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YA Review: The Lost Conspiracy by Frances Hardinge

2/19/2012

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The Lost Conspiracy cover
The Lost Conspiracy
Author: Frances Hardinge
Publication Date: 9/1/09
Publisher: HarperCollins

Blurb(GR):
Two young sisters who live on a beautiful island soon become caught in a deadly web of deceit. Neither girl is exactly what she pretends to be, and when they are drawn into a sinister conspiracy, one discovers that the only thing more dangerous than the secret she hides is the truth she must uncover.


Review:

I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like The Lost Conspiracy.  Maybe that’s why this book isn’t very well known:  it’s hard to describe, let alone label, package, and sell.  This book is just amazing though; it’s like a triple whammy of great writing, fully realized and complex characters, and an amazing story.  So seriously, just stop reading this review right now and go get it. Still here?  Okay, okay, keep going.  But just know that I will be harping on about this book in various and annoying ways until you all break down.

Hathin is the assigned caretaker for her sister, Arilou.  This has been her sole, devoted purpose for her entire life.  Arilou is thought to be one of the rare “Lost”:  a group of people capable of sending their five senses away from their bodies to travel the island.  Several hundred years ago, Gullstruck Island was colonized by outsiders, and over the centuries, the customs and traditions of the native people have been taken over or diluted by the pervading culture of the newcomers.  The Lace, an extremely close-knit indigenous tribe, is the only remaining population that still remembers the old ways, and the dangerous consequences that will befall those that do not follow them.  The rest of the island’s populations view the Lace with suspicion and fear.  Their ways are foreign and illogical to the outsiders. There is a dark history that lies between the two groups that keeps the outsiders balanced on a dangerous edge between fear and rage.  Arilou is the only Lost to ever be born into the Lace tribe.  When a string of tragedies are blamed on the Lace, Hathin finds herself thrown onto the trail of a vast conspiracy.  Hathin must escape with Arilou, and find the strength inside herself to lead, despite living in the shadows for her entire life. 

The writing is spectacular – she infuses every sentence and paragraph with shadowy, sometimes threatening imagery.  This book is darkly atmospheric; even the chapter titles are a bit haunting and they all have hidden meanings.  My favorites are “No More Names” and “Death Dance.”

I am so completely impressed by the massive, sweeping scope of the world that she has built in this book.  This is one hell of a world!  Taking cues from tribal legends and practices from all over the globe (there’s a nice little acknowledgements section at the end), Hardinge creates a living, breathing, sinister place in Gullstruck Island.  This is an island where the flora and fauna can unravel your soul, sing you to death, and loosen your senses away.  The volcanoes have personalities, and they feud and love and prank.  There are mysterious assassins who use cremation dust to give themselves magical powers, and ominous ancient legends that are all based in truth.  The Lace are fully alive and meticulously drawn, and they have a hidden strength that no one sees.

Our enemies think that Lace make good victims and scapegoats.  They are wrong.  They think that they can strike at us and we will do nothing but scatter and hide.  They are wrong.

There were only a couple of times where I thought, “how will I keep track of it all?” because for the most part she so effortlessly weaves all this world-building into the story.  And what a story!  There’s a murder mystery, a revenge quest, and the genocide and enslavement of one group by another.  Despite this incredibly foreign (to me) setting, the plight of the Lace is a tale as old as time (unfortunately).   


Hathin develops and matures to a staggering degree in this book, and it’s very inspiring.  I love the idea of her invisibility and seeming unimportance as strengths.  I have to admit, the ending took me by surprise.  I was expecting something much darker.  I think that the fairy tale quality of this story sneaks up on you.  It’s hard to see at first, through all the darkness and tragedy, but this is actually a powerful story of one girl coming into her own. 

Perfect Musical Pairing
Bjork – It’s In Our Hands

I think that Bjork, with her unique, bizarre, atmospheric, beautiful sound, is the perfect complement to this book.  I had a hard time deciding which one of my many favorites would relate best .  But I was eventually drawn to the lyrics (with me, it’s always the lyrics) of It’s In Our Hands.

Look no further
Look no further
I look no
further

Cruelest, almost
Always to ourselves
It mustn't get
Any better, off

It's in our hands
It always was
It's in our hands
In our hands

5/5 Stars

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Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

2/6/2012

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Picture
Under the Never Sky
Author: Veronica Rossi
Publication Date: 1/3/12
Publisher: HarperCollins

Blurb (GR): Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered. This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland - known as The Death Shop - are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild - a savage - and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile - everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.


Review:
My opinion about Under the Never Sky is similar to the one I have about Unearthly. I am not going to claim that these books are ground-breaking or Printz-worthy. But in their genres, dystopia/post-apocalyptic and PNR respectively, they are as good as it gets. They are well written and entertaining, with characters and relationships that do not annoy and make you roll your eyes.

The summary of Under the Never Sky does this book a disservice. It is accurate enough, but overwhelms you with weird names of things and places. I'll try to explain the plot in a, hopefully, simpler way.

In a distant future, our (I assume) planet is ravaged by strange climate changes that make living on the surface quite rough. A big part of the population now exists inside huge, self-supporting, sealed from the outside domes. This group of people finds its only relief from the tediousness of the confined, sterilized living in virtual realities. The other half of the population barely survives outside. Food is scarce, climate dangerous, the living is primal, only the fittest survives.

Aria belongs to the sheltered kind, Perry - to the savage kind. When Aria is expelled from the security of her dome, she joins Perry, and together they ally to reach their separate goals.

While Under the Never Sky is hardly super-original, whatever genre tropes are used in it, are done exactly to my taste.

The novel has dual narration, but the choices Veronica Rossi made here work just right. 3rd person helps her avoid the customary similarities between her characters' voices. The switches between the POVs always happen when it is the most advantageous, no repetitiveness, no excessive navel-gazing (also, very frequent whenever 2-POV structure is used).

Another plus, Under the Never Sky is more of an adventure story, rather than romance (thank you, Jesus! I mean, Harper Teen). The love story line is strong, but the romance is slow-burning, not angsty, not overwhelming. The priorities are straight here - there are more important things in the characters' lives than a few days-long romantic relationships, things like families and loyalties.

Finally, the characters. I really liked Aria and Perry, especially Perry. There is a soft spot in my heart for a guy who is understanding of and helpful during the special lady days (aka periods).

Basically, Under the Never Sky, in my eyes, is a perfect mix of adventure and love, sci-fi and romance, entertainment and heartbreak. I am definitely coming back for more.

4/5 stars

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Pink by Lili Wilkinson

6/27/2011

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Pink Lili Wilkinson cover
Pink
Author: Lili Wilkinson
Publication Date: 2/8/11
Publisher: HarperCollins


Blurb (GR):  Ava has a secret. She is tired of her ultracool attitude, ultra-radical politics, and ultrablack clothing. She's ready to try something new—she's even ready to be someone new. Someone who fits in, someone with a gorgeous boyfriend, someone who wears pink.

Transferring to Billy Hughes School for Academic Excellence is the perfect chance to try on a new identity. But just in case things don't work out, Ava is hiding her new interests from her parents, and especially from her old girlfriend.

Secrets have a way of being hard to keep, though, and Ava finds that changing herself is more complicated than changing her wardrobe. Even getting involved in the school musical raises issues she never imagined. As she faces surprising choices and unforeseen consequences, Ava wonders if she will ever figure out who she really wants to be.

Humor, heart, and the joys of drama—on- and offstage—combine in Ava's delight-fully colorful journey of self-discovery.

Review:
Picture
So there's that.

4/5 stars
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