Review: Sylo

First in the Sylo series
By D.J. MacHale
Available now from Razorbill (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

It was before I started blogging, so no one here knows that I was a fan of the Pendragon series.  (Albeit one who was perpetually disappointed it wasn't more Arthurian.  Oh, those initial expectations!)  Thus D.J. MacHale's name was enough to make me pick up a dystopian novel.

However, SYLO isn't much of a dystopian.  There's certainly creepy government control, but it happens here and now.  Jimmy Kimmel is still a thing.  It's more of a thriller with possible aliens.  (No one in the book mentions that it could be aliens until the end, but I am betting on aliens.  Because aliens would be awesome, that's why.)  It takes place on Pemberwick Island, an idyllic tourist destination in Maine.  First, people start dying, possibly due to a strange new performance-enhancing drug.  Second, they get cut off from the mainland by a branch of the US Navy known only as SYLO, led by Captain Granger.

Tucker Pierce and his friends Quinn and Tori Sleeper know something funky is going on.  Given that they're a curious bunch of fourteen year olds, they soon have their noses in everything.  They also keep crossing paths with Kent, an older football superstar, and Olivia, a hot tourist trapped with the townies.  It's not exactly the dream team, but Tori in particular is very capable.  I liked the balance MacHale struck between Tucker being a level-headed kid and wanting a bit of glory.

There's nothing particularly complex about SYLO.  But I enjoyed it quite a bit - MacHale knows how to keep the pages turning.  I'll definitely be back for STORM after the game-changing ending, and I'll have my fingers crossed for aliens.  Why aren't there more aliens in YA right now?  I mean, there's THE 5TH WAVE, but aliens are always great for conspiracies, and battles, and strange regulations.  They go perfectly with the dystopian craze.

Don't expect genius, but do expect an absorbing plot and fun characters.  MacHale's middle grade fans should be fine reading this YA effort, although there are a few deaths younger fans might find upsetting.

Review: Playing Tyler

By T.L. Costa
Available now from Strange Chemistry (Angry Robot)
Review copy

I love the bottom half of the PLAYING TYLER cover.  The red poppies against the white are dramatic and different, especially in person.  But the silhouette of the helicopter feels awkwardly angled and out of balance to me.  The way I feel about the cover is similar to how I feel about the book.  There are parts I really like, and parts I really don't.

PLAYING TYLER alternates between two points of view.  Tyler MacCandless is a talented gamer, but he's failing school.  He doesn't want to take his ADHD medicine, his mom is never home, and his brother is in rehab.  All he wants to do is fly, and this new simulator he's testing could be his ticket into flight school.  Ani Bagdorian is also a gamer, but she's an even better programmer.  It's gotten her into Yale years early, although she didn't get a full ride.  She's paying for the rest with a job creating a simulation.

Despite both being narrators, Tyler is definitely the protagonist.  The major events of the plot happen to him, and he undergoes a change in character.  But I did like that Ani's point of view was given.  Plus, her passages are a nice break from Tyler's run-on, rapid thoughts.  The chapters are also short, which keeps the pages moving.  All in all, PLAYING TYLER was a quick, easy read.

Probably the biggest flaw is that it takes more than a third, closer to half, of the novel to reach the good stuff.  It doesn't take anything more than reading the blurb to know that Tyler is going to turn out to be piloting drones for real.  But it takes forever for the book to reach that foregone plot point.  It also glosses over the nuanced moral issues of drones by throwing drug running into the mix.  Everyone can agree that drug runners suck - especially teen boys with addict brothers.

I did like T.L. Costa's portrayal of the affects of drug addiction on a family.  There are subtle hints that this isn't Brandon's first stint in rehab.  Their mother is wrong to not be there for Tyler, but it's understandable that she's cut ties with Brandon.  Sometimes, even though you love people, you just can't let them in your life while they're being toxic.  Costa's portrayal of romance isn't as good as her portrayal of family.  In fact, I might've found it creepy if not for Ani's passages revealing that she is into Tyler.

PLAYING TYLER is a quick, fun read.  But it's also one I started picking apart in my head almost as soon as I finished.  I think it's a debut that shows promise and look forward to Costa's future novels.  I don't regret reading PLAYING TYLER, but I wouldn't go out of my way to pick it up.

Review: Outcast

By Adrienne Kress
Available now from Diversion Books
Review copy
Read my review of The Friday Society

"Sixth year, I shot an angel in the face."

So ends the first chapter of OUTCAST, the newest book by Adrienne Kress.  I adored THE FRIDAY SOCIETY, thus picking this one up was a no brainer.  And that first chapter hooked me and kept me reading long after I should've gone to sleep if I wanted to be daisy fresh for work the next day.

Once a year, angels take people from Riley Carver's hometown.  The year after they take her best friend, who recently kissed her, she decides to fight back.  She ends up with Gabriel, a naked punk who thinks it's still 1956.  But perhaps two people can fight back better than one.  But perhaps even more than two . . .

I liked quite a bit about OUTCAST.  It has the same zany, madcap energy as THE FRIDAY SOCIETY.  It has an intriguing, slow-building female friendship.  It has a gradual romance filled with tension.  It has a crazy plan that involves shooting angels in the face.  It's slightly absurd and over the top, but it still makes decent points about our reality, including race relations in the Deep South, girl-on-girl crime, and the power of smoke and mirrors.

OUTCAST is held together by the force of Riley's personality.  When the book begins, she's not that confident.  She's not fashionable or socially gifted, her best friend disappeared and left her without a social or love life, and she's stuck in a town she doesn't like that much.  Gabe's arrival - her attraction to him and the possibilities he opens up - help bring Riley out of her shell and discover who she wants to become.

The only thing I don't like about OUTCAST is the ending.  It gutted the romantic in me.  I want another book set in this world to sooth my hurts, but I suspect it's a standalone.  (Please note I would welcome a book about cheerleader Lacy just as much as another about Riley.)  I still think the book was a ton of fun, and I think the ending works with both the characters and the world.  I just wanted everything to end with rainbows and sparkles.

OUTCAST is a good light paranormal for people who like laughing while reading, girls who can handle guns, and guys who fix up their own motorcycles.

Review: Twerp

By Mark Goldblatt
Available now from Random House BFYR
Review copy

TWERP is the story of Julian, a young boy growing up in 1969 New York.  He's twelve, a bit of a follower, and his main claim to fame is being the fastest kid in school.  He's writing a book throughout the school year as punishment for an incident of bullying that remains unspecified until the end.

I loved the structure of TWERP.  Each chapter is a vignette of sixth-grade life and reminded me of the work of Louis Sachar, albeit less absurd.  But the various threads - crushes, races, bullying all work together to paint a detailed portrait of Julian and his personal growth.  I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed the book so much if the incident was detailed earlier in the book.  At the end, it's easy to see that Julian is maturing and unlikely to do such a thing ever again.  At the beginning, it would've made me dislike Julian too much to be interested in his progress.

TWERP deals with bullying in an excellent way.  It shows how easy it is to go along with people who are being mean, to fit in by not making waves.  But this isn't a heavy book.  Most of the other topics explored are much lighter and funnier.  I wouldn't have compared it to Sachar's work if it wasn't hilarious.

I really hope TWERP finds its audience.  It's a great middle grade read - engaging, smart, funny, and poignant.  It's Goldblatt's first novel for younger readers, and I hope he writes more for this audience.  He's got the knack of it.

William Shakespeare's Star Wars

Verily, A New Hope
By Ian Doescher
Illustrations by Nicolas Delort
Available now from Quirk Books (with permission from Lucas Books)
Review copy

Ian Doescher had a great idea.  I can't imagine how many people wish they had it first.  Star Wars, that nerdy yet mainstream cultural touchstone, uses classic structure to tell of space battles.  Why not push it even farther?

(If they can do it with Pulp Fiction . . . )

Ian Doescher does a great job of telling Star Wars in the style of William Shakespeare.  He has the benefit of having seen all the movies to add a bit more weight to lines that foreshadow what's to come.  (He also gets to references fan fervor over whether Han shot first.) He alludes to a large number of Shakespeare's most famous lines, including both my favorite lines from Macbeth and Julius Caesar.  He also matched the characters well to Shakespearean counterparts.  I particularly loved R2-D2 as a Shakespearean fool, tricking the pretentious C-3PO.  The pastiche continues to the very end, when a parody of Prospero's 'Our revels are now ended' (The Tempest) directs readers to extras on the Quirk Books' website.

The greatest weakness is Doescher's reliance on a Chorus.  Yes, it's a theatrical technique, but not one Shakespeare much used.  I can understand Doescher wanting to reference the movie's famous visuals, but it seems like some of the lines could have been folded into the dialogue.  I think Doescher didn't want to stray too far from the original script, although he does give many characters speeches that reveal more of their internal turmoil.  (That being a good theatrical change, of course.)

I wish I could see WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S STAR WARS performed, instead of just reading it.  It is a stage play, after all, and performance always gives the words new life.  There are, fortunately, twenty scratchboard illustrations by the fantastic Nicolas Delort in the book.  They're appropriately old fashioned and manage to reference famous iconography from both sources.  I particularly liked the way he drew Chewbacca.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S STAR WARS is a good pick for Star Wars fans.  It's a novelty, sure, but one that is done with great style.  I can also see English teachers picking it up for use in the classroom.  It's not only a good introduction to iambic pentameter, but also a way to teach the meaning of pastiche.