The Tearings by V. C. Repetto

December 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

TEARINGS
The Tearings by V. C. Repetto
Publisher: Evernight Teen
Genre: Young Adult, Suspense/Mystery, Contemporary, Horror
Length: Full Length (197 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

From the moment the black vans appear to take the sick away, Maya knows there is something wrong. She seems to be the only one to question the sudden disappearances at school and the masks everyone is forced to wear to keep from catching the new disease spreading through the entire United States. Even when word of the new “healing centers” reaches the public, no one dares to ask what is happening.

But when Maya catches the disease, the one they call The Tearings, and is taken to one of these centers along with her mother, the truth becomes all too clear. She is separated from her family and forced to work, becoming one of the more fortunate ones who is not sent to the testing wings. Bullied by the guards to the point of death, she meets David Summers, the enigmatic young Captain who appears to loathe his position of power in the camp and who seems as drawn to Maya as she is to him.
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When Maya suddenly becomes the disease’s only survivor, she must put her trust on David to find a way to escape the camp and get the truth, and the cure coursing through her veins, out to the world.

The concept of civil liberties might seem slightly boring and abstract until they’re ripped away from you.

“Maybe it was worth losing a few minor privacies for the good of the majority.” As soon as Maya thought these words early on in her tale I knew I’d either love her or hate her by the time I finished it. She has a strong personality and a fiercely stubborn streak that sometimes pokes out at inopportune moments, but ultimately Maya’s narration of this piece reveals the best parts of her personality as well. I’m still not entirely sure if I like her as a person, but following an interesting protagonist around is much more important than shaving down their sometimes rough edges.

There were a few pacing issues in this book. While the first few chapters set up everything the reader needs to know about how people in Maya’s society are reacting to this dangerous new disease, explaining all of the ways in which they are pretending that everything is ok does slow down the action in the beginning. I would have preferred to spend more time figuring out some plot holes that develop later on. The narrator’s understanding of why they occur is fairly fuzzy, and I never did fully understand the logic behind certain twists in the narrative.

The chilling premise makes up for the inconsistencies in the plot, especially when it focuses on how society at large responds to such a virulent illness. The Tearings sound like a disease cooked up in Stephen King’s laboratory, and Ms. Repetto’s graphic descriptions of how it affects the human body make my skin crawl.

The Tearings is a chilling dystopian novel that I’d recommend to adult and young adult readers alike. This is a great choice for anyone who feels a tickle in their throat as cold and flu season begins. Remember that it’s probably just a harmless cold. Probably.

Filed Under: Horror, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Second Mango by Shira Glassman

December 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

MANGO
The Second Mango by Shira Glassman
Publisher: Prizm Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, YA
Length: Full Length (165 Pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Cyclamen

Queen Shulamit never expected to inherit the throne of the tropical land of Perach so young. At twenty, grief-stricken and fatherless, she’s also coping with being the only lesbian she knows after her sweetheart ran off for an unknown reason. Not to mention, she’s the victim of severe digestive problems that everybody think she’s faking. When she meets Rivka, an athletic and assertive warrior from the north who wears a mask and pretends to be a man, she finds the source of strength she needs so desperately.

However, until the challenge was completed, the history of ballooning know many firsts, including the first misfortunes, the first human cheap viagra click to read more flights, first flights to North America and over the English Channel, and, of course, the first major aircraft disasters. Precautionary measures : This medicine has to be taken only by men and children and women are asked to stay away from the drug. cialis de prescription has Sildenafil citrate inside it which has made it possible to access the best ED medications, such as Sildenafil tablets, at low prices. Younger members of British society need to tab viagra be given legitimate therapeutic consideration in due time simply like general wellbeing issues. Don t be afraid to order generic viagra sound fun and witty all the time. Unfortunately for her, Rivka is straight, but that’s okay — Shulamit needs a surrogate big sister just as much as she needs a girlfriend. Especially if the warrior’s willing to take her around the kingdom on the back of her dragon in search of other women who might be open to same-sex romance. The real world outside the palace is full of adventure, however, and the search for a royal girlfriend quickly turns into a rescue mission when they discover a temple full of women turned to stone by an evil sorcerer.

Queen Shulamit has a lot to deal with, everything from thinking she is the only lesbian in her country to becoming queen at the age of twenty, following the unexpected death of her father. She also has severe digestive problems which make it hard to find meals that she can actually eat without getting sick. Her lonely plight is further compounded by the fact that no one believes she gets sick when she eats and no one understands her love for women. Rivka enters her life just when she needs a friend. Rivka is a warrior who also happens to be a woman, although she usually disguises that fact.

I liked Rivka a lot. She is a very believable character with a lot of depth to her personality. I felt very sorry for Queen Shulamit, and I know she has led a very sheltered life, but still she seems terribly immature to me. She is twenty and she has just become queen of her land, but all she can think about is finding a girl friend. She hires Rivka to help in this search, but soon the two woman find themselves trying to defeat a sorcerer and save a woman’s religious house where nearly all the woman have been turned to stone.

Queen Shulamit does seem to mature a bit over the course of the novel as she tries to figure out ways to defeat the sorcerer, but again, it was Rivka who held my attention. The dialogue feels contrived in places and Queen Shulamit’s obsession with women is definitely more adolescent than adult. But there were some wonderful moments and I really liked the dragon who could turn into a horse and then back to a dragon.

This is a very gentle lesbian love story and it needs to be commended for that alone. It is also a fun fantasy adventure, and readers of fantasy will certainly enjoy it.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

The War Inside by M. Kircher

November 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment

WAR
The War Inside by M. Kircher
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Action/Adventure
Length: Full Length (362 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

The end of the world is only just the beginning. So eighteen-year-old Thea discovers when her solitary life on a dying Earth is shattered by a mysterious dream, a devastating choice, and a strange gift that propels her on a journey towards the restoration of all mankind.

Thea is bitter and alone; a perfect embodiment of the sunless, cloud-covered Earth she inhabits. A terrifying dream convinces her to save the life of an injured girl, and despite her misgivings, Thea decides to rescue sixteen-year old Viviana. She soon learns that gentle Viv has a life-threatening infection, as well as a freakish patch of glowing skin over her heart. When this light spreads to Thea, she is forced to trust Caden, an arrogant, lazy, and annoyingly handsome boy she despises. Caden has a map to the last city on Earth, and the only place that might have a cure for both Viv’s infection and the strange light on Thea’s hands. As the trio embark on a journey through the barren wilderness, Thea and Caden try to fight their mounting attraction and discover that the light is not a curse, but a powerful gift meant to heal the polluted Earth and reconnect the remnants of humanity. What they don’t know is that deadly shadows watch them, waiting for the chance to make sure that humans stay in the darkness forever.

It’s foolish to risk your life to save someone who can never repay you. Or is it?

The bugs talk to the nervous system through pathways, including the wholesale sildenafil http://new.castillodeprincesas.com/item-6526 immune system, that keeps them in check. For those who do not want to turn him around if he’s your best employee?” It was apparent that they had spent quite a bit of time trying to turn Max into a ‘customer service rep’ instead of the technician that he was and a brilliant one at that. find this order cialis Symptoms include shortness female viagra sildenafil of breath, tiredness, chest pain, racing of heartbeats. There are a number cheap viagra from uk of pills on the market, what you see isn’t necessarily what you are pumping your body full of? A Better Option For You… In some ways the scenery in this book is a non-sentient character. Thea and the people she meets on her journey are strongly affected by dark, stormy weather patterns that shift from one misery to the next. I was particularly intrigued by the author’s use of fog and rain as antagonists in certain scenes, especially once the contrast between Thea’s daily life and the patch of glowing light on the girl she rescues is fully explored.

The world building breaks down once the extent of the damage to the ecosystem becomes apparent. Only a small percentage of the plants and wildlife have survived the horrific damage to the environment, and nearly all of the water supply is deadly unless special precautions are taken to nullify it. While humans could survive a short time on what little food still exists I can’t see how anyone could live on that sort of diet longterm. There are a few hints about this aspect of the plot that I would have preferred to see fleshed out in more detail. Certain scenes lead me to make assumptions about Thea’s world that were never confirmed nor denied, although hopefully the sequels will delve into this topic in greater detail.

Thea’s personal growth was a highlight of this tale. She is a richly detailed character whose strengths and faults are interwoven from the very first scene. The dysfunctional society that produced her has clearly had an impact on the sort of person she’s become, but the author balances Thea’s past with the knowledge that each one of us chooses how we treat other people.

I would have liked to see more character development from the rest of the individuals who accompany Thea on her journey. Viv in particular comes across as someone who always makes the right decisions, and as much as I wanted to like her I had trouble relating to her persistent cheerfulness no matter what is happening around her. She also acts much younger than her chronological age. Once again I suspect that the author had a good reason for writing Viv this way, but giving all of the supporting characters more time to develop faults and strengths would have earned this book a higher rating.

The budding romance also feels out of place due to how quickly it occurs. The personality clashes between the two characters involved in this subplot provide quite a bit of plot fodder early on, so it was a little odd to see that dynamic shift so rapidly as the story progresses. While I understand why they found one another attractive, it would have been more realistic to push this aspect of their relationship to a later installment of this series given what readers learn about their backgrounds.

With that being said, I am looking forward to seeing how the chemistry plays out between the characters who develop crushes on one another. Once their friendship deepens and both of them have finished growing up I expect them to make a good couple.

It was difficult to determine the best age recommendation for this piece. Most of the characters are between the ages of 16 and 18, but they interact with one another as if they’re several years younger than that. I ultimately selected the 14+ age group due to brief violence and the romantic subplot I mentioned earlier.

The War Inside has piqued my interest. I’d recommend it to anyone in the mood for a fresh approach to the dystopian genre.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Severed: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow by Dax Varley

November 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

SEVERED
Severed: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow by Dax Varley
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Historical, Paranormal, YA
Length: Full Length (205 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Hollyhock

Katrina’s still haunted by her encounter with the Headless Horseman – the night he beckoned to her. Now he has risen again, slashing heads and terrorizing the quiet countryside.

Her only joy during this dismal darkness comes when Ichabod Crane, a gorgeous young man from Connecticut, moves to Sleepy Hollow and their attraction turns to romance.

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But the Horseman awaits. Now it’s up to her to sever the horror and alter the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

The Horseman has returned. He haunts their days and terrorizes their nights, selecting his victims seemingly at random—but it’s Katrina he yearns for.

Katrina Van Tassel lives a privileged life in Sleepy Hollow. She’s the daughter of the wealthiest man in town and destined for marriage with her father’s overseer. But Katrina dreams of traveling the world and leaving isolated Sleepy Hollow behind, and she’s not afraid to forfeit her coddled existence to make that happen. Katrina is an easy character to like. She’s strong-minded and independent and not afraid to take matters into her own hands when Sleepy Hollow’s resident ghost threatens those she loves.

Ichabod Crane is the teacher who arrives in Sleepy Hollow just after the Horseman has claimed his latest victim. Ichabod and Katrina form an instant connection, but there are plenty of people who’d like to stand in their way—including her father, her best friend, and her most persistent suitor. Like Katrina, Ichabod is an easy character to like, but the reader does not get as strong a sense of him since the story is told exclusively from Katrina’s point of view. The romance between Katrina and Ichabod is easy to root for, even though their relationship develops rather fast.

The author does a good job of creating her ominous world. It is easy to become immersed in Sleepy Hollow and feel the tension of the characters as they wonder who the next victim will be. The mystery of who the Horseman is and the suspense of what he wants is nicely paced throughout the novel. I also appreciated that in this story, it’s more often the heroine riding to the hero’s rescue, than the other way around. But as that independence and freedom for the heroine might suggest, this is not a novel for readers who prefer authentic historical atmosphere. Katrina and Ichabod are essentially modern characters in a vaguely eighteenth century setting. It works for this story, but I was occasionally distracted by too-modern dialogue or attitudes. I did appreciate, though, that the author tackles some important issues throughout the story, such as slavery, which I was surprised to learn was still legal in New York in 1793.

I’m not really familiar with the source material, so I don’t know how this book would strike a fan of Washington Irving’s original story, but I enjoyed Katrina and Ichabod’s romantic adventures. I think any YA reader who enjoys a good scare, a feisty heroine, and a captivating romance will like Severed.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Pandora by Arabella Wyatt

November 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

PANDORA
Pandora by Arabella Wyatt
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (155 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Willowcombe Clatford. The perfect place to live. A village with standards. A village with morals. A village where everyone knows what is best for you…

Fourteen year old Pandora Laskaris moves with her family to Willowcombe Clatford, an idyllic village full of friendly neighbours and upright citizens, where the children are always well behaved, there are never any disagreements, and crime doesn’t exist.

Yet within this calm and beautiful place, Pandora comes to recognise that there is something wrong. What is happening behind the scenes at the village? Why do those who defy village opinion disappear? What part does Pandora’s traditionalist aunt, Mabel Whitemarsh, play in the sinister atmosphere that keeps the village quiet and obedient? And what is the link to the legendary Pandora’s Box of Greek mythology?

Willowcombe Clatford. The perfect place to live. A village with standards. A village with morals. A village where everyone knows what is best for you…

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Pandora is an incredibly intelligent and likeable protagonist whose desire to get to the bottom of what is really happening in her new community propels the plot forward. One of the highlights in her character development comes when the reader is introduced to her two younger sisters early on in the plot. The warm relationship between all three siblings adds depth to Pandora’s personality and shows the soft edges of an otherwise tough and sometimes sharp-tongued teenager.

An in-depth description of the community that Pandora and her family live in before moving to Willowcombe Clatford makes for a slow start for this novel. While certain details are absolutely necessary in order to understand why Pandora’s parents are so eager to move, I would have preferred to jump into Pandora’s new environment a little more quickly. Using so much space to describe her old life compresses the development of later plot points and made the pacing uneven.

The rules governing Willowcombe Clatford were also confusing for me. It was difficult to predict what would happen to characters who pushed against them because the consequences vary so much from one person to the next. While some of these differences are eventually explained, I still had trouble understanding the exceptions to the rules as well as the logical limits that should apply to certain phenomenon.

This book is most appropriate for the 14+ age range due to violent content and mature subject matter. Pandora is a skeptical and inquisitive teen who asks great questions, but I would not recommend sharing her adventure to younger readers.

At the end there are hints that a sequel may be on the way. The ideas Ms. Wyatt introduces earlier on in the plot are a fascinating mixture of genres, and I hope that she will be able to spend more time exploring them in future novels. There is a lot of good material in this piece that is ripe for further exploration, and I would be excited to see how she develops it.

I’d recommend Pandora to anyone in the mood for a dystopian novel with an intriguing premise.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Spirit Eyes by Lynn Hones

November 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

EYES
Spirit Eyes by Lynn Hones
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (153 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Rating: 4 Stars
Review by: Astilbe

A young child with psychic ability, ghosts who want the truth known, ghosts who want the truth buried-it all adds up to the Perfect Spiritual Storm.

Pearl, a happy, vivacious youngster adopted from China, is endowed with a gift for seeing other worldly spirits. Not happy with this power, she tries to understand the ghosts following her, instructing her, and even threatening her. Things go from bad to worse when she sees a spirit with a funny spider on its arm. Alarmed, her mother, Ruth, has her draw the spider, which is actually a Swastika.

How will Pearl and her mother fight the forces of good and evil? Will the frightening truths about their city, their home, their friends, and even their own family unite them, or create chasms that can never be repaired?

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Adoption papers rarely tell you everything about a child’s past. As the Caucasian parents of two transracial adoptees, Ruth and Paul can’t exactly hide their daughters’ origins. What I found really interesting was how Pearl’s history and racial identity were woven into her current circumstances. The author makes several connections between the two that I never saw coming, and it was rewarding to follow her logic as she snaps the pieces of her narrative together.

There were a few instances in which I wished more time would have been spent connecting certain plot points. The inclusion of such a large cast of characters for what is a fairly short full length novel occasionally results in backstories that are hastily sketched out. In most cases I was able to infer the rest of their stories based on how particular characters acted later on, but it would have been nice to have my hunches officially confirmed or denied in a few cases.

Pearl is eight when this story takes place, but due to the violent manners in which some of the spirits she meets have died I am recommending it for high school students on up. While nothing is described in particularly gruesome terms there are extremely emotionally intense scenes involving the lives and deaths of these spirits. These scenes are quite well written, but due to the dark themes they introduce as well as the inclusion of certain tropes from the horror genre I’m not comfortable recommending this book to younger audiences.

What I appreciate most about this tale is how vividly the author describes the world in which Pearl and her family live. The tranquility of the rural and suburban settings provides a thin veneer of respectability for a family slowly coming apart at the seams. Ghost stories work best when the reader honestly believes that the characters he or she have grown to care about are in terrible danger, and Ms. Hones did a great job at keeping me on my toes from beginning to end.

Spirit Eyes is a heart-pounding ghost story that I highly recommend to adult and teen readers alike.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Fabrick by Andrew Post

October 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment

FABRICK
Fabrick by Andrew Post
Publisher: Medallion Press
Genre: Action/Adventure, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery, YA
Length: Full Length (604 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

Clyde has worked for Mr. Wilkshire for a very long time. Life is comfortable in his keeper’s chateau—until Mr. Wilkshire is attacked. Clyde goes into hiding and emerges to find his only friend dead.

Brokenhearted and clueless how to bring Mr. Wilkshire’s killer to justice, Clyde accepts the help of a unique group of friends, including Flam the Mouflon treasure hunter and Nevele the royal stitcher. Throughout their adventure, Clyde learns he isn’t alone in this world with his magical ability: there are others like him called fabrick weavers, and for all it is both a special gift and a curse. His gift is to ease the conscience of anyone who makes a confession to him, but the curse is that the person’s luck will be reduced in proportion to the severity of the offense.

Having left his pampered life behind to set things right, Clyde joins his new friends traveling into the razed city of Geyser, into the labyrinthine world beneath, and to the palace beyond. Along the way, the group deals with an unrelenting maniac pursuer, a corrupt king, a band of pirates, a small army of guardsmen, and just a few million dog-sized bugs—all while hopefully managing to avoid jinxing their own members.

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Clyde is an interesting creation. He needs no food or sleep, he can’t love anyone or he forgets them, and he’s spent his life hidden away. He can listen to your troubles and make you feel better, but he also gives you bad luck. He has no idea why would anyone sweep into the yard and kill the man who was raising him. And why did he need to hide away for three weeks?

This is a unique story, I’m impressed. I read a lot of fantasy/science fiction books and some plots seem to dribble together. This one stands alone and stands proud. Mr. Post has created a world that is different but his characters are the ones that are unique. You need to open your mind wide to get into this story and really appreciate it.

Pirates and their associates are the ones who have killed his master. He’s never been outside the walls of their compound, so how’s he going to survive? He finds some hope when he finds this Mouflon pilfering anything of value in the house and around the property. He’s huge, has horns, and also has a big appetite. By accident, he agrees to help Clyde, and then he’s stuck. He has to honor his word.

As they travel across the destroyed world, they meet other interesting creatures: Mice that can become one entity and travel as person, and a stitcher who can weave her own being into tools like twine or rope to help with Clyde’s quest. All Clyde wants to do is find the man who killed his master, but that changes as he travels.

This story is well written, full of tension, and full of friendship built from nothing but strangers working together. Mr. Post has created a good team. This imagined world has a lot of depth, a lot of danger, and death is common. It makes a great adventure. The part that really pleases me, as a reader, is that there has to be a sequel. Too many questions are still unanswered. And there’s another character in the shadows that must be going to run across Clyde sooner or later. I’m more than willing to go on another wild ride with Clyde!

I really enjoyed this read. Why not share this unique world with your young adult reader? (I won’t tell if you read it, too.)

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Out of the Cave by Cotton E. Davis

October 8, 2013 By 2 Comments

CAVE
Out of the Cave by Cotton E. Davis
Publisher: Burst Books
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Full Length (219 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

First, Adam was hurt. Then, he was betrayed. Now, Adam is mad.

Timewarp Inc, brings Adam Stancil, a 15-year-old Neanderthal boy to this century, where he is mainstreamed into a Midwestern high school. As he assimilates into modern culture, makes friends, deals with bullies, plays on the football team, he discovers it was human ancestors who, back in the Ice Ages, murdered his people with superior weaponry. First, Adam was hurt. Then, he felt betrayed. Now, Adam is mad.

Humans often fear things we haven’t experienced before or don’t understand. Is prejudice integral to the ways in which our species interacts with the unknown, or is it a something that can be unlearned?
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High school is one of the most difficult times in life to stand out from the crowd. The idea of attending a school full of adolescents from another species is what first drew me into Adam’s world. My compassion for his growing pains grew as I got to know the Neanderthal boy who was raised by humans. His responses to a world he has been largely shielded from are as humorous and they are realistic, and the scenes in which he acclimates to his new school are by far the best in this tale.

This is the second entry in the TimeWarp series. It can be read as a standalone novel. While I had no problem getting caught up on everything I needed to know as someone who is unfamiliar with these characters, the brief references to the adventures certain individuals had earlier on in the TimeWarp timeline are intriguing.

Jumping between the perspectives of so many different people was jarring at times. Adam’s point of view is fascinating to me because his understanding of human culture is so heavily influenced by his earliest memories. It was less interesting to see how other people react to him, and while I gained the occasional insight into the personalities and motivations of his classmates I would have preferred to spend more time in Adam’s head.

The way Adam is treated by some members of his community also made me pause. The slurs used against him were historically used in extremely racist contexts, and while I understand the comparison the author was making I would have liked to see the characters approach this topic with more nuanced discussions. The parallels between Adam’s treatment and modern day prejudices are only superficially explored. I hope that these themes will be given more time to develop if Mr. Davis decides to continue this series as they really are quite fascinating.

With that being said, I couldn’t stop thinking about these characters. Clearly a lot of time was put into developing their backstories and personalities, and all of that effort shines through in the sensitive, multi-dimensional portrayal of Adam in particular. He has the most extensive character development of anyone in this book by far. I did not want his adventure to end and was a little sad to say goodbye at the end of the plot.

Out of the Cave is full of questions about human nature. It’s a good choice for readers who like to have their minds stretched, and I recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind a little philosophy in their young adult fiction.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Glowing Dim as an Ember by Iyana Jenna

September 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

DOG
Glowing Dim as an Ember by Iyana Jenna
Publisher: Alfie Dog Fiction
Genre: Young Adult, Historical
Length: Short Story (7 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

14 year-old Etienne keeps getting flashes of someone else’s memories. Dancing bears and painted wings are not exactly the things he meets every day especially since he is just a homeless boy living on the cold streets of Paris.

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After years of neglect and malnutrition Etienne is almost ready to give up on life. No matter how hard he works he never seems to get ahead. I was drawn to his quiet, worn out spirit immediately, especially when a series of mysterious events stir up his last flicker of hope. At fourteen Etienne is old enough to know how the world really works now, and I was torn between cheering him on and wincing at the thought of him being disappointed by the cruelty of others yet again. Within a few short paragraphs I felt as if I’d known this character for his entire life and could predict exactly how he’d react to almost any outcome. It takes skill to develop a well-rounded narrator this rapidly, and I will definitely be on the lookout for more of Ms. Jenna’s work in the future.

This story packed an incredible amount of background information into a small number of scenes. Seven pages simply wasn’t enough space to fully cover all of the subplots that Ms. Jenna includes. Expanding it into a novella would have allowed more time to explore the character’s backgrounds as well as the the emotional ramifications of Etienne’s discovery. All of the subplots the author introduces are fascinating, and even though I thought the introductions of them were rushed I completely understand why she felt the need to mention them. The plot is richer and far more interesting because of this decision, but I wish I would have been given more time to absorb all of the surprises she packed into it.

The age recommendation for this piece is somewhat flexible. There is nothing inappropriate here for the 12+ age group, but it will probably resonate more with older students who are more likely to have processed bittersweet experiences in their own lives. I definitely would not recommend it for anyone under 12, though, due to the detailed descriptions of a certain character’s troubled past.

I’ve been mulling over the fate of every single person in Glowing Dim as an Ember since I finished reading it. This is a good choice for anyone who likes character-driven stories that are full of rapidly shifting plot twists.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

I Know What Gay Is by Foxglove Lee

September 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

LOVE
I Know What Gay Is by Foxglove Lee
Publisher: Prizm Books
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (15 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

When the couple next door asks Jay to babysit, he can’t help wondering… why him? Did they hire Jay as some kind of queer role model because they suspect little Sarah is gay?

At the park, when Sarah and Jay run across the guy he’s been pseudo-stalking, Sarah insists she’s a boy. Darien’s sheer sexiness makes Jay pretty brain-dead, and he can’t think what to talk about except how Sarah wants everyone to call her Frank. The funny kid reminds Darien of his transgender cousin. Could Sarah be trans, too? Should Jay talk to her parents? What if they say it’s none of his business? What if they fire him?

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Babysitters are supposed to play games with and cook healthy lunch for their charges. Jay never expected his summer job would include more serious responsibilities.

Despite Jay’s reluctance to temporarily stand in for his neighbour’s nanny he clearly has a way with kids. His willingness to listen to Sarah’s unusual requests and their warm relationship made me like him instantly. The crush Jay develops on Darien adds depth to the plot, and I cheered for what I hoped would happen between them as they slowly get to know one another better.

One of the issues that is heavily discussed earlier in the plot is never resolved. I hoped to see a final scene in which the characters at least begin to figure out how and when they will address it. Had the author included such a conversation this would have easily earned a much higher rating.

The pacing and character development in this piece were excellent, so it was a little difficult for me to figure out why such an obvious question was left unanswered in an otherwise compelling story. While I have no idea if the author plans to write one or more sequels to this book, it makes me wonder if this is why I Know What Gay Is was written the way it was. Will we hear more from Jay and his determined little neighbor in the future? I certainly hope so!

I smiled my way through I Know What Gay Is. It’s a gentle, funny tale that was as appealing to this adult reader as I suspect it will be for its intended audience.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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