistic culture being about men, especially when universalities are illustrated using only male experience.  So my point, after that long meander, is that Tender Morsels is for me the great women’s book I’ve been longing for.  Without shafting men.

And it’s a crazy book.  Crazy.  This is the first page, a love scene of sorts between a “witch” and a little person:

There were plenty would call her a slut for it.  Me, I was just glad she had shown me.  Now I could get this embarrassment off me.  Now I knew what to do when it stuck out its dim one-eyed head.

She were a revalation, Hotty Annie.  I had not known a girl could feel this too.  Lucky girls; they can feel it and feel it and nothing need showon the outside; they have to act all hot like Annie did, talk smut and offer herself to the lads, before anyone can tell…

“By the Leddy,” she said, “you have the kitment of a full man, you have, however short a stump you are the rest of you.”

And then soon after the rape and incest starts.  It’s really brutal, but never explicit and it wasn’t unbearable.  And then heaven comes, and the magical bears and then sort of a rapey bear.  It’s a surreal feminist fairy tale filtered through Cormac McCarthy about the struggle of women to claim their place and power in the world despite the horrors they must face.  One of my favorite bits  happens midway through when a powerful witch is called upon to unmuddle a mess:

She, Urdda, must see that place someday, where women dressed so beautifully yet so plain, and rode about alone.  No one would dare spit upon this woman, or call out at her.  She had a different kind of boldness, a strength that did not defy that of men so much as ignore it, or take its place without question beside it — Urdda wanted some of that boldness.

I usually can’t stand the way rape is used in many stories and will generally avoid books that contain it.  But reading this book was cathartic and not at all triggering.  And despite the fact that horrible things never stop happening, it’s still a hopeful book that demands remaining engaged in the world.

The plot is also strong, though much more complicated than most reviews paint it (but I think this is the review that made me want to read it and it does a good job with the basics of the plot and its appeal).  There are also frequent changes in narrator and time and place.  If it hadn’t been marketed for teenagers I don’t think I would consider teens as being possible readers of it.  We’ll see how it does out in the world.

Unfortunately I can’t demand that everyone read this book, but I wish I could.  But that I loved every second of reading such a dark and challenging book, should be some indication of how wonderful it is.

Review: Rapunzel’s Revenge

Rapunzel’s Revenge – Shannon and Dean Hale, illus. by Nathan Hale

Rapunzel has been raised in a castle-fortress by her evil, witchy mother, and mayor of the world, Gothel. When she realizes that the world beyond the castle walls is dying, and that her real mother is a slave in Gothel’s mines, she threatens to run away. Instead, she ends up locked in a towering tree. When her hair grows long enough for her to escape, she joins forces with Jack and his goose that he keeps waiting on to lay some golden eggs. They survive a series of Pecos Bill style adventures due to her ability to lasso and whip things with her 20-foot-long braid of hair. These adventures take place as they try to work their way back to Gothel’s castle to reunite with Rapunzel’s mother and free the world from Gothel’s tyranny.

This book is a librarian and a parent’s dream. Rapunzel is completely kick-ass and a true feminist hero. But it’s also a funny and engaging story that doesn’t seem as if it’s trying to teach a lesson. Jack’s not white, and neither are a lot of the characters, good guys and bad guys alike. Rapunzel is pretty, but isn’t interested in being conventionally so and she looks like Pipi Longstocking for the first half of the book. Revenge incorporates a lot of different elements of fairy tale and folklore and turns the conventions of the genres on their heads. But it also understands what is fundamentally appealing about them, and uses those elements to its advantage. There’s even a jackalope. And Jack still has one of his magic beans.

Now I’m just waiting to hear from my husband what his interest in this book is (I found it in a pile of new books on our kitchen table) and why he brought it home. Maybe he’d heard about the kick-ass teenage heroine? I know that’s one of his favorites.