Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #33: Across a Star-Swept Sea

Across a Star-Swept Sea
For Darkness Shows the Stars, Book 2

Author: Diana Peterfreund
Pages: 464
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: October 15, 2013
Read: September 2-5, 2013
Source: Gifted ARC - thanks, Lenore!
Recommended by: Christina of Christina Reads YA

Description from Goodreads:
Centuries after wars nearly destroyed civilization, the two islands of New Pacifica stand alone, a terraformed paradise where even the Reduction—the devastating brain disorder that sparked the wars—is a distant memory. Yet on the isle of Galatea, an uprising against the ruling aristocrats has turned deadly. The revolutionaries’ weapon is a drug that damages their enemies’ brains, and the only hope is rescue by a mysterious spy known as the Wild Poppy.

On the neighboring island of Albion, no one suspects that the Wild Poppy is actually famously frivolous aristocrat Persis Blake. The teenager uses her shallow, socialite trappings to hide her true purpose: her gossipy flutternotes are encrypted plans, her pampered sea mink is genetically engineered for spying, and her well-publicized new romance with handsome Galatean medic Justen Helo… is her most dangerous mission ever.

Though Persis is falling for Justen, she can’t risk showing him her true self, especially once she learns he’s hiding far more than simply his disenchantment with his country’s revolution and his undeniable attraction to the silly socialite he’s pretending to love. His darkest secret could plunge both islands into a new dark age, and Persis realizes that when it comes to Justen Helo, she’s not only risking her heart, she’s risking the world she’s sworn to protect.

In this thrilling adventure inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel, Diana Peterfreund creates an exquisitely rendered world where nothing is as it seems and two teens with very different pasts fight for a future only they dare to imagine.

Previous Book in Series:
1: For Darkness Shows the Stars

First Sentence: "If the Wild Poppy dared return to Galatea, Citizen Cutler was ready."

Review:
There's a life lesson in this series for me. Much as I think I'm going to love the books that retell favorites, I'm probably actually going to prefer the ones that retell books I didn't like or that I haven't read. The latter is the case with The Scarlet Pimpernel, though I do have it on my shelves, along with a fifth of the other books I hope to read someday but haven't. Initially, I was a bit skeptical to a sequel to For Darkness Shows the Stars, but Peterfreund weaves Across a Star-Swept Sea into that world brilliantly, creating a read I found much more emotionally resonant.

Not being particularly familiar with The Scarlet Pimpernel, I cannot tell you with any degree of accuracy how well the retelling has been done, but I suspect quite well, as Peterfreund did a fantastic job with Persuasion. Even better, Peterfreund has done a gender swap and made The Wild Poppy. Persis Blake pretends to be an air-headed socialite so that no one suspect that she is in fact the most notorious spy in the kingdom.

Peterfreund really digs into gender roles and the absurdity thereof. In Across a Star-Swept Sea, three different cultures mingle, all with different gender roles for women. Even in Galatea, where women have been able to hold rank and rule for ages, everyone automatically assumes that The Wild Poppy is a man. Of course, this feeling that women cannot be so clever or powerful does make it easier for Persis to totally mess with their minds. I liked how, even though she makes use of the resources available to her, even if that means the assumption of her weakness or stupidity. Persis is a truly remarkable girl, intelligent, focused, resourceful, and a skilled actress.

The reason The Wild Poppy exists is to save Galatean nobles. In that country, the regs revolted and overthrew their leaders. However, they're not happy with equality; they want payback, and are punishing their leaders with Reduction. The world building is a bit complex and won't make much sense if you haven't first read For Darkness Shows the Stars, so I would really start there, even though this is marketed as a companion novel. Anyway, the pink pills simulate actual Reduction and remove a person's mental faculties, so that the regs can force the aristos to labor for them for a change. Medic Justen Helo, a symbol of the revolution because his grandmother Persistence Helo developed the cure to Reduction, fears that the new government has gone too far and seeks to escape to Albion. All of the medical stuff surrounding Reduction, both the sort that happened organically because we tampered to much with genes, and the created sort are entirely horrifying. Society, can we please not do this?

The plot runs largely more to intrigue than to daring rescues. In fact, she only goes on a couple of Poppy missions throughout the course of the novel, stuck instead at feigning a romance in her home country of Albion for most of the book. Romance is pretty central to the plot, not that I think the world building is neglected or anything, but it's key. Justen and Persis have this great hate to love thing going, and have the added complication of having to pretend to be a couple to explain why he's in Albion, since the Galateans don't know he no longer supports the actions of the Revolution. Basically, I ship this QUITE a bit. They have excellent banter, and it's fun to watch their feelings slowly change. Justen, of course, is in the difficult position of thinking Persis is an idiot, as she very much pretends to be.

However, much as I loved Persis and Justen, a couple of the secondary cast were wonderful too. Isla, the young leader of Albion is clever like Persis, and she has the cutest little romance going that she's not meant to. Watching her stop deferring to the old men in her council was super gratifying in patriarchal Albion. Tero and Andrine, the reg siblings, are fabulous. The show stealer, though, is Slipstream, aka Slippy, Persis' seamink. I picture him looking mostly like an otter. He's basically the cutest and also very useful. I would like a sea mink, though I doubt my cat would approve.

Across a Star-Swept Sea was pretty close to perfection for me, except for one thing: the hackneyed way that the novel resolved. Now, with a large aspect of Across a Star-Swept Sea being the romance, certain aspects of the ending are pretty much definite. Essentially, I was left feeling unsatisfied, because the romance aspects were left hanging. The book ends in what feels like the middle of the scene. No doubt this was done intentionally, but, as a reader, I am really tired of spending hundreds of pages getting emotionally attached to a particular couple but never getting that emotional payoff in the end.

On top of that, a very large plot point was left wholly unresolved. Without going into too much detail, there's a crossover with the plot from For Darkness Shows the Stars. We get to see those characters briefly, but they essentially don't serve any plot purpose that couldn't have been done more neatly with other characters. Yes, it's nice to show how the book's fit together, but that doesn't mean the characters can show up and have their plot entirely dropped.

Diana Peterfreund's follow-up to For Darkness Shows the Stars truly is best read as a sequel, and not a standalone, at least if you like to have all of the knowledge, like I do. Across a Star-Swept Sea is more light-hearted and romantic than its predecessor, with the same excellent writing and intriguing world building. Long as it is though, it did feel a bit abbreviated, though I still recommend it quite highly.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote:

"'You think they like you because you're soft on them. But all you're teaching them is that you're soft.'
     Now Isla did turn, and fixed Councilman Shift with her most royal glare. 'And if I let your insult pass unpunished, sir? What am I teaching you?'"

Don't Take My Word for It:
The Social Potato's word: "Is it really good? Hell to the YES." - 5 stars
Good Books and Good Wine's word: "this novel was a pure delight" - 5 stars
The Biased Bookie's word: "not a book you should read drowsy" - 4.5 stars

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Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch. This one was recommended by two separate people convinced I will love it, so *crosses fingers*

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Review: Antigoddess

Antigoddess
Goddess War, Book 1

Author: Kendare Blake
Pages: 333
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
Read: September 5
Source: Finished copy from publisher

Description from Goodreads:
The Goddess War begins in Antigoddess, the first installment of the new series by acclaimed author of Anna Dressed in Blood, Kendare Blake.

Old Gods never die…

Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.

Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.

Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.

Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.

The Goddess War is about to begin.

First Sentence: "The feathers were starting to be a nuisance."

Review:

I'm one of the few people who never got around to reading Kendare Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood, though I do have a copy and will read it...someday. Initially, it wasn't really on my radar, because horror isn't something I seek out, but the reviews convinced me. Antigoddess, however, was a topic that called my name and I was hopeless to resist that call, much like Odysseus and the sirens. Thankfully, Kendare Blake lived up to all the hype, and Antigoddess was a non-stop horrorshow and thrill ride.

Antigoddess is one of those books where the reader basically has no idea what is happening at any point. To predict the outcome, you'd basically need to be a prophetess like Cassandra. Sometimes, I hate this in books, especially in mysteries, but with Antigoddess it works. That feeling of being out of your element and out of control really plays into the mythology, the fact that these gods, even diminished are really beyond our ken. Though I don't mind predictable formulas (like romances and their inevitable HEAs), Antigodess was a refreshing change, because I had zero clue how it would end at any point, and have even less idea what will go down in book two.

I am all about Greek mythology, and, while Blake's interpretation might not exactly be canon, it's mindblowingly cool and creepy. So the Greek gods have basically continued existing and doing their things, blending in with humans or running around in non-populated places, whatever they want. But then, dun dun dun, they began to die. Obviously, they're not super thrilled about this because 1) they're supposed to be immortal and 2) they're dying in really nasty ways. Like Athena getting slowly smothered to death by owl feathers growing inside of her body. Anyway, Athena and Hermes are trying to figure out a way to stop dying, and so are some other gods (most importantly Hera and Poseidon) and they're all also at war. There are also so humans involved and it's all just nuts in the most awesome sort of way.

What really makes me squee about Blake's world building is how empowering it is for women. Yes, there were always female gods, and some of them are quite powerful, but, in Greek mythology, the dude's are still really running the show. In Antigoddess, though several male gods are present, it's the women who are running the show, specifically Athena and Hera. Hermes defers to Athena, for example, and Poseidon to Hera. In the original mythology, Hera is powerful, but mostly just gets to be cuckolded over and over, without any ability to prevent Zeus from sleeping around and then punishing the girl, who, often, Zeus even raped. Hera still may not come out of this smelling like roses, but at least she's imbued with agency. Within the human characters too, Cassandra and Andie are exceptionally strong. Blake writes female characters who kick serious ass and have brains to back that up.

Though I didn't emotionally bond with the characters, they're all fascinating and compelling, so that even the comparatively slow beginning didn't drag for me in the slightest. Also, good news for those who are sick of romance dominating plot, that is not the case here. There are some ships that you can board, but they take up relatively little page time. Also, for the record, I am definitely on a couple of those ships, and got to watch the one I wasn't on sink. Mwahahaha. *high fives Kendare*

The other thing I really want to note is how well Kendare writes. I'm not a visual reader, but Blake has a way of making things very visceral, and putting definite images in my head. Very few writers can do this for me, and I'm always so impressed when it happens. Her descriptions of the feathers seeding Athena's body especially will be haunting me for a while.

Kendare Blake's Antigoddess is a dark, creative roller coaster ride of a read. For readers who enjoy action-packed books or unique mythological retellings, particularly with a feminist bent, Antigoddess is a must.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "'Everything born must die,' she repeated. 'But I sprang fully formed from our father's head. So that doesn't exactly count, now does it?'"

Graphic Novel Review: Boxers

Boxers
Boxers & Saints, Book 1

Author: Gene Luen Yang
Pages: 336
Publisher: First Second
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
Read: September 4, 2013
Source: Finished copy from publisher

Description from Goodreads:
China,1898. Bands of foreign missionaries and soldiers roam the countryside, bullying and robbing Chinese peasants.

Little Bao has had enough. Harnessing the powers of ancient Chinese gods, he recruits an army of Boxers - commoners trained in kung fu who fight to free China from "foreign devils."

Against all odds, this grass-roots rebellion is violently successful. But nothing is simple. Little Bao is fighting for the glory of China, but at what cost? So many are dying, including thousands of "secondary devils" - Chinese citizens who have converted to Christianity.

First Sentence: "Spring is my favorite time of year."

Review:

Back in grad school, I had my first experience with Gene Luen Yang's work when we read his most famous graphic novel thus far, American Born Chinese. Though disparate in subject matter, Boxers does have something in common with his prior work, the magical realism that Yang brings to bear even on historical or contemporary subjects. In Boxers, Gene Luen Yang manages to pack quite a punch with his spare prose and straight forward drawings.

Though I learned about the Boxer Rebellion in college, I'll admit that my memories thereof are limited at best. Based on extensive research (okay, I checked Wikipedia), Yang actually fits in the main historical points without being at all tedious or lecturing. Basically, Yang has perfected the ability to teach without seeming like he's teaching, which is ideal for the intended audience. He conveys the difficult times that led to the rebellion, the drought and the negative impact foreigners were having in China, through the lens of the life of one young boy who grows up to head the rebellion.

Little Bao did not start out as a remarkable boy. He lived in the shadow of his older brothers and had his head in the clouds, fancifully imagining himself the character in an opera. With Little Bao's optimism, to some degree never shed throughout his journey, Yang captures the wholehearted believe the Boxers had that they would be victorious. In no way did they imagine that their gods would let them lose or that foreigners could truly take over China.

Remember how I mentioned the fantasy angle? Well, in Boxers, the beliefs in local gods, the beliefs being challenged by the conversion to Christianity coming with the influx of foreigners, are manifested physically. Yang literally pits the old gods versus the imperialist forces. Through a mystical process, Little Bao and his friends are able to transform themselves into gods of China, and fight with a strength much bigger than their own bodies and kung fu training give them. It's a bit strange, but I think Yang makes it work, and this technique adds a lot of color and vibrancy to the otherwise fairly spare Boxers, highlighting the colorful culture that is being suppressed.

However, Boxers does not preach. Yang, unsurprisingly given the dual nature of this release - Boxers being paired with Saints from the other side of the conflict, presents a balanced view. He makes it quite clear that horrible acts are perpetrated by both sides. If anything, Yang shows how horrible war is. Little Bao, once so innocent and fanciful, does brutal things, as so all of the Boxers. Bao must choose between love and war, and each time he chooses war and China. Boxers is surprisingly dark, intense and bloody, but done in a style that I do not think will overwhelm most readers.

Gene Luen Yang's Boxers confronts subject matter not covered enough in western culture with an even, honest hand. He adds in fantasy to the history, making for a more metaphorical and more visually exciting read. The focus on visual over narrative storytelling will make this a great read for both more reluctant readers and those at a higher reading level.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "'For China?! What is China but a people and their stories?'"

Audiobook Review: The Off Season

The Off Season
Dairy Queen, Book 2

Author: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Narrator: Natalie Moore
Duration: 6 hrs
Publisher: Listening Library
Read: July 2-7, 2013
Source: Library

Description from Goodreads:
Life is looking up for D.J. Schwenk. She's made it to eleventh grade, finally. After a rocky summer, she's reconnecting with her best friend, Amber. She's got kind of a thing going with Brian Nelson. Plus there's the fact she's playing for the Red Bend High School football team as probably the first girl linebacker in northern Wisconsin.

But then the season, which began so well, starts to go suddenly, horribly wrong. As autumn progresses, D.J. struggles to understand what's happening with football, Brian, Amber, and most of all her family. And as her life turns completely upside down, she discovers she's a lot stronger than she—or anyone—ever thought.

This hilarious, heartbreaking, and ultimately triumphant sequel to the acclaimed novel Dairy Queen takes D.J. and all the Schwenks from Labor Day to a Thanksgiving football game that you will never forget.

Review:

The Off Season differs quite a bit from Dairy Queen. Where in Dairy Queen, the focus is all on DJ, she is, in some ways, not the central character in The Off Season, playing a more supportive role: sister and daughter. Though I think I was perhaps a bit less interested in the plot of The Off Season than in Dairy Queen or Front Center, which I've already started, I'm also hugely impressed by the content and daring in the subject matter.

Murdock takes some risks with the second book in the series, no question. Right at the very beginning, after the first book in the series was all about D.J. managing to join the boys' football team, she quits. She has reasons, good ones, but it's still anticlimactic after all the build up. However, it's such a mature choice, because, if she didn't stop playing, a minor injury might become a bigger deal and prevent her from playing basketball, which is pretty much her only shot at a scholarship and college. Though it's sad to see her give up on her football, seeing D.J. be so mature and face up so bravely to the judgment of her classmates is inspiring.

The real story here, though, isn't about D.J., though she's central to it and crucial to the way things unfold. Her oldest brother, Win, is injured in a football game, one the whole family was watching live. Injuries happen in football all the time, but this one is life-changing: Win's spinal cord snapped. He will never walk again, and that's just one thing among many that he'll never be able to do again. His dreams have been crushed, and he had a real shot at pro ball. Even with intense physical therapy, he'll probably not regain much use of his body. The Off Season is about Win's injury and the way the Schwenk family pulls together to help him.

D.J. basically puts her whole life on hold to help Win, because no one else in her family can take the time off, since her mother badly injured her back, her father needed to help his wife, her other older brother has football and college, and her younger brother is in middle school. That is so much pressure to put on one teen girl. Win, unsurprisingly, does not take the injury well. D.J. doesn't know what to do with her taciturn brother, but she turns out to be just the right person to help him, with her slow, quiet, determined Schwenk ways. There is so, so much strength in D.J., and she just does not see it yet, but I'm getting ahead of myself since that's what book three is obviously going to be about. Anyway, Murdock tackles Win's injury in this really powerful, emotional way, and goes into a lot of details about the hospital and physical therapy, and that is just so unique in YA fiction.

The romance remains on the back burner, and goes pretty much exactly where I predicted. Brian Nelson's a great guy in some respects, but much to caught up in the expectations of others. Basically, D.J. did not need all of that crap to deal with while she was trying to get her brother back on his feet. That's life, though, isn't it. In fact, that's what's so great about this series: how real D.J. feels and the whole cast.

I'm continuing to be really impressed with Murdock's Dairy Queen series. The audiobooks are fabulous, accent and all, and I'm already about a quarter of the way through the final book, which I both do and do not want to finish, because I already think it will be my favorite.

Rating: 4/5

Review: Love in the Time of Global Warming

Love in the Time of Global Warming

Author: Francesca Lia Block
Pages: 240
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
Read: August 15-16, 2013
Source: ARC from publisher

Description from Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Penelope (Pen) has lost everything—her home, her parents, and her ten-year-old brother. Like a female Odysseus in search of home, she navigates a dark world full of strange creatures, gathers companions and loses them, finds love and loses it, and faces her mortal enemy.

In her signature style, Francesca Lia Block has created a world that is beautiful in its destruction and as frightening as it is lovely. At the helm is Pen, a strong heroine who holds hope and love in her hands and refuses to be defeated.

First Sentence: "The building has gold columns and a massive doorway, a mural depicting Giants, with small bodies sticking out of their mouths like cigarettes."

Review:

Let it not be said that I don't read with an open mind. There's a lot of talk on Goodreads and in the book blogging community about "hate reading" and whether or not one should do it. Deciding to read Love in the Time of Global Warming might have seemed a questionable choice, because I absolutely loathed with every fiber of my being the first and only Francesca Lia Block book that I read: Weetzie Bat. However, if I didn't risk possibly hating this one and feeling stupid for wasting my time or being deemed a "hate reader," I wouldn't have gotten to experience this amazing book. Even going into a book fearing the worst, there's a chance that you will be unexpectedly swept off your feet, and I've seen this happen to pretty much every blogger I know. So, surprisingly enough to me and to Bekka of Pretty Deadly Reviews who convinced me to read Love in the Time of Global Warming, I kind of loved this book.

My issue with Weetzie Bat was that the book read like I'd been unwilling forced into some sort of drug trip, which is not my thing in the slightest. The book is crazy and the writing annoyed me to no end. Love in the Time of Global Warming is definitely incredibly odd and a little bit crazy, but, for some reason, one I can't really put my finger on except to say that it just sort of comes together perfectly, this one worked for me.

The writing, while still more poetic and off the wall then I generally like, is this lyrical prose that fits perfectly with the story. Block makes excellent use of imagery and achieves a style that hearkens back to Homer's Odyssey while still being totally her own, which I really admire, because it's so tough to achieve.

What I really love about Love in the Time of Global Warming is that it's this genre mash up of awesomeness. Block blends together mythology, science fiction, post-apocalyptic, and magical realism into a book that should come out an incomprehensible mess, and may for some readers, but combined to be this brilliant, strange utterly unique little book for me.

There's this real blend of science fiction/post-apocalyptic with the retelling elements. While some aspects are explained with science, like the giants, others are where the magical realism comes into play, like the lotuses. Personally, I love magical realism and the way that it brought everything together and really made this retelling possible in a world no longer populated by gods and goddesses in our cultural imagination.

In no way is Love in the Time of Global Warming a strict retelling, but Block manages to bring in quite a few of the major plot elements, and they're clearly recognizable. Even better, Block doesn't have the tendency to go on and on in endless descriptions like Homer does. Also, Block takes a story that's very patriarchal, with the only women vile seductresses or waiting at home for their men, and makes it an LGBT love story with a heroine, slyly named Penelope in a nod to the one awesome woman in Homer's work, instead of a hero. All of the main characters have LGBT leanings and they're all messed up, but ultimately likable people with more to them than what initially meets the eye. In some ways, the apocalypse is what frees them to be who they are, because the end of the world really puts life into perspective.

My only reservations are these: one personal and one more analytical. On a personal note, I didn't feel any real emotional connection, this not being so much a character-driven story. In fact, I'm amazed I liked it so much given that I'm such a character-based reader, however the writing and story really resonated and struck the perfect tone. Analytically, there was a little plot line about Pen's parents that I didn't really think was entirely necessary. I didn't remember this from The Odyssey, but apparently another account (as in not written by Homer), explains this little addition. While I can see why she did that, it felt rather out of place since not much really happened with regards to this small twist.

If you appreciate genre-bending novels, particularly those with magical realism, I urge you to give Love in the Time of Global Warming a try. It's a strange, unique book and won't be for everyone, but Francesca Lia Block has woven together something magical here.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote:

"I sniff. 'What is it?'
     'Punch!' he laughs. 'I don't know. Something strong. We need something fucking strong, don't you think? The world actually ended. As in the apocalypse? We better have something strong.'"

Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #25: Covet

Covet

Author: Tracey Garvis Graves
Pages: 320
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Read: July 23-30, 2013
Source: ARC from publisher at BEA
Recommended by: Blythe of Finding Bliss in Books

Description from Goodreads:
What if the life you wanted, and the woman you fell in love with, belonged to someone else?

Chris and Claire Canton’s marriage is on life support. Downsized during the recession and out of work for a year, Chris copes by retreating to a dark place where no one can reach him, not even Claire. When he’s offered a position that will keep him away from home four nights a week, he dismisses Claire’s concern that time apart could be the one thing their fragile union can’t weather. Their suburban life may look idyllic on the outside, but Claire has never felt so disconnected from Chris, or so lonely.

Local police officer Daniel Rush used to have it all, but now he goes home to an empty house every night. He pulls Claire over during a routine traffic stop, and they run into each other again at the 4th of July parade. When Claire is hired to do some graphic design work for the police department, her friendship with Daniel grows, and soon they’re spending hours together.

Claire loves the way Daniel makes her feel, and the way his face lights up when she walks into the room. Daniel knows that Claire’s marital status means their relationship will never be anything other than platonic. But it doesn’t take long before Claire and Daniel are in way over their heads, and skating close to the line that Claire has sworn she’ll never cross.

First Sentence: "I'm on my way home from dropping off the kids at school when he pulls me over."

Review:
Though I was curious enough about Tracey Garvis Graves to lug Covet back from BEA, I certainly felt a healthy dose of skepticism about whether her writing would really be for me. The blurb of the book only exacerbated my hesitance, because it hints at a torrid affair and melodrama. While on the surface, the blurb is true, it's also misleading. Covet does deeply examine infidelity, but it's understated and realistic, and never once angered me, despite infidelity being a huge no no for me.

The first thing that impressed me was Graves' writing. She really excels at writing people, full and vibrant and realistic. She focuses on Claire's family, and really captures Claire perfectly. You can feel Claire's every emotion and sense how much she cares about her family. There are myriad little details that really make the house therein seem like a home and everyone within it a believable person. Covet is very domestic and very family-oriented.

Claire loves her husband deeply, but things have not been the same between them since her husband lost his job a year ago. A golden boy, life always came easy to Chris, and he never expected to be job hunting for months. During that process, money gets tight, Claire becomes their sole earner with her freelance graphic design, and Chris has to go on antidepressants. Though Chris now finally has a new job, circumstances have not improved between them, as this job requires him to be on the road for weeks at a time. Claire and Chris barely speak and the gulf between them doesn't seem to be shrinking.

At about the same time Chris is beginning his new job, Claire meets Daniel Rush, a cop, when he pulls her over to inform her that her taillight is out. They meet again coincidentally and he helps her get a speed limit sign put in on her street to keep people from speeding. After that, he helps get her some freelance work for the police station. From this foundation, they form a friendship, mostly trying to hide their mutual attraction.

I'll tell you right now that there is no torrid affair, but everything's not necessarily innocent either. Graves really explores infidelity, what it means, and why it happens. Claire, lonely, seeks out companionship when its offered, but she doesn't immediately abandon her senses either. She's very aware of her situation and careful not to cross the line. Though my opinions on cheating are pretty well set, Graves really made me look at infidelity in a new light and from a different angle. I'm not saying I think it's okay now or anything, but I understand why Claire behaves the way she does.

There were some elements that I wish had been flushed out better. Julia's got some close female friends, and I would have liked to see a bit more of them. One has a philandering husband, another a drinking problem, and the third a husband with a gambling addiction. Their interactions are all about their men or children, and it would have been nice to see the women get to show a different side.

Covet's told from multiple perspectives, which is decently well done, but not perfect. Daniel and Chris have very short chapters, two pages or less generally, whereas Claire's are more expansive. I would have liked to see that a bit more even, but I suspect keeping the male POVs terse was a way to make them sound less like Claire. The POVs weren't especially unique, but I had no problems keeping them apart either.

Tracey Garvis Graves' portrayal of family life and investigation of a relationship on the rocks in Covet had me eager to read more. Covet's a very character-focused read with most of the drama taking place in Claire's head, rather than in a bed.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "I'd much rather be here in this hotel room in Denver, employed, than be without a job. Actually, I'd rather be employed and at home with my family, but it didn't work out that way."

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Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta. That series was recommended by Steph and Lynn! Obviously, I'm excited about this because it's supposedly the best and the series. Also, spoiler, I'm reading it now and it's awesome. So yeah. Check back next week for that and another SHS post as well.

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Audiobook Review: Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen, Book 1

Author: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Narrator: Natalie Moore
Duration: 6 hrs, 7 mins
Publisher: Listening Library
Read: June 17-23, 2013
Source: Library

Description from Goodreads:
When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.

Harsh words indeed, from Brian Nelson of all people. But, D.J. can’t help admitting, maybe he’s right.

When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.

Stuff like why her best friend, Amber, isn’t so friendly anymore. Or why her little brother, Curtis, never opens his mouth. Why her mom has two jobs and a big secret. Why her college-football-star brothers won’t even call home. Why her dad would go ballistic if she tried out for the high school football team herself. And why Brian is so, so out of her league.

When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.

Welcome to the summer that fifteen-year-old D.J. Schwenk of Red Bend, Wisconsin, learns to talk, and ends up having an awful lot of stuff to say.

Review:

Though I haven't had much chance to reread since I began blogging, it's one of my favorite things to do. Is there anything better than revisiting an old favorite? For me, the benefits are myriad, since I generally can't remember much after just one read of a book, so I can be surprised and delighted just like the first time, implant the book in my memory, and probably also notice awesomeness I'd missed before. Of course, in some cases, I like to reread books that I didn't enjoy before, because they can really surprise you, like Dairy Queen.

I'm fairly certain I've actually read Dairy Queen twice before, once in college and once in grad school. Though I have little memory of it, I have a distinct recollection of having checked out the paperback during a break from undergrad. I don't think I liked it much, and I've only just recalled that. Anyway, in grad school, I had to read Dairy Queen for my young adult services course. I did not care for it.

My issues with Dairy Queen were partly context and partly format. See, I came to Dairy Queen that second time with certain expectations, because we were assigned the book as part of the LGBT unit, which included one other book Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You. I was pissed off at this book and at the professors for not choosing a single book with a gay or lesbian protagonist, though the protagonist in Cameron's novel thinks he might be gay. Though there are some LGBT themes in Dairy Queen, it's not an LGBT book overall, and I resented the book for that, even if it wasn't fair.

However, I also remember being unimpressed by the writing style. D.J.'s not the sort of girl to use really complex sentences or have a huge vocabulary. Simple sentences just generally do not work for me as a writing style, so I found the book frustrating. Switching to the audiobook format allowed me to really appreciate how well the writing fits the character of D.J. Natalie Moore does an amazing job bringing the character alive, and has the full on Wisconsin accent, which is incredibly entertaining.

So far as the plot goes, I really remembered nothing, except cows and football, which are certainly the most obvious points. The book being about football probably didn't help us get along any either, but Miranda Kenneally has helped me get over my distaste for anything about sports. The football in the book really isn't overwhelming, definitely taking a back seat to D.J.'s journey for self-respect and interpersonal relations.

D.J. feels dumb and overwhelmed. She flunked sophomore English, because she was so busy running the family farm after her dad injured himself using the manure spreader. D.J. is so young, but she has all of this pressure and her whole family relies on her to keep the farm going. She has to give up all of her sports to run the farm, but her brother Curtis doesn't. The whole thing feels so unfair, but D.J. is a real champ about it.

Then Brian Nelson shows up, sent by the coach of D.J.'s school's rival ream, who happens to be a family friend. The coach wants Brian to help out on the farm and stop being so stuck up, and eventually D.J. begins coaching Brian at football. They also go from hating one another to really getting along, able to talk about things that D.J.'s family never discusses. Her affinity for Brian grows into a crush and also inspires her to confront family issues, like talking to her estranged brothers, engaging with her silent younger brother, and gaining more respect from her parents.

Romance is really kept on the back burner, though it's a thread running through the book. D.J.'s desire for romance sort of comes up against her increasing desire to play football, which both isn't girly and will inevitably lead to complications with her burgeoning feelings for Brian. D.J. also has to deal with the realization that her friend Amber is a lesbian and has sort of been dating D.J., though D.J. had no idea. Up to this summer with Brian, she'd really never given romance a thought and all of this takes her time to process.

Actually, that's one of the best things about Dairy Queen. D.J. really does need time to think through things. She lacks the quick wit of a lot of heroines. Brian confronts her about always forcing him to give more in conversations by remaining silent, and she explains that she was merely trying to work out a response. D.J.'s brain works a bit differently from mine, and it's always interesting to get to be in someone else's head to gain some empathy.

The narrative of the book is purportedly an assignment D.J. turns in to overturn her failure in English, since the teacher lets her make it up. When she explained that at the end, I laughed a lot, because this poor teacher. She asks for a paper on what D.J. did over the summer or something like that, and the girl turns in, instead of ten pages or so, three hundred. Happy grading!

Many thanks to Renae of Respiring Thoughts and Wendy Darling of The Midnight Garden for convincing me that Dairy Queen deserved another shot. I'm excited to listen to the audiobooks for the next two books!

Sum It Up with a GIF:

Rating: 4/5

Review: OCD Love Story

OCD Love Story

Author: Corey Ann Haydu
Pages: 352
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: July 23, 2013
Read: July 14-20, 2013
Source: ARC for review from YA Books Central

Description from Goodreads:
In this raw and relatable romance, Bea learns that some things just can’t be controlled.

When Bea meets Beck, she knows instantly that he’s her kind of crazy. Sweet, strong, kinda-messed-up Beck understands her like no one else can. He makes her feel almost normal. He makes her feel like she could fall in love again.

But despite her feelings for Beck, Bea can’t stop thinking about someone else: a guy who is gorgeous and magnetic... and has no idea Bea even exists. But Bea knows a lot about him. She spends a lot of time watching him. She has a journal full of notes. Some might even say she’s obsessed.

Bea tells herself she’s got it all under control. But this isn’t a choice, it’s a compulsion. The truth is, she’s breaking down...and she might end up breaking her own heart.

First Sentence: "Lucky for me, I don't get panicky in small dark spaces or anything."

Review:

OCD Love Story is one of those books that I think I'm going to love in retrospect. It's a painful read, one that actually sort of grated on my brain. The description calls it "raw," which is apt, and relatable, which it wasn't really for me. In the end, I'm really impressed with Haydu's debut, but largely undecided on just how I feel about it, and I already know I'll have to sit on it for a while and reread to really process my feelings about Haydu's debut.

There is no doubt in my mind that OCD Love Story is brilliantly done. Haydu approaches OCD with honesty, and I learned a lot about OCD from this novel. I always thought I might be a little bit OCD, but, wow, I was wrong. The compulsions that Bea and the rest of her group have are nothing like my desire to listen to music at volumes that are either multiples of two or five. OCD isn't pretty. Even though the goal of these behaviors is to give the person a feeling of safety or order, the end result is not that.

Unlike the cover says so many times, Bea is not stalking a boy in OCD Love Story, though she did have a history of that. She's stalking a man, Austin, and his wife, Sylvia, who have the session before her with Dr. Pat. She overheard snippets of their session, and started a notebook about them. From there, she began to worry about their safety, felt the need to check in on them or she would be overcome with anxiety. On top of that, she's terrified of sharp objects, afraid that she'll hurt someone with them, can't drive above 30 miles an hour, because she thinks she'll hit someone, and pinches her thigh to a blue/black mess. Bea's issues are believable, but they were really hard for me to personally relate to. At the same time, this frank portrayal was great, because it really opened up my mind to different ways of thinking and being, which is one of the things I love about literature.

The romance depicted in OCD Love Story is really touching, actually. For a moment, I was afraid it would go to creepy Juno-like places with the Austin stalking, but it didn't thankfully. Right at the beginning, Bea meets a guy in a blackout and makes out with him. She meets him again in OCD group therapy, and he's just her type (huge and muscular and difficult to hurt). Beck and Bea are both incredibly messed up teens and seriously in denial about that. What I love about their romance, though, is it shows that love isn't skin deep and isn't just about perfection. In YA, the heroine and hero are generally idealized and perfect. Beck and Bea are not that, but it doesn't mean they can't find someone to love them, which is such a great message. Plus, their relationship has problems, but they work on it and stay together. It's not magically perfect or that the world wants to keep them apart.

OCD Love Story made me want to go into the book so that I could sit Bea down and give her a talking to. Beck too. Their compulsions are so hard for me to really understand. However, I loved the way that Haydu brought it all together in the end, as you find out what happened to Beck and Bea in the past. Their compulsions come from logical places, but practical concerns are taken to a level that's beyond rationality.

Perhaps I'll change my mind on this later, but, for now, the reading experience was sort of unpleasant. Worth pushing through, certainly, but reading this book almost physically hurt. This is obviously a sign that Haydu has done her work and done it well. You're meant to be uncomfortable, because that's what it's like to be Bea.

Aside from that, the writing style didn't really appeal to me. It fits Bea very well, but I didn't much care for it. That's a very personal thing, of course, and Haydu did do a great job with the voice overall, but it's just not my favorite writing style.

Lovers of honest books about hard subjects will not want to miss OCD Love Story. This is a book that will make you think and make you feel awkwardness and pain for the characters.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "It's like, I'm scared and there're a lot of ugly things, but I'd rather be shipwrecked on this lovely island than safe in a sad, gray cell."

Review: The Beginning of Everything

The Beginning of Everything

Author: Robyn Schneider
Pages: 330
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
Source: YA Books Central for review

Description from Goodreads:
Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life.

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes?

Robyn Schneider’s The Beginning of Everything is a lyrical, witty, and heart-wrenching novel about how difficult it is to play the part that people expect, and how new beginnings can stem from abrupt and tragic endings.

First Sentence: "Sometimes I think that everyone has a tragedy waiting for them, that the people buying milk in their pajamas or picking their noses at stoplights could be only moments away from disaster."

Review:

Robyn Schneider's novel underwent a title change from Severed Heads, Broken Hearts to The Beginning of Everything. Both titles I think are fitting for the story within, though I must say I feel a certain affection for the original, which conveys both the humor and the darkness of Schneider's witty, brilliant debut.

Ezra Faulkner theorizes that no one's life really begins until they go through a personal tragedy. This may seem an odd sort of belief, but it makes sense. Tragedy has a way of putting things in perspective. The loss of a family member, of mobility, or of social standing has a way of forcing a person to reevaluate life and decide what is really important. Realizing how tenuous and random life can be, it's crucial to spend what life you have being who you really are and with the people who really get you.

Ezra and Toby were best friends until they were fourteen. That friendship came to a halt after a tourist stood up in the row in front of them on a roller coaster at Disney, the tourist's severed head landing in Toby's arms for the rest of the ride. For the rest of high school, Toby will be that kid with the severed head. Meanwhile, Ezra grew up well, attractive and athletic, and became friends with the popular kids. He partied, dated hot girls, and planned to get a college scholarship for tennis. Then, at a party one night, a driver hit his car, leaving him crippled.

As school starts up for his senior year, the former Homecoming King doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere. He walks with a cane, his girlfriend has hooked up with his former best friend, and his plans for the future are shot. In his life's nadir, he finds a sort of freedom, though. He can now admit to being intelligent and nerdy, rediscover his friendship with Toby, and cultivate a spot with some of the school's nerds. Tragedy serves as a bridge to help him realize how unsatisfying his life up to then truly was.

Schneider's writing is fantastic. First of all, she completely captures an authentic male voice. Ezra never read like a girl to me, but neither was his narrative over the top in an effort to sell his maleness. Secondly, Schneider peppers the narrative with literary references, which, admittedly, might be alienating to some teen readers, but that I loved. Finally, there are the puns. If you do not appreciate finely tuned wordplay, you might find The Beginning of Everything pun-ishing. However, if you deem puns fine humor, you may well laugh your head off (don't worry; Toby will catch it for you).

The romance in The Beginning of Everything falls a bit into manicpixiedreamgirl territory, but it works. Ezra is taken with Cassidy immediately, with her mystery, her intelligence, and her vibrancy. She appreciates his puns and can give them back. They have great chemistry, but she always keeps her walls way way up. Why this worked for me is that Ezra falls in love with her, but in a totally high school first love sort of way, and not in a true love forever sort of way. Also, there's a realization of how little she actually was the perfect girl of his dreams.

The only aspect of the book that left me wanting was the ending. The climax that leads to the spilling of Cassidy's secrets was unexpected, despite the foreshadowing that lead up to it. That scene did not rub me the right way, and just felt a bit out of place in the novel. Plus, Cassidy's sudden opening up didn't seem fitting with what went down either. Without explaining what happened, it's hard to put this clearly, but I found what happened a bit puzzling and melodramatic.

Robyn Schneider's novel is highly intelligent and full of black humor. Fans of John Green, particularly Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns, will most definitely want to read The Beginning of Everything.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quotes:

"'I'd call them master debaters, but clearly you aren't mature enough to handle that, Mister Smirkyface.'"

"'Why do they even call it that, "saving yourself"? Like we need to be rescued from sex? It's not like virgins spend their whole lives engaged in the sacred ceremony of "being saved" from intercourse.'"

"'You act like that day at Disneyland was my big tragedy, but you're the one who lost your best friend. You're the one who started eating lunch with the popular jocks and forgot how to be awesome because you were too busy being cool.'"

"'Life is the tragedy,' she said bitterly. 'You know how they categorize Shakespeare's plays, right? If it ends with a wedding, it's a comedy. And if it ends with a funeral, it's a tragedy. So we're all living tragedies, because we all end the same way, and it isn't with a goddamn wedding.'"

Review: A Darkness Strange and Lovely

A Darkness Strange and Lovely
Something Strange and Deadly, Book 2

Author: Susan Dennard
Pages: 416
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: July 23, 2013
Read: July 11
Source: Gifted - thanks, Jamie!!!

Description from Goodreads:
Following an all-out battle with the walking Dead, the Spirit Hunters have fled Philadelphia, leaving Eleanor alone to cope with the devastating aftermath. But there’s more trouble ahead—the evil necromancer Marcus has returned, and his diabolical advances have Eleanor escaping to Paris to seek the help of Joseph, Jie, and the infuriatingly handsome Daniel once again. When she arrives, however, she finds a whole new darkness lurking in this City of Light. As harrowing events unfold, Eleanor is forced to make a deadly decision that will mean life or death for everyone.

First Sentence: "When Jie's letter came in the mail, I was so elated I forgot I had no hand."

Review:

I have been waiting for A Darkness Strange and Lovely since the moment I finished Something Strange and Deadly Susan Dennard captured my heart and my imagination in her debut, so I was eager to see what she would do with the next book. Happily, there is no second book syndrome here and ADSaL has all the elements that made SSaD such a delight.

Without a doubt, it's the narrative voice that makes Dennard's series stand out from the pack of paranormal offerings. Eleanor is so many things: clever, silly, practical, powerful, self-conscious, and infuriating. Her voice rings so clearly through this first person narrative, and she really doesn't sound like anyone but herself. Even when she's at her most irritating, when she digs herself a whole of lies so deep she can't see out because she's afraid no one will accept her, she's still her kooky, charming self. Also, the girl can eat, and I suspect she's a bit chunkier than the usual YA heroine, which is just another reason to love her.

Dennard really steps out of the box with Eleanor. She's no stereotype. She speaks her mind, eats anything she can get her hands on, and has far more power than her companions. In fact, her power scares everyone but herself. Actually, scratch that; it scares Eleanor a bit too. In the face of the most extraordinary circumstances, Eleanor is the kind of person who never stops trying, even when she only has one hand or everyone has turned their backs on her. Though she makes some really stupid choices, I still have so much respect and friendship in my heart for Eleanor.

The plot this time comes with a bit less zombie mayhem, and a bit more mystery. Eleanor sets off to join the Spirit Hunters in Paris, where a Marquis is hosting them. Paris is beset by les Morts, and the Spirit Hunters have yet to figure out who has been sacrificing people and raising their corpses. Dennard does a good job throwing out a red herring, and making things a little bit twisty without it being overwhelming.

Props, too, on romance remaining on the back burner, slowly simmering, but not to the boil stage yet. Though it's a good one, I think the time to unfold is necessary and will only make the moment when Daniel and Eleanor officially get together that much sweeter. Both of them still have some growing to do, and I like that Dennard gives them that time, rather than rushing them into some super intense forever love.

Dennard adds a couple of new cast members, most notably Laure and Oliver. Eleanor meets both on her passage to France, and I think I like them. They're definitely both interesting figures, and I want to know more about them. Clearly, Laure's going to be important in the third book, but, for now, there was a lot of time spent on her that doesn't seem to have accomplished much. Oliver's pretty awesome, and I like the dynamic he adds to the group, the tension. I am also thrilled that Oliver is not another love interest for Eleanor.

Readers who enjoyed Something Strange and Deadly will likely be pleased with Susan Dennard's sequel. Also, the moment ADSaL concludes, you're going to want book three something fierce, because it is going to be epic.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote:

"'Do you want to know what my phantom hand is good for, Daniel?'
     'Please,' he said with a sneer.
     'This.' I slapped him across the cheek, so hard that even with my glove, the blow flamed up my arm."

Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #22: The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go
Chaos Walking, Book 1

Author: Patrick Ness
Pages: 479
Publisher: Candlewick
Read: June 30-July 4, 2013
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review
Recommended by: Renae of Respiring Thoughts

Description from Goodreads:
Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

First Sentence: "The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say."

Review:
Funny story. A few years ago I DNFed this book on the very first page. The dialect and the dog talking about poo and I was out of there. Of course, later I heard how epic and amazing it worth it the book was, and this is part of why I generally fear DNFs. Anyway, a reader finally forced me to give this series another try and, though I'm still a bit unsure just how I feel about this book that I just finished, I'm glad I did.

First off, The Knife of Never Letting Go is legit. Originally published in 2009, this book predates the whole dystopian craze, and isn't a romance novel in disguise. Ness' world building is a little bit insane (literally), but also very unique and captivating. I don't want to say too much about it, since the way the information unfolds is one of the big pluses of the book, but Ness does explain how things came about, and it's really cool that developing the world is obviously his main focus.

Todd Hewitt lives in Prentisstown, the last boy, to become a man on his thirteenth birthday in a month. There are no women in Prentisstown, all dead from the Noise germ. The Spackle, now killed by the settlers, used germ warfare during the war, and one of the germs made men's thoughts audible and killed all the women. Life in Prentisstown is angry and unhappy, a slow extinction. Men's thoughts create a cacophony of sound, and Todd likes to escape the Noise whenever he can. The concept of the Noise is so cool, and I love the way it's represented in the text. It's sort of like that Mel Gibson movie What Women Want, only everyone can hear what every man thinks.

Well, actually the Noise affects more than just humans, which brings me to my favorite character: Manchee. Remember the dog talking about poo? Well, he's adorable and I want to hug him forever. All animals can speak (though not in the traditional form of speech) on New World. Some don't have a whole lot to say, like sheep, which pretty much just say "sheep." Manchee's a pretty young pup, but you can actually see him learning throughout the book and getting smarter. He also undergoes a lot of abuse and the damn book nearly made me cry.

The dialect of the writing took some getting used to for me, but Blood Red Road paved the way for me to be able to enjoy this style. It took a couple hundred pages for me to adjust, but I did, and can now declare that I think Ness did a really good job with it. The dialect has a natural flow and is no thicker than it needs to be. I actually read some of the dialogue aloud and there's a really natural cadence to it, the sort that suggests Ness got things just right.

The Knife of Never Letting Go is also suitably scary and dark. There's really not much happiness to be had on Prentisstown, and life is almost entirely hopeless. This is how I like my dystopias. Also, no one comes out of this with their hands clean, even the most likable characters. Living on New World means getting your hands dirty.

Two things did bother me about The Knife of Never Letting Go though. First, the fact that, though this isn't Todd's written account so far as I can tell, it's edited so he says "effing," even when he didn't actually censor himself that way. He does try to remember to say effing instead, but if he said "fuck" then that's what the text should say, in my opinion. Second, how was Aaron not dead? This crazy guy Aaron should have been dead a couple chapters in but he just kept showing up again. I'm just not convinced humans can survive all of what happened to that guy, which gave me some serious suspension of disbelief issues.

If you've not entirely written off the dystopian genre and are still game for ones without romance and with plenty of world building, do yourself a favor and read The Knife of Never Letting Go. I'll be reading the whole series, and I'm really curious to find out where it's going after that ending.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking."

---

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Review: Dare You To

Dare You To
Pushing the Limits, Book 2

Author: Katie McGarry
Pages: 462
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Read: May 18, 2013
Source: YA Books Central for review

Description from Goodreads:
Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

Previous Book in Series:
1: Pushing the Limits

First Sentence: "I'm not interested in second place."

Review:

Though I've not actually read any reviews of Dare You To, I've seen some ratings roll in and some status updates, so I'd seen enough to be wary. I was immensely impressed with McGarry's debut and very excited about her sophomore novel, but also hesitant in case my love for the first turned out to be a fluke. Thankfully, for me, Dare You To is, if anything a stronger read than Pushing the Limits, since, ultimately, I find both Beth and Ryan to be more compelling leads.

Now, I do warn you that Beth and Ryan are both rather awful people as the novel opens. Ryan starts out as that cocky jock asshole, used to always getting what he wants out of life. He's basically Freddie Prinze Jr. from She's All That, making dares with his buddies about girls. Specifically, he and his friend Chris dare each other to get girls' numbers at the beginning of the book. The way he thinks about girls made me want to smack the smirk off his face. Beth, too, is a handful. She makes horrible life choices, and is an asshole to the people trying to help her.

If you stick with them though, Beth and Ryan do really mature through the course of the book, as they realize what's important to them and face up to their demons. They're young and completely screwed up by their parents, so it's a wonder they make as much progress as they do. Both of them, though, have good hearts from the start, even if they don't apply them as well as they could. For example, though Ryan may think unflattering things about girls from time to time, he does treat them well, dares aside, even refusing to allow his friends to call his ex-girlfriend evil, despite her manipulative nature; he cared for her once and won't see her maligned.

Beth is pretty much emotionally ruined, unable to trust anyone but Isaiah and Noah. She has good reason, since most people either leave her or hit her or both. Her mother is an alcoholic and a junkie, unwilling to leave her drug dealing boyfriend, Trent, not even for her daughter's sake. Even so, Beth takes care of her, even to the degree of taking the fall and getting arrested for a crime her mother committed. Beth's determination to protect and save her mother is evidence of her good heart, but it's also tragic, keeping her from doing what's best for herself. Children really do want to love their parents, even when they shouldn't.

Speaking of bad parents, it's young adult fiction, so Ryan has them too. His mother and father live a life of social events and pretending to be the perfect family, when actually they just kicked his older brother out after Mark revealed his homosexuality. Ryan feels abandoned by Mark and stifled by his parents. What I love about Ryan's story is that he's actively making choices for the future: whether to pursue a career in major league baseball or to go for college and consider writing as a career. Not enough YA actually deals with thoughts of the life beyond high school.

As in Pushing the Limits, Katie McGarry wrote the book from the perspectives of both of the main characters. Yet again, she does a phenomenal job writing two distinct points of view, neither of which reads like Noah or Echo either. Color me impressed. McGarry even managed to sell me on their romance, though I was skeptical at first. Ryan's actually a really sweet, respectful guy under the swagger. He's very up front and good at communicating, and that's something Beth needs and isn't good at herself. This is another romance where the tropes are sort of turned on their head, with the tattooed bad girl and the more innocent guy. He embraces feelings and she just wants to keep things physical and temporary. Also, they become more social as they get closer, rather than descending into the couple cave, which is great too.

My only qualms are these: the melodrama and Ryan's writing. Though I think it's well done, the drama of it all did seem a bit over the top at times. I let that slide in Pushing the Limits, but having both teens have terrible parents again and dealing with a lot of the same issues was a bit too much for me. Then there's the apparently amazing story that Ryan has written, which gets him nominated for a literary award and scholarship. That's all fine, except that he apparently wrote Warm Bodies, which is weird to me.

In Dare You To, Katie McGarry dares to take a risk on characters who aren't as likable on the outset. If you can keep an open mind, that gamble pays off in the end, but, of course, that's not for everyone. With this, I can confidently declare myself a McGarry fan, and will be eagerly anticipating Crash Into You, Isaiah's story.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "'You're a lot like that bird in the barn. You're so scared you're going to be caged in forever that you can't see the way out. You smack yourself against the wall again and again and again. The door is open, Beth. Stop running in circles and walk out.'"

Review: Fun Home

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Author: Alison Bechdel
Pages: 232
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Read: May 18, 2013
Source: Friend's library (since mine didn't have it)

Description from Goodreads:
A fresh and brilliantly told memoir from a cult favorite comic artist, marked by gothic twists, a family funeral home, sexual angst, and great books.

This breakout book by Alison Bechdel is a darkly funny family tale, pitch-perfectly illustrated with Bechdel's sweetly gothic drawings. Like Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, it's a story exhilaratingly suited to graphic memoir form.

Meet Alison's father, a historic preservation expert and obsessive restorer of the family's Victorian home, a third-generation funeral home director, a high school English teacher, an icily distant parent, and a closeted homosexual who, as it turns out, is involved with his male students and a family babysitter. Through narrative that is alternately heartbreaking and fiercely funny, we are drawn into a daughter's complex yearning for her father. And yet, apart from assigned stints dusting caskets at the family-owned "fun home," as Alison and her brothers call it, the relationship achieves its most intimate expression through the shared code of books. When Alison comes out as homosexual herself in late adolescense, the denouement is swift, graphic -- and redemptive.

First Sentence: "Like many fathers, mine could occasionally be prevailed on for a spot of 'airplane.'"

Review:

Though this may not have been hugely apparent on my blog, overwhelmed as I am by review copies, I dearly love graphic novels and manga. In an effort to try to fit more of those in, my first selection was Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, an autobiography in graphic novel format. Someone on Twitter recommended this to me (Ceilidh of The Book Lantern, perhaps?), and I convinced my friend to ILL it from her library, since my local library charges for those. In Fun Home, Bechdel confronts her sexual journey and her lingering emotions about her father in a lavishly written, darkly humorous comic.

The title Fun Home comes from the fact that her father ran a funeral home, as well as working as a high school teacher. I could not help but be reminded of the show Six Feet Under, which does have some parallels to Bechdel's life experience, certainly in tone and themes, like homosexuality and a truly fucked up family.

Bechdel's identity as a lesbian woman is tied up with her thoughts of her father. She feels that her butch identity developed in contrast to his own sissy-ness; these words are her own and not mine, by the way. Her sexuality and his death will always be linked in her mind too, because of the circumstances of his demise, though the connection seems tenuous at best. This, though, is how the human mind works, implying causality and taking on guilt where none needs to exist, a negative side effect as seeing ourselves as the center of the universe.

Bechdel tells the story of her coming of age in the 1970s with a big emphasis on literary references. She's definitely appealing to a well-read and educated audience. Having not read Proust or Ulysses, there were numerous references I'm sure that I missed out on, and I imagine the constant use of comparison to literary figures would be frustrating for those unfamiliar with the texts mentioned. I really liked this technique, however, the way that Bechdel set herself apart from her own story and analyzed it like fiction. In fact, she even includes snippets from her diary and her father's letters, considering the hidden meaning within them precisely the way she was skeptical of doing with literature in her college English courses.

Bechdel's writing is gorgeous, complex and drenched in meaning. Both the pictures and the words combine to tell the story. Sometimes in graphic novels, the text takes a back seat to the images, but not here. That every word was carefully chosen is obvious. I just loved her writing and had to sit back and chew on some of the sentences, because they were just so beautiful.

Autobiographies and biographies have been one of those forms of writing I've never had much interest in, but Fun Home was fascinating, so I may have been too hasty to dismiss them. My friend who borrowed the book for me said Bechdel also wrote one about her mother, who's a secondary character here, so I'll have to check that out.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "Sometimes, when things were going well, I think my father actually enjoyed having a family. Or, at least, the air of authenticity we lent to his exhibit. A sort of still life with children."