artsy musings of a bibliophile

young adult

Review: Pawn by Aimee Carter

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Pawn by Aimee Carter
young adult dystopia published by HarlequinTeen on November 26th, 2013
first book in The Blackcoat Rebellion series

You can be a VII. If you give up everything.

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister’s niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There’s only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that’s not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she’s only beginning to understand.

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Review: Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
young adult dystopia published by HarperCollins on 24 September 2013
first book in the Not a Drop to Drink companion duology

Regret was for people with nothing to defend, people who had no water. 
Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn’t leave at all.
Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand.
But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it….
With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, debut author Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl’s journey in a barren world not so different than our own.

THE RATING


THE REVIEW

We are living in the age where global water shortage is a very, very real possibility. As an environmental science student, I am aware of the numbers and they are nothing short of alarming. It is during these times I’m thankful about one thing that has been instilled in me since childhood: not to waste. That idea is only reinforced in Lynn’s world. It is not pretty, it is not exaggerated. Instead, it is a harsh truth and it will make you think. Even more so when in such a world, the first instinct is to kill any living creature on sight. The lines of humanity are blurred. Yet, it isn’t that simple. Not at all.

We all have measures of worth with which we regard the world, the people and their lives. But in the world Lynn lives, measures are not based on that. Not anymore. If you cannot bring yourself to protect what’s yours, you are as good as dead. It’s a dog-eat-dog world and a very unadulterated one at that.

Living in the basement of her home with her mother, Lynn has always followed a specific way of life. There is only one thing of the utmost importance: survival. They own a pond but it is an endless struggle just to get its water purified enough to drink. Cutting woods is another ordeal. But all of that is nothing when Lynn watches her Mother shoot anyone who’s close enough to drink from their pond. Lynn is indifferent because that’s the life she has always known. She doesn’t know right from left. She doesn’t know what a conscience is and for the time being, that is okay. Better even.

However, time demands many things from Lynn. Her shooting skills. Her watching skills. Her humanity. Life is a constant chip on her shoulder, something she has to look out for. There is no technology, there is no media and there is no electricity. The dangers are measured in the days that the smoke doesn’t billow to the south. Are they gone or are the coming for us? For our pond? These are the thoughts that occupy Lynn’s mind in a world where water is scarce.

Circumstances change and Lynn ends up in an unchartered territory where she learns humanity, conscience and compassion. One never thinks about these things unless someone gets hurt. But if Lynn can do it in a dog-eat-dog world, can’t we? Yes. But only if we stop to see, to think and to care. After all, we’re all trying to survive in all the different ways we can. Read Not a Drop to Drink and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

THE QUOTES

‘Why do you always quote poetry at me when all I want is a straight answer?’

‘I’m so sorry to be doing this last one alone,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry it’s yours.’ 

Review: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano
young adult science fiction published by Simon & Schuster on 1 October 2013
first book in the The Internment Chronicles series

On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 15-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan’s older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.

Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose.

THE RATING

THE REVIEW

At a glance, Perfect Ruin seems to have it all; from the cover to the concept and the occasionally stellar writing. Yet I was left in a very conflicted state. Some characters in books ruin you while others just ruin the book for you (no pun intended). Perfect Ruin fit the latter category.

The people of Internment were banished from the earth by the God of the sky and forced to live in a floating island over the ground. Living in such a place, it is only inevitable that those without absolute faith risk questioning everything. Why are they all mated at birth? Why are there queues if you want to start a family? Why only the Furlows are royals? Questions Morgan would be better off not knowing the answers to.

But then Daphne Leander is murdered. Supposedly after she wrote a controversial essay on Intangible Gods; snippets of which start each chapter in the book. The essay fuels Morgan’s curiosity; taking over her tinted beliefs which she developed after Lex, her brother, jumped off the edge of Internment and almost died.

I get it. I get the desire to want to walk right over the edge of the world, to dream about disappearing into the unknown. But something is always stopping us. Whether it’s our conscience or the need to be normal. Morgan knows she has to be the saner child but when she encounters Judas, it’s like she has found her purpose in life. First, her passivity oozed from the pages and then her beliefs are stripped away fully in a shocking realization but she’s just… okay with it all.

‘Now, when I think I should be crying, all I can think of is the ground.’

It’s no wonder that I wanted to shake Morgan into oblivion after that. Her world is crumbling in front of her and all she can think about is running away still. Yes, she is selfish, flawed and unsure of herself but all of it is to the point that it makes me question if she really is that dumb. Unfathomable.

Basil, her betrothed, is clearly devoted to her while Pen, her best friend, is the complete opposite of Morgan. Her mother copes with her depression by cooking excessively for her children while, her father is burdened with his job as a patrolman. Lex, her brother, is too preoccupied with chasing his demons away by writing about them and Alice, his wife, has accepted to live life as Internment has chosen for her to live.

Despite all the eyebrow-raising questions and the history behind the island and the God of Internment, Perfect Ruin fell short. Catching all those glimpses of Daphne in her essay and reading about Judas’ closed off personality, I so wish that the book was written from her point of view. I really would have loved it then. I can’t help but think that Morgan is undeserving of the ending in the book. But hey, we can’t have everything now can we.

THE QUOTES

‘Time was our very first king. We all live our lives to the aggressive ticking of the clock. We don’t question that our lives are a grid of seconds; even our pulses oblige. No succeeding king can hope to hold this kind of power.’

‘People die, and everything they’ve ever said just echoes around and around. There’s nothing new. Only the same nonsense from their lives.’

Review: Parallel by Lauren Miller

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Parallel by Lauren Miller 
young adult contemporary science fiction published by HarperTeen on 14 May 2013

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She’d go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she’s in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it’s as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby’s life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby’s senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby’s never even met.
As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn’t choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that’s finally within reach.

THE RATING

THE REVIEW

Paths are never straight; the road always twists and turns making its way across the earth as it could best. That always bothered me. What’s the point of taking the longer all-the-way route when you can take a shorter, straighter one? Isn’t it upto us whether we choose to go around the mountain or make our way through it? In its own way, Parallel answered that question for me.

Abby Barnes is one of those people who’ve always been sure of what they want in life. Abby never strays far from her path, her life revolving around a single goal and she’s always working towards it. It is very difficult for a person like that to be controlled by someone else’s choices. That someone else who is you and not you at the same time. There’s nothing solid left in life. Not that she can see anyway at first.
It’s like the first time we find out that the universe is not limited to the Milky Way, that Abby learns about the multiverse theory. About the possibility that there is her parallel whose decisions are impacting her present a year and a day away. She has to come to terms with it and look at all her relationships in a different light. See herself in a different light. 
The relationship dynamics are done brilliantly. Abby and Caitlin are best friends who go through the best and worst of times together. They’re friends today but the past could change their friendship drastically and it does. Josh is aloof, swoonworthy and deep whereas Michael is cool, confident and also, swoonworthy.
Books with dual point-of-views provide a more insightful look with different perceptions of the same story. In Parallel, a new one comes up after a seemingly unimportant decision. But what parallel Abby or Abby does today can affect her path but never her destiny. This is what Parallel explores.
It is exciting and nerve-racking to see where would Abby find herself when she wakes up in the morning. Will it be Michael who she wants or Josh who her parallel wants. Life is unpredictable but Abby’s life is more so than usual. Parallel is beautifully intense and thought-provoking. I loved the elements of sci-fi thoroughly used in the book as a way of explanation. The way contemporary was mixed in with sci-fi makes Parallel a one of a kind book. I really wish this was a series. Alas, the ending was perfect so I wouldn’t want that to change.

THE QUOTES

‘The delicious, semiconscious, edge-of-wonderland kind of sleep, where I’m awake enough to control my dreams but asleep enough to forget that I’m doing it.’
‘That’s the funny thing about life. We’re rarely aware of the bullets we dodge. The just-misses. The almost-never-happeneds. We spend so much time worrying about how the future is going to play out and not nearly enough time admiring the precious perfection of the present.’

Horror in YA

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There is no lack of gory details and slasher attacks in horror and a zombie apocalypse always seem to be the next big thing. There is a reason why we love Dexter, Ripper Stefan and The Walking Dead on TV and why we’d be willing to read such books. However, most of us seem to like a genre obsessively while reading others only occasionally so we need the occasional genres to be irresistible. I’m pretty much a contemporary girl which is why I need a paranormal as good as the Vampire Academy or a dystopia as good as The Hunger Games to reel me in. But what to read when it comes to YA horror?
Classic horror like Flowers in the Attic and Frankenstein will never cease to creep out generations to come and horror movies like the Evil Dead will never cease to reboot. But it is cringe-worthy for any YA readers to see The Mortal Instruments series, or the Twilight saga for that matter, being classified as horror. Yes, horror is hard to define which is why it works as a perfect disguise in fiction. There are things that go bump in the night in a seemingly contemporary fiction and I love when that happens. Horror exists in YA because there is no lack of demons, monsters, spirits and zombie but good horror needs to be filtered out. 

Monstrous

Ghosts, ghouls and possessed souls are a forte of YA writers like Patrick Ness (A Monster Calls), Gretchen McNeil (Possess), Kendare Blake (Anna Dressed In Blood), Nova Ren Suma (Imaginary Girls), Brenna Yovanoff (The Space Between) and Ransom Riggs (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children). What’s a ghost story without it being a psychological thriller? I like it when books make me question the reality. Creepy but titillating like White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick and Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore. 
Mind takes over sleep in Insomnia by J. R. Johansson, Bad Girls Don’t Die by Katie Alender and Sleepless by Thomas Fahy. While, Mary Lindsey’s Shattered Souls is all about helping the lost souls and boarding school horror is all too real in Frost by Marianna Baer and Possessions by Nancy Holder.

Dark

Whether it’s murder on the island as retold in Gretchen McNeil’s Ten or how Victor Frankenstein came to be in Kenneth Oppel’s This Dark Endeavor, retellings are always hard to resist. Jackson Pearce is doing it in her Fairytale Retellings series. Meanwhile, gothic retellings such as Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson, The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd and New Girl by Paige Harbison are also on the rise.

Kill

Murders are always interesting. A serial killer on the loose makes for a great horror mystery story such as Barry Lyga’s I Hunt Killers series, Stefan Petrucha’s Ripper (coincidence much?) or Robin Wasserman’s The Waking Dark. Killers are dark, psychotic and violent but the best part is that they could totally be even real and get haunted by the kills (Velveteen by Daniel Marks). A killer imaginary friend exists Damage by Anya Parish which is nothing compared to the inhumane creatures in prison in Alexander Gordon Smith’s Lockdown.

Devils

What’s better than falling in love with a beast? Falling in love with a devil (April Genevieve Tucholke’s Between series). But the horror truly begins when demonic beings come to inhabit humans in The Devouring by Simon Holt. Historical horror is very much alive in books like The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey, The Diviners by Libba Bray, Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard and Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough. Lia Habel’s Dearly, Departed an antique era has been modeled in the future and there are zombies to be reckoned with. ‘What if’ should’ve been declared a genre by now.

Rotten

We’re all prepared for a zombie apocalypse in some way. Or is it just me? Seriously, what can happen during a zombie apocalypse (Courtney Summers’ This is Not a Test) or in a post-apocalyptic zombie world (Carrie Ryan’s The Forests of Hands and Teeth)? What if a zombie falls in love with you (Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies), infects you with a zombie virus (Mira Grant’s Newflesh trilogy) and you barely escape from a zombie hunter (Jonathan Maberry’s Benny Imura series) only to start decaying into something other than a typical zombie (Rotters by Daniel Kraus)? Clearly I’m just going off a wild tangent here.
And oh, vampires are truly scary creatures in Darren Shan’s A Living Nightmare (Cirque Du Freak).

Dead Set

There is more YA horror to come in the future. Sequels aside, Nova Ren Suma is set to release her YA ghost story The Walls Around Us in 2015 while Gretchen McNeil’s latest release, 3:59, is about creepy overlapping parallel universes. The Troop by Nick Cutter is a survivor story of boy scouts on a deserted island while in Dead Set by Richard Kadrey there’s a strange presence in Zoe’s dreamscape.
So there you have it, the many kinds of horror YA to devour on. It’s a great way to scare yourself snuggled under a blanket during winters, isn’t it?
Also, if you want to read more about YA Horror, I found an article by SLJ on how Horror in YA Lit is a Staple, Not a Trend and there’s also a Horror Writers Association for YA.