Review: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

What You Need to Know:  This YA Dystopian is the best contender for the "next Hunger Games" and an amazing book on its own, and one of my Best Books of 2011.

Summary: Saba lives in Silverlake, a small piece of (kind of) sustainable land carved out of the ever shifting dust that has taken over the world.  She lives with her father, broken since the death of her mother, and her baby sister.  Most importantly, she has Lugh, her twin brother and other half, who provides the hope and happiness in her life.  When strange men ride up out of a storm and steal Lugh, killing her Pa, she swears she will find him.  Saba sets off into the wastelands, and runs afoul of those who prey on travelers in the dust.  Literally forced to fight for her survival, Saba discovers her own strengths and feelings she didn't know she had.

What Worked:  Girl/Girl cage fights!  Amazon-like warrior women! Bitchy heroine!  Smug-Jackass love interest!  Quasi-western setting!  This book is practically Merideth-crack.

Young is an outstanding writer, who does an excellent job of creating a sympathetic but imperfect heroine.  Saba is a fighter, but her single-mindedness in getting Lugh back makes her not terribly likable sometimes.    Her devotion is admirable, but maddening.

Young weaves some slight touches of magic-realism into her story, with destinies being written in the stars*, and stones that will lead you to your heart's desire.  These are very subtle, and add another layer of mystery to the book.

I've said it before, the best Dystopian fiction doesn't waste a lot of time telling us how things got this bad.  Young doesn't tell us at all, choosing instead to focus on her story and characters.

And what a story it is.  In addition to the already mentioned cage fights, there's a prison break, giant killer worms, a suicidal raid... lots and lots of action.

What Didn't: This book starts very slowly, and readers may be put off by the unusual patois that Young develops.   Also, the magical elements of the book are an unusual touch for a dystopian adventure, and could be jarring.

Who would I give this book to?  Teen fans of the Hunger Games.  Adults looking for a good example of the dystopian trend.  My brother (seriously, he's very picky).

There be spoilers ahead, so quit now if that sort of thing bothers you.

Review: The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Lani Taylor.

What You Need to Know:  This urban fantasy is is an amazing, trope- twisting read, and one of my Best Books of 2011.

Summary:  Karou, a blue haired art student living in Prague, lives a double life. Most of the time, she lives like any other college kid, hanging with friends, dating and learning.  What her friends don't know is that Karou's family is a race of half-human/half-animal chimera, lead by Brimstone, a powerful wizard.  Brimstone grants wishes to humans who visit him, and receives payment in teeth.    She illustrates her family  in her sketchbook, capturing her strangely beautiful family in near lifelike detail.  Karou mostly keeps her two worlds separate, except when she is called to do errands by Brimstone. However, when strange hand-shaped burn marks appear on the portals to Brimstone's world, and angelic creatures appear all over the globe, Karou's life changes forever.

What Worked:  This book is amazing.  Beautiful descriptions of Prague, descriptions of a reasonably normal teenage life, and fantastic creatures and happenings work together beautifully to create a seamless, engaging narrative.

What amazed me most about this book is that it managed to surprise me.  Using familiar ideas -- a human raised by monsters, angels, star crossed lovers, a mystical war -- Taylor spun an unexpected and engrossing tale.  It's not my first time at the rodeo, so a fantasy book that brings something new, that keeps me guessing, gets high marks.  Also, this is one book where the romance felt organic and necessary.

Karou is a wonderful character:  funny, tough, talented.   However, she is not inhumanly perfect -- she makes mistakes, takes stupid risks, acts selfishly.   She's a refreshing change from the doormats and Mary Sues that populate teen fantasy romances.

What Didn't:  Honestly, not much.  Some of the supporting characters may be a little thin, but this book is about Karou, and that's where the focus stays.

However -- that cover is terrible -- yes, it makes sense in context, but it's generic and bland.

Who Would I Give this Book To?  Everybody.  Seriously.  There's enough rich world building here to keep fantasy fans interested, enough romance to captivate a Twihard, and the writing quality is strong enough to win over the most dedicated literary fiction fan.

Chime by Franny Billingsley

What You Need to Know:  This beautifully written steampunkish fairy tale is an antidote to cookie cutter supernatural romances, and one of my best books of 2011. 


Summary:  Briony Larkin is 17 years old and a witch.  She knows that she is evil;  responsible for her sister Rose's mental difficulties.  However, she must care for Rose and that means keeping her ability to hear the Old Ones a secret.  The Old Ones call to Briony, and beg her to tell their stories. 


But the world is changing, and engineers plan to drain the swamp.  This angers the Old Ones, and in retaliation, the children of Swampsea are stricken with a deadly cough.  When Rose takes ill, Briony knows she must do whatever it takes to save her.  Adding to Briony's troubles is Larkin, the charming son of the an engineer, who is determined to puzzle out Briony's secrets.  


What Worked:  Billingsley is one of the most engaging and skillful writers I have ever read.  This book is all about journey -- there are no real surprises here.  However, Billingsley takes familiar tropes and skews them, twisting her story so that plot is secondary to the rich world building and vibrant characterizations.  Swampsea, like Lyra's Jordan, is a world just left of our own, where magic is real and modernity bumps up uncomfortably against the old ways.  The Old Ones of the Swamp, with few exceptions, are dangerous, but not sinister, and Briony's connection to them seems organic and real.  Briony herself is one of the most fully realized characters I've come across.  Unlike many heroines, she is not inhumanly perfect, not a blank Mary Sue, but a real girl, in extraordinary circumstances, trying to do the right thing.  The supporting cast is equally well drawn, from the perplexing Rose to the engaging boy-man Larkin.  Briony and Larkin's romance is sweet and believable, not fairy tale perfect.  


The first word that pops to mind when discussing Chime is beautiful.  Beautiful language, beautiful setting, beautiful story.  


What Didn't:  It's hard for me to find a flaw here.  I do think that the cover of the book fails to do it justice, as the blandly pretty goth-child pictured here comes nowhere close to embodying Briony's spirit and passion.


P.S. -- I read this book in ARC, and then listened to the audiobook with my daughter.   In someways, the audiobook is superior to the novel, as Susan Duerden does a masterful reading, and brings Billingsley's language to life. 

Shine by Lauren Myracle

What You Need to Know:  This amazing modern southern-gothic mystery is one of the best books of 2011.

Summary: Once upon a time, Cat was best friends with Patrick.  Now Patrick lies in a coma, the victim of a hate crime.  Although nobody in the small North Carolina town of Black Creek wants to look too hard for the criminal, Cat takes it upon herself to find out who hurt Patrick.  While local law enforcement looks for an outsider, Cat feels sure the victim lies a lot closer to home.  Along the way, Cat will have to come out of her self imposed exile, and face the issues she's been ignoring.

What Worked:  When I finished this book, my reaction was:  "Damn, Lauren Myracle could win the Printz."   A vibrant setting, timely issues, tight plotting, compelling characters, and polished writing -- this book hits all of the award criteria. 

For me, the best thing about the book was the setting.  The small, rural town of Black Creek, which is slowly dying, although nobody wants to admit it.  Cat is such a product of this place, she knows it like nothing else, so she is naturally the one to solve the mystery of who attacked Patrick.  Also, Myracle nails Cat's voice, a girl longing to break free of her small world, but not really seeing a way out, who feels a debt to someone she abandoned.

For once, I felt like the romance elements of the book were organic and well intergrated.  As much as this is a mystery, it's also Cat's coming of age.  Finding someone to connect with is part of that journey. 



What Didn't:  The ending is going to leave some readers (me) unhappy.  Without getting too spoilery, lets just say that the crime is solved.  Is the criminal brought to justice?  Well, that depends.  The choice made at then end is made honestly, but left me feeling cold.   

Who would I give this book to?  With Myracle's name on the cover, this book isn't going to require much selling.  However, I can see it appealing to teens with an interest in GLBTQ issues, and mystery fans.