Into the Drowning Deep ~ Mira Grant review [@seananmcguire @orbitbooks]

Into the Drowning Deep (Rolling in the Deep #1)
Orbit
November 14, 2017
440 pages
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Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.

Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price.''

If you thought Jaws was the only reason you should stay out of the water this Fourth of July holiday (or if you always thought that seemed silly), be prepared to worry about something else entirely.

It was supposed to be another 'mockumentary', a bit of 'crytozoological fiction thinly veiled as fact," from Imagine Entertainment: Lovely Ladies of the Sea: The True Story of the Mariana Mermaids. Just a bit of fun to make the network a ton of money.

Until the ship was found abandoned in the middle of the ocean.

Three years later, Imagine is trying again and this time Victoria Stewart, whose sister was part of that first ill fated voyage is there, looking for answers.

If the fate of that first ship, the Atargatis is anything to go by, though, the mermaids they're looking for aren't the cute, singing Disney sort. They may have more in common with Jaws.

I absolutely loved the blend of science fiction, science fact, myth and fables, personal relationships - both past and present - the sea and its secrets, beauty and hazards . . . and the danger. Tory, Luis, Dr Toth, Olivia, and all three Wilson sisters gave readers characters they could care about, characters you wanted to find answers and also, you know, wanted not to die. 

The different ways they are each trying to prove something to and/or about themselves while most are also trying to make scientific discoveries added another layer to the story. It not only gave them a great reason for being there, a deeper understanding of the ocean and marine life but also made sure the Melusine was not going to head for shore at the first hint of danger.

Then, it made for some great thought processes, actions, and decisions (both in a good, safe, going-to-save-you way and in ways that made the story better even if they were incredibly dangerous) later in the story.

I loved the characters, their snark and wit, and their intelligence. I really appreciated that the author gave us a diverse cast of characters and that who they were and how they experienced the world also played into their choices and was important to the larger story and its development, as well.

Monday's Not Coming ~ Tiffany D Jackson review [@Writeinbk @epicreads @KatherineTegen] @erinferdinand]

Monday's Not Coming
Katherine Tegen Books
May 22, 2018
448 pages
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A gripping, relentless, and timely new novel from critically acclaimed author of Allegedly, Tiffany D. Jackson, about the complex mystery of one teenage girl’s disappearance and the traumatic effects of the truth.

Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried. When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.

As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?

The quote on the front cover of Monday's Not Coming, from Laurie Halse Anderson, tells readers the book is, "A mesmerizing, punch-in-the-gut-story," and that could not be more true.

Claudia's best friend is missing. And only she seems to notice, or care.

"I know what you're thinking. How can a whole person, a kid, disappear and no one say a word? Like if the sun just up and left one day, you'd think someone would sound an alarm, right?" (pg 1)

When we're told on page one of the book that Monday's disappeared and no one, save for Claudia, seems aware, it seems impossible. A girl cannot just disappear with no outcry, no concern. Yet, as the story progresses, we see just how possible it is for that to happen. It is scary how easily someone can be written off - usually because they were written off even while still right there in front of people.

The way the story is told ('The Before,' 'The After,' and some in the present) not only allows readers to gradually learn about Claudia and Monday's friendship, what happens once Monday's missing, but definitely ups the mystery and raises even more questions that you want to figure out.

I really loved that there was an added, unexpected element to Claudia wanting to find Monday. The secret Monday had been helping her keep added a level of immediacy to her need to find her best friend. Paired with the added stress it caused Claudia, it really made the story (and her) about more than Monday.

There are a lot of secrets, a lot of concealment and fear of the truth being found out in Monday's Not Coming. Author Tiffany D Jackson does an absolutely superb job making some things not nearly as bad as a character fears and some things so, so much worse.

This book will grab you from the beginning, yanking you up, down, and around as you experience Claudia's quest to find Monday, to find her best friend; and as you witness people's indifference, learn of the girls' pain, secrets and struggles to not let things be noticed, it truly is that, "punch-in-the-gut story."

("If Monday were a color, she'd be red. Crisp, striking, vivid, you couldn't miss her -- a bully's eyere in the room, a crackling flame." [pg 41].  The designer of the book jacket, Erin Fitzsimmons should be recognized for her awesomeness with this cover. With the way Claudia sees/thinks about/notices colors, the red, red, red cover is such a perfect fit.

After Allegedly and Monday's Not Coming, Tiffany D Jackson is up at the top of my list of authors to pay attention to = and to recommend. Monday's Not Coming is an utterly unforgettable tale of two young girls, their secrets, their truths and what it all says about them, their families, those around them, and society. I loved this book even as it absolutely tore me up.










finished copy received thanks to publisher, for review consideration

Captain Superlative ~ J.S. Puller [@PullerWrites @DisneyHyperion]

Captain Superlative
Disney Hyperion
May 08, 2018
254 pages
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"Have no fear, citizens! Captain Superlative is here to make all troubles disappear!"

Red mask, blue wig, silver swimsuit, rubber gloves, torn tights, high top sneakers and . . . a cape? Who would run through the halls of Deerwood Park Middle School dressed like this? And why?

Janey-quick to stay in the shadows-can't resist the urge to uncover the truth behind the mask. The answer pulls invisible Janey into the spotlight and leads her to an unexpected friendship with a superhero like no other. Fearless even in the face of school bully extraordinaire, Dagmar Hagen, no good deed is too small for the incomparable Captain Superlative and her new sidekick, Janey.

But superheroes hold secrets and Captain Superlative is no exception. When Janey unearths what's truly at stake, she's forced to face her own dark secrets and discover what it truly means to be a hero . . . and a friend.

Superlatives always make me think of Latin class (or the current US President), but now I have something new, wonderful, and much better to associate them with: Captain Superlative.


Jane likes to blend in, to not call her attention to herself, to be the same. "...Then again, no one ever really saw me. I was as unimportant as air. And equally invisible." (pg 11) It might not be exciting but it keeps Jane free from being bullied, from being picked on, from being hurt. And it's working just fine . . . until Captain Superlative arrives.

Showing up to Deerwood Park Middle School dressed as a superhero - cape, masks, gloves, the whole bit - on a chilly January day is not normal. It's definitely different. Just like everyone else , Janey finds herself fascinated by the Captain and wanting to unravel the mystery, but never guessing how much the girl who always seems to be there to help will change Janey's life.

The entirety of this novel is just fantastic. Not only does it deal with Jane's life at school and the larger, more general anxieties and pressures that are part of being a seventh grader, but there is also Janey's relationship with her father and how her mother's death affected them. The author does a truly great job with the friendships in this book - both the current ones of different characters and the varying forms they take, but also those from the past . . . and ones that could be.

The relationships in this story are unique and complex and show us much about the characters - often often more than we, at first, realize. It's not just those eternal relationships that re handled so well: it is also about characters' self identity: their 'thing' and being true to your self, being happy, not being named Bob.

Captain Superlative is all of these great things pulled into a smart  and touching story. It has a good message but never feels like an adult telling middle school aged readers what's right or how to be (even the character of Janey's day, who could do that, lets her figure things out herself). The character are authentic and real and readers both in middle school and not should enjoy this one.

J.S. Puller's debut middle grade novel is funny, it's sweet, it's memorable. Melissa de la Cruz is not exaggerating when she says (as per the quote on the book's back cover), "This beautiful debut novel will make you laugh and cry and want to be a better person."







finished copy received for possible review, from publisher

Look For Me ~ Lisa Gardner (earc) review [@LisaGardnerBks @DuttonBooks]

Look For Me (Detective D. D. Warren #9)
Dutton
February 06, 2018
400 pages
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In #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner's latest twisty thrill ride, Detective D. D. Warren and Find Her's Flora Dane return in a race against the clock to either save a young girl's life . . . or bring her to justice.

The home of a family of five is now a crime scene: four of them savagely murdered, one—a sixteen-year-old girl—missing. Was she lucky to have escaped? Or is her absence evidence of something sinister? Detective D. D. Warren is on the case—but so is survivor-turned-avenger Flora Dane. Seeking different types of justice, they must make sense of the clues left behind by a young woman who, whether as victim or suspect, is silently pleading, Look for me.

"Whatever she was about to see, it was not her job to feel. It was her job to fix." (Pg 14)

Boston Sergeant Detective D.D. Warren is back in the ninth entry to the series (well, ninth full length novel).  It was supposed to be a nice day with her husband and son, doing something not cop related, but once again work calls. The home, now a crime scene, is horrible but also leaves one question: where is the last member of the family?

Sixteen-year-old Roxanna Baez is missing (along with the family's two elderly dogs) and D.D. doesn't know if Roxy is victim or suspect.

Look for Me really steps things up from the previous novels in the series. I loved them and the way that we also had the perpetrator's point-of-view (or a perpetrator). It added anxiety to the story because you often knew something bad might be going to happen, you only hoped the good guys would stop it in time. In this book, though, we get things from D.D.'s perspective and from Flora Dane's.

Putting aside the fact that I am really, really happy we got more of Flora Dane (she was part of Find Her, which you really should read first), the way this story was presented was great. It made the most of the mystery and allowed readers some great insight into all of the main players. We don't know Roxy's role in everything so you think you want D.D. and Flora to figure things out, but some revelations are painful and tragic enough that I wondered if I really wanted the truth.

Roxy's perspective is made a part of the tale, but through a medium different than narration. It is not her present that readers receive, but glimpses into her past. This keeps the mystery going, but also lets us see that things have not always been so normal and safe and happy for Roxy, Lola, and their family. What we learn of their past is all the more heartbreaking because of basis in reality.

I absolutely enjoyed the way we had D.D. and her family, how she tried to balance that with her (often gruesome) work; then we had Flora, her past and how she was trying to make a present for herself; and the Baez family with its past - its secrets - and what that meant for their present.

As with each of the preceding books, I loved finding out more about D.D., Jack and Alex, unraveling and ultimately solving the mystery. I also hope that there will be more of Flora Dane in future books, she plays against D.D.'s character really well and its great seeing how far (or not far) she's come since we met her.







digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

Dear Martin ~ Nic Stone review [@getnicced @penguinteen]

Dear Martin
Crown Books for Young Readers
October 17, 2017
210 pages
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Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning debut.

Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.

Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it's Justyce who is under attack

Dear Martin  is what a lot of other novels about race and/or racism - both adult and YA books - have tried to be. The author has picked an ideal setting and characters to tell this story. There was great diversity in Dear Martin's characters: racially (at least with black and white characters, less soc with other races or ethnicities), socioeconomically, even when it came to view points on race and race relations.

Justyce was someone planning for an Ivy League education and at the top of his class. He was also someone who had not always been a part of that privileged, prep school life.  I enjoyed that we had his character who was familiar with both 'worlds' but also characters who only knew one or the other. It gives readers some great perspective and great insights.

We get a lot of very frank, very honest, not always educated and not PC discussion through the characters debate class. I loved the range of their opinions and how the author didn't dismiss any of them, even if they were horrible or ludicrous or misinformed (or just plan racist). Those discussions were a very smart way to have the characters talk about things they otherwise might not have, in ways and with those they would not have, otherwise.

I especially loved how real Nic Stone's characters were. They each held whatever beliefs they held for their own reasons - things that had happened in the past, information they gathered (or a lack thereof), familial beliefs, pop culture, current events, etc. Yet, neither the characters nor their beliefs were set in stone. There were great allowances for change and growth - even for those characters (okay one or two in particular) that I had all but written off. It was very hopeful while not feeling naive.

Nic Stone's Dear Martin is an incredibly real, pertinent, smart, thoughtful and though provoking read and I am absolutely eager to see what she publishes next.

Every Heart a Doorway ~ Seanan McGuire review [@torbooks]

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1)
Tor.com
April 05, 2016
173 pages
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Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

"Call it irony, if you like, but we spend so much time waiting for our boys to stray that they never have the opportunity. We notice the silence of men. We depend upon the silence of women."  (pg 59)

Every Heart a Doorway is a brilliant fantasy tale. I loved that the story focuses on what happens after: after children disappear from their homes, through magical doorways, and spend however long in these magical worlds. After they come home, back to the normal, non-magical world.

It is both unexpected and wonderful that Nancy, Sumi and the others are not thrilled to be back in the real world. They aren't 'rescued' now that they're home, in fact, they want to go back.

Why they left in the first place, where they each went, how they feel about being back (home first, now at Eleanor's school) and their hopes for the future have definite similarities but it's the amazing differences that make the story such fun. Sumi is so very different from Nancy who's so very different from Jack, etc. and it manages to feel like a school social environment while also involving the Hals of the Dead, mad scientists, vampires, skeletons, and the Countess of Candy Floss. It is both fantastically magical and wonderfully realistic.

I both adored and appreciated the diversity of Every Heart a Doorway's characters. When why they were at the school/home was factored in, their eccentricities, their identities (however you want to interpret the word), really all of who they each were made even more sense. With such a small group of characters, the story was that much better for each of them having a strong personality and for their differences. It also allows you, once something horrible happens, to see how many of those 'differences' don't matter and how similar we all are.

Every Heart a Doorway manages to be great fantasy and a great mystery and have great characters who offer some important, smart, thoughtful insights. Once you read this, you'll want Down Among the Sticks and Bones to start reading right way (Book 3, Beneath the Sugar Sky, is out in January).

This Mortal Coil ~ Emily Suvada review [@emilysuvada @simonteen]

This Mortal Coil (#1)
Simon Pulse
November 07, 2017
412 pages
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Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.

That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.

When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.

Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself?

It has been a long, long time since i was so wonderfully, pleasantly surprised by a book as I was with This Mortal Coil. When I first saw the book cover online it immediately drew me to it (and I like it even more now, knowing what it represents). For whatever reason, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it, though . . . I have absolutely no idea why now.

Emily Suvada's debut novel gives readers one of the creepiest, most unsettling portraits of a near future dystopia.  Maybe one of the easiest to imagine actually happening, too.

The way that people can use apps to modify their bodies, to heal injuries, to treat and defeat illnesses is definitely very science fiction, but it's also presented in such a way that you can believe it - and understand both the how and the why. I thoroughly enjoyed the mix of coding and science in This Mortal Coil, it elevated what could have been this inconceivable, implausible future and made it something real.

I loved Catarina's character, from what she had to do, alone in the cabin for so long, to survive the outbreak to why she was limited in the apps she could run and what it meant for her, her to coding abilities and her relationships. Through her we learn a lot about Hydra, about how people can modify themselves with code and apps, about Cartaxus and who now is in charge of society. We also get some fantastic questions and things to try to unravel.

Just when things seemed to be concluding, something huge and significant would be revealed that was both startling and surprising and something you couldn't believe you didn't see coming. It was all brilliant

As Amie Kaufman, co-author of Illuminae  and the Starbound Series said, "This Mortal Coil redefines 'unputdownable.' A thrilling, exhilarating read that's crackling with intelligence. Compelling characters and and incredible twists come together perfectly—I loved this book. This is brilliant science fiction.."

This is what I want from a scifi, dystopian, near future read. This. This Mortal Coil was a fantastic debut and I am very, very much looking forward to Book 2!

The Girl Who Saved Christmas ~ Matt Haig (earc) review [@matthaig1 @randomhousekids @chrismouldink]

The Girl Who Saved Christmas
illustrated by Chris Mould
Alfred A Knopf Books for Young Readers
October 31, 2017
320 pages
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From the bestselling author of A Boy Called Christmas comes a hilarious and heartwarming holiday tale for fans of Roald Dahl and Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol that imagines the story of the first child to ever receive a Christmas present.

"Matt Haig has an empathy for the human condition, the light and the dark of it, and he uses the full palette to build his excellent stories." --Neil Gaiman, Newbery-winning author of The Graveyard Book


Amelia Wishart was the first child ever to receive a Christmas present. It was her Christmas spirit that gave Santa the extra boost of magic he needed to make his first trip around the world. But now Amelia is in trouble.

When her mother falls ill, she is sent to the workhouse to toil under cruel Mr. Creeper. For a whole year, Amelia scrubs the floors and eats watery gruel, without a whiff of kindness to keep her going. It's not long before her hope begins to drain away.

Meanwhile, up at the North Pole, magic levels dip dangerously low as Christmas approaches, and Santa knows that something is gravely wrong. With the help of his trusty reindeer, a curious cat, and Charles Dickens, he sets out to find Amelia, the only girl who might be able to save Christmas. But first Amelia must learn to believe again. . . .

""With a little bit of naughty and a lot of nice, this Christmastime yarn is a veritable sugarplum." --Kirkus Reviews

"Do you know how magic works? . . . Hope. That's how. Without hope, there would be no magic."
(pg 1)


The Girl Who Saved Christmas was such an enjoyable read. I did not realize that it was the second book when I read it, so even if you haven't yet read A Boy Called Christmas, you can absolutely read this one. The story is sweet and charming and magical while still showing some of the darker, more painful parts of Victorian life, while still being appropriate for its intended readers.

 The ideas at the heart of this story, about Amelia and Christmas and magic and hope make the story applicable beyond the holiday season. Of course, it's much more fun to read about reindeer and (kind of weird) elves making toys during the holidays, but this book isn't only good around or because it's about Christmas.

Heig's portrayal of Amelia's life as a chimney sweep and then in the workhouse shows us more of the harsh reality of life then for someone poor, and not the romanticized version we often get. It's not just honest, it also makes Amelia's hope - or lack thereof - that much easier to understand and powerful.

The story stays hopeful and sweet and charming, though, thanks to the author's writing. This is an incredibly funny, witty novel. From things like elf time, "It's a quarter past Very Early Indeed," (pg 33) and the descriptions of people or sounds, there is a great balance between the despair of Amelia's situation the worry in Elfhelm and the humor present in character's reactions or seen around them.

The Girl Who Saved Christmas is a fantastic mix of despair and hope, harsh realities and magical possibilities and should, thanks to wonderful writing, appeal to readers of all ages.




Books 1, 2, 3 in Matt Haig's Christmas Series




digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

Not Now, Not Ever ~ Lily Anderson (earc) review [@ms_lilyanderson}

Not Now, Not Ever
Wednesday Books
November 21, 2017
320 pages
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The sequel to The Only Thing Worse than Me Is You, inspired by The Importance of Being Earnest.

Elliot Gabaroche is very clear on what she isn't going to do this summer.

1. She isn't going to stay home in Sacramento, where she'd have to sit through her stepmother's sixth community theater production of The Importance of Being Earnest.
2. She isn't going to mock trial camp at UCLA.
3. And she certainly isn't going to the Air Force summer program on her mother's base in Colorado Springs. As cool as it would be to live-action-role-play Ender's Game, Ellie's seen three generations of her family go through USAF boot camp up close, and she knows that it's much less Luke/Yoda/"feel the force," and much more one hundred push-ups on three days of no sleep. And that just isn't appealing, no matter how many Xenomorphs from Alien she'd be able to defeat afterwards.

What she is going to do is pack up her attitude, her favorite Octavia Butler novels, and her Jordans, and go to summer camp. Specifically, a cutthroat academic-decathlon-like competition for a full scholarship to Rayevich College, the only college with a Science Fiction Literature program. And she's going to start over as Ever Lawrence, on her own terms, without the shadow of all her family’s expectations. Because why do what’s expected of you when you can fight other genius nerds to the death for a shot at the dream you’re sure your family will consider a complete waste of time?

This summer's going to be great.

Just when I was starting Not Now, Not Ever I got a bit of news that felt sort of like .  . .well this:

Which wouldn't matter except that I think it's why I didn't realize how this book and The Only Thing Worse than Me Is You connected. I knew they were supposed to but somehow I did not connect the characters from the first book with those (now older) ones here. That lets me tell you that I did not love these characters simply because of their connection to or presence in the earlier book. 

But I did really, really, really love them and I love the book as a whole more now that I do remember. So, you do not have to read The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You first - this is much more a companion book than a sequel - but I recommend that you do. Actually, read them one right after the other for maximum: 

I have so, so much love for Ever. From her take on time travel and it's issues around language (Then again, I wanted an Oxford linguistics textbook because of something Doctor Who made me look up . . . .) to her math grade ("I knew I was smart, but I'd only pulled a B minus in geometry.") to her desire that science fiction and fantasy not mix (at least on bookshelves).

The mix of familial expectations, personal goals and dreams, a camp of geniuses, and the contrast between the military discipline of parts of Ever's family and the summer at Rayevich College made for a very full, enjoyable, memorable and compelling story.

There was a great collection of characters - both those you may already know from TOTWTMIY and new ones - with a myriad of reasons for attending the summer program. Their personalities, how seriously they took things, their motivation for being there and how they interacted with each other made for a lot of fun but also for believable, realistic relationships and frictions.

Now Now, Not Ever is a fantastic second novel that does a really great job bringing in characters from Anderson's first book but making them older so they can play a different role in this story and so that the focus is really on Ever (and that boy on the cover, too!). Lily Anderson's characters are brilliant and

 I would absolutely read a dozen more books with these characters, or a mix of these and new ones like TOTWTMIS and Not Now, Not Ever.

Oh, and of course Ever can like Firefly but not Buffy but, I do so here's a random Buffy GIF::

digital review copy received via NetGalley thanks to publisher

Artemis ~ Andy Weir (earc) review [@andyweirauthor @CrownPublishing]

Artemis
Crown Publishing Group
November 14, 2017
384 pages
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Jazz Bashara is a criminal.

Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent.

Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first.

If humans ever had to colonize the moon - or simply really wanted to - I think Andy Weir might be able to tell us what to do.  His imagining of Artemis, the first city on the moon actually makes sense and, at least seems like, it could work.

This book gives me answers to questions I didn't even know to ask. (But I am sure someone reading it would have.) So, while I couldn't have known to questions those elments of how living on the moon works, knowing how makes it that much

There were definitely bits I did not understand - though Jazz or other characters explained them, somewhat - but it didn't really matter. It all makes sense once it's done and as a part of the bigger picture.

I love that Jazz is a (sort of) criminal who grew up on the moon, who needs money, and who is incredibly smart and resourceful.If The Martian's Mark Watney was a, "nerdy MacGvyer in space," then Jazz is a slightly less nerdy, but probably just as smart one with fancier tolls. And welding abilities. (Though duct tape does still come into play. ) 

It is especially rewarding the way Jazz's history, her friendships or alliances, those she's had failings out with and people who have given her trouble all play a role in what happens to Jazz. And what she needs to do. The mix of personal relationships, past mistakes, Jazz's desire for more money and a more comfortable life, the politics of Artemis and the lovely, lovely science make for sch a great, captivating and exciting read. Jazz runs into problems, thanks to her unique location, that I never anticipated and it made me both anxious and curious as to how she would solve them.

Jazz is smart, she's funny, she holds grudges, she isn't fantastic with friendships, and (as she admits) she makes bad life decisions  but it all makes her a fantastic character. Even as she's doing some things you might not want her to do, you're amazed at how she thinks to accomplish them . . . and you want it to work. Despite yourself, you want her to succeed.

I love Andy Weir, his funny, maybe even sardonic, characters, the problems they run into and the inventive, brilliant solutions they devise. His science fiction can feel more like science fact and I want more, more, more.

review copy received thanks to publisher, via NetGalley

Girls Made of Snow & Glass ~ Melissa Bashardoust [@mothlissa @Flatironbooks]

Girls Made of Snow and Glass
Flatiron Books
September 05, 2017
384 pages
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Frozen meets The Bloody Chamber in this feminist fantasy reimagining of the Snow White fairytale

At sixteen, Mina's mother is dead, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone—has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king’s heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she’ll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen’s image, at her father’s order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do—and who to be—to win back the only mother she’s ever known…or else defeat her once and for all.

Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything—unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.

Of all of the books that I have read that claim to be feminist fairy tale reimaginings, Girls Made of Snow and Glass may very well be my favorite. This is not just a case of the girl not needing a prince to come and rescue her, she doesn't need a prince, period. (Or a princess for that matter.)

While absolutely recognizable as the Snow White tale, author Melissa Bashardoust turned a lot of things on their head - many more than I was expecting.

It is very enjoyable that we not only get Lynet's story but Mina's as well. It isn't as simple as the young princess and her wicked/evil/selfish/narcissistic/unkind/fill-in-the-blank stepmother. Their relationship has its secrets and is complicated, more so by what readers (but not most characters) know of Mina's past. She is not used only to play some role in Lynet's life, to be the archetypal villain (or archetypal anything) but is very much her own fully drawn character. Even as you don't like what she's doing, you can understand it. She is definitely a character that will cause conflicted feelings - and some heartache and anxiety, as well.

The twist on what makes Lynet's character, 'the fairest of them all,' was pretty fantastic both in the actual 'what' but also how it affected Lynet and the story. She did seem to be a simpler character (than Mina, at least0 at the start but as both she and readers discover some of what's been kept from her, there was a lot of character development and growth.

Even when these two characters seemed to be diametrically opposed, I loved both of them and wanted them both to have things work out. The book was that much more compelling because it seemed that could be possible, but often unlikely that it would be.

The world of Whitespring, why there's the endless winter, the division of the kingdom and how all of it led to Mina marrying the king and then to Lynet's possible future is great. I loved that we got this fantasy world, with its magic and court politics, but that it all played into the characters' pasts, their lives and what their roles could or would be.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a great blend of self discovery, family dynamics, relationships and heartache, magic, fantasy. I absolutely and completely want to read more from Melissa Bashardoust.

digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

The Breakdown ~ BA Paris (earc) review [@BAParisAuthor @StMartinsPress]

The Breakdown
St Martin's Press
July 18, 2017
328 pages
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If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?

Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside―the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…

After reading B.A. Pari's Behind Closed Doors, I was excited to read her new novel. The Breakdownwas even more of a thrilling read than I had anticipated; the mystery and the tension are a step above that first book. Whereas in Behind Closed Doors you knew where the danger was coming from but not how or when (or even to what extent), here you aren't even sure if there is danger, if it's real or imagined. Nor do you know who or where it's coming from, when it'll happen or or how.

The Breakdown absolutely keeps you guessing, almost to that very last page.

From the start, the book gives you reasons to doubt characters, sometimes it seems they're up to something nefarious, others you don't know if you can trust their interpretation of things, or their memory of them. Even when it seems like pieces are coming together and some of the mystery has been solved, you have to second guess it all. When your main character is forgetting things (lots of things), you don't know how much of her deductions and recollections can really be counted on.

When you aren't sure how much you can rely on your narrator, even the most troubling seeming events or statements have to be questioned.

Are things really happening as Cas sees them? Or is there a much more innocent explanation?

B.A. Paris really put her characters through it. As soon as you think that she surely can't make them go through anything more, she does. It's that fact, that the author doesn't hold back and isn't afraid of being, really, quite horrible to her characters, that makes the mystery so thrilling - and rewarding. The characters are capable of so much more than one would think -- both in what they can do to each other and what they can survive.

The Breakdown is an exciting, thrilling read, a mystery with more twists and turns and surprises than you'll ever see coming, fantastic characters and a great title. Now, I am really looking forward to Book 3 from B.A. Paris, Bring Me Back.




Other Books You May Also Enjoy: Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris (buy), The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena (buy) and Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (buy)






digital copy received for review, from NetGalley, via publisher

Final Girls ~ Riley Sager (earc) review [@riley_sager @DuttonBooks]

Final Girls
Dutton
July 11, 2017
352 pages
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Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout's knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media's attempts, they never meet.

Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.

That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy's doorstep. Blowing through Quincy's life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa's death come to light, Quincy's life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam's truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.

Final Girls is a novel full of thrilling twists and turns, the unexpected and true shocks and surprises.
Quincy Carpenter is a Final Girl, "the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre." But that was ten years ago and she is doing fine now; she has a baking website, a live-in boyfriend, a great apartment. She's moved on.

Or at least, that's what she wants everyone (including herself) to believe.

Though the Pine Cottage Murders are what made Quincy a Final Girl and finally remembering everything that happened may be so important, Final Girls is not a grisly, gruesome, bloody horror novel. Due to Quinn's lack of memory readers only see the before and the after of the murders. As she tries to remember things and as other details are given (through other means) we do get more specifics, but don't not read this because you don't like horror novels.

The more we see of Quinn and Sam, the more we know how deeply their pasts have affected them. Even though Quinn is 'fine' and has moved on, the appearance of Sam causes some cracks to form in that put together image. It becomes only a question of if it's for Quinn's betterment or to her detriment.

There were so many times I questioned Quinn's actions, her decisions, her thoughts on another character ("The only thing Sam lied about was xxx, and I know all about that now." [pg117] Except you don't know something's a lie until told/shown otherwise.) but all of it fit her character. As frustrating as it was, I also understood it - and it all came together fantastically well.

We are given enough to know that all is not what it seems (nor is everyone who they seem) but what makes this such a great thriller and mystery is that we're not sure what - or who - is the truth. When we do finally have it all, when the full truth (and not just this character or that character's idea of it) is revealed it's shocking and startling, even a bit of a betrayal. But at the very end it's all so very satisfying.

Quincy Carpenter's friends are murdered at a cabin in teh woods -
and Final Girls is full of just as much of the unexpected

I am looking forward to more from Riley Sager and absolutely recommend Final Girls.






digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

Aftercare Instructions ~ Bonnie Pipkin (earc) review [@bonnie-pipkin @Flatironbooks]

Aftercare Instructions
Flatiron Books
June 27, 2017
368 pages
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In the tradition of Jandy Nelson and Rainbow Rowell, a big-hearted journey of furious friendship, crazy love, and unexpected hope after a teen's decision to end an unwanted pregnancy

“Troubled.” That’s seventeen-year-old Genesis according to her small New Jersey town. She finds refuge and stability in her relationship with her boyfriend, Peter—until he abandons her at a Planned Parenthood clinic during their appointment to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. The betrayal causes Gen to question everything.

As Gen pushes herself forward to find her new identity without Peter, she must also confront her most painful memories. Through the lens of an ongoing four act play within the novel, the fantasy of their undying love unravels line by line, scene by scene. Digging deeper into her past while exploring the underground theater world of New York City, she rediscovers a long-forgotten dream. But it’s when Gen lets go of her history, the one she thinks she knows, that she’s finally able to embrace the complicated, chaotic true story of her life, and take center stage.

This powerfully immersive and format-crushing debut follows Gen from dorm rooms to diners to house parties to auditions—and ultimately, right into readers’ hearts

Initially, I was not that sure I wanted to read Aftercare Instructions. A book that starts with a girl's boyfriend leaving while she's having an abortion?  It sounded like it might be too . . . something (political? heavy? irreverent even?  I don't know). I am thrilled that I did decide to read it, though. This novel is so, so much more than I anticipated - better, smarter, complicated, thoughtful, even sweet.

Gen's boyfriend Peter abandoning her at Planned Parenthood is the latest 'not-supposed-to-happen' thing to happen to her, but it's nowhere near the only one. Her father died, her mother hasn't yet gotten over that, her sister no long lives with them, the school therapist wants different answers than Gen gives, and she has a 'former' best friend. While her relationship with Peter was unexpected, it was supposed to be what made those other things bearable.

Now, Gen isn't sure how she feels. About Peter. About anything, really.

New experiences - and new people - help her as she tries to understand the past and guess what it means for now.

The way we get scenes from Gen's past told as though scenes in a play, written in script form, work well and fits even better as the story progresses. I liked that we got a fuller picture of who the Gen was at the start of the story, what she'd experienced, what had happened/been done to her, but only later in the story. It lets you get things from her perspective, her interpretation. Readers seem to get a better understanding of things at the same time she does. I loved Gen and her whole journey: the past, the present, what she realizes and pieces together.

It is a small thing, but I loved the reasoning behind Genesis's name. I wondered about it from almost the beginning and liked that we didn't get an explanation until nearly half way through the book. It made the answer more rewarding because we knew the characters and understood how true what Gen said was.

If you are at all one the fence about this book, do yourself a favor and read it. Not only does it approach a topic (abortion) rarely discussed, but it does so in a very skilled manner and all as part captivating and compelling story with a fantastic cast of unique characters and an unforgettable main character. I am very much looking forward to what's next from Bonnie Pipkin.








digital review copy received, from publisher, via NetGalley

Blacksouls ~ Nicole Castroman (earc) review [@nicolecastroman @Simonteen]

Blacksouls (Blackheart #2)
Simon Pulse
April 11, 2017
400 pages
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Nicole Castroman brings the dangerous pirate ports of the Caribbean to life in this vibrant sequel to Blackhearts—the reimagined origin story of history’s most infamous pirate, Blackbeard.

Edward “Teach” Drummond is setting sail to the Caribbean as first mate on the most celebrated merchant ship in the British fleet—until he rebels against his captain. Mutiny is a capital offense and Teach knows it could cost him his life, but he believes it worth the risk in order to save his crew from the attacking Spanish ships.

Sailing on the same blue waters, Anne barely avoids the Spanish attack, making it safely to Nassau. But lawless criminals, corrupt politics, and dangerous intentions fill the crowded streets of this Caribbean port. Soon, Anne discovers that the man entrusted to keep the peace is quite possibly the most treacherous of them all—and he just happens to hold Teach’s fate in his terrifying hands.

Life and death hang in the balance when Teach and Anne are given a dangerous mission. It’s a mission that will test their love, loyalty and devotion, forcing them down a path neither one could have ever imagined.

After the ending of Blackheartsyou knew it was not going to be a Happily Ever After for Teach and Anne - at least not an easy one. Even when things started to look up, like they were going more positively for the two something else would happen (or be looming over them with the possibility of happening) that I started to despair at them ever not being separated.

Nicole Castroman does a fantastic job giving readers a glimpse at life in Nassau and aboard different kinds of ship in the late 17th, early 18th century. It seemed that here was greater attention (versus in Blackhearts) given to Anne's place in a white world (with a Caribbean mother and white father). Slavery and slavers are more present and a part of this book. We can see how slavery affects Anne both emotionally and mentally but also in how others view her. It is more that Anne and Teach have to contend with and a smart inclusion.

Even if you think you know Blackbeard and can guess where things are going, how something will happen or even what will happen, Blacksouls will surprise you. Everything fit incredibly well with the time period and location, even with some of what we know historically, while also being unpredictable and surprising. Castroman takes a more modern approach to who Blackbeard might have been - and why. It makes for a great read.

I loved Anne even more in this book than the first. She is strong and smart, she loves Teach, she doesn't quite seem to fit in and is looking for somewhere she does. I liked that we (and she) got to see more of the world and a look at her place in it.

The new characters we meet in Blacksouls were all great additions to the story - even those who were amazingly not great people - and I enjoyed the roles they played in the characters lives. (Along with the possibilities they presented for the future, both within the book and after the story ended.)

Blackhearts and Blacksouls were everything I wanted this 'origin pirate story' to be but so, so much more. The characters are smart the attention given to the time period, views on race in both England and the Caribbean (and slavery), and how women were viewed and treated is fantastic. This is a great romance that builds through the tow books - and that faces more than a few hardships. The Blackhearts books are a must read.








digital copy received for review from publisher via NetGalley

One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter ~ Scaachi Koul (earc) review [@picadorbooks @Scaachi]

One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter: Essays
Picador
May 02, 2017
256 pages
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For readers of Mindy Kaling, Jenny Lawson and Roxane Gay, a debut collection of fierce and funny essays about growing up the daughter of Indian immigrants in Canada, "a land of ice and casual racism," by the irreverent, hilarious cultural observer and incomparable rising star, Scaachi Koul.

In One Day We ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter, Scaachi deploys her razor-sharp humour to share her fears, outrages and mortifying experiences as an outsider growing up in Canada. Her subjects range from shaving her knuckles in grade school, to a shopping trip gone horribly awry, to dealing with internet trolls, to feeling out of place at an Indian wedding (as an Indian woman), to parsing the trajectory of fears and anxieties that pressed upon her immigrant parents and bled down a generation. Alongside these personal stories are pointed observations about life as a woman of colour, where every aspect of her appearance is open for critique, derision or outright scorn. Where strict gender rules bind in both Western and Indian cultures, forcing her to confront questions about gender dynamics, racial tensions, ethnic stereotypes and her father s creeping mortality all as she tries to find her feet in the world.

With a clear eye and biting wit, Scaachi Koul explores the absurdity of a life steeped in misery. And through these intimate, wise and laugh-out-loud funny dispatches, a portrait of a bright new literary voice emerges."

I owe this book's cover and title a thank you. I don't read very much nonfiction that isn't historical  biography or memoir nor do I read many books of essays but because of the title and cover, I read this one - and really enjoyed it.

Through her essays, Scaachi Koul (a writer I was not previously familiar with) covers a lot of pertinent, current topics and issues. It is all through stories of her life: growing up, college, work, family, family vacations, clothes shopping, etc. Each essay finds a way to not  only give you a glimpse into her life, into who she is and how she's experienced the world, but to also highlight some 'issue,' all while being relevant to nearly everyone, in one way or another. Oh, and it is incredibly funny nearly the whole while.

From body image (weight, hair) to racism and sexism to rape culture to xenophobia to talking about yoga (versus, well, doing it), One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter covers tackles a lot of those hot button issues through how they've played a part in Koul's life but also how the affect us all. Her life, her story includes immigrant parents, being Indian, being a woman but none of that has to be true for the book to be relevant (and entertaining) to you. My grandmother lived her whole life in the Southern United States but several thing Koul's mother did or said, I could absolutely hear her saying or doing. (Especially the part around bust measurements.)

If you already read Scaachi Koul's BuzzFeed articles you likely know her writing - including about her father and his emails which are fantastic - but if not, do yourself a favor and pick up One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter.

Scaachi Koul's website & BuzzFeed articles

digital copy received for review from publisher, via NetGalley