STACKED

books

Starglass by Phoebe North

|

Terra is about to come of age on the Asherah, a generation ship that’s been in space for five hundred years. It’s approaching its destination, the planet they call Zehava, and hers will be the last generation to grow to adulthood on the ship. Despite this very exciting fact, Terra can’t muster much happiness. She’s been assigned to work a job that she hates, and her father is a drunk and consumed by his grief for her mother, who died some time ago. The boy she likes seems to only be interested in her prettier friend.
And then, naturally, things get worse. Terra witnesses a terrible act of violence by a soldier on the ship, someone who is supposed to protect them. She’s forced to keep it a secret, knowing if she revealed it, her life would be forfeit. She begins to realize that the ruling class of the ship may not have everyone’s best interests at heart, that they’ve overstepped their bounds and may be intending to extend their control of the people of the Asherah beyond the ship, to the planet below. Unsurprisingly for a story like this, Terra finds herself involved in an underground rebellion. Soon, she’s asked to do something terrible, but – so they say – necessary, too.
There’s a lot of creativity at work in Starglass. In particular, the ship’s culture, which is very overtly Jewish, stands out. It’s a nice change from the “casually Christian” cultures of so many other SF stories, as North describes on her website. And it fits nicely into the frame story, which adds an interesting and unexpected layer.
The ending, too, is unexpected, but believable as well. In a way, it subverts the expectations many seasoned SF readers will have. I can’t begin to count the number of SF books I’ve read that have telegraphed their endings. It was nice to be surprised. (I’m being cryptic, but I don’t want to spoil anything.)
That’s not to say all aspects of the story are difficult to guess. Even casual readers will know how Terra’s two “romances” (and I use that word loosely here) will play out. But the writing is solid and the story is well-rounded, with a main plot that drives steadily forward while being buoyed by interesting, purposeful subplots. Starglass is not a thrill ride. In many ways it’s a cultural study of the Asherah’s people, as seen through the eyes of a teenage girl.
I’ve decided I have an affection for stories about generation ships. The possibilities are so huge (read: aliens and new planets) that it’s hard not to get excited about what the author will do. At the same time, it’s hard not to be disappointed if and when the author only scratches the surface of what’s possible. In Starglass, Terra does not leave the ship. Luckily for us, there’s a sequel in the works, and the ending to Starglass leaves no doubt that these possibilities that interest me so will be explored there. It reminds me a lot of the anticipation I felt after finishing Beth Revis’ A Million Suns, where the characters were poised to explore the new planet – and North has given us some hints of what her characters will find on Zehava.
This is a natural readalike for Revis’ trilogy, though readers should expect a more leisurely story than Revis provides. I’m sure it will be classified as a dystopia by many, but this is just good old-fashioned science fiction, and it should please readers looking for just that.
If this review has piqued your interest, check back tomorrow – we’ve got a twitterview with the author, plus a giveaway of a finished copy of Starglass.
Review copy via Edelweiss

A Trio of Adult Romance Reviews

|

Here at STACKED, we mostly stick to YA. But as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I enjoy reading adult romances, though I hadn’t done so in quite some time. After finding all of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton books for sale at my local library, I impulse-bought them (not hard to do when they’re only 25 cents each) and then spent the next several days reading almost every single one.

Then, naturally, I did some reading online and picked up a few other romances by authors I hadn’t read before (all historical Regency-era). Reading these books has broken me out of a reading rut like magic; the three below are some of those I’ve enjoyed most.

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn
You guys. This book. This may be the perfect romance novel. It features Francesca Bridgerton, the sixth Bridgerton sibling, and she’s actually already married at the beginning of the book. Her husband is John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin, and they love each other very much. And then he dies, after a mere two years of marriage. John’s cousin, Michael, is now the Earl, and he’s wracked with all sorts of uncomfortable emotions. He’s loved Francesca all along, you see, but he also loved his cousin, whom he regarded as more of a brother.

You know what’s going to eventually happen, but seeing the two leads work their way through their grief for a man they both loved very much is gratifying and incredibly moving. Francesca’s attraction and eventual love for Michael develops gradually and believably. I loved reading a book where the hero loved the heroine from afar for years, rather than the opposite, which seems to happen much more frequently. All of Julia Quinn’s trademarks are here: funny repartee between the two leads, crackling wit from ancillary characters, families who love and support each other and embrace their differences.

Personal copy

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
I don’t think there’s any author I like as much as Julia Quinn when it comes to romances, but Sarah MacLean is a good alternative. Lady Calpurnia Hartwell is 28 and has given up on finding a husband. Her younger sister (by 10 years) has just become engaged, and while listening in on her sister’s conversation with her new fiance, Callie learns that she’s perceived as passive by most of society. She’s always made sure to keep her reputation spotless, but now that she’s sure she won’t ever marry, she doesn’t see much point. So she makes herself a list. Nine things – nine non-passive things – she’ll do to have a little fun and start living, the way she’s been afraid to for a decade. Things like smoking a cheroot, and gambling at a men’s club, and drinking whiskey at a bar. And, of course, being kissed. That tops her list, and she knows just who she wants to help her cross that particular item off.

Gabriel St. John is the Marquess of Ralston, and Callie has loved him afar for ten years, ever since her first season when he spoke to her briefly and made her feel better about her horrid dress, which made her look ridiculous. He had forgotten the conversation long ago, but Callie never did. And when Callie shows up at his home, daring to make him the person who bestows upon her that first kiss…well, you know where this is heading.

Honestly, I was hoping that Callie would be a bit more proactive when it came to her list. She resolves to do something rather extraordinary, and then when it comes down to it, she holds back. It’s understandable, but I wanted to see her fully commit to at least one item without prodding from Ralston. Ralston remains a bit of an enigma throughout the book, as well, and there’s a bit at the end (that’s a bit of spoiler) that was quite off-putting and dropped this to a 3-star read for me (plus some questionable remarks about Ralston’s absent, now-deceased, mother). All that aside, this was a thoroughly engaging story with an interesting subplot featuring Ralston’s half-sister. I liked seeing Callie come into her own, and her pursuit of the items on her list created wonderful comedic moments.

Borrowed from the library

What the Duke Desires by Sabrina Jeffries
Lisette Bonnaud is the illegitimate daughter of a viscount and his French mistress. When her father died without ever marrying her mother, her half-brother, the legitimate son, cut her and her brother Tristan off completely. Luckily for Lisette and Tristan, their other half-brother, the younger legitimate son named Dom, took them in so they could survive, to his detriment; as a result, his older brother cut him off too. They make money to survive by running a private investigation agency, and Lisette longs to take a more active role in it.

Maximilian Cale is the Duke of Lyons, and he inherited the title after his older brother Peter was kidnapped and eventually declared dead. But then he receives a note from Tristan Bonnaud, claiming he has proof that Peter is still alive. Tristan misses the arranged meeting with Max, and Max is so put out by it that he tracks down the Bonnaud residence in England, where he meets Lisette. Long story short, they team up as a faux married couple and travel to France to investigate Tristan’s disappearance. Lisette hopes to prove to Max that Tristan is not a con man, and Max hopes to figure out what happened to Peter once and for all – or make Tristan pay for the lie.

I rather like romances that include a mystery, and this is a fun one. It gets a bit convoluted at the end, but it’s never uninteresting. What’s really important is the chemistry between the two leads, which is great. I love good repartee, and they have it. Lisette is the most assertive of the three heroines I discuss in this post. She has almost no qualms about haring off to France with Max in tow, and her actions are motivated by love of family. She knows what she wants and she knows she’s smart enough to get it. Max is…not my favorite hero. Alas. Nothing beats a Bridgerton book.

Review copy received from publisher

Over You by Amy Reed

|

Amy Reed’s latest novel Over You comes with everything readers who have been fans of Reed have come to expect: compelling characters, a strong back story to all of those characters, fluid and strong writing, and a story line that keeps you going through to the end, never wanting to set the book down. What Over You adds that takes this book from being a really good one to an outstanding one is how it goes from being a story about a friendship — an unhealthy one — to being a story about independence and, at heart, about feminism.

Sadie’s been kicked out of her house by her father for drinking too much, and she’s being sent to live with her mother Lark on her farm in rural Nebraska. Sadie, unable to do anything alone or for herself, begs her friend Max to join her on the trip. She agrees, and the story begins as both wait at a bus stop to be picked up by Sadie’s mother’s boyfriend/stepfather/romantic partner. 

Max is the one telling the story. Max lives for Sadie and would follow her anywhere. They’re best friends; they love each other; they’re connected at the hip. There have been times when Sadie’s been Max’s romantic interest, too, where the lines between best friend and romantic interest and the feelings therein have blurred a bit, and Sadie’s allowed Max to indulge in those feelings.

Allowed.

But once the two girls get to the farm and find they’re going to be housed together in a small trailer on a farm where sustainability and intentional living are the keys to success and happiness, Sadie contracts an illness that forces her to quarantine. Max can’t handle it — she can’t be away from Sadie, can’t be away from the girl who helped her find her way in the world. It’s especially distressing at the farm, since this is the place where Max didn’t necessarily want to fit in. She didn’t want to be separated from Sadie because Sadie is her best friend and the person who helps direct the course of her life.

Of course, that forced separation is what Max needs to realize that Sadie is no friend. 
Sadie is the kind of girl who needs to have power in a situation. Who needs to be doted upon. And Max realizes this when Sadie’s illness means that Max is good for nothing BUT giving into Sadie’s demands and wishes. Sadie doesn’t love her; Sadie uses her. 

There’s another element to this story, and that comes in the form of Dylan. He’s the boy Sadie had her eyes on when they first got to the farm, and he’s the boy who Max finds herself spending a lot of time with now, as Sadie’s taken sick. Slowly, Max finds herself falling for Dylan. He’s mysterious and dark and aloof — all of the things that Max found so compelling about Sadie. 

He’s her replacement, which means…he’s not going to be good for Max either. Though I saw it coming from miles away, he goes as far as Sadie does in abusing Max’s good nature and good will — but his advances are physical, and they are taunting in a very sexual and horrific manner.

So what’s the point when Max says enough is enough?

Well. That’s the farm. The point of the farm. It’s the state of Nebraska. It’s Max remembering her own passion for mythology. It’s the entire idea of the phoenix, destroying herself and then rebuilding herself from the ashes. 

Reed’s method of doing this is smart. It’s almost exceedingly simple and yet, it’s perfect. There are chapters interspersing the narrative which are tales of the different Greek myths and the writing in them is downright spectacular. It’s literary and engrossing and so perfectly captures Max’s struggle and her passion all at once.

One of the strongest elements of this story is that Max is bisexual. But this is never, ever the defining feature of her story. And where it would be so easy for the narrative to shift toward that, especially as Sadie herself blurts this out at a barn party in the middle of no where Nebraska (where you as a midwesterner bristle, worried about the reaction), you remember that teenagers are teenagers and that means sometimes their reactions to such heavy news about a person is no reaction at all because it is truly not a big deal. But of course, this is what Dylan uses against Max in a disturbing, painful scene near the end of the book. It is, though, Max’s decision to take ownership of her body, her decisions, her relationships, and her lifestyle back from any and everyone else. When she does that, even Dylan’s sickening abuse of her sexuality against her is not a big deal. It’s handled with such care. 

Max is one of my favorite YA characters in a long time. I loved experiencing the world through her eyes, and there were many times I completely related to a lot of her struggle about identity and what it means to be a good person, what it means to love and express that, and what it means to be a good friend. It’s not about narrating someone’s story for them; it’s about narrating your own. She also has a strong back story, which is one we don’t get to know at all until we finally get to see the world through her eyes. It takes her a long time to open it up, and when she does, things only snap further into place.

Reed is a gem in contemporary ya. This is the kind of book I can see teens I work with loving, especially as it’s set in the midwest, as it’s infused with life on a farm/in a small town, and yet it doesn’t fall into the easy trappings or stereotypes of those sorts of teen lives at all. Readers who have read Reed before will be eager for this book, and those who love stories about friendship — and those looking for a nice feminist novel — will do well with Over You. Hand this over, too, to fans of Kirsten Hubbard’s Like Mandarin. 

Over You is available now. Review copy picked up at ALA Midwinter.

Vortex by S. J. Kincaid

|

In Vortex, Tom Raines is now a Middle Company cadet, having passed his first year as a plebe in the Pentagonal Spire and judged worthy to continue his training as a combatant in the Intrasolar Forces. As his training continues, he learns more about the combatant system: how to be a tactical fighter as well as how the powers-that-be (the corporations) run it all. He also hopes to make amends with Medusa. Amid all of this, he must contend with some old enemies, as well as some new ones, as he gets drawn into some bigger fights that are well over his head.
One of the things that really impresses me about these books is Kincaid’s way of writing about the corporation-run world, which is more believable in this installment than the last. It’s an easy step for me as a reader to get from the covert power that many companies exercise upon our political process now to the overt power they have in Tom’s future world. I wouldn’t call this series a dystopia, but it does a much better job than a lot of dystopias do at postulating a believable future world built upon problems in the current one.
And because it’s explained through action, not infodumps, it’s quite chilling to read about. It’s also not done in a heavy-handed way, in a way that makes you feel like you’re Learning a Lesson. The issue can be quite complex, but Kincaid writes about it in a way that is accessible and understandable. (For more science fiction that addresses this topic, I’d recommend the excellent tv series Continuum, which is appropriate for teens as well, and even features one rather prominently.) It’s also a nice change from a future world that’s controlled by an authoritarian government, which is a little tired by now.
Tom is a great character. He’s quite smart, but he also misses so many obvious things, making huge mistakes in the process. He’s not always nice, either, even to his friends. He lets his emotions get the better of him. He chooses sometimes to exact some petty revenge instead of taking the high road, shooting himself in the foot in the process. It’s all very authentic. I feel like I know kids like Tom. I feel like I was him sometimes as a teen.
Vortex tackles a lot of tough issues, but it’s also very, very funny. Tom and his friends have great repartee. They prank each other constantly. At one point, another Middle company cadet gives Tom’s neural processor a computer virus that makes him see imaginary gnomes everywhere. All Middle company cadets learn how to hook into a system that allows them to communicate to each other via thought, and the results are hilarious, since all thoughts are communicated, not just those they intend to send.
This is a terrific second book in the series, and just a terrific book overall. It’s funny, meaningful, exciting, and well-written. I want to push these books (beginning with Insignia) into the hands of anyone who’s looking for a good SF read. It’s much better than most, with a fully-realized world and a unique concept. Highly recommended.
Review copy provided by the publisher. Vortex is available now.

Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown

|

Ashleigh’s boyfriend Kaleb is going to college at the end of summer, leaving her behind to get through two more years of high school. She’s worried, though, his leaving means he’ll be suddenly interested in other girls. More mature girls. Girls who will distract Kaleb and tear him away from her.

It’s at a party when Ashleigh’s friends convince her to send him a nude photo. No way would Kaleb forget her then. But when that photo gets around, Ashleigh finds she’s going to lose more than just her boyfriend.

Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown explores sexting and the consequences thereof. It reminded me a lot of Susan Vaught’s Going Underground (reviewed here) and for sure, it’s a very contemporary topic with very real consequences for today’s teens.

Brown’s novel alternates in its timeline. It’s set in the present during Ashleigh’s court-required community service, and between these chapters are those set as flashbacks to when she chooses to send the message and how it transports through the school. Through to getting her in trouble, too. Brown masterfully weaves the backstory in with the current time and she does so while building tension in the story. It never feels like information dropping but instead, the backstory informs the place Ashleigh is in now. It’s also clear early on that the romance is long gone, and it was worthwhile to see how the relationship between Ashleigh and Kaleb ended through this storytelling method, rather than getting something short and snipped about it being over.

Ashleigh’s punishment is for her to do a set number of hours of research on the issue of sexting and develop pamphlets and posters to educate other students about the consequences of it. Even though it’s a creative punishment and allows for Brown to offer a pat conclusion to the story, it’s also sort of boring and unrealistic. See, Ashleigh has quite a bit of privilege, even if it’s not acknowledged through the story. This privilege is a double-edged sword though. Her dad is a superintendant in the school distract she attends, so when the news breaks about the sexting issue, suddenly, her father’s job is in jeopardy. There’s a subplot about whether or not the community will push for her father to resign, but I think because of his position, Ashleigh’s punishment is less severe than it could have been (and thus, less interesting to read about). Maybe that’s an unfair assessment, but because this plot has been done before and done quite well in Vaught’s book, there’s been a standard set.

There is, of course, a budding romance in this novel, and it happens between Ashleigh and another teen who is spending time in community service. Except, Mack won’t let on why he’s doing time in service. Eventually he does let Ashleigh in, but even that feels a little underwhelming in execution. He offers Ashleigh a way to reconsider her position and even forces her to check her privilege, which was what she needed in order to carry on with her life. It hadn’t been easy to go back to school and deal with being called a slut and a whore, of course.

Thousand Words certainly has appeal and it’s well-written. It’s another addition to the shelf of quality books tackling important and everyday challenges of being a teen which readers have come to expect of Jennifer Brown. That said, it didn’t have quite the sparkle to it that Susan Vaught’s title did, and maybe it comes down to the fact that Ashleigh never quite had a voice of her own. It’s not that she’s dependent upon the actions of everyone else in the book — she’s not — but rather, she’s not entirely memorable as a character. All we know of her is that she runs periodically, that she spends time in thrift stores once in a while, that she’s an athlete, and that, yeah, she’s the girl who send a naked photo of herself to her boyfriend. Beyond that, we don’t get to know her on a deeper level, nor do we come away with a bigger picture of what her future may hold, other than she’s willing to stand up for herself. In the end, I wanted a better sense of who this girl was, but instead, I was left with a little bit of a didactic message about how one mistake doesn’t ruin your life. Also, of course, the message about how many teens participate in sexting and how it’s going to be an issue infiltrating teen lives as long as cell phones with camera capabilities exist.

Thousand Words is available now from Little, Brown. Review copy received from the publisher.