Review: The Siege

Book two of The Six
By Mark Alpert
Available now from Sourcebooks Fire
Review copy

In THE SIX, six disabled, terminally ill teens chose to have their bodies destroyed and their minds uploaded into robots.  There was a second cost for the Pioneers (as they're known) as well: they must fight Sigma, a rogue AI.

Their first encounter resulted in the death of one of the Pioneers.  All too soon, their military command are replacing her with another girl.  But what's worse is the task given to Adam: find the traitor.  Recent missions have made it clear that one of the Pioneers is in league with Sigma.  One of the main suspects is there do to her own suspicion; the other due to an act of cowardice.  I certainly hoped it wasn't Zia since she's the only girl not in love with Adam.

In THE SIEGE, Sigma progresses to biological warfare to draw out his enemies.  There was some horror in the first book when the protagonists first transferred to their new bodies.  THE SIEGE ramps up the body horror quite a bit as Sigma retaliates by forming humanity in his own image.  It makes for some intense scenes.

This series isn't my favorite, but I find the action scenes are well done and appreciate that Alpert is writing some rare protagonists.  (In addition to all being initially disabled, not all of them are white.)  They are free of disabled bodies by the end of the first book and throughout the second, but Alpert gives weight to their decision to take such a drastic cure, and they're allowed to have moments of regret for the things they gave up in spite of what they've gained. 

THE SIX and THE SIEGE are recommended for readers looking for fast-paced science fiction with wicked cool robots and a male protagonist.

Review: Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories

Edited by Stephanie Perkins
Stories by Leigh Bardugo, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Brandy Colbert, Tim Federle, Lev Grossman, Nina LaCour, Stephanie Perkins, Veronica Roth, Jon Skovron, Jennifer E. Smith
Available now from
Review copy

Stephanie Perkins' follow-up anthology to MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME is another set of twelve strong stories by popular and up-and-coming authors, including adult author Lev Grossman.  The only repeated author is Perkins herself (who writes a sequel to her story from the first anthology).  The theme of summer is a little looser than the theme of winter holidays, and the stories range wider in tone and style as well.  There's contemporary, fantasy, science fiction, and historical stories.  The protagonists are diverse too, both in skin color and sexuality.

In fact, not all of the stories end happily.  "Sick Pleasure" by Francesca Lia Block tells of a doomed summer romance.  "Souvenirs" by Tim Federle tells of two boys who know they have to break up because one of them is going to college.  "Souvenirs" is one of my favorite stories in the collection, for how it gets lots of messy emotions into so few pages, including those little things that make you love someone even when you know they aren't the best person.

Of the speculative stories, my favorite might have been "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" by Lev Grossman, a groundhog-day tale of a boy and a girl who are trapped in a loop and manage to find shocking beauty in a single mundane (but tragic) day.  Close behind is "Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail" by Leigh Bardugo, which taps into my love of mythological sea creatures.  The inventive ending gets my approval.  Okay, I loved "Last Stand at the Cinegore" by Libba Bray, too.  It's a trippy meta tale about a horror film coming to life and the apathetic cinema workers who are the only ones that can stop it.

The more mundane stories were a bit more uneven to me.  "The End of Love" by Nina LaCour is an adorable story about two girls finding their way to each other while one of them goes through a difficult time. "Love is the Last Resort" by Jon Skovron is a farce about multiple couples who need a few tricks to get them to take that leap of faith and ask each other out.

This made for a very fun read on my plane ride home from California.  (Can you get more summer than that?)  There was only one story I didn't think fit the anthology.  "Inertia" by Veronica Roth was a nifty sci-fi romance, but I'm not sure what it had to do with summer.  Overall, this was a strong set of stories, although not quite as strong as MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME.  I hope for fall and spring sequels!

Review: Morning Star

Book three of the Red Rising trilogy
By Pierce Brown
Available now from Del Rey (Penguin Random House)

I didn't know how Pierce Brown could finagle his way out of the cliffhanger of GOLDEN SON or tie off all the dangling plot threads.  The heft of MORNING STAR alone shows what a daunting task it was to finish off this story.  But Brown managed.

I have a few, tiny complaints.  I felt that I didn't get to know the new characters in MORNING STAR, such as Sefi, as much as I needed too.  This book was a bit lighter on the character and relationship development overall than the other too, since so much action was needed to complete the war.  Nitpicking, however, is all I can do.

I read MORNING STAR with a giant grin on my face.  (Exceptions made for the death scenes.  I knew characters would die, but I hated saying goodbye to some of my favorites.)  Darrow and Sevro reunite!  Darrow and Mustang reunite!  Harrowing battles!  Clever ruses!  Unlikely allies!  MORNING STAR is more of what I loved in RED RISING and GOLDEN SON.

Absolutely, positively, do not start with this book.  Go back to the beginning, pass Go, and collect $200.  (You won't actually get any money, but you might feel like you did.)  This is a satisfying science fiction saga about one man managing to make a difference with the help of good friends against terrible enemies.  I'm so happy Brown didn't punt the landing.

Review: The Empress Game

First in the Empress trilogy
By Rhonda Mason
Available now from Pyr
Review copy

In the intergalatic empire at the center of THE EMPRESS GAME, the new empress is chosen through a tournament.  As this is obviously a cracked way to determine a political ruler, cheating is rampant.  Isonde, a political mover and shaker who is also the beloved of the emperor, enlists help to find a body double who can fight.  Her man Malkor finds Shadow Panthe, whose true name is Kayla Reunimon.  She is, of course, secretly the princess of a conquered world.

Despite being in the title, I found the games the most tedious part of THE EMPRESS GAME.  They gave Rhonda Mason the chance to add more action scenes, but even with explanation I was never quite sold on the tournament as a way of declaring a ruler.  The political machinations, however, were ace.  THE EMPRESS GAME is a good choice for space opera fans who like a plot that moves quickly and don't mind a prominent romance subplot.

Sparks fly between Malkor and Kayla, even though they are unsure whether they can trust each other.  Even more than herself, Kayla worries about her younger brother Corinth, who has been mute since the assassination of their family.  Keeping him safe and avenging her family are her top priorities, followed by returning to her people.  She's only invested in Isonde's scheme as a means to get where she wants to go.  Malkor, on the other hand, is only invested in helping Kayla out in order to put Isonde on the throne and further his political agenda.  However, the two of them might have more ideology in common than they first suspect.

I thought THE EMPRESS GAME could use a bit more emphasis on the space part of space opera, but that the complex layers to the characters' motivations were done very well.  Mason has set up an intriguing system where almost all of the political opinions have some merit.  I'm intrigued to find out what will happen in the second book of the trilogy.

Review: Archivist Wasp

By Nicole Kornher-Stace
Available now from Big Mouth House (Small Beer Press)
Review copy

ARCHIVIST WASP has been showing up on a number of Best of lists, so I had very high hopes.  It has a great name, a striking cover, and comes from the imminently cool Small Beer Press (founded by Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link).  The opening certainly caught my attention.  Wasp, in a fight to the death, decides to stop the cycle of violence and spare her opponent.

In the end, however, I didn't really like ARCHIVIST WASP.  I thought it meandered too much and combined two stories that didn't really fit together.  I kept waiting for an ah-ha moment to bring the story together, but it didn't happen. Wasp shows a lot of personal growth over the novel, but it was hard to connect the event happening to the changes in her character.  The prose of the novel flowed smoothly, but how the characters decided to move from point A to point B often seemed more a function of what Nicole Kornher-Stace wanted to happen next than anything to do with actual motive. 

The two main characters are Wasp and a ghost who convinces her to go on a journey to the underworld with him, to find a companion he left behind in life and needs to find in death.  The ghost is driven to find her for closure.  Wasp is driven to find her because once the quest gets going she's invested, mostly.  (She helps him at first for medical attention.)

Wasp eventually returns home for her big triumph.  ARCHIVIST WASP is yet another novel where a man uses religion to keep a bunch of dangerous girls down.  It's a familiar story in feminist science fiction, and one not given enough space to breathe.  Too much of the novel is about the quest that has nothing to do with the religion or how people are treated in Wasp's present and it only coincidentally gives her the key to fighting back.

Meanwhile, how did this world get from the ghost's day to Wasp's?  In the ghost's day, the big issue was the ethics of human experimentation, not the ways religion is used to oppress.  There is a huge commonality about people being used as weapons, and yet that thread never seems to get teased out.

ARCHIVIST WASP is stylish, with an underworld that requires you to travel by means of the things that aren't quite right.  For me, it needed another draft to really help the disparate elements cohere.  As it is, I think ARCHIVIST WASP is a case of style over substance.  If only the characters were as fleshed out as some of the nightmare landscapes.

Review: Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth

First in the Hilo series
By Judd Winick
Available now from Random House BFYR (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

I'm familiar with Judd Winick from his work on titles like Green Arrow, but he does have a background in non-superhero comics.  HILO: THE BOY WHO CRASHED TO EARTH is the first in a series of graphic novels for kids.

It's very appealing visually.  The colors are bright, the lines are clean, and the action is easy to follow.  That's good, because there's lots of it!  I also liked that the main character, D.J., and his best friend who just moved back to town, Gina, are very visibly not white.  Comics are a great medium for diverse characters since the pictures make them impossible to miss.

The story isn't too far off from what you'd expect.  A loner's life is changed when a strange boy crashes to Earth and his old friend moves back to town on the same day.  Suddenly, all three kids are embroiled in danger and spending their afternoons doing things like fighting robots.  It's not ground breaking (aside from when Hilo crashes!), but it is a lot of fun. The dialog is terrific, and both D.J. and Gina feel like real kids with their own family issues.

THE BOY WHO CRASHED TO EARTH is a great pick for young graphic novel fans.  It has both charm and energy.  I hope the next HILO book keeps up the good work.

Review: Space Dumplins

By Craig Thompson
Available now from Graphix (Scholastic)
Review copy

Craig Thompson is the author of numerous acclaimed graphic novels, including BLANKETS and HABIBI.  His first graphic novel for young readers is a heartwarming tale of family, both the kind you're born with and the kind you find, and whale diarrhea.   All in all, it's a space adventure that all ages can enjoy.

Violet, her mother, and father live happily in a space trailer park.  He salvages whale poop, which is used for energy.  Her mother works in fashion and just got a job on a satellite, a job that could move their family up in the world.  I think the class conflicts that run through SPACE DUMPLINS are well done.  There are arguments kids might've heard in their own homes, but translated into space (which makes everything more exciting).  The environmental themes are also presented well, just goofy enough not to be overly heavy handed.

My favorite thing about this graphic novel might be all the puns.  I think I'm going to have to read it again to make sure that I get all of them.  There's a lot of cleverness flying about in the text and the images.  Thompson's space is a busy place, full of activity and bright colors.  (The contrasting colors make it easier to see what's happening.)  There's all sorts of details to distract and catch your eye.  I think the hyperactive style suits the wackiness of the story as well as the age group.

I don't think SPACE DUMPLINS will be a graphic-novel classic like BLANKETS or HABIBI.  But it is fun, sweet, and silly.  That makes it a pretty appealing read.

Review: Fuzzy Mud

By Louis Sachar
Available now from Scholastic
Review copy

I think many reviewers other than myself will compare FUZZY MUD to HOLES.  It's the obvious comparison.  Both involve disparate plot threads coming together, strong social messages, and young heroes with the strength to do the right thing.  FUZZY MUD feels like HOLES, even though it is a less complex and ultimately less successful novel.  No shade - HOLES is practically perfect.

Tamaya Dhilwaddi had my heart from go.  She's smart and follows the rules and has trouble making friends.  I definitely remember that difficulty of trying to figure out what I was doing wrong as a kid.  She's friends with seventh-grader Marshall Walsh, who is two years older and who won't interact with her during the school day.  They just walk home together.  Then they take a shortcut through the woods one day, because he wants to avoid the school bully, Chad.

But Chad goes missing and Tamaya gets sick. 

FUZZY MUD builds up the dread of what is lurking in the woods wonderfully, repeated equations giving a small sense of the scope of what is happening.  Court transcripts hint at what is waiting and how it was allowed to happen.  (At the end, these transcripts also reveal an imperfect compromise.)  The environmental message doesn't seem so preachy when wrapped up in a nice layer of horror and an ending that isn't nice and neat.  It also helps that Tamaya is a compelling main character who can make her actions come across as more important than the message.

FUZZY MUD is a great introduction to some complicated scientific debates regarding the creation, manufacturing, and regulation of biofuel.  It's also a great story about bullying and forgiveness and courage.  It is written for a slightly younger age group than HOLES, and I think it hits the mark.

Spoiler: The dog dies.

Review: Daughter of Deep Silence

By Carrie Ryan
Available now from Dutton BFYR (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

Much like the Count of Monte Cristo, Frances Mace sweeps back into town under a new identity to get revenge on those who wronged her, including her lover.  (Okay, just a boyfriend in this case.)  Frances is one of four people who got off of the doomed Persephone and one of three who survived.  The fourth, Libby, would've survived too if the other survivors hadn't lied about what happened.

Frances assumed Libby's identity at the request of her rich, connected father.  He could protect Frances from those who destroyed the ship.  She waited out of respect to him, but now it is time for Frances/Libby to get revenge on Senator Wells and his son Grayer.  The main obstacle: Shepherd, Libby's first love and the boy who knew her better than anyone.

I absolutely loved Frances/Libby.  She knows that what she's doing is ruthless and cruel and awful.  She knows that Libby wouldn't have wanted this as a memorial, nor would the girl she was before the ship went down.  And she doesn't care.  She's going to make everyone who ruined her life rue the day.  No one would believe her if she went through legal channels, so she isn't.  What it takes matters to her less than the result.  I love a good revenge story, and I appreciate that Carrie Ryan establishes that what Libby is doing is destructive (and she knows it), but it doesn't destroy her delight in serving some just deserts.

I liked the way the romantic elements were handled as well.  Gray is attracted to Libby, partly because of their past and because she's deliberately playing to what she knows he likes.  But also because they have a genuine connection and enjoy talking and spending time together.  Obviously, there's a lot for him to overcome if he's going to redeem himself, but that's an issue for Frances/Libby to by the end of the novel.

DAUGHTER OF DEEP SILENCE is a pleasurable read for anyone who enjoys a well-executed revenge, morally ambiguous female characters, and an interesting supporting cast.  I've seen some confusion about the genre; DAUGHTER OF DEEP SILENCE is science fiction in that it takes place twenty minutes into the future, but there are no fantasy elements or strange tech in play.  Ryan makes liberal use of flashbacks, but they don't slow the book down or cause confusion about what's happening when.  Her writing is smooth and goes down like a nice bourbon.  I expected to enjoy this book, and I liked it even more than I thought I would.

Review: More Happy Than Not

By Adam Silvera
Available now from Soho Teen
Review copy

Set in a near-future version of the Bronx, MORE HAPPY THAN NOT starts out like a contemporary coming-of-age tale.  Aaron Soto is even poorer than most of the other kids living in the projects, but he's happy.  He loves his girlfriend Genevieve and his great new friend Thomas.   But when he starts to think that he likes Thomas as more than a friend, things get complicated.

So what makes this a near-future story?  The Leteo Institute.  The Leteo procedure can remove those memories that have been plaguing you.  It's mentioned so frequently throughout the first half that you just know someone is going to get one.  It made me want to bite my nails, wondering what would happen to drive Aaron to get the procedure.  And then it came, and MORE HAPPY THAN NOT shifted.

I liked how debut author Adam Silvera sprinkled hints about what was to come throughout the first half of the book.  There are glimpses of people who seem off, for instance.  He sets up what is to come very well.  I also liked that he doesn't rely on one big twist, especially since many readers will probably sense what is coming.  The second half of MORE HAPPY THAN NOT unfolds in increasingly heartbreaking ways.


I felt immersed in this novel.  For all that Silvera resists setting MORE HAPPY THAN NOT at a specific time, the setting is very grounded.  You get a great sense of the life Aaron and his sort of friends lead.  Even though he doesn't quite fit in, he's still got a real sense of community with them.  (Okay, one touch I was bothered by: the mention of a new Avengers movie in December.  Those are summer blockbusters!)  I also liked the reality of the ways they hang out, going to comic shops, relaxing on the roof, playing made up games just outside the building.  The sci-fi premise makes the story go, but it is strongly grounded in realism.  This helps strike a good balance between the fantastical and the personal difficulties Aaron faces in his life.

MORE HAPPY THAN NOT is a striking debut.  The tech is similar to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but the questions the story asks are different.  Silvera ripped out my heart and stomped on it, yet I am already ready for his next book.  If he's this good now, what will he write next?

Review: The Hunted

Sequel to The Living
By Matt de la Peña
Available now from Delacorte (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

I have wanted to read THE HUNTED since the moment I finished THE LIVING, and hearing Matt de la Peña read the first chapter at a book signing only whetted my appetite.  THE HUNTED starts about a month later, when Shy, Carmen, Marcus, and Shoeshine finally make it to California.

In THE LIVING, they had to mainly survive a fight against nature.  Now, they have to mainly escape people.  A biker gang is killing travelers to keep them from spreading the Romero virus.  And a certain entity wants to kill Shy and his friends because they know too much about the virus.  Their only hope is to hike across a picked-over post-apocalyptic California to Arizona.  It is a brutal journey.

I don't think THE HUNTED can truly be enjoyed without THE LIVING.  De la Peña recaps the bare minimum, particularly when it comes to character relationships.  I certainly don't think the passages involving Addie have much meaning if you haven't read the first book.  Fortunately, both books in the duology are quick reads.  The chapters are short of full of action, which keeps the pages turning.

I felt that Shoeshine was more of a plot mechanism than a character in THE LIVING, so I like that he's a little more fleshed out in THE HUNTED.  A former soldier is still an incredibly lucky person to have by your side in a survival situation, but THE HUNTED gives hints of his hobbies and of his past. 

I'm also truly thankful that rape isn't used as a threat in THE HUNTED.  It is overplayed in dystopian/post-apocalyptic books, like everybody - not just rapists - couldn't resist the urge if civilization collapsed.  People are too busy being awful to each other in other ways.  (To be fair, a virus with a 100% death rate is scary.)

THE HUNTED is a great survival against the odds story.  The protagonist, Shy, is hugely likeable.  I could read many more books featuring him.  I'm happy to leave it at two, although there are some unanswered questions that de la Peña could answer in a third book.  Be sure to read THE LIVING and THE HUNTED if you like quick books about intense journeys and noble causes featuring diverse casts.

Review: Smek for President!

Sequel to The True Meaning of Smekday (my review)
 By Adam Rex
Available now from Disney-Hyperion
Review copy

SMEK FOR PRESIDENT! is a belated sequel to the much-beloved THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY.  I don't mind Adam Rex waiting until he had a good idea to write a sequel, although I suspect SMEK FOR PRESIDENT! was partially prompted by the imminent release of Home, Dreamworks' animated adaptation of THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY.  The movie is mentioned within the book itself as a fictionalized version of Tip's adventures, much like what was done in Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries novels after the release of the movie starring Anne Hathaway.



SMEK FOR PRESIDENT! isn't quite as sharp on the social commentary as the original, although it is the perfect time for an election parody as the US presidential election starts to kick into gear.  The story starts when Tip and J.Lo (a little human girl and her alien friend) head out to New Boovworld for a holiday - without letting Tip's mom know.  What follows is an adventure with the cutest billboard ever (I wish all advertising were so friendly and helpful), time travel, and some rather inept presidential candidates.  One of those candidates is Dan Landry, the man who took credit for Tip's accomplishments.

I loved spending time with Tip, J.Lo, and the rest of the returning cast again.  Rex knows how to write a hilarious adventure that incorporates real-world issues at a perfect level for the rather young audience.  I particularly liked Tip's struggle with the fact that know one knows she saved the Earth.  Yeah, she would've saved it anyway, but who doesn't want a little credit?

If you enjoyed THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY, don't miss SMEK FOR PRESIDENT!  And definitely don't forget to read the book before going to see the movie.

Review: Get in Trouble: Stories

By Kelly Link
Available now from (Penguin) Random House
Review copy

GET IN TROUBLE: STORIES is a collection of nine stories by Kelly Link, who is perhaps best known for her short stories (beyond even her skills as an anthologist and small publisher).  I'd read two of the stories: "The New Boyfriend" in MONSTROUS AFFECTIONS and "Secret Identity" in Geektastic.  Neither were my favorite story in either anthology.

I feel like GET IN TROUBLE leans hard on the Kelly Link formula.  Her mix of the ordinary and fantastic is nearly unmatched, but much of this collection feels like she's resting on her laurels.  GET IN TROUBLE opens promisingly with "The Summer People," a sharply drawn tale that carefully breaks down both an Appalachian town and an aging estate full of fae.  It hints at danger and dark fates while also focusing on the blooming friendship between two teen girls. 

The second story, "I Can See Right Through You," killed all momentum to me.  It is set through the point of view of the demon lover, an aging movie star who once played a vampire going to see the woman who played his love again.  There's hints of good stuff in the story, but the conceit of calling him the demon lover through the whole story drove me nuts.  Although the story has a pretty juicy payoff, it's not as good as an actual incubus showing up to make the repetitive epithet worth it.

My two favorite stories after "The Summer People" were the final two in the collection.  "Two Houses" takes the classic plot of a bunch of people telling ghost stories to each other and takes it to a predictably meta but chilling place.  I love a good creepy intelligent computer.  "Light" is a story that takes place in a world where most people have a normal shadow, but some have no or two.  It focuses on the main character Lindsey, recently divorced and a recovering alcoholic, and her gay brother who has moved back in with her.  The setting of the story keeps revealing new strange details of this world (perhaps too much for one short story), but it goes down smooth and with no lingering unpleasantness.

I like Link's worth, but GET IN TROUBLE is not an essential collection.  If you're a fan, go ahead and get this one from the library.  Otherwise, stick to the first story (and maybe the last two).

Review: Rebellion

Second in a trilogy
By Stephanie Diaz
Available now from
Review copy
Read my review of Extraction

REBELLION starts a week after EXTRACTION ends.  Clementine keeps flashing back to Oliver's death and the other terrible things she's been through.  Her mind is still sharp, but she's not exactly up to taking part in space battles. 

But time is ticking down for the rebels to foil Commander Charlie's plans, and she and her boyfriend Logan go undercover in a work camp while the other rebels infiltrate other places.  Clementine's mission: sow dissent and prevent the workers from being injected with a mind-control serum.  (It all makes sense if you've read the first book.)

Clementine and Logan's relationship was a highlight of REBELLION for me, so I liked getting to see them interact more.  They each make the other feel more safe, but their dedication to each other can be used against them.  However, much of the cast is new as Clementine is sent to a new location.  There are some reoccurring characters, including an antagonist from Clementine's childhood who proves to be more than a senseless bully.

Unfortunately, REBELLION did feel like the middle book in a trilogy.  EXTRACTION promised aliens, but they aren't quite there during the time period of REBELLION.  There's a new setting, but it's pretty similar to the Surface of the first book, and the differences aren't explored in depth.  There's a greater focus on internal conflict until the antagonist shows up.  (Oddly, the conflict remains mostly internal, but for a very external cause.)

I'm excited to see how Stephanie Diaz will finish her debut trilogy.  She knows how to write a fun sci-fi yarn, and she ended REBELLION with one hell of a hook.

Review: The Vanishing Girl

First in a trilogy
By Laura Thalassa
Available now from Skyscape (Amazon)
Review copy

I'll admit that I wanted to read THE VANISHING GIRL entirely because I thought the cover was gorgeous.  I like the colors and the abstract strangeness, like a bit of classic sci-fi sneaking into a modern YA cover.

The eponymous girl is Ember Pierce, who teleports for ten minutes every night just after she falls asleep.  She thinks she used to it until she wakes up in a club and flirts with a man named Adrian, only to find a gun in her purse and a note telling her to kill him.  Rather sensibly, she panics more over someone knowing what she can do and trying to use her instead of attempting to assassinate a complete stranger.

Then she finds out that her parents could only have a child through an experimental program, and she now owes two years of service to the military.  It's very obviously illegal and preposterous, even in a world where people can teleport, so you just have to go with it.  At the school she's taken to she's paired with Caden Hawthorne, who is infuriatingly good at keeping her from escaping.  Ember falls for him in a rather rote manner, although I did appreciate that there wasn't a forced love triangle with Adrian.  The scenes between Ember and Caden are written with lots of tension, its just hard to believe she falls for him after how terribly he treats her at first.

Ember, unsurprisingly, starts to find more and more evidence that the school is sinister.  Because secret experiments on babies and being kidnapped weren't enough evidence that everything was bad new.  I sound cranky, I know.  I enjoyed reading THE VANISHING GIRL, and thought it was a a fun ride.  But after I finished, it was hard to seize on anything as a standout moment.  Also, it was one of those books without a real ending, which drives me nuts.

I am, however, eager to read the second book.  THE VANISHING GIRL ends with a cliffhanger, and I'm not sure how Ember will survive or how she'll react to what happened in the next book.  I also hope the next book has more Adrian, who is conducting his own investigation into the school and experiment outside its walls.

Review: While We Run

Companion to When We Wake
By Karen Healey
Available now from Little, Brown BFYR (Hachette)
Review copy

Abdi Taalib and his best friend Tegan, who he's very much in love with, are prisoners of the Australian government.  They tried to expose the government's wrongdoings when it comes to a cryogenics project, but ended up captured, tortured, and forced to publicly recant their statements and support the project.

I haven't read WHEN WE WAKE, but WHILE WE RUN contains plenty of recap.  In addition, at the beginning of the novel Abdi doesn't know much about what is going on and is pretty preoccupied with the mental and physical stress of being a performing monkey with the promise of worse on the horizon.  I was really impressed by this opening, which drew me in despite my unfamiliarity with the setting.  It is not easy to read, but it is engrossing.  Karen Healey does not back away from the horror of the government using Abdi and Tegan as slaves, and the consequences of these months linger throughout the novel.

Healey combines strong character work with a plot from a political conspiracy thriller to bring a future world to life.  It's not too far in the future - countries and religions of today are still recognizable - but technology and social issues have progressed.  The mingling of real-world issues with future tech is very well done.  The world of WHILE WE RUN is relevant to today's reader, but doesn't come off as a blatant screed.

Actually, several elements prevent WHILE WE RUN from being a blatant screed.  For one thing, there are no easy answers.  Abdi might not have any fondness for the Australian government, but that doesn't mean that he agrees with the various terrorist/freedom fighters he encounters either.  He's very determined to make up his own mind, which forces him to face that there often are no good answers.  Then there's the delightful mix of character backgrounds. 

Abdi is a second-class citizen in Australia, but in his home country he's wealthy and privileged.  He's also atheist, but his family thinks he'll come around.  The other characters come from a variety of ethnic and economic backgrounds, and represent a variety of sexualities and genders.  This diversity helps show how all of the characters come at the issues in question from different angles.

I'm quite happy that WHILE WE RUN made the Cybils shortlist in YA Speculative Fiction this year.  It's a thought-provoking read that doesn't forget to throw in some action and keep things moving.

Review: Golden Son

Book two of the Red Rising trilogy
By Pierce Brown
Available now from Del Rey (Penguin Random House)
Review copy
Read my review of Red Rising

GOLDEN SON starts several years after RED RISING.  Darrow is about to graduate the Academy, command his own fleet, and aid the Sons of Ares right under the nose of the ArchGovernor of Mars.  Unfortunately, his plan goes awry and he must scramble to stay one step ahead of his enemies if he wants to stay alive.

GOLDEN SON is an action-packed book that will thrill fans of RED RISING who have been eagerly awaiting Darrow's next adventure. Those who haven't read RED RISING will likely be very, very confused.  There are a variety of intricate alliances and the book makes no effort to catch readers up on what has happened before.  GOLDEN SON expects you to have a good memory.

Now, it wasn't a perfect book.  There's a lag in the middle, and Darrow continually makes surprisingly stupid decisions.  He's amazing at tactics, great at strategy, and yet he often misses the obvious or puts off doing things he knows he must do.  I forgive some of those mistakes because he is only twenty, but at the same time, this is what he's trained to do and is suppose to be a genius at.  To be fair, I mostly noticed these issues after finishing the novel.  I was too busy flipping pages to find out what happened next while reading.

I love how much happens in GOLDEN SON.  It isn't just war.  It's evaluating what you're fighting for, and how you're going to do it so that you can look at yourself in the mirror.  It's about finding the humanity in people who aren't like you, and reaching out to the best in people instead of encouraging their worst.  For a dark, grim series, there's a truly optimistic core.

I do warn you that there is quite the cliffhanger.  If you aren't a fan of cliffhangers, you might wait until the final book of the trilogy comes out next year.  Things look grim for Darrow and his allies, but I have hope that red will rise in the end.

Review: Love Is the Drug

By Alaya Dawn Johnson
Available now from Arthur A. Levine (Scholastic)
Review copy
Read my review of The Summer Prince

Emily Bird - Emily to most, Bird to the best - is a senior at one of the most prestigious high schools in the country.  She doesn't entirely fit in, being one of the few black kids.  She also doesn't fit in because she might be going along with her mother's plan to go to college (and thinking of Stanford for herself), but her real goal is to run a small shop.  (Not that having a business degree wouldn't help with that, but it never comes up.)

When LOVE IS THE DRUG opens, Bird is at a party with her boyfriend.  She meets a man who works with her parents and drops the name of a lab she once saw in the trash.  What follows is a nightmare as the man stalks her, threatens her friends and family, and messes with her life in an attempt to get her to confess what she knows.  It just makes Bird determined to find the truth, and to discover whether she really did find out a national secret that night.

This thriller plays out against a widespread plague, the worst since the Spanish flu.  The v-flu, as it is known, is being held back by a quarantine.  Bird is as safe as can be in her high-class school full of politician's kids.  But how is the country ensuring that those kids stay so safe?  And, of course, does the flu have anything to do with what Bird might know?  Unrealistic diseases are a pet peeve of mine, so I like that this flu plays out like a real disease.  There's no killing everyone over 25 or anything silly like that.

I loved the paranoid atmosphere of LOVE IS THE DRUG, although I felt the plot faltered at the end.  There were a lot of ideas but nowhere for them to go.  And the romance dragged the whole thing down.  Bird falls for Coffee, the one guy who really gets her.  He's also a drug dealer, and the story never really convinced me to get over it.  He's just the cliche soulful, smart bad boy.  Now, Marella, Blue's lesbian friend, is where it's at.  Their friendship blooms throughout the pages, starting warily and growing as they're stuck in quarantine together.  I think they spend more time together than Blue and Coffee, and honestly have better chemistry.  I wished I were reading a more inventive lesbian romance instead of what the book actually was.

LOVE IS THE DRUG has its high points.  I loved Bird's relationship with her uncle, the disappointment of her family.  I loved the way LOVE IS THE DRUG tackled social issues, from being black to being foreign to being LGBTQ.  Alaya Dawn Johnson really brought the diversity of DC to life.  There are strong characters, a compelling atmosphere, and beautiful writing, but a boring romance and a plot that never has any steam.  Johnson has written better.

Review: Stitching Snow

By R.C. Lewis
Available now from Disney-Hyperion
Review copy

It will be of little surprise to anyone that I jumped on the chance to read a sci-fi retelling of Snow White.  STITCHING SNOW opens on the remote mining planet of Thanda, where young Essie makes her living as a mechanic and cage fighter.  It's definitely not the traditional Snow White beginning.

I really enjoyed getting to see the rhythm of Essie's life.  She's clever, tough, and resilient.  She's managed to keep herself safe (and profitable) in a place with few women, much less single women.  Then, a spaceship crashes and brings Dane into her life.  I'm of mixed feelings about Dane.  Essie did need someone to remind her that there was a world beyond Thanda, and I found their relationship built believably, and even included some natural setbacks.  But the opening goes to such lengths to establish Essie as a tough, worthy opponent when fighting.  Yet, of course, Dane is infinitely better than her and she has to learn from him.

After Essie repairs Dane's ship, events lead them to travel to the planets of the galaxy.  I was fascinated by the different economies, politics, and ways of life, but felt that there wasn't enough time to devote to each.  It definitely meant that the climax was rushed and mostly devoid of emotional turmoil.  There was one particularly nasty late-game reveal that had little impact because there were no previous signs of it.  I liked Essie and Dane, but by the end they felt flat, just going through the predictable motions.

I think STITCHING SNOW had a fascinating setup and a good sense of humor.  Essie's droids, which take the place of the dwarves, are real highlights.  But somewhere everything takes a turn for the generic.  This is a find tale for fairytale fans, but nothing truly exciting.  It is a good choice for readers waiting for the next book in the Lunar Chronicles.

Review: Avalon

First in the Avalon series
By Mindee Arnett
Available now from Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)
Review copy

I love YA science fiction, and I love Joss Whedon's short-lived space western Firefly.   Thus, I couldn't resist a YA sci-fi novel inspired by Firefly.  AVALON definitely wears its inspiration on its sleeve, which is sometimes a detriment.  (Every time there was a paraphrased Firefly quote I was jolted out of AVALON.)

At the same time quite a bit of the influence is good.  There's the obvious, like a close-knit crew and young girls with mysterious powers.  Then there's the less obvious tropes that Mindee Arnett cultivates, like being stranded in nothing and strange horrors at the edge of the universe.  It's all stuff I like and was eager to read about.

Jeth is a young captain working for a crime lord known as Hammer Defoe.  He and his crew take advantage of the fact that children aren't suspicious.  When a new job comes up that can only be performed by the Avalon, Jeth takes advantage of the chance to win back his ship and his freedom.  At the same time, he knows escaping Hammer won't be that easy, because Hammer has his own plans for Jeth's future.

Things quickly get complicated, and horrifying.  Worst of all, Jeth's crew is stuck with three survivors who aren't supposed to exist and who are being hunted from all sides.  It was fun to watch the characters come up with a plan, and then come up with another, and another, always adjusting to try to survive.  Not every step is brilliant, but there's some good problem solving going on.

I did feel like quite a bit of AVALON was set up for future books in the series.  There is plenty of action in the novel, but very little payoff for the secrets that are revealed.  I'm more curious about what the protagonists will do with what they've learned than satisfied with what they did in the immediate aftermath.  I also felt like Hammer's interest in Jeth was a bit overplayed.  Some of his other crew members had more unique skills, for instance.

Still, AVALON is a promising start to a new series that should satisfy science fiction fans.  I don't think it will be of much interest to readers outside of the genre, however.