Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #18: Review: Finnikin of the Rock

Finnikin of the Rock
Lumatere Chronicles, Book 1

Author: Melina Marchetta
Pages: 399
Publisher: Candlewick
Read: June 15-19, 2013
Source: Library
Recommended by: Lynn (@kuro_rin01) and Steph of Cuddlebuggery

Description from Goodreads:
At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh to save his kingdom. He stands on the rock of the three wonders with his friend Prince Balthazar and Balthazar's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood to safeguard Lumatere.

But all safety is shattered during the five days of the unspeakable, when the king and queen and their children are brutally murdered in the palace. An impostor seizes the throne, a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere's walls, and those who escape are left to roam the land as exiles, dying by the thousands in fever camps.

Ten years later, Finnikin is summoned to another rock--to meet Evanjalin, a young novice with a startling claim: Balthazar, heir to the throne of Lumatere, is alive. This arrogant young woman claims she'll lead Finnikin and his mentor, Sir Topher, to the prince. Instead, her leadership points them perilously toward home. Does Finnikin dare believe that Lumatere might one day rise united? Evanjalin is not what she seems, and the startling truth will test Finnikin's faith not only in her but in all he knows to be true about himself and his destiny.

In a bold departure from her acclaimed contemporary novels, Printz Medalist Melina Marchetta has crafted an epic fantasy of ancient magic, feudal intrigue, romance, and bloodshed that will rivet you from the first page.

First Sentence: "A long time ago, in the spring before the five days of the unspeakable, Finnikin of the Rock dreamed that he was to sacrifice a pound of flesh to save the royal house of Lumatere."

Review:
If you blog YA books, you can't avoid hearing about Melina Marchetta. I've had almost all of her books on my to-read list for years, just because of how good I've heard her writing is, but this is my first venture into her fiction. Finnikin of the Rock was not the book I was expecting it to be in a lot of ways, because I went in hoping for it to be the perfect book for me, and it wasn't. However, it's also a well-written book that sort of sneaks up on you, so that I went from being bored to grinning like an idiot at the end.

Usually I start with all the good stuff, but today I'm going to start with the flaw: the beginning of Finnikin of the Rock is slow and boring, at least if you're a character reader like me. There's a lot of journeying, vignettes of travel and the political situation of these realms with very little characterization. If you get off on world building, then the first hundred pages might be fascinating, but until I care about the characters I don't give much of a shit about the world, so it's just something to be got through. Of course, this is super common in epic and high fantasy, which do have a lot of world building to do, but the characterization in Finnikin felt like it moved especially slowly.

Though I never got super feelsy about Finnikin, Evanjelin, Froi, and the rest, they did grow on me. Only at the very end did I have any feels whatsoever, in that last chapter of awesome. Marchetta never really did go super character-focused, but the bits and pieces slowly added up into people that I cared about. Finnikin of the Rock is a book that gets better with every single page, and, from what I've heard, the whole series continues that. I much prefer a book to be a slow starter and a strong finisher than vice versa.

What Melina Marchetta does best is darkness. There are creepy and intense things that go down in this book starting on the first page, in which children cut chunks of flesh from their legs to swear an oath. So, yeah, intense. The people of Lumatere were attacked, cursed, and thrown out of their kingdom, left to the mercy of their neighbors, most of whom aren't merciful. The people of Lumatere are hardened, without hope, and ravaged by their experiences. Every single Lumateran still alive is a survivor in the truest sense of the world; they've all been through hardships and are scarred one, mentally and/or physically. Even the heroes and heroines of Finnikin of the Rock are not pure and perfect: they lie, they kill, one even attempts a rape.

It is into this bleak landscape that the reader arrives. Finnikin has been called to pick up a novice from a far temple. This novice, Evanjalin, claims that she has walked the dreams of Balthazar, who would be king if he truly lived. Finnikin and Topher, the right hand man of the king that was, escort Evanjalin on a mission to rebuild Lumatere, slowly assembling the people and preparing to make war on the imposter king who took the throne. As hope grows, the people come out of their shells and the characterization picks up.

[Let's sidebar briefly and talk about how dark the book is. You may notice that I've tagged this review adult, rather than young adult, because Finnikin of the Rock really doesn't read like a young adult book to me. This is not because of the intense subject matter (I think teens can handle way more than we generally give them credit for), but because nothing in the book really seems to delve into issues of being a teenager. Though Finnikin and Evanjalin may be teenagers (I'm honestly not sure just how old they are), they are adults in their world, mature and responsible for their own lives. Of course, defining young adult fiction is pretty much impossible, but I felt I should mention it, because I found the YA designation puzzling; if you have insights, I'd be happy to discuss them.]

Despite all the darkness, there is a thin vein of humor and lightness. Much of it is the sort of humor that men of war will engage in, a sort of gallows humor and ribbing of compatriots. The romance too is a source of humor and light, as both parties pretend disinterest while fooling absolutely no one. Marchetta keeps the romance very low key, but still manages to convey a powerful sense of longing and a strong connection, even if it does initially seem to burgeon out of nowhere.

The last chapter of Finnikin of the Rock was just about the most adorable thing ever. If I could write up the whole thing for my favorite quote, I WOULD. After the darkness of the book, it's fluffy and light and full of banter and just the most adorable thing in the world. I LOVE it. Also, I gather that Finnikin and company will be big players in book two, but that it will follow Froi as the main character, which sounds super awesome.

Though I'm not sure if Finnikin of the Rock is the ideal first Marchetta experience, it's well worth reading for a patient reader. By the end, I want nothing more than to read the next one, though that will have to wait a few weeks.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'Oh, that leaders of kingdoms should feel the pain of every one of their citizens who they send out to fight their wars.'"

---

Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Death Watch by Ari Berk, chosen by the bullying Kara of Great Imaginations. Seriously, you tell her that her book is up soon and she'll ask DAILY when you're reading it. Sheesh. What a jerk!*

*Just kidding. I love her.

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

Audiobook Review + Giveaway: Golden Boy

Golden Boy

Author: Abigail Tarttelin
Narrators: Keith Nobbs, James Langton, Abigail Tarttelin, Christian Coulson, Kate Reading, Anita Sabherwal
Duration: 12 hrs, 40 mins
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
The Walker family is good at keeping secrets from the world. They are even better at keeping them from each other.

Max Walker is a golden boy. Attractive, intelligent, and athletic, he’s the perfect son, the perfect friend, and the perfect crush for the girls in his school. He’s even really nice to his little brother. Karen, Max’s mother, is a highly successful criminal lawyer, determined to maintain the façade of effortless excellence she has constructed through the years. Now that the boys are getting older, now that she won’t have as much control, she worries that the façade might soon begin to crumble. Adding to the tension, her husband, Steve, has chosen this moment to stand for election to Parliament. The spotlight of the media is about to encircle their lives.

The Walkers are hiding something, you see. Max is special. Max is different. Max is intersex. When an enigmatic childhood friend named Hunter steps out of his past and abuses his trust in the worst possible way, Max is forced to consider the nature of his well-kept secret. Why won’t his parents talk about it? What else are they hiding from Max about his condition and from each other? The deeper Max goes, the more questions emerge about where it all leaves him and what his future holds, especially now that he’s starting to fall head over heels for someone for the first time in his life. Will his friends accept him if he is no longer the Golden Boy? Will anyone ever want him—desire him— once they know? And the biggest one of all, the question he has to look inside himself to answer: Who is Max Walker, really?

Written by twenty-five-year-old rising star Abigail Tarttelin, Golden Boy is a novel you’ll read in one sitting but will never forget; at once a riveting tale of a family in crisis, a fascinating exploration of identity and a coming-of-age story like no other.

Review:

This is one of those times where I'm incredibly glad that I'm a book blogger. You see, were I not blogging, I would not have the reader friends I do, and I would miss out on books like Golden Boy. I never would have picked this up in the store, because the cover is weird and doesn't really convey the subject matter. Thankfully, a couple days after I got an email with Golden Boy as one of the audiobooks available for review, my dear friend Jenni of Alluring Reads told me that she felt certain I would love this book. Jenni was right.

This cover is a strange one, and, once I knew what the book was about, I can see what they're doing, subtly calling out the gender issues with the two bikes, one intended for males and one for females. Why moving a bar from straight to slanted suddenly makes a bike girly or changes it in any practical way, I can't say. Still, I do think it's a shame there's nothing on the cover to speak to the subject matter, because I seek out books about different sorts of sexuality/gender and would have missed this.

Golden Boy tells the story of Max, a handsome boy who seems perfect in every respect, popular, athletic and intelligent. Max has a secret, though: he's not actually a boy. Nor is he a girl. Max is intersex, the new politically correct term that replaced hermaphrodite. Because Max has both a penis and a vagina, he's avoided serious relationships, though he has developed a reputation because he makes out with a lot of different girls. His being intersex didn't really impact his life.

Until it did. At a family party, Hunter, Max's best friend growing up, rapes Max. The scene is rather graphic and intensely emotional. Max has always felt like a boy, and not really questioned that. With this incident, Max has to truly face that he's not a regular boy, and, in the fallout, so does his family. What follows is an honest, beautiful, heart-wrenching look at Max's journey to become comfortable with who he is and to decide who he wants to be as an adult.

The subject matter in Golden Boy is quite dark and unflinching at times. The discussion of the issues of being intersex is frank and honest. However, Tarttelin makes the brilliant storytelling move of including more than just Max's perspective, which cuts on the melodrama. She does six separate perspectives: Max, his family (mother, father, little brother), his girlfriend Sylvie, and his doctor Archie (a woman). Since I listened to the audiobook, I can't say how individual they felt in print, but in the audiobook they were all brilliantly performed, with a narrator for each perspective.

In some books with multiple perspectives, characters are added for no discernible reason at all, not adding anything to the narrative, or particular perspectives are incredibly boring, to be suffered through while the reader waits impatiently for the main character to return. Not so with Golden Boy. Each perspective brought something to the table, even Max's father's, which only appears twice. Max is so confused and lost and depressed that it's wonderful to see him from an outside perspective. Daniel, for instance, hero-worships his brother. Sylvie thinks he's hot. Neither of them know, of course, but we get a true look at the golden boy. Then there's his parents, who love him and do the best they can, but, through their perspectives, the reader really gets a sense of how uncomfortable they are with his intersexuality now that it's known he's actually of age for sex.

Archie's point of view adds a whole other dimension. As a doctor, when Max comes in, he really lights a fire in her when she realizes how little she knows about being intersex. Her medical schooling included almost nothing on the subject. She begins to really research, because she very much wants to help Max, who comes to her office the day after his rape for a morning after pill. Archie's perspective really drives home how little attention the medical community is paying to such gender issues and how much they push to "normalize" with surgery.

Since there's a lot I would spoil if I went any more into the plot, I'm going to speak in general terms. The way Tarttelin wrapped everything up is incredibly touching and what convinced me this book deserved the full five stars. Some of the choices Tarttelin made surprised me, but they were just right. I'll leave it at that.

If you're going to read this book, which I really think you should, the audiobook is an excellent choice. With six talented narrators giving voice to the six perspectives, there's a strong sense of voice. The narrators for Max and Sylvie are particularly compelling. I've listened to quite a few full cast narrations, but this one is I think the best I've read so far.

LGBT (I know this doesn't cover everything, but the term QUILTBAG looks a bit silly - I intend this as all-encompassing) issues have not been covered nearly enough in fiction and I love Golden Boy merely for existing. However, Golden Boy is not just wonderful for covering a tricky, sensitive topic, but for doing so with heart, honesty and compassion. Abigail Tarttelin, welcome to my auto-read list.

Rating: 5/5

Giveaway:
Since I loved this book so much, I want to share that love with one of my readers. I know audiobooks aren't for everyone, so the winner will have their choice of a gifted Audiobook from Audible or a hardcover to be shipped from either TBD or Amazon, depending on which of those ship to you. This contest is international. Just fill out the Rafflecopter to enter!

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Review: Defiance

Defiance
Defiance, Book 1

Author: Stephanie Tyler
Pages: 325
Publisher: Carina Press
Read: June 7-9, 2013
Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Rebelling against her legacy as the MC's princess, Tru Tennyson escaped the ruthless, male-dominated culture of the Defiance motorcycle club. Three years later, her newfound freedom is ripped away, thanks to a massive hybrid storm that killed millions. Now, in the post-Chaos world of semi-darkness and near-total anarchy where gangs rule, she discovers the dangerous world of Defiance may be the one thing that can keep her safe.

Tru is at the MC's mercy when she's dragged back to her former home … and to the only man she's ever pictured a future with. Caspar is the bastard son of the club's leader, her safe haven when life got rough — and her onetime lover the night she left. When Tru refuses to trade sex for power and be claimed by a rival club leader, she also dares to announce she wants Caspar instead, throwing the MC into turmoil.

Tru's brazen revolt could start a gang war and destroy the club from within. Now both Tru and the MC must wait for Caspar's response … and the inevitable fallout.

First Sentence: "From his perch on top of the Harley Fat Boy, Caspar waited Silas out as he looked toward the front gates of the Defiance Motorcycle Club's headquarters."

Review:

To explain why I read a romance novel with a dude on a motorcycle on the cover, I'm going to need to talk a bit about BEA. On Wednesday, I went to the Harlequin High Tea, and had a really great conversation with one of their editors. She asked me what I liked to read and ended up pitching Defiance to me, and, when she told me that her background included the Feminist Press, I was curious. Getting a review request for the same title when I got back convinced me that I should fit it into my schedule. It really surprised me how much fun I had reading Defiance, even if I do have some significant issues with the treatment of women in the novel.

Defiance falls into that subcategory of dystopian/post-apocalyptic literature where, in the event of an apocalypse the role of women reverts to that of a possession, useful for sex, cooking and cleaning. While I hate how common this basic premise is, I do think there's a reason it crops up so much. I wish I could say I didn't find that a believable vision of humanity's response to an apocalypse, that all the progress society's made in valuing women wouldn't be erased, but I can't. Plus, in Defiance, it' s set within a Motorcycle Club, which, from what little I know, isn't exactly a woman-centered place to begin with, so everything would be played up more strongly there.

Motorcycle clubs don't interest me at all, perhaps because of the sorts of gender roles and idiotic machismo that can be found within these pages in spades. Plus, the general lack of education in most of these characters - what intelligence there is is generally of the street smarts variety. There's a lot of slang, and antiquated ideas that women are to be owned and protected. The lucky women in the club are bonded to a man, belong to him, his to command, fuck and beat as he desires. She's his bitch (this phrasing is used). I'm not going to lie: I hate this shit. It's not cool at all. Being some guy's possession isn't romantic, and I don't like seeing Tru enjoying that.

However, the general trend throughout the plot is Tru and Caspar trying to improve the MC (Motorcycle Club). They want to stop the abuse of women, and make it so that women can hold more positions within the MC. Still not exactly a feminist read, but I can live with positive progress being made. It also helps that Tru and Caspar are really supportive of one another, and both very honest. Caspar doesn't hide everything from Tru, and he obviously would never hurt her or force her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with.

You might be wondering why it's set in a MC. Well, supposedly Defiance, the MC, was prepared for an apocalypse, building underground tunnels, sun lamps, means of getting water and growing food, etc. I honestly don't know enough about MCs to say whether that's realistic, so I just rolled with it. In this world, it's largely the rough who have survived: the military, cops, criminals, bikers. Soft, sweet people had more trouble surviving the Chaos, a world where killing to survive might be a necessity. Tyler doesn't hesitate to include violence, and it's definitely a sufficiently dark vision of the future.

Tyler also uses a really interesting narrative technique. One character, Mathias, has a first person perspective, where the rest is written in third person limited. Mathias isn't one of the main characters, so it's a unique choice. Mathias also happens to be unable to speak, so it's ironic that he's the only one given voice in the novel. Also, I really like Mathias, so I'm hoping he'll be a main character in one of the later books.

The reason I kept reading and am rating this so highly despite my serious concerns about the portrayal of the women, which is definitely still as beneath men at the best of times, is that it was really fun to read. I was flipping pages really quickly and curious to find out where it was going. Even with everything, I'm definitely planning to read the next book in the series. Of course, I'll be hoping to see more empowerment of women as the series continues, and if I don't the ratings may suffer. For those who are less particular about relationship dynamics in  romance, Defiance will no doubt be a fun read for you.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "'I don't like rules, especially the unwritten ones that say I need to let myself be controlled by my man.'"

Audiobook Review: Maya's Notebook

Maya's Notebook

Author: Isabel Allende
Narrator: Maria Cabezas
Duration: 14 hrs 40 mins
Publisher: Harper Audio
Read: May 10-18, 2013
Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Neglected by her parents, 19-year-old Maya Nidal has grown up in Berkeley with her grandparents. Her grandmother Nini is a force of nature, a woman whose formidable strength helped her build a new life after emigrating from Chile in 1973. Popo, Maya's grandfather, is a gentle man whose solid, comforting presence helps calm the turbulence of Maya's adolescence.

When Popo dies of cancer, Maya goes completely off the rails, turning to drugs, alcohol, and petty crime in a downward spiral that eventually bottoms out in Las Vegas. Lost in a dangerous underworld, she is caught in the cross­hairs of warring forces. Her one chance for survival is Nini, who helps her escape to a remote island off the coast of Chile. Here Maya tries to make sense of the past, unravels mysterious truths about life and about her family, and embarks on her greatest adventure: The journey into her own soul.

Review:

Wow, so this was my first experience with Isabel Allende and it was not what I was expecting at all. I'm not sure what I was expecting exactly, just that it wasn't this. Also, just fyi, let's just put a big ol' trigger warning all over this book for pretty much every trigger ever.

Why Did I Read This Book?
I'd run out of audiobooks for review and selecting them on my own takes forever, and this showed up in a newsletter. I've been curious about Allende for a while, thus why I own several of her books (*side-eyes*), and this seemed as good a place to start as any. Plus, I've discovered that I generally love books about dark subject matter and this did sure sound dark.

What's the Story Here?
Nineteen year old Maya Nidal has been sent by her grandma to a small Chilean island to escape some tragic past and possibly pursuers. The story follows two timelines, Maya's past and her present, until the past catches up to where the book started. What unravels is a tale of how Maya made pretty much every wrong decision it was possible to make. Seriously, she does drugs, is an alcoholic, gets raped (this isn't a decision, but getting into a truck with a sketchy trucker after escaping from rehab may not have been the wisest course), joins the underworld and sells drugs so she can earn drugs, pisses off people in the underworld, and then, living on the street, prostitutes herself to obtain money for drugs. The point of the book is that the Chilean island, the name of which I don't know how to spell because audio, opens her up and lets her live again.

What Did I Think Was Missing?
Maya's emotional arc didn't really work for me. We're spared most of her struggle of recovery from addiction. There's some mention of it, but not enough. Recovering from addictions to crack and alcohol is a painful process and she doesn't seem to suffer all that much. In Chile, people regularly drink in front of her and it seems hardly to tempt her, though she does know better than to drink anything herself. From what I've heard, most alcoholics can't handle that. Seeing that she will be dealing with those unhealthy urges forever would have been a more powerful statement, I think. She just seemed to get over it all way too easily.

How are the Characters?
Mostly, they're all terrible people. The rest, like Maya, her grandmother, and Manuel, who Maya stays with in Chile, are on the border between likable and unlikable. I will say that Allende does give them all distinct personalities and they do feel like real people, so points for characterization. However, they're just not people I particularly want to get to know. This was sort of like listening to a radio drama of some super dark soap opera or something. On the one hand, you can't stop listening because you want to know what happens next, but it was also melodramatic like whoa.

And the Romance?
Lol, okay, so this part I did like. Maya's this girl who's been through pretty much everything life has to offer. She's seen and done a lot. Anyway, this guy, Daniel, comes to the island and she sees him and hearts pop out of her eyes like in an anime. The moment she sees him she's like "this is the man I'm going to marry," because her feelings on seeing him reminded of the story of how her grandma met her beloved grandpa. She instaloves all over Daniel, which would be irritating, except that it totally pans out like most actual teen instalove would: a big, huge, awkward dumping. After it happens, Maya's all "this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me," and I was all "trololol." This was basically the comic relief of the piece.

How was the Narration?
Maria Cabezas definitely makes a convincing Maya. She reads with just the slightest accent, like her time in Chile has rubbed off on her. Her voice conveys both Maya's gruffness and youth, and she was just really well-suited to the character. I'm glad I tried this on audio, because I would have DNFed the print really quickly.

Sum It Up with a GIF:

Rating: 2.5/5

Review: Pretty Girl-13

Pretty Girl-13

Author: Liz Coley
Pages: 352
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
Publication Date:March 19, 2013
Source: For review from YA Books Central

Description from Goodreads:
Reminiscent of the Elizabeth Smart case, Pretty Girl-13 is a disturbing and powerful psychological mystery about a girl who must piece together the story of her kidnapping and captivity.

Angie Chapman was thirteen years old when she ventured into the woods alone on a Girl Scouts camping trip. Now she's returned home…only to find that it's three years later and she's sixteen-or at least that's what everyone tells her.

What happened to the past three years of her life?

Angie doesn't know.

But there are people who do-people who could tell Angie every detail of her forgotten time, if only they weren't locked inside her mind. With a tremendous amount of courage, Angie embarks on a journey to discover the fragments of her personality, otherwise known as her "alters." As she unearths more and more about her past, she discovers a terrifying secret and must decide: When you remember things you wish you could forget, do you destroy the parts of yourself that are responsible?

Liz Coley's alarming and fascinating psychological mystery is a disturbing-and ultimately empowering-page-turner about accepting our whole selves, and the healing power of courage, hope, and love.

First Sentence: "You had forgotten how early the sun rises on summer campouts—and how loud the birds sing in the morning."

Review:

Holy shit. I knew from the cover that this book would be creepy, but I was not emotionally prepared for this experience. Pretty Girl-13 is one of those books that I'm going to remember for a while, not something that will quickly dissipate from my limited memory banks for story lines. Liz Coley's debut will no doubt shock and offend readers, one of those reads that will be deemed inappropriate for any but the most mature teens, due to the many triggers, most especially rape. If you can handle it, though, Pretty Girl-13 is a riveting tale of recovery from intense psychological and physical trauma.

If you put me in front of a horror movie, I collapse into a shrieking ball of fear. Even though I know what's going to happen, I can't handle it one bit. Horror books, though, really don't scare me. Pretty Girl-13 managed it, however. The horror of Coley's novel is not one of outright violence or things jumping out at you; it's one of the mind. This book messes with your head, makes you imagine situations you've never considered. Angie suddenly appears after three years missing. She has no memory of that period, none at all. That is the most terrifying thing for me: all that time she can't remember, the idea that anything at all could have happened to her and she wouldn't know.

Throughout Pretty Girl-13, I was on the edge of my seat, filled with tension as Angie's story unravels. At no point did my interest wane or did I find the book boring. The revelations come fast and thick, keeping the reader at rapt attention. This is one of those books that I got so into, I disappeared at times, sucked completely into the book, flipping pages without conscious effort.

A couple of the secondary characters in Pretty Girl-13 really shine, and I want to give them a shout out, because the supporting cast generally doesn't get enough love. Kate, Angie's friend, is marvelous. She's totally at one with herself, accepting of her role as a social pariah and determined to make the best of it. Then there are the twins, Ali and Abraim, who date Kate and Angie. Oh my goodness, but they are so cute. Abraim is such a non-standard YA hero in pretty much every way, and I am so thrilled about the way their little romance is handled, though it is probably less than five percent of the story.

Angie herself is a bit trickier. For reasons that will become obvious when you read the book, or if you read the blurb, which I think is a bit spoilery, Angie's character is a bit inconsistent. The narrative style of Pretty Girl-13 does not help with connection to Angie's character. Coley uses third person, which is naturally distancing, and I felt it especially so here. On the other hand, the italicized sections were a well done device. Though I pity Angie and want the best for her, I never got a solid handle on her character, which is understandable, but kept me from engaging that last little bit.

I also feel like some aspects were oversimplified or made more dramatic for plot purposes. Though I can't speak about these directly because I don't want to spoil the story for you, I can say that Angie's recovery takes place to quickly. Her psychologist suggests that full recovery will take years and she's pretty close by the end of a few months. That seems highly unlikely to me, even given some of the extraneous circumstances.

Pretty Girl-13 is a knuckle-biting psychological thriller. I recommend it for mature readers who want a novel that pushes the boundaries of what YA novels can discuss. Readers who prefer lighter fare will want to look elsewhere. This one's intense. Like camping.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote:

"'You don't mince words, do you?' Angie said, a small piece of her innocence in tatters. She didn't want to give him up. He was a link, a bridge across the lost time.
     'I don't have to,' Kate replied. 'I'm already a leper. Gives me the freedom to be honest.'"

Review + Giveaway: Shadow on the Crown

Shadow on the Crown
Emma of Normandy, Book 1

Author: Patricia Bracewell
Pages: 416
Publisher: Viking Adult
Source: Publisher for Review

Description from Goodreads:
A rich tale of power and forbidden love revolving around a young medieval queen

In 1002, fifteen­-year-old Emma of Normandy crosses the Narrow Sea to wed the much older King Athelred of England, whom she meets for the first time at the church door. Thrust into an unfamiliar and treacherous court, with a husband who mistrusts her, stepsons who resent her and a bewitching rival who covets her crown, Emma must defend herself against her enemies and secure her status as queen by bearing a son.

Determined to outmaneuver her adversaries, Emma forges alliances with influential men at court and wins the affection of the English people. But her growing love for a man who is not her husband and the imminent threat of a Viking invasion jeopardize both her crown and her life.

Based on real events recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Shadow on the Crown introduces readers to a fascinating, overlooked period of history and an unforgettable heroine whose quest to find her place in the world will resonate with modern readers.

First Sentence: "She made a circuit of the clearing among the oaks, tree times round and three times back whispering spells of protection."

Review:

I read a fair amount of historical fiction, but so much of it covers the same eras and places over and over again. Not that there's not a lot to draw from in Tudor or Regency England, or from WWI and WWII, but it's so refreshing to read historicals that draw from other eras, ones that I know less about. In fact, I knew nothing about the time period in which Shadow on the Crown is set, early eleventh century Europe, primarily England. Bracewell draws a brilliant portrait of a young woman sent to foreign shores to be Queen of England.

Shadow on the Crown captured me immediately. The beautiful writing and vibrant characters pulled me into this past era and made me want to stay there for a while. Bracewell has a knack for description and sets the scene so well. She introduces her rather large cast of similarly named characters with a deft hand, and I had no trouble remember which names corresponded to which characters.

Emma, though a product of her age, is not a weak woman by any means. In fact, her brother sends her to wed Athelred, King of England, instead of her older sister, because he thinks she will be of more use. Though intimidated by her new role in life, Emma does not cower or shrink. She confronts Athelred with her thoughts and opinions, though he has no wish to hear them. I love her for her spunk, and I felt horribly for every horrible thing she went through, of which there were many.

Emma's relationship with Athelred is rocky. He is accustomed to a weaker wife, and ends up seeking pleasure in other arms, scheming ones. Though she doesn't miss him, Emma needs an heir to cement her role as queen. Further complicating matters are Emma's mutual feelings for someone so close to her but so out of reach. Their love is heartbreaking in its dedicatedness in the face of lack of hope.

All of the characters are well-drawn, not just Emma. Especially fascinating is Athelred, haunted by the memory of his brother Edward, slain so Athelred could have the crown. Beset by his inner demons, Athelred descends into ever-worsening spirals of paranoia and cruelty. Even Elgiva, the scheming sexpot from the Northern part of the country is more complex than she at first seems. I love that Bracewell took the time to add depth to even minor characters, like Hilde, daughter of a traitor.

In so much of the historical fiction I've read, England is a strong country, dominant on the political scene or at least a force to be reckoned with. In Shadow on the Crown, England is sorely pressed to keep the Vikings from taking over. Though there are not many conflicts that occur within the pages of the novel, the Vikings are a looming menace throughout. The Viking attack scenes that do happen are intense.

Towards the end, the pace of the book did slow a bit for me. I started worrying that everything would not be able to wrap up, and it didn't. Evidently there are more books in the works, though this information is not yet on Goodreads, so I made up my own series title. I am not completely happy of the ending of this installment, but if I had the next book within reach, I would eagerly dive into it. I must know what happens to Emma, and will try to resist the urge to google that.

Historical fiction fans, do yourselves a favor and procure a copy of Patricia Bracewell's Shadow on the Crown. I expect that I'll be reading many more Bracewell books in the future.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'You are not the first bride, Emma, to go to the bed of a foreign king, and you must be very clear about what is expected of you. Bear in mind that you go to your lord not as a woman, but as a queen. In the same way, he comes to you not as a man, but as a king. He will not be father to you, not lover, nor even friend. Do not expect it. All you can expect from his hands is what any of his subjects can expect, and that is justice and mercy. You, as queen, though, must demand one thing more. You must demand his respect. Never forget that for a moment, and never do anything that might cause you to forfeit it.'"

Giveaway:
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Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #3: Our Happy Hours

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan
Alternate Title: Our Happy Hours

Author: Gong Ji-young
Illustrators: Sahara Mizu, Sumomo Yumeka
Volumes: 1
Source: Mangafox
Chosen by: Lynn

Description from Goodreads:
"I have something I don't want to lose"

"So much so that these terrible feelings have grown."

A pianist who attempted suicide 3 times, Juri, is taken to help her aunt at a prison where murderers who killed indiscriminately are sentenced to death. There, she meets a man named Yuu who took the lives of 3 people. A mother's antagonism--a brother's death... Together they embrace the violent rebellion in their hearts caused by the large, deep scars they carry. However, before long, they both embrace an earnest hope in their hearts. "I want to live"...

An adaptation of novel by South Korea's most popular female novelist, Gong Ji-Young.

Review:

You guys, I am so excited that Lynn put some manhwa on my to-read list for Sadie Hawkins Sunday. I love reading manga and manhwa, but I do not do it enough, because I mostly live from review copy to review copy. Also, this is totally a story I probably would have skipped left to my own devices, both because I'm not a fan of the cover art and because it sounds so depressing, and I'm still getting used to the idea I love depressing stories. Thanks, Lynn, for getting me to read something out of the usual, especially since I loved it!

Manhwa, for those who do not know, is the Korean equivalent of manga. Both manga and manhwa have a reputation for being melodramatic and crazy, which is perhaps rightly earned. I expected Our Happy Hours to fall into that category, but it is surprisingly melodrama-free. The subject is treated with the appropriate gravity, but nothing needless is added to up the emotional ante unnecessarily. The plot's not drawn out or over-complicated.

Juri tries to commit suicide for the third time. A former pianist, she now refuses to play and hates her mother, once a famous pianist. All Juri wants is to die, out of this life with untrustworthy people and nothing to live for. Her Aunt, the only good person in her life, is a nun, who works with death row inmates, trying to bring a bit of joy into their dreary lives while they went for the sentence to be carried out. She asks Juri to come speak with one of the inmates.

Unsurprisingly, Juri does not want to do so, but, given that she can do that or spend time in a mental institution, she agrees. Speaking with Yuu, a convicted murderer doomed to die, she opens up and is able to overcome her own mental blocks. She finds beauty in the world and connection. Though they come from completely opposite backgrounds (her: wealthy; him: a poor orphan, who had to prostitute himself), they have a lot in common and bond slowly. Their story is touching and tragic. Oh, the feels that I did not expect!

The writing, or at least the translation, was much stronger than usual, perhaps due to the fact that this is an adaptation of a novel. The art works quite well with the story, very shadowy. The conclusion does run a bit to the cheesy side, but everything else was perfect. Dark, emotional, and full of feels.

Rating: 4.5/5

---

Up Next:
The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Modelland by Tyra Banks. Thanks for that, Stephanie Sinclair! :-p

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out THIS FORM with a book suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Review: The Dust of 100 Dogs

The Dust of 100 Dogs

Author: A.S. King
Pages: 336
Publisher: Flux
Source: Gifted by Kara of Great Imaginations

Description from Goodreads:
In the late seventeenth century, famed teenage pirate Emer Morrisey was on the cusp of escaping the pirate life with her one true love and unfathomable riches when she was slain and cursed with "the dust of one hundred dogs," dooming her to one hundred lives as a dog before returning to a human body-with her memories intact.

Now she's a contemporary American teenager and all she needs is a shovel and a ride to Jamaica.

First Sentence: "With one last, almighty roar, the Frenchman fell to his knees and died."

Review:

What can I say about this book? I really do not know how I feel about the book I've just completed, and might not know until I reread it a couple of times in years to come. All I know entirely for sure is that my author-crush on A.S. King has gotten larger, and that I have never in my life encountered a book remotely like The Dust of 100 Dogs.

I've read two other novels by A.S. King, Everybody Sees the Ants and Ask the Passengers. As much as they differed from one another, The Dust of 100 Dogs is even further removed. Her other novels are contemporaries, but this one takes place in the seventeenth century and the 1990s. Her storytelling methods, the mature subject matter, and the settings highlight King's daring as an author.

Her love of history can also be felt in Everybody Sees the Ants, in which the main character's grandfather was a World War II veteran. Here, King goes all the way back to seventeeth century Ireland, in the era of Oliver Cromwell and English subjugation (well, one of many eras of that anyway). She unflinchingly depicts the brutality of the English through the eyes of eight-year-old Emer, who witnesses her mother's brave battle and her brother's death firsthand. Where she was once a weak, whiny creature with dreams of being admired for her beauty, Emer learns from this hard lessons about power and how to live.

Taken in by her abusive Uncle and his family, she loses herself in her grief for a while, retreating into herself and going mute by choice, since there is nothing worth talking about in her new life. This changes when she meets the love of her life, a boy similarly mute, Seanie Carroll. When she takes a stand against her cruel Uncle Martin, he ships her off to France to marry a wealthy, disgusting old man. Emer escapes and begins her wanderings around the world, eventually becoming the captain of a pirate vessel.

That's right! Thar be pirates here! These are the kinds of pirates one cannot help but root for, coming across almost as Robin Hoods, when compared to the slavers and the plundering Spanish. Emer, an honest, upright girl at heart, justifies her actions, her violence, with the knowledge that these colonizers do horrible things to the people whose land they are stealing. The comparisons drawn between the English in Ireland, the Spanish on the Atlantic Isles, and the manifest destiny of the Americans are brilliant.

King focuses on power and on colonization. Her tale is not a happy one. Lovers die, heroines are raped and stalked by the worst of men, and many people are held subjective to the whims of assholes with more will and more power. Even in Emer's modern life (as Saffron), this plays out through the abuses of her brother, a druggie, who steals and destroys everything her parents have, but whom they cannot begin to resist; they are willing victims. Emer, after her childhood experience, never allows anyone to make her into an easy victim; her suffering makes her strong.

The concept and execution completely awe me. King tells the story through shifting perspectives: Emer in third person, Saffron in first person, Fred Livingstone in third person, and notes about dogs. Emer's third person narration, with the exception of the prologue, follows her life chronologically. Saffron, blessed or cursed with Emer's memories still has her own distinct personality. She is a fascinating figure, a child with hundreds of years of memories, both human and hound. Fred may be one of the most creepy characters I have ever encountered, and I do not think I'll be forgetting him any time soon; he's like a rapist stalker combined with Gollum, which is just nightmarish. The notes about life as a dog and how best to raise them are typically King in their oddness. These include sharp insights into human nature, but do occasionally come across as a message from the humane society.

Much as I love the plot of this book and am wowed by King's bravery as an author to venture into such untrespassed lands of YA fiction, I do wish there had been more focus on characterization. My first priority for a book is characters I really connect with, and I did not really find that in Emer or Saffron. I like both of them, worry about both of them, and wish the best for both of them, but they did not capture my heart. With all that King had to accomplish narratively, this is not surprising, because the book would have had to be a good bit longer. If you do not read for character foremost, as I do, then this will likely not be a huge drawback.

If you are looking for a book unlike anything else in YA fiction, you cannot go wrong with A.S. King's The Dust of 100 Dogs. King writes beautifully and does not romanticize anything. Her books are honest and thought-provoking.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "If dogs ran the world, there would be endless food, water, walks, and humping, but not much conquering. Humans want to conquer everyone they can, and buy everything they see. I think this is because humans have forgotten how to be happy."

Review: Easy

Easy

Author: Tammara Webber
Pages: 310
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Source: Gifted

Description from Goodreads:
Rescued by a stranger.
Haunted by a secret
Sometimes, love isn’t easy…

He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks to a chance encounter, he became her savior…

The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet the past he’d worked so hard to overcome, and the future she’d put so much faith in, threatened to tear them apart.

Only together could they fight the pain and guilt, face the truth—and find the unexpected power of love.

First Sentence: "I had never noticed Lucas before that night."

Review:

Because of my immense hatred for the term "new adult," I really did not have any plans to read this, though I did put on my GR to-read shelf for what that's worth. However, Jenni of Alluring Reads read this very recently and praised it to the skies, which prompted a Twitter discussion. Both Jenni and Steph of Cuddlebuggery insisted that I should read this book, but, because of a recently instated book-buying ban, I doubted that would happen anytime soon. At the book club's white elephant party, I "stole" a gift that included the paperback of Easy. Let's just say that I will definitely listen when Jenni and Steph tell me to read things.

First off, the writing in Easy was amazing across the board. I have no complaints about this book being so immensely popular. Webber knows what she's doing and I can only hope that having been picked up by Penguin will make all of her books easier to get a hold of for people like me who do not like to buy ebooks. In case the fact that this used to be self-published worries you, do not be worries, because this has been both well-written and well-edited. Oh, also, can I say how incredibly thrilled I am that the email and text conversations in this book did not involve any text speak?

Initially, Jacqueline frustrated me. Her newly ex-boyfriend, Kennedy, was so obviously an awful human being. Their relationship reminds me in every way of that of Elle Woods and her high school boyfriend in the movie Legally Blonde. A handsome, preppy guy heading for a sleazy career (lawyer/politician) dumps his beautiful, devoted girlfriend so that he can sleep around in college. On the plus side, that's better than cheating, but I had no patience for Kennedy whatsoever and could not fathom why Jacqueline stayed with him.

Thankfully, Jacqueline proves herself again and again. After the dumping, Jacqueline reverts to using her full name in place of the nickname "Jackie" that he gave her, a reference to the president he was named for and his wife (UGH, seriously, why did she not know he was awful before?). When he inevitably comes crawling back, Jacqueline's much more mature about it than I could ever be, remaining civil but consistent in her lack of interest. Heck yes, girl!

As is pretty well known by this point, Easy begins with an attempted rape, and that is a main theme throughout the book. Another reason I struggled with Jacqueline as a heroine at first was that she did not report the guy. However, I know that's completely realistic behavior. Thankfully, with the help of her completely supportive BFF, Erin (who I totally loved btw), Jacqueline manages to take charge of herself, finding new mental and physical strength. I loved that. Also, though there's a depiction of the dark side of the Greek system on college campuses, Webber does not malign it entirely. She kept everything fair, and I appreciate that, even though I'm one heck of a GDI and want nothing to do with frat guys myself.

Please, please, please do not judge the romance in this book off of the blurb. The whole bit about how "He watched her, but never knew her" sounds creepy as hell, and, seriously, Lucas is not like that. He was in her class, so he would watch her there, the way people do when they're bored during a lecture. Since she was cute and smart, he would take note if he saw her on campus. This is completely normal and non-stalkerish behavior, okay? Lucas is not that guy; he does nothing a normal college student wouldn't do in the course of an attraction.

Obviously, I love Lucas or I would not feel the need to defend his honor thus. He's just a great guy. He does do a couple of questionable things, but, honestly, I'm glad about those because they made him real. Otherwise, he would have been in manicpixiedreamboy territory. He's got some darkness and makes stupid decisions sometimes, which is much better than if he were purely perfect. As with all the best heroes, he empowers Jacqueline, and helps her to be better in every way. Plus, he does not pressure for sex at all. Speaking of sex, wow. Webber can write a sizzling scene. Much as I love YA, I do get to missing a well done sex scene, and Easy definitely scratched that itch.

In case you didn't figure this out by now, I ended up loving this book, so much so that I devoured it in a matter of hours. I only hope I can figure out how to get my hands on her Between the Lines series soon.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: This is a text conversation between Jacqueline and Erin:

"Erin: Talking to Chaz. May be late. You ok?
 Me: I'm good. YOU ok?
 Erin: Confused. Maybe I'd feel better if I just kicked him.
 Me: NUTSACK!!!!!!!!!
 Erin: Exactly."

Love Will Tear Us Apart - Calexico

The Testament of Jessie Lamb

Author: Jane Rogers
Pages: 240
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: May 15, 2012
Source: Library

Description from Goodreads:
Jessie Lamb is an ordinary girl living in extraordinary times: as her world collapses, her idealism and courage drive her towards the ultimate act of heroism. If the human race is to survive, it's up to her. Set just a month or two in the future, in a world irreparably altered by an act of biological terrorism, The Testament of Jessie Lamb explores a young woman's determination to make her life count for something, as the certainties of her childhood are ripped apart.

First Sentence: "The house is very quiet now he's gone."

Review:
Looking at this pretty, stark cover, with its brags of the Man Booker Prize (even the long list is impressive), I could not help but look forward to reading this. I expected something extraordinary, something literary, something as well-written as Stormdancer. What I got was nothing like that. The Testament of Jesse Lamb has a marvelous concept, but the execution of the novel just left so much to be desired, like knowledge of proper grammar.

Before I get all ranty, which believe me I will, I want to discuss the positive things. As I mentioned, the concept really does hold a lot of appeal to me. In this vision of the future, some terrorist, for reasons unknown, created a virus that affects pregnant women. Every pregnancy equals death. No cure has been devised and humanity has only so long until the youngest remaining women become to old to bear children, assuming a cure ever is created.

Jessie Lamb lives in Britain. When the virus, MDS - Maternal Death Syndrome, hits, she becomes an activist, arguing for children to be given legal independence younger, since obviously adults cannot be counted on to protect their best interests. Basically, YOFI claims that the older generations screwed up the world, so they should really stop pretending to be all wise. Through this group, Jessie searches for meaning in this new world that could end with her generation.

Like Jessie, everyone searches for meaning. Scientists desperately consider cures, ways to develop antidotes or to produce disease-free babies from frozen eggs and sperm. Militant women's rights groups form to protect women against this new harsher climate, where rapes and abuse have become more common. Homosexuality, too, has become much more common and more accepted, which seems one of the only good things to come of all of this. Some people distract themselves from mankind's likely end by focusing on fighting for the rights of all of the other animals, pissed off that humanity's last act will be murdering other creatures in an effort to stay alive ourselves. Of course, the end of the world would not be complete without creepy cults, and those are there too: the Noahs.

Most pertinent to the story, though, are the Sleeping Beauties, the teenage girls that sacrifice their lives to bring a new life into the world. It is, actually, still possible for new babies to be born, though they too have the disease. However, the only way for this to happen is to put the mother into a coma and keep her alive with machines while the virus destroys her brain. After the baby is born, cut from her stomach, she is unplugged. These girls have no chance of surviving; no pregnant women do. Pregnancy has a one hundred percent mortality rate.

All of that is just fantastic. On top of that, the book starts with a bang. Jessie is being held captive for some reason, and is being forced to write out her testament. This technique, while a bit hackneyed, was effective, because I did want to know who had captured her and why he was keeping her in the basement tied up in bicycle chains.

From what I can tell, neither Rogers nor her editor (assuming there was one) have the slightest clue how punctuation works. Throughout the book, it seems as if different punctuation marks were inserted almost at random into sentences. I had so many flashbacks to high school English teachers lecturing the class about how awful comma splices are and how you should never ever use one in a paper or they would automatically deduct ten points. Rogers would have negative points. She uses comma splices like they are about to go out of style; the bad news for her is that they already were out of style, so this is in exceedingly bad taste.

EXAMPLE: "I thought of the drugs trial volunteers, they were nearly all men."

When connecting two separate but related sentences, one should use a semicolon NOT a comma. FACT. This happens innumerable times. Of course, she balances that out by also sometimes using semicolons incorrectly: "Then we walked back to my house holding hands and not talking, feeling as if we owned the night and everything in it; moon, stars, the dark shapes of trees, the crouching quiet houses." This proves that she DOES know what semicolons are, but not that she knows how to use them. To be fair, she does very occasionally use them as they are meant to be used. What I find even more frustrating about this is that if she had just accepted she didn't know how to connect the sentences and had two complete sentences, she would have been just fine.

Another big problem she had grammatically stemmed from her desire, I guess, to make the tone sound like a teenager. A very popular way for writers to do this is sentence fragments. Here's her punctuation-challenged version: "There was a longish silence then she asked about my parents. Which was a relief; rattling off their sorry story was easy and I hope made me sound more sensible and objective." Lovely, right? This both misuses a semi-colon and is entirely unnecessary. Tack the 'which was a relief' onto the end of the prior sentence with a comma and you have perfectly correct writing. No editor should let this pass. There are way more issues, but I will stop here in the grammatical portion of the review.

Since reading closely made me want to weep or claw my eyes out or go visit my high school English teachers and get them to commiserate with me, I ended up basically skimming most of this book. On the plus side, this did make it go faster, which is good since I was also somewhat bored. The characters just did not interest me that much. I tried to care, but Jessie is a bit distant from other people and I couldn't support most of her decisions at all.

I did try to care about the romance. The scene where the characters admit their feelings was kind of adorable and then they realize she has built in birth control (all the girls do for obvious reasons), so they might as well have sex now. It's going great until the hymen-breaking puts a damper on things. They stop momentarily and then this description happens:

"He began to kiss me again. And to move as slowly and gently as a little pink earthworm when you pick it up from the garden in the palm of your hand."

What the fuck did I just read? No matter how many times I read that, I am never any less grossed out. This is one of the least sexy things that could ever be put in the midst of a sex scene. AND WHY? There's no reason for this to happen. NONE.

This review has rambled on and on, so I should probably draw to some sort of close. The Man Booker people loved it; I did not. (Or, in her speak: The Man Booker people loved it, I did not.) With such distracting and flagrant errors, I simply cannot countenance giving this book a rating above 2, though the content would be a 2.5 or 3. Do what you will with that information. I'm off to watch Pretty Little Liars and read Blood Red Road to cleanse my soul.

Favorite Quote:  Context: Jessie and her dad play a game in which they plot perfect games. It was probably my favorite thing.

"'Perfect crime,' he said softly.
   'Yes?'
   'Persuade an innocent, idealistic young girl that the future of the human race depends on her sacrificing her own life. She will come into hospital as trustingly as a lamb to the slaughter. She will welcome the implantation of a baby that will kill her. She'll lie there while her brain is destroyed for nine whole months, and no police will arrest you, no court will judge you, you'll get away scot free. At the end of nine months she'll be taken off life support and she'll be completely dead. And no one will be blamed.'"

"When routine bites hard and ambitions are low
And resentment rides high but emotions won't grow
And we're changing our ways, taking different roads
Then love, love will tear us apart again
Love, love will tear us apart again"

Remember: Every comment on a post during Dystopian August is an entry to win one of fourteen dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels IF you've filled out the form from this post.

Twisted Nerve - Kill Bill Soundtrack

Believers

Author: Naoki Yamamoto
Volumes: 2
Publisher: This manga is not currently licensed in English
Source: Scanlation on Mangafox

Description from Mangafox:
Three members of a modern-day Japanese cult who are taking part in a "deserted island" program in which they must work together to purify and refine their spiritual essence and transform themselves into more advanced human beings. Of course, life doesn't usually work that way.

Review:
Honestly, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to review this. Since it's my policy to review everything, I considered reading all but the last chapter and then quitting, but that's lame, so here goes. I chose to give this brief series a try because the description up there sounded fascinating. Creepy cult? I am in. The story started out boring and creepy, then it got weird and creepy, which is where it stayed.

What the Mangafox description leaves out (but the Goodreads description I didn't check until later doesn't) is that this cult is built pretty much solely around renunciation of sexual desires. So, here I am, reading along and suddenly BAM fairly graphic sex every couple pages. Seriously. The first few chapters were just these three people on an island, two men and one woman, apparently following the directive of some leader. They are reliant upon deliveries for food and orders, but they don't necessarily come in a timely fashion, so they worry a bit about food.

Mostly what they do is discuss their dreams every day. This manga is trying to say something about dreams and sex, but I really have no clue what. If they have bad, impure dreams, the punishment is to be buried chest deep in the sand and left there for a while. This is all that had really happened. Then some drunkards land their boat on the island, wreak havoc and try to rape the woman. The girl runs off and the men shoot the interlopers. The 'chairman' of the island stays to cleanup the mess and the other guy goes to check on the woman, who confesses to having been turned on by her attempted rape. She is shamed. To make her feel better, he's all 'oh hey, check out my erection,' so that she'll know she's not the only dirty person around. Obviously, she feels guilty for giving him impure thoughts, so she has to give him a blow job.

And that's basically what this manga is, though it expands to include the chairman, who has all sorts of kinky purification rituals in mind. Why did I keep reading? Well, for one thing, it was really short. If there had been any more volumes of this, I wouldn't have bothered. I also really wanted to learn more about the cult. Why do they sit with their feet pressed together? How did this group get started? Why are they all here? How do they have control over this island? What's the world like outside the island? Well, thankfully, that stuff does get explained, but, seriously, I didn't get it. I feel like the manga would have benefited from a bit more balance between to the crazy and the conclusion that explained how all of this came about.

I really don't know what to make of this at all. On Goodreads, it actually has a really high rating, so I suppose there aren't too many people like me stumbling across it with no clue what it's about. This is my third seriously unfortunate manga in a row. I hope I read a good one soon. This might be up your alley if you like reading creepy, mind-bending things with lots of sex.

Rating: 2/5

New Amsterdam - Travis (+ Giveaway)

The Orphanmaster

Author: Jean Zimmerman
Pages: 416
ARC Acquired from: Penguin

Description from Goodreads:
From a debut novelist, a gripping historical thriller and rousing love story set in seventeenth-century Manhattan

It’s 1663 in the tiny, hardscrabble Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, now present-day southern Manhattan. Orphan children are going missing, and among those looking into the mysterious state of affairs are a quick-witted twenty-two-year-old trader, Blandine von Couvering, herself an orphan, and a dashing British spy named Edward Drummond.

Suspects abound, including the governor’s wealthy nephew, a green-eyed aristocrat with decadent tastes; an Algonquin trapper who may be possessed by a demon that turns people into cannibals; and the colony’s own corrupt and conflicted orphanmaster. Both the search for the killer and Edward and Blandine’s newfound romance are endangered, however, when Blandine is accused of being a witch and Edward is sentenced to hang for espionage. Meanwhile, war looms as the English king plans to wrest control of the colony.

Jean Zimmerman brings New Amsterdam and its surrounding wilderness alive for modern-day readers with exacting period detail. Lively, fast paced, and full of colorful characters, The Orphanmaster is a dramatic page-turner that will appeal to fans of Hilary Mantel and Geraldine Brooks.

Book Trailer:


First Sentence: "On the same day, two murders."

Review:
The Orphanmaster is Jean Zimmerman's debut novel. It is not, however, her first foray into publication by any stretch of the imagination. Zimmerman is, first and foremost, a historian. Earlier this year, I read her recently published Love, Fiercely, and quite enjoyed it. Despite that, The Orphanmaster wasn't really on my radar, and I was going to let it pass me by. Then, one of the lovely folks at Penguin offered me a copy for review, and I couldn't say no. Guys, I am so, so glad that she offered me an ARC of this and that I accepted.

The first thing I have to mention is Zimmerman's writing. She has a way with words. The novel is complex and beautiful. I learned new terms and got to appreciate just how crazy Dutch looks. Reading The Orphanmaster is simply a pleasure, through all 416 long pages. This book took me some time to get through, but it was never a struggle.

Now, the story. The story is completely epic. From the first sentence, which definitely had me hooked, I was completely entranced by this whole other world, the past, which Zimmerman transported me to. Set in New Amsterdam in the 1660s, a gigantic cast of characters is centered around the mystery of a series of murders of orphans, done either by a psychopath or a demon.

The plotting and characterization reminded me somewhat of Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth, another book I love, although I think this one is better. In the first couple of chapters, I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters I was introduced to, all with very weird names, like Aet and Blandine. I worried I wasn't going to be able to track who was doing what, but Zimmerman does an excellent job, and after the initial onslaught, I had no issues with that.

Blandine was by far my favorite character, which should come as no surprise. She's an independent, headstrong lass. An orphan herself, she is 22 and as-yet unmarried, though she certainly could be if she wanted to be. Instead, she works (very successfully, I might add) as a trader. I loved her strength, and her openness to other cultures. There are strong themes of racism through the book, and Blandine is a wonderful person who judges people by their actions, not their skin color.

Just to warn you, this book can be quite gruesome. There are rapes, skinnings, murders and cannibalism. This is not a book for the faint of heart. None of this is done to excess or just for shock value, I don't think, but it is there.

Prior to reading this book, I knew almost nothing about the Dutch presence in what is now New York. I knew they were there for a while, and that the Brits pushed them out. That was about the extent of my knowledge though. I think that period was generally glossed over in history classes as not especially important, or maybe I just forgot. Either way, getting to learn about that colony was totally awesome. There are so many completely fascinating historical goodies in here. If you like to learn from your books, you will love this.

From start to finish, The Orphanmaster is dazzling. Historians should write historical fiction more often. I eagerly anticipate more novels from Zimmerman in the future!

Penguin has generously offered up two copies of this wondrous novel to one of my readers. US only. Enter via the Rafflecopter below. All of those options are one-time entries to keep things simple. :)

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "Drummond appreciated his guest's initial silence, his respect for the ancient, sacred act of imbibing. Drink first, talk later."

"And it's a new day,
It's a new dawn,
In New Amsterdam."
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The Tudors Main Title Theme - Trevor Morris

Gilt
The Royal Circle, Book 1

Author: Katherine Longshore
Pages: 398
ARC Acquired from: Penguin Young Readers Group via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
In the court of King Henry VIII, nothing is free—and love comes at the highest price of all.

When Kitty Tylney's best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII's heart and brings Kitty to court, she's thrust into a world filled with fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck in Cat's shadow, Kitty's now caught between two men--the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat's meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head.

First Sentence: " 'You're not going to steal anything.' "

Review:
This review begins with a confession. Intrigued? Here we go. Confession #1: I cheated on King Henry. Oh wait, that wasn't me! That was Catherine (like that narrows it down). Oops! I got ahead of myself. Actually, my confession is that, much as I love reading historical fiction, I really am not a huge fan of reading about the Tudors. They're a completely fascinating (i.e. batshit insane) family, especially during Henry VIII's reign. However, I have been burned by books and movies about these years before. I know everyone else loved The Other Boleyn Girl but both the book and the film were big fat DNFs for me. Because of this, I enter every Tudors thing with a larger than usual (and usual is prodigious) amount of skepticism. Well, this one I loved.

What We Want to Believe Henry Looked Like
Source: LA Times

One thing that often frustrates me about the Tudors, even the show (which I largely enjoyed) is the romanticizing of Henry. Partly, this is because he tends to be younger in much of the fiction, a lot of which focuses on Anne Boleyn. I'm not saying Henry doesn't come off as a womanizing bastard (he does), but he also generally seems like he gets so much play because he's attractive and charismatic. Again, I think that was fairly true when he was young, although I definitely think much of his appeal had to do with the crown even then. However, as he got older, he got fat and had serious health issues. I love Katherine Longshore for displaying Henry as what he really was.

What Henry ACTUALLY looked like.
Source: Wikipedia

I totally get why shows make Henry more attractive (who wants to watch some guy who looks like that?), but that doesn't make it accurate, and there's less of a reason for it in fiction. That seems unfair to say, but oh well. The same is true of Catherine, who is portrayed as a completely fetching blonde in the show, but pictures reveal her to be somewhat plain. In Gilt, Cat is described not as beautiful, but as vivacious and so charming no one can tell that she's not gorgeous.

What really drew me into Gilt, though, is Kitty. I identified so much with Kitty and her desperation. She has nobody and she wants so badly to believe that she has a real friend in Cat. She is loyal to a fault (a big one). For the most part, I really am not like Kitty, but I liked Kitty so much, and I just kept hoping she would make the right decisions such as avoiding ruinous people.

There are so many right bastards (both literally and figuratively I'm sure) walking around Henry's court. Women's options were so incredibly limited. Of course, there were also the freedoms that they had. I cannot believe how easy it was for women to be, well, easy. Even in a dormitory packed full of beds, with more than one girl per bed no less, girls managed to carry out affairs; there's nothing awkward about that. Don't even get me started on the rage I feel about how men could rape any woman they wanted to and claim that she wanted it, so obviously it's her fault. Instead, I will let Kitty send that message in my favorite quote. I love her when she has a backbone.

Gilt is truly wonderful. I laughed, I was grossed out, I was enraged and I nearly cried. Gilt really is a lot like a more historically accurate, YA version of The Tudors. There's sex, backstabbing and dirty jokes galore. I loved every single minute of it. If you enjoy reading all of those things, get thee to a bookstore anon!

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: " 'Shut up!' I shouted. 'Why can you not see that my desire to be rid of you has nothing to do with feistiness or women's problems or fear of being caught, but has everything to do with you!' "