Author: Neesha Meminger

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, PoC

Publisher: Ignite Books (self-published)
Publication date: March 2012
Paperback: 308 pages

Pammi has a Secret–she is an Able. At night, she travels through time to an ancient city called Zanum. She’s been visiting Zanum since she was [...]]]> Title: Into the Wise Dark

Author: Neesha Meminger

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, PoC

Publisher: Ignite Books (self-published)
Publication date: March 2012
Paperback: 308 pages

Pammi has a Secret–she is an Able. At night, she travels through time to an ancient city called Zanum. She’s been visiting Zanum since she was seven and she’s kept it a secret from everyone–including her own mother. Especially her mother. Everything’s been fine…until now.

On the night of an important Zanum ceremony, Pammi follows her gut instinct and defies an elder’s orders, inadvertently leading evil directly to the door of the city she loves. Now the evil that plans to wipe out the city is coming after her. Can she save herself, and Zanum, before it’s too late? Or will she seal the doom of all Ables and witness the annihilation of everyone she loves?

Stand alone or series: Stand alone (but could be the start of a series!)

How did I get this book: We both received review copies from the author.

Why did I read this book: We love Neesha Meminger and her continuous commitment to publishing awesome stories even if she has to do it herself. Ana reviewed her second book, Jazz in Love last year and loved it. When we learnt that her new venture was a Fantasy novel, saw the cover and read the blurb, we just HAD to read it.¹

REVIEW:

First Impressions:

Thea: Into the Wise Dark is the first book I’ve had the pleasure of reading from author Neesha Meminger, though she has been a Book Smuggler staple ever since Ana discovered (and fell in love with) her two prior novels, Shine Coconut Moon and Jazz in Love. Since I’m more of a SFF gal and not so much of a contemporary YA gal, Into the Wise Dark was FINALLY my chance to try Neesha Meminger’s work – and for that, I am very glad. I truly enjoyed the premise of the book, the fantasy elements, the (effortless) diversity of the characters, and setting. While there were some writing issues along the way and some dichotomous characterizations, Into the Wise Dark is a solid urban fantasy novel with a unique twist.

Ana: I was both excited and wary about reading Into the Wise Dark. “Excited” because having loved Neesha Meminger’s previous books so much, I expected nothing less than a good read. “Wary” because this was her first foray into Fantasy and I wondered how this shift from ContempYA to Fantasy would go down. Well, I am pleased to say that it worked really well with a great Fantasy premise, truly great character interaction and an awesome female protagonist. Notwithstanding a couple of hiccups along the way (more on those later), this is another great novel from the author.

On the Plot:

Ana: Pammi has been keeping a secret for a long time. Every night, she travels back in time to the long lost city of Zanum where she has a second family and a boyfriend. The secret is to be kept at all costs so that Pammi can preserve her freedom: her stories of Zanum worried her mother who sent her for a very traumatic psychiatric treatment when she was younger. In the now, Pammi is mostly a lonely, secretive person and despite the attempts of her loving mother to make her more open, it is in Zanum that she truly flourishes.

Pammi is to spend the summer after graduating from high school working as a counsellor at a facility for troubled girls where she realises that her powers are not unique, that there are others like her and that their gift are connected with the Dark – an abstract, yet very real all-encompassing and all-connecting environment. All of it is linked somehow to Zanum –where people with similar gifts thrive until an ancient evil threatens to destroy everything – and everyone – that Pammi holds dear. And it might be all her fault.

In terms of plot, Into the Wise Dark is quite straightforward and it follows an ancient evil that threatens to destroy everything that the main character – whose role to play is central both in terms of motivating the villain and stopping him – loves. What makes it a standout story is the premise of the Dark and the characters.

I loved the idea of the Dark, the different ways of interacting with it as well as the time travel side of it. But above all, I loved the ContempYA elements worked into the novel especially when it comes to the diversity of the characters (in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation) and the friendships between the four main female characters. Of course, there is also that geeky part of me that was over the moon with the connections between Zanum and the ancient (and ok, hypothetical) lost land of Lemuria (seriously, when I was a teenager, I was way into “lost cities” and Lemuria was my favourite lost city of all. Yeah, I was that sort of geek with a favourite lost city. Good times).

On the downside, I thought that parts of the story were considerably slower and that’s explained by a certain amount of info-dump and a tendency to be didactic. It wasn’t enough to annoy me but definitely a “but” for what is otherwise a very cool story.

Thea: From a worldbuilding perspective, Into the Wise Dark can teach many contemporary/urban fantasy novels a thing or two. I love the idea of “Ables” (though maybe not so crazy about the actual nomenclature) and the manipulation of “the Dark” and the different powers that these Ables are granted. Pammi’s particular gift, for traveling back through time by manipulating threads and moving along a spiral in a form of what amounts to astral projection is pretty cool. I also love that Meminger implements solid RULES for her powers – no one is ALL POWERFUL without consequences, and the real world implications of girls leaving their sleeping bodies behind as they use their gifts to travel in time/read others’ minds/etc is frightening stuff (i.e. these girls are seen as traumatized and mentally disturbed, and sent to special clinics to ‘get better’). The lines between conventionally sane and societal expectation are examined briefly but I love the tension here – early in the book I found myself questioning whether or not Pammi actually was suffering from delusions (though she’s not, this is a fantasy novel, not a psychological thriller).

I also loved the setting of the book, as Pammi leaves our current world for a time thousands of years in the past, travelling to Zanum (the ancient Indus River Valley civilization) and making her connections with the people there – who are, interestingly, used to travellers such as Pammi.

So far as actual conflict and story go, however, things are a bit more mundane. Ancient evil stirs, EVIL BAD VILLAIN is responsible, Pammi and her friends have to fight against him for the sanctity of all that is good, yadda yadda yadda. I have nothing against this type of storyline – hell, it’s one of my favorite SFF staples! The backdrop of the unique world and powers that these girls have is more than enough to endear me to the more pedestrian plotting aspects. That said, there were some problems in terms of writing and execution that were jarring to my personal reading experience. As Ana says, there are many info-dumps along the way, and the pacing is uneven because of some stilted transitions and the story stumbled at key points as Pammi moves back and forth through time. I also couldn’t quite buy the entire setup of the institute for traumatized girls – the link between trauma and leadership felt a bit forced and unconvincing to the outside world. Though we do discover that these girls have been selected because of their powers and that’s great and all (in an Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters type of deal), I’m not quite convinced that the actual underlying premise makes sense or why anyone would believe this clinic’s public facade.

Finally, Into the Wise Dark presents things in a very GOOD and EVIL kind of way, with no shades of gray. This is fine, but I like a little more complexity and conflict, especially in a world with powers as tantalizing as those presented int his book.

On the Characters:

Ana: Neesha Meminger has a knack for writing great female characters. I loved Pammi and her mixture of impulsiveness and self-awareness. I loved her circle of relationships. With her mother, a mixture of closeness and distance because of the secrets she has to keep. The one with her boyfriend in Zanum, a relationship that is frank, which includes sexual closeness as well as a honest look at non-monogamous relationships (and all the doubts and desires that might come with it). I loved that theirs was a respectful, loving relationship that was central to Pammi’s life but not THE centre of her life. Above all, l love the relationship that develops between her and the three girls she meets and how this becomes the focus of the novel.

Another thing I loved about the book and the characters: how incredibly self-aware they are. Like for example, questioning the villain’s ridiculous motivation: you know that type of whiny yet dangerous villain who wants to destroy the world because they didn’t get a date to the prom? Yeah, sort of like that. I loved how Pammi totally calls on that. Plus she acts impulsively and does stupid things and questions the fact that no one was telling her the truth – this sort of “let’s not tell the heroine anything so that she has a reason to run into things” always frustrates me and I thought it was fun that Pammi also questioned that and voices it as a reason for some of her actions.

Thea: Ok, by the same token though, Pammi does some REALLY stupid things in the book (largely because she isn’t told the full truth). She’s impulsive and that’s endearing, but her actions have consequences – when she watches a forbidden rite, when she travels back to Zamun even though she’s explicitly told not to because hundreds of lives and the future of the people are in jeopardy, what does she do? She freaking travels back to Zamun. She watches the forbidden rite. ARGH. THEN she realizes that her actions have kind of damned the people she loves and she feels terrible about it.

On the one hand, I love that Pammi actually feels like a real teenager and has this impulsive, selfish streak – it makes her a more genuine character. On the other hand, though, this makes her a very annoying character because of her tendency to screw things up by doing things without thinking through the consequences. And, consequently, Pammi is likeable, but in that annoying-but-you-love-her little sister kind of way. At least for me.

Beyond motivations and questionable decision-making skills, Pammi is given a lot of depth and color as a character, and I have to wholeheartedly agree with Ana’s observations. I love that she has a healthy relationship with her mother (and her mother’s longstanding boyfriend), and I love that Pammi’s culture and heritage as an Indian and an American is effortlessly presented as an integral part of who she is. I also loved the secondary characters of Pammi’s fellow Ables, though they get perhaps less time and attention in the development department. The only characters that left me wanting were the villainous ones, with motivations that are obvious and a little silly.

Final Thoughts, Observations & Rating:

Ana: As you can tell, I truly loved Into the Wise Dark and hope to see more from this world soon – there is a lot of potential here for more kick-ass stories in the same world, with the same characters.

Thea: I enjoyed Into the Wise Dark and definitely would journey back to the ream of the Dark and the women that can explore its depths! Recommended, with only a few minor reservations.

Rating:

Ana: 7 – Very Good

Thea: 6 – Good

Notable Quotes/ Parts: From Chapter 1:

Part 1: Zanum

I have become the Dark. This wasn’t something I set out to do. It wasn’t even something I wanted. But that’s what I am.

Pasea says we are all made from the stuff of the Dark – that we carry it within us and it is there for us to mold into whatever vision of reality we hold as truth. But most of us walk around not even knowing the Dark is there…afraid of it, afraid to look into it, to even acknowledge it.

But me and the girls I met the summer after I graduated from high school – we had all seen it. We knew about the Dark. We touched it, merged with it, molded it into our version of reality. I didn’t know how important my role was – rejected it, in fact – until much later.

This is the story of how I, a Traveler of the Dark, went back in time to give life to my ancestors. It is a story of how I consumed Dyal so that she became a part of me forever. And it is a story of how my ancestors ended up in the part of the world now known as the Indus Valley. We began in Zanum, far t the east of the Indus, where e lived for many generations before the Conquest.

And that is where the story begins. In Zanum. But first you need to know who I was before, when I began Traveling. How everything started. And how I had to fight to hold on to my grip on the Dark.

Reading Next: The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman

Buy the Book:

Ebook available for kindle US, kindle UK, google, nook, kobo

Author: Zetta Elliott

Genre: Fantasy (Contemporary/Urban Fantasy), Young Adult

Publisher: Amazon Encore
Publication date: February 2012
Paperback: 132 pages

When Dmitri, an 11-year-old bird watcher and math whiz, loses his mother to breast cancer, he is taken in by Mrs. Martin, an elderly white woman. Unaccustomed to the [...]]]> Title: Ship of Souls

Author: Zetta Elliott

Genre: Fantasy (Contemporary/Urban Fantasy), Young Adult

Publisher: Amazon Encore
Publication date: February 2012
Paperback: 132 pages

When Dmitri, an 11-year-old bird watcher and math whiz, loses his mother to breast cancer, he is taken in by Mrs. Martin, an elderly white woman. Unaccustomed to the company of kids his own age, D struggles at school and feels like an outcast until a series of unexpected events changes the course of his life.

First, D is asked to tutor the school’s basketball star, Hakeem, who will get benched unless his grades improve. Against the odds, the two boys soon realize they have something in common: they are both taunted by kids at school, and they both have a crush on Nyla, a beautiful but fierce eighth-grade girl. Then Nyla adopts D and invites him to join her entourage of “freaks.” Finally, D discovers an injured bird and brings it home from the park.

D is stunned when the strange bird speaks to him and reveals that she is really a guiding spirit that has been held hostage by ghost soldiers who died in Brooklyn at the start of the American Revolution. As Nuru’s chosen host, D must carry her from Brooklyn to the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan, but the ghost soldiers won’t surrender their prize without a fight.

With the help of Hakeem and Nyla, D battles the Nether Beings who lurk underground, feeding off centuries of rage and pain. But it takes an unexpected ally to help the trio reach the ship that will deliver the innocent souls of the dead back to Nuru’s realm. An urban fantasy infused with contemporary issues and historical facts, Ship of Souls will keep teen readers gripped until the very end.

Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel

How did we get this book: Bought & Review Copy

Why did we read this book: We are big fans of Zetta Elliott’s! Last year, we read and loved A Wish After Midnight and we’ve had the wonderful Zetta Elliott over for a guest posts and an interview in our April newsletter. When we learned of Ship of Souls of course we knew we had to do a joint review.

REVIEW:

First Impressions:

Thea: Wow. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started Ship of Souls, given its slender nature at under 200 pages (not that I have anything against slender packages, given that some of the most potent and effective stories I’ve ever read come with deceptively low page counts). I wasn’t expecting the power and poignancy of Ship of Souls, that’s for sure. This is a story that gets under your skin, that makes you feel and ache and love. If I had to sum up this novel in one word, again: wow.

Ana: Word. This is going to be one of those reviews where I fully agree with Thea. Ship of Souls is a seamless combination of Contemporary and Historical with a side of Urban Fantasy that works well on all of its fronts. It is basically a full measure of awesome in a small package and I just loved it wholeheartedly.

On the Plot:

Thea: Dmitri is an eleven-year-old boy that has never questioned how much his mother loves him. His father has never been around, but he’s always known that his mother’s love has been more than enough – together the two of them face the world. When his mom is diagnosed with breast cancer, and dies shortly after, D is left utterly alone in the world and sent into foster care. Desperate to get out of the group home system, D invents a perfect version of himself to impress anyone looking to foster a new child, and finds a home with the elderly Mrs. Martin. Determined to be the most perfect incarnation of himself, D is always on his best behavior with Mrs. Martin, careful to be polite, to help out around the house, and to take school seriously. It is here, at his new school that D meets and forms an unlikely bond with Keem, the popular basketball jock, as his math tutor. It is also here that he meets Nyla, the most beautiful girl in school, who takes D under her wing.

Despite these new, tenuous friendships, D still feels utterly alone, but he takes solace in his trips to Prospect Park and in his favorite hobby of watching birds. One fateful day, he spies an unusual bird – a bird that speaks to D and knows his thoughts, fears, and deepest hopes. The bird is no ordinary bird, but a creature from another realm, named Nuru. Because D has no ties to bind his heart, Nuru has chosen him as her own host to aid her in her quest to free the souls of the dead. But soon, D discovers that his heart might not be so free – and he learns the power of true friendship, trust, and love.

I repeat: WOW. D’s journey in Ship of Souls is breathtaking in its gravity and heartache. While, from a plotting perspective, the actual story proper is a rather small, contained thing, it is not without its taste of the fantastic, drawing a portal between the current world and the ghosts of the past through the magic of a very special park and its historical significance. Do you know what I love the most about Zetta Elliott’s work? In both A Wish After Midnight and in Ship of Souls, Elliott effortlessly weaves history – a painful, grim, but true history – with fantasy. In this novel, she explores one of the first major battles of the British-American Revolutionary war. In 1776, Prospect Park (along Flatbush Ave) was the battleground for British and Hessian soldiers as they fought the Continental Army (led by George Washington) – and this iconic battle serves as a key point for the story. To do this, to add on top of the historical commentary also one that explores the issues of race, gender, and religion in contemporary Brooklyn, this is no small feat. But Zetta Elliott does it all without making the story didactic or dry, by making these threads more than just a Message or underlying theme – each of these facets of identity are a part of our main characters (D, Keem and Nyla).

Most of all, though, Ship of Souls is a story about a young boy as he grapples with the issues of grief, of isolation and neglect, and of love and friendship. But more on that in a bit.

Ana: Yes, exactly! I loved how the story perfectly combines elements of Contemporary YA, UF and History without being excessive or without losing sight that at its core, this is the story of a young boy. Just like Thea, I was awed by how historical commentary (not only about the British-American War but also about African American Slavery) connects with current social commentary on issues of gender, race, religion. In that sense, I think the most impressive accomplishment of Ship of Souls is indeed how it is both self-contained but also part of something much bigger – it is a perfect example of how individual lives are affected by history which in turn affect current cultural and social arenas. And even when the story takes its turn into fully Fantasy territory it is the characters’ backgrounds and personal histories that move them. Another thing worth mentioning is how this story is imbued with a really strong sense of location – be it the Brooklyn of now or then, be it above ground or underground.

And yes, all of it is expertly handled but like Thea mentions, it is not a dry, dull, didactic story – this was a very emotional read for me and I found myself in tears as the book came to a close with its beautiful and heart-warming ending.

On the Characters:

Thea: On the character front, Ship of Souls soars. Dmitri’s narration drives the story, and it is through the connection to the precocious young boy that the novel depends. D’s story is so heart-renderingly open, so painfully honest that you can’t help but fall in love with the character who so needs love in his life. From his mother’s life and death, to his time in the foster home, to his new life with Mrs. Martin, D’s story is one of heartbreaking young loss. Instead of falling into anger, though D compensates by trying to become the Perfect-D, the boy that will always strive to please, to keep his head down, to stay away from others to make sure he isn’t hurt or sent away again. When Nuru tells D that she has picked him precisely because his heart isn’t complicated with any other ties, I felt my own heart break for the young boy. And when D DOES make other connections, to Keem and Nyla, I wanted to pump my fist in the air with joy. THAT is how powerful Zetta Elliott’s characterizations are, especially for her young protagonist.

The other two main characters are also beautifully drawn too, if they get a little less time than D in the spotlight. Hakeem is so much more than his label as a brainless jock – occasionally ostracized himself because he is Muslim, Keem gradually, begrudgingly befriends D through their tutoring sessions. And then, there is Nyla – beautiful and confident, Nyla has more piercings than D can count and doesn’t seem to have any problem changing and challenging people’s expectations or views of her. She also is a loyal friend, that cares for those that others call “freaks” – including D. These three characters form an unlikely friendship, and as things start to turn bad for D, both Nyla and Keem are there to help him, to fight for him, with him. This is awesome.

I am not going to lie, dear readers. I teared up when I reached those last pages, when D finally realizes that Nyla and Keem aren’t just glad to be rid of him, and that they are truly his friends. Elliott’s writing is powerful, and her characters are what make the story so poignant.

Ana: In one of the most heartbreaking moments of this story, D says:

Problem is, most days I just feel numb. When I’m not numb, I’m miserable. And even when I’m not miserable, I’m still alone.

This is an incredibly poignant moment that shows how extremely self-aware this young boy is – D has gone through a lot and prompted by the grief for his mother’s death he tries to detach himself from any deep connections with friends or with his foster mother in order to avoid more suffering. That frame of mind is what puts him in the path of Nuru and that’s how he becomes a hero for the trapped souls. I loved the subtle exploration about heroism, what makes a person become a hero (or not) and how heroes need not act by themselves. It explores the powerful effect of friendships, of opening up to people and of accepting (and offering) help in time of need.

D’s developing friendship with Nyla and Hakeem is deftly handled and even though that friendship does happen quite fast, I didn’t think it was to the detriment of the story. Rather the contrary: I felt the fast, deep connection formed between the three to be believable and I loved all three characters and how well developed they were.

That the author also manages to give strong voices to the long-dead ghosts of the soldiers and of the slaves is a thing of beauty, really.

Final Thoughts, Observations & Rating:

Thea: Ship of Souls is the second book I’ve read by Zetta Elliott, and I think it exceeds its predecessor. Beautiful, heartbreaking, and powerful, Ship of Souls is a book that I want to give to every middle grade and young adult reader. Absolutely recommended.

Ana: Ship of Souls is that type of story that can be quickly devoured in one sitting, but it’s not a fleeting story – it stays, it matters, it has a long-lasting effect. I loved it and it’s definitely a Notable Read of 2012.

Notable Quotes/Parts:

I still hear her voice every day, and sometimes I even talk back. Mostly I just try to do the things I know she’d want me to do. Like keep my grades up, respect my elders, speak proper English – stuff like that.

One of the nurses at the hospital gave me a pink ribbon pin to put on my jacket, but I put it in my pocket instead. I didn’t want to be a walking advertisement for Cancer. Plus, you get a ribbon when you win some kind of contest, and this time I didn’t win. I lost. Cancer won.

Sometimes I push the pin into my finger just to make sure I don’t forget what losing feels like. I prick my skin and squeeze out a little blood. Feeling pain means I am still alive, and I know mom would want me to keep on living. Problem is, most days I just feel numb. When I’m not numb, I’m miserable. And even when I’m not miserable, I’m still alone.

Rating:

Ana: 8 – Excellent

Thea: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Into the Wise Dark by Neesha Meminger

Buy the Book:

Ebook available for kindle US & kindle UK

The Hunt giveaway winners:

The five winners of The Hunt are:

Jill the OWL

Victoria Zumbrum

Heidi Frederick

Tina

Lyn

Congratulations to the winners! You know the drill. Send us an email (contact AT thebooksmugglers DOT com) with your [...]]]> Hello everybody, a good Sunday to all!

The Hunt giveaway winners:

The five winners of The Hunt are:

Jill the OWL

Victoria Zumbrum

Heidi Frederick

Tina

Lyn

Congratulations to the winners! You know the drill. Send us an email (contact AT thebooksmugglers DOT com) with your snail mail address and we’ll get your winnings out to you as soon as possible!

The Book Smugglers Elsewhere:

We have been interviewed by Jane Litte at the wonderful blog Dear Author and answered questions on how we started blogging, how do we run things over here and what’s our Vision (and AGENDA) for the future. If you want to learn more about us, GO HERE!

This week on The Book Smugglers:

You might have noticed that April was a VERY BUSY month for us. On top of full time working and blogging, Thea was also finishing her thesis and Ana had visitors from Brazil three times and a two week holiday. That meant that some joint reviews we were supposed to write that month were postponed till… NOW! We decided to dedicate the coming week to all the joint reviews we couldn’t do last month as well as a couple for books we are REALLY excited to read. SO! We are proud to present…

SMUGGLERS ASSEMBLE: A WEEK OF JOINTS!

On Monday:

On Tuesday:

On Wednesday:

on Thursday:

On Friday:

We are so excited about this week, you can’t even imagine! Until tomorrow, we remain…

Geek Heroes and Villains Wrapping Paper (via The Mary Sue)

~ Your Friendly Neighborhood Book Smugglers

Author: Robin LaFevers

Genre: Historical, Paranormal, Young Adult

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date: April 3rd 2012
Hardcover: 549 pages

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. [...]]]> Title: Grave Mercy

Author: Robin LaFevers

Genre: Historical, Paranormal, Young Adult

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date: April 3rd 2012
Hardcover: 549 pages

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Stand alone or series: His Fair Assassin #1

How did we get this book: Bought

Why did we read this book: Well, this is a paranormal historical novel featuring NINJA NUNS. How could we not?

REVIEW:

Ana’s Take:

Ismae is a young girl who is able to escape the brutality and abuse of her childhood home and of her new husband by joining a convent where the God of Death is still worshipped and becoming a handmaiden to Death. Blessed with gifts by the God, she trains to become one of his assassins and her newest assignment is at the centre of a palatial intrigue to which she is woefully underprepared.

Grave Mercy is a book with not only a kick-ass premise (NINJA NUNS!) but also a fascinating setting: the pivotal moment in Brittany’s history when Anne of Brittany has become its ruler and must defend it against France oppression. Unfortunately, this book and I didn’t see eye to eye and I ended up putting it aside at around page 350 (of 549). It is a sad day when a book featuring Ninja Nuns doesn’t work for me, but alas.

My problems with Grave Mercy were twofold: first of all there was the writing and then there the small little things that annoyed me. With regards to the writing: I thought there was a lot more telling than showing and an extreme reliance on writing shortcuts.

We are told more than we actually see a lot of what happens in the story not only in terms of plot but also of character development. The most glaring of them are during Ismae stay at the convent where she is supposed to have become this kick-ass assassin. The thing is, we are just told that she has become one – the book lists her achievements rather than showing them and then we must accept it as fact. Similarly all the nuns at the convent are described simply by what they do rather than by who they are. One can argue that the story is not REALLY about Ninja Nuns (what a shame) and more about the political intrigue and Ismae’s internal conflict. And truth be told I completely appreciate the immense potential for conflict between someone who is trained to act on things by simply killing them versus having to act via diplomacy but unfortunately I don’t think that this is sufficiently well developed. In fact, I found myself becoming increasingly bored with this very storyline – it is just so…bland.

But then there are the writing shortcuts too. This is one of my biggest pet peeves: in which we are simply told what is happening to a character with familiar clichéd turns of phrase that are used in order to hastily convey emotions. Take these few examples from Grave Mercy:

The thrill of success is still humming through my veins

humiliation courses through my veins

certainty flows in my veins

shock simmering in my veins

my blood is singing in my veins

relief sings so sharply in my veins

Holy Mortain, her veins must be extremely congested with so many things running/humming/singing/simmering/ etc through them. I could continue but you get my drift.

And then there were those things that made me stop and question everything I was reading. It annoyed me that there is a complete lack of questioning on her part about being a killer – even though she has been brought up within a religious environment and joins a convent, it doesn’t seem to occur to her that killing might be a little bit against the usual precepts of her church? I get that this is supposed to be explained by the fact that the God they worship (now turned a saint) is a God of Old and they are following the “old ways” rather than the new church but still, it just doesn’t ring true. Similarly, the book starts with Ismae getting married to an abusive husband. Although they never get around to actually consummating the marriage and she flees soon after it, she had been married at a church by a priest who actually follows her own faith and yet there is nary a thought about these vows and she doesn’t think about that marriage anymore.

Then, there is the fact that when she is about to leave the convent she is given a special knife which can kill a person if only so much it touches skin. So tell me again what is the point of all the kick ass training these women went through if all they need is a Special Magical Knife that kills effortlessly?

Finally, my last nit-picky comment. Something that made me think: I have seen this book lauded as a feminist read because of the powerful female characters and the ninja nuns. But is this really a true feminist read just because of that? I mean, ALL OF THEIR ENEMIES are men. Whenever they are talking about their skills at the convent or speak about their enemies, these are all men. So, in truth, even though these characters are all ninja female assassins, their entire world STILL evolve around MEN. Even their god is a male god. Just some food for thought.

I do appreciate the intentions and think they are laudable especially when it comes to giving power to these powerless girls after they have suffered abuse. I just wish this thread had been better developed beyond “let’s give them weapons and make them kill men”. In fairness, I stopped reading before the ending, so this might have been addressed after all. I just couldn’t care enough to carry on and find out for myself.

Grave Mercy really didn’t float my boat. A shame.

Thea’s Take:

I’m of two minds when it comes to Grave Mercy. On the one hand, there are clearly some significant drawbacks to the writing and pacing of the novel, and I agree with some of Ana’s criticisms wholeheartedly. On the other, I personally LOVE this type of fantasy/spy/assassin/political intrigue with a dash of romance type of story. And despite the book’s missteps (particularly with regard to writing style), I found myself really enjoying – heck, loving! – the book, especially once it hits its stride after the first few chapters.

So, first the bad. As Ana details in her take on the book, the writing for Grave Mercy leaves much to be desired. Personally, I am not a fan of the first person present tense as a narrative choice – especially not in a historical fantasy novel – as it tends to lend a strange robotic quality to the protagonist. Such is the case with Ismae in her narrative. Compounding the problem is the very tell-y nature of the writing. Not only are Ismae’s veins chock full of all sorts of craziness, but she also oscillates between incredibly HOT or freezing COLD throughout the novel. Example:

A fierce heat rises inside of me and Heat rushes into my cheeks

He pulls me closer, so that I feel the heat rising off his body, warm and smelling faintly of some spice. (THEA’S NOTE: I really, really hate this sentence. The only worse offender: “He smelled warm and musky and undeniably MALE.” Gag.)

His grip is firm,and it is as if the heat from his hand burns through all the layers between us

And so on and so forth. This is annoying. ALSO annoying is the fact that Ismae’s emotions are plainly TOLD instead of experienced. Not to mention the entire glossing over of Ismae’s training to become a killer assassin badass ninja nun! In the span of 3 pages, Ismae learns ALL THE THINGS and is a badass ready to go on her first assignment. I abhor shortcuts. I want to read about her missteps and training, I want to experience her triumphs and failures! Unfortunately, we are deprived of this early in the novel. Add this to the other issues that are prevalent early in the book – Ana’s notes about the Old Ways/Gods, the dubious message that ALL MEN MUST DIE, the snicker-inducing appearance of a Magic!Knife! – and I can easily understand why some are inspired to put the book down and write it off as a DNF.

BUT.

All these things said, the book takes off once Ismae is assigned to become a spy in the Britton court, working with (and against, in a nice double twist) the mysterious Gavriel Duval – under the guise of being his “cousin” (which everyone in the palace immediately takes to mean his mistress). HERE is where Ismae comes into her own, where she begins to question the teachings of her God, of her devout sisterhood, and of the “justice” of unyielding death. Here she learns that not all men are evil, and that some – even those marked by her God Mortain – deserve a chance at redemption. Here is where we learn that while Ismae has skill as an assassin, she is not infallible, and lacks grace, finesse and diplomacy. By these latter two thirds of the novel, all the complexity that is missing from the earlier chapters comes into play full force. And I LOVED IT ALL.

I love the idea of this sisterhood of assassins and the fantastic elements with those “marked” to die apparent to the handmaidens of Mortain.

I love the drama that is tearing apart the court, and the devotion that Duval and Ismae have to their young, strong Duchess – the same proud ruler that so many are trying to overthrow, enslave through marriage, or kill.

And yes, I love the love story between Ismae and Duval, as predictable as it might seem, because there is something about these two characters that feels utterly sincere.

So there you have it. A Smugglerific disagreement. I truly enjoyed the book, absolutely recommend it, and cannot wait for more. Bring it on, Dark Triumph.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From Chapter 1:

I bear a deep red stain that runs from my left shoulder down to my right hip, a trail left by the herbwitch’s poison that my mother used to try to expel me from her womb. That I survived, according to the herbwitch, is no miracle but a sign I have been sired by the god of death himself.

I am told my father flew into a rage and raised his hand to my mother even as she lay weak and bleeding on the birthing bed. Until the herbwitch pointed out to him that if my mother had lain with the god of death, surely He would not stand idly by while my father beat her.

I risk a glance up at my husband-to-be, Guillo, and wonder if my father has told him of my lineage. I am guessing not, for who would pay three silver coins for what I am? Besides, Guillo looks far too placid to know of my true nature. If my father has tricked him, it will not bode well for our union. That we are being married in Guillo’s cottage rather than a church further adds to my unease.

I feel my father’s heavy gaze upon me and look up. The triumph in his eyes frightens me, for if he has triumphed, then I have surely lost in some way I do not yet understand. Even so, I smile, wanting to convince him I am happy—for there is nothing that upsets him more than my happiness.

But while I can easily lie to my father, it is harder to lie to myself. I am afraid, sorely afraid of this man to whom I will now belong. I look down at his big, wide hands. Just like my father, he has dirt caked under his fingernails and stains in the creases of his skin. Will the semblance end there? Or will he, too, wield those hands like a cudgel.

Rating:

Ana: DNF: Did Not Finish

Thea: 7 – Very Good, verging on an 8

Reading Next: Ship of Souls by Zetta Elliott

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Author: Mira Grant

Genre: Horror, Thriller, Speculative Fiction, Zombies

Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: May 2012
Paperback: 560 pages

Rise up while you can. -Georgia Mason

The year was 2014. The year we cured cancer. The year we cured the common cold. And the year the dead started to walk. The [...]]]> Title: Blackout

Author: Mira Grant

Genre: Horror, Thriller, Speculative Fiction, Zombies

Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: May 2012
Paperback: 560 pages

Rise up while you can. -Georgia Mason

The year was 2014. The year we cured cancer. The year we cured the common cold. And the year the dead started to walk. The year of the Rising.

The year was 2039. The world didn’t end when the zombies came, it just got worse. Georgia and Shaun Mason set out on the biggest story of their generation. The uncovered the biggest conspiracy since the Rising and realized that to tell the truth, sacrifices have to be made.

Now, the year is 2041, and the investigation that began with the election of President Ryman is much bigger than anyone had assumed. With too much left to do and not much time left to do it in, the surviving staff of After the End Times must face mad scientists, zombie bears, rogue government agencies-and if there’s one thing they know is true in post-zombie America, it’s this:

Things can always get worse.

Blackout is the conclusion to the epic trilogy that began in the Hugo-nominated Feed and the sequel, Deadline.

Stand alone or series: Book 3 in the Newsflesh Trilogy

How did I get this book: e-ARC from the Publisher (via NetGalley)

Why did I read this book: I loved Feed (book 1), and even though I was kind of disappointed with Deadline (book 2), I still had high hopes for Blackout to close out the Newsflesh trilogy with a bang.

**WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS UNAVOIDABLE SPOILERS FOR FEED AND DEADLINE. If you have not read the first two books in the trilogy and want to remain unspoiled, look away! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

Review:

At the conclusion of Deadline, there have been some rather drastic revelations: Shaun is immune to Kellis-Amberlee, Georgia has been cloned by the CDC (oh, yeah, and the adopted brother and sister have had a longstanding sexual relationship). Blackout opens with a bang, much in the same way as its predecessor. Georgia finds herself an unwitting patient of the CDC, and while she knows immediately that she must be a clone (given the memory of her death and the fact that she no longer has retinal KA), she doesn’t know why she has been cloned or what the CDC’s endgame is. All she knows is that it must have to do with her brother, and it must have to do with a truth that someone very desperately wants to keep covered up. Not so far away, Shaun and the After the End Times team (Mahir, Alaric, Mags, and Becks) are dispatched on a crazy dangerous mission – Kellis-Amberlee has mutated and now can be carried by insect vectors, and after the last tropical storm deadly zombie-making mosquitoes are now on the large and the entire state of Florida is nanoseconds away from being declared officially lost. Shaun – still mourning for his lost sister and hanging onto sanity by a mere thread – and the crew must save Alaric’s sister, capture a live mosquito sample for testing, and figure out why the virus mutated – be the cause natural, or manmade.

Alternating points-of-view between Shaun’s narrative and Georgia’s, Blackout chronicles the last chapter of the Newsflesh trilogy as the Masons paths collide and together they fight to rip the lid off of a conspiracy so huge, it will rock the foundation of the post-Rising world.

I am kind of at a loss when it comes to Blackout. I *loved* Feed. I loved the heavy exposition, the fascinating medical procedural tied to the political thriller. I loved Georgia’s frank narration, and I loved how honest and forthright she was throughout. I loved this vision of a post-apocalyptic, zombie-filled world, and the steps humanity has taken to adapt, survive, and to rise.

Needless to say, when I got through Deadline, I was a little less enthused. I still loved the world building and the underlying main storyline, but so many of the things I was so enamoured with in the first book were absent in the second. Most glaringly, Shaun is not half the narrator his sister was. There was also a ton of repetition (not just of pointless story exposition that leads nowhere, but also of key phrases – Shaun drinking a coke, muttering to himself/Georgia’s ghost, grinning like a maniac and wanting to punch people in the face, etc) that detracted from the overall efficacy of the story. The political and medical thriller, the underlying conspiracy, is pushed to the backburner in favor of Shaun’s (very quickly tiresome) glib narrative as he grapples with grief.

In Blackout, I wanted so desperately for the book to return to the series’ Feed roots, but alas. Blackout is better than Deadline, but failed to wow, shock or awe. I liked the alternating narrator conceit, tying the first two books together nicely in an attempt to bring both Georgia and Shaun back together again. That said, I found myself wanting to skip Shaun’s narrative entirely – as to me it felt largely pointless and filled with the same tedious repetition I had to slog through in Deadline. The good news is that Georgia’s narrative is as wonderful as I remembered from Feed but this time is rife with more internal struggle as she fights to form and understand a sense of self and identity within her new flesh, whilst simultaneously fighting and exposing the Umbrella Corporation-esque corruption of the CDC, and finding a way to escape and get back to her brother. As far as narrators go, Georgia remains one of the coolest, smartest, most capable protagonists I have had the pleasure of reading in a good long while. With regard to the other characters, my main complaint is how similar the majority of the characters sound to each other. Most everyone is a smarmy, fast-talking wiseguy with a mile-wide melodramatic streak, from the doctors to the Newsies. I like the additions to the cast this go-around, but the lack of distinct voices makes for a monotonous reading experience. ¹

On the story and actual writing front, Blackout also leaves a girl wanting more. Well, actually, wanting less. The biggest issue with Blackout is its unnecessary length – the underlying conspiracy that runs through the trilogy, the truth that Georgia, Shaun and the gang are fighting so desperately to unveil? WE’VE KNOWN ABOUT IT SINCE BOOK 1 (and the beginning portion of book 2)! There is absolutely no need for the book to be half as long as it is, chock-full of repetitive action, driving scenes, medical tests, and so on that have no baring on the actual progression of the story or development of the characters.² Even the little epigraphs preceding each chapter – and I shouldn’t call them “little” because there are at least 2 each time, and usually span at least a paragraph a pop – became tiresome and repetitive.³ That said, the actual conspiracy itself is a fantastic twist (well, not so twisty since we’ve kind of known about it for a while), and once the action and story proper actually starts moving along, Blackout becomes a much more enjoyable read.

I can’t write this review without addressing the two other significant detractors for me, personally, though. These are the two huge Jump the Shark moments from Blackout: 1. The Relationship between Georgia and Shaun; and 2. The Cloning/Pseudoscience/Shaun’s Immunity Revelations. First, regarding the relationship between brother and sister, I simply cannot buy it. Not even in this book, not even with Georgia’s ‘explanation’ (which feels very much like an editorial response to criticism of book 2 and that revelation). I don’t care if the nature of their relationship is something that Georgia and Shaun never wrote down – the fact that we are living inside both Georgia and Shaun’s heads for the full trilogy means that at some point, in Feed, Georgia could have/should have made some sort of reference to her very intimate, soulmate bond with her non-biological brother. I simply do not buy it (your mileage may vary, of course, but to me this revelation and attempt at rationalization felt inauthentic).

Regarding the second, Shaun’s immunity to KA and Georgia’s cloning are also ‘explained’, and while these explanations are within the realm of possibility (this IS a zombie novel, after all), I still can’t help but feel a little, well, unhappy with the way things turn out. The reason why Feed was such a powerful, resonant novel is because of its grounding in more tangible science, its taut political relevance, and the medical thriller aspect to the book. We lose that in Deadline and Blackout, which turns to fringe scifi with neural/synapse photography/memory imprinting and cloning of a fully grown human (still not sure how that worked so quickly). Mira Grant does a phenomenal job with making these applied phlebotinum technologies and sciences work, but it’s a far cry from the more sturdy applications in Feed (again, your mileage may vary).

All these criticisms voiced, I still finished Blackout and enjoyed the experience, for both the novel and for the series as a whole. The Newsflesh books have tremendous crossover genre potential – I hesitate to label them zombie books because the zombies play such a tangential, minor role to the characters and the true villains of the piece (not to mention the virus itself). While I wasn’t wholly satisfied with the way things turned out, and Feed is clearly the vastly superior novel of the trilogy, Blackout is a solid read. And if you’ve come this far in the trilogy, you’re gonna have to finish it. Right? Recommended…albeit with reservations.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From Chapter 1:

My story ended where so many stories have ended since the Rising: with a man- in this case, my adoptive brother and best friend, Shaun- holding a gun to the base of my skull as the virus in my blood betrayed me, transforming me from a thinking human being into something better suited to a horror movie.

My story ended, but I remember everything. I remember the cold dread as I watched the lights on the blood test unit turn red, one by one, until my infection was confirmed. I remember the look on Shaun’s face when he realized this was it- it was really happening, and there wasn’t going to be any clever third act solution that got me out of the van alive.

I remember the barrel of the gun against my skin. It was cool, and it was soothing, because it meant Shaun would do what he had to do. No one else would get hurt because of me.

No one but Shaun.

This was something we’d never planned for. I always knew that one day he’d push his luck too far, and I’d lose him. We never dreamed that he would be the one losing me. I wanted to tell him it would be okay. I wanted to lie to him. I remember that: I wanted to lie to him. And I couldn’t. There wasn’t time, and even then, I didn’t have it in me.

I remember starting to write. I remember thinking this was it; this was my last chance to say anything I wanted to say to the world. This was the thing I was going to be judged on, now and forever. I remember feeling my mind start to go. I remember the fear.

I remember the sound of Shaun pulling the trigger.

I shouldn’t remember anything after that. That’s where my story ended. Curtain down, save file, that’s a wrap. Once the bullet hits your spinal cord, you’re done; you don’t have to worry about this shit anymore. You definitely shouldn’t wake up in a windowless, practically barren room that looks suspiciously like a CDC holding facility, with no one to talk to but some unidentified voice on the other side of a one- way mirror.

You can read the full excerpt online HERE

Rating: 6 – Good, Recommended with Reservations; though I wavered between a 6 and a 7.

Reading Next: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

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Author: Nancy Kress

Genre: Pre/Post/Apocalyptic, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction

Publisher: Tachyon Publications
Publication Date: April 2012
Paperback: 192 Pages

The year is 2035. After ecological disasters nearly destroyed the Earth, 26 survivors — the last of humanity — are trapped by an [...]]]> Title: After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall

Author: Nancy Kress

Genre: Pre/Post/Apocalyptic, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction

Publisher: Tachyon Publications
Publication Date: April 2012
Paperback: 192 Pages

The year is 2035. After ecological disasters nearly destroyed the Earth, 26 survivors — the last of humanity — are trapped by an alien race in a sterile enclosure known as the Shell. Fifteen-year-old Pete is one of the Six — children who were born deformed or sterile and raised in the Shell. As, one by one, the survivors grow sick and die, Pete and the Six struggle to put aside their anger at the alien Tesslies in order to find the means to rebuild the earth together. Their only hope lies within brief time-portals into the recent past, where they bring back children to replenish their disappearing gene pool. Meanwhile, in 2013, brilliant mathematician Julie Kahn works with the FBI to solve a series of inexplicable kidnappings. Suddenly her predictive algorithms begin to reveal more than just criminal activity. As she begins to realize her role in the impending catastrophe, simultaneously affecting the Earth and the Shell, Julie closes in on the truth. She and Pete are converging in time upon the future of humanity — a future which might never unfold. Weaving three consecutive time lines to unravel both the mystery of the Earth’s destruction and the key to its salvation, this taut adventure offers a topical message with a satisfying twist.

Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel

How did I get this book: ARC from the Publisher

Why did I read this book: I have been meaning to read more of Nancy Kress’s work – I’ve had Steal Across the Sky on my radar for a very long time – so when we received a review query for this title from a small independent SFF publisher, I jumped at the opportunity. (Not to mention the fact that this book has Thea written all over it, from awesome cover and title, to solid synopsis.) How could I say no?

Review:

After the Fall
It is the year 2035. Life on Earth has ceased to be, humanity reduced to a handful of survivors trapped together in “The Shell” (a hull built by an alien intelligence that survivors refer to as “Tesslies”) that shields its human captors from the desolate wasteland outside. Of the 26 original adults taken into the Shell before the annihilation of life, just a scant a few remain. But hope endures, because these original survivors copulated and gave birth to the Six – children born inside the Shell that have never known any other life or the world outside. These children, now teenagers, were born with defects from radiation exposure, stunted with spindly limbs, rendered sterile and unable to procreate. Shortly after the Six have reached puberty and their sterility discovered, a new technology appears in The Shell. A strange platform lights up at random intervals and allows only the Six to return to a point in Earth’s past for a few precious minutes, giving the future survivors a chance to “grab” the things they will need most to survive. With each grab, the Six bring back food, water, supplies, and most importantly, virile, healthy children.

Pete, one of the Six, is just fifteen, but already has become a leader within the Shell and has made a number of successful Grabs. As the original survivors grow weaker and older, Pete’s rage grows stronger and he vows to kill the Tesslies that have murdered his planet, destroyed his people, and so coolly ignore their human captors.

Before the Fall
It is the year 2013. Julie Kahn is a talented and intelligent mathematician that specializes in patterns, and she is hired as a consultant for an FBI task force, charged with solving a rash of kidnappings in the northeastern United States. Julie’s carefully calibrated equations determine that the kidnappings are all interlinked, but she can’t figure out why or who might be behind them. As an expectant and then a new mother, Julie gradually understands that somehow, the kidnappings, the mysterious break-ins, and the food and supply thefts are all clues revealing a terrifying united truth about the future.

During the Fall
As Julie struggles to make sense of the data, and Pete and the Six travel back to the past on their grab missions, Earth herself is changing. Bacteria mutate, plates shift, volcanoes erupt. The end is coming, faster and more devastating than anyone could ever predict.

Aptly named and coolly effective in its scope and delivery, After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall is one hell of a book. At a slim 200 pages, Nancy Kress’s new novel (more of a novella, really) is a harrowing look at a possible future iteration of our planet robbed of life by catastrophic climate, ecological, and biological change. It also happens to be a book with a wonderful science fiction bend, involving a technologically superior race of aliens and time travel, juxtaposed against a more procedural mystery and the slow death of a planet due to dramatic mutation and change. Phew. That’s a lot of stuff to cover, but Kress does so with easy skill, alternating past, present, and future in a seamless and tension-building narrative. Following three characters – Pete, Julie, and the planet herself – After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall is an exercise in slow-simmering restraint, building both horror and hope as the chapters progress.

While I love the memorable and original conceit of the time traveling and perspective shifting with each different period of the apocalypse, the story contains more familiar SF tropes, too. The benevolent (or, perhaps, not so benevolent) Tesslies as they watch the violent, destructive Earthlings, are a familiar staple, and the concept underlying Earth’s destruction is as well (don’t worry, I won’t spoil it). Just because the concepts are familiar does not mean they aren’t well done, though, as these well worn tropes are handled evenly and well in this particular telling (albeit with a level of predictability in as far as the actual story concludes).

On the character front, we become mostly acquainted with two very different narrator protagonists, Julie and Pete. In the past, Julie is meticulous, intelligent and fiercely independent, remarkably competent and refreshingly so. In contrast to her even-headed logic, Pete from the bleak, stark future of the Shell is raw and violent, and this is where the real meat of the story lies. Pete’s is a narrative hard to read at points because of his anger and his limited comprehension. Within the shell itself, Pete’s relationships, his obsessions (sexual and emotional), and most of all his impotent rage are very real, tangible things. While it isn’t a particularly pretty narrative, it is undoubtedly effective, painting a terrifying, claustrophobic future for humanity – but one tinged with the important light of hope at the end of the day.

Though brief, After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall is haunting, memorable, and a perfect example of how to write a future post-apocalyptic dystopia that is both effectively bleak, but with the all-important factor of human tenacity. Absolutely recommended.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Blackout by Mira Grant

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Author: Antonia Michaelis

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, PoC

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Publication date: Published in English in 2009
Paperback: 464 pages

This bewitching story within a story, set in magical India, explores the power of narrative to change the course of [...]]]> Title: Tiger Moon

Author: Antonia Michaelis

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, PoC

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Publication date: Published in English in 2009
Paperback: 464 pages

This bewitching story within a story, set in magical India, explores the power of narrative to change the course of lives. Raka, the doomed young bride of a violent merchant, weaves a tale of rescue so vivid, it might just come true. She tells a servant boy the story of Farhad, a thief and unlikely hero, who must retrieve a famous jewel in order to save a kidnapped princess from a demon king. Farhad’s unforgettable companion on the journey is a wisecracking white tiger with an unnatural fear of water. It is their unusual and funny friendship, and the final sacrifice that they must make, that is the heart of this grand, beautiful novel about summoning the hero within.

Stand alone or series: Stand alone

How did I get this book: Bought

Why did I read this book: I was looking for Fantasy books with non-western settings and I came across this one on Amazon. It is an ALA award winning book and I thought it sounded great.

Review:

Warning: this review contains spoilers, SmuggleRAGE and Caps Lock of Fury

Trigger warning: rape

Set in magical India, Tiger Moon pays homage to Arabian Nights and Scheherazade by featuring a story within a story. Raka, a young bride married against her will to a powerful merchant who will surely kill her once he discovers she is not a virgin, tells a tale of rescue to a young servant boy (a eunuch, who is not actually a eunuch) called Lalit. She tells the story of another young boy called Farhad, a brilliant thief and reluctant hero who is engaged by the God Krishna to rescue his kidnapped daughter from a demon King. With the help of a talking white tiger, Farhad must cross India in search of an infamous, cursed jewel who will buy the princess’ freedom. Raka hopes that the story of how the reluctant hero Farhad becomes a sacrificing, courageous hero will inspire Lalit to summon the hero within in order to rescue her from certain doom.

At first glance Tiger Moon seems to be an innocuous read for children – it features a talking tiger, a sweeping adventure across the magical country of India with near-deaths, daring escapes and tales of love and hope. Plus a talking tiger whose funny banter with Farhad might just be the one good thing about Tiger Moon. But once you start peeling back its layers and carefully examine the narrative, the topics the story addresses, the meta-text and the way the story wraps up, the result is simply rage-inducing.

I don’t even know where to start: perhaps with the most obvious problem I had with the book. The narrative voice is extremely simplistic and childish. The feeling I had was that this oversimplification had a double objective: to make it accessible to children and to add a fairytale feel to the story. I think it backfired in many ways. I don’t believe in pandering to children and oversimplifying a story tends to lead to generalisations (more on that later) and therefore removing complexity from the story (please note: there is a difference between simple and simplistic. Narrative and writing can be simple and still extremely complex). This also means that the narrative voice was very childish and the characters sound very, very young to the point where I felt I was reading a book about 11 year old characters. Obviously this is not a problem per se, but the characters were much older than that and when they started getting married and having sex, it was extremely jarring as I had pictured them as children. It doesn’t help that for the vast majority of the story, the main characters are addressed as “boy” and “girl”.

That said here is a caveat: the original book was written in German and then translated into English. I don’t know how much of the prose was lost in translation.

But moving on to more important issues.

You will probably have noticed how I italicised the word magical twice so far in this review when in conjunction with “India”. There is an element of exoticising (did I just make this word up?) India that drove me UP THE WALL. Tiger Moon is professed to be a bewitching story set in magical India and from the get go the story is peppered with generalisations, words and descriptions that show how exotic, magical and chaotic India is. Incredibly offensive things like:

“Life is worth so little in India”

“In India, all stories are outlandish”

“Life in itself isn’t valued highly in India”

are presented as truths to the reader. N. K. Jemisin wrote a brilliant article for the blog a few weeks ago addressing this very issue and the following passage exemplifies exactly the problem I had with Tiger Moon:

Calling something exotic emphasizes its distance from the reader. We don’t refer to things as exotic if we think of them as ordinary. We call something exotic if it’s so different that we see no way to emulate it or understand how it came to be. We call someone exotic if we aren’t especially interested in viewing them as people — just as objects representing their culture.

Also worth of mention and on the point: two roundtable articles published this very week at The World SF Blog in which a group of non-westerners authors and bloggers discuss (among other subjects) the issue of “what are the problematics of some Western writers tackling non-Western settings for their novels, and do they result in exoticism?” . These are quite a propos of this review and fascinating. But note: I want to make it clear that I have absolutely nothing against Western authors writing about non-western cultures. But you have got to be way more careful than the generalist, appropriative tone of Tiger Moon.

But back to the review. You know what else? The exoticism of India doesn’t even MAKE SENSE IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS NOVEL. Because the vast majority of this story is being narrated by an Indian girl to an Indian boy. WHY, in the world, would two Indian people be describing India as though they don’t know their own country?

Which brings me to my final point and the climax of the novel. This is where things get REALLY spoilery and SHOUTY. Up until the last 15 pages of this novel, I was offended and angry, already knowing this was going to be a negative review for the reasons stated above.

The final pages of Tiger Moon took it into full-on WALL-BANGER, ENRAGING, I-need-to-find-Picard’s-screencap-now territory.

The book has 448 pages. On page 433, Raka, the main character is SURPRISE! RAPED by her husband. But this is ok because she is rescued immediately after by Lalit, who is now a hero and it all magically disappears as they ride into the horizon together. There is NO reaction, repercussion, mention, NOTHING about the rape. Nothing. It is like it never happened merely ONE SECOND before they take off. It is completely gratuitous and STUPID and demeaning, it serves the story no purpose whatsoever because it has NO IMPACT on the character. It is problematic because it is gratuitous, it is even more problematic because the story and characters never address it. It made me sick.

Not to mention that the whole book ostensibly pays homage to Scheherazade. But in the end, the whole point of the story is to make the BOY become a man in order to rescue the girl and all the talk about being a “hero within” applies only to the BOYS. Obviously. Because GOD FORBID the girl be the heroine of HER OWN STORY. To the point where the hero is described as a MAN in the end because he has grown so much whereas Raka, the main character and narrator of the story who was once described as strong and fearless, remains a girl and diminishes and lets him FINISH HER STORY. How can you pay homage to Scherezade and miss the CRUCIAL POINT of her being THE INSTRUMENT OF HER OWN SALVATION?

I wish I were making this shit up. I have nothing more to say so I will leave you with the words of Captain Picard:

Notable Quotes/ Parts: NO notable quotes but as I was looking for an excerpt online I came across this AWESOME review which you must read.

Rating: 1 – One of the worst books I have ever read; I want my money (and a few hours of my life) back

Reading Next: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

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Author: Tanita S. Davis

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, LGBT, PoC

Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Publication date: May 8 2012
Hardcover: 240 pages

Teenage twins Ysabel and Justin Nicholas are lucky. Ysabel’s jewelry designs have already caught the eyes of the art world and Justin’s intelligence and [...]]]> Title: Happy Families

Author: Tanita S. Davis

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, LGBT, PoC

Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Publication date: May 8 2012
Hardcover: 240 pages

Teenage twins Ysabel and Justin Nicholas are lucky. Ysabel’s jewelry designs have already caught the eyes of the art world and Justin’s intelligence and drive are sure to gain him entrance into the most prestigious of colleges. They even like their parents. But their father has a secret—one that threatens to destroy the twins’ happy family and life as they know it.

Over the course of spring break, Ysabel and Justin will be forced to come to terms with their dad’s new life, but can they overcome their fears to piece together their happy family again?

Stand alone or series: Stand alone

How did I get this book: Review copy from publishers via Net Galley

Why did I read this book: I’ve had this book on my radar for a while. Not only because I loved Tanita S. Davis’ Mare’s War but also because this is a LGBT book with African American protagonists. Diversity in YA for the win.

Review:

Teenage twins Ysabel and Justin are struggling with the revelation that their father has recently come out as a Male to Female transgender person. Their family has been strongly affected by it, their father has moved away and their personal lives are in shambles as they don’t really understand what it all means. Now it’s spring break and the two are expected to spend the week with their father so they can talk, using this short time together to try and figure things out. The three go to therapy together, and this father arranges a rafting trip with other transgendered parents and their kids. The narrative alternate between the two and we see the week from each of their perspectives.

Happy Families is a short, focused, highly important book. In terms of plot, it follows the Nicholas family in this moment of transitioning. The book hints at each twin’s personal, separate lives and how this moment impacts on how they behave. Justin for example, has broken up with his girlfriend, because he doesn’t believe she will be ok with his father’s transition. It is obvious that neither twin is happy about the situation mostly because they don’t know how this will impact their lives. There is a lot of questioning which they address over the course of this week and this questioning is the real focus of the novel: what does being a transgendered person mean? Their father wishes to be called Christine: does this mean he is a woman? Does this mean he is gay? Will he be getting surgery? Will their parents get divorced? Will he be dressed up as a woman all the time? How can they go to church like that? How can they go to school when everybody knows about this?

Although the story can be a little didactic sometimes and somewhat restricted to the issue it addresses, this didacticism is more enlightening than informative – I hope this makes sense. I mean that the story is never dry or purely instructive because it perfectly encapsulates this wondrous moment and its mixture of shock, betrayal, hope, shame, guilt, love. I particularly loved the fact that theirs is also a religious family and this is part of their questioning – especially with regards to divorce as their parents don’t believe they should get divorced.

This is quite a serious yet hopeful book and heart-wrenching without being tragic. Despite the fact that at times I felt the twins’ voices were indistinguishable, I truly enjoyed reading it and feel this is an important, accomplished book for teens. Happy Families is not a book that offers easy answers but is one that acknowledges the hard questions and treat them with the careful consideration, compassion and honesty they deserve.

Notable Quotes/ Parts:

The Phoenix Fire Festival at The Crucible, last May

Ysabel

The surge of chattering, pointing, gawking people pours into the massive auditorium, and I feel a shiver crawl up my arms. Rather than stand here, watching the watchers, I’m going to do some torchwork.

There’s a table set up at the back of my booth, covered with a square of galvanized metal and lit with a desk lamp. At the edge of the table there’s a small glass kiln, a miniature propane blowtorch, a handful of tweezers, metal rods, a graphite block, and a couple of terra-cotta flowerpots filled with sand and rods of glass in all shades. I sit down, my foot automatically moving to tap the switch for the small fan under the table. Checking to make sure my glasses are still on my head, I grab my box of matches and light my torch.

An older couple approaches my booth but instead of speaking I pick up the thin metal mandrel and turn it in the flames to warm it. The glass always sticks better if the mandrel is warm. My hands hover over the glass color choices, and I select a clear, bright blue. As I reach up to tug down my pink-tinted sunglasses, they catch on my hair, and the pins Grandmama put in the French roll she thought would look so elegant poke into my scalp. Muttering under my breath, I gently untangle the glasses and put them on, then start heating the glass. In no time at all, I’m putting down a small bead of molten glass, turning my mandrel until I’ve made a disk. I make another disk, a half inch away, and then, turning the mandrel all the time, keep laying disks of glass until the heat slumps them together to make a hollow bead. One down, a few hundred to go. I set the mandrel and the bead into the annealing kiln to slow bake and choose another rod of color. I want something with a streak of metal in it this time.

Read the rest of the Excerpt HERE.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Tiger Moon by Antonia Michaelis

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Ebook available for kindle US, google, nook and sony