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Day One
By. Kelly Devos
P. 471
Format: Print/Audiobook
Rating: ****
**********************
Day One is the second book in the Day Zero duology. It is a Young Adult apocalyptic multi-perspective science fiction book.
The book follows Jinx the daughter of a survivalist and a computer genius. It is also told from the perspective of Jinx’s stepsister, MacKenna, an aspiring journalist. Also, Gus, a boy who has had a crush on Jinx for years and who promised her father to help her to survive.
In the first book we are introduced to the two main political parties The Spark and The Opposition. The second book gets you up close and personal to the heads of the parties. Jinx’s parents were heavily connected to both and the plot naturally gives you an insider look at the people behind the politics.
The book is extremely pessimistic about human nature, and it is also eerily foretelling of what is currently happening in the United States. There was one scene of the book that caused a panic attack. All I will say is why does it always happen to California? Also, why do I still live in California if it always happens to us?
In the first book the teenagers are mostly on their own. They are the star of their own show. In Day One they are being used as pawns by adults. I absolutely hated that the boys were pulled into secret meetings and the girls were told to go in their rooms and wait to be told what to do. It was sexist and demeaning - and exactly what would happen. As a reader my blood was boiling, I also got exactly why it was written that way.
The book did not blow me away. However, it was well written with unique and detailed characters. The duology is a quick read and will make you question politics even more. Although, I hope we figure to the mess we are in before we get to the utter chaos of Day One.
By. Kelly Devos
P. 471
Format: Print/Audiobook
Rating: ****
**********************
Day One is the second book in the Day Zero duology. It is a Young Adult apocalyptic multi-perspective science fiction book.
The book follows Jinx the daughter of a survivalist and a computer genius. It is also told from the perspective of Jinx’s stepsister, MacKenna, an aspiring journalist. Also, Gus, a boy who has had a crush on Jinx for years and who promised her father to help her to survive.
In the first book we are introduced to the two main political parties The Spark and The Opposition. The second book gets you up close and personal to the heads of the parties. Jinx’s parents were heavily connected to both and the plot naturally gives you an insider look at the people behind the politics.
The book is extremely pessimistic about human nature, and it is also eerily foretelling of what is currently happening in the United States. There was one scene of the book that caused a panic attack. All I will say is why does it always happen to California? Also, why do I still live in California if it always happens to us?
In the first book the teenagers are mostly on their own. They are the star of their own show. In Day One they are being used as pawns by adults. I absolutely hated that the boys were pulled into secret meetings and the girls were told to go in their rooms and wait to be told what to do. It was sexist and demeaning - and exactly what would happen. As a reader my blood was boiling, I also got exactly why it was written that way.
The book did not blow me away. However, it was well written with unique and detailed characters. The duology is a quick read and will make you question politics even more. Although, I hope we figure to the mess we are in before we get to the utter chaos of Day One.
The Future is Yours
By. Dan Fey
P. 352
Format: e-arc
Rating: ****
**********************
I received The Future is Yours from @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
***********************
The Future is Yours is written in an alternate narrative style. It is a collection of text messages, emails, and transcripts of congressional hearings. You learn exclusively about the characters from their written text. Given the nature of the book, this is apt.
What would happen if you had a machine that could see the internet one year in the future? On it’s surface it sounds great. You would know if you and the person you are crushing on will get together. You can see your vacation pics. You could have foreseen Covid coming and stocked up on a house in rural America before they became a hot commodity.
Then you start to think about the ramifications of what would actually happen if everyone was given access to this technology. That is the plot of The Future is Yours.
While the story focus a lot on the tech, the actual story is about the people. Ben is a business person through and through. He is trying to break through as an African American male who lost both his parents - his mom to cancer and his dad who left. He also has ADHD. I’m not going to lie, I started to really despise Ben. I questioned what Fey was doing with the character. I held out hope though that it was all leading somewhere. It did.
Adhi is an Indian American tech genius. He also is neurodiverse with mental health concerns that are not really brought in until later in the book. Adhi’s mental health is not the main focus of the book, although it does get tangled into the plot - but only in the way that it is a character focused book and his mental health is part of who he is. Given the book as a whole I think it really works. Also more mental health rep, especially when it shows the individual as a person and not a disorder, is so important.
If you like science fiction that will leave you thinking and keep you wondering until the end, then you will enjoy The Future is Yours. Be forewarned that there is mention of suicide multiple times in the book. Also, the female characters are more a means to an end than actual flushed out characters. I enjoyed Ben’s wife but I can’t even remember her name - so yeah.
By. Dan Fey
P. 352
Format: e-arc
Rating: ****
**********************
I received The Future is Yours from @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
***********************
The Future is Yours is written in an alternate narrative style. It is a collection of text messages, emails, and transcripts of congressional hearings. You learn exclusively about the characters from their written text. Given the nature of the book, this is apt.
What would happen if you had a machine that could see the internet one year in the future? On it’s surface it sounds great. You would know if you and the person you are crushing on will get together. You can see your vacation pics. You could have foreseen Covid coming and stocked up on a house in rural America before they became a hot commodity.
Then you start to think about the ramifications of what would actually happen if everyone was given access to this technology. That is the plot of The Future is Yours.
While the story focus a lot on the tech, the actual story is about the people. Ben is a business person through and through. He is trying to break through as an African American male who lost both his parents - his mom to cancer and his dad who left. He also has ADHD. I’m not going to lie, I started to really despise Ben. I questioned what Fey was doing with the character. I held out hope though that it was all leading somewhere. It did.
Adhi is an Indian American tech genius. He also is neurodiverse with mental health concerns that are not really brought in until later in the book. Adhi’s mental health is not the main focus of the book, although it does get tangled into the plot - but only in the way that it is a character focused book and his mental health is part of who he is. Given the book as a whole I think it really works. Also more mental health rep, especially when it shows the individual as a person and not a disorder, is so important.
If you like science fiction that will leave you thinking and keep you wondering until the end, then you will enjoy The Future is Yours. Be forewarned that there is mention of suicide multiple times in the book. Also, the female characters are more a means to an end than actual flushed out characters. I enjoyed Ben’s wife but I can’t even remember her name - so yeah.
***Book Review***
Every Heart a Doorway
By. Seanan McGuire
P. 173
Format: print
Rating: ****
**********************
I inadvertently read a book in the middle of the Wayward Children’s series and I wanted to make it a point to read them from the start this year. I did not expect Every Heart a Doorway to be so gruesome. Although, I suppose that is on me as I read Middlegame last year also.
The series is about a boarding school for children who have returned from magical doorways. Each doorway experience is different, but children who return are often seen as psychotic by their parents. The school run by Eleanor West is basically a residential facility for troubled teens. Except, that she knows the doorways are real as she has been through one herself.
The main character of Every Heart a Doorway is Nancy. She went to the land of the dead and wants nothing more than to make her way back. Except for now she has to settle for a school of people who at least believe her world existed.
I love the premise of the book. I was overdone by the horror factor of it. There was one part that I was reading while drinking my protein shake and my stomach became unsettled. Although, that also speaks to McGuire’s writing. You can see everything in detail. I cannot wait to read more stories in this world and see what characters will make more of an appearance.
Every Heart a Doorway
By. Seanan McGuire
P. 173
Format: print
Rating: ****
**********************
I inadvertently read a book in the middle of the Wayward Children’s series and I wanted to make it a point to read them from the start this year. I did not expect Every Heart a Doorway to be so gruesome. Although, I suppose that is on me as I read Middlegame last year also.
The series is about a boarding school for children who have returned from magical doorways. Each doorway experience is different, but children who return are often seen as psychotic by their parents. The school run by Eleanor West is basically a residential facility for troubled teens. Except, that she knows the doorways are real as she has been through one herself.
The main character of Every Heart a Doorway is Nancy. She went to the land of the dead and wants nothing more than to make her way back. Except for now she has to settle for a school of people who at least believe her world existed.
I love the premise of the book. I was overdone by the horror factor of it. There was one part that I was reading while drinking my protein shake and my stomach became unsettled. Although, that also speaks to McGuire’s writing. You can see everything in detail. I cannot wait to read more stories in this world and see what characters will make more of an appearance.
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Analog Science Fiction and Fact March/April 2020 (Vol 140, Nos. 3 & 4)
Mary Soon Lee, Andy Dudak, Raymond F. Jones, Sean Monaghan, Catherine Wells, Beth Dawkins, Mark W. Tiedemann, Josh Pearce, Arlan Andrews, Manny Frishberg, Joshua Cole, Gregory Benford, Edd Vick, Hayden Trenholm, Bo Balder, Brenda Kalt, Richard A. Lovett, Don Sakers, Alec Nevala-Lee, A.T. Sayre, Derek Künsken, John G. Cramer, Liz A. Vogel, C.C. Finlay, Em X. Liu, Trevor Quachri, Jenn Reese
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
***Book Review***
Analog March/April 2021
By. Various
P. 208
Format: Print
Rating: **
**********************
Before I dig into this magazine, because I plan on digging into it, I want to say that there were some good short stories. There were also some not bad short stories. Unfortunately, there were also some stories that were not great. Including one that I do not understand why it was published.
The editor starts by talking how important it is that science fiction be diverse. Then he puts out a magazine that is not diverse. It lacks a lot of racial identity, there is only some minor LGBTQ+ rep thrown in as a side plot to some characters. There is also a story that is anti-ability. Yep! It called a character the R— word. Oh, but it gets worse. How can it possibly get worse than that? Let me tell you.
First it is important to know that this story is the long epic story of the magazine. It is the centerpiece, if you will. In the story there is a side character with Down Syndrome. The character was introduced like this; “Jean-Eudes was Venus’s only Down Syndrome child.” It was awkward, but I wasn’t sure where this was going so I held on.
Jean-Eudes is one of two siblings left at home. His sole role is to be a babysitter to a younger child, the son of a dead daughter.
Shortly after the father tells the other son - the one who is ablebodied - “You’re going to have some pretty scars. But no one’s going to doubt you’re a man.” I am now loosing faith in the author. This is all in the first chapter of a nineteen chapter story.
I made it to chapter seven where a side character asks an adult brother who has left home “‘Aren’t you the one with the [R—] brother?’ Rejean laughed.” WTF does that need to be there? The answer is it does not. But it gets even worse. The brother goes on a rant about how the sibling with Down syndrome ruined his life. Because his parents refused to get rid of him the whole family had to move to a dangerous location and ruin their quality of life. I DNF’ed the story here. But I thought there has to be something redeeming about this right? I looked through the rest of the story and saw that Jean-Eudes remained a babysitter and the other brother at home - the one who no one can doubt is a man - became a hero.
In the editorial the editor wrote that science fiction is “unsurpassed as a tool for exploring social issues. It can loosen up the noise filters of its readers, teaching them to see their own culture in new ways, but only when it accommodates a wide range of voices.” Yet it was clear from the stories chosen and even the letters to the editor printed that Analog wants to tell the story of the straight white man. It was to continue to perpetuate the myth that having a disability is just a drain without any way of contributing to society. It is a view that will invalidate the contribution of authors who are disabled/differently abled such as Fran Wilde, Octavia E Buttler, Mishelle Baker, Nisi Shawl, and many others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
This book is a collection of pictures of birds. Although that is all that it professes to be, it is still a bit disappointing. It would have been nice if there were at least captions saying what type of birds are pictured. It truly does not even hold my children's attention. With a little more effort it would have at least gotten a three or four star rating.
This is a short, cute book about a baby dragon/dinosaur who's egg wonders away from home before he is born. In a few pages he makes his way and finds his parents. The plot is not original and the writing is not great, but my kids enjoyed it. However, it is not one of their favorites.
My children loved this book. Sharks is a fascination shared by all three. I couldn't read a page without a comment like kewl, or I knew that, or them expanding on even more information about sharks. I know they will enjoy this one many more times, even those that read above this reading level.
This book has a lot of information about butterflies, and has intriguing pictures. However the text is difficult to read. This book would benefit from functionality over beauty. As well the writing was really choppy at times. I had to reread several sentences before understanding what was being said. It is a picture book designed to be read to a child, not for a child to read. The beginning of the story gives factual information about butterflies. The second half of the story gives a child appropriate mystery that is solved.
