The Readventurer

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod. 

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret--could he be more like his father than anyone knows?  


Review:

I love reading about and researching serial killers. There, I said it. I am perpetually fascinated by the stories that seem too far-fetched to be true. Elizabeth Báthory allegedly bathed in the blood of virgins to retain her youth. Ted Bundy kept the decapitated heads  of his victims in his house as mementos.  Ed Gein dug up dead bodies and made a belt out of nipples. This is the stuff nightmares are made of. So it was with a certain excitement that I started reading I Hunt Killers. Barry Lyga created a fun friendship, a believable  relationship (and interracial, which is exciting to note as interracial relationships are few and far between in YA), and two pretty darn scary serial killers. One is the protagonist's father, Dear Old Dad, who killed over 120 people and is now in prison. The other is a new killer, one who just started murdering people in Jazz's own town. The locals will never forget what his father did, nor will some of them ever treat him as anything other than someone about to follow in his father's footsteps. 

Jazz himself is worried about becoming a killer. He knew about a lot of his father's victims and he keeps having nightmares (or are they memories?) about helping his father kill something/someone but he can't put the pieces together. He knows the history and evidence from his father's kills in and out and believes he understands the mind of a serial killer, so when the new killer starts racking up victims, Jazz attempts to help the local police solve the crime. The chief humors him more than I believe to be likely, but the funnier parts of the novel, and it IS funny, involve Jazz and his hemophiliac best friend Howie doing a little crime-solving work on their own. A lot of humor is also added by Jazz's grandmother, with whom he lives. She has increasing memory loss and often does wacky things and mistakes people for others. Of all the points in the novel that I could've been offended by, I was a little disheartened by the fact that Jazz essentially drugs his grandmother several times to keep her sleeping. Also, in regards to his grandmother, I felt like the child services worker, though well-intentioned, was unrealistic. Anybody who has worked in or around the system would probably raise an eyebrow at a worker making such an effort over someone who is healthy, not abused, able to support himself, and 6 months from aging out of the system. Sad, but true. 

Fans of thrillers and horror novels will probably enjoy this, regardless of its YA categorization. When I was trying to think of readalikes, the only thing similar in the YA genre that I am aware of is the John Cleaver series by Dan Wells and I signed out of that series after the first book added in a paranormal element.  This book had more gory elements, funny dialogue, more realism, and it was scarier. I was fully engaged for the entirety of the novel so to me, it is the clear winner. I Hunt Killers ends with a bang. It can stand alone but I sincerely hope that Lyga writes more about Jazz and company. Please don't leave me hanging like this, Mr. Lyga!

Thanks to Wendy Darling at The Midnight Garden for touring her ARC of this book. I loved it!


4/5 stars

The Académie
Author: Susanne Dunlap
Publication Date: 2/28/12
Publisher: Bloomsbury

Blurb (GR):  Eliza Monroe-daughter of the future president of the United States-is devastated when her mother decides to send her to boarding school outside of Paris. But the young American teen is quickly reconciled to the idea when-ooh, la-la!-she discovers who her fellow pupils will be: Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine Bonaparte; and Caroline Bonaparte, youngest sister of the famous French general. It doesn't take long for Eliza to figure out that the two French girls are mortal enemies-and that she's about to get caught in the middle of their schemes.


Loosely drawn from history, Eliza Monroe's imagined coming of age provides a scintillating glimpse into the lives, loves, and hopes of three young women during one of the most volatile periods in French history 

Review:
The  Académie reimagines a history where James Monroe’s daughter Eliza went to the same school at the same time as Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister, Caroline, and his stepdaughter (Josephine’s daughter) Hortense de Beauharnais.  The school was run by Jeanne Louise Henriette Campan, who was mistress to the bedchamber of Marie Antoinette. In actuality, there wasn’t a time that all three girls were in attendance together so the author fabricated Eliza’s presence at the school in 1799 to create a plausible timeline and then ran with it. I read and enjoyed Dunlap’s recent work, In the Shadow of the Lamp, which told a tale of a young woman who joins Florence Nightingale’s nursing corps during the Crimean War, so I was excited to jump into another time period with her and fall into the story.  Her writing is engaging and she created a scenario where I actually enjoyed multiple narrators. The book is told from the point of view of Eliza Monroe, Hortense, and a third young woman, Madeleine, who though she comes from a very different background and situation becomes entwined with the other two (and Caroline Bonaparte) later in the story.

Each character was unlikeable in her own way, yet the author made me look forward to hearing from them when it was their turn to narrate. I thought Eliza was naïve and a bit of a try-hard (“The new manner of government gives titles and positions to those who actually deserve them. It will be easy to stand out in that sort of crowd.”), Hortense was a pushover, and Caroline was a huge… well, I’m sure you can figure out what word I want to write here. Multiple narrators rarely work well for me but I quite enjoyed the catty conversations and subtle jabs between the young women, particularly when I knew I would get to hear from the other participants at some later point.  Also, I think it is realistic that each girl thought she was the only one who truly had a grasp of what was going on in their social circles and constantly wondered what the others were thinking.

While I did enjoy the multiple main characters, I wish an entire book was concentrated on Madeleine’s character. She felt removed from the three girls at the boarding school yet I found her story to be the most compelling. A young girl, relegated to servitude by and for her mother and who lives her entire life in the theater. A girl whose mother finds her to be competition, on the stage and in matters of male company.  I almost pictured Madeleine as a Sara Crewe-type character, making the best of a situation which she knew she could rise above. I will not give away the ending of her particular story but I found it to be such an awful end to the only primary character whose story was entirely fabricated.  The author writes in an afterword about taking liberties with the time period and particular character’s traits. I mentioned in a discussion with another Goodreads reviewer (Michelle, who wrote a wonderful review here) that the fact that the author did this did not bother me until the last portion of the novel. History provides us with pinpoints for all the lives of these characters—Dunlap couldn’t (with any credibility) leave the characters in some obscure life paths that were completely untruthful. They each more or less end up where they actually did in history. So why make Eliza Monroe out to be some abolitionist when there is no historical record to back it up?

The plotline of the book has a lot to do with young romance, trying to find a partner of equal familial standing and wealth, and the general antics of high-school aged girls. For about the first half of the book, I wasn’t sure who was going to end up with whom in the story as feelings were flying all over the place. A piece of me wants to say that the romantic elements of the story were unrealistic but I know marriage was much more an issue of practicality during that time period. I suppose I just enjoy reading about relationships based on love rather than convenience and social standing. When I think about it overall, I am so happy I read this while I was in a good mood. Otherwise, it would’ve driven me up a wall that people were traveling so quickly by carriage and that everyone seemingly gets away with every hijink they get up to. How convenient!

We learn so much of our history in a vacuum. While I was reading  The  Académie , I kept wondering how many historical world events I could match up with the corresponding American  president/s.  I memorized the presidents in order from an Animaniacs song when I was a kid, but honestly I was surprised to learn that James Monroe’s daughter went to the same school as Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister and stepdaughter, even if they were a few years apart.  I guess that’s one argument for reading historical fiction (and nonfiction even more so)—now I will never forget. Jeopardy, here I come!

I recommend this to anyone who doesn't mind multiple narrators or authors taking historical liberties. If you can get over those things, there's a lot of fun to be had with these characters in this portion of history. I'll definitely continue reading Dunlap's historical fiction.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a review copy.

3.5/5 stars

*I know this sounds ridiculous. The whole point of the book is to create a futuristic cyborg Cinderella, right? Meyer is a wonderful writer. Her writing is engrossing and I was engaged throughout the entire book. But it really takes a certain amount of the fun out of a story when a reader already knows a lot of where the story is going. Cyborgs are relatively novel in the YA world. Books set in Asia are relatively novel in the YA world. I still really enjoyed the book the way it was but I think Meyer could do (arguably even more) wonderful things with her own imagination.

3.5/5 stars

I read the ebook version of Cinder but it is also available in audio format from Macmillan Audio.  Here is a snippet of the narration: 

The audio version of Cinder is narrated by Rebecca Soler, whose work includes narrating Judy Blume's Just As Long As We're Together (a childhood favorite of mine) and Sarah Dessen's Lock and Key. I listened to her read the latter book and she was wonderful. Her conversational tone definitely works well with young adult novels and she fluidly integrates multiple characters without it sounding forced. If the clip from the audiobook is indicative of the entire audiobook, I'm sad I didn't experience it in that format. I'll definitely consider listening to the rest of the series if I can get my hands on them around the book's release date. I have to see what those fairy tale characters are up to! If you've yet to read Cinder (and you definitely should), think about listening to the audiobook. 

*Clip source: Macmillan Audio

Wonder
Author: R.J. Palacio
Publication Date: 2/14/12
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Blurb (GR): I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse. 

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances? 

R. J. Palacio has written a spare, warm, uplifting story that will have readers laughing one minute and wiping away tears the next. With wonderfully realistic family interactions (flawed, but loving), lively school scenes, and short chapters, Wonder is accessible to readers of all levels. 

Review:
August Pullman burrowed under my skin and punched me in my tear ducts pretty early on in this book.  Maybe it was his Star Wars obsession, or his sense of humor, or his general spirit that captured me but it was probably all three—and so much more.  As a kid with craniofacial abnormalities, he's heard it all, all the awful names kids (and adults) can come up with. He's seen all the horrified looks. Until this year, though, he'd never been to school. Wonder follows Auggie as he starts his year until he graduates from the fifth grade.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints: Auggie, his sister, her boyfriend, her sister’s ex-best friend, and two of Auggie’s friends from school. The technique worked for me in this case, as it was fascinating to see events from different perspectives and to feel what each character was feeling. I keep trying to decide which narrator I enjoyed hearing from the most but they each gave me something to think about: What it means to be comfortable, how much influence parents have on their children’s personalities, how taking one minute to do something for someone else can make all the difference.  I sound like a motivational speaker right now. Treat everyone with kindness! Teach your kids to look beyond looks! Let’s all just take care of each other!

Middle grade books are hit or miss for me. I truly feel they must be some of the hardest books to write; children's books as well.  Conveying messages to impressionable age groups while still telling an engaging and well-constructed story is a feat. I can see how some readers may view this book as heavy-handed or forcing moral values. I guess I just didn't see it. The book reads like what it is supposed to read like: A book about a young boy who is and manages to remain a wonderful and caring human being despite being subjected to numerous events that would make me want to go weep in my room. I think children are smart enough to know that not every child in Auggie's situation is surrounded with so many wonderful people. They go to school. They know that other kids are not always nice, especially to anyone who deviates from whatever is "normal" (if anything is normal). If books for children always told the truth, far more kids in books would be picked up by sex traffickers, be in abusive households, and struggle with food insecurity. Believing that the universe will take care of everyone is a bit delusional - that is not the case. But teaching children to believe that good things can happen to everyone and that there are more kind than evil people in the world? I don't see the harm in that. 

There is a fine line between playing on the emotions of your readers and emotional manipulation. I’m not a big crier in books - I can only think of three or four books that have made me tear up at all - but I cried several times in this book. (On a plane, no less!)  I think there was only one segment of the book that felt overdone and that had to do with the family dog.  And while I may or may not have snuggled with my dog after I read that section, I didn’t cry because I’m not sold on the necessity of that portion of the book. However, I will concede that the dog’s character provided the perfect vehicle to introduce discussions of blind love and souls/bodies and those were highlights for me. (Hearing Auggie's thoughts about maybe coming back as a handsome man broke my heart a little bit.) The only other aspect of the novel that didn't work for me was the use of song lyrics in chapter titles and in the body. Then again, I’ve never been the biggest Natalie Merchant fan. I thought this book was wonderful (pun initially unintended but I'm leaving it in so I guess there is intent behind it now) and I absolutely recommend it to parents and teachers who would like to read something worthwhile and inspirational with children as well as to any readers who enjoy middle grade books. 

5/5 stars

The Case of the Baker Street Irregular (Andrew Tillet, Sara Wiggins & Inspector Wyatt #1)
Author: Robert Newman
Publication Date: 1978
Publisher: AladdinBlurb (GR):Andrew found London terrifying, especially after his guardian, sour old Mr. Dennison, was mysteriously abducted. Suddenly, Andrew was plunged into a series of bizarre, bombings, blackmail and murder. Then, when he met the incomparable detective Sherlock Holmes, Andrew's plight took a thoroughly remarkable turn...

Review:
Sherlock Holmes is basically a literary superhero to me. Sure his weaknesses are a little more interesting than most but he holds the same appeal to me as comic books do to fanboys. (or girls!) I am just one huge grin at all of the quick conversations, random factoids and asides, and during the eventual wrap-up when the billions of threads get sewn up tightly in a way that only Sherlock Holmes would ever be able to figure. A Goodreads friend sent me a copy of this book because she knows how much I love Sherlock and I’d never read any of the more juvenile stories. How well could the dynamic duo translate to a younger audience? The answer to that question, at least in terms of this book, is two-pronged. Robert Newman was absolutely successful in creating believable dialogue and multiple interwoven mysteries involving a few younger characters. However, I’m still not sure how large of an audience would enjoy a younger-YA/middle grade Victorian multi-layered mystery. My heart hopes that there are quite a few precocious mystery-lovers out there. As an adult, I flew through The Case of the Baker Street Irregular in an hour or two and I’m not at all ashamed to say that I was legitimately surprised at some of the connections. Some other reviews have mentioned the transparency of the mystery but I found it to be entertaining til the last and honestly, I thought it better done than many adult murder mysteries I’ve read in the past.

This series is based on the mention of “Baker Street Irregulars”(221B Baker Street being the address of Holmes’ abode), various local children who would aid Holmes and Watson in their investigations in the original stories. The Case of the Baker Street Irregular opens with Andrew Craigie, a young boy from Cornwall moving into a boarding house with his former tutor who is temporarily his guardian after his aunt passes away. Almost as soon as they arrive, Andrew’s guardian disappears. A prominent lord dies, his son has hallucinations, a woman visits Holmes and Watson to help her find her missing daughter, and someone is trying to fence stolen goods in a store on Baker Street. Are any or all of these things connected? If you’ve read any Holmes at all, you already know the answer to this question. I suppose one of my favorite things about Holmes stories is the multiple storylines. When so much is happening, I forget bits of information and when they come round again later in the story, I have those “A-ha!” moments. I’d much rather have loads of red herrings and random facts tossed out in order to make the eventual unraveling a surprise than removing all that extraneous detail and reading a murder mystery paint-by-number. (which I sometimes feel is what I’m reading)

I totally loved it and if you are a Sherlock fan and are looking for some entertainment without a lot of mental work, I think you’ll find this book an hour or two well spent. The only potential negative about the book was that I thought the author made Holmes a bit too sentimental and empathetic. I enjoy the little glimpses of humanity we get and I understand the reasons that it works in this particular story. For me, it wasn’t really a negative at all. I’m sorry this series wasn’t on my radar as a young girl but I’ll be finishing the series as an adult and that’s just fine with me.

Stray (Touchstone, #1)
Author: Andrea K. Höst
Publication Date: March 20th 2011
Publisher Andrea K. Hösth

Blurb (GR): On her last day of high school, Cassandra Devlin walked out of exams and into a forest. Surrounded by the wrong sort of trees, and animals never featured in any nature documentary, Cass is only sure of one thing: alone, she will be lucky to survive.

The sprawl of abandoned blockish buildings Cass discovers offers her only more puzzles. Where are the people? What is the intoxicating mist which drifts off the buildings in the moonlight? And why does she feel like she's being watched?

Increasingly unnerved, Cass is overjoyed at the arrival of the formidable Setari. Whisked to a world as technologically advanced as the first was primitive, where nanotech computers are grown inside people's skulls, and few have any interest in venturing outside the enormous whitestone cities, Cass finds herself processed as a 'stray', a refugee displaced by the gates torn between worlds. Struggling with an unfamiliar language and culture, she must adapt to virtual classrooms, friends who can teleport, and the ingrained attitude that strays are backward and slow.

Can Cass ever find her way home? And after the people of her new world discover her unexpected value, will they be willing to let her leave?

Review:

_ How useful would you be in an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic situation? My best friend and I had a discussion about this for a while the other day. (Well, to be honest I have this discussion all the time.) While we obviously tally people’s skills up in the positives column, we were in agreement that two of the biggest advantages a person can have is their ability to just go with the flow and their tendency not whine or complain about things. The reason I bring this up is because the first third or fourth of this book is about a teenage girl, Cass Devlin, walking home from school and suddenly finding herself in a completely foreign place. As she walks around, the thinks about what is going on in a very logical manner.  She thinks about where the sun is located, how long the days are, what kinds of wildlife is around, what she might be able to eat, how to actually make things from raw materials. Gosh, thanks for that Andrea K. Höst, because my reading partner and I were so excited to read about a character who actually thought about all the things a person should be thinking if they are somewhere they have never been before. I’ve read several books since I finished this one (as has my reading partner) and we’ve repeatedly said “Ugh, Cass Devlin would never do something like this.” I also enjoyed her sense of humor about her entire situation and the new society she finds herself a part of.

The interesting thing about this book, and this could really be a positive or negative depending on the reader, was how it was very in-depth setup for the rest of the series.  What this book needs is a kickass editor to contain the awesome. Here is a very scientific graph I’ve made for the occasion:

_ Wouldn't we all like to have that problem? I’d get overly excited if I were the author, too.  It is clear that Ms. Höst has mapped out this world, its inhabitants, the powers, technology, and the history...and I was into all of it! At a point, while I never lost interest, I was looking for a little less description of every single power, its amplification, and the different spaces the teams went to. (this sentence probably makes very little sense but I don’t want to ruin the plot of the book for future readers) Several of the characters intrigued me and I wished we got to know a few of them more in depth rather than tens of them by name only. In the end, this book has the potential to be a five-star read for me if it was completely edited. (There were a couple affect/effect, hanger/hangar-type errors but overall, the writing was fun and there were very few errors for a self-pub) However, the final product as it is was quite enough to make me buy the remaining two ebooks in the series to see how it all pans out and definitely enough to recommend it to a lot of people.

Surprisingly, there is no concentration on romance, at least not in this installment of the series. There are
a few hints and several possibilities but it was nice not to have that weighing down the plot. Instead of Cass wondering about what X or Y dude thinks of her, she actually wonders about how everything in the world works, how she might get home, and the ramifications of her choices. Crazy!

To the author, if you are reading this at any point (which you might be!), please write a survivalist or post-apoc novel! I will read it and love it. Until then, I'll continue with this series and enjoy those ones.

I never would’ve found this book without Goodreads. My pal Chichipio has an aversion to buying books that cost more than $5. Sure, I often yank his chain about this habit but this is it, Gonza, your REVENGE. I really loved this book, so thank you. (be sure to check out his review!)

Froi of the Exiles (Lumatere Chronicles, #2)
Author: Melina Marchetta
Publication Date: 10/3/11
Publisher: Viking Australia

Blurb (GR): Blood sings to blood, Froi . . .
Those born last will make the first . . .
For Charyn will be barren no more.

Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home... Or so he believes...

Fiercely loyal to the Queen and Finnikin, Froi has been trained roughly and lovingly by the Guard sworn to protect the royal family, and has learned to control his quick temper. But when he is sent on a secretive mission to the kingdom of Charyn, nothing could have prepared him for what he finds. Here he encounters a damaged people who are not who they seem, and must unravel both the dark bonds of kinship and the mysteries of a half-mad Princess.

And in this barren and mysterious place, he will discover that there is a song sleeping in his blood, and though Froi would rather not, the time has come to listen.

Gripping and intense, complex and richly imagined, Froi of the Exiles is a dazzling sequel to Finnikin of the Rock, from the internationally best-selling and multi-award-winning author of Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca, On the Jellicoe Road and The Piper's Son.

Review:
I’ve been a fan of every other Melina Marchetta book I’ve read, which is all of them, so it sort of pains me to say that Froi of the Exiles was frustrating and unsatisfying for me. I’m still going to give it three stars because even when Marchetta is (subjectively to me) not on her game, she still has a way with words that blows nearly every other YA author out of the water. Originally, I tried to keep my review entirely spoiler-free but it just wasn’t happening. There will be a few spoilers but they are ones that are not likely to surprise you while reading the book. Oh, and there will be Finnikin spoilers, just so you know. *sigh* And we’re off…

The number one reason why this book couldn’t work for me was the relationship between Froi and Quintana. It is not a spoiler to reveal something you find out in the first few pages—Quintana has basically been systematically raped for years. While it is happening, she goes off into another place in her mind a la Precious (based on the novel Push by Sapphire) and her daydreams. She has been maltreated for years and everyone thinks she is more or less insane. Also, she is described as having weird teeth, bird’s nest hair, dirty clothes, and several personalities. Okay, so…

_How could anyone NOT be attracted to that? All jokes aside, I couldn’t get behind a relationship that disgusted me from the onset. To sleep with a girl who has never had a healthy relationship with anyone, especially if you are doing it under even quasi-false pretenses is a bit scary. I don’t want to call it sexual abuse but it kind of felt that way to me. I know many other readers feel that Quintana is an intriguing character and love her down to the ground. To me, she felt like a confused, somewhat simple-minded girl with lots of strength and motivation but who was absolutely vulnerable nonetheless. I don’t require a strong heroine all the time, that isn’t the issue. The issue is a balanced relationship and here, I just never saw it. Near the end of the novel, Quintana shows immense growth as a character and if I read the third book in the series, I think I will enjoy her more. Froi’s decision to sleep with Quintana was morally questionable. It reminded me of United States of Tara where a woman with multiple personalities and her husband have an agreement that his sleeping with any of her alters is cheating. While her body might be there, her mind isn’t and that isn’t fair to her. Even later in the book, Quintana is randomly growling at points.

I read a lot of fantasy and romance. In romance novel series, a significant number of authors have a tendency to bring past couples from other books in as characters. Look! See how happy they are! They were happy then but they are even happier now—look at the babies! While I find it annoying, I don’t always mind when this happens in romance books. I do mind when it comes up repeatedly in fantasy and Froi is the only book I can think of as an example. Look at Finnikin and Isaboe! They are so unbelievably well-suited to each other. They are so attracted to each other that they do it up against walls and in closets, tra-la-la! If it were just once or twice, I wouldn’t even note it but it made up a large portion of the novel. On a similar note, I now know another thing that I don’t ever want to read about in another fantasy novel: breastfeeding. How long should someone breastfeed a child? I don’t know nor do I care to think about it while I’m reading a fantasy novel. (unless a woman is breastfeeding dragons or something) Froi of the Exiles was something like 620 pages long. Finnikin and Isaboe had their moment in the limelight in the first book of the series. We certainly could’ve gotten a taste of how sublimely perfect they are together and how they can communicate by looks and how they can’t keep their paws off of each other in a few less pages.

The tone of this novel is about 400% darker than any of the author’s other work. That’s fine, I don’t mind dark, nor do I mind sex. (in fact, I enjoy these two things in books) A friend told me that Froi seemed more realistic because there was so much emphasis put on the seedier elements of the atmosphere during wartime. Everybody seemed to be either having sex or talking about having sex or if not that, murdering other people. I have no experience living in an active warzone but every character seemed to have sex on the mind, even when they weren’t near any actual fighting. Before you go into this one, you should just know that everyone has slept with everyone else or if they haven’t, they’ve certainly thought about it or are going to in the near future. It got to the point where I just rolled my eyes and skimmed over sections of the book and I never, EVER do that with Marchetta books. (by sections I mean a paragraph here or there, not any significant amount of text)

I’ve been putting off this review for ages because I just have a bad taste in my mouth about it. I read it with a friend and our google document has over 20,000 words. I am rereading it and laughing because in Chapter 6 my friend wrote, “In general, I am getting more into it. Not a huge fan of travelling around, but looks like they are almost there.” Hahaha, yeah right. There is just so much movement in this book. Everyone is always going somewhere. Just GET THERE already—collect what you came for and go back, or stay. Whatever. I’d understand it if it was like a quest to Mordor to destroy the ring that binds them all but that isn’t the case here. (side note: Turns out I also guessed Froi’s father in Chapter 6 as well) Froi basically spends the entire book moving from one place to the next but I was more interested in his story than the other two storylines that appear in the book. When Finnikin and Isaboe aren’t doing it, they are having political meetings with otherzzzzzzzzz, oh sorry, I just fell asleep while I was typing. The other storyline is about Lucian of the Monts, whom I adored in Finnikin but who has turned into a huge douche in Froi. Let’s say it all together now, COMMUNICATION. Learn it, live it, love it.

You know what I was thinking about while I was reading? Every one of Melina Marchetta’s books deals with a child with a missing parent. In Looking for Alibrandi, Josie’s dad is gone but comes back. In Jellicoe Road, Taylor’s parents are gone and also the guy in the tree side story. In Saving Francesca, her mother is lost to depression. In The Piper’s Son, Tom’s dad was gone to him, and in Finnikin of the Rock, he grew up with no mother and was missing his father for years. Now we can add Froi, Quintana, and Lucian to the list. Finding family is a huge theme for her--It’s all about who you are and where you came from. I think this is really interesting but I really enjoy stories about people who don’t know where they are from, DON’T find out, but come to terms with it and become their own person. It is always hard to define yourself when people are pointing out the similarities between you and your parents. I’m not going to spoiler who Froi’s parents are but I saw that one coming down the pipeline pretty early.

This review is getting too long. I always start to space out after a few paragraphs of a review so I’m assuming I’m not alone in this. I did not truly enjoy the process of reading this book but on the upside, it seems as if almost everyone else did. If you want to know anything else about what I thought of this book, let’s talk about it in the comments. For now, I’m just going to share some more comment highlights I found in our google document:

“If you are making shadow puppets with someone, it’s safe to say things are getting pretty serious.”

“And why make out Froi is some legend in the art of tongue work? AWKWARD.”

“HELLO, people. Wake up and realize that Beatriss needs people to work the land and there are bajillions of Charynites just chillin’ with their vegetable patches and nowhere to go. Problem, meet solution.”

“ ‘Just ask me! Just ask me! I can’t say the answer without you asking the question!’ Bitch, please. If you can say it when he asks, you can say it anytime.”

“RAPE.GRAVINAS. STOP PLANTING VEGETABLES!”

“Everyone’s stories/pasts are so DRAMATIC. This is real, solid DAYS OF OUR LIVES stuff.”

“I am quick to say, ‘because she is an idiot.’”

“Everyone’s life sucks. Everything is more convoluted than it should ever be. ALWAYS BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR A TWIN.”

“That meeting with the Belegonian dude? www.snoozefest.com.”

“Yes, I noticed that smooth segue.”

“Why are all the characters such hardened tools? Where is the relaxed, carefree character? Where is MM’s (Saving Francesca- type) humor? …It is not a relaxing read.”

“Why is she always growling?”

“I just love it when guys take my hand and then put it on their crotch.”

“Maybe Froi and Quintana are somehow brother and sister and it is incest and the little king will come out with extra limbs. Or maybe some cannibalism. You know they’ve been having crop problems. Next step: People eating people.”

A Monster Calls
Author: Patrick Ness (from an idea by Siobhan Dowd), illus. by Jim Kay
Publication Date: 9/15/11
Publisher: Candlewick

Blurb (GR): This is an extraordinarily moving novel about coming to terms with loss. The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming. . . .

This monster, though, is something different. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.
It wants the truth.

Patrick Ness spins a tale from the final story idea of Siobhan Dowd, whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself. Darkly mischievous and painfully funny, A Monster Calls is an extraordinarily moving novel about coming to terms with loss from two of our finest writers for young adults.

Review:
Last Fourth of July, I played a party game called Time’s Up with some friends. The gist of the game is that everyone has a partner and you start with a certain number of cards as a group—say 40. Each one has a different movie/television show/book title on it and you use the same cards for the entire game so if you have great recall, the game is much easier. In the first round, you try to get your partner to guess the title by describing the movie without using specific words. (like Taboo) The second round involves trying to get your partner to guess the movie by saying one word. The third round is charades. This game is hilariously fun because I get to watch people try to act out Bridge on the River Kwai and to see what the one word they’d pick is to sum something up. So many books are utterly forgettable. I read too much to remember all the details of everything over time. I reached 1,000 books read last week and so what if somewhere around 150 of those are children’s books, it is still a milestone. 1,000 books further down the line, I’ll still remember A Monster Calls. While it would be a completely useless one word sum-up for the party board game, the one word for this book is beautiful because it is just that, inside and out.


I think it is lovely that Patrick Ness took a story idea from an author we lost too early, Siobhan Dowd. I’d read reviews of A Monster Calls before going into it so I knew what I was getting into, but in case you don’t, this is about a boy dealing with losing his mother to cancer. I have not experienced the loss of a parent but this book did not feel emotionally manipulative to me, and from what I’ve taken away from other reviews, the feelings reflected by Conor ring true for at least a large portion of people who have gone through that nightmare themselves. No part of the book felt cliché to me either, which I frankly found surprising. There is an absolute skill to taking a heavier theme, writing a book for children or young adults, and making it not only accessible but I daresay appealing to adults. I’ve never read anything Ness has written beyond this but I definitely will be doing so. He isn’t condescending to children. He doesn’t tell saccharine fairy tales, and I loved that. I guessed what the monster was there for all along but that takes nothing away from the book and the way the yew tree was brought into the story, through references and illustrations by Jim Kay was perfect. On Kay’s website, he discusses the cover image and says,

“I have very fond childhood memories of being in the back seat of a car watching fields and farmland rush by. During the hour of twilight, the familiar objects began to lose their definition, became dark, anonymous forms. The countryside at night through the window of a car was both frightening and compelling; the everyday merged with the unknown, and this is how Patrick’s story felt to me.” (1)

You and me, both, Mr. Kay. The eerie artwork paired perfectly with Conor's story. The whole book felt like he was stuck in an in-between place, which I suppose he was. Those aren't places I like to spend a lot of time but every once in a while...

I won a signed copy of this from my friend Jo's blog, Wear the Old Coat. It was definitely a prized treasure of mine from the moment I unwrapped the parcel.