Kelly Jensen's Blog, page 135

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I'm going to go ahead and say from the start that Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl didn't work for me and that in order to explain why that's the case, this review will be spoiler heavy. I don't think any of the spoilers will ruin the reading for anyone who picks up the book at all, but I also want to be fair in giving that head's up. 





Cather and sister Wren are beginning their first year of college at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln -- a few hours west of their home town of Omaha -- and while Wren is excited for the experience, Cath couldn't be dreading it more. Not only does it mean adjustment, but it also means that she's going to have less time to devote to the fandom. That was and is her biggest passion. 



Cath writes fanfic about Simon Snow, the fictional lead character of a series of wildly popular children's books (think Harry Potter). But she not only writes it; she's well-known and popular as a fanfic writer, and she's earned legions of fans who eagerly await her next installment of the story she's developed between Simon and secondary male character Baz. She's built herself a world all her own in the fandom. 



But while Fandom about fandom and fanfiction, it's really not just about that. Cath has to learn to navigate begin in a new place, in a roommate situation that has her learning to adjust to the quirks and charms of a new roommate who isn't Wren. Because Wren doesn't want to live with her. Wren wants something new. Wren may or may not have a few problems of her own drinking, for one, which causes her to end up in the hospital one night. Wren's also been known to be friendly with more than a single boy, too. In other words, she's a bit like a stereotypical college freshman who is indulging in her first taste of freedom and adulthood. She's exploring, making choices -- even if they aren't always good for her. 



Then there's Levi, the cute-haired boy who may or may not be in a relationship with Cath's roommate Reagan. Then there's Cath's father, who suffers from depression at home. Then there's Cath and Wren's mother who stepped out of their lives years ago -- it was that departure of her mother that led Cath to the fandom in the first place. And then there's the advanced-level Fiction-Writing course that Cath was let into and that she's managed to earn an incomplete in (though thankfully, her professor wants to give her an extension and a second chance since she shows real promise). There's the boy she's been partnered with in the class, too, who may or may not be stealing Cath's writing and passing it off as his. 



Can Cath possibly continue her streak with the fandom? Can she come to terms with who she is in the midst of the fandom? Or does she need to come to terms with herself in spite of it? And what happens if people are on to her? With scads of fans, someone on campus HAS to know she's the person behind Carry On.



Over the course of this single freshman year in Cath's life -- one which we're reminded again and again drags on like a lifetime in a way that no other year does -- so much and so little happens at the same time. We're given passages between the chapters of Cath's story that showcase the original Simon Snow text and the fanfic that Cath herself has written. 



Except.



We don't actually get to see the fandom. 





We see Cath's writing, but in no way does Cath's writing actually showcase the importance of the fandom to her nor her notoriety within the fandom. We know OF the people who admire her work and seek it out. But we don't know them. And we don't know the value of them to her because we never actually see it. Instead, we're giving the very superficial elements of it -- the writing itself. The heft of meaning here is removed because we're told, not shown, what it is. 



What Rowell does in Fangirl is offer too many unsatisfying plot threads on a very shallow level, and it's presented in such a way that Cath herself is never a complete character. There's not only a lack of an arc to her (again, we know OF things because it's told to readers, but we don't actually know them because we don't get to see or experience them along with Cath), but her character is inconsistent. She's unlikable and not in a way that's actually interesting. She's cold and aloof, and she's judgmental. Obviously these elements make her real and they make her relatable in many ways (I saw a lot of myself in Cath and many others will too -- particularly the inconsistencies, the anxieties, and the sometimes-borderline paranoia she experiences in her new world) but she never is able to give us more than a passing glance at why she is this way. 



She just is. 



In many ways, the exploration of fandom is meant to give us further insight into Cath and her behavior except it never does. Where we could get to know her through her fanfic -- just like her followers do -- we don't get to because she never shares with us why she continues to seek and validate her own identity through it. 



We see the fiction. We don't see the heart.



I never bought the romance or chemistry between Cath and Levi because I never saw her actually seeing him as someone more than simply his good hair and his always-there presence. He does a lot of nice things for her, but she never seems all that into it. In many ways, she almost expects it. It was surprising to me he continued to seek her out when she was so cold and distant. And it doubly surprised me that she had TWO boys who were interested in her. 



Maybe part of the problem is we never know the stakes here. Are there any? At least in Cath's own world, there really aren't. If she gives up the fandom, she loses personal fulfillment. But she would find it at college because there is a world of college to fulfill her. If she's found out as being a huge fanfic writer, what happens? She earns notoriety on campus -- and there is no possible way that there are not other fans of Simon Snow on campus who wouldn't seek her out to develop some sort of social group around their shared passion. 



This leads me to the biggest issues in the book, which are the underdeveloped plot points that could have been either dug into further or left out all together. Did Cath and Wren's father need to be seriously unstable? It makes sense, but the turn around and recovery is near-instant. One minute he's hospitalized, and not too long later, he's stable and fine. Likewise, why the sudden reemergence of mom? It seems out of left field that mom would want to suddenly know her girls again, after being out of their entire teen lives. And the turnaround there is also instant. While it's believable so much could and does happen in a year, the way these two events played out was superficial and because they're so big and complex, the surface-level treatment makes them easy to write off. 



Wren develops a drinking problem in college, and it's when she's hospitalized that Cather finally has to come face to face with the mom she's been avoiding (and frankly, I was team Cath here on completely avoiding the mother who was out of her life, even though the story read in a way that suggested she should feel guilty and bad about not wanting to reestablish that connection). Since Cath and Wren aren't living together, there's been a giant wedge driven between them at school -- almost to the point they don't even know one another. But we never get to know Wren except through Cath's skewed perception, and it's this one-sided, weak development that in many ways is how Cath herself is propped up as a character. Wren drinks. Wren sleeps with boys. Wren gets hospitalized. Cath, on the other hand, lives in her head, in her fanfic, avoids social interaction, and nothing "bad" happens to her. But with the hospitalization, their relationship is patched up because they're able to "bond" over their thoughts about having mom back in their lives. It's a way-too-cleanly-resolved scene that begged for much more development -- or for being left out all together. 



So with all of that going on, there's another wrench thrown in, and that is that Levi has a learning disorder where he is unable to read. He needs to listen to people reading to him in order to grasp knowledge. 





If you're keeping tally at this point, we have the mentally ill father, the absent-but-seeking-connection mother, the sisters who are drifting apart, the sister with a drinking problem, the boy from her fiction class who may be stealing her writing, the teacher who is a stock character that "believes in Cath's potential as a writer," and the potential boyfriend who has a learning disorder. None of these threads alone are bad. It's when they're all thrown into one story -- even if it's meant to be a way of explaining how freshman year at college can feel like an eternity -- that things become unbelievable. They're shallowly developed and unsatisfying. But worse, they don't contribute anything to Cath's character arc.



As mentioned earlier, Cath is inconsistent in the story. She's at one minute very "worldly" -- she talks about how she grew up in the most culturally-rich, ethnically-diverse area of Omaha and she quickly judges her school not for her because of how many blonde, white girls wander around. But then down the road, she talks about how she doesn't know what a ranch is nor does she have any concept of country life. Yes, Omaha is a city. However, Omaha is saddled between Nebraska and Iowa, which base their livelihoods on farming and ranching. If she's so rich culturally, it's shocking to see what she does and doesn't know. She's sheltered but she's not. She writes gay fanfic, which suggests an open-mindedness to her, but she IS so judgmental externally -- she's near shaming people who choose to enjoy sex and she makes a rape joke early on with Levi that felt inappropriate at the moment and even more inappropriate as their relationship actually develops. And her voice and perspective doesn't change. It's one-dimensional.



What of fandom here, then? I'm left wondering if Rowell's point that fandom can be positive and fulfilling and exciting is actually lost here and whether or not she unintentionally makes the opposite point because she doesn't allow readers to see what it adds to Cath's life. We only know the surface. We never know the depth, even though we know there is depth (and how I wanted that depth -- I don't know fandom, but I know the value it has added to many people's lives and...why wasn't that here?). Likewise, the passages of Simon Snow and the fanfic were, frankly, boring. Again, it goes back to the fact we don't know what the fandom is to Cath or what she's getting from it. So I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be getting from it either. It read a bit like creatively-packaged info dumping.





Part of me wonders if there is an in-crowd to this book. Because I'm not in the fandom, because I don't read fanfiction, am I just an outsider to it? If I don't "get" it without seeing it, is the book not meant for me as a reader? That seems like a huge and unfair leap -- and I doubt that's the intention here. But I can't help feeling like because I'm not one of the cool crowd -- that I'm not Cath or like Cath -- then, well, too bad. 



The editor of this book called it "Literature with a capital L" in her buzz session at BEA, but I couldn't disagree more. This isn't spectacular writing. At times, it's clumsy and awkward, and there are lengthy passages which don't add anything to the story. There's nothing Literary here. And that's not to suggest there's not a readership to this book (there certainly is!) nor that the writing is bad (it's not). Rather, it's to say this is no Literature. The story is told through third person point of view, which almost makes the writing tougher to buy as literary because we're not getting it direct from Cath herself. There's a step back and a removal from the immediacy of story. So the weak turns of phrase aren't actually because it's who Cath is or how she receives and perceives her world first-hand.



I'd hoped for a more open ending, one which would suggest that things aren't neatly packaged nor wrapped up, but I got the neat bow. It in many ways is precisely what Cath said she hoped to deliver to her own readers, and while it could have been satisfying for the readers of Fangirl to get it, because there are so many plot threads too neatly tied up already, it was more of a let down that a satisfying resolution. 



Though this book is being sold as YA -- and it will certainly appeal to a lot of teen readers and YA readers more broadly -- this doesn't read like a YA book. It reads like an adult book. It reminds me of chick lit, and that's not meant in a mean or belittling sense. I spent a long time thinking about what would have made this YA as opposed to adult, and I think it comes down to this: the YA story here was how Cath got into the fandom after her mother's sudden departure when she was a teenager. The YA of it would be seeing Cath find a safe space in this world and developing the friendships and connections she does in Simon Snow's fan world. But instead, we get the well after in this book. We see Cath years after she's developed this presence. We don't see development therein. We don't see a "coming of age" or "coming to understanding" of the value of this fandom because we don't actually see the fandom or the world therein. We see Cath in her first year of college -- a snap shot into her life -- and we see the romance developing between her and Levi at the forefront. Again, not to belittle the story. It's not. The YA book was elsewhere in the story, in those flash backs and in the back story. What we got was the adult book. 



There will be plenty of people who love this book and I see why. But this book and the writing are imperfect and left me with far more questions than answers -- and not in the way I like to leave a story with questions. This left me wanting, rather than satiated. I'm sure those readers for whom this book is ideal and who "get" it will overlook the issues without problem. 





Pass Fangirl off to readers who want a story about fanfiction and fandom. Pass it off, too, to readers who want books set in college or about figuring out who and what you are when you're put into a new situation. Readers who liked Rowell's style and storytelling in Eleanor & Park will likely appreciate Fangirl as well. And, of course, this book is great for your adult readers who love YA. It's an ideal crossover title. 








Fangirl will be available tomorrow, September 10, from St. Martin's Press. Review copy received from the publisher. 


            Related StoriesAudio Review: Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane NickersonSex & Violence by Carrie MesrobianThe 5th Wave by Rick Yancey 

Links of Note: 9/7/13

To celebrate library card sign-up month, Hennepin County Library (Minneapolis) did a roundup of their old library cards, dating back to the 1800s, on their tumblr. 







I love holiday weekends but the week after a holiday is rough, isn't it? I've been wrong about the day of the week every day this week. Alas, here's some interesting links to celebrate it being Saturday again.









I love niche collections in libraries, and I love the idea of New Orleans opening up a culinary library for chefs. 



I haven't yet read David Levithan's Two Boys Kissing -- I brought it home to read soon, though -- but I really like this reflection on the 10 year anniversary of Boy Meets Boy and how much has and hasn't changed in our culture since its publication. 




Everyone has posted something about YA book to film adaptations lately, but I think the one over at SLJ is really great. I didn't realize some of the books she mentioned were being adapted (like Trash for instance). Worth the read. 




Litchfield meets Stoneybrook, otherwise known as how the show Orange is the New Black is similar to The Babysitter's Club. Not only is this fun, it's actually pretty spot-on. 




There is a really interesting two-part series over at The Paris Review about keeping a notebook. Part one is here and part two is here. I'm a rabid notebook keeper, and I have been forever. And it's not just writing things down in notebooks; I keep those notebooks too. I am much less a narrative notebook keeper and far more a list notebook keeper. 




For fun, fake book covers in the style of Penguin Classics that are video game cases. 




What are the top ten books people are embarrassed to admit they have read? There's a Book Riot poll for that. 




This piece over at The Millions is really great and is making me think about writing on the topic of quiet books. What are the quiet books in YA? There are a lot, and many of them are among my favorite reads. It's not about literary pretension; it's exactly as the author describes here -- the quiet space we carve and fall into while reading a particular story. 




Who dies in a Charles Dickens novel? There's a chart for that. 




Frankenstein Day! A reading list! Check it out. As I like to point out, Mary Shelley was a teenager when she wrote and published the classic. 



Fifty of the best books you haven't read by authors you already love. This list is solid. And it's true -- I've read many authors on here, but not a single one of these books, though I just got a copy of the rerelease of Hansaman and cannot wait to read it. 




Teacher or a librarian? Want a copy of What Goes Around by Courtney Summers? You already know I'm giving away a set of her books, as well as two copies, but you can win a copy of the bind-up over at Courtney's tumblr, and right now, your odds as a teacher or librarian are better over there to win than they are here. That's not to dissuade you from entering here but to encourage entering there, as well! 






Over at Book Riot, I wrote up a book list that features YA novels (and non-fiction) set in juvenile detention. It's a mix of backlist and current or forthcoming titles. 









            Related StoriesLinks of Note, 8/24/13"Inside the Industry" Guest Post and Quick SurveyElsewhere in the book world 

Audio Review: Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson

Strands of Bronze and Gold is the story of Bluebeard set on a plantation in the antebellum South. I feel like that sentence perfectly sums up everything you need to know plot-wise, but in case you want a little more: Sophie is an orphan, a member of a family that is now what we may call "impoverished gentility." When her godfather, Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, who had quite an admiration for her mother, invites Sophie to live with him, she is happy to accept. His plantation home is opulent and he treats her like a precious jewel. She admires him deeply, even finding him attractive, despite his age (he is portrayed as perhaps a man in his 40s).





And then things change, slowly. de Cressac begins to exhibit worrisome behavior, like being upset with her befriending a stray cat. Sophie learns that his moods are changeable and she never knows what will set him off. Worst, though, is that she senses he has romantic feelings for her, which makes her own childish affections for him disappear entirely. By this point, she's a prisoner in all practical ways, though he doesn't lock her in a room and bar the windows. And then, of course, there are the former wives. Four of them, all who met tragic ends. Accidental, of course...





Nickerson does some things very well. I really liked the slow pace of the story. It gave time for adequate, un-rushed development of de Cressac, as well as for Sophie's slow realization of his awfulness. It also enhances just how creepy de Cressac really is. As readers, we are expected to be familiar with the Bluebeard story. The fact that de Cressac is a murderer and creep is not news to us. But the way Nickerson allows his character - and Sophie's discovery of it - to unfold, slowly, deliberately, is quite excellent. I felt my skin crawl multiple times before there was any hint of violence.





Nickerson also does some things quite poorly. There's a subplot involving the slaves at M. Bernard's home and Sophie's desire to help them run to freedom that is so tone-deaf, it was almost painful to listen to. She also meets a free black woman in the woods named Anarchy who teaches her Important Lessons About Life. Frankly, I could have done without this entire storyline. I didn't find any part of it redeemable. (Delia Sherman is much more successful in writing about a white girl among black slaves in the antebellum South in The Freedom Maze .)





Some readers will likely find themselves frustrated at Sophie's naivete. It's necessary for the story to work, but I also found it refreshing to read about a girl who isn't already worldly and tough as nails. It seems perfectly reasonable to me that a girl in Sophie's circumstances would be innocent. In many ways, this story is about the loss of that innocence (and how easy it is for a predator to take advantage of it). While many teen protagonists seem much more like adults, Sophie is clearly still a child.





I'm of two minds about the narration, done by Caitlin Prennace. Prennace is very good at portraying Sophie's innocence. She doesn't know much about the world and is easily scandalized, so Prennace's voicing has a lot of gasps and shocked intonations. Sometimes it seems a little affected, though, and Prennace never quite sounds like a teenager. It's not the greatest narration, but it's more than passable.





Frankly, that's a good summation of the book as a whole - not great, but passable. It's an enjoyable listen and I don't feel like I wasted my time, but I'm not sure I'm rush to recommend it. Ultimately, it wasn't as atmospheric or creative as I think it could have been. It will be a good match for readers who like retold fairy tales, though I doubt it will be among their favorites. It also has a bit of a Southern gothic feel to it and should find a welcome home among those readers as well.





Review copy received from the publisher. Strands of Bronze and Gold is available now.


            Related StoriesSex & Violence by Carrie MesrobianThe 5th Wave by Rick YanceyReview Roundup: Recent Reads 

Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

Eve doesn't know who she is. She only knows what people tell her: that her name is Eve, that she is in witness protection, that a serial killer from another world is out to get her. She learns she has magical powers, but whenever she uses them, she suffers more short-term memory loss. Despite her memory problems, she begins to discover that the people who work for witness protection may not actually have her protection as their primary goal. What's more, she's seeing visions of a storyteller and a magician at a strange circus, and they're torturing her in these visions. She wonders if these visions could be her memories coming back to her.





Most of the book focuses on Eve's struggle to remember what happened to her in the past, whatever it was she had to do with this mysterious serial killer. That's what the people in witness protection want, and it's what she wants, too, really. She wants her memories back. She wants to know who she is. The problem is, everyone around her is lying to her. She finally finds a boy she can trust, and together they set out to determine the truth.





I had hopes for this one, but they didn't pan out. The book is slow, and not much happens for the first two thirds aside from Eve doing magic, passing out, and seeing visions. It makes for a pretty dull book. Leisurely-paced books aren't inherently bad, but when the pace is so glacial that you contemplate simply skipping to the end so you can be done with it, that's not great. It didn't help that for most of the book, the plot seems so very pedestrian.





Despite its common elements (visions, amnesia, witness protection), this is actually a pretty original book. But you won't know that until the end, when the nature of Eve's visions is revealed. I'm not sure the payoff, which is intensely weird (but not in a bad way, really), is worth the slog to get there. I wonder if hints to this big revelation at the end could have been threaded through the earlier parts of the novel more successfully. Then again, I wonder if the only way to do this is through more visions, and I certainly didn't want any more of those.





Much of my aversion to this book is subjective. I dislike reading about visions, dreams, flashbacks, or anything related. (The Harry Potter books, for all the love I bear for them, drag whenever Harry has his prophetic dreams.) Truth be told, my attention wanders and I find myself skimming those sections. So the creepy descriptions and neat turns of phrase that populate those sections were largely wasted on me. Perhaps others get more out of them.





I also have to admit that I have a big aversion to circuses. You may be thinking "Kimberly, why did you read this book? It is full of things you know you do not like." Well. That is a valid question. I loved Vessel . I like Sarah Beth Durst's writing. I like that she doesn't stick to certain types of fantasy and branches out, writing a bunch of different subgenres. I hoped this one would work for me, despite the warning signs. Alas, it did not.





I read an arc of this book, and the point of view changed from third person to first person abruptly near the end of the book. At that point, the book became much stronger, though that also may be due to the fact that the plot also picked up at the same time. I'm very curious to see what the POV is in the final copy, as this strange shift seems like an editing mistake rather than a deliberate stylistic choice.





Review copy received from the publisher. Conjured is available now.


            Related StoriesSex & Violence by Carrie MesrobianThe 5th Wave by Rick YanceyReview Roundup: Recent Reads 

Twitterview: Carrie Mesrobian (author of Sex & Violence)

Yesterday, I reviewed Sex & Violence by Carrie Mesrobian, and today I bring a Twitterview with her. As usual, I gave 140-character questions and she responded in 140 characters or less. Also as usual, I'm giving away a copy of Sex & Violence to one US/Canadian reader at the end.





What's a little different about this Twitterview, though, is that I asked some really tough questions. I admitted as much when I approached Carrie, and she did a great job of answering when she had an answer and telling me when she didn't and I was being unfair. But that's what makes this so fun, too. Some questions may border on spoiler territory, so be warned, and there's also some profanity. 





Without further ado, let's talk with Carrie Mesrobian about Sex & Violence, gender expectations, and more.






itch
Sex & Violence in 140 Words.






How I
Spent My Summer At The Lake With My Weird Dad & Neighbors
Recovering from PTSD As A Former Slutty Boy by Evan Carter










Give
me three descriptive words for the book. 






Opinionated.
Introspective. Funny. Kinda. Okay, sometimes it is. (I am so bad at
this.)










What
inspired Sex & Violence?






Baker. I
wanted a normal girl character who was pretty and smart and
comfortable about her looks. A girl who has sex & lives to tell
about it.










Evan
likes sex without shame -- at least at the start. But he likes "easy
girls." What does that mean?






Evan
doesn’t have a lot of time to woo ladies. He just wants to get
physical. I think he embodies what guys his age wish was possible.










So he
likes sex without having to work for it? 






The
identification of the target is also enjoyable. But nothing after the
target’s acquired, so to speak. He’s unequipped for that.










And
he's surprised when this comes back to bite him in the ass?






Evan’s
good at taking his ego out of his targeting of girls. He doesn’t
make it about him. Or them, either. He’s dumb about emotional
stuff.










There's
a bit of a backstory to Evan and his family, too, so tell us about
that a bit and how it impacts him.






Evan’s
mom is dead. But he doesn’t really have any connections with his
relatives. Lack of connection in general seems to plague him.










Do
you think Evan gets "forgiveness" for his behavior in the
story, either from his world or the readers?






Evan
learns to live with himself and his past actions. What readers will
‘give’ him beats the hell out of me, however. Also I don’t care
if they forgive him or not, really.










Does
Evan NEED "forgiveness" for his behavior in the story,
either from his world or the readers?






Evan’s
very honest about how he views sex. Does honesty require forgiveness?
I think a lot of men feel like he does. They just don’t say it.










Let's
play a game: what do you think would happen to Evan had he been a
girl in the same situation?






Like, if
he’s beaten in a shower? Or just promiscuous and calculating? Or a
girl with no friends? DERRRRRRP. I suck at this game!










Baker
is my favorite character in the book. Tell me a little more about
her. 






Baker
makes shy, socially anxious people at ease. She talks too much. She’s
also sexually curious. She’s also kinda bossy.










What's
so attractive about Baker to Evan? 






Evan
likes her social ease. He likes how she belongs where she is, has a
sense of history. Her directness about sex, & life. Also her
boobs.










Little
sex really happens on page. But there is a LOT of talk about sexual
politics in S&V. Do you think this is realistic of today's teens?






Who
knows about today’s kids? Students discuss sex w/ me, which is
different. When I was young, my friends & I discussed sex a lot,
though.










My
takeaway is sex & violence are related since they can   reduce
people to objects rather than actual beings. What's Evan's takeaway,
if any?






Both are
fraught with risk. Except Evan would never use the word ‘fraught.’
And I’m not sure he’s got a takeaway even at the book’s end.










If
you had to pick one relationship that changed Evan the most, which
would it be and why?






I think
it’s with Baker, actually. She sort of presses him to tell about
himself instead of lying and hiding.










Writing
from the POV of a teen boy: harder or easier than you expected? Why? 






Original
story had both Baker & Evan’s POV. I just enjoyed telling
Evan’s side more. Some research on boy stuff (boners, etc) was
necessary.










Do
you think S&V is a risky book? 






I don’t.
But I’m me, you know? If YA readers are mostly young girls like
we’ve been told, I’m guessing they’ll hate what Evan
thinks/says.











I
want to ask another unfair question: would S&V be a riskier book
if Evan were a girl? 






I’d
imagine the judgment against such promiscuity would be exponentially
increased against a girl who behaved like Evan.










Would
you call this a redemptive story? How or why not? 






Kinda.
But mostly it’s about how time heals. About how acceptance is more
likely than redemption.










If
you had to give Sex & Violence a "____" meets "____"
pitch, what would it be?






I hate
this question! I am TERRIBLE at that kind of thing! That and the
three words, ugh! So glad someone else wrote my jacket copy!










What
gets you jazzed to write?






JAZZED?
JAZZED,
Kelly? I cannot claim to be JAZZED by anything in order to write! At
least by any one thing. I’m so boring in that respect.










Who
or what do you write for?






I write
for kids who are average. Not gifted & talented. Smart kids get
depicted a lot in YA. I also write to amuse myself obviously.










Who
is your ideal reader? 






This
question forces me to give a snobby answer, so I won’t. Though I’d
imagine teenage boys will get the most out of this book.










What
were your most influential reads as a teenager?






I read a
lot of classics because I was a pretentious nerd. Like, I loved Tess
of the D’Urbervilles. Ugh. I was so gross.










Who
are your top writing influences?






Oh man.
I don’t fucking know! Shouldn’t someone else make that
discernment? I’m a pretty sloppy disaster in my writing and reading
habits.











What
writers do you think are breaking ground in YA right now? 






Yikes.
YA is so vast & varied. Feels dickish to get specific, as I only
have 140 characters. Damn you, Twitterview!










If
you listen to music while you're writing, what are you listening to?
(You can link me to stuff if you want).






I get so
much shit for the music I like! I like country music. The pop kind,
not the cool kind. And Metallica. And Eminem. I’m irrational.










What's
next for you?






Another
YA book with a boy narrator. A more likeable guy this time. The
tentative release date is fall 2014, again with Carolrhoda LAB.










The
most important question is always the last one: what's your favorite
ice cream?





I love
coconut popsicles. Anything with lots of chocolate also works for me.
With a sprinkling of coffee grounds on top just for variation.









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            Related StoriesTwitterview: Sara Varon & Cecil CastellucciTwitterview: Phoebe NorthTwitterview: Katie Williams 

Sex & Violence by Carrie Mesrobian

Evan likes sex.





Or rather, Evan likes sex when it is easy.





He's got a radar for this kind of thing. He sees the girl he knows will be down for getting down, he gets involved with her, they have sex, and then he moves on to the next one.





Evan can get away with it when he's away at school. It's never been a problem before because he's grown up moving around a lot with his father's job.





But this time, he meets Collette, and she is a challenge for him. Rather than be turned off by her being a challenge, though, Evan's into it. And he pursues her because even though she's playing hard to get, he has it in his head he can get with her. And he does. The real challenge isn't getting with Collette though. It's keeping their getting down a secret.





Of course, things can change in an instant. Evan finds this out after a trip to the shower. After having his body beaten by a couple of classmates who didn't like the little game he plays. Because this time, he picked the wrong girl.





Collette is the ex-girlfriend of his roommate.





That's where Carrie Mesrobian's debut Sex & Violence begins. In one chapter, you meet Evan, his desire for sex, then you meet him as he finds himself the victim of violence. Following that introduction, you're thrown into Evan learning how to reassess his own priorities when it comes to what it is he wants. He's fearful in a way he's never been before. What once came easily to him -- the ability to seek out a girl and sleep with her consequence-free -- is precisely why he's fearful. The consequences presented themselves in a brutal manner.





Evan's taken out of school after a stint in the hospital which didn't heal him of all his physical wounds and certainly didn't do much for his mental state. Evan and his dad move to a small town in Minnesota on a lake. When he moves, Evan begins therapy for what happened to him. But that therapy can only do so much. It doesn't remove the overwhelming fear he has of showers. It doesn't remove the fear he has of establishing a new life.





And even if his therapist insists he needs to make more human connections, convincing himself to do that is not a prospect Evan looks forward to. But he does follow through on one of the therapists suggested exercises, which was to write letters to someone as a means of practicing how to open up and express himself. Those letters he writes are all to Collette -- though he won't send them, it's a pretty significant choice of a person to whom he chooses to open himself to.





Up until the point when Evan had been a victim of violence, Evan had seen people and things in his life as impermanent. As disposable. That's why he didn't get invested in relationships with girls. He simply slept with them when he wanted to. A significant part of this is, of course, because his own father and he moved from place to place. It's also because his mother's dead and gone. There's never been a solid basis for establishing connection and meaning for Evan, and after the incident in the shower, he sees this as even more of a truth.





Evan, too, becomes an object in that moment, rather than a person.





Of course, it would be a really boring story if the entire plot happened in chapter one and Evan put off doing anything to help himself after. Because as much as he learns a lesson almost immediately, there's a lot more story to be told. Slowly, Evan begins to get to know some of the other kids at the lake, and all of them are partaking in their "last summer" as teens. It's a chance for them to try the things they never did and to experience life in a way that they don't think they'll ever get to again. For these kids, the biggest choice is to practice "non-monogamy" (a phrase which becomes really funny with one of the characters). Evan can be down with this, but it is from a distance.





Enter Baker.





Baker is the first girl who approaches Evan in any meaningful way when he's resettling in Minnesota. She's curious about his late-night trips to the lake. He begins opening up to her, little by little, in a way that he's never opened up to anyone before. In fact, he finds himself sort of falling for her. But again, it's from a distance. He worries about consequence, even as he begins to hear her story and what it is that she has in her trunk for baggage. She kisses him, and it's at that point he really begins to worry. Because as much as the kids have said they're not practicing monogamy this summer, Evan fears that Baker's boyfriend might not be into the relationship he's developing with her.





Then they come close to having sex. Baker is the lady in control of their relationship in this moment, and it's in this scene where Baker becomes my favorite character in the entire story. She's not a game-player, either. In many ways, she's a lot like Evan. When he comes to realize that she has the upper hand of power in their relationship, he also realizes how important developing a real relationship with another person is.





And thus, sort of discovers the ties between sex and violence. Both can turn people into objects and both can become means of figuring out that people are just that: people.





Sex & Violence has a lot going on in it besides this. The relationship between Baker and Evan isn't necessarily the one that means the most to Evan, but it's an important one in his progression and in his healing process. In fact, there will be more relationships for Evan, and he may in fact find a girl he can develop strong emotional ties to. Moreover, Evan discovers during this summer and subsequent school year that there's a lot of baggage in his own family that he needs to unpack. It is through learning that other people have their own stories and dirt and crap within them that Evan understands how important those things he carries are what can help him establish something meaningful with other people. That he can't outrun his own history, but he can instead let it be what it is and use it as necessary in understanding his choices.





As readers, we get this long before Evan does, thanks to his letters to Collette. But Evan doesn't see it until the very final letter -- perhaps the letter that is the most important one in the book and to his story. The circle finally makes sense (this is another little bit in the book, which I haven't touched on and won't touch on, but the circle is symbolic and comes together in the end).





Evan is a really complicated and layered character. He's a teen boy through and through, and the way he approaches his relationships -- both those prior to and following the shower attack -- ring true. It's uncomfortable at times to hear his thought process but it's also true to character. Though the title itself will grab reader attention for sure, there is very little on-page sex and the on-page violence blacks out before become gratuitous. Much discussion of each happens, but in no way will there be anything sexy or bloody that sticks with the reader. Rather, what sticks with the reader is the complexity of either and of both, rendered through Evan and the relationships he does pursue and those which, well, he doesn't.





There's a lot to think about in Mesrobian's book about redemption, as well. Does Evan ever become a character who is healed or better? At what rate is it believable that he can change as a person, and at what rate do we as readers forgive him? I wondered, too, about whether his family backstory aided in the way he understands himself and thus is a means for us as readers to better understand and forgive him, too. In many ways, it's hugely positive that Evan isn't healed immediately and that he makes some of the same mistakes he made prior to his being beaten up -- even though he's nervous to pursue sex for sex's sake after, he doesn't completely avoid it, either.





None of these questions are a knock on the book. In many ways, they're what makes the book so memorable for me. I walked away with more questions about character than I did answers. And I also wondered a lot about whether this story would be any different had it been Baker's story, rather than Evan's. Would the take aways or perceptions of other characters and readers be different if a girl had been in Evan's place? Because Evan's not portrayed as a player here. He's portrayed as a teen boy who happens to like sex. We accept that at that level. Would the same be true for a girl in that position? Or would more backstory be required or demanded?





The writing in this book is good, though I found at times the pacing wasn't entirely consistent. At times it dragged a bit -- particularly in the middle -- and I thought that the ending came about a little bit quickly, particularly when it came to Evan's new relationship and learning about his girlfriend's backstory. I wanted to know more because she, too, had a lot of baggage and I wanted to know about how that interplayed with his own. It doesn't matter in the context of the story (and arguably, it's better not to know because that's part of the point, but it left me curious anyway).





Sex & Violence is one to hand off to your fans of contemporary YA books that tackle messy subjects without fear. Evan has a great voice, and the writing -- despite tackling a wealth of really hefty subjects -- is at times really funny. Because as much as what's happening is serious, Evan is a teen boy. He doesn't take it all seriously all the time. He makes jokes. And some of the stuff he does is ridiculous, even if it's a byproduct of the violence he experienced. He bathes in the lake! He won't take a shower, even in a safely locked bathroom, but he'll go take a swim in he lake late at night. It's strangely funny. I don't like laying books into categories of "for boys" or "for girls," but I do think there is a particularly strong appeal in this one for guy readers who feel like contemporary YA is not for them. They'll see themselves in Evan, even if they have never been in Evan's place.





I do think this book has the potential to anger readers, particularly adults, who don't think it's "realistic." But I think they'll be overlooking the fact that teen boys think about these things, both in serious and less-than-serious ways, and they'll overlook the fact that teen boys are . . . teen boys. While I don't think this is a perfect read alike to Andrew Smith's Winger, I think there are some interesting parallels, particularly when it comes to voice and writing and the relationships that develop between teen boys and girls (romantic and not-so romantic), that readers who enjoyed Smith's novel may want to give Mesrobian's debut a shot as well.








Sex & Violence is technically available October 1, but my library already has a finished copy ready and in circulation. So it's also available now kind of. Review copy received from the publisher. 


            Related StoriesThe 5th Wave by Rick YanceyReview Roundup: Recent ReadsThe Fallout by S. A. Bodeen 

Get Genrefied: Romance

Romances are huge. They make up the largest share of the US consumer market year after year and are the top-performing category on best-seller lists (source: RWA). If you work with readers of fiction at all, you need to know romance.








The Romance Writers of America (RWA) define a romance novel as a book with "a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Kimberly would perhaps define it a little more broadly, without the requirement for that particular ending, but it's certainly true that most romance novels do fit that description. Romances see a lot of crossover with other genres, and readers can be very particular about what subgenre they read. (Kimberly, personally, tends to read mainly historical or speculative fiction romances, and tends to eschew contemporary and inspirational romances.)





What separates a romance novel from a novel with a romantic element or subplot (which are legion) is that the romance novel has the romance as its main focus. Its protagonist may be involved in solving a mystery or battling aliens, but it's clear that the romance is what the author wants the reader to care most about. Everything else is subplot. With this definition, it becomes clear that not "every" young adult book is a romance, as is so often proclaimed. (Note: This is a restriction placed by Kimberly and she realizes not everyone will agree with it. Many of the RITA winners - see below - are not books she'd consider romances.)





The RWA is a gold mine of information on the genre, including a list of subgenres, information on authors, and of course, the RITA award, an annual award given to a number of books in different categories each year. Since 1983, with a few gaps, this has included a young adult award. Uniquely, they also give out an award for the best unpublished romance manuscript, also including a young adult title, called the Golden Heart. (You may have seen many books with "2003 Golden Heart winner!" or something similar emblazoned on the covers.)





For more information on the romance genre, take a look at the resources below:



Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is probably the best-known place on the web for reviews and discussions of the romance genre. They discuss both adult and young adult titles and post guest interviews with YA authors.
Dear Author is a "romance review blog for readers by readers" that also regularly reviews young adult titles. Most of their reviews are styled as letters to the authors of the books.
Dear Author and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books run the DABWAHA tournament each year, where readers vote NCAA bracket-style on their favorite romances of the year. This includes a few young adult titles.
Young Adult Romance Writers features YA romance reviews front and center (scroll down to the "Recent Book Reviews" section near the bottom for a quick sample).
Harlequin is well-known for publishing romances, and they have a couple of teen imprints: Harlequin Teen and Kimani TRU (specifically geared to African-American readers). Some books are more romance-heavy than others.

So what's come out recently that would fall under "romance?" Plenty. What's nice about romance is it spans so many genres, that you can have realistic romance as much as you can have paranormal romance, science fiction romance, fantasy romance, historical romance, and more. Here's a look at some recently published titles that would be considered romance, as well as a look ahead at some titles coming out that would fall under romance. All descriptions are from WorldCat or Goodreads, and anything you'd like to add to the list, please drop in the comments. We've kept our list to books published in the last year to year and a half, and all are YA titles. Like with any genre, heavy romance readers would be well-suited to a lot of adult romance, but it's important to be aware of how hot and heavy an adult title is before recommending it to teens. (This is not to say teens shouldn't read hot and heavy books, but it's much less likely to be appropriate for them as it would be for an adult reader. You know what we mean.) 





We are particularly interested in hearing about books that feature diversity in their characters, as well as more LGBTQ romances -- stories which are less about the experience of being queer and more about having a relationship. 






Recent titles:













The Boy on the Bridge by Natalie Standiford: It is 1982 and nineteen-year-old Laura Reid is spending a semester in Leningrad studying Russian, but when she meets Alyosha she discovers the dissident Russia--a world of wild parties, underground books and music, love, and constant danger.



Taste Test by Kelly Fiore: While attending a New Hampshire culinary academy, North Carolina high schooler Nora suspects someone of sabotaging the academy's televised cooking competition.



The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle: As high school graduation nears, Wren Gray is surprised to connect with gentle Charlie Parker, a boy with a troubled past who has loved her for years, while she considers displeasing her parents for the first time and changing the plans for her future.













Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill: During an educational trip to London away from her friends and the boy she thinks she is fated to love, Massachussets high school junior Julia Lichtenstein is paired with her nemesis, Jason, and begins seeing many things differently.



The Distance Between Us by Kasie West: Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers knows better thant to trust a rich boy. But then she meets the richest guy of all, who proves money might not matter after all.



Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan: A chorus of men who died of AIDS observes and yearns to help a cross-section of today's gay teens who navigate new love, long-term relationships, coming out, self-acceptance, and more in a society that has changed in many ways.







Starry Nights by Daisy Whitney: Seventeen-year-old Julien falls in love with the muse, Clio, as he tries to save her and the Musée D'Orsay's collection of Impressionist art after learning the paintings are reacting to a curse set by Renoir that trapped Clio in his painting.



Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone: In 1995 Evanston, Illinois, sixteen-year-old Anna's perfectly normal life is turned upside-down when she meets Bennett, whose ability to travel through space and time creates complications for them both.



The One That I Want by Jennifer Echols: Gemma can't believe her luck when the star football player starts flirting with her. Max is totally swoon-worthy, and even gets her quirky sense of humor. So when he asks out her so-called best friend Addison, Gemma's heartbroken. Then Addison pressures Gemma to join the date with one of Max's friends. But the more time they all spend together, the harder Gemma falls for Max. She can't help thinking that Max likes her back--it's just too bad he's already dating Addison. How can Gemma get the guy she wants without going after her best friend's boyfriend? **Echols is a great author to have on hand for your contemporary romance fans -- the bulk of her books contain romance in them.













Everafter by Elizabeth Chandler (part of the "Kissed by an Angel" series, which I believe can be read as stand alones): Star-crossed lovers Ivy and Tristan struggle to clear Tristan's name when he is returned to Earth in the body of an accused murderer, a situation complicated by Tristan's endangering his own soul.



Die for Me by Amy Plum (series): After their parents are killed in a car accident, sixteen-year-old Kate Mercier and her older sister Georgia, each grieving in her own way, move to Paris to live with their grandparents and Kate finds herself powerfully drawn to the handsome but elusive Vincent who seems to harbor a mysterious and dangerous secret.



The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler: Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this: The Vargas brothers are notorious heartbreakers. But as Jude begins to fall for Emilio Vargas, she begins to wonder if her sisters were wrong.












Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry: Rendered a subject of gossip after a traumatic night that left her with terrible scars on her arms, Echo is dumped by her boyfriend and bonds with bad-boy Noah, whose tough attitude hides an understanding nature and difficult secrets.



Stay with Me by Paul Griffin: Fifteen-year-olds Mack, a high school drop-out but a genius with dogs, and Céce, who hopes to use her intelligence to avoid a life like her mother's, meet and fall in love at the restaurant where they both work, but when Mack lands in prison he pushes Céce away and only a one-eared pit-bull can keep them together.



Between You & Me by Marisa Calin: Phyre, sixteen, narrates her life as if it were a film, capturing her crush on Mia, a student teacher of theater and film studies, as well as her fast friendship with a classmate referred to only as "you."












37 Things I Love (In No Particular Order) by Kekla Magoon: Fifteen-year-old Ellis recalls her favorite things as her mother's desire to turn off the machines that have kept Ellis's father alive for two years fill the last four days of her sophomore year with major changes in herself and her relationships.



Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz: Struggling with the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and sniper shootings throughout the Washington, D.C. area, Craig and Lio consider a romantic relationship that is complicated by Craig's ex-boyfriend, Lio's broken family, and the death of Lio's brother.



Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz: Fifteen-year-old Ari Mendoza is an angry loner with a brother in prison, but when he meets Dante and they become friends, Ari starts to ask questions about himself, his parents, and his family that he has never asked before.










Requiem by Lauren Oliver: While Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous Wilds, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland. **This is a series that is just as easily a romance as it is a dystopia.





The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen: During her last summer at home before leaving for college, Emaline
begins a whirlwind romance with Theo, an assistant documentary filmmaker
who is in town to make a movie.





Fifteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton: Fifteen-year-old Chelsea and her family are spending the summer at a
cottage on the shore of Lake Michigan where Chelsea meets and falls for
Josh--the cute and shy employee at the new bookstore in town.





Ready to look ahead at romances -- or books with romance as a big theme of the story -- coming in the next few months? Here's a few due out soon:












Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles (October): Told from two viewpoints, Derek Fitzpatrick, kicked out of boarding school, must move with his stepmother to her childhood home in Illinois, where he meets Ashtyn Parker, who may be able to achieve her dream of a football scholarship with bad boy Derek's help.



Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts (September): With an asteroid set to strike Earth in just one week, three teens on an island off the Atlantic Coast wrestle with love, friendship, family, and regret as they decide how to live their final days.



Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller (September): Abducted at age five, Callie, now seventeen, has spent her life on the run but when her mother is finally arrested and she is returned to her father in small-town Florida, Callie must find a way to leave her past behind, become part of a family again, and learn that love is more than just a possibility.












How to Love by Kate Cotugno (October): Before: Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he’s never seemed to notice that Reena even exists…until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind. After: Almost three years have passed, and there’s a new love in Reena’s life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena’s gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she’s finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn’t want anything to do with him, though she’d be lying if she said Sawyer’s being back wasn’t stirring something in her. After everything that’s happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?



Just One Year by Gayle Forman (October): After spending an amazing day and night with a nameless girl in Paris, Willem embarks on his own transformative journey to find her once again. **Of course, Just One Day is a romance as well. I didn't include it above since I wanted to include the companion down here.



He Said, She Said by Kwame Alexander (November): When a popular football 'playa' and ladies man and the smartest girl in school lead a school protest, sparks fly as their social media-aided revolution grows.












These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (November): Two star-crossed lovers must fight for survival when they crash land on a seemingly uninhabited planet.



One or Two Things I Learned About Love by Dyan Sheldon (November): Hildy D'Angelo is seventeen and this is the summer she falls in love for the first time. She isn't what you'd call experienced when it comes to boys, but Connor is good looking, smart, charming and sweet. When Connor uses the L word, Hildy, already half in love with the idea of falling in love, releases her hold on the Earth.





Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins (May): From the glittering
streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love
is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as
they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced
to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t
always forever.
















 Rock and a Hard Place by Angie Stanton (September, originally self-published): Left in small-town Wisconsin with a controlling aunt after her mother's
death, Libby is very unhappy until she meets Peter and sparks fly, but
when she learns that he is a rock star with his own family problems, her
life changes forever.





Snapshot by Angie Stanton (September, originally self-published): Marti, the reluctant rock princess, and Adam, the undercover guitar
wizard, fall for each other, but are in danger of falling apart when
tragedy strikes.


            Related StoriesGet Genrefied*: Graphic NovelsA Trio of Adult Romance Reviews 

Over at Book Riot

I've got two posts over at Book Riot from this week and wanted to share them both here before the link roundup next week.



First . . .







I rounded up some of the coolest libraries and book stores in LEGO form. Doing the research for this one was a blast.









My other post at Book Riot was for the regular 5 Books to Watch for feature, and I got to talk about 5 books to keep an eye out for in September. And . . . maybe I mentioned more than 5. September is a busy month.





Also, in the event you want to see your to-read piles grow even higher (of course you do), make sure you read this month's Riot Roundup of everyone's favorite reads from August. It's a really fabulous mix of books of all shapes and styles.


            Related StoriesElsewhere in the book worldPost on Adults Fearing YA at Book RiotFeminist YA over at Book Riot 

Son by Lois Lowry

I put off reading Son for a long time. The Giver is one of those book that holds a special, partly sentimental, place in my heart. I was just the right age for it when I first read it - right around Jonas' age - and it was a revelation for me. It was the first dystopia I ever read. I was entranced. I still am. As an adult, I can see the plot holes, and if I had not read it first as a child, I most likely would not be as forgiving of its faults. But that doesn't matter. This is a book that speaks to kids first and foremost. Each time I pick it up and dive in, I remember what it was like to be 12 years old and read that book for the very first time. It's something akin to a feeling of transcendence.





Reading sequels to books like that as an adult can be challenging. I remember finding Gathering Blue as a young teenager and loving the discovery I made, all on my own, that it was connected loosely to The Giver. I felt that sense of wonder again, though not as deeply. As an older teen, soon after graduation from high school, I picked up Messenger, knowing it was the third in that set of books. Alas, I was disappointed with it. I wonder if I had grown too old for this very particular kind of story, or if the book simply wasn't as strong. Possibly both.





All that long introduction is to say that I'm of two minds about Son. While reading it, I had flashes of those transcendent moments I felt as a child, but I also felt disappointment and, at times, tedium.





It's divided into three sections: Before, Between, and Beyond. The first part focuses on Claire, a child who has been assigned to be a birth mother in the same community Jonas lived in. This is the section most similar to The Giver, and it is by far the strongest. The second part follows Claire to another place reminiscent of Kira's community in Gathering Blue. The third and final part follows her to the setting of Messenger. As the final volume in the series, Son's structure functions as a very literal way of tying everything together. Unfortunately, drawing such close parallels between Claire's story and Kira's in the second part and Matty's in the third part also subjects it to the same criticisms of those stories. This is especially true for the last third, which suffers from multiple weaknesses I also felt were present in Messenger. If anything, the third part actually builds upon those weaknesses, diving too far headlong into strictly metaphorical territory and sacrificing a logical plot with concrete explanations.





I've gotten a lot of feedback about Son from adults, but not much from kids. The book isn't wildly popular in my library, though it's not a shelf-sitter either. I wonder how kids who have read the other books feel about it. If you've gotten feedback from kids, I'd love to read about it in the comments.





Like in all the previous books, the language is beautiful and strange at at the same time. It's the type of writing that is simply stated but resonates more strongly because of its simplicity. I expect it is divisive among adult readers who had differing interpretations of the ambiguous ending of The Giver. I expect it is also divisive simply because it is not The Giver, and I'm not sure anything can be. It's still lovely and different and certainly worthy of acclaim. It's imperfectly done, but we should all be glad it exists.





Finished copy borrowed from the library.


            Related StoriesThe 5th Wave by Rick YanceyReview Roundup: Recent ReadsThe Fallout by S. A. Bodeen 

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

One day, as humanity is going about its routine existence, an alien spaceship appears in the sky. While no one ever sees the aliens, it quickly becomes apparent that they are not friendly. In quick succession, they unleash a series of attacks that kill off over 90% of the world's human population. Billions of people.





The 1st wave: an EMP that knocks out all electricity


The 2nd wave: manufactured earthquakes


The 3rd wave: a deadly disease carried by bird droppings


The 4th wave: surviving humans are picked off


The 5th wave: to be determined





Cassie lost her mother to the 3rd wave, but her father and little brother Sammy miraculously survived. By now, people have long abandoned the idea that the aliens hoped to coexist and they now recognize that humanity is being wiped off the planet systematically and purposefully, most likely to make way for an alien colonization.





Cassie's family finds their way to a place they call Camp Ashpit, which is basically a tent city where survivors have huddled together, waiting for what is going to happen next. When official-looking people in uniforms with humvees show up, they think it's the answer to their prayers. The uniformed people take all the children up to age 13 or so (including Cassie's brother) away in a school bus to a refugee camp where, according to them, they'll be "perfectly safe." They say they'll be back to pick up the teenagers and adults, and they leave a few soldiers behind to look after them.





I'm sure you know where this is going. Cassie quickly learns that the soldiers don't necessarily have their best interests in mind. She survives the subsequent events, and she fears for her brother's life. He's only five, and he's all she has left. Though she now believes that the aliens have somehow found a way to inhabit the bodies of humans, she's determined to rescue Sammy. She sets out across alien-infested terrain toward the refugee camp.





This is a Book for Me. I love sweeping stories about the end of the world, and it's extra special if the end is brought about by aliens. This is the kind of book that is filled with what I loving describe as "crushing despair." (And hey, it doesn't involve rape! At all! Imagine that.) It's nearly as awesome as I wanted it to be.





As with any acclaimed novel, there are a number of readers who gave this a vehemently negative review. Most cite the writing, which is strange for me. It's not a straightforward narrative; it's told in a slightly more conversational style with a great deal more fragments and run-ons than you'd find in the average book. It's nothing close to stream of consciousness, but I suppose this type of writing doesn't suit everyone. Still, I'd hardly call it bad writing, in an objective sense.





Yancey excels at making readers second-guess what they already know. Very early on, Cassie is rescued from certain death by a human boy who says his name is Evan. Evan has a secret, of course, and we know what it is. Cassie only suspects, but we know. And yet, over the course of many pages, Yancey sows a seed of doubt in our minds. How do we know, really? Isn't it possible that Evan is exactly who he says he is? Isn't it likely? This line of thought shows the strength in Yancey's writing: despite the fact that he's shared everything we need to know beyond a doubt, we still do doubt, because Cassie does. The book is full of plot points like this, and it's part of what makes the story so engaging.





The romance between Cassie and Evan is a little hard to buy - a blip on
an otherwise stellar book. Cassie is suspicious of him from the
beginning, and Yancey relies too heavily on her falling for him due to
his rescue of her. The problem is, it doesn't seem in Cassie's nature to
do this. By now, she's jaded, she doesn't trust anyone, and she's
gotten pretty good at taking care of herself. It's possible she may not
want to kill him, but romance is another thing entirely.





Only half of the book follows Cassie. The other half shows us events from Ben Parish's perspective, and his situation is much different, though their stories do converge by the end. He's at a refugee camp, being trained by surviving adults to fight back. They don't think they can win, but they plan to take down as many aliens as possible when they go. As with Cassie, things are not what they seem, and Ben's struggle to sift truth from lies propels the story forward.





The pacing is a little strange. It's not all breakneck, and at times it does start to drag...except just as I began to think "Hm, this may be getting a bit slow," Yancey threw something completely new at me that had me fully engaged once more. Consequently, though the book has over 500 pages, it never seems long.





Cassie's fear is palpable, but so is her drive to survive, particularly when she sets her mind on rescuing her brother. She and Ben both waver between hope and despair, between the need to seek safety and the need to exact revenge. They both witness and perpetrate horrific things. They doubt the humanity of others, quite literally, but they also doubt their own humanity in a more metaphorical sense by the end.





If you're looking for a happy book, this is not for you. But it should have huge appeal for fans of apocalyptic or alien invasion stories, particularly those readers looking for a different kind of alien, a type that doesn't necessarily look or act like us. Highly recommended and deserving of its accolades.





Finished copy borrowed from the library.


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