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Originally posted at The Wandering Fangirl.
It’s always so refreshing to come across a paranormal YA novel that is entirely unique — to me, at least. I haven’t read or heard of anything that sounds like The Metaphysical Double Life of Eri Lane, and dove into it happily.
Eri Lane, our hero, is a strange bird. She’s a smart fourteen year old girl in a school for the gifted, and she is indeed gifted (or cursed, depending on how you see it). She’s definitely intense, she’s incredibly thoughtful and intuitive — so much so, in fact, that it’s almost a weird power. Eri’s ability to distill someone’s personality into a single line is an interesting thing to see her work with, especially when she uses it against those she perceives as bullies. From actual bullies to her teachers, seeing how she uses this power to lash out to protect her best friends or herself is interesting.
But what about the actual paranormal stuff, you say? The world of Dream (versus the world of Awake) is so strange and detached and weird, which you’d except from a world made up of people’s dreams. It’s just like our world, but different, and Eri and her best friend Malcolm are tasked as sort of cops of Dream. They fix what needs to be fixed, make sure everything runs smoothly. But something big is happening, someone’s trying to combine the two worlds, which would destroy them, and it falls to Eri to save the world.
The writing in The Metaphysical Double Life of Eri Lane was like taking a long, long trip into someone else’s dream, which makes sense for the subject matter. At times I couldn’t tell if this was because it felt as though the writing needed to be tightened up a little, or it was intentional, but I enjoyed the effect it had. I sort of drifted through the world alongside Eri.
I loved her as a main character; she’s smart, intense, nerdy, is sometimes so good she tips over into bad, and cares for her family and friends so much you can feel it. Her best friends Malcolm, a gay teen who constantly gets bullied, and Ashley, a meek girl, are good enough characters, but don’t really seem to stand on their own. Malcolm gets more time as Eri’s Dream companion, but beyond his family and school problems, it’s hard to put a finger on who he really is. The same goes for most of the secondary characters, from Eri’s senior crush Pete to her mother. Although I have to admit, with what little time her mother gets, she makes an impact.
The mystery of the plot itself — who’s trying to destroy Dream and Awake — is pretty well done, until the moment I realized I knew who the culprit was all along. It’s hard to hold on to the threads of a plot where the important parts of it take place in a dream world, but Jocelyn Nora Moore handles it well. Overall, I think The Metaphysical Double Life of Eri Lane is a nice detour in the paranormal genre if you’re looking for it.
It’s always so refreshing to come across a paranormal YA novel that is entirely unique — to me, at least. I haven’t read or heard of anything that sounds like The Metaphysical Double Life of Eri Lane, and dove into it happily.
Eri Lane, our hero, is a strange bird. She’s a smart fourteen year old girl in a school for the gifted, and she is indeed gifted (or cursed, depending on how you see it). She’s definitely intense, she’s incredibly thoughtful and intuitive — so much so, in fact, that it’s almost a weird power. Eri’s ability to distill someone’s personality into a single line is an interesting thing to see her work with, especially when she uses it against those she perceives as bullies. From actual bullies to her teachers, seeing how she uses this power to lash out to protect her best friends or herself is interesting.
But what about the actual paranormal stuff, you say? The world of Dream (versus the world of Awake) is so strange and detached and weird, which you’d except from a world made up of people’s dreams. It’s just like our world, but different, and Eri and her best friend Malcolm are tasked as sort of cops of Dream. They fix what needs to be fixed, make sure everything runs smoothly. But something big is happening, someone’s trying to combine the two worlds, which would destroy them, and it falls to Eri to save the world.
The writing in The Metaphysical Double Life of Eri Lane was like taking a long, long trip into someone else’s dream, which makes sense for the subject matter. At times I couldn’t tell if this was because it felt as though the writing needed to be tightened up a little, or it was intentional, but I enjoyed the effect it had. I sort of drifted through the world alongside Eri.
I loved her as a main character; she’s smart, intense, nerdy, is sometimes so good she tips over into bad, and cares for her family and friends so much you can feel it. Her best friends Malcolm, a gay teen who constantly gets bullied, and Ashley, a meek girl, are good enough characters, but don’t really seem to stand on their own. Malcolm gets more time as Eri’s Dream companion, but beyond his family and school problems, it’s hard to put a finger on who he really is. The same goes for most of the secondary characters, from Eri’s senior crush Pete to her mother. Although I have to admit, with what little time her mother gets, she makes an impact.
The mystery of the plot itself — who’s trying to destroy Dream and Awake — is pretty well done, until the moment I realized I knew who the culprit was all along. It’s hard to hold on to the threads of a plot where the important parts of it take place in a dream world, but Jocelyn Nora Moore handles it well. Overall, I think The Metaphysical Double Life of Eri Lane is a nice detour in the paranormal genre if you’re looking for it.
Not as awesome as I expected, but still a good read. Review to come.
Originally posted at The Wandering Fangirl.
Though labeled as the sequel to 2010′s [b:Ship Breaker|7095831|Ship Breaker (Ship Breaker, #1)|Paolo Bacigalupi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327874074s/7095831.jpg|7352929], The Drowned Cities is more a novel that takes place in the same universe as the first, and includes one of the minor characters from Ship Breaker to great effect.
The Drowned Cities is not an easy novel to stomach. It’s a story of war, and what that does to a world, from the top of society all the way down. We follow the story of Mahlia, a girl who’s seen the worst of war in the past, and her friend Mouse, a young boy who gets caught in the great war machine. Then there’s Tool, a genetically created half-man, half-animal that somehow has broken free of his training. Between the three characters, there isn’t much to the ravages of war that isn’t touched.
Mahlia is an incredibly strong character, someone who is hard to stomach but easy to root for. She knows what it means to be an outcast, to survive on the outskirts and in the middle of a war when she needs to. Scrappy, independent, hard, she forges her way through the drowned cities of a future war-torn America to save her friend. Mouse is a little harder to take as a character, and it’s the sympathy of his storyline that got to me. He gets caught up in the war, becomes a soldier boy, and watching his initiation and bonding with his fellow boy soldiers is painful. And it’s real.
Then there’s Tool. Tool, who is such a great force that he overshadows Mahlia and Mouse. He’s got such an amazing presence that it’s hard to pay attention to anything else. Mahlia has her moments to shine beside Tool, but he’s the real star of the novel, in my eyes. He embodies the questions of genetic manipulation, of what it means to have humanity, what it means to be free of your own accord. The fact that he’s a terrifying killer on top of it all seems to be just another aspect of Tool’s personality, which is something I have to applaud Bacigalupi for. He’s created a character so realized, you can’t help but cheer him on and be repulsed by him at the same time.
The Drowned Cities explores what it means to be human, and what horrible things we can do to ourselves and to others if we keep going down the route we are. It’s such a great, great read.
Though labeled as the sequel to 2010′s [b:Ship Breaker|7095831|Ship Breaker (Ship Breaker, #1)|Paolo Bacigalupi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327874074s/7095831.jpg|7352929], The Drowned Cities is more a novel that takes place in the same universe as the first, and includes one of the minor characters from Ship Breaker to great effect.
The Drowned Cities is not an easy novel to stomach. It’s a story of war, and what that does to a world, from the top of society all the way down. We follow the story of Mahlia, a girl who’s seen the worst of war in the past, and her friend Mouse, a young boy who gets caught in the great war machine. Then there’s Tool, a genetically created half-man, half-animal that somehow has broken free of his training. Between the three characters, there isn’t much to the ravages of war that isn’t touched.
Mahlia is an incredibly strong character, someone who is hard to stomach but easy to root for. She knows what it means to be an outcast, to survive on the outskirts and in the middle of a war when she needs to. Scrappy, independent, hard, she forges her way through the drowned cities of a future war-torn America to save her friend. Mouse is a little harder to take as a character, and it’s the sympathy of his storyline that got to me. He gets caught up in the war, becomes a soldier boy, and watching his initiation and bonding with his fellow boy soldiers is painful. And it’s real.
Then there’s Tool. Tool, who is such a great force that he overshadows Mahlia and Mouse. He’s got such an amazing presence that it’s hard to pay attention to anything else. Mahlia has her moments to shine beside Tool, but he’s the real star of the novel, in my eyes. He embodies the questions of genetic manipulation, of what it means to have humanity, what it means to be free of your own accord. The fact that he’s a terrifying killer on top of it all seems to be just another aspect of Tool’s personality, which is something I have to applaud Bacigalupi for. He’s created a character so realized, you can’t help but cheer him on and be repulsed by him at the same time.
The Drowned Cities explores what it means to be human, and what horrible things we can do to ourselves and to others if we keep going down the route we are. It’s such a great, great read.
Originally posted at The Wandering Fangirl.
I love new takes on the paranormal genre, and The Rook scratched that itch like no other recently. We follow the adventures of Myfanwy Thomas, a woman who wakes up with amnesia and has no clue about her previous life except for letters left by herself to herself. Going along with Myfanwy as she relearns her entire life, which includes working for a huge secret organization called the Chequy that deals with many paranormal forces in Britain. It’s such a rich, deep world we learn about, and I wish there were so much more to read. Nearly 500 pages wasn’t enooooough!
Myfanwy was a fantastic protagonist. I loved following her as she learned about the mousy, shy woman she used to be and as she grows into an outgoing woman who actually uses her own paranormal powers. She investigates her own amnesia (someone’s a traitor!) as well as working a high-stress job despite forgetting all about it and she is SO. GREAT. That’s basically all I can say about The Rook without dissolving into a giant pile of fangirl. IT’S SO GREAT.
I love new takes on the paranormal genre, and The Rook scratched that itch like no other recently. We follow the adventures of Myfanwy Thomas, a woman who wakes up with amnesia and has no clue about her previous life except for letters left by herself to herself. Going along with Myfanwy as she relearns her entire life, which includes working for a huge secret organization called the Chequy that deals with many paranormal forces in Britain. It’s such a rich, deep world we learn about, and I wish there were so much more to read. Nearly 500 pages wasn’t enooooough!
Myfanwy was a fantastic protagonist. I loved following her as she learned about the mousy, shy woman she used to be and as she grows into an outgoing woman who actually uses her own paranormal powers. She investigates her own amnesia (someone’s a traitor!) as well as working a high-stress job despite forgetting all about it and she is SO. GREAT. That’s basically all I can say about The Rook without dissolving into a giant pile of fangirl. IT’S SO GREAT.
Originally posted at The Wandering Fangirl.
I loved Divergent, as everyone seems to have, and was so excited for Insurgent when it finally came out. Starting out right after the events of the first book, we dive deeper into Tris’s world as she learns more about how the other factions live — including the factionless. Insurgent did a great job expanding on the universe itself, and I loved learning about the other factions and the people living there. Emotionally, Insurgent is a hard book to take; Tris has the weight of the world on her shoulders, and things with Four aren’t as perfect as we’d all like them to be. I didn’t mind the heaviness, but I would have liked a little more common sense between Tris and Four instead of the constant emotional whiplash we’re treated to.
Then there’s the huge cliffhanger at the end of the book. Just…what? I saw it coming in the last quarter of the book, but that still doesn’t make me boggle any less.
Insurgent‘s a pretty solid second book in this series, but it didn’t live up to the awesomeness of Divergent, in my eyes.
I loved Divergent, as everyone seems to have, and was so excited for Insurgent when it finally came out. Starting out right after the events of the first book, we dive deeper into Tris’s world as she learns more about how the other factions live — including the factionless. Insurgent did a great job expanding on the universe itself, and I loved learning about the other factions and the people living there. Emotionally, Insurgent is a hard book to take; Tris has the weight of the world on her shoulders, and things with Four aren’t as perfect as we’d all like them to be. I didn’t mind the heaviness, but I would have liked a little more common sense between Tris and Four instead of the constant emotional whiplash we’re treated to.
Then there’s the huge cliffhanger at the end of the book. Just…what? I saw it coming in the last quarter of the book, but that still doesn’t make me boggle any less.
Insurgent‘s a pretty solid second book in this series, but it didn’t live up to the awesomeness of Divergent, in my eyes.