I love these characters, but I don't think I would have if I'd just read Oseman's novel, Solitaire, in which they first appear, instead of her subsequI love these characters, but I don't think I would have if I'd just read Oseman's novel, Solitaire, in which they first appear, instead of her subsequent webcomic (now a print graphic novel), Heartstopper. Heartstopper is warm and sweet, while still dealing with serious (mental health) issues. This novella is pretty much just one protracted argument between its main characters--characters who I liked because they were warm and sweet. There's little pleasure to be found in them fighting with each other.
Ultimately, I don't think I respond well to Oseman's prose. I'm going to stick with Heartstopper from now on....more
You know, taking a relatively simple story and making it complicated does not inherently make it better. Especially if most of the complication comesYou know, taking a relatively simple story and making it complicated does not inherently make it better. Especially if most of the complication comes from thin characters, muddled world-building, a heavy-handed plot, and a general atmosphere that's more Hot Topic Goth than anything actually morally complex or dark. No, those ineffective changes just make it longer, and boring, and kind of stupid.
Separately, I'm sure this was an accident, but what an odd choice for Christo to give her main characters the same names as the protagonists of other other, better YA books -- Lira (The Golden Compass, spelled differently) and Elian (The Scorpion Rules, which, like this book, also features a Tallis (spelled differently)). This only served to make me really, really wish I was reading those other, better YA books.
Y'all, go read The Scorpion Rules (I'm going to assume that most of you have already read The Golden Compass). It's a brilliant, under-appreciated piece of fiction -- the type of work that keeps me coming back to YA, even when dross like this makes me want to quit it forever. And if this recommendation reaches even one person, then maybe my slogging through this book will have been worth it....more
I love Oseman's ongoing webcomic, Heartstopper, which features the same characters as this, her first novel, although from different perspectives. UnfI love Oseman's ongoing webcomic, Heartstopper, which features the same characters as this, her first novel, although from different perspectives. Unfortunately, I didn't like the perspective in Solitaire nearly as much. Occasionally, Oseman gets a great line in or says something meaningful and important about mental health issues, but mostly this book feels like being forced to hang out with a group of self-centered, incredibly extra teens with terrible pop culture opinions* for 350 pages.
Really, this feels like a novel written by an extremely young person -- probably because Oseman wrote it when she was an extremely young person (17!). From Heartstopper it's clear her voice has continued to develop, so I will look for more of what I love from that in her future work. But I wouldn't recommend this.
*Every mention of fandom or fanfic made me gag. It felt like the worst of Tumblr culture and something penned by an out-of-touch journalist who's just discovered Harry Potter porn AT THE SAME TIME. How is that even possible?...more
Three stars for execution, infinite stars for ambition, so we're averaging, kind of. (This kind of work would not enable me to pass the Mathy exam.)
ThThree stars for execution, infinite stars for ambition, so we're averaging, kind of. (This kind of work would not enable me to pass the Mathy exam.)
The concept is beyond brilliant: in the world of Munmun, a person's physical size is directly related to how much money they have. So the poor are rat-size and trying to not get murdered by animals or stepped on, and the rich are monstrous giants who gobble down whole herds of cattle and roasted hippopotami. Oh, but if the poor just worked harder, they could afford to size up!
*Poor people scurry and hide to avoid being mauled by a cat*
So lazy!
Anyway, the social commentary is razor-sharp, and Andrews moves imaginatively through the world he's created. However, the book suffers from having almost too many ideas at play: the characters all inhabit a shared dreamworld, which could pretty much sustain a whole book on its own. There's so much going on that some character moments don't quite land -- Kitty, for example, the protagonist's wealthy benefactor, comes across much more odiously than I think she's meant to. I loved that Andrews in no way paints her motivations as pure, or her as a saint, but the fact that Warner, the main character, still sees so much more in her than the reader makes some emotional moments not quite land. And if she's meant to be the unworthy Daisy to his Gatsby, that doesn't fully work either.
It's possible the narrative is trying to have it both ways. That seems to be the case with the question of whether this is meant to be a dystopia that evolved from our world, or an alternate universe. There are a frustrating amount of hints at the former without the point ever truly being made. I also really wish that Andrews hadn't copped out and made the skin tones of everyone in this world rainbow-hued -- as in literally, some people have purple skin or yellow skin or grey skin or orange skin (good throwaway Trump joke there though). I'm sure race just seemed like another complicating element in an already overly complicated book, but I'm sorry, ignoring it is a cop out when economic disparity is so tightly tied to racial inequality.
But despite its flaws, this remains a book that posits literally eating the rich as a real, viable option. I can't help but appreciate that -- in a big, big way....more
Sobbed at the end, maybe even harder than at the end of The Fault in Our Stars, because these tears were less easily earned.
Heartfelt. Important. DoesSobbed at the end, maybe even harder than at the end of The Fault in Our Stars, because these tears were less easily earned.
Heartfelt. Important. Does not nail fandom or fanfic, and I don't really care. Comes real real close to nailing female friendship, and does nail its importance. Knows mental illness inside and out and brings it wrenchingly to the page -- but also to real characters and a real story. This isn't an Issue Book. This isn't sicklit. I hate when people are reductive like that. Why shouldn't an author write about real things that matter, especially when they do it so well?...more
Ahh, that sinking feeling when you near the end of a book and realize its plot is not going to resolve, but hang you from a cliff.
Still, this was veryAhh, that sinking feeling when you near the end of a book and realize its plot is not going to resolve, but hang you from a cliff.
Still, this was very enjoyable -- and captivating even though I have mush-brain from packing for a cross-country move. Plot and characters are like a mix between Warm Bodies and The 5th Wave, but with a unique setting and pair of narrative voices. The version of sign language in this book, and the ways in which Raven and Eighth come to communicate with and understand each other, is really quite beautiful. I'm going to look for the sequel -- even though I'm annoyed to have to wait for it....more
A realistic and powerful depiction of a teenage girl's ascent into feminism -- and truly badass activism. Mathieu does an incredible job depFuck. Yes.
A realistic and powerful depiction of a teenage girl's ascent into feminism -- and truly badass activism. Mathieu does an incredible job depicting the myriad ways we're societally conditioned to accept the status quo, with loads of empathy for all the girls and women (and even guys) at different stages of this journey. Moxie is also funny, diverse, and stylish -- the feminist zines the protagonist is inspired to make are true works of art, and I wish they were real and I owned them.
I want girls everywhere to read this book and be inspired. I want to be a Moxie Girl. It's time to fight back....more
Incredibly powerful, beautifuMe on Page 1: Oh great, another novel in verse.
Me on Page, like, 5: HOLY SHIT.
Then I read the whole thing in one sitting.
Incredibly powerful, beautifully written. Reynolds doesn't use the device of verse as a crutch; he wields it like a weapon. I think I held my breath for the entire book, and the ending left me gasping. Truly unforgettable....more
The Wolf by Wolf duology, though it had its flaws, was consistently exciting and creative. This book was...neither of those things.
Anyone who knows meThe Wolf by Wolf duology, though it had its flaws, was consistently exciting and creative. This book was...neither of those things.
Anyone who knows me at all will tell you: I LOVE time travel. Yet I was utterly bored by this book. The actual stakes -- the plot -- is not introduced for 300 pages. This wouldn't matter so much if the characters -- the crew of the rogue time travel vessel Invictus -- were engaging, but even though Graudin visits every one of their POVs (and several other characters' besides) I felt like I could barely distinguish one from another aside from their most superficial traits.
Imogen: Dyes her hair a lot. Crushing on Gram. Gram: Likes order and TETRIS. Priya: Doctor. Supposedly in love with Farway. Farway: Supposedly in love with Priya. The MAIN CHARACTER.
Yeah so...Far's our main dude, but he has no discernible personality? Imogen calls him arrogant a few times, but this characteristic never makes it to the page; it's not a conclusion I would have drawn from his dialogue or actions. The dialogue itself is flat flat flat -- the crew supposedly engages in witty banter, but there's no spark to it. Along with time travel, one of my great loves is TEAMFIC: I love a group of disparate characters bonded together by circumstance and a shared mission. The back cover copy compares this to Guardians of the Galaxy, but not only is each member of the Guardians distinct, they each have diverse and memorable relationships between each other. A conversation between Peter and Drax will be very different from a conversation between Peter and Rocket, or Rocket and Groot, or Groot and Gamora, or ANY COMBINATION YOU COULD THINK OF. And this variety of dynamics has very little to do with who's crushing on whom. In comparison, Graudin falls back on her two tensionless romances again and again, but there's nothing there. To me there was nothing much between any of these characters worth exploring. And the time travel was almost an afterthought.
Aside from some of Graudin's more flowery excesses of prose, I'm not sure I would have guessed that this book was written by the same author as Wolf by Wolf. Those books were pulpy and fun and did feature characters I cared about, so I was really excited when I heard the same writer was doing a time travel book. But Invictus left me incredibly disappointed. ...more
Read in one sitting (with a short food break, because there is a lot of food in this book and it made me hungry. I had scallion pancakes, thanks for aRead in one sitting (with a short food break, because there is a lot of food in this book and it made me hungry. I had scallion pancakes, thanks for asking). Fantastic, hilarious, authentic voice. The choice to do the dialogue in script format is a brilliant example of form = content in a book about reality TV. And if reality TV really contained as many complicated, engaging characters as this book -- well, I would watch more of it. (I really only do cooking shows. I like food, you guys.)...more
Another adult novel disguised/mis-marketed as YA. The owner of my store likes to theorize that certain books get put in YA because they're not "good eAnother adult novel disguised/mis-marketed as YA. The owner of my store likes to theorize that certain books get put in YA because they're not "good enough" to be adult; in general, I couldn't disagree with this more (and actually think it's a fairly offensive assumption on her part), but in this case...maybe. It reminds me of Another Brooklyn, except nowhere near as good....more
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