Waiting On Wednesday: Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature at Breaking the Spine.

My pick this week is the upcoming book Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses by Ron Koertge

 
Summary:

Writing in free verse honed to a wicked edge, the incomparable Ron Koertge brings dark and contemporary humor to twenty iconic fairy tales.

Once upon a time, there was a strung-out match girl who sold CDs to stoners. Twelve impetuous sisters escaped King Daddy's clutches to jiggle and cavort and wear out their shoes. A fickle Thumbelina searched for a tiny husband, leaving bodies in her wake. And Little Red Riding Hood confessed that she kind of wanted to know what it's like to be swallowed whole. From bloodied and blinded stepsisters (they were duped) to a chopped-off finger flying into a heroine's cleavage, this is fairy tale world turned upside down. Ron Koertge knows what really happened to all those wolves and maidens, ogres and orphans, kings and piglets, and he knows about the Ever After. So come closer - he wants to whisper in your ear.

Why I picked it: I love, LOVE updates on fairy tales. I also like the cover. I hope this is a good one!

Book Review: Struck

Author: Jennifer Bosworth

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR

Release Date: May 8, 2012

Pages: 373

Source: ARC from a local librarian
Why I read it: Interesting concept and it was a gifted ARC

Summary:

Mia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.

Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.

Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn’t who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything.

What I thought: Mia Price is a lightning strike survivor/addict who has been struck multiple times, and even has a dubious lightning based past. She is living in Los Angeles after the "big one" and trying to hold her family together and avoid the coming storm. Two opposing groups, the Seekers and the Followers, try to win Mia over to their side, as they both are anticipating the end of the world happening in Los Angeles.  

While I really liked the premise of the book and I like apocalyptic novels, I felt this one fell flat, especially at the end. There was a lot of buildup in the beginning and then at the climax, nothing, or barely anything and the ending felt a little rushed and wrapped up a little too nicely. This was a little disappointing. I also felt like there was a lot of explaining and not enough action. Of course, the reader comes in after the earthquake hits, so some explaining is necessary, but all the explanations to catch the reader up slowed the story down.

I'm really sick of romance in novels that don't really need it and while I liked Jeremy having dual motives, I didn't like the romance. It didn't add anything to the story for me, and I liked the dynamics between Mia and her family more than between her and Jeremy. Jeremy also started out as a mysterious bad boy, even to the point where he sneaks into her room to try to kill her. I did like when more of his background came out and whether he was someone Mia could trust. As for Mia, I felt like she was older than a teenager. While this isn't a bad thing, she just didn't seem very teen-like to me, except maybe for her unwillingness to sacrifice herself.

I did like some of the current themes running through the novel. A lot of it seemed very realistic, and if some huge catastrophe happened, well, of course there would be a prophet/preacher taking advantage (or helping, depending on your perspective) people and converting people to their cause. The prophet was very well done, and the scenes with him were very chilling. I thought he was one of the more interesting characters. I could see someone very similar happening after a catastrophic event, and well, people like him already exist. The Seekers were a little too much stereotypical occult group for me and as someone who is into tarot, the tarot themes were a little tired. Yes, the Tower card is perfect for a story like this, but a little obvious and the Lovers is way too obvious. I wish authors would expand out into the tarot and refrain from using the most stereotypical cards, espcially if they don't really understand the meaning and archetypes behind the card.

I would give this one 3ish stars. The book had some interesting ideas, but the ending was kind of blah. I didn't feel any sense of urgency as I got towards the end, and I wanted a little more ommph at the end.

Review: The Girl Who Owned a City: The Graphic Novel

Author: Joëlle Jones & Dan Jolley
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Expected Release Date: April 2012
Pages: 120
Why I read it: I recieved an eGalley from Netgalley and I'm into graphic novels right now

Some horrible disease has spread over the United States, only afflicted those over 12 years old. The only survivors are children, obviously. They must become resourceful or starve to death. Lisa and her brother are surviving on their own, but must face gangs that want to steal their food and resources. Lisa bands together with her neighborhood and they create a "city" in an former school.

Apparently this graphic novel is taken from the original book by O.T. Nelson. I've never read this book, so I can't comment on the original. This book was originally published in the 1970s and I thought the illustrations had a retro feel without being dated. It was a nice nod to the original. Lisa is a strong character almost to the point of it being a fault. She creates a city and claims it as her own, to the point where she doesn't want to admit that others helped her create the city. I felt like this could be a realistic mindset of an eleven year old.

Lisa, and many other of the characters are strong and resourceful and are able to survive despite their being no adults. I did a little research on the original book, and it looks like O.T. Nelson wanted to write a book with children in charge, to show children that they have their own power and agency. I think he accomplished this, because the children are able to survive on their own.

The ending seemed open ended and I don't know if the original book is like that, but I do want to know if anything else happens to these characters. It does seem to be left open to have a sequel, and I would be interested to know more about the disease (which baffles me that it could only kill adults), what is happening in Chicago (briefly referenced in the book) and whether Lisa's city is able to survive the onslaught from the other gangs.

Overall, I give this graphic novel 3 stars, I liked it.

Book Review: Zoo City

Author: Lauren Beukes

Publisher: Angry Robot

Release Date: April 29, 2010

Pages: 384

Source: Borrowed from the library

Why I read it: The cover.

What I thought: This book is my first foray into urban fantasy, and wow! I loved the world that Lauren Beukes created, but at the same time, some things confused me. That may be because I read too quickly and miss important details. However, I would love to see her write another book taking place in this world. The cover is wonderful and was one of the main reasons I wanted to read this book. The description and some of the key words on the back cover such as "Gangster Shamen" also helped my enthusiasm for reading this.

The plot centers around Zinzi December, a scam artist and criminal. Because of her criminal status, she carries around a sloth. This "aposymbiotic" relationship gives Zinzi magical powers. She is able to find lost objects, and this talent sets the plot in motion. She is hired by two other "zoos" who want her to find a missing pop singer. I felt that Zinzi was the force driving the book and the plot with the missing singer seemed very secondary and not important, until the reveal at the end of the book. The plot seemed more like a way to show off this world that Beuke created, but she does tie the loose ends together at the end, as far as the plot goes. The ending was a little unexpected, and somewhat sad, but was fitting for the gritty reality that Zinzi lives in. I didn't hate the plot, but it wasn't my favorite part of the book.

Zinzi isn't a great person, but Beukes' characterization is so good, that I wanted to know more about Zinzi and her past. Zinzi isn't sugarcoated, and it's clear why she has a sloth. I would love another book set in this world and centered around Zinzi. The book ends ambigously, thus setting Zinzi up for a second book. I don't know if this was her intention, but I do hope she revisits Zinzi and her world.

However, the plot did leave me with many questions. Beukes exposes her world slowly and incorporates it into the story, as well as including other pieces of writing such as emails or news articles interspersed among Zinzi's voice. Because of this sort of reveal, I spent a lot of time flipping back and forth and piecing all the facts together. Beukes also uses many words that are in another language and unfamiliar to me, so I sometimes wasn't able to glean the context. When I first started reading, I got the sense that only criminals/former criminals were "animalled." As I read more, it appears that it may be a disease or disorder, with a resulting magical power, but that doesn't explain why it only affects criminals. However, by the end of the book, it's pretty clear that only criminals are the ones "animalled." I was also confused about the Undertow, the process where zoos are killed after their animals die. There were several descriptions of it, but I found it a little vague. That seems to be the point, because the "zoos" don't really understand it either. Zinzi also mentions at one point that a "animalled" human can die, but their animal can live on for a few months afterwards, but is never the same. One of the keywords on the back is "Symbiotic Familiar" and this definitely describes the relationship between humans and their animals. The animals don't talk but they do react to their human's emotions and actions. I also wanted more information into why only criminals have animals and the process in which the animal is forced on them. Zinzi at one point describes it as her "scarlet letter" and non-criminals fear "zoos." Also, where do the animals come from? Are they part of the human's soul or something else? I think I will reread this book, because that might clear up some confusion. I think the author's point was to keep things somewhat vague, because even the characters in the book don't understand everything.

Overall, I give the book 3.5ish stars. I really, really loved the character of Zinzi, and I think the author did a good job of making a not sympathetic character very sympathetic. But I had a lot of questions about the world and Zinzi's past.

Waiting on Wednesday: Nightshifted

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature at Breaking the Spine.

My pick this week is the upcoming book Nightshifted by Cassie Alexander. This will be released on May 22, 2012.

Summary: Nursing school prepared Edie Spence for a lot of things. Burn victims? No problem. Severed limbs? Piece of cake. Vampires? No way in hell. But as the newest nurse on Y4, the secret ward hidden in the bowels of County Hospital, Edie has her hands full with every paranormal patient you can imagine--from vamps and were-things to zombies and beyond...

Edie's just trying to learn the ropes so she can get through her latest shift unscathed. But when a vampire servant turns to dust under her watch, all hell breaks loose. Now she's haunted by the man's dying words--"Save Anna"--and before she knows it, she's on a mission to rescue some poor girl from the undead. Which involves crashing a vampire den, falling for a zombie, and fighting for her soul. "Grey's Anatomy" was never like this...

Why I picked it: I've never read any Urban Fantasy, but I've wanted to get into it for a while. This one seems a little cheesy, but I'm intrigued by the idea!

Book Review: Laika

Author and Illustrator: Nick Abadzis
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Release Date: September 4, 2007
Pages: 208
Source: Borrowed from the library
Why I read it: I wanted to read more about Laika and the Soviet Space Program.

What I thought: This book had popped up as a recommended book on Goodreads a while ago, but I ignored it, and maybe I should have, because learning about Laika has been very heartbreaking for me.

I first learned about Laika this week and scoured the internet to find all the information I could about her. There's not much, unfortunately, but I thought I would read this book, since I heard it was well researched, even if not everything in the book was true. She was the first dog and first living creature put into space/orbit. Unfortunately, because of political pressure, the engineers in the program didn't have enough time to formulate a plan to bring her home and she died in space after a few hours. This book is about Laika, her fictionalized keeper, Yelena, Korolev, the chief designer of the Soviet Space Program and Gazenko, one of the scientists involved with Laika.

Laika gets a back story, and while this is obviously speculation, we can never imagine Laika's life before she was in the space program, these scenes were really tearjerkers for me. I thought I would not like the back story, but I think it added something to the overall story. Because there is not a lot of information on Laika, there has to be some speculation. I liked the scenes where she flew in people's dreams. Like she was already ready to meet her destiny. Not to say that I enjoyed her death, but I thought the scenes of her flying, in dreams and in space were beautifully rendered and captured her spirit.

The character of Yelena and her relationship with the dogs was a big tearjerker for me, too. I like how Abadzis didn't anthropomorphize Laika, but had Yelena speaking for her. All animal lovers do this to an extent and I read an interview with Abadzis where he made this point as well, that we as humans project their emotions and experiences on animals. The trust between her and Laika was heartbreaking, as well. I think the afterword put it best, "the personal stories, both canine and human, that bring Laika alive as a meditation on the meaning of destiny and the fragile beauty of trust." That, to me, is what the book was about. Korolev and Laika both had a destiny and Laika trusted her keepers and they sent her on a one-way ticket to space. Not to criticize the scientists, as at least one of them, Gazenko, regretted the experiment. They really were doing something they believed was for the good of science, but I think the book shows how they grappled with it, that maybe it wasn't an easy decision for them.

As stated before, I liked the depiction of her flying into space, while it was sad, I think it also depicted that she finally had a sort freedom as she flew into oblivion. And when she and Sputnik II returned to earth, she left a mark. I thought ending with the blackness was beautiful and it contrasted nicely with the opening all in white.

Overall, this book was amazing. I think Abadzis captured all the conflicting emotions about Laika and the Soviet space program. I cried through most of the book.

A quote from Gazenko captures everything best: "Work with animals is a source of suffering to all of us. We treat them like babies who cannot speak. The more time passes, the more I'm sorry about it. We shouldn't have done it... We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog."

Book Review: Freedom! (Miss Annie)

Author: Frank Le Gall
Illustrator: Flore Balthazar
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Release Date: March 1, 2012
Pages: 48
Source: ARC from NetGalley
Why I read it: I love cats.


What I thought: When I first saw this pop up on NetGalley, I knew I had to read it right away. I don't like to make comparisons to other books, but it made me think immediately of Binky the Space Cat. I loved that book, and thought I would like this one, too. Unfortunately, it wasn't as great as I had hoped.

The book is a short graphic novel following the adventures of Miss Annie, who wants so badly to go outside.

I looked up this book and author and it looks like this was previously published in France in 2010. I don't know if something was lost in translation, but the dialogue fell a little flat for me. I would have liked it better if it was written in 3rd person rather than 1st person. The plot was almost non-existent. Miss Annie wants to go outside, meets a mouse, goes outside and then comes back. It could have been a little meatier. The relationship between Miss Annie and the mouse could have been explored more, and what Miss Annie learns when she goes outside. And maybe more suspenseful, with all of the dangers lurking outside. At one point, when Miss Annie is outside, she is chased by a ferocious looking dog, but there was no suspense or sense of danger! I also didn't really like the family. Yes, I have cats, and sometimes they are annoying, but Miss Annie's family didn't seem to like her very much at all.

However, after all that negativity, I thought the illustrations were adorable. Obviously the illustrator is great at capturing felines and is most likely a cat lover. I thought the illustrations of the people weren't as well done, but were made up in the illustrations of the animals. When I first read the book, I didn't realize it was originally published in France, and I wished that could have been illustrated more in the book.

Overall, I thought the illustrations were very cute, but the plot and execution were lacking. I give this book 2 stars: It was OK.