Review: This Side of Salvation

By Jeri Smith-Ready
Available now from Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster)
Review copy
Read my interview with the hero of the WVMP series and my review of Grim

I've been a fan of Jeri Smith-Ready since WICKED GAME, the first book in her WVMP series, came out.  It was smart, funny, and an inventive take on vampires.  I was quite excited to read THIS SIDE OF SALVATION, her first foray into contemporary fiction.

David was a baseball star with a girlfriend he loved, but he gave it up because of the Rush. He didn't believe in the Rush, but he still prepared for it.  Now his parents believed.  They believed their priest, Sofia Visser, that they would be taken to heaven that night.  David and his sister decided to go to prom. When they came home, their parents were gone and their pajamas left in bed.  They still don't believe in the Rush, but they do believe they need to find their parents - especially before the bills are due.

THIS SIDE OF SALVATION moves back and forth in time, showing David and Mara's quest for the truth as well as the past that brought their parents to believe in a cult.  David's own journey to a true faith is a contrast to his father's strange denial of reality.  There's also a love story, showing how David and Bailey first came together and how they got back together once Bailey forgives him.  I liked putting the pieces of the past and present together.  Sometimes I'd gotten the entirely wrong impression about what happened in the past based on how characters spoke of it in the present.

I know some readers are reluctant to read books with religious themes.  But THIS SIDE OF SALVATION is a true gem.  It explores faith and loss in a powerful, nonjudgmental way.  I felt that David's faith was moving and true, but didn't think it was alienating.  Mercy and love are more important than being right.  (There's some very interesting biblical debate and knowledge involving David's long-time best friend Kane, who comes out during the novel's past sections.)

I thoroughly enjoyed THIS SIDE OF SALVATION.  Smith-Ready takes on contemporary issues with the same clear, funny writing she brought to urban fantasy.  THIS SIDE OF SALVATION also has a hint of mystery that keeps the plot moving along instead of navel gazing.  It would make an interesting reading companion to YA classic ARMAGEDDON SUMMER by Jane Yolen and Bruce Coville, which is also about teens whose lives are affected by their parents' belief in an upcoming apocalypse.

Free Comic Book Day

It's Free Comic Book Day!  Go on down to your local comic book store to pick up some free comics.  I know I'm excited about this year's selections.

Half Price Books is also getting in on the action by offering a free comic with purchase.

You can pick up the Guardians of the Galaxy FCBD issue if you go see The Amazing Spider-Man 2 at the Alamo Drafthouse, courtesy of 8th Dimension Comics.

In the Houston area, Ian Doescher will be at Space Cadets Collection.

Review: Undone

By Cat Clarke
Available May 6, 2014 from Sourcebooks Fire
Review copy

British author Cat Clarke's latest novel is about Jem Halliday, who has been in love with her gay best friend for awhile.  Even if she didn't have that crush, he's the most important person in her life.  They've been friends through thick and then, and his sunny disposition helps her keep her chin up.  Of course, that's how things were.

Kai killed himself after someone emailed a pornographic video to the whole school, outing him in the worst way possible.  (I felt kind of weird about the fact that this storyline was clearly inspired by the real-life suicide of Tyler Clementi, but there was no author's note or afterward talking about the real case.)  Jem doesn't know how she's going to survive without him, when Kai's sister gives her twelve letters: one per month, written by Kai before he killed himself.  That's when Jem decides to track down whoever made the video and uploaded it and get revenge.

The first half of UNDONE flew by.  Clarke has a compulsively readable style, and Jem's emotions were raw and real.  She was angry, hurt, and confused by the things that started making her feel happy.  But then the book slowed down and the conclusion went totally off the rails.  (For those who read it: I'm not mad about the ending.  It's the climax that's really messy.)

The revenge storyline should drive UNDONE, but it feels half baked.  None of Jem's schemes are particularly clever, nor are they particularly brutal.  (I like to see people get their revenge thoroughly.)  Then there's the fact that she decides to base her entire course of revenge on an anonymous note. That's . . . convenient.  There is literally no investigation into who did the crime, she just believes this note.

It's sad that the plot is such a shaggy mess, because Jem is the best kind of unlikeable character.  She's lashing out, and she has an impressive steely reserve.  She has an interesting emotional arc.  She's confused by her own instincts and ignores the ways she's grown and changes on her own.  And her grief is pitch perfect.  There's also some interesting commentary on popularity.

There are seeds of a good story in UNDONE, but I can't really recommend it.  The climax makes me want to bang my head into a table until I pass out.  I'll stick to Clarke's other books.

If you are LGBTQ* and struggling with thoughts of suicide, please contact the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386.

#WeNeedDiverseBooks

The We Need Diverse Books campaign has started.  Why do you think we need diverse books?

Here's my reason:

We all have stories to tell.

We all deserve stories that speak to us.

#WeNeedDiverseBooks

Review: Adaptation

By Malinda Lo
Available now from Little, Brown BFYR (Hachette) (US) and Hodder (UK)
Review copy

Reese Holloway and David Li are on their way home from a debate competition when things start to go really wrong.  Like, they wake up in a military hospital a month later wrong.  When they wake up, they aren't the same as they were.  For one thing, they can read minds.

I never quite got into Malinda Lo's first two books, even though I'd been especially excited by ASH, since I love fairytale retellings.  I found her style a bit stiff and cold.  They were good enough, but nothing I was over the moon about.  ADAPTATION, on the other hand, sucked me in and forced me to go to the library and borrow a copy of INHERITANCE so that I could read it immediately.

ADAPTATION is a science fiction novel with some thriller and romance elements.  Like many other science fiction novels, it is preoccupied with what makes us human.  Unlike many science fiction novels, Reese is also questioning her identity because she falls for a girl.  (Although Reese dates both David and Amber in the book, there is no cheating. One relationship clearly ends before another begins.)  It's a lovely mishmash between the philosophy of reality and of the imagination.  But it's not ponderous - there's lots of crazy, creepy stuff happening, including stalking by men in black.

A highlight for me, in both books, were Reese and David's family and friends.  Something strange has happened to them, but they have a loving, fierce support group backing them up.  Reese's mom might be one of my favorite parents in YA fiction.  Lo does a great job of showing that competent adults don't have to ruin the plot of a teen-oriented book.

If you're into science fiction, I highly recommend ADAPTATION and INHERITANCE.  I would say more about specific sci-fi elements that might entice you, but I'm afraid to give anything away.  Lo doesn't employ the most shocking twists, but it's still a fun journey.  (Side note: I thoroughly enjoyed how the love triangle resolved in INHERITANCE.)