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SHANGHAI GIRLS is a novel to wrench your heart out of your chest. Whether that action is out of empathy or frustration depends on what section you're reading.
This is the second See novel I've read, and I was more than willing to become lost in it from the get-go. See's descriptions of 1940s Shanghai welcomed me with sparkling prose, sympathetic, vivacious characters, and a mood perfectly balanced between May & Pearl's youthful, beautiful glamor and the gloom/doom of poverty and upcoming war.
As a reader, I thoroughly enjoyed this Shanghai section, their journey to/in Angel Island, and their first days in Los Angeles. And then the 1950s happened.
During this second half of the novel, See changed her writing style, or it seemed like she did to me. One chapter was called "Snapshots" and I thought, "Okay, so this is where we're going to get little vignettes and then go back to the normal time continuity." I was wrong. Even after that chapter, it seemed like See fast-forwarded to important historical events. Instead of following the characters' journeys, I was reading how they reacted to different governmental laws and national changes. The storytelling lost its organic nature, and instead I just saw how much research See did.
I don't know: it was like the life went out of it, like See wasn't excited about her work anymore. That may be partly because of Pearl, who lets her worries consume her, but I kept wondering why, if See wasn't excited, she continued the story. Maybe she didn't know if she wanted to write a sequel yet, and wanted to cram in as much history as possible. Maybe she lost steam, but had a word count to fulfill. It was weird.
Overall, despite this weirdness, I enjoyed the book as a whole and want to read the second book about Joy. The characters still have a lot of life in them and maybe the change of POV character and setting will bring back the spark See had in the first half of SHANGHAI GIRLS.
This is the second See novel I've read, and I was more than willing to become lost in it from the get-go. See's descriptions of 1940s Shanghai welcomed me with sparkling prose, sympathetic, vivacious characters, and a mood perfectly balanced between May & Pearl's youthful, beautiful glamor and the gloom/doom of poverty and upcoming war.
As a reader, I thoroughly enjoyed this Shanghai section, their journey to/in Angel Island, and their first days in Los Angeles. And then the 1950s happened.
During this second half of the novel, See changed her writing style, or it seemed like she did to me. One chapter was called "Snapshots" and I thought, "Okay, so this is where we're going to get little vignettes and then go back to the normal time continuity." I was wrong. Even after that chapter, it seemed like See fast-forwarded to important historical events. Instead of following the characters' journeys, I was reading how they reacted to different governmental laws and national changes. The storytelling lost its organic nature, and instead I just saw how much research See did.
I don't know: it was like the life went out of it, like See wasn't excited about her work anymore. That may be partly because of Pearl, who lets her worries consume her, but I kept wondering why, if See wasn't excited, she continued the story. Maybe she didn't know if she wanted to write a sequel yet, and wanted to cram in as much history as possible. Maybe she lost steam, but had a word count to fulfill. It was weird.
Overall, despite this weirdness, I enjoyed the book as a whole and want to read the second book about Joy. The characters still have a lot of life in them and maybe the change of POV character and setting will bring back the spark See had in the first half of SHANGHAI GIRLS.
I picked MY ENEMY, MY ALLY up for fun, and while it was a pleasant enough read, I wasn't enthralled.
There were good points. Duane lets her imagination run wild with aliens. Many diverse species, cultures, sexual orientations, abilities, colors, and body types roam the pages freely and happily. Duane's deft handling of science and the mechanics of the Star Trek universe made for a solid, high stakes adventure. Ael was a fascinating, fresh character, and her and Kirk's relationship was well-wrought (especially the ending!!).
What majorly dropped my review star count was the plot's pacing. The first 200 pages seem to exist only to set up for the last 100 pages, and while Duane's plethora of details build up the characters and world nicely, they can't hold my attention. Put simply and horribly, I was bored and that's partially why it took me so long to finish the book.
Once I got to page 201 though, the plot speeds up to break-neck speed. I was so on board for the ride that I nearly cheered. Everything came together in a tight little bow, and I finished quick.
To sum up, read MY ENEMY , MY ALLY if you have the patience for a very, VERY slow beginning and like exploring coolio author creations. Otherwise, it's a bit of a slog.
There were good points. Duane lets her imagination run wild with aliens. Many diverse species, cultures, sexual orientations, abilities, colors, and body types roam the pages freely and happily. Duane's deft handling of science and the mechanics of the Star Trek universe made for a solid, high stakes adventure. Ael was a fascinating, fresh character, and her and Kirk's relationship was well-wrought (especially the ending!!).
What majorly dropped my review star count was the plot's pacing. The first 200 pages seem to exist only to set up for the last 100 pages, and while Duane's plethora of details build up the characters and world nicely, they can't hold my attention. Put simply and horribly, I was bored and that's partially why it took me so long to finish the book.
Once I got to page 201 though, the plot speeds up to break-neck speed. I was so on board for the ride that I nearly cheered. Everything came together in a tight little bow, and I finished quick.
To sum up, read MY ENEMY , MY ALLY if you have the patience for a very, VERY slow beginning and like exploring coolio author creations. Otherwise, it's a bit of a slog.
When I first picked up and got excited about this book, somehow I got it into my head that Jamie and Charlotte were lesbians. And so, it took me an entire CD to figure out that Jamie is not, in fact, a young woman at a very gender progressive school, or a trans woman, or genderfluid, nonbinary, or any other LGBTQ. He's a cis boy and I was facepalming myself in the car.
So while the cover is gorgeous, the world inventive, the allusions to canon loving, the mystery a real twister, and the characters funny, solid, and good in their own right, I'm kind of disappointed because...nothing super diverse or spectacular happens here. There are other adaptations where Holmes and Watson are young and/or cis-swapped, both in books and in television (Mary Russell & Elementary, anyone?).
Don't get me wrong: A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE is certainly a good read for any Sherlockian. If you need a Sherlock Holmes and John Watson fix outside of canon, have at it. My bi ego is simply bruised because I thought queer rep was going to be here, or at least man-and-woman friendship. But nope. Surprising no one (at least certainly not me), Holmes' gender is used to its fullest extent, with the bad things that disproportionately happen to women happening to her, and romance blossoming between her & Jamie, as they're both safely straight. I'm a little put out.
Where does that leave me and continuing the series? Well, while the writing is strong enough that I'm interested, I'm not going to be first in line to read the sequel. Wait until I'm in the mood for a run-of-the-mill-but-well-written-mystery.
So while the cover is gorgeous, the world inventive, the allusions to canon loving, the mystery a real twister, and the characters funny, solid, and good in their own right, I'm kind of disappointed because...nothing super diverse or spectacular happens here. There are other adaptations where Holmes and Watson are young and/or cis-swapped, both in books and in television (Mary Russell & Elementary, anyone?).
Don't get me wrong: A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE is certainly a good read for any Sherlockian. If you need a Sherlock Holmes and John Watson fix outside of canon, have at it. My bi ego is simply bruised because I thought queer rep was going to be here, or at least man-and-woman friendship. But nope. Surprising no one (at least certainly not me), Holmes' gender is used to its fullest extent, with the bad things that disproportionately happen to women happening to her, and romance blossoming between her & Jamie, as they're both safely straight. I'm a little put out.
Where does that leave me and continuing the series? Well, while the writing is strong enough that I'm interested, I'm not going to be first in line to read the sequel. Wait until I'm in the mood for a run-of-the-mill-but-well-written-mystery.
I picked up SCYTHE because it's been so heavily touted in the #YALit Twitter community. I was very excited to pick it up, but...the reading bit was less exciting and more a spotty experience for me.
Bad news first: while I understood Shusterman was trying to establish that humanity now lived in an immortal utopia, there was a heaping amount of ableism and racism in the background, and it was unclear whether this was meant to be a critique of the utopia or not, which made the book lose stars for me. You can't change the the thousands of years of tradition behind the Chinese lunar calendar because you like ocelots. You can't say racism and our concept of ethnicity is over when people keep track of what percent white they are, and people are gleaned based on statistics from a known racist time period. You can't pat yourself on the back for eliminating mental and physical ailment when you have sociopaths running around with flamethrowers. Or when you genetic and nanite tweak all of the disabled people out of the population.
In fact, you can't really say you're a utopia at all, when you have society-sanctioned assassins running around killing people. When reading your world is pages upon pages of you moaning about how bored you are that your world is so great interspersed with scenes of gruesome and intense mass murder. Noooope.
The good news: I quite like the main characters and the meditation on death. Citra, Rowan, Curie, Faraday: they were all relatable, kind heroes. I loved that Rowan had the typically feminine trait of high empathy, while Citra had the typically masculine competitive, headstrong nature. I rooted and mourned for them all, for who they were and who they grew to be. Faraday and Curie's compassionate take on death was downright beautiful and sacred. I ate up all the training scenes. I devoured Curie's diary entries. The three stars I gave this book belong to those scenes, and those characters.
So where does that leave me? I might pick up the next book, to see if Shusterman complicates and/or destroys his utopia, but I won't be the first in line. I wished I could like SCYTHE more, but I don't.
Bad news first: while I understood Shusterman was trying to establish that humanity now lived in an immortal utopia, there was a heaping amount of ableism and racism in the background, and it was unclear whether this was meant to be a critique of the utopia or not, which made the book lose stars for me. You can't change the the thousands of years of tradition behind the Chinese lunar calendar because you like ocelots. You can't say racism and our concept of ethnicity is over when people keep track of what percent white they are, and people are gleaned based on statistics from a known racist time period. You can't pat yourself on the back for eliminating mental and physical ailment when you have sociopaths running around with flamethrowers. Or when you genetic and nanite tweak all of the disabled people out of the population.
In fact, you can't really say you're a utopia at all, when you have society-sanctioned assassins running around killing people. When reading your world is pages upon pages of you moaning about how bored you are that your world is so great interspersed with scenes of gruesome and intense mass murder. Noooope.
The good news: I quite like the main characters and the meditation on death. Citra, Rowan, Curie, Faraday: they were all relatable, kind heroes. I loved that Rowan had the typically feminine trait of high empathy, while Citra had the typically masculine competitive, headstrong nature. I rooted and mourned for them all, for who they were and who they grew to be. Faraday and Curie's compassionate take on death was downright beautiful and sacred. I ate up all the training scenes. I devoured Curie's diary entries. The three stars I gave this book belong to those scenes, and those characters.
So where does that leave me? I might pick up the next book, to see if Shusterman complicates and/or destroys his utopia, but I won't be the first in line. I wished I could like SCYTHE more, but I don't.
I've been meaning to read Kody Keplinger's RUN ever since it rode the YALit Twitter wave and was wrongly targeted for older teens only because of Bo's bisexuality. After reading, I definitely see why people were upset. RUN is a quick, accessible read, perfect for an ambitious 12 year old and anyone older.
The most defining feature about RUN was the structure. The story starts with Bo and her best friend Agnes's running away from home. Then, the next chapter is in Agnes' POV and essentially in flashback to Bo & Agnes' first meeting. While sometimes this timeline switch was confusing, the way Keplinger lined up the past and the present was MIND-BLOWING during the book's climax. I had to put the book down and bask for a bit.
The diversity in this book was fantastic and well-treated, from Bo's bisexuality and Agnes' disability to the working class Kentucky setting and alcoholism/addiction. All around I was left feeling giddy and happy: Keplinger is a deft storyteller and takes the reader on a journey with just the right amount of angst, friendship, and laughter. Agnes and Bo felt startlingly real.
Keplinger is so good, in fact, that even though this book dealt with darker themes, I turned the last page comforted. As a queer woman in these times, comfort, assurance, and hope can be rare, far things. RUN is excellent, and I would recommend it to anyone.
The most defining feature about RUN was the structure. The story starts with Bo and her best friend Agnes's running away from home. Then, the next chapter is in Agnes' POV and essentially in flashback to Bo & Agnes' first meeting. While sometimes this timeline switch was confusing, the way Keplinger lined up the past and the present was MIND-BLOWING during the book's climax. I had to put the book down and bask for a bit.
The diversity in this book was fantastic and well-treated, from Bo's bisexuality and Agnes' disability to the working class Kentucky setting and alcoholism/addiction. All around I was left feeling giddy and happy: Keplinger is a deft storyteller and takes the reader on a journey with just the right amount of angst, friendship, and laughter. Agnes and Bo felt startlingly real.
Keplinger is so good, in fact, that even though this book dealt with darker themes, I turned the last page comforted. As a queer woman in these times, comfort, assurance, and hope can be rare, far things. RUN is excellent, and I would recommend it to anyone.
I picked up an audiobook of EVERY DAY for a road trip, and I did not regret it. A's modus operandi may seem like the focus on the book is the spec fic conceit, but it's so much more. Levithan delivers a master class on compassion and empathy, expertly using each day as a window into the idiosyncratic multiverse of teenage life. I drove astounded and hypnotized.
The racial and gender diversity is reflective of real life, and Levithan embraces every body with a deft, magical hand. A's insistence on gender not mattering, appearance not mattering, and Rihannon's youthful struggle with this is so tangible I felt like I could hold it. The grapples with morality raised all the stakes, and the plot moved along quickly. I zoomed down the highway and through this book. Overall, while it dealt with heavy themes, EVERY DAY was such a feel good book, and I want to read the next one once I stop sighing over this installment.
The racial and gender diversity is reflective of real life, and Levithan embraces every body with a deft, magical hand. A's insistence on gender not mattering, appearance not mattering, and Rihannon's youthful struggle with this is so tangible I felt like I could hold it. The grapples with morality raised all the stakes, and the plot moved along quickly. I zoomed down the highway and through this book. Overall, while it dealt with heavy themes, EVERY DAY was such a feel good book, and I want to read the next one once I stop sighing over this installment.
After watching a few Stephen King movies with friends, I was eager to read his books. My friends didn't promise me a good time necessarily, but they did promise a good opportunity to sharpen my snarking skills. So I was loaned some books and sent on my merry way.
I started reading THE GUNSLINGER first because of THE DARK TOWER's release in theaters (which did contain problems, but had the fabulous and iconic Idris Elba), and I quickly found that if I took out all the racism, sexism, homophobia, and weird slobber kink, THE GUNSLINGER was a good high fantasy Western. I then closed the book at page 100 or so and...never found enough mental or emotional spoons to return. It demanded too much from me, and when my TBR pile is exploding with shiner and less sexist books, I couldn't make myself pick it up.
I may come back to this, if every other book I own bursts into flames first. Hopefully I'll have better luck with one of King's horror novels, but I doubt it.
I started reading THE GUNSLINGER first because of THE DARK TOWER's release in theaters (which did contain problems, but had the fabulous and iconic Idris Elba), and I quickly found that if I took out all the racism, sexism, homophobia, and weird slobber kink, THE GUNSLINGER was a good high fantasy Western. I then closed the book at page 100 or so and...never found enough mental or emotional spoons to return. It demanded too much from me, and when my TBR pile is exploding with shiner and less sexist books, I couldn't make myself pick it up.
I may come back to this, if every other book I own bursts into flames first. Hopefully I'll have better luck with one of King's horror novels, but I doubt it.
