Tag: 7 Rating

Kate’s Review: “Welcome to Night Vale”

25270656Book: “Welcome to Night Vale” by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

Publishing Info: HarperAudio, October 2015

Where Did I Get This Book: Audiobook from the library!

Description: Night Vale is a small desert town where all the conspiracy theories you’ve ever heard are actually true. It is here that the lives of two women, with two mysteries, will converge. Nineteen-year-old Night Vale pawn shop owner Jackie Fierro is given a paper marked ‘KING CITY’ by a mysterious man in a tan jacket. She can’t seem to get the paper to leave her hand, and no one who meets this man can remember anything about him. Jackie is determined to uncover the mystery of King City before she herself unravels. Diane Crayton’s son, Josh, is moody and also a shape shifter. And lately Diane’s started to see her son’s father everywhere she goes, looking the same as the day he left years earlier. Josh, looking different every time Diane sees him, shows a stronger and stronger interest in his estranged father, leading to a disaster Diane can see coming, even as she is helpless to prevent it. Diane’s search to reconnect with her son and Jackie’s search for her former routine life collide as they find themselves coming back to two words: ‘KING CITY’. It is King City that holds the key to both of their mysteries, and their futures …if they can ever find it.

Review: In the summer of 2013 I discovered a quirky and strange little podcast called “Welcome to Night Vale”. This is going to sound incredibly hipster of me, but I got into it right before it exploded in popularity on the Internet and across geek fandoms everywhere. I followed it for awhile, as it really is my kind of story. It’s kind of like “Lake Wobegon” meets “Twin Peaks” meets “X-Files” meets “Parks and Rec”. The premise is that it’s a radio show of community updates run by a man named Cecil Palmer, and the community has black helicopters, monsters for librarians, floating cats, and hooded figures congregating in the local dog park, which may or may not transport you to another dimension. So it’s weird. Like, VERY weird. But it also has a lot of heart. I kind of lost interest after the StrexCorp storyline wrapped up, but I do still have a fondness for the universe and decided to give the book a try. I initially got it in print from the library…. But after perusing it, I was like ‘oh… Maybe not’.

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My thoughts: “Oh God, was it always like this? Was it always this aggressively quirky? Did I LIKE this?!” (source)

After having a crisis of faith in a podcast I had fond memories of, I returned the book and vowed never to speak of it again. But then I saw, months later, that the audiobook was available to download, and that Cecil Baldwin, the voice actor for Cecil Palmer and main voice of the show, was reading the book. So I decided to give it a try that way. And THAT, my friends, made ALL the difference.

So yeah, “Welcome to Night Vale” is weird, and is aggressively quirky, and yeah, it probably has a smug sense of satisfaction about itself and how clever it is. But Cecil Baldwin as Cecil Palmer just makes it so damn charming and makes the town so damn lovable that he really, REALLY saves the story. And he does the same for the book when he reads it. I think that as a book this kind of set up just doesn’t really totally work, so it makes sense to give it the pacing that an audiobook can provide because this is it’s home format. You need to listen to “Welcome to Night Vale”, just like you listen to the podcast. I can’t explain why. But you just do.

“Welcome to Night Vale” also happens to have a lot of heart buried in it’s creepy and strange and uncanny-esque premise, and the book has the same thing going for it. Though it isn’t in community radio format (sadly, though Cecil and his boyfriend Carlos DO make appearances), it does have strange anecdotes and oddities in a narrative sense. In the book we follow two women, Jackie and Diane. Jackie is perpetually nineteen, but she is also trying to find herself just like many nineteen year olds are. Her struggles are both strange, as she has a piece of paper permanently attached to her hand, but she wants to know who she is, as she cannot seem to remember. And then there’s Diane, whose son in a shapeshifter, sure. But their relationship is so damn spot on in it’s portrayal of a single mother dealing with a teenage son who is growing up and apart from her. It is the very parts of these characters that make them human that make the aggressive quirkiness easy to swallow. Even if “Welcome to Night Vale” is goofy and very, very strange, if you look past that, the characters are people with very real, touching problems. And I also really liked the relationship between Jackie and Diane, who are united in their need to know what King City is, but are still very different and aren’t always going to get along because of that.

But buyer beware. I think that unless you have a working knowledge of this podcast and the world that it has set up, this book will be very confusing and probably maddening to you. It’s working on the premise that you know what the scoop is with Night Vale, and it doesn’t hold the reader’s hand in the strangeness. It just leaps into the narrative full throttle. The podcast was always weird, but kind of gradually worked it’s way to where the story is now, and the book just goes into it. Which kind of makes me have to ask this question, if you jumped in and were surprised or indignant that it didn’t make sense to you:

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(source)

That would be like me jumping in the middle of a “Halo” novelization series and wondering why it was that I don’t understand what was happening. Those books aren’t written for me because I am not a “Halo” fan, and sadly, this book isn’t written for you because you are not a “Night Vale” fan. This book can’t stand alone, guys. It just can’t. You need to know this mythology. Which isn’t exactly a great thing for this book, in all honesty. The point, I would imagine, was to try and branch out to other people outside of the built in listener base. And this book probably won’t do that.

I thought it was fun enough. I’m not necessarily clamoring back to the podcast in a game of catch up, but I do still love Cecil Palmer the character and Cecil Baldwin the voice. “Welcome To Night Vale”, if listened to, should be a fun little bonus for the podcast. But a stand alone book it is not.

Rating 7: This will probably be fun for fans of the podcast, but I don’t think that there is any way that a layman could enjoy this book. If you haven’t listened to the show, this is NOT for you. Either jump into the podcast, or leave it be. Also, it only worked for me when I listened to it.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Welcome to Night Vale” isn’t featured on any Goodreads lists as of now. I’m not surprised. So instead, here is a link to a blog that has some read-alikes, and hell, here is the damn podcast. You really should start here.

Find “Welcome to Night Vale” at your library using WorldCat!

 

Serena’s Review: “Palace of Stone”

12926132Book: “Palace of Stone” by Shannon Hale

Publishing Info: Bloomsbury, August 2012

Where Did I Get this Book: the library!

Book Description: Coming down from the mountain to a new life in the city is a thrill to Miri. She and her princess academy friends have been brought to Asland to help the future princess Britta prepare for her wedding.There, Miri also has a chance to attend school-at the Queen’s Castle. But as Miri befriends students who seem sophisticated and exciting she also learns that they have some frightening plans. Torn between loyalty to the princess and her new friends’ ideas, between an old love and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling city, Miri looks to find her own way in this new place.

Review: Continuing my self-education in middle grade novels, after reading and enjoying “Princess Academy” it was a quick jaunt back to the library to scrounge up its sequel. And, while the first book can be read as a stand alone book (a trait I will never not praise), “Palace of Stone” is a worthy successor, expanding the world of Danland and challenging Miri’s own perceptions of right and wrong and her place within this society.

This story picks up shortly after the events of the first book with Miri and her village enjoying the boost to their local economy that came with Miri’s discovery of the true worth of the linder stone that their village mines. However, when Miri and a few familiar characters travel to Asland to join the soon-to-be princess, Britta, Miri discovers how tremulous this newly earned freedom can be. Revolution is rumbling throughout the kingdom of Danland.

One of the themes that I most appreciated from the first book was its emphasis on the joy of learning. Here, this concept is expanded even further with Miri attending university while in Asland and dreaming of her plans to continue and expand the local school she’s been running back home. The cast is also expanded when she gains an unexpected friend in fellow scholar, Timon.

Timon serves a definite purpose in this book, as he is the conduit between Miri and the underground swell of revolutionaries. And this concept of revolution, history, and democracy is at the core of the story. I greatly appreciate the care that Hale uses in laying out this path before Miri, with all of the temptation, confusion, and impossible choices that situations like this cause. And, while this is a middle grade novel and with this comes, perhaps, a few too many convenient solutions, Hale also spends a good portion of the novel fully exploring these themes before wrapping up the story.

Timon also brings with him a love triangle, and here is where I’m not so sure. While I think I understand what Hale was going for, forcing Miri and Peder to challenge the realities of their relationship and feelings in an adult manner (rather than the ease of an early crush), I question whether this was the best route. It also could just be that I’m so sick and tired of love triangles that even ones that are introduced for a good reason and, largely, executed well, are still frustrating to read.

In many ways this book was a step up from the first story. But at the same time, I struggled with it a bit more. Perhaps I just had higher expectations for Miri and wanted to see more growth in her as a character between the last book and this. Of course, she’s still young, and, of course, the point of this story was to challenge her even further, but perhaps when I’m reading about a character who is contemplating marriage, I also wanted to see a bit more perception from her. Her naivety in the first book was charming and believable. She’s still charming here, but there were points where her naivety was a bit much. We’ve been presented with a smart character, some common sense and ability to reason through certain things while still being challenged by others would have been more believable and enjoyable.

For readers who enjoyed “Princess Academy,” this book is a fun follow up. It retains many of the traits that made the first book so enjoyable while also adding complexity to the challenges the main characters face. While there were a few stumbling points, I definitely recommend it as a strong sequel story.

Rating 7: Worth checking out!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Palace of Stone” is included on this Goodreads list: “The Best Fairytales and Retellings” and “Best Heroine in a Fantasy Book.”

Find “Palace of Stone” at your library using Worldcat!

Previous Review: “Princess Academy”

 

 

 

Kate’s Review: “The Loney”

25458371Book: “The Loney” by Andrew Michael Hurley

Publishing Info: John Murray, August 2015 (first published September, 2014)

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

Book Description: If it had another name, I never knew, but the locals called it the Loney – that strange nowhere between the Wyre and the Lune where Hanny and I went every Easter time with Mummer, Farther, Mr and Mrs Belderboss and Father Wilfred, the parish priest.

It was impossible to truly know the place. It changed with each influx and retreat, and the neap tides would reveal the skeletons of those who thought they could escape its insidious currents. No one ever went near the water. No one apart from us, that is.

I suppose I always knew that what happened there wouldn’t stay hidden for ever, no matter how much I wanted it to. No matter how hard I tried to forget…

Review: Gothic horror is a genre that has been making something of a comeback in recent years. The themes of isolation and madness and the inability to trust what you are seeing are all very upsetting, and in a time when manor homes and country life has changed and dwindled these themes have evolved to fit even the urban life. So perhaps our recent fears of losing touch with each other in spite of being so connected have paved the way for this comeback. “The Loney” by Andrew Michael Hurley goes back to the basics of the gothic horror novel, setting it in an earlier time and yet making it feel even earlier. Though it takes place in the 1970s in England, sometimes I felt like it was the turn of the century given the superstitions and moralities that ruled in this book.

It concerns Smith, a man who in present days hears of a news story of a child’s remains, found in the area where his family took a Catholic Pilgrimmage in the 1970s when he was a boy. He takes the reader back in time to this long forgotten and repressed weekend. His older brother, Hanny, can’t talk, and their mother Mummer, zealously Catholic and desperate to cure him, thinks that a ritual in this area will cure him. Her strict and dogmatic approach to Catholicism is in stark contrast to that of the new Priest, Father Bernard, who is far more meditative and lenient when it comes to Christ’s teachings. The Old Ways versus Reform is one of the many themes in this book, as change is both sought out but also feared. Mummer doesn’t believe that medicine can cure Hanny, but also thinks that this new Priest isn’t devout enough, in spite of the fact he very well may be representative of changing times and ideals. Mummer is putting her faith into Father Bernard, but has no actual faith in him because he doesn’t line up with what she thinks faith should be. The priest who better lines up with her was Father Wilfred, a tyranical and steadfast priest who passed away shortly before their trip, a death surrounded by strange rumors of it’s circumstances.

And then there are the locals, which consist of two groups. The first is a man and woman couple, and a pregnant teenager that Hanny is especially taken by. Smith and Hanny don’t get much concrete information about the girl, why she is here, and who the father of her child is. Just that this may not necessarily be her first time at the birthing rodeo. Then there are the strange men who wander through the countryside with their dog, and in and out of the pilgrims’ path. I couldn’t help but get some serious “Wicker Man” (the original, not the terrible remake) vibes whenever they came into play, their own beliefs in stark contrast to those of Mummer and Father Bernard (and the newly deceased Father Wilfred). They too have their own rituals and beliefs, and their own zealotry. I can’t say that the way that they were mysterious and threatening in their weird ways was a new concept, but it did serve an interesting purpose in this book when contrasted with Mummer’s beliefs. Mummer may be faithful and righteous, but she is cruel and cold to her children, especially Hanny. And then you have the strange and threatening locals who have their own anti-Christian beliefs, but who ultimately get shit done in their own ways, even if it is also pretty terrible. And given that this book takes place in Lancashire, the area that has a history of witch trials and witch burnings, the locals and their motives and powers are all the more relevant and creepy. It became clear by the end that “The Loney” was a meditation of faith, religion, and true belief at the expense of others. Even if true belief does work in some cases, there is always going to be some kind of cost.

I say that this is horror because the setting is classic to the genre. The characters wander around misty and dank moors, surrounded by coastline, marsh, and ruins. Smith feels alone in his own fears and skepticism of how this pilgrimage will go, but his love for his older brother makes him desperate to believe that all is well, even when it’s clear that it most certainly isn’t. But while the themes were spot on in this book, in gothic tone and religious reflection, I think that my biggest problem with this book was that it wasn’t particularly scary. At least not to me. I had gone in expecting some kind of slow burn creepiness that would unsettle me through and through, but instead I was just sort of ‘oh. okay’ by the end of it. The themes are interesting, and I liked the comparison and contrasting between the Catholic beliefs and the beliefs and strange, Nativity-esque ritual that the locals were doing (and whose grim climax fittingly happens during Easter weekend). The metaphor and symbolism weren’t lost on me. But I wish that it had been scarier.

For those looking for a scary book, “The Loney” may not be for you. But for those looking for an examination of deep and unyielding faith and the awful things it can reap, you may want to check it out.

Rating 7: A story with fascinating themes on religion and zealous faith, but not as scary as I had hoped it would be.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Loney” is included on these Goodreads lists: “Folk Horror and Mystery”, and “Best of Little Known Authors”.

Find “The Loney” at your library using WorldCat!

 

Kate’s Review: “Doctor Strange (Vol.1): The Way of the Weird”

26030872Book: “Doctor Strange (Vol.1): The Way of the Weird”

Publishing Info: Marvel Comics, May 2016

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

Description: Only Doctor Strange can protect our world from the darkness beyond — now, witness the full toll that constant struggle takes on Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme! Every spell cast comes at a cost, but what happens when Strange falls behind on his tab? Find out as the good doctor wakes up somewhere very odd, nearly naked — with no spell books, no weapons and no memory of how he got there…or why all the monsters are chasing him! And as a new visitor to Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum learns one wrong door can lead to oblivion, a magic circle of Strange’s friends and allies are about to face their greatest threat. Dark forces are destroying everything mystical in the multiverse, and their sights are set on this dimension. Magic’s days are numbered, and Doctor Strange is not ready!

Review: Okay, listen up, nerds. I’ve said it before, but I’m saying it again. I am very solidly a DC girl when it comes to my comic book stuff and movies (Deadpool and X-Men being exceptions). I have dabbled in multiple Marvel comics, but ultimately (besides Deadpool) I haven’t found many Marvel stories that resonate with me, or that I feel a desperate need to continue. But I have always been vaguely intrigued by Doctor Strange. For one thing, the very premise of his character is right up my alley. I mean, sorcerers are awesome and I will always get behind that kind of thing. But the bigger reason is that on one of my favorite TV shows, “The Venture Bros”, there is a character named Doctor Orpheus who is based upon Doctor Strange. And I love me some Doctor Orpheus. Now Doctor Strange is no Doctor Orpheus, but I actually enjoyed this comic all the same.

What I liked about this comic is that Doctor Strange has found himself at a place where using his magic has caused him to play a very high price when it comes to his existence. He’s incredibly powerful and can help others with his magic, but all of that comes with consequences to himself. He lives in a very haunted and paranormally active house, known as the Sanctum Sanctorum. He can only eat food that is so far out there and filled with magic because regular food no longer sustains him, and even hurts him. He has few friends and few contacts outside of his housekeeper/cook/martial arts teacher/confidant, Wong. And while he thinks that he is fine in this existence, when magic itself starts to disappear from his home and his life, he has to come to terms with how far gone he is and how much he relies on it. And it’s cost to him. He is no longer able to do whatever he needs to do in terms of magical acts and powers. There are now consequences to his magic, and that makes him no longer the all powerful being that Doctor Strange has kind of been up until this point. It’s pretty dark in theme, but the tone never feels brooding or morose. It always treads the line pretty finitely.

This book also introduces us to a new character named Zelma Stanton, a librarian from the Bronx who is the perfect foil for our sorcerer. We get a human who is unfamiliar with this magic to fill in for the reader, who needs things explained to her the way that we do. But it’s done in a way that never feels over-done or exposition heavy. In fact, Zelma is a very fun and witty character who, I think, is going to be fun to follow. Also, HELLO, she’s a librarian! That alone was enough to make me love her immediately. I also do have to give some serious props to Marvel when it comes to how they handle adding new characters of different backgrounds, races, orientations, and histories. It’s always great seeing more diversity in comic books, so welcome Zelma and I hope you stick around!

The overarching mystery of where the magic is going has been put into motion, as other Sorcerer Supremes like Strange have been murdered. But it’s no where near being fully explained. I wasn’t as interested in this mystery as I was interested in Zelma, or Doctor Strange’s background and his present troubles. I know that some of his troubles are derived from this arc, but I would have been perfectly fine if this was just a character study of a person who can no longer function without an outside force there to keep them going. So I guess I kind of wish that this was going to be more like “Sandman” and less like other superhero comics. The good news is that it still has my attention. While I’ve looked at other Marvel comics and said ‘oh yeah, I’ll go on eventually’, only to not go on at all or to be disappointed by where they eventually went, I am looking forward to seeing where Doctor Strange is going next. Not enough to get me to go buy the comic books themselves, mind you, but still. I want to keep going. That’s pretty impressive in and of itself.

Rating 7: I wish that this was more like a Gaiman-exploring mythology a la “Sandman”, but “Doctor Strange: The Way of the Weird” entertains. Strange and Zelma are a good team.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Doctor Strange (Vol.1): The Way of the Weird” isn’t on many lists yet. But I would recommend it if you like “Sandman” for sure, and the newer Marvel comics.

Find “Doctor Strange (Vol.1): The Way of the Weird”at your library using World Cat!

 

Serena’s Review: “Unspoken”

10866624Book: “Unspoken” by Sarah Rees Brennan

Publishing Info: Random House, September 2012

Where Did I Get this Book: the library!

Book Description from Goodreads: Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

Review: I’m not sure how this book ended up on my TBR pile. I’ve read some Sarah Rees Brennan in the past, but it has been a while since I picked up one of her books. So, it was a pleasant surprise when I was browsing the library shelves (Goodreads app in hand to check against my to-read lists) and found this book right there waiting for me and didn’t have a lot of pre-existing expectations set in place going in. And it was good! Brennan manages to balance many classic YA tropes with a fresh voice and perspective that allows them to grow past their typical, clumsy restraints.

From the get go, I liked Kami Glass. She’s pretty much a half-Japanese, British born, Lois-Lane-in-the-making. And we all know how much I love Lois Lane. Full of spunk, wit, and drive, Kami pursues her goals with an energy that can’t help but draw in those around her. And in a testament to the author’s creative ability, the cast of characters who surround Kami are as diverse as they are typical, without falling over the stumbling block stereotypes often found in young adult literature. Kami has a female best friend, Angela, who is very clearly her strongest support system (stereotype avoided: lack of female friends for the female protagonist so as to cement her “difference” from “other girls”). There is even a third female friend, Holly, one of the more popular girls at school (stereotype avoided: “mean girls”). Angela has an older brother who is a healthy, non-romantic male friend of Kami’s (stereotype avoided: meet-cute with the boy-next-door who is a love interest). Kami has a very stable, loving family complete with two parents and two younger brothers (stereotype avoided: nonexistent/absent parents, lack of siblings or poor relationship with a distasteful, often older, sibling).

And, while there are the makings of a love triangle, this too is waded through carefully and with respect to the emotional struggles that would exist due to the situation. In fact, the way the relationship between Kami and Jared was portrayed was one of my favorite aspects of the story. Each honestly believed the other was a made-up character in their own head. Discovering at age 16 that your imaginary friend is not only real, but here in your own town, going to your own school, would have dramatic affects. This is not a romantic, blissful situation. Suddenly the closeness and emotional vulnerability becomes real and, perhaps, invasive. Kami begins to question where she leaves off and Jared begins. Physical contact is uncomfortable to the extreme.

I can’t say how much I appreciated the author’s handling of this situation. What could have so easily been twisted into a silly, romantic plot device is instead highlighted as intensely unhealthy, especially when Kami and Jared attempt to build a real friendship/relationship with their fully existing selves. In a book notable for its witty dialogue and punchy descriptions, Kami spends a significant amount of time analyzing independence, a sense of self, and what a healthy relationship should look like.

The mystery and fantasy elements of the story were also strong. The history of the Lynburn family and this small, British town was chilling and the book does a good job setting up this conflict for the remaining two books in the series. My one point of real criticism is the location for the book. It is set in England, however, the language felt very Americanized. Not being natively British, I’m not sure if maybe my expectations are out of sorts or whether this is an actual failing. But I routinely forgot that this was set in England at all. The lack of British terms and turns of phrase in the dialogue felt odd. Other than creating a “manor family” legacy for the Lynburns and the town of Sorry-in-the-Vale, this setting felt underutilized and perhaps even disingenuous with regards to the other narrative decisions.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and have already placed a request at the library for the second one!

Rating 7: Very good, though a few questionable decisions with regards to underutilizing its setting.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Unspoken” is included on these Goodreads lists: “Best YA Books with Non-White Protagonists” and “Strong Womances In YA.”

Find “Unspoken” at your library using Worldcat!

Kate’s Review: “The Vampire Lestat”

43814Book: “The Vampire Lestat” by Anne Rice

Publishing Info: Knopf, 1985

Where Did I Get This Book: The Library!

Book Description from Goodreads: Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary France, now Lestat is a rockstar in the demonic, shimmering 1980s. He rushes through the centuries in search of others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his terrifying exsitence. His story, the second volume in Anne Rice’s best-selling Vampire Chronicles, is mesmerizing, passionate, and thrilling.

Review: When I was in high school, like many teenage girls who didn’t feel like they fit in anywhere, I went through a few identity explorations. I was a hippie, I was a rocker, I was a punk, and I was, mostly at the heart of myself, a goth. Black lipstick, black nail polish, dog collar, I had all of that and a sullen attitude and an obsession with the macabre. Though not as extreme, I was kind of Molly Shannon’s character from the “Goth Talk” Saturday Night Live skit.

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Though my best friend was more of a flannel and Minnesota Wild merchandise kind of guy. (source)

I also had a serious love for vampires. This was before “Twilight”, so my objects of obsession were “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, and Anne Rice’s “Vampire Chronicles”. I read “Interview with the Vampire”, “The Vampire Lestat”, and “Queen of the Damned”, but quit the series once I figured out that it was super different from the movie “Queen of the Damned”, which was probably where my true heart was in regards to that that universe. But that should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, as that movie was all about vampire bad boy goth rocker Lestat and his swagger.

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I’m not sorry. (source)

So one night my husband and I decided to watch “Queen of the Damned”, and the next day I decided to pick up “The Vampire Lestat” at work. Call me inspired. It wasn’t long after starting, though, that I realized just how much that movie bastardized the book, the characters, most everything from the Anne Rice stories. I guess I’d blocked that out.

Picking up after “Interview with The Vampire”, “The Vampire Lestat” is the origin story of that book’s antagonist, Lestat de Lioncourt. We knew he was a snarky snippy bad boy in “Interview”, so now we get his side of the story in “The Vampire Lestat”. Unlike “Interview”, “The Vampire Lestat” is a book about a vampire who has few to no regrets about who he is at the end of the day. What I had forgotten from my high school years is that Lestat is not only a brat and an egoist, he also probably has too many emotions and feelings about those around him and those he cares about, which ultimately screws him over again and again. I like that Rice gave him the same problems as other angsty vampires of that trope, but instead of being gloomy and sulky, he turns it into armor. Lestat is definitely a cruel and destructive character by the end of this book, but seeing why he is that way is the kind of story I am a huge, huge sucker for. I especially liked his relationship with his friend and lover Nicky, a sensitive soul who isn’t cut out for the vampire life. It lays groundwork for why Lestat is so drawn to Louis, in spite of their clear differences. The descriptions of the decadent life of pre-Revolutionary France were sumptuous and rich, and Rice took me to every single place that she wanted to. While her writing can tread into the melodramatic at times, I love how she can really transport the reader into her world.

I also like the brass balls that Rice had in writing an openly bisexual character (knowing some of his love interests down the line I say bisexual instead of gay) to be her protagonist. While I’m sure in the 80s it could have been written off as ‘he’s a vampire and therefore some kind of twisted creature’, the love that Lestat has for Nicky and Louis both is never portrayed as anything other than real and all encompassing. True, they aren’t the most healthy of relationships (at all), but in the subtlety and banter and tenderness of these characters, Rice wrote up a story far more romantic than the movie version of “Queen of the Damned” did when they forced Lestat into a monogamous and hetero relationship with Jessie (not that I’m not a fan of that too, because I am, but it seems so sanitized compared to this book. And that came out in 2002! This book was written in 1985 for God’s sake!). And tragic. So very tragic. Lestat has vulnerability in this book that I had completely forgotten about, but it doesn’t compromise how ruthless he is. If anything the fact that he can love so much and be so cruel and vicious makes him all the more intriguing to me.

But then there are the not as good things. This book suffers from serious  fantasy bloat, as while it is supposed to be Lestat’s story we also get some background for other characters that doesn’t feel like it fits. I love Marius and I like Armand, but I wasn’t here for their stories, I was here for Lestat’s. Unfortunately, these backgrounds were shoehorned in, and I found myself skimming those parts, which is too bad because that mythology is definitely interesting. I just didn’t feel that it fit in this story. There was also the uncomfortable relationship that Lestat had with Gabrielle, his first vampire fledgling who also happens to be his mother. While nothing was explicit and while Lestat was more preoccupied with Nicky, the weird erotic undertones between these two were a bit off putting. I want to like Gabrielle, because there is a lot of depth there. She has her place as a woman during the 1700s, so becoming a vampire gives her a new freedom that she never could have experienced when she was alive. So it’s really unfortunate that her presence was a bit more uncomfortable than it should have been given the potential that was there.

Overall, re-reading “The Vampire Lestat” was a fun endeavor if only because I appreciated it a bit more this time around. I will probably re-visit “Queen of the Damned” (the book) at some point, but for now I’m content with the bastardized movie and thinking about Lestat, Louis, and Nicky.

Rating 7: I love Lestat to death and his voice is snarky, bitchy, and dark. His story, however, is a bit convoluted and sometimes loses him as the main character.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Vampire Lestat” is included on these Goodreads Lists: “Rooting for the Bad Guy”, and “Best Gay Vampires” (you knew this was coming. Lestat and Louis FOREVER!).

Find “The Vampire Lestat” at your library using WorldCat!

 

Kate’s Review: “Secret Six (Vol.6): The Darkest House”

12138927Book: “Secret Six (Vol.6): The Darkest House” by Gail Simone and Jim Calafiore (Ill.).

Publishing Info: DC Comics, January 2012

Where Did I Get This: The library!

Book Description from Goodreads: As a member of the Secret Six is determined to bring back a loved one from the Gates of Hell using a ‘Get Out of Hell Free’ card stolen back in the first arc of the series. Meanwhile Bane must face his inner demons and make some crucial decisions regarding his future with the Secret Six!

Review: And here we are. We have reached the end of The Secret Six arc, pre- New 52. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye, really. I put it off as long as I could. But the time has come to say goodbye to my favorite mercenary super villains (who are not really all that villainous). Which sucks all the more because it was a very indefinite goodbye, with little closure for really any of the characters I have come to love. In their final arc we go back to the beginning, bringing back the much fought over ‘Get Out of Hell Free’ card that was so coveted in Volume 1. I’m sure you can probably guess who wants to use this card. After all, Scandal Savage hasn’t really gotten over Knockout, even though she’s dating the very lovely Liana. But when she decides to use it, she finds that someone has backstabbed her and taken the card for themselves. Our next arc involves a Hail Mary attempt for the Six, with Bane deciding that it is time to try and take out his long held enemies once and for all.

I don’t know how I feel about the end of this. It was annoying that there was one last bit of backstabbing. I thought we were past this, guys. So much about this storyline left me feeling a bit cold. For one thing, Scandal, darling, you have a lovely, LOVELY companion in Liana. So why are you deciding NOW that you need to go get Knockout back from hell? I had thought that she had moved on and was very happy with her and Liana, as I feel that Liana is far more interesting than Knockout is. It didn’t help that Liana was put in a very precarious situation and Scandal was too busy trying to get her old lover back to really assist her until it was almost too late. THIS DID NOT SIT WELL WITH ME. It just felt weird to bring Knockout back right at the end of things. And maybe they didn’t know it was the end. But it feels needless.

I also am frustrated that Bane just decides that they are going to take out Batman’s allies, which in turn leads to their downfall as a team. This also felt like a weird plot choice to me! Especially since I thought that he was doing pretty well with this group of people, and was possibly done with this Batman obsession. But what do I know? I guess they just needed to end it somehow and so WHY NOT END IT WITH THE GODDAMN JUSTICE LEAGUE TAKING THESE POOR LOSERS OUT? I was pleased that Huntress was there to critique and criticize the whole concept of heroes and what makes a hero. Because let’s be honest, the thing that I like about Secret Six is that they are kind of ambiguous, and could be good if they really wanted to be. And not only could they be good, they are so inept at being totally bad (outside of MAYBE Bane) that there was no way they stood any kind of chance.

All of this said, there were things in this that I liked. More sweet moments between Jeanette and Deadshot (and her being very dominant when kissing him just made me grin from ear to ear) and a sweet scene between an isolated Ragdoll and Scandal were great, and when they were in Hell I was especially satisfied by what Catman got to see, given that his father was such a horrible person and has, indeed, ended up in this awful, torturous place. My favorite arc, however, was a date that Bane went on with Liana’s friend and fellow dancer Spencer. He took her to a carnival, guys. A CARNIVAL.

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This was everything I ever wanted.

So, while I was ultimately disappointed with the end of the series, I still loved “Secret Six” as a whole. I loved all of these characters. I loved Simone’s writing. I wish that there was more. I may have to see how the New 52 Secret Six are. But I feel like the originals will always hold the key to my heart.

Rating 7: A somewhat weak end, but Bane going on a date is so good. I’ll miss the Six.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Secret Six (Vol.6): The Darkest House” is included on these Goodreads lists: “Diverse Heroes in Comics/Graphic Novels”, and “Greatest Graphic Novels”.

Find “Secret Six (Vol.6): The Darkest House” at your library using WorldCat!

Previous reviews of “Secret Six”: “Villains United”,  “Unhinged“, “Depths”, “Danse Macabre”, “Cats in the Cradle”, and “The Reptile Brain”.

Kate’s Review: “Secret Six (Vol.5): The Reptile Brain”

10241987Book: “Secret Six (Vol.5): The Reptile Brain” by Gail Simone, Paul Cornell, Jim Calafiore (Ill.), and Pete Woods (Ill.)

Publishing Info: DC Comics, May 2011

Where Did I Get This Book: The Library!

My Summary: The Secret Six have split up, with Bane and Jeanette on their own and Scandal, Catman, Deadshot, Ragdoll, and Black Alice remaining. But they soon find themselves on the opposing sides in a mission. Bane’s team is supposed to annex a lost world called Skartaris for the government, while Scandal’s team is hired by Mockingbird to kill them before they can. It’s Six vs Six, and not everyone may make it out alive.

Review: I hate it when teammates fight. This is one of the reasons that I was lukewarm on “Captain America: Civil War”, and had a hard time watching parts of “Batman Vs Superman”. I just want my favorite characters who are friends to remain friends and not hate each other. So when we got to this story arc of The Secret Six, I knew that I was going to a rough spot for me as a reader. Bane and Jeanette have their own team now, which would be fine if Scandal’s Six weren’t trying to kill them as ordered by Mockingbird. I knew that this was going to happen sooner or later, but that didn’t make it any less upsetting.

The pros of this story are that it gave Black Alice a lot more to do this time around outside of angsting. I also liked seeing King Shark make his Secret Six full debut, as he is so damn funny and obnoxious. It was also really neat that Simone decided to address some deeper themes in this arc, specifically that of annexation and colonialism. Black Alice has a lovely monologue about how using the people of Skartaris for their own agendas is wrong, and how they should be left to live their own lives and not ‘civilized’. It treaded towards a bit clunky in it’s execution, but it never quite got there because Black Alice is an earnest teenage girl and it works for her. Had it come from anyone else it might not have worked as well. There was also the watershed moment between Bane and Scandal, who have been at odds and butting heads for quite awhile now. They needed that moment, and I love their very loving, father-daughter relationship.

Speaking of father-daughter relationships, Vandal Savage comes back in this collection, and that was far less interesting to me. I didn’t really need a re-hash of Scandal going against her father’s wishes because she’s a lesbian. Make no mistake, I like that Simone was addressing the complications of this relationship because of who Scandal is (and why her father can’t or won’t accept it), and I really love that Scandal is uncompromising in her sexuality. Given the recent pattern in TV where lesbians have been dropping like flies, I like that in 2011 Scandal was here, being herself, standing up for herself, and not backing down or being thrown aside (though I should note that Scandal’s life isn’t totally immune to the bury your gays trope, as her lover Knockout died heroically and tragically). It just solidified what a creep Vandal is when it comes to his child, even though he does seem to deeply care for her. Complicated? Sure. Interesting? Not as much as it was the first time we addressed this wedge between them. The only benefit is that it gave Scandal more to do, and I am always for that.

We also got a great moment where Deadshot called Jeanette “Sweetie-Pie Cookie Puss”. Those two are just the best.

“The Reptile Brain” was a step down from “Cat’s in the Cradle”, but it was still a good volume. And soon I will be at the end of my “Secret Six” run, as the next volume, “The Darkest House”, is the end of the line.

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Rating 7: A dip from “Cat’s in the Cradle”, but some touching moments between Scandal and Bane, plus more Scandal character exploration, kept the heart firmly beating in this series.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Secret Six (Vol.5): The Reptile Brain” is included on these Goodreads lists: “Diverse Heroes in Comics/Graphic Novels”, and “Greatest Graphic Novels”.

Find “Secret Six (Vol.5): The Reptile Brain” at your library using WorldCat!

Previous reviews of “Secret Six”: “Villains United”,  “Unhinged“, “Depths”, “Danse Macabre”, “Cats in the Cradle”.

Kate’s Review: “Don’t You Cry”

27821486Book: “Don’t You Cry” by Mary Kubica

Publishing Info: MIRA, May 2016

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

Book Description from Goodreads: In downtown Chicago, a young woman named Esther Vaughan disappears from her apartment without a trace. A haunting letter addressed to My Dearest is found among her possessions, leaving her friend and roommate Quinn Collins to wonder where Esther is and whether or not she’s the person Quinn thought she knew. 

Meanwhile, in a small Michigan harbor town an hour outside Chicago, a mysterious woman appears in the quiet coffee shop where eighteen-year-old Alex Gallo works as a dishwasher. He is immediately drawn to her charm and beauty, but what starts as an innocent crush quickly spirals into something far more dark and sinister than he ever expected.  

As Quinn searches for answers about Esther, and Alex is drawn further under Pearl’s spell, master of suspense Mary Kubica takes readers on a taut and twisted thrill ride that builds to a stunning conclusion and shows that no matter how fast and far we run, the past always catches up with us in the end. 

Review: I don’t know about you guys, but I have a guilty pleasure love for the movie “Single White Female”. While it never really scared me so much (the only time I’ve lived with a stranger was in the dorms, and my friend Megan is the bee’s knees), I did enjoy how creepy it was. So when I heard about “Don’t You Cry” by Mary Kubica, and saw it described as “‘Single While Female’ on steroids”, well. I mean, come on. Let’s do this. The fact that it was written by Kubica was just the icing on the cake, as I read her previous novel “Pretty Baby” earlier this year and found it truly addictive. Her first person POVs in that were well done and very unreliable, making it a book filled with unpredictable (but yeah, sometimes predictable) twists and turns. The good news is that “Don’t You Cry” follows a similar structure of expectations, as it was definitely creepy and caught me off guard a number of times. The not as good news is that sometimes in an effort to throw the reader off the scent, it made some characters farfetched and treading into mixed up territory.

There are two different perspectives in this book that alternate between chapters. First there is Quinn, the roommate of the missing Esther, and then there is Alex, a teenager in a small town who leads a lonely life until a mysterious stranger arrives. I’m going to start with Alex, as I found his parts to be the weaker of the two. I understand why he was used, for the most part, and seeing him get close to ‘Pearl’ (as he calls the mysterious stranger) was a unique way to present some of the missing puzzle pieces in the mystery at hand. But at the same time, Alex felt like an odd choice of character to plant in this role. He didn’t really have any connection to the rest of the mystery, he felt more like a hapless bystander who was just there out of convenience for later plot points. While I know I was supposed to feel bad for him, he never really got past a superficial characterization of ‘the loner boy who has no one who loves him and aches for affection’. I like this trope just fine if it is properly explored, but in this case it wasn’t, and he just kind of bored me. His hardships were more just there not because it made his character interesting, but because it made some of the late game choices he made plausible. And that didn’t really fly for me.

But then there is Quinn’s side of the story. This was definitely the stronger of the two perspectives, and the one that I most wanted to be reading. But there is a problem with this side too. I know that the whole point of the thriller genre is to make the reader question what is genuine and who the true threats are. Kubica did a really good job of this in her book “Pretty Baby”, as in that book one of the narrators slowly descended into madness. It was written in such a way that it was like the frog in the slow boil. I’m going to be a little spoilery here, because it doesn’t really take away from the overall mystery, because I need to address this issue. Quinn, to me, seemed a bit unhinged and nuts. There were things that she did that just seemed very off and obsessive, and I was fairly convinced that she was going to be the end game antagonist. But lo and behold, she wasn’t. And I can’t help but feel like she was still just a little too nuts to be someone that we are ultimately supposed to be rooting for. I don’t know if I was just assuming that she was insane and therefore just saw that in everything, or if Kubica did too much in trying to red herring her. I appreciate trying to mislead the reader, but I think that it went a little too far with Quinn.

The mystery itself was pretty well done. I had no idea what was going on and when I thought I’d figured something out, it turned out I hadn’t. I was turning the pages very quickly during the climax, eager to see how it all fell into place, and looking back through the narrative the keys to the mystery were sprinkled throughout expertly.

Rating 7: The mystery was pretty strong and kept me guessing, but the characters were either too flat, or overly suspicious.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Don’t You Cry” is included on these Goodreads lists: “2016 Must Reads”, and “Most Anticipated Mysteries 2016”.

Find “Don’t You Cry” at your library using WorldCat!

Book Club Review: “Tomorrow, When The War Began”

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We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing bookclub running for the last year and a half. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Our current theme is “Books with Movie Adaptations.” 

For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for bookclub. We’ll also post the next book coming up in bookclub. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own bookclub! 

Book: “Tomorrow, When the War Began” by John Marsden

Publishing Info: Pan Macmillian, 1993

Where Did We Get This Book: Both from the library!

Book Description from Goodreads: When Ellie and her friends return from a camping trip in the Australian bush, they find things hideously wrong — their families are gone. Gradually they begin to comprehend that their country has been invaded and everyone in their town has been taken prisoner. As the reality of the situation hits them, they must make a decision — run and hide, give themselves up and be with their families, or fight back.

Kate’s Thoughts:

When our dear friend and co-book club member Melissa picked “Tomorrow, When The War Began” for book club, I hadn’t heard of it. In my mind I was picturing something like “A Boy and His Dog”, which is… decidedly not what this book is. I think that I hadn’t heard of it because of a few things, the most obvious being that I was younger than it’s demo when it came out in 1993, and when I did become part of the YA reading age group I had already pretty much graduated to adult novels. So suffice to say, this was a whole new experience for me.

One thing that struck me about this book was that it was pretty grim by today’s standards, so the fact that it was published in 1993 kind of boggles my mind. There are many themes in this book that seemed pretty dark and mature for a book written for teens about twenty years ago. The first thing that is striking and out in the open is the violence. Marsden isn’t gratuitous with the violence that Ellie and her friends encounter, but he isn’t unflinching with it either. It always feels very real, be it Ellie coming home to find her dogs dead or dying, or Ellie blowing up a lawnmower and in turn causing the deaths of some invading soldiers. The reactions to violence from most of the group also feels very true to life, as they don’t automatically turn into commandos right away. Ellie is definitely uncomfortable with hurting people, even if she eases into it out of necessity, and other characters in the group also have to adapt and react in their own ways.

I was also quite impressed with how Marsden so wonderfully captured the voice of a teenage girl. I by no means think that guys can’t write girl voices or vice versa, but I was a little worried that it may come off as a bit stereotypical, even if he hadn’t meant to. So I was very happy when Ellie did seem like a pretty normal, and typical teenage girl. I thought that the way she thought and approached certain situations seemed reasonable and understandable given her character, and while I was a bit irritated that there was a brief possibility of a love triangle between her, nice boy Lee, and her best friend Homer, it was quashed pretty quickly and acknowledged as displaced feelings. After all, Lee is the one that gets her going both intellectually and physically, at the end of the day. I also thought that Marsden’s approach to sex was pretty realistic too, as Ellie definitely has urges and does think about these things. While I know there are some people out there who may think that these kids would have more on their minds than their sex lives, I think that they are humans at the end of the day, and teenagers to boot.

I think that my qualms were definitely more just about the story as a whole. I like end of days dystopia kinds of stories, but this one almost felt a bit too realistic for me to be able to get super into it. A strange criticism, I know. The ending felt abrupt, and while I know and get why he wrote it the way he did, it just seemed like a fast way to wrap things up. Luckily, there are a bunch of other books in the series, so it’s not like it ended completely on a note of ambiguity…. Or maybe it does, I don’t know I haven’t read them. Overall I did enjoy reading “Tomorrow, When the War Began”, but I don’t think I’ll keep going. This was good enough as it was.

Serena’s Thoughts:

I was one of only two book club members who had already read this book. Not only that, but I had read the entire series! So all the gold stars for me! (Is self-congratulatory speech a good look??) I grew up in rural Idaho and for some reason the librarians at the tiny local library were all about Australian, teen guerilla warfare and had bought the complete series. I remember blowing through them as a kid, and have from time to time thought of them as an adult when reminscing about favorites books as a kid. But I hadn’t re-read them, so it was a treat getting to re-visit the series now as an adult.

I must say, it holds up. If anything, I’m kind of impressed with kid-Serena’s good taste (the self praise has gotten out of control! But seriously, I had many other questionable favorites as a kid, so this was a bit reassuring, really.) As Kate said, I was impressed by many things in this book, especially given when it was written. The author doesn’t shy away from the violence or trauma of the events he lays out. His characters are never given any easy outs and the variety of reactions and coping methods that the different teens fall back on seem all too realistic. Certain characters whom you might not expect to thrive under the stress rise to the occasion, while others struggle more. Moreover, there is never any criticism for these different reactions.

And, also following Kate’s lead, the author’s take on a teenage girl’s inner thought process and voice is spot on. As a kid, I never spent much time thinking about whether an author was a man or a woman (take that publishing companies that think teenagers fret about that stuff!), so when I picked it up as an adult and saw that it was a male author, I was actually a bit surprised. Especially given that the book was written in first person, an easier narrative style for many young readers and often a go-to for these type of books even now, this ability to slip into the skin of his female protagonist was really impressive. As simplistic as first person narration is, I think it can also be more challenging in specific situations like this where the author has to so completely encompass the full perspective of the character.

Specifically, there was a moment in the book where Ellie is having a conversation with one of her male friends and there is an inner line where she recognizes his tactics as typical of a teenage boy, trying to “bully” her into a relationship almost. This is so spot on! Reading it myself, I instantly recognized the type of conversation that was happening, and for an adult man to so fully capture this inner working of teenagedom from a young girl’s perspective is truly impressive.

My one complaint was that the book was a bit long on the descriptions. I don’t remember noticing this as a kid, and it may have simply been a factor of my re-read. I knew where things were going and was maybe in a rush to get there. But while there might have been a lot of text given over to these descriptions of scenes and locales, the writing was on point and really did an excellent job of painting the scene of the Australian wilderness.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed returning to this series. I also heard from a fellow book club member that there is a follow-up series, “The Ellie Chronicles,” that I might need to check out now, too!

Kate’s Rating 7: An impressive narrative and story for what I was expecting! It wasn’t totally my jam, thematics wise, but it was a worthwhile reading experience!

Serena’s Rating 8: I greatly enjoyed returning to this series and am almost even more impressed with it now as an adult than I was the first time around as a teen.

Book Club Notes and Questions:

In due diligence to our book club theme, we watched the 2010 version of “Tomorrow, When the War Began” which is currently available on Netflix. I, for one, really enjoyed this movie. The casting was spot on, specifically the actors they got for Ellie and Homer. While they did have to leave out several parts of the book (sadly a lot of the time they spent in Hell the second go around), most of the decisions made sense and it seemed that the movie could stand alone. The biggest disappointment, probably, was the fact that several of the characters had to be narrowed down to meet the shorter screen time they were allotted, so we didn’t have as fully rounded character arcs for some of them. Again, understandable, if not a bit disappointing. And while the Australian scenery in the film was beautiful, I think Kate (and everyone at book club) will agree that the only Australian scenery that is ever needed is this:

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Hugh Jackman in “Australia”

1. This book was published in 1993, but has a lot of themes that are pretty common in today’s YA literature. Do you think that this book would be as successful if it came out today, and took place in the early 21st century instead of the late 20th?

2. What did you think of the invading army’s ‘identity’ being ambiguous? Do you think that having to know who was invading would have improved the story? Hindered it? Not made any difference?

3. How did you feel about Ellie as a character? Do you think that her voice was authentic and relatable?

4. Who was your favorite character in the book? The movie? If they were different, why?

5.  If you went on a camping trip and came back to find your homeland invaded, what 6 other people would be in your group? Would you turn to guerilla warfare? Hide?

Reader’s Advisory:

“Tomorrow, When the War Began” is included on these Goodreads lists: “Best Australian Young Adult Books,” and “Books that should get more attention.”

Find “Tomorrow, When the War Began” at your library using Worldcat!