Allegiant

by Veronica Roth
New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2013.

For the earlier books in the series, a ****spoiler**** warning...

And a link to my reviews of Divergent and Insurgent.

Tris and her friends are still at the Erudite compound after the factionless uprising and the showing of the video that many in Abnegation died to protect. Tobias' mother, Evelyn, has essentially established a dictatorship and forcibly dissolved the factions. Tris wants to get out of the city now that she's seen the video. Meanwhile, a group calling themselves Allegiant - allied to the founders' original intent for the city, including the factions - forms in opposition to Evelyn. Tris doesn't entirely agree with them, but could working with them get her the answers she needs?

Between the hype and how much I enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy, Allegiant had a lot to live up to. There was a lot I enjoyed: Tris and Tobias talk to each other (I was getting annoyed with the non-communication throughout Insurgent), the pages turn fast, and we get to see into Tobias's head as well as Tris's as the first-person narration moves back and forth between them. Unfortunately, I found the reasoning behind the creation of the city and the factions overly simplistic and less than believable. It didn't quite live up to all I had hoped it would be. That being said, I found the ending fitting and would definitely read the series again as a whole; this one just isn't my favorite.

Since I'm posting this many months after the book has come out (and, in fact, several months after I read it) - for any who have read the book and had thoughts on the ending, I thought I'd point you to Veronica Roth's post about why she make a certain choice about the ending. Whether you loved or hated what happened, what she had to say provided a lot of food for thought.

The Bitter Kingdom

by Rae Carson
New York : Greenwillow Books, 2013.

This review for the final book in the trilogy with Girl of Fire and Thorns and The Crown of Embers contains ****spoilers**** for both titles.

Queen Elisa is on the run from Conde Eduardo, who has begun a civil war in her kingdom. Hector, the captain of her guard, has been captured and Elisa, her maid Mara, Belen and Storm will attempt to rescue him.

The first books were truly enjoyable reading, and the final book in the trilogy lived up to my expectations. Elisa is the bearer of a Godstone, and prophecy dictates that she has some great service to perform; she doesn't know what that means, but she strives to make the best decisions and plans that she can for her friends and her country. She has grown much from a princess who was kept in the dark to a more self-assured queen, even if she has moments of questioning her choices and motives. I really liked this fantasy series because Elisa's character is so incredibly human. She's not the damsel in distress and she's not a kickass heroine either, but she weighs her choices, frets sometimes, and always does the best she knows how to do. Because of that, I'm sure I would enjoy revisiting this trilogy in the future.

UnSouled

by Neal Shusterman
New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013.

UnSouled is the third book in this series - ***spoiler warning*** for the first two books, Unwind and Unwholly.

Connor and Lev are on the run from the mess that was once the Graveyard. Before he left, Trace had given Connor a bit of information about Proactive Citizenry – the group that seems to be behind quite a lot having to do with unwinding as well as the creators of Camus Comprix, the first person to be made with parts of the unwound – and a mysterious man named Janson Rheinschild. Following that up seems to be all he can think to do, now that Risa is gone who-knows-where. Meanwhile, Cam himself is determined to win Risa's love and trust by demolishing the very organization that made him.

The more I read this series, the more I can believe the premise, that people could get so fed up with “feral” teenagers that they start to think that using them for transplants and saving lives would really be for society's good. In the midst of the future dystopia are real, recent news articles and clippings on related topics, such as black market organ donors and a politician who apparently wrote that he thought there should be a death penalty for rebellious children – not that anyone would use the option, mind you, but that it might scare kids into behaving. This just adds to the believability of what might otherwise sound completely nightmarish and over the top. The various complicated ways in which Proactive Citizenry is working and unwinding has become entrenched in society are further unfolded. I especially enjoyed getting more of Sonia's backstory, that of the woman who first took in Connor and Risa and started them on their way through the safe houses that brought them to the Graveyard. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the series comes together in book four, due to come out next year.

Unwholly

by Neal Shusterman
New York : Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 2013 (hardcover pub. 2012).

Unwholly is the second book in a series: this is a ****spoiler warning**** for the first book, Unwind.

Connor, presumed dead by the authorities, is running the Graveyard, a home to the kids still under 17 who are in danger of being “unwound.” Risa works with him as a medic, in a wheelchair because she refused to accept the spine of an unwind – a teen who has been unwound into a “divided” state, with basically all parts used medically for transfusion and transplant. Lev, the former “clapper” who did not clap and detonate the explosives in his blood, has gone through medical treatment to make himself stable and is now feeling stifled, talking to kids in danger of being unwound but unable to speak out against unwinding either.

The book is hard to describe if you haven't read the first book, and would be hard to follow as a standalone as well. The future civilization Shusterman describes has an element of possibility in it: what if really screwed up teenagers were “unwound” to provide organ and other transplants? What if abortion didn't exist, but you could leave an unwanted baby at a doorstep as long as you weren't caught (a practice known as “storking”), with the expectation that the owners of the house would take the child? This series explores the implications of this dystopia, with no easy answers. Unwholly takes up soon after Unwind left off, continuing the multi-perspective switches between Connor, Risa and Lev, and adding some new characters in Starkey, Miracolina, and the “parts pirate” Nelson, who's after runaway unwinds (also known as AWOLs, the kids whose parents have signed the unwind order but who get away before they are picked up to go to “harvest camp”) for the black market. Another new character, Cam, adds another element to the mix as a sort of Frankenstein creation from the parts of unwound kids. Is he merely a conglomeration of all these parts, or is he more? Does he have his own soul? A creepy, fast-paced, and thought-provoking series I'd recommend to a variety readers.

Unwind

by Neal Shusterman
New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c2007.

Sometime in the future, pro-life and pro-choice groups had a war and the outcome was that there would be no more abortions, but parents could choose to "unwind" a child between the ages of 13 and 18. Connor finds out that his parents have signed the order to have him unwound and runs away; Risa is a ward of the state and budget issues mean they just can't afford her any more; Lev is a "tithe" who knew all his life that he was special and meant to be unwound. When these three teens' lives converge, they will never be the same.

Enjoyed is not quite the right word for this book, but I was deeply engrossed from the get-go. The pacing is fast and the scenario so well-imagined and described that while you're reading the book, you believe events could play out like this. The perspectives switch between multiple characters - usually Connor, Risa, and Lev, but some secondary characters too - which helps keep the tension building and allows you to get to know each of them. Exactly what is going on, what unwinding means, and what it this law has done to society, is slowly revealed and builds to the end leaving you breathless.

Mastiff (Beka Cooper #3)

by Tamora Pierce
New York : Random House, 2011.

Even though I read Terrier in 2010 and Bloodhound in 2011, in took me until late 2013 to finally read the third book in the trilogy. I'm not sure why, except that for some reason in my head I'd finished the series. Now, I finally truly have!

In the final book of the Beka Cooper trilogy, Beka and her partner Tunstall are called away secretly by Lord Gershom to investigate the kidnapping of the Crown Prince of the realm. Her scent hound Achoo is needed, and they are helped by a mage named Farmer who seems out of his element but is one of the few who can be trusted in what seems more and more like a political play by who knows how many mages angered by the king's potential oversight in their craft.

I read the other two books over two years ago, but fortunately didn't suffer much for it. I could generally remember who characters were and what their relationships were to each other; except for the very beginning, the story itself was fairly self-contained, so it didn't matter that I didn't remember 100% of the events in the previous two books and what I really needed to know was introduced in a way that I could follow easily. Beka has developed quite a bit from the shy Puppy she was in Terrier, and it was fun to see her really grow into her own here as a full partner in a Hunt. I don't think the journal format works as well as a simple first-person narrator would have, as mentions of when Beka's finding time to write in her journal or comments that these were written much later than events just became clunky and distracting from the narrative. Even so, this series is a good strong fantasy that I would have no trouble recommending to a variety of readers.

The Moon and More

by Sarah Dessen
New York : Viking, 2013.

NOTE: I've fallen quite a bit behind over the last few months, and have decided to intersperse older reviews with new ones until I get caught up. This book was actually read last summer.

In just a few short months, Emaline knows a lot will change. She's always lived in Colby, works for her family at a resort renting out beachfront properties to vacationers and has gone out with Luke since 9th grade. But she's going away to college - granted, not to Columbia, but to a college a few hours away - and change is coming whether she's ready or not.

Nothing says "summer" like a new Sarah Dessen novel, but I wonder if I should give them a rest for awhile. Part of the trouble is I know what to expect - heroine at a crossroads, getting to know herself - and no matter the difference in packaging (in this case, Emaline has a happily blended family, and her father is a more distant figure), it's lost some of its freshness and appeal to me. Or maybe I'm just getting old, and find it harder to relate to the main characters. Still, it wasn't a bad story; I read quickly and enjoyed it. Emaline is a well-drawn, believable character, and I enjoyed her interactions with her step-sisters and mother. Her struggles between what the new boy, Theo, and her father (the distant, biological one rather than her real dad) want for her and deciding what she wants will ring true for teens.

The Fellowship of the Ring

by J.R.R. Tolkien
Ballantine Books, 1973 (originally published 1954).

This is at least my seventh time reading The Fellowship of the Ring. It's been about seven years since I last read it, and I'm a much different reader than I was any of the previous six times I've read it. I've read many more books, become a more critical reader, and have read especially broadly in the fantasy genre.

I'd forgotten how incredibly slow - dare I say plodding - is the pacing. One hundred pages in, Frodo has barely left the Shire. Two-thirds of the way through, he's in Rivendell and they're still debating what to do with the Ring. After fifteen years, the memory of the movies is more fresh in my mind than the first time I read the book and was waiting with bated breath to find out who or what the Black Riders were, and if they would be successful in finding the Ring. The old-fashioned, archaic language and resulting clunky dialog (how often can one think "Frodo son of Drogo" without cracking a grin or rolling eyes?) is exactly what I would criticize in books I read now.

But despite its faults, I love this series. I love the hobbits. No one but Gandalf seems to expect much of them, least of all the hobbits themselves. They love the small comforts of home, and can't imagine anything better than putting up their feet with some good food and pipeweed (amend that last to "a good book," and I'd be right there with them). And it's just because they love home so much that they do what they must to protect it. They are not heroes. They're just regular folk who, seeing a need to combat evil, do their best, even though they can't know the final outcome. It gives me hope that, if push comes to shove, maybe I could do the same. And that is why clunky dialog, archaic language, poetry, slow plot and all, I will read these books another seven times.

The Perilous Gard

by Elizabeth Pope
New York : Scholastic, Inc. 1993.

When her sister Alicia thoughtlessly sends a note to Queen Mary about how abominable the castle where Princess Elizabeth is kept, her sister Kate is exiled. She is sent to the remote Perilous Gard, where she soon finds out that the gruff but kind Sir Geoffrey and a young man named Christopher Heron have a secret. Some of the people of the castle seem afraid to tell her too much, and only reference Those in the Well with a bit of awe. Kate can't help but get involved, whatever Christopher Heron may tell her!

This was a Newbery Honor book in 1975, and it's too bad it's not better known because it's a really enjoyable book, and didn't feel dated at all. This was the sort of book that I hesitated to put down at the end of my breaks at work, and wanted to pick up whenever I had a free moment. The plot is generally compelling, as the tension builds and time is running out. Those of the Well had a deliciously creep other-worldliness to them. Kate's as strong a character as some heroines of modern fantasy. She and Christopher were fabulous characters, and I enjoyed their banter. I would unhesitatingly read it again.

A word on the cover: I've included the cover that was on the copy I read, but in my opinion it's awful. Clearly no one in the department that worked on it had read the book or Kate would not have that sort of desperate heroine look about her.

Skellig

by David Almond
London : Hodder, 1998.

Michael and his family have recently moved to a house that needs a lot of work, when his baby sister is born early. Meanwhile, he finds a man who seems little more than skin in bones in the broken down garage, and together he and his new friend Mina try to help him - but who is he, and what is he?

Some books are easy to read, review, and move on. This is not one of them. Skellig, though short, is one of those stories that lingers as you think about the characters and writing and events. Michael realistically feels a little bit of jealousy but also deeply cares about his sister. Mina is homeschooled and proud of it, and she's so sure of who she is that you can't help but love her. And Skellig... well, he's a bit of an enigma. He's a being that can't be explained in just a few words. In fact, I feel like I should really reread the book before I try to make any further pronouncements. I was left smiling and just a bit unsettled, in the sense that I couldn't quite wrap my brain around the story without thinking some more.

No Crystal Stair

No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Minneapolis, MN : Carolrhoda Lab, 2012.

Lewis Michaux grew up in Newport News, Virginia, the son of a black man who worked hard to own his own business and a mother who birthed sixteen children - twelve living - and struggled with depression. He got in some trouble as a youngster, but was inspired to start a bookstore in Harlem in the 1930s that sold books by and about black people and became a cultural center known for visitors such as Malcolm X and others.

The subtitle bills this book as "a documentary novel of the life and work of Lewis Michaux." The story is told in snippets, sections of it told by various people - Lewis, his parents, his brothers, his wife, bookstore visitors both historical and imaginary - and includes photographs of historic people and quotes from FBI files. It's a unique format for a compelling story. Being separated into small segments like it is, and covering several years, did mean that I got only glimpses of who the characters/people were like, and I sometimes wasn't clear on when things were happening.

I hadn't heard of Michaux before, but I loved his drive to provide books and education to his people. He seems like a really dynamic guy, and reading this, I was kind of sad that he was long gone before I was borne. The title comes from the Langston Hughes poem that begins, "Well, son, I'll tell you: / Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. / It's had tacks in it, / And splinters, / And boards torn up, / And places with no carpet on the floor -- / Bare." This certainly seems to suit Michaux's life, as he went from barely making ends meet to becoming one of the truly respected men in his neighborhood. I really loved the quoted poetry and mentions of the books in his inventory; it added a lot to the story and made me want to read more. The bibliography at the back and notes on the text gave me some great sources to start with, and was really impressive for a fictional book.

This book was the winner of School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books, and while I'm still a little sad that it beat Code Name Verity, which was one of my favorite reads last year, I am glad that this prompted me to read it.

Seraphina

by Rachel Hartman
New York : Random House, 2012.

The forty year celebration of the treaty between humans and dragons is approaching. When Prince Rufus is found killed dragon-style (he was decapitated), the tentative peace is on shakier ground than ever before. Seraphina, working as the assistant to Viridius, the head of music and composing at the castle, has a secret of her own that may shatter her life and the peace of the realm if it ever gets out.

I found this book tough to put down. The world-building is fabulous. The situation with the dragons is really inventive, and I loved how the dragons think so very logically, as well as the details about how they take human form within the city. I really liked how important music was. Seraphina was a sympathetic and complex character, and I enjoyed being in her head through the first-person narration, as well as her interactions with other characters, particularly Princess Glisselda and Prince Lucian.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

by Mildred D. Taylor
New York : Scholastic (not sure what year my copy was published - the original is 1976).

Cassie Logan and her brothers Stacey, Christopher-John, and Little Man are growing up in Mississippi. The Logans are a strong family, working hard to make ends meet and pay for the land, which they're fortunate to own since most of their neighbors and friends are sharecroppers. This year will be a trying one for her as she deals with night riders and her father being gone to work on the railroad during the Depression.

I'm having a hard time summarizing this book because it's so much more than the plot. It's about a loving family, and a girl's growing up as she deals with racism and injustice. Cassie's a feisty heroine that you can't help but root for, and the other characters - her mother Mary, her grandmother Big Ma, her father, and more - are vividly portrayed. Though I was often upset by what happened, this is such a rich book that I didn't want it to end.

The audio is masterfully read by Lynne Thigpen, and included comments by the author on the final CD that explain a little about the story's origins.

Froi of the Exiles

by Melina Marchetta
Somerville, Mass. : Candlewick Press, c2012.

The second book in the Lumatere Chronicles, which began with Finnikin of the Rock.

Queen Isaboe and her consort, Finnikin, are establishing themselves in Lumatere, while the former exiles and those left behind pick up the pieces of their lives. The kingdom of Charyn, who invaded them, is still a great threat though it is under a great curse: ever since the birth of the Princess Quintana, no one has been able to have a child. Quintana herself has prophesied that the "last shall birth the first," which resulted in all last borns being marked and watched; however, no one knows if this is a true prophesy or the ravings of a madwoman. Froi, one of the exiles returned with Finnikin and Isaboe, is commissioned to assassinate the king of Charyn, still a threat to Lumatere.

"Finnikin" was Melina Marchetta's first fantasy book, and - though I liked the story - it showed. Froi of the Exiles still has a lot of tropes and some predictable plot directions, but I liked Froi's complex character and found this to be a much smoother read overall. Of course, that could be partially my bad memory talking too, as I found the beginning an exercise in reacquainting myself with the characters and their situations because I'd forgotten so much about the first book. I enjoyed the continued world-building, the pacing of the story, the characters of Froi and Quintana and the Lumaterans - such as Lucian - that we revisit and see in a new light. Fans of Graceling will find much to enjoy in this trilogy.

Dodger

by Terry Pratchett
New York : HarperCollins, 2012.

Dodger was poor but managed to get by in Victorian London, until the night that he stopped two men from beating up a woman - and perhaps worse. Charlie Dickens and his friend Henry Mayhew see the altercation and intervene on the woman's behalf. Charlie employs Dodger to find out exactly who is out to get the girl, whom they call "Simplicity," and Dodger finds his comfortable (and comparatively safe) life turned upside down.

At first glance this may seem a departure from Pratchett's other books, but it has all of his sly wit and philosophical bent coated in humor. I kept expecting certain aspects of Dickens' works, only to be confounded by that same "fog" of people's expectations clouding the truth. Dodger is a fun character, a scalawag that you can't help but root for as he navigates both London's sewers and politics to protect a young woman.

Etiquette & Espionage

by Gail Carriger
Little, Brown, 2013.

Sophronia has been causing mayhem at home and her mother, at her wit's end, sends her to finishing school. But even before she arrives - when they're attacked by flyawaymen who want a prototype, to be exact - Sophronia discovers that Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality is much more than just your average finishing school. Besides teaching young ladies to curtsy and behave decorously, a werewolf and a vampire are teachers, and lessons include such things as fighting (with knife, umbrella, or parasol) and the finer arts of poisoning.

If you're familiar with Gail Carriger's Soulless series, then you have an idea of what to expect in narrative voice and humor. The only clue that this is intended for young audiences is the age of the protagonists and the absence of sex (well, there's one indirect reference to it). There were parts when the action flagged, but most of the time it was a fun romp as Sophronia and friends wreak havoc and try to save the day by finding the prototype that a fellow schoolmate has hidden.

Days of Blood & Starlight

by Laini Taylor
New York : Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2012.

*** Second in series warning - possible spoilers for Daughter of Smoke & Bone***

The battle between seraphs and chimaeras continues, the war taking on new heights as each side escalates the violence, drawing further and further away from Akiva and Karou's dream of peace. Indeed, now that Karou's memories are intact, even peace between the former lovers appears impossible. Can any hope be found in the midst of desperate war?

Laini Taylor crafts a fine story. I can only figure out some of her plot twists, and Akiva and Karou's struggles to deal with betrayal and do the right thing are compelling. Nearly every chapter left me hanging, needing to turn pages instead of put the book down. An entertaining read that will leave fantasy fans impatient for the next book.

Under the Never Sky

by Veronica Rossi
New York : HarperCollins, 2012.

Aria lives in the Pods, where the "real" is gray and everyone's hooked up to Smarteyes that allow them to visit the Realms, a sort of immersive Second Life. Peregrine is an Outsider, one of those whom Aria's people believe to be savage and wild, living in a world that they cannot survive in. When Aria loses contact with her mother, she ventures outside the Pods with friends and finds out that everything she knows about the Outside is wrong.

Shifting back and forth between Aria's and Perry's points of view, the reader gets to see each character's preconceptions change as they travel together and learn about each other. Because most of the action takes place on the Outside, we don't really see much of Aria's world except through her memories and the quick glimpses of technology for the portions that take place in the Pods. If you've read a lot of young adult dystopias, you may not find the plot directions all that surprising, but this is a fast-paced story with two characters I couldn't help but root for. I would hand it to teens who are impatient for the next book in the Divergent series.

The Crimson Crown

by Cinda Williams Chima
New York : Hyperion, 2012.

See my reviews for the previous books in the series, The Demon King, The Exiled Queen and The Grey Wolf Throne. **Spoilers for these books follow - you've been warned!** In this final book in the Seven Realms series, Raisa is now queen and fighting to keep her fractious country united. Han, former streetlord turned wizard, has his sights set high: he wants nothing less than to marry Raisa, and he may take drastic action to make that happen.

I have very much enjoyed the time I spent with Raisa and Han in this series, and discovering the history of the Seven Realms and Raisa's queendom. It's very hard to separate this book out and talk about it separate from the series, but I can say that I like seeing the ways in which Chima develops some of her secondary characters so that you are not always sure if they were more good than bad, or if they would do the right thing in the end. It's a typical teen fantasy in some ways (good versus evil, the young taking on the elders and teaching them a better way, a kick butt heroine and a romance), but because I absolutely loved Raisa and, I admit, especially Han, I would consider revisiting the series someday, and I found this a fitting end to the story.

The Crown of Embers

by Rae Carson
New York : Greenwillow Books, 2012.

***Second in a series - spoiler warning for The Girl of Fire and Thorns.***

As the new queen, Elisa knows she has to be a strong ruler in the midst of turmoil at court. She's shown her mettle in battle, but still doesn't know why she is the Godstone bearer of this century, and what great service that means she must perform.

I really enjoy this series because Elisa is such a fresh and interesting character. She isn't your average kick-butt heroine. She does what she has to do, but she's sometimes unsure of herself and struggles with her conscience over her actions as ruler and as a person. Though it had been awhile since I read the first book, I didn't feel at all lost picking this one up as important plot points were reintroduced subtly and as-needed throughout the story. And then there's the pacing, which is pitch-perfect, pageturning without getting frantic. I started reading it before bed a couple of nights ago, and before I knew it, I had read for a couple of hours and was over 100 pages into it. It's just that hard to find a stopping point, because I want to know what happens next to the characters I've come to love.