Book Review: The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

The world has changed since all the countries rebelled against one another in an all out battle to the end. Bombs dropped on major cities in the United States have rendered many of the animals extinct or mutated. The ground is infertile, and plants struggle to produce anything edible. In the aftermath of the devastation, people are trying to rebuild. The old-world city of Wichita is transformed into Tosu City, the hub of the country where many of the governmental choices are made, and the future leaders are primed after they undergo “The Testing”. There are a multitude of counties/colonies surrounding this main hub, where some previous students of the University (those who pass “The Testing” are allowed to go to school there and learn ways to fix and revitalize the country) have families and hope to send their own children to become the future leaders. Malencia is one of these students. All her life, she’s wanted to go for The Testing and prove her worth among the best and brightest. There haven’t been any candidates chosen from their colony of Five Lakes in almost a decade, but she hopes she will be “the one”. Even though it’s kind of obvious that’s what is going to happen, “Surprise!”, Malencia, as well as three others, are chosen and whisked off to the city. But before they go, there are quick words of doom and warning from her father, a previous University student. He  warns her not to trust anyone, and to prepare to survive some pretty traumatic and freaky stuff. Things that will more than likely prompt her to have nightmares like the ones he still has to this day.

She makes it to the city, and launches into the Testing. Betrayal, dishonesty, manipulation, death, suicide, murder, disappearances, subterfuge, and more occur within days, and continue to mount in severity up until the last stage of the test, where they throw these kids into the ruins of Chicago and tell them to make their way back to Tosu on their own. It is a game of survival, wits, and endurance that many of them face, and not all of them can win. If they pass this test, then they’ll make it to the University. Will Malencia make it?

I really, really, really got into this book. It seems like over the last few weeks I’ve been kind of dredging through the last few books I read. I mean, I’ll enjoy them mostly, but they just drag. This one was interesting to me, and picked up almost immediately. It had many of the same qualities as a Hunger Games type setting…more or less tranquil, with undertones of something more dangerous going on in the background. While there isn’t the immediate threat of death due to rebellion, its more like the colonies are in a fragile state, and don’t want to revert back to the previous way of life that led to the world war. And then The Testing begins. This brings in more of the survival, kill or be killed kind of attitude, and the moral high ground the protagonist finds herself on. Malencia, or Cia, wants to do things the “right” way, and not succumb to the desperation or brutality some of the other “future leaders” rely on. Her quick intellect and intuition guide her through the difficult tests, but ultimately putting her trust in others helps her meet the end goal. I liked the quick pace, and the way the reader can discover things about the facilities, students, and testing officials as Cia discovers them. There isn’t any of the background insight into what is going on with other characters or behind-the-scenes. This helps keep the mystery alive, and allow the reader to ponder the possible outcome along with Cia. While there was a lot of similar characteristics to dystopian stories like the Hunger Games, thank goodness they didn’t bring in a love triangle. Cia only loves one person, more or less, but the story line brought in the element of trust, and how far she would put her trust in Tomas. But also like the Hunger Games, the officials are always listening, always watching, and this knowledge helps Cia “play the game” and survive.

Despite all the similarities to some other dystopian novels/trilogies, I like the premise, and the higher dependence on knowledge and skill they place on the characters. If, say, the world did come to a crashing halt, I would love to imagine that we would band together and put a serious dependence on knowledge, learning, and learning skills to fix the world. But, you know, without all the killing and manipulation for a test. Just saying.

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Book Review: Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Sophie has survived trauma in her teenage years, which range from car accidents that almost leave her crippled, to surviving an attach where her best friend is shot and killed. Far From You is the aftermath of Sophie’s ordeals, as she struggles to stay clean of her painkiller addiction and find the reason her best friend had to die. The police, one detective in particular, chalk it up to Sophie’s addiction and that it was a drug deal gone wrong. Sophie’s internal mantra of the months, hours, and minutes of her being clean say otherwise. Through the years and reflections on times past, we see Sophie and Mina’s friendship grow (and their love) and the events that surround Mina’s death. There is mystery and intrigue about the secrets both the girls kept, and how they knew everything about each other with the simplest touch or glance, yet would hide things–even from themselves. Sophie feels lost without her friend, but after struggling through her grief in an unnecessary stint in rehab, she vows to discover a secret about Mina she never knew, and find the person(s) responsible for her death.

This novel not only is a murder mystery, but ultimately a reflection on grief, how one struggles with addiction, friendship, and love. I figured this was just going to be another angst-filled story about some obvious-killer-boyfriend who “accidentally” murdered Sophie’s best friend (and was “Gonna get her too!”). One of those that there seems to be dozens of out there. Then the story started to blossom and show deeper sub-plots and further mysteries that were hidden from the reader. It became more a story of a hidden love between the two girls, and how they struggled to not only hide it from their friends, families, and lovers, but from themselves. There was real, raw pain behind many of the girls’ actions, especially when Sophie started to fall deeper into her drug addiction. I liked how Sharpe didn’t immediately make it an unrealistic dive into the drug world, but a slow and irreversible descent. Sophie was in real pain from her car accident, and was struggling with the physical therapy and the realization she would never be the same again. That’s one of the things I could never stand from other books that talk about drug addiction…it seems so staged and unrealistic. But here, Sophie just digs herself deeper into it, even astonishing herself when she steals her father’s prescription pad, and prolongs her unnecessary pill-popping.

The greatest thing from this book was the realism; the emotions of the family members, the betrayal of friends for love, unrequited love, odd stages of grief (and how everyone handles it differently), and ultimately, just how people grow from trauma and great relationships. Sophie wasn’t the deepest or most well-rounded of characters, but you understood her emotions and actions, and how they aided her recovery from such death and self-destruction. Her relationship with Trev was full of tension and sadness, and her parents seemed, well, like parents. No one’s perfect, and all the characters were able to make mistakes here and there with little detriment to the story. I really enjoyed the realism, and gut-wrenching, tear-jerking moments. Sigh. But the ending. The wrap up with the criminals was a little odd, and felt misplaced. I felt the main story with Mina and Sophie’s relationship and turmoil was the real focus, and the murder mystery an afterthought. Besides that…pretty darn swell.

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Book Review: Grim, ed. by Christine Johnson

This book, a compilation of short stories inspired by the prolific Grimm fairy tales, explores lives of traditional characters in a variety of situations. Whether in the future, in alternate realities, or just re-imagined by talented writers of youth literature, these classic and creepy tales are fantastic. The authors include: Ellen Hopkins, Amanda Hocking, Julie Kagawa, Claudia Gray, Rachel Hawkins, Kimberly Derting, Myra McEntire, Malinda Lo, Sarah Rees-Brennan, Jackson Pearce, Christine Johnson, Jeri Smith Ready, Shaun David Hutchinson, Saundra Mitchell, Sonia Gensler, Tessa Gratton, and Jon Skrovan.

I enjoyed almost 90% of the stories included, and while I didn’t recognize some of the characters/story lines/themes, I still got a kick out of the sheer expansiveness of the stories and their awesomeness. Their was a fair amount of brutality, sex, hate, deception, secrets, love, mystery, and everything that is quintessential in a classic fairy tale. Some were particularly short and sweet, with a quick concise wrap-up; while there were others that had more characters, a more extensive plot-line, and occasionally, drug on for longer than felt necessary. Some stories were honestly surprising! I would be half-way through a story, and then *duh!* would realize the characters related to, say, Red Riding Hood, or Sleeping Beauty, or (quite often), Beauty and the Beast. That was one thing that I kind of disliked–there were multiple versions of the same story/tale. I think it would have been preferable to stick to all different stories, or at least have separate versions that were so different, so altered, that they wouldn’t be comparable. I did enjoy the theme of the Grimm fairy tales, or classic fairy tales–doing just fantasy seems to run to close to other short story compilations like Firebirds, Firebirds Rising, or even the third in the compilations, Firebirds Soaring (which I totally need to get to at some point). Anyhow, the stories were intriguing and unique, and kept me interested throughout the entire book. I recommend it!

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Book Review: Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return (graphic novel) by Denton J. Tipton

This illustrated story tells of the next villain to plague the colorful lands of Oz: The Jester. He’s the long-lost brother of the Wicked Witch of the West (WWotW), and he seeks to rule over the entire land of Oz by controlling the troupe of flying monkeys and threatening the villages across the land. Once the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and (no-longer-cowardly) Lion hear of his evil plan and witness the havoc he’s already wreaked, they devise a plan to bring the only thing that could save Oz: Dorothy Gale. They traipse across Oz, encountering new fantastical beings and lands, all while magically surviving attacks and setbacks. It ends with a cliffhanger, a mystery of what will happen to Oz and Dorothy–destined to be revealed in the upcoming animated film.

I think the colorful and minimalist illustrations meld well with the stories of Oz, and capture a small sense of how the mystical world would be, just as the movies and books have. It reminds me of Lisa Frank and the colorful, over-the-top girly-ness of it all. While the dark and evil colors of the Jester’s scenes do wonderfully juxtapose the bright and cheeriness of Oz, the Jester’s stupidity is slightly off. Since he is the brother of the WWotW, it seems like he would be just as evil (which he is). Yet, on the other hand, he is no where quite as bright. He has a method worked out for his evil plan, but fumbles and makes things almost comical. This is probably a good idea for a children’s book–lends to the lightheartedness of it and doesn’t seriously scare the living daylights out of a child. Reminds me of an extremely PG version of the Joker from Batman comics. A neat version of the L. Frank Baum stories; I’m definitely looking forward to the upcoming sequel to the story, Legends of Oz.

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Book Review: The Line by Paula Bossio

This simple wordless book by Paula Bossio is imaginative and playful, with just a hint of terror. An unknown line travels throughout the book, with a little girl following its progress. It either moves, or is drawn into various shapes that resemble people, loop-d-loops, and then finally a “terrifying” bear-like beast. This terrifies the little girl when it tries to eat her cookie, yet then transforms into a lovable bear. We discover by the end of the book that it is a young boy’s drawing with a pencil that created these images.

I loved this simple and creative illustration style. There was only limited color in the children’s’ clothes, with everything else drawn or shaded haphazardly with graphite scribbles. The illustration didn’t stay in the lines, and eraser marks were clear. This added to the charm and likability of the drawings, and gave this simple story added character. It could even be a possibility that the boy himself drew the girl, even though he looks like he could be a twin to the adventurous protagonist. Sweet and simple.

 

 

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Book Review: Alanna- Song of the Lioness Book One by Tamara Pierce

Alanna Trebond and her brother Thom decide to switch places to truly achieve their desire and idealized destiny. Alanna wishes to learn swordplay and become a knight, while Thom, who is not very good at these things, wishes to become a powerful sorcerer and wizard. To achieve these vastly different futures from the ones planned for each of them by their scholarly obsessed father, Alanna decides to pretend to be a boy. This allows her to travel to the royal city and study to be a knight, while Thom will go to the convent where young boys study to be a sorcerer alongside the girls studying to be women. While she may be the smallest of the pages and squires, Alanna trains hard, on her own and with others, to defeat bullies and prove herself. She makes quick friends with Prince Jonathan and his companions, and makes herself indispensable amongst the court with her bit of the “Gift” (magic) that she possesses. After saving the life of the prince and aiding the castle healers with her power, she is chosen to accompany Jonathan to the land of the Bhazirs, or desert people. Once in the land, they learn of a magical dark city, one Alanna has seen in dreams and prophecies. Jonathan decides to sneak away to defeat the evil in the city, and Alanna has no choice but to follow and protect her friend.

Alanna is a very strong and intelligent girl, and was incredibly interesting to follow. This book didn’t seem to have a lot of background details and fully rounded characters, but I did enjoy the witty banter Alanna brought to conversations. It seemed very lopsided to present a pair of siblings, twins no less, and hardly have mention of her brothers’ tale or life once they parted ways. While I understand this story was about Alanna and not Thom, it still seemed odd to only mention him once toward the end. This very slightly reminded me of Hero and the Crown, but didn’t seem to be as multi-layered or as comprehensive. I liked the story line very much, but it just seemed incomplete. I feel like if it were another 100 pages or so, it would have been better. I plan on reading more into the series to see if the characters are better developed or if the details improve. It was light and entertaining to read, but just felt….incomplete. I know this a terrible description, but there were just so many details I wish were included! Three years passed in a blink of an eye, it seemed, and things were just hunky dory. Oh well. Hopefully it continues to improve! I think I was just too busy comparing it to others.

 

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Book Review: Courtney Crumrin Vol. 1-The Night Things

Courtney Crumrin and her parents move in with her great-uncle Aloysius to “look after” him and take care of his estate. His home and property are the rumored “haunted house” of the community, and have caused gossip amongst town people for years. Courtney soon discovers she can do magic, and that the house and surrounding woods are home to many different things, non-human things. Her parents continue to live in the house, unaware of anything but their social endeavors and attempts to get invited to wealthy parties. This compilation includes several “books”, which tell of Courtney’s various encounters with magic and dark things surrounding her uncle’s home. She uses magic to gain popularity, to deal with a town bully, and relies on her own wiles when dealing with an intrusive doppelgänger.

This book was brought to my attention from a co-worker; I had seen this book on our “New” shelves, but not really paid any attention except to note its beautiful cover and illustrations. So my co-worker brings this to me and mentions that it, “Looks just like you!” I admit, the purple cover, dark illustrations, and beautiful font and curlicues all were definite catcalls for my attention.  So I checked it out to give it a shot. The house that is the main setting for the story is absolutely perfect–a direct replica of the typical “haunted house” found in many horror stories. It is a beautiful old Victorian, which are always the most bad ass-looking houses. Courtney has a unique look as well–a mix of a both blonde, regular girl with a little bit of Emily Strange.

Emily the Strange

She quickly figures out how things are without too much indecision, and is very clever. She doesn’t even bat an eye at the fact that her uncle is magical, or that she can accomplish fantastical things with spells or incantations found in her uncle’s books. She creates solutions for day-to-day problems that any “new-kid” might encounter, and preserves her independence as her parents blunder through each encounter. A truly likable and, tricky, young girl.

I like how books nowadays are considering main characters as real people, not the “ideal” person society would prefer. For example, Courtney is an outcast of sorts, and seems to be okay with it and all it entails. While she does attempt to use magic to get more praise, attention, and popularity, she quickly realizes that it isn’t exactly as she had dreamed.  She then seems to revel in her personality, and develops more as her own person (despite her crazy parents) with encouragement from her peculiar uncle. She is brave, occasionally vengeful, and generally has a good heart. It was a new combination I haven’t seen as much in Juvenile/middle grade literature, but that I appreciate greatly.

Check this book out! I know I plan to continue the series 🙂