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Yzabel / July 19, 2012

Review: Mockingjay

My rating: [rating=3]

This is another book I’m not sure how to rate. I’ve given it three stars, as an average mark, but it’d be probably closer to 2.5, if I wanted to be really judgmental (which I’m not going to be, because I still went on reading it quickly, a usual sign that all in all, the story hooked me).

I really, really liked its setting, the backdrop of war depicted in it, with all its ambiguities and varying moral mileage. Maybe those are themes a harsh for a YA novel, but they still gave me the full feeling of a dystopian world here. The Capitol’s depiction as “the side on which the bad guys are on” was clearly tempered by the fact that the rebels’ thought processes aren’t so pure either. Overruling a tyrannical government? Sure, but such a feat won’t come without sacrifices, nor without having to think like your enemies to anticipate their actions… and the fine line between ‘thinking like’ and ‘acting like’ is a fragile one, rather easy to cross. Some characters did cross it—some who appeared above that at first, too. Others remained true to themselves, yet never got out of it unscarred either. The overall atmosphere was quite a desperate one, with its gruesome lot of realistic and no-nonsense situations, diverging opinions, tension-inducing plans, and intensity. Perhaps a little too much sometimes.

There’s also a couple of characters (not always the main ones) whose evolution I liked seeing. Peeta seemed to grow a backbone at last, be more fierce, and show himself as someone who could be dangerous on his own, not only a human shield for Katniss. It came with a price, of course, yet it was interesting to see him go through what befell him—in spite of his (believable) pleas for death, in the end, he was the true survivor. Same goes in my opinion for Johanna (ah, snarky, unpleasant Johanna—I don’t even know how I came to like her, but I do) and Finnick, for coming in the open about what was really going on between the scenes. Finnkic, who got me quite scared at some point, alright, since his path was mirroring Katniss’s so much.

And that’s the part where the author lost me: Katniss’s evolution. She used to be so strong, so active, such a decision-maker. In “Mockingjay”, she’s a mere hull of herself, wallowing in self-pitying, shutting down to the rest of the world, uncaring about what’s going to happen. Alright, she went through many hardships, and those would be painful to anyone, especially a 17-to-18-year-old girl, but… but did we really need to read about this for 300 pages? So she was more of a pawn, a symbol than anything else—but couldn’t she take it into her hands again, and shape the tide actively? Instead, it took quite some time before she accepted to become the Mockinjay, and once she embraced that state, it didn’t last for long: I felt that it was really all for show, that she didn’t really care inside, and if she didn’t, well, why should I? I can’t even blame it on president Snow attempting to break her through Peeta; it looked like she was actively breaking herself, too. The other problem with her, too, was that she remained confined to the background or the sides of the war (the “getting knocked down and waking up in the hospital” moments quickly started to grate on my nerves). I wanted to see her IN the main action! Not telling me about it after seeing it on the news or hearing it from other characters or whatever. This changed in the second half with the Capitol mission, yet even then, she got to see the final battle from the background (and was once again knocked out, thus being shut out of this battle… and I the reader was deprived of another important scene).

And Gale. What the hell, Gale? Did Collins so wanted to put you out of the picture that she had to make you so annoying in this book? Why not killing you off, then? It would’ve been more useful. Poor Gale. I liked him in the previous novels, liked what a stronghold he could be for Katniss to go back to. However, I was under the impression that they shunned each other too much here, that they weren’t even trying… and that the final choice in the love triangle was made from the start. There’s no point in building a triangle then, right?

Finally, I didn’t know how to stand regarding the bleak feeling pervading the book. On the one hand, it greatly contributed to carrying across the author’s message about the futility of wars, and how humans do repeat the errors of the past. On the other hand, was it really necessary to enforce it through the rushed death of certain characters? People die, well, fine, I get it. But killing off Finnick and Primrose in such ways was just meaningless for the first, and way too fast for the other (not to mention that it would have had more impact on us readers too if we had got to know and see her more before that…).

To conclude: excellent setting and narrative conclusion to this trilogy, but poor execution (no pun intended) regarding a few of the characters, including, unfortunately, some of the really major ones.

Yzabel / July 18, 2012

Review: Catching Fire

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

My rating: [rating=4]

Before I started reading the Hunger Games trilogy, a lot of people warned me about the second and third books not being on par with the first one. However, now that I’m done with “Catching Fire”, I feel it’s not really the case for me. This novel was different, and didn’t deal with exactly what one might have expected at first, but in the end, I found it just as enjoyable as the first one.

I appreciated the issues it tackled: the soured homecoming; how nothing could ever be the same again in spite of victory; how victory itself proved to be a form of defeat, as if whatever the Hunger Games’ issues, nothing good could ever be got out of them—something we readers were already aware of, and that was imprinted even more severely on the characters here. For me, this second volume was full of a constant underlying tension slowly spiralling up towards a final intense momentum.

I don’t think the 75th Hunger Games came too late in the book (although I would have appreciated to see a little more of Katniss’s and Peeta’s reaction about the Quarter Quell announcement), because I’m not sure I would’ve enjoyed a story that would have been ‘only’ about such games again. The first half was much useful in distillating the right atmosphere of fear, doubts and ill omens about what would happen; while the revelations at the end, about what was really going on and who was involved, provided a note of hope… yet one that could easily be turned into despair again. I felt that “Catching Fire” was continuously poising on a very narrow line here, just like a rope-walker would do: between hope and its loss; between spreading fire and how it could just as well end up in cold, useless embers; between courage and fear; threats and responding to them; potential friends and potential enemies, and the uncertainty about who was what. I think this greatly contributed, in my eyes, to the intensity of this second part of the trilogy.

But—there is a but—I wasn’t too thrilled about the love triangle aspect here. Perhaps because the two boys appear to be a little too similar? I was annoyed at Katniss’s inability to choose, to realize who she really loves, but really, choosing in such circumstances is just so hard. It would probably have been more interesting if Gale and Peeta had been more contrasted characters.

Yzabel / July 13, 2012

Review: It’s Not All Black And White

It’s Not All Black and White: Multiracial Youth Speak Out by St. Stephen’s Community House

My rating: [rating=4]

(Book got through NetGalley.)

“It’s Not All Black And White” is a collection of interviews, short essays and poems from a number of people of mixed origins, and dealing with their feelings and personal experiences regarding the question of ‘race’ for them. The book features such texts from youths, but also a few from older people, allowing its readers to get a wider view of what being of such origins is, and used to be a few decades ago. Its layout is very differenciated from one page to the other, which is nice on the eye for starters, yet also goes well with its themes of difference and of not always being accepted for who we are—many different pages, however gathered all in the same book, as if to show that in the end, we can all be together in harmony. (Maybe this is just personal interpretation on my part; still, I think that whether intentional or not, this layout is quite appropriate.)

I wanted to read this collection at first because I thought it would contain interesting material to read with my pupils in class, material that would also concern some of them. I wasn’t disappointed. Such a book can definitely be used for educational purposes, and that its contents offer a positive outlook on what being multiracial means, as well as answers or at least reflections for those young people who would be struggling with their identity and where to place themselves. It sends them the message that “you are not alone”, and this to me seems to be one of its most important aspects. It is also an eye-opener in many regards, for those of us who are not confronted to such issues, yet would like to understand what they entail. I so agree with some of the participants, that sometimes even well-meaning, innocent-sounding sentences can still be hurtful, in that they contribute to setting people apart.

Yzabel / July 11, 2012

Review: The Moon Dwellers

The Moon Dwellers by David Estes

My rating: [rating=4]

(Book read and reviewed for {Read It & Reap 78} in the Shut Up And Read group.)

I wish my rating pluging allowed me to give .5 stars, because I’d clearly put this one at 4.5/5 stars. Well, I’d put a 5/5 if not for one thing, that I’ll expand on later on.

Having read David Estes’s first novel, “Angel Evolution”, barely a few days ago, I was amazed to discover to which extent this author’s writing has developed in this new, beginning trilogy. This is clearly a work for which said author took into account various critiques, and used them to improve his writing and storytelling. The result is, frankly, very good.

“The Moon Dwellers” follows two characters on two opposite ends on the social scale: Adele, a young woman who’s been sentenced to jail for life, but decides to escape with her friends Tawni and Cole and find her scattered family again; and Tristan, elder son of the allmighty President, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but intent on estranging himself from this life that doesn’t feel like his own. The story is told in the first person, from the alternating points of view pf Adele and Tristan; while such an exercise in writing can be quite hazardous, here it works well, allowing us to learn more and more about those characters and what their lives are like.

I especially enjoyed said characters’ personalities. Adele and her friends have had to become strong during their stay in jail, and they don’t let anyone dictate them how to behave—they don’t hesitate to fight, and they do it well and with spunk, too, both physically and through sarcasm. As for Tristan and Roc, the one isn’t such the pampered prince as a lot of people believe him to be, and the other, albeit not the best when it comes to handling a weapon, is terrific in the way he managed to keep his sense of humour throughout dark times. Their friendship, too, is made of solid mettle, and feels genuine and very much present.

The one thing I wasn’t too keen on was the ‘insta-connection’ between Adele and Tristan; it has nothing to do with “The Moond Dwellers” per se, it’s simply I as a reader who’s never felt convinced by such strong attractions upon first sight. Also, I thought that at times, events unfolded a little too neatly (the various bomb attacks, especially), reinforcing that aspect of ‘destiny bringing everyone and everything together’. I suppose you either like it or not.

This said, I am nonetheless eager to read the next volume!

(As a side note, I find the cover’s composition absolutely fascinating. The more I look at it, the more it grows on me.)

Yzabel / July 9, 2012

101: A Word From Trigg

A couple of weeks ago, I read 101 by Margaret Chatwin, and at some point in my review, mentioned that one person I would have wanted to read more about was Trigg’s father (mostly, why he was that way, or what he expected from his kids).

Guess what? Trigg himself decided to make a few things clearer, and invited himself over Margaret’ Chatwin’s blog page on Goodreads:

Yes, my adventure started long before that night in the living room when Ren sealed our fate by pulling the trigger. I actually think it started the day I was born, but who wants to be dragged that far back? Not me. Bad enough I had to live it once.

So – my dad. You probably figured we’d start with him, huh? Everything always starts with him. Not sure how that’s even possible, but it seems to be true.

His name is Kent Hale and I don’t know what he was like as a kid or teen. Never had one of those father/son get-to-know-you talks. You know the kind where, for a second, you can close your eyes and pretend your parent is really your friend? Where the two of you can find yourselves in each other? Where something they did as a kid is so similar to what you did just five minutes ago that you feel a connecting bond? Yeah – just never happened with him. When he wasn’t screaming, he was silent. That weird, vacant kind of silent. A stupor that, I’m sure was induced by the liquor.
His parents were no help in getting to know him. His dad died before my sixth birthday in some work related accident. Or so they say. Rumor has it the guy had an enemy on every corner.

Shocking how my dad turned out to be the stalwart individual that he is…

I’m not going to copy the whole story here, since it’s not mine. The rest of the post is available here.

Yzabel / July 8, 2012

Review: Day Soldiers

Day Soldiers by Brandon Hale

My rating: [rating=5]

(Book reviewed for ARR #19 in the We ♥ YA Books! group.)

When I asked if I could read & review “Day Soldiers”, I did so because the pitched elicited some interest in me. The prospect of a war between humans and the creatures of darkness looked like something that would provide me with mild fun and a pleasant quick read. To be honest, I didn’t expect a lot from this novel—just that: being a fun and easy read.

And then I got hooked.

The prologue itself, in the form of a declaration of war, immediately grabbed me. The first chapters then pulled me into the action, as Lily and Leo, 18-year-old, decide to take on the vampires who’ve been threatening their small town, because the adults aren’t acting fast enough. As they come back victorious, little do they know that their single action is going to trigger a chain-reaction culminating into events they wouldn’t have suspected. And the both of them are going to pay a heavy price. We then get to see the two friends through their joining and training within the Day Soldiers, a corps specifically aimed at fighting vampires and werewolves. After what happened to them, is there any other path they could follow? Not really.

I thoroughly liked Lily and Leo. Lily’s got a strong personality, and a definite ability to fall back on her feet. Even though she gets discouraged at times, she doesn’t let this stop her, and she doesn’t give in to throwing pity-parties for herself, not for more than a couple of minutes, which is always pleasant to see, in my opinion, in a character. She also has special skills, but I was glad to see that the author didn’t make them *that* special in the end. She doesn’t get to save the day all by herself, and she’s far from being the only one with such abilities; this makes that plot point more believable. As for Leo, at first, I feared for his role in the story, wondering if he’d just be some uninteresting sidekick—because the kid *is* skilled, for sure, and he can pack a handful just as well as Lily can. I also feared what was in store for him. Until that moment, I hoped he’d get to find a way out. When I realized there wasn’t any, I must admit I shed a tear for him. Be awed. This very seldom happens.

The other characters were also enjoyable. Abbie does come off as unpleasant at first, but it’s clear that she is a good person, too, and that she doesn’t hesitate to act. The B-Team (no, really, this *is* a play on words on the A-Team, isn’t it? I can’t shake that feeling off!) is made of awesome, and I liked their take on events, how they always did their best to do what felt right to them. Their boldness and inventiveness roped me in (the way they tackle the rescue operation in Sneaker City was just so great!), and I could easily feel their sense of camaraderie, the strong bonds they managed to form among them, the instinct they had to stick to each other now matter the circumstances.

And what about the story itself? I quickly was drawn into its pace: not too slow, packed with action, but not too fast either. Events fold into each other in a logical way; we get to see that every action has its consequences, and that the characters have to deal with those, make their decisions, and then live up to those decisions in the end. I don’t know if there will be a sequel to this novel: the ending could very well stand for itself the way it is, or open up towards a second book. What’s sure is that if there is one, I will definitely pick it.

Yzabel / July 7, 2012

Review: Joe

Joe by H.D. Gordon

My rating: [rating=5]

(Book read and reviewed for {Read It & Reap 76} in the Shut Up And Read group.)

I had never read anything from this author in the past, but I wanted to review it after noticing a few people writing about it on their blogs, as well as being attracted by the kind of plot it deals with. It turned out to be quite the gripping novel in many aspects, and I found myself drawn to it more and more with each page.

The themes perused in the book are of the kind that tend to hit home. Enjoy life while it lasts, because you never know what will happen tomorrow. Don’t put back what matters until tomorrow, because tomorrow might just not come. It’s when you’re about to lose your life that you finally understand its worth. And, of course: if you were able to foresee such a terrible event as presented in “Joe”, what would you do? Would you face it, even knowing there’s no chance to win? Or would you run away, saving your life at the cost of that of dozens of people? Perhaps such themes will seem overrated or hackneyed to some readers, but to me, they always provide perspective and questioning, and I like that. I like being confronted with such conundrums.

The eight people whose points of view we follow through the story all have questions and/or problems of their own to deal with. The almost-retired teacher with only two months left before she is ‘free’ from her job at last. The depressed student who’s taken a terrible decision. The kid who can’t wait to meet his teenage-years sweetheart. The single mother wondering if she should allow herself a new chance at loving, and find a new father for her children. The young man estranged from his family because of one mistake, with a fierce desire to get a new start. The killer—the Decider, with his cold point of view that will send shivers down your spine. And, of course, Joe herself, struggling with her insecurities, her power that may or may not be a curse, the decision she will have to make. All of them I found interesting to follow. All of them I wanted to see survive in the end. But from the start, you know that in such a story, not everyone will get a chance at life again. This inescapable conclusion is absolutely heart-wrenching.

As a side note, since the “eight POVs” aspect was mentioned by other people, I must say that it didn’t bother me. I’ve read stories with even more POVs than that, and here I think the voices of all those characters were introduced clearly enough each time (if only because their names are mentioned) to make them flow nicely. Also, the way they were used near the end was a clever addition, giving the feeling of cut scenes interweaving into each other. I quite liked that. The only thing I couldn’t determine until well into the novel was: why make Joe’s point of view the only one in the first person? I couldn’t decide if it was justified or not, because I feel the story would have worked just as well had it been in the third person. In the end, though, I chose to view it as a good point. It marks the centre of the whole web, gathers all the threads together, while setting Joe apart, which is also justified if we consider her odd ability that has always made her different.

Yzabel / July 4, 2012

Review: The Mirror and the Meretrix

Blackstone & Brenwen – The Mirror & The Meretrix by Andrew D. Mellusco

My rating: [rating=5]

(Book read and reviewed for {Read It & Reap 75} in the Shut Up And Read group.)

First, I must say that this novel was not devoid of imperfections. I spotted a few recurrent glaring errors, of the kind that I unfortunately easily notice, as well as a couple of formatting problems (missing ends of sentences). However, what might have been a problem in another book wasn’t one here. In spite of those mistakes, I found the novel fascinating, devoured it in a blink, and couldn’t stop myself. It was sheer gluttony on an ereader screen.

The world in which the author set his court drama was fascinating from beginning to end, bouncing off and twisting traditional fairy tales, well-known ones as well as more obscure ones. It is a consistent and believable world, full of rich descriptions and allusions, that I took much pleasure in discovering—and linking to the original versions of the fairy-tales woven within the story. The plot itself was interesting, intricate enough to demand that the reader pay attention to catch little hints. I didn’t find any inconsistencies in it, the mystery was preserved for long enough without being held off uselessly, and everything nicely tied up in the end.

Above all, the characters were very enjoyable, all with their distinct personalities and little quirks. I liked reading about them, about their meetings, about their conversations, and I was glad to see that each of them had his/her important part to play, as well as his/her own backstory. I was especially fond of Fury, but the others came very close behind.

I will definitely keep an eye out for the second volume in this series.

Yzabel / July 1, 2012

Review: Talented

Talented by Sophie Davis

My rating: [rating=3]

(The ebook was provided to me by the author herself, after I answered an ARR in the We ♥ YA Books! group.)

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the world developed in Sophie Davis’s novel. While it seems to be divided into two clear camps at first, it soon appeared to me that the dichotomy was far from being so evident, and that factions and characters were bound to harbour secrets and hidden standards. The last chapters sure didn’t disappoint me in that regard. I also enjoyed discovering how the Agency works, what kind of jobs its employees perform, as well as how missions are carried—I like to see that such ‘details’ were taken into account. The use of varied Talents offer those agents diverse opportunities, and it was interesting to read about that.

The reason why I’m giving it 3 stars ‘only’ is that I was however left with a lingering feeling of frustration at the themes developed throughout the story. I would have liked to see more of Talia’s challenges regarding her job as a Hunter, her desire for revenge, the means she would employ to do so, the choice she had to make between saving herself or enacting her revenge… I understand that this novel is not a standalone, and that such aspects are likely to be developed in book 2 or 3—in other words, that they’re part of a bigger picture. That’s not what frustrated me. I simply thought, when I read the summary, that they’d be keynotes of the story, and in the end, I felt that they were put aside in favour of the developing love triangle. I think I’d have liked this novel best if the romance part had been left to grow in a more balanced way along what I had expected to read about.

The file also contained recurrent typos, such as inverted words and commas in weird places. Unfortunately for me, I’m too trained to notice those things, and they tend to quickly become annoying.

Other than that, I was glad to be handed out this ebook. I spent good moments reading it.

Yzabel / June 30, 2012

Review: Mary

Mary by Ann Haines

My rating: [rating=4]

Mary, a 17-year-old girl from London, moves to lovely Eires Green with her father, mother and grandmother. After a series of bad decisions that led to very dark moments in her life, this is her chance at starting anew: new town, new house, new school, new friends… maybe even a boyfriend! Things definitely seem to be looking up for Mary, who grows to enjoy Bell House more than she thought, and can finally hope to find a place of her own here. However, the more she discovers about her new home, the more she realizes that Bell House hasn’t always been devoid of tragedy… and that tragedy might strike again.

As odd as my way of wording it might sound, this novella had a nicely refreshing spookiness. Little by little, the reader is presented with tiny, light touches of eeriness that help the tension build up in a discrete yet efficient manner; they contrast all the more, in restrospect, with the many apparent perfections of Eires Green. At the same time, it was a refreshing read, in that it didn’t leave me with the feeling of just any ghost story. I was pulled in from the beginning, always wanting to know what would happen in the next chapter, and trying to piece up the hints the author scatters along her story; this is not something I make the effort of doing when I’m not so interested in a book.

If I should list one thing I couldn’t really wrap my mind around, unfortunately, it was the fast pace at which relationships evolved in the story. Although that pace made sense once I reached the end and realized why things came to be that way, it was still going too fast to my liking in terms of chronology (one week seemed too short a time frame to develop such relationships—I guess a few weeks would have felt more ‘natural’).

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading “Mary”, and will heartily recommend it.