shelfreflectionofficial's Reviews (844)

“Warriors are willing to do what others can’t or won’t do for their community.”

Warrior Girl Unearthed takes place ten years after Boulley’s debut novel, Firekeeper’s Daughter, which won many awards and was named by Time in their 100 Best YA Books of All Time.

Firekeeper’s Daughter’s protagonist was Daunis, then- age 18. Warrior Girl Unearthed focuses on Daunis’s niece, Perry (twin to Paulline) who is now 16. She is a good character to use to follow-up to Daunis because their personalities are similar— blunt, strong, outspoken, risk-takers, opinionated, kind, loyal to their tribe and family.

I didn’t feel as lost at first reading this book compared to Firekeeper’s Daughter. It may be because I was already prepared for the Ojibwe language and the Yooper slang to be used. It may also be that this one didn’t ALSO have all the hockey jargon and anatomy terminology that were relevant to Daunis’s character.

It felt like Boulley didn’t take on as many threads to weave together as Firekeeper’s Daughter. The plot and character were a bit simpler. Warrior Girl Unearthed is 100 pages less, as well, so I think Boulley made some good choices with her second book.

Another improvement Boulley made with this book was better writing of the text conversations. They were more realistic. Poorly written text messages is one of my pet peeves so I was happy about this.



This book felt slow in the beginning. Having not really read the Goodreads summary, I wasn’t sure what the main conflict of the story was going to be.

It starts off with Perry wrecking Daunis’s jeep and needing to earn money to pay for the repairs. This drops her into a tribal summer intern program she is less than enthused about.

Her assignment introduces her to a collection of tribal artifacts, sacred items, and ancestral remains held at the nearby university. One of the remains is a woman they call Warrior Girl.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was the set-up for the primary plot. Getting these items and remains back to their tribe where they should be. It is a discussion on the repatriation act of 1990 (NAGPRA) which was enacted not only to restore these things to their rightful place, but to make sure remains and items were treated with dignity and respect.

Perry vows to do whatever it takes to stop the college from dragging their feet on inventorying their collection and making sure Warrior Girl is returned to their tribe where she can be returned to the earth from which she was robbed.

The secondary plot is the increasing number of young women from their tribe and others going missing and the laws around what crimes are prosecuted by whom.

There are lesser threads including a small romance plus the relationship between the two sisters (twins) and their differing personalities.

So yes, it was slow in the beginning, but I think all the build-up was necessary to Perry’s character and her devotion to her vow. We have to see the challenges of jumping through hoops and doing things the legal way. We have to see the disrespect of some of the characters and her growing commitment to repatriation. We have to believe that she cares about it so much that she really is willing to do whatever it takes to complete her vow.

It makes the climax of the book and her actions make more sense.


Some things I liked: It was great checking in with Granny June again. It was nice to know where Daunis ended up. I really enjoyed the character (Sam Hill) who was just called ‘What-The’.

I liked the good familial relationships shown and that even though Perry was a teenager, she still loved and respected her parents. I liked that the romantic aspect of the book was not the driving force of the plot nor of the main character’s behavior.

I thought Boulley did a good job of using the Ojibwe language in a major way while also cluing the reader into what was said in a natural way so it didn’t feel like you were just reading a dictionary.


Some things I didn’t like: All the swearing. It was less than some books I read, but for some reason felt like more. It may be because the main character using the f-words is a 16 year-old which feels worse. There is also some drug use (Perry’s twin keeps a stash of weed gummies for her anxiety). There is also reference to ‘sneaky snags’ which is her twin out having secret sex. Nothing is said more than that, but both the drugs and the sex are referenced as if it’s no big deal.

Sure, maybe that’s a normal thing for teenagers— which I’m pretty sad about if it is— but I would not want my teenagers (whenever I have them) reading this book with that content. It’s marketed as a YA book, but in my opinion, the content is beyond that.

One thing that annoyed me, which was also used in Firekeeper’s Daughter, was the phrase ‘pointed her lips.’ It was used 8 times in this book. And I still don’t really understand how this looks in real life.


Did I like it more than Firekeeper’s Daughter?

That is a hard question. I think I liked Daunis better than Perry. But I think the ‘mystery’ part was better in Warrior Girl Unearthed. I think the pacing was better in FD. FD also had discussion around tribal traditions and the challenges they face in America as a whole, but I think it was more dominant in WGU. Really it felt like a book about repatriation but jammed into a fictional YA framework. So I didn’t like that as much.

It’s good to learn things about a culture I know very little about. But it felt a little too political. Espeically with the inclusion of the comments regarding black people shot by police. Perry’s father is part-black but it seemed like a political comment rather than necessary for the story. Or things like this:

“‘You really wanna study where women and people of color are invisible?’” This quote may have been said as an exaggeration by a character, I don’t know the author’s intention, but it’s a bit too mainstream narrative for me. Women and people of color are hardly invisible. They are thriving at all levels! They may face some unique challenges at times, but as a whole I don’t believe they are as disadvantaged as I’m told to believe.


“These moccasins were taken off of ancestors in their graves.’ He looks horror-struck. I take deep breaths before continuing.’”

“‘I saw a ceremonial pipe fully assembled.’ He grimaces. ‘You get it, Web. Lockhart shouldn’t own it, and he for sure shouldn’t be displaying it like that.’”

These two quotes are commenting regarding non-natives. They also talked very negatively about people who tried to sell these items at garage sales or on eBay. One the one hand, yes, there are people who are ‘grave robbers’ and intentionally steal things for their own financial benefit. Who openly disgrace the native traditions. And that’s a real problem.

However, on the other hand, there are people who just don’t know. They don’t know what they have. How are they supposed to know that they have a ceremonial pipe and that it’s horrifying to assemble it?! I don’t know how easy it would be to find out this information, but the book didn’t not give much grace in the way of ignorance. They found any white person touching any Native item or remains as one of the worst things.

I guess I struggle a little with wanting to respect their traditions and the sacredness of their items, but also feeling like their attitude towards this to be pretty harsh.

I do want to learn, and I know that there were terrible things done to Native Americans (like the boarding schools) that stripped them of their culture and lives, but what she was trying to teach me via a novel felt a little too forceful in this book.


So in conclusion, both books had their pros and cons, but overall I think my first impression after reading Firekeeper’s Daughter was a little better than after reading Warrior Girl Unearthed.


Religious Differences

I am not sure how to correctly state the difference between Natives who practice and worship the traditional way and Natives who became Christians, so I’ll probably say something wrong, but I’m still going to state my ponderings anyway.

[I found this article by a Christian Native American that I thought was good]

One thing that was said multiple times in different ways was:

“I stare at random tourists and wonder how they would react to their ancestors being stolen for research. I’m guessing they would see it as sacrilege.”

I would definitely not like if someone exhumed my parents, grandparents, or even great-grandparents because that does seem disrespectful or jarring emotionally. But personally, I don’t know if it would really bother me if people decided to study my ancestors’ remains. To me, they are just bones. They are not there anymore. And maybe I could learn something more about my ancestors.

I understand that is not the way non-Christian Natives view it.

“We ask the ancestors to forgive what was done to their physical bodies, and we pray their spirits are at peace.”

Boulley quotes Chip Colwell saying,

“I know for these Native American traditionalists, the bones in the boxes are pulsating with power. For them, the dead are not really dead at all... For them, repatriation is a religious duty, not a political victory.”

And even with the treatment of their funerary items or other other cultural items. They treat bones and items as sacred. They think the bones have power and that their ancestors speak to them from the grave and guide them in their life.

That is different than my Christian beliefs. The Bible teaches us not to worship the body or objects, that it would be idolatry. The only eternal things are God, his Word, and people’s souls. Everything else will pass away.

If someone was going to auction off a stolen Bible for $20,000 in a disrespectful way, we may mourn the treatment of God’s Word, but I don’t think we would buy it just to return it to respect. We would (or should) use that money to help people. People who are living.

The holiest part of Christianity is the holiness of God and of Jesus. And Jesus is alive- there are no remains to protect or preserve.

When I think of bodily remains, I know it’s not my relatives. Their souls have departed. They don’t need that body anymore. They will get a resurrected body that is far better.


I say this because Boulley has brought up something I’ve never thought about before. I am exploring why I have a hard time understanding their traditions. Our religious beliefs drive the way we view the world and what’s in it and it’s very different.

Even though we have differing religious beliefs, I love that in America we are free to have and practice differing beliefs. We should still respect each other’s traditions. Their preservation and care for their funerary items does not hurt anyone so I think the repatriation act is a good and rightful thing.

I don’t think anyone should just go around digging up known burial grounds without proper authorization. That seems like a worthy law. I can understand this sentiment:

“Our ancestors’ bodies and funerary objects have been written on with markers and pens, handled, and studied by professors, researchers, and students for far too long. Their bodies, laid out in cardboard boxes, on metal shelves, is your university’s shameful reminder of the disrespect for human dignity.”

I am also not an anthropologist. If we were to just return all tribal objects from anywhere in America to wherever they go— what would we lose? I don’t know. I don’t know what the aftermath would be. I guess we would then rely on the tribes around the country to educate us on their past and culture instead of studying burial grounds for that information.

“Cooper says museums use that label, ‘culturally unidentifiable,’ as a catchall if they don’t have the resources to do a proper inventory. He says they also use it even after tribes provide evidence, because then, the museum can still hold on to the objects."

I can believe that museums and university departments make little effort in following through on inventorying a collection and actually trying to get it where it needs to go. I can believe there is deception used to avoid following the rules.


Recommendation

Angeline Boulley, a Native and a firekeeper’s daughter, definitely writes unique books and I enjoy reading a book written from a Native author in a setting and culture that I am not familiar with. I always enjoy learning while I read.

This book is long but doesn’t take too long to read. I think the plot is still decent and the characters are mostly likable— though sometimes Perry can be a lot.

If you plan to read this, I think I would still read Firekeeper’s Daughter first, but you wouldn’t have to.

Whether you are a Native yourself, or a non-Native, I think this book will invoke some feelings. Feelings that may be hard to understand and cause you to struggle. I think that’s a good thing.

I did say that it felt too political at times, but as I reflect, I’m glad that it made me think about what I believe and how I should interact with the Ojibwe culture and religion. I don’t have it all figured out, but it’s good for me to think about.

I think the only reason I would stop reading Boulley’s books is if the swearing continued to be as it is. (And I especially wouldn’t recommend this for YA readers as I mentioned earlier.)

Overall, this is a book about a teenage girl who discovers an injustice done to her tribe and, like a warrior, will do anything to rectify it. It’s the (mostly) selfless quest to right a wrong and uphold the religious beliefs she and her family hold.

I think most people will enjoy this book!

[See my original post for a couple other book links and pics relevant to the book]

**Received and ARC via NetGalley** 

“Turns out reality is more important than we thought.”

So I read ESJM’s Station Eleven 6 years ago and I honestly don’t remember a single thing. I have my short review from then but none of it really stuck with me. Reading Sea of Tranquility was like reading ESJM for the first time… again. But I think with similar results.

I have to admit… it was a bit underwhelming.

It’s one of those books that’s just not for everyone. While it wasn’t my favorite, I can tell there will be a lot of people that really enjoy it and some that don’t care for it at all. I’m somewhere in the middle.


The book is divided into chapters according to timeline.

We’ve got Edwin in 1910.
We’ve got Mirella in 1990s.
We’ve got Olive in 2203. (Where La Quinta hotels are somehow still going strong… invest now, everyone!)
We’ve got Gaspery in 2401.

All the timelines have something in common which is the mystery and climax of the book. It has something to do with time travel if that interests you at all. I won’t get too much into plot here because I’d basically have to describe the entire book to you. Just read the Goodreads summary for that.


ESJM wrote this book during the Covid-19 Pandemic and it shows. In fact, I think everyone’s Covid experiences and attitude toward it in the aftermath will probably dictate a lot of how they relate to this book.

There is a pandemic involved and you’ll find familiar things like masks and lockdowns. In fact one of the characters doesn’t leave their house for over a hundred days.

As I don’t intend to turn this review into a Covid discussion, I’ll just say that this part of the book gave me negative feelings and I didn’t care for the pandemic’s inclusion as it was.



The title of the book, Sea of Tranquility, is named after the feature on the moon of the same name. The moon, in future years, is the location of new settlements because of the inevitable death of Earth yada yada.

What’s weird about the title is that the writing style feels gentle and tranquil, but the content of the book is anything but gentle and tranquil. There are things going on in each time period that are troubling, chaotic, or scary.

Maybe that’s why this book didn’t stand out to me. I felt disjointed and disconnected. The words and the scenes seemed at odds with one another.

A character says, “This is the strange lesson of living in a pandemic: life can be tranquil in the face of death.”

I think it’s possible for this statement to be true, but I don’t believe ESJM provided a satisfactory ‘why’ or ‘how’ in this book. The sentiment seems misplaced here, to me.



The character, Olive, is a writer in the book who has written a book about a pandemic (as one is currently coming to fruition in her real life). She is on a book tour doing interviews and is asked about apocalyptic literature.

(I can only assume the answers she provides to the questions mirrors ESJM’s feelings as a writer writing a book during a pandemic…?)

There is speculation about why people are interested in these apocalyptic books. Is it people’s desire to just start over and do better? Is it a longing for heroism and to be a hero? Is it because we have the narcissistic thought that we’re currently “living at the end of history” and it’s “the worst it’s ever been”?

No. She thinks it’s not “because we’re drawn to disaster but because we’re drawn to what we imagine might come next. We long secretly for a world with less technology in it.”

She also says, “I didn’t want to write about anything real.”


I get the last statement. During the pandemic (and now, I guess) I didn’t particularly like reading pandemic books if they’re too real. I wanted to escape that. I wanted to read books that happened in a world without Covid. I was just over it.

Imagination is a good thing. And I think that’s true that people are drawn to sci-fi and dystopian books because there is world building, new technology, things and places that we’ve never seen or heard of. We do like to imagine what is next.

Why are people drawn to apocalyptic literature? I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m one of them. If I’m reading a book about the end of the world I am most interested in how the heroes are going to stop it from happening. And if they don’t and we’re now living on the moon, it immediately becomes science fiction to me, not a potential reality.

I don’t believe we are at risk of the sun dying or Earth becoming uninhabitable, etc. My belief in God and what the Bible says about His sustaining the world and everything in it gives me confidence to live without that fear. He will uphold his creation and nothing humans can do can thwart that.

So my approach or feeling toward these type of books may be different than a lot of people’s.



And I must say, I don’t know if people are really desperate for a world without technology. Sure, certain parts of technology. Social media can head on out, but I was without Google for a week and it was incredibly frustrating. I have way too many questions to look up. I don’t need bluetooth headphones, self-driving cars, Siri, or email, but by golly, I need my search engine!!

Terri Blackstock wrote a series (The Restoration Collection) that takes place when a global EMP has taken out all electricity and the world is plunged into this unknown. I don’t think I even finished the first book because I was so stressed out reading it. It felt too real. I don’t think we need technology to survive, but I don’t think humanity knows that and the effects of that would truly be a nightmare.

Anyway. Rabbit trail over.



Recommendation

I think this is one of those ‘personal preference’ books. I can’t recommend or discourage anyone reading this book. It may be for you, it may not. It’s not very long, so it’s not a long commitment to try. If you end up not liking it, it will not have cost you much.

There’s not really one thing I can point to as to my general ‘meh’ feeling about it. It’s just this vague sense of disconnectedness from the story and characters and I don’t feel like any of it is going to stick with me for very long.

The ending was a nice surprise, but it just didn’t hit me like I would have anticipated it to. Maybe the book is too lulling? Maybe the settings didn’t feel compelling? Maybe it just felt a bit empty? Maybe the time travel part wasn’t as exciting as I was expecting? Maybe the conflict was too sparse? I really don’t know how to articulate how I feel about it.

Some other reviewers have said it connects a bit to her other books so maybe that would be appealing to someone who is familiar with her work.

I’m thinking her writing style is just not my favorite. I’ve got plenty of other authors to read, but if you already enjoy ESJM, then I would give this a try.


[Content Advisory: moderate swearing; no sexual content; multiple gay/lesbian couples but mostly noted in reference, not any main part of the book]

“Snow lands on top.”

This was such a nostalgic read! It has been years since I read The Hunger Games Books and it was a good feeling to be back in a familiar world.

The movie comes out in November of this year so I knew I wanted to read it before watching the movie. (I’ll update this review with my thoughts on that after I watch it!)


I’m not usually a fan of prequels that are written after the original series. There’s not usually going to be much new information because it has to jive with whatever was already written. In that way it feels like contrived history.

I’m also not usually a fan of origin stories for villains. Sure it’s interesting to see what could have led them to where they are, but at the same time, it seems like villain origin stories tend to try to show you the ‘good’ that’s deep down inside them. See, they’re not so bad, they can be good people, and can you really blame them for becoming what they became? I don’t like to feel bad for villains.

But in both of these cases, I was happy with the book The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

As for the prequel: In some ways I want more because there is so much about this world and the rebellion that is still a mystery and I want to know more. I felt like we got enough new information that even though I still think it was contrived, I believed it and was engrossed in the story. But if Collins writes another Hunger Games book, I think I would prefer a sequel to Mockingjay than another prequel.

As for the villain origin story: The Hunger Games is an evil practice. President Snow didn’t create them. But we know he continues them. This book does show a softer side of him because he falls in love (kinda*?). But we also see what parts of the more recent Games were due to his input. This book didn’t really make me feel bad for Snow. This makes the book a little darker and not so much a ‘happy ending,’ but I’m okay with that. Let me hate the villain.

It was a weird feeling starting this book knowing what comes later. I already expected some sort of tragedy and negative storyline because I know that whatever happens in his early years, it still leads to Snow being president of Panem and controlling the Games.

So I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel. Can I feel happy for Snow in this moment before he became a monster? Should I agree with his rationalization here because yeah he had it tough too? Can I root for him to find love or should I be rooting for everyone to stay out of the wake of his ambition?


(Note: Even though this is a prequel, I don’t think it would be best to read this book before the others if you’ve never read any of them…)


Plot Summary

In case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place in Panem when Coriolanus Snow (President Snow) is only 18 years old. It’s the year of the 10th Hunger Games.

Families in the Capitol are still trying to gain back the wealth they had prior to the rebellion. During the uprising and siege of the Capitol food was scarce and times were rough. The Snow family, a well-known wealthy family is now pinching pennies, their family name fallen from grace.

Snow’s military father died during the war. His mother is also dead. He lives with his grandma (who loves and grows her own roses) and his cousin, Tigris.

But as their saying went, ‘Snow lands on top.’ They survived the war and by golly they would get back to their right standings.

His shot to gain back honor and money for his family comes as a new change to the Hunger Games is enacted. Students will now be mentors to the tributes and will win a prize if their tribute wins the games.

Coriolanus is paired with the District 12 tribute- Lucy Gray. Her charisma gains her support and though she’s a long shot to win, Coriolanus is determined to have his prize.

His courage and ambition to win then battles with the feelings he starts to develop for Lucy. He discovers they can’t coexist and his inner struggle comes to a head.

“A tendency toward obsession was hardwired into his brain and would likely be his undoing if he couldn’t learn to outsmart it.”



The Hunger Games

“The Hunger Games was a war reparation, young district lives taken for the young Capitol lives that had been lost. The price of the rebels’ treachery.”

“Unless there’s law, and someone enforcing it, I think we might as well be animals. Like it or not, the Capitol is the only thing keeping anyone safe.”

Coriolanus and his classmates are forced to be exposed to the horror of the Games up close and personal. They begin to see the tributes as kids just like them and see the evilness of of the way they are treated— like animals. They see the psychotic nature of Dr. Gaul and know that she is immoral.

But different circumstances cause them to second guess their attempts at showing the tributes mercy or standing up for them.

Maybe they are animals after all. Maybe we’re all animals given the right circumstances. Maybe law and order and control is a good thing. A necessary thing.

That’s the uncomfortable thing about reading this book. We know the Hunger Games are evil. Forcing people to fight to the death for any reason is evil.

Yet we hear Coriolanus and the head gamemaker (Dr. Gaul) say things that we almost kinda agree with:

After a boy clubs another boy to death Dr. Gaul says, “That’s mankind in its natural state… Who are human beings? Because who we are determines the type of governing we need.”

We know humans’ capacity for violence, for selfishness, for self-preservation. We see it today: people rape, murder, sex-traffick, abuse, steal, and the list goes on. Who are human beings?

The theological and truthful answer is: sinners. Collins has said in interviews that exploring the depths of just war theory is what inspires a lot of her writing; she does not intend to explore the theological side of it, but that’s what I’m going to do (though the just war theory stuff is super interesting too).

Human beings truly are capable of horrendous things. We do need governing. Do we need Hunger Games? No, of course not. The Capitol recognized humanity’s potential for violence but then instituted a singular, controlling, oppressive government driven by fear and manipulation and void of any morals. I hope America never comes to that conclusion.

Of course, if we’re following our theological argument here, we would understand that our authority and governance is from God. He determines right and wrong. Morality is derived from his Being. His law is good. The type of governing humanity needs is one from an outside, superior source, not from corrupted mankind. Something bigger than us. A designer. A creator. An all-knowing perfect God.

Even practically speaking, I think we all recognize that law and order is a good thing. People need boundaries. Evil should have consequences. Protection and justice should be markers of government. Ironically, anarchy would end up being just like the Hunger Games- everyone does what is right in their own eyes. Read the book of Judges in the Bible and you’ll see how that goes.

I think we have a tendency to read books like this and think- we could never end up like that! I would never condone such violence. We are far too moral than to be likened to the Capitol… But we would be wise to be reminded of our sinful nature and bent towards self-preservation at whatever cost. You can already see today ways that people have allowed or encouraged certain practices that are harmful in one way or another, and it’s a slippery slope.

Especially when you think about the term ‘reparation.’ Much can be justified if we believe we ‘deserve’ something or should be restored what was attacked. We can believe certain forms of ‘justice’ are acceptable if we are convinced they truly are just. We are pretty good at the mental gymnastics required to blind our moral compass to get what we want.

This isn’t a spoiler because we know Coriolanus’ future, but it’s telling of his mindset when he thinks,

“He’d continue the Games, of course, when he ruled Panem. People would call him a tyrant, ironfisted and cruel. But at least he would ensure survival for survival’s sake, giving them a chance to evolve. What else could humanity hope for? Really, it should thank him.”



Katniss Everdeen

No, Katniss the person does not make an appearance in this book. However, her namesake does! Lucy Gray points out the plant katniss— or rather, swamp potatoes— and says that she loves katniss.

Some have speculated that perhaps Lucy Gray is a grandparent to Katniss but nothing is ever confirmed. I tried Googling it too and found no interviews by Collins that sheds light on that. Perhaps future books will explore the gap between Lucy Gray and Katniss!

Even though she is not in this book, we can’t help but think of her. Of what was partly behind President Snow’s hatred of her.

There are many personality similarities between Lucy Gray and Katniss besides the fact that they are both from District 12 and fought in the Games. The strength and the courage and the defiance. This book gives insights of what Snow might be remembering and trying to quell as he thinks back to the 10th Hunger Games.

There is also the thread of mockingjays throughout the book.

Early on Lucy Gray says, “It’s not over til the mockingjay sings.”

That quote has multiple meanings. But one is obviously a foreshadowing to Katniss symbolizing the mockingjay. We learn more in this book about how mockingjays came to be. Something meant to be a weapon by the Capitol eventually turning against them, mocking them.

The shock Snow must have felt when Katniss became a mockingjay! At the end of this book, Coriolanus says of someone I won’t name, “She could fly around District 12 all she liked, but she and her mockingjays could never harm him again.”

And he would be wrong.



Other Comments

I thought it was clever the way Collins named the Covey characters: Lucy Gray, Maude Ivory, Tam Amber, Barb Azure, Billy Taupe, Clerk Carmine, and then the bonus of Coriolanus Snow.

The first name came from a ballad and the second name a color. I noticed this (well the color part) before the book pointed it out, but I’m glad Collins explains it.

Ballads are a very prominent part of this book. A ballad is a song that narrates a story. Lucy sings several, including The Hanging Tree that we hear in the Hunger Games movies. They are stories passed down orally. Coriolanus could not understand them. I think that’s a big indicator as to his distinction from people. He’s so self-absorbed that he can’t comprehend anyone else’s stories. The beauty of music confounds him. Ambition is forward-thinking but ballads are usually backward-looking.

To name the characters this way was a really good choice. It made me, as a reader, want to think about what my Covey name would be and how I would choose a color to represent myself. (It can’t just be your favorite color because favorite colors are stupid.)

Coriolanus, Collins says, was named after a character in a Shakespearan tragedy. I looked it up and found this snippet of description very interesting:

“Faced with this opposition, Coriolanus flies into a rage and rails against the concept of popular rule. He compares allowing plebeians to have power over the patricians to allowing ‘crows to peck the eagles.’”

He was well-named.

And the ‘Snow’ part… Lucy sings a ballad to him and says he’s as 'pure as the driven snow.’ They never said this in the book, but when I read that I think that means not very pure at all! Driven snow is dirty and tainted. Coriolanus seemed flattered by the song in the book, but I think my interpretation of it is more in line with his personality.


We discover in this book that roses were representative of his grandmother. They were her prized possession. Coriolanus loved the smell of roses.

His grandmother (the Grandma’am) is an eccentric and patriotic lady. She is convinced that Coriolanus will be president someday and tells him regularly. Perhaps the roses in future books are a reminder to him that she was right all along and that he deserved his position.

She also tells him that she gives him “opportunities to practice self-control.” I think this is an interesting bit of information. After starting to read this I’ve been watching the Hunger Games movies over again and I’ve been trying to look at the scenes where they show President Snow with a rose and see if it’s a moment of self-control or loss of control.

Orrrrrr….

She also apparently says that “her roses always open doors.” Are future rose-moments moments of seeking an open door?

It would be an intriguing thing to ponder further.


The first movie’s soundtrack was a really good soundtrack. All of the songs had that Smoky Mountain dark folksy flair. I have high hopes for this movie’s soundtrack. Considering all the ballads within the book I’m hoping they have renditions on the record so I know what they sound like.

Suzanne Collins just does such a good job creating an aura to her world-buildings and settings. That’s partly what brings the nostalgia. You sense the juxtaposition of the fearful and desperate poor against the entitled and rationalizing rich. The stark clash in the Capitol during the Hunger Games. You can just picture yourself in District 12 surrounded by trees and weighted with despondency. I’m excited to see how this new soundtrack expresses that.


Another thing that this book caused me to do was to go down a rabbit hole of looking for information on Panem. I wanted to find a North American map showing where all the districts are and what their industries are. Being from Iowa I was thinking we must be part of the Agricultural district (Rue’s district) or Livestock.

Anyway, I don’t know if there is an official map, but I found one to be a compelling representation. I’m kinda surprised Collins didn’t create and release one. It seems like something fans would really like. Because I’m a fan and I would really like. Visit my original review post for link/image.


Book/Movie Comparison (contains spoilers)

Overall, I liked the movie. The book is long so a movie can only do so much. I felt like it covered things pretty well and the changes they made made cinematic sense and didn’t detract too much from the original intent of the book.

My husband watched the movie with me and did not read the book. He said the change in Coriolanus at the end from wanting to run away with Lucy to shooting at her felt too abrupt and drastic. That’s one downside to the movie- you don’t get Corio’s ongoing inner struggle and thoughts like you do with the book. We read the back and forth and we understand his desire to win and his thirst for wealth more than what they show in the movie so we aren’t as surprised. 

In some ways, though, I think there was supposed to be an abruptness to the change. It was a moment where he snapped. Where his two desires collide and he has to make that choice— run or go back to a position of prestige. Then when Lucy hides the snake in the scarf, he realizes that door is now closed to him and he reverts to self-preservation mode. 

I mentioned the Panem map above. In the movie the Flickerman guy is also a weatherman and so they show him in front of a screen giving weather information for the different districts. If I wasn’t in the theater I would have paused to see what his map looked like! Maybe whenever the movie comes out we can figure it out more.

The Hunger Games themselves were a little different in the movie. In the book we don’t really know what Lucy is up to. They don’t have cameras in the tunnels and under the arena. We only know what happens out in the open. In the movie, Lucy has to have more screen time so there are cameras showing her hiding with Jessup and then his rabies episode where she runs back to the arena. They show a big scene where Lucy is hiding the vents and is being attacked by other tributes, which wasn’t in the book. 

In the movie Lucy doesn’t inadvertently poison Wovey as in the book(she poisons Dill). Wovey is killed by the downpour of snakes into the arena. The snakes are also the climax of the games in the movie. They kill all the tributes except Lucy because of the handkerchief and that’s how she wins. In the book, after the snakes there are still a few tributes left. The snakes die out, presumably from cold or drowning because of their engineering. 

In the book Lucy kills a tribute with a snake she saved and thrusts at his neck. The final tribute left with her is Reaper and he dies by heat exhaustion and because Lucy messes up the flag covering the bodies and keeps him running back and forth trying to keep fixing it. This would feel less dramatic in movie format so I can understand why they decided to make the snakes the climax.

The Plinth prize works differently in the book than the movie. They announce the prize before the Hunger Games even starts in the movie. In the book, it doesn’t become a thing until after Sejanus is rescued from the arena. 

 

Clemensia, Coriolanus’s classmate who gets bit by the snake in the lab is not really in the movie after that moment, but her injury and recovery and friendship is a still part of the story line in the book. By continuing that thread we see more of Coriolanus’s humanity as he feels concerned about her and what the snakes do. 

One thing I wish we would have gotten more clues to was how Tigris could go from how she is in the book to how she is in the third Hunger Games movie. We know Coriolanus is ambitious and cruel, but I wonder what caused him to turn against his own family, a member he was so close with. Neither the book or the movie gave us any information on that.

The Covey plays a smaller role in the movie and we don’t get to see Lucy’s relationship with Maude as vividly as the book. 

The section in District 12 is short in the movie and we gain less knowledge about Coriolanus’s state of mind, his relationship with the other Peacekeepers, and his relationship with Sejanus (who doesn’t come to District 12 until later, according to the book). 

At the end when he and Lucy are running away, the movie shows them entering the cabin and finding the guns under the floor boards. That’s when Coriolanus mistakenly says ‘Three is enough for me.’ And Lucy leaves to get katniss (perfect segue). In the book, they are still in the woods when he says that and she questions who the third is but then they continue on into the house. You can’t really tell what Lucy is up to or what she is thinking. Reading the book I was surprised that she hides. In the movie, you can tell more that she knows something is off. 

I’m sure I’m missing some differences because a lot of those details are hard to remember after a few months after reading the book. 

I still enjoyed the movie… well if you’re allowed to say that. That’s the irony right… the Hunger Games is still entertainment even though we know it’s morally wrong. 

Recommendation

I would definitely recommend this book if you are a fan of The Hunger Games trilogy. It’s got a different vibe since it’s more focused on the villain instead of a hero, but it fills in some blanks and takes you back to the mysterious world of Panem.

It’s not a book that you hug at the end and say how much you loved it. You don’t like the main character. The ending isn’t even that happy either. So it does feel like a weird book to recommend, but if you know the world of Panem, it makes sense in the context of the series and somehow I can say I enjoyed it.

It doesn’t ruin the other books for me, but it elevates them. It reminds you why you’re so happy there was Katniss. You don’t root for characters in this book, you root for Katniss. You can get through the villain story because you know there’s a protagonist that’s coming to take him down.

I was surprised by how many people gave this book bad reviews. I guess it hit me differently than them. But I also didn’t go into it with romantic expectations. I do wish that we went a little bit further out in the future by the end of the book, but it’s probably better to wish for more than to get a 1000 page book and say I’m tired of reading about Snow’s life.

I wasn’t bored reading this book. I actually liked the ballads in this book and thought they were written well. I can agree with some reviewers that I didn’t particularly like the little bit of romance that was in there and am not sure how Lucy Gray could ever be attracted to Coriolanus.

Overall, I wonder if my thoughts are so different than everyone else’s because I read it after all the hype was over. I wasn’t going into it with any preconceived expectations. Hyped books are usually let-downs. But if you read them 3 years later after no one is really talking about them, you’ll enjoy them more!

As per usual, social media tees people up for disappointment… don’t be a victim!


[Content Advisory: no swearing or sexual content; but kids are killing each other so be prepared for violence…]

This is a very short YA graphic novel about identity and finding one’s place in a new school.

Huda Fahmy is part of a Muslim family and has 4 sisters. Her parents have just moved them to Dearborn, Michigan which has a large population of Muslims. Huda thinks this will help her feel like she belongs since she won’t be the only one wearing a hijabi anymore.

But the cliques of school can be found anywhere. Her new school has the hijabi athletes, the hijabi gamers, and the hijabi fashionistas. And she doesn’t feel like she fits with any of them.

She discovers that she is still not sure who she is and what she likes. She has a tendency to adapt whatever interests her friends have. With baby steps she realizes her value and the person she wants to be, being able to stand up for herself.



I think Muslim readers will feel a particular fondness for the story because they can relate to Huda in a unique way, but any reader will understand the pressures and difficulties of high school and becoming comfortable in one’s own skin.

Non-Muslim readers will also become more aware of the challenges Muslims may face in their schools by their teachers or their peers. Hopefully young readers will treat others different than them a little better after seeing Huda’s story and recognizing that we all stand on common ground.


There is some humor in this book— I mean with a title like that, of course there will be. I thought the drawings were well done and portrayed humor well.


As it is so short, you can easily read it in one sitting and feels more like paging through a magazine than getting involved in a story. I think it felt more like reading a few chapters than a book in its entirety. It could easily have been longer.

She has a new book coming out in October called ‘Huda F Cares?’ I mean the title is just brilliant! She has endless possibilities with future books. [Here’s a link to her website.]


If you’ve never read a graphic novel before, this may be a good one to start with to give you a little taste before picking up a longer book. 

“The retreat could be the match that ignited the dry kindling of our family pyre— disastrous, just like last time.”

Olivia Eriksen is part of a family of psychopaths.

“My cousin Alfred confided to me the truth of our family during a camping trip: we were psychopaths. Or rather, our family carries with it a long history of antisocial personality disorder that manifests in myriad ways— psychopathy, sociopathy, borderline personality disorder, and narcissism, among others.”

Olivia, herself a neurotypical, is working on her grad paper, studying the relationship between psychopathy and the age-old question- nature or nurture?

So, of course, she is going to attend a family reunion out in Oregon on a wilderness resort to talk with family members and understand their experiences.

Because what could go wrong?



The Family Bones reads like a classic horror film— who will survive the cold rainy night?— but without a ton of guts and gore.

After a storm knocks out the power and fallen trees block the only way in and out, the body count starts rising. Someone up there is on a killing spree. And the suspect list is unending!

The identity of the killer is figureoutable, the clues are all there, but I still enjoyed a few surprises.

The format of the book includes first person POV chapters by Olivia giving us the scoop on the psycho-show happening on the ole ranch as she tries to figure out what’s going on.

Then we have chapters from Birdie Tan, a half-Chinese, half-white woman who is entrenched in the unsolved crimes podcast scene. She focuses on the cases of unexplained murders or disappearances of people of color and puts out her own podcast episodes.

Her current case will send her to Oregon where her path will cross with the Eriksen clan.

I’ll add here that I think it would have been better if Birdie and Olivia’s paths had crossed sooner in the book. Birdie’s perspective is pretty one-dimensional. It’s focused on her research. Her family is mentioned but they are very marginal characters. I felt like there was a tiny something missing from her ‘circle.’

The last element of the book’s formatting are the interspersed news articles and journal entries that fill in details from the ‘last reunion,’ the killer, and the current fiasco.



It’s kinda a freaky read. With psychopathy manifesting in so many different ways, you’re just never sure which family members are lying or manipulating other ones. No one seems trustworthy.

Plus, there’s the added element of Olivia bringing her new fiancé to the reunion. With how notorious her family name is, I wondered if her boyfriend was there with ulterior motives, especially because he disappears for a good chunk of the book.

In fact, I think I’m a little disappointed with how that aspect of the story worked itself out. I think there was more that could/should have been done with him.



Of course, with any setting like this, there are certain parts where reality is stretched. I mean, they all had to give up their phones at the beginning of the reunion and we all know that nothing good happens when all parties relinquish their only connection to the outside world. I would never do it. Safety first.

I was a psych minor and took an Abnormal Psychology class but I’m fantastically far from being an expert on the subject. Were these disorders portrayed accurately? Were people’s reactions feasible? Who knows?

But, no one reads these types of books because they want a 100% accurate portrayal of a wilderness killing spree. And if you do, you may want to consider reading some happier content every once in awhile…. or stick to textbooks?



This is a fast and thrilling read that I would definitely recommend if you like a good psychopath killing story.

It’s not going to be a book where you adore the characters. It’s not going to give a whole lot of academic insight into the actual question of nature vs nurture.

(I keep saying psychopath and horror and I think many people will think it’s some sort of slasher book but it’s really not that bad in terms of violence and gore.)

But it will be an engaging read you don’t have to commit a lot of time to so the payoff standards don’t have to be super high.



She has several other books I’m considering reading, including Strangers We Know because Marr has said it’s an #OwnVoices book. And she’s got a new one coming out in 2024 that I’m fixin’ to get a copy of.



A fun little sidenote: I read this on my Norwegian cruise vacation where we departed from Amsterdam and within the first 30 pages of the book both Norway and Amsterdam were mentioned! What are the odds…?


[Content Advisory: a handful of f-words, often in groupings; some sexual content, including incest, but nothing extensive]

**Received a physical copy from Wunderkind PR in exchange for an honest review**

“We didn’t come through hell just to die when it’s over. If we have to run— if we have to swim off this island— we’re gettin’ through this. The three of us— all home alive. That’s our only aim from here on out.”


This is a hard book to read. Because it’s a book of war and of being a prisoner of war.

The atrocities of WWII we’re familiar with, but in a different location than Europe— the Pacific.

This is the story of three teenage boys— best friends and voluntary soldiers— fighting near Manila. While the boys are specifically fiction, this book is based on true stories.

Marcus Brotherton is known for his non-fiction work and Tosca Lee (one of my favorite authors) has written all kinds of genres, but she is a researcher and whether she is writing fantasy, thrillers, or historical fiction, you can tell that she has put in the work to bring her characters and the setting to life!

While I obviously can’t evaluate its accuracy on my own account, some brief Google searches support the portrayals in the book, and I believe they depicted the environment and the experiences with a lot of authenticity.



The historical context is this:

After Pearl Harbor was bombed, Imperial Japan invaded the Bataan Peninsula. American soldiers under the command of General Douglas MacArthur had been stationed there to keep Japan from accessing Manila Bay. They couldn’t hold Japan off and new troops were not sent to their aid. Eventually they surrendered.

In 1942, the soldiers were then forced on The Bataan Death March— a 65 mile march to Camp O’Donnell. Besides being malnourished and weak, soldiers were shot or bayoneted for any number of changing reasons. An estimated 17,000 men died on the march alone. More American and Filipino soldiers died in the aftermath.

Another historical element Brotherton and Lee included in their story that was interesting was the female Filipina guerilla leader— Felipa Culala— who led many successful raids and missions against the Japanese with her small band of guerilla soldiers.

Europe is typically the main focus of WWII stories so it was eye-opening to be reminded of all the other battles being fought around the world at the same time. This book will get you on Google, that’s for sure!



The Long March Home chronicles the experience of these friends— Jimmy, Billy, and Hank— from the POV of Jimmy. They are among the surrendered soldiers and endure hardship after hardship. The only thing that kept them going was their friendship and commitment to keeping each other alive and a girl back home they all had a connection to.

The girl is Claire. Billy’s older sister. Jimmy’s best friend since birth and his eventual romantic interest. Hank also had some romantic interest, but Jimmy, Billy, and Claire are like his family since he didn’t have much of his own.

Jimmy, son of a preacher, was supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps. Go to seminary, marry (Claire), stay near home and do the family business. But Jimmy had bigger aspirations. He saw fighting in the war a chance to step out in his own way.

While he’s in the Philippines with Hank and Billy (before Pearl Harbor), he finally feels some freedom.

“If this ain’t paradise, I don’t know what is… as long as I got my two best friends, I have all I need.”

But of course, paradise on earth is always short-lived. Everything changes and their chances of all surviving look bleak. Is their friendship strong enough to continue to give them the desire to live at all? And if it is, can they physically handle the trauma inflicted on their bodies and minds?



The book bounces back and forth between the WWII scenes and their collective past in Mobile, Alabama, where they came from. The ‘past’ chapters help us understand the depth of the boys’ friendships and what bonds them. It also shows us what happened between Claire and Hank and Claire and Jimmy. In some ways, she is the glue that holds them all together, but now they’re on the other side of the globe from her.

Jimmy and Hank especially feel the commitment to keep Billy, her brother, safe, considering he lied about his age to enlist and is younger than the rest of them.

I like that it was just from one of the boys’ POVs. Sometimes these books can try to do too much by getting us into each of their heads but I think it was right to focus on Jimmy. I still felt like he provided us with enough information and observation where the other two boys were never too far away.

One aspect of the Mobile chapters I didn’t like was the portrayal of Jimmy’s father. Being a pastor’s kid, myself, I’m always critical of familial relationships in homes of pastors/preachers when they don’t reflect my own upbringing. I feel like it’s easy to make the pastor a fire and brimstone, strict, no grace, no mercy kind of man. And perhaps that arrangement was more common during that time period, but I always find myself defensive about it, because that is not what God has called pastors— or any Christians— to be, and I can speak from my own experience that preacher fathers can prioritize their family and love them with gentleness and grace and support. And they can actually preach sermons that people aren’t bored or afraid of.

Anyway, I do appreciate how they wrapped up that relationship and it lessened my original critique.

I’m glad they included the Mobile, AL backstory because it was a brief reprieve from the war chapters that I definitely needed.



Like I already said, this was a hard book to read. The things they had to go through. The things they survived. It’s truly horrific.

“I’ve seen men sit down hard with bullet wounds, talk for a little while like they were only stunned, and die two minutes later. Soldiers blown to more pieces than can be scraped together in a box. Barrios of civilians bombed to nothing just because they were in the way.”

They hardly had any food. They ate a horse, a monkey, a lizard, a cat, whatever they could get their hands on. Not only were they beaten and worked to death, but they did it all while hungry and diseased with dysentery and all number of digestive issues. 

Every time I thought maybe the boys would catch a break, something new would come and it was often worse than the last. 

It made me realize the significance of the Geneva Convention and I am grateful for the countries who have signed it. It requires humane treatment of POWs— food, drink, and medical treatment. What a vastly different experience without it. 

Although it may be considered a spoiler, I think some readers may need to know that this story is not all death. There are some rays of happiness and the ending is a positive turn. 



If it’s too hard for you to read about war and prisoner hardships, you may not want to read this one. 

I know some reviewers have knocked it a bit because it was published by a Christian publishing company but still contains some ‘less than Christian’ content in terms of language or behaviors. 

But having read plenty of non-Christian books, I think these authors did a great job of writing it and giving authenticity to the grittiness of the environment and the realities of soldier life without going too far. It could have easily been crammed with f- and s-words and more crude talk but it wasn’t and I appreciate that! 

At some point, when writing the truths of war, things can’t be sanitized. I think this book was balanced in that way and I have no complaint. 

It was a book written as historical fiction and not meant to be faith-rooted. So if you read it for what it was meant to be, I think you’ll appreciate it more. 

If war scenes aren’t triggering for you, I would recommend this book. Especially if you are into WWII books. This will be different than a lot of WWII books out there and will add another facet to the global war that shaped so much of the world. 

I read this entire book in one sitting while on a plane, which is not the most ideal scenario, so I think I have some fogginess about how I felt about the book vs how I felt about the plane. I would avoid that situation. I think it probably would have been better to read it over a few days instead. 

Nonetheless, I’m glad I read it and would recommend. 


[Content Advisory: minimal-to-no swearing (that I remember… I know they narrated it like ‘he cursed’ but didn’t actually write it out; minimal sexual content; more than moderate gore/violence as it is about war]

“I’m not a stupid character in a stupid book who turns into a murderer for no reason.”


This was a fun murder mystery told from the perspective of thriller authors. It is also a personal attack on Twitter which I am totally here for.

I say fun not because it’s a ‘cozy’ mystery or because it’s meant to be funny, but because it’s a great concept and format for a thriller novel:

A convention for mystery/thriller authors called Murderpalooza. A nominee for the big award is murdered at the hotel. Several other authors in attendance have a connection to the victim and all have a secret. Except someone else knows their secrets and is exposing them on Twitter.

They work together, even as they’re suspicious of each other and willing to throw each other under the bus, to solve the murder mystery story they are living, clear their names, and survive another day.

“If anyone can solve Kristin’s murder, it’s going to be thriller writers, especially once everyone finds out she had secrets. This is what we do for a living. We take something horrible happening to someone normal and create a dense backstory rife with mystery. As readers, we pick apart every breadcrumb left by the author, and nine times out of ten, we figure out the ending.”

It’s one of those stories where you feel like any of them— or none of them— could be the killer and it’s hard to feel too confident that you have it figured out!

I really liked the ending and thought this was a well-written book!

The story is told through multiple POVs by this cast of characters/suspects:

- Kristin: nominee and writer from Iowa (woop woop… unfortunately Heimer, Iowa is fiction) who is stabbed at the convention; she was the secret co-author to Mike, secret lover to Vicky’s boyfriend, stalked by Suzanne, and was part of Davis’ former Midwest writing group of which another member died in a car accident

Her chapters are labeled ‘night before’ or ‘morning of the murder’ to give us more clues as to what was going on around that time.

- Davis: the most talked about and sought after writer at the convention with his new bestselling, money-making book that’s sure to win the award the next year
"All I can think about are the promises Kristin and I made to each other. Does this mean I don’t have to deliver anymore?”
 "Narcissism is a disease, I swear. I’m the poster boy. Although is it really narcissism if I know I have it?”

- Mike: old-news author who is hoping to revamp his career with his new book he’s writing with a secret co-author (Kristin)
"The manuscript… I’m totally screwed once someone else reads it. The storyline is a little close to home… This isn’t just career suicide. This can be evidence, and evidence that does not paint me in a flattering light.”
 "No one has hit on me for half a decade. That comes with being a has-been. There was that one…”

- Vicky: nominee and author trying to get her agent to do more for her instead of focusing only on Davis; also has a penchant for ‘deleting’ crutch words from her thought narrative
"Now, my boyfriend’s girlfriend— also my competition— is dead, and it doesn’t look good for me.”
 “Thank goodness her cell phone rings and stops the absolute rage I’m about to expel out of my wine hole.”

- Suzanne: new author trying to make a name for herself and is looking forward to using her ‘friendship’ (aka obsession) with Kristin to get it
"Please don’t let this be about me and what happened this morning.”
 "It’s a bad habit of mine, talking to strangers. I’m the one who becomes Instagram friends with my Uber drivers.”


The “Twitter Murder Stalker Person” (which is an amazing name for the nameless person) has all the dirt on all of them and one by one feeds the Twitter mob their confidential information turning the spotlight on them. Not to mention TMSP is threatening that one of them might be next!

How will they survive the next few days— physically and professionally?!



It was a fun and interesting world to be part of for awhile! We read all the thrillers, but who are these writers behind the books? I’m not sure how accurate it all is, but it’s interesting to get a taste of the author-world and what it might take to get a bestseller!

I was entertained by these comments, most of which are author/writing-related:

“writers have a commonly used phrase that only translates on paper: he smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. No one thinks that or says it out loud. Ever.”

“Everyone likes the splishy-splashy friend-with-a-past-secret-wrecking-everyone’s-life novel.”

“Ah. Romance. Self-publishing. The death knell in Thriller World, according to me— it’s like assuming you’re going to win an Oscar when you’re a soap opera star.”

I don’t know if this is a real sentiment of the author or not. I hope to publish a memoir someday but self-publishing may be my only option unless a publisher gives me a chance so hopefully I won’t be despised by the author community…

“His audience—older readers who like slow-burn political detective stories— is being replaced with the fast-paced beach read with a hundred twists and turns.”

Which one am I?!

“Authors ran on caffeine and self-doubt.”

“Only authors and avid readers would be able to recognize an author by face.”

I can’t recognize everyone’s face, but I could recognize James Patterson because his face looks the exact same on the back of every single one of his books. It cracks me up and I will never forget it.



The not-so-subtle jabs at Twitter were some of my favorite parts of this book! Personally, I’m not on Twitter, but I’m aware of its dangers and its mob. And this book was a good reminder of how Twitter— and social media in general— can ruin people’s lives pretty easily even, or especially, with comments that are not true. Do the work and stop believing everything you read and hear without fact-checking it first!

“Twitter. The bane of every author’s existence.”

“You know the Twitter mob, their narrative is the gold standard until enough of them jump on something else. Short memories.”

“I don’t read Book Twitter; it’s ridiculous. It’s a bunch of people puffed up on their own opinions who literally bully people into thinking like them and cancel everyone who doesn’t, instantly. They complain about people bullying others, yet don’t see the hypocrisy.”

“These people think admitting they were wrong about what they vehemently retweeted is worse than actually being wrong. So they leave it up. And they repeat it. And then it’s reality.”

“where Twitter itself proves it’s the cesspool of life. The worse of the worst go and hide behind their avatars, or whatever they’re called, and just gang up on people.”



A couple other random quotes I felt compelled to share:

Vicky has “a short-sleeved black dress— with pockets. The female holy grail.”—I couldn’t agree more with this description.

“Illinois winters are no joke, and for the first decade of my life, horrific clanking noises came from the basement whenever it snowed or the wind got out of control… everything made creepy sounds… and I was always terrified to investigate.” — If this isn’t paying homage to Home Alone, I don’t know what is.



Recommendation

I really want to recommend this book to everyone, but my big qualm with it is that it had a lot of swearing and some crude language by a couple of the characters. If it weren’t for that, it would for sure be a must-read!

If you can get past the language, I think you’ll find you really enjoy this one!

It’s not a hard-hitting thriller, but it’s got a lot of good components: creative concept, diverse characters, red herrings, mystery, suspense, twists, some humor, a Twitter-trashing, and a good ending. It’s not going to keep you up at night but I think you’ll come away thinking- ‘That was fun to read!’


[Content Advisory: 61 f-words, 81 s-words; no sexual content but some innuendo and crude talk by a couple characters]

**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

I enjoy a good spy thriller. This one had potential but it ended up being a spy thriller slash romance novel with a lot of violence and some graphic sex scenes.

A lot of the action and gun fights and settings were also hard to visualize. In some ways I wonder if this book would make a better movie because of all the action and the hard-to-keep-straight characters and events. After I googled the City of the Dead I realized what I was picturing was very different than real life… unless it was meant to be fictional?

As I was trying to summarize the plot below I realized there is so much going on that it’s really hard to recount in a concise way. Besides the main spy missions, the main character, whose boyfriend dies in a mysterious plane crash, battles romantic feelings with her new FBI counterpart. Plus we have a feminist thread of fighting against the way women are treated in the Middle East.



The main character is Juliet Arroway, “a former Army ranger turned Syndicate spy, charged with hunting energy terrorists.”

If you’re a Mission Impossible fan like me than it might be hard to wrap your mind around the concept of the Syndicate being the good guys instead of the bad guys. But it is a ‘good’ organization, although by the end of the book you may wonder what that means. The classic moral dilemma of ‘the greater good’ is a matter of ponderance here.

Juliet recruited her college roommate Mariam to work with the Syndicate. Why? Because Mariam is the daughter of the king of Saudi. The Middle East is a hotspot in the energy crisis the world has found itself in. The world is in need of alternative energy sources but there are people who would lose financially if certain energy resolutions are reached. Mariam is a bridge to the region and a valuable source with what’s going on the kingdom of Saudi Arabia where an alternative energy source may have been created.

“Mariam’s feminism was one of the things Juliet cherished most about her source— and friend. Since they’d met, Mariam had found every opportunity to speak out in ways to empower women and push to redefine an Arab woman’s role in society.”

The book covers several months as a variety of missions are conducted in an effort to capture Abu-Hassan who could give information on other operatives of al-Alfatih, the anti-alternate-energy terrorists, before more terrorist attacks can be carried out.

Can they take down the terrorist ring that threatens better global energy sources?

Is Mariam a source they can trust or is her family actually working with al-Alfatih to gain a monopoly on any new energy technology?

How will Juliet handle her romantic feelings for Agent Harding and can their relationship survive the tension of their mission?

Can Juliet avenge the death of her father by none other than Abu-Hassan?



The author, Brittany Butler, has a lot of first hand knowledge that she put to work in this novel. Her Goodreads author bio says that she “is a former CIA targeting officer with first-hand knowledge of the recruitment and handling of spies and dismantling terrorist networks abroad. She is a staunch advocate for women’s rights in the Middle East and works within her local community to resettle Afghan refugees.”

You can definitely tell that Butler has a lot of knowledge and experience that she writes from so most of it feels very authentic. There were a few times that I questioned the descriptions. Like Juliet’s ambiguous understanding of the Arabic language. Or the secret or not-so-secret existence of the Syndicate where Juliet had to keep her identity secret from her boyfriend but also she entered buildings flying the Syndicate flag and showed her Syndicate credentials at bomb scenes. Or the part where ten thousand troops come to the rescue but end up in flames… I was struggling to picture the size of the opposing forces and if they really could have been overcome they way they were.

But overall, Butler’s handling of the subject matter is impressive.



The feminist aspect of the story was really interesting to read about. I am aware of much of the oppression of women in the Middle East and definitely support certain measures to give women more rights and more voice in their culture. But some of the feminist comments rubbed me the wrong way.

For example, Juliet is constantly frustrated by Agent Harding trying to ‘protect her’ when she can ‘take care of herself.’ This is a common feminist ideal that women don’t need help with anything and any action taken to protect them is apparently belittling to them. Juliet is a very capable woman and I don’t really know how that plays out in military-type occupations— maybe Butler has it all right— but it seemed like there were times when she really did need his help and his protection.

She eventually says that “she did not need anyone to protect her, but she had wanted someone to make her feel safe.”

I think there is something inherently good about men trying to protect women and we should stop trying to push so hard against that as if it diminishes our own strength as women. Where is the humility and intimacy of that? Juliet even recognizes that feeling safe is an important thing. Perhaps we should try to see these actions with gratitude for people who care about us instead of seeing them as personal attacks against our person and abilities.

Then there is the quote, “I think this may be the first time in a long time that I will fight for my own beliefs, my own interests, rather than those of the men before me.” (this is Juliet saying this btw)

It seems to imply that ‘the men before me’ all had it wrong and she is more enlightened than to follow anything they stood for. History shows a picture of both men and women making both good and bad choices, ideologies that both hurt and helped. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with fighting for your own beliefs, but I think too often historical men are dismissed just because they are men.



There is a theme of tolerance in this book as well. And again, Butler gets it mostly right, but then it takes a turn:

“It’s only when we live in harmony with people who think differently than we do that we can achieve true peace and prosperity. That is why you will never win this war. You’re blind— blind to the fact that there is no one truth.”

The first part is absolutely right— we have to be able to live peaceably and be tolerant of people who think differently than ourselves. That is what is good about freedom of religion in America. We acknowledge that people believe different things and they should be allowed to hold their beliefs without violence. Tolerance is not forcing everyone to believe the same thing, but agreeing to disagree.

However, Butler seems to think this is synonymous with believing there is “no one truth.” I don’t think those things have to be connected. Just because people believe different things doesn’t mean they are both equally true. It’s very evident in terms of religion: God can’t both exist and not exist. Jesus can’t both be God’s Son and not God’s Son.

Truth is truth is truth. Regardless of what people believe about it.



Anyway, a couple other comments about this book.

The writing style was mostly good, but there were some words and phrases that were repeated quite a bit that was distracting to me.

Sweat was always pebbling.
Juliet’s veins were always turning to ice.
Graham’s smile was always crooked and enough could not be said about his stubbled jaw.
Things were all broad and flaming.


I don’t think I really liked the romance aspect of the book. It seemed like there were either gun fights happening or Juliet struggling with her feelings. Especially because her boyfriend of six years who she was contemplating marrying had only been dead 7 months. Is that long enough to move on like she was?

Plus there were two pretty graphic sex scenes that seem out of place for a spy thriller. Pick a lane!


Also- there isn’t a clear year that this takes place. There is a comment of Juliet losing her grandfathers to Covid in 2021 so it has to occur after that, but it’s not clear how far into the future. The world is in an energy crisis but there isn’t a lot of background knowledge to set up that aspect. It mostly feels like present day but I’m not sure if that is correct or not.


Recommendation

This book was okay for me— not great, but okay. It had potential but the graphic sexual content, abundance of violence, and hard-to-visualize action made this less likable for me.

There were some nice elements of action and suspense, very little swearing, and a couple twists—one I anticipated, and one I half-anticipated—but it’s one of those books that’s probably not for everyone.

Even though I’m not sure if I personally like the ending, I do appreciate the open-endedness in this scenario. Sometimes that bothers me, but in a book like this I think it makes sense to end it that way and to leave the reader pondering what they think about it. Especially because we may be heading towards some of the questions it raises.

If this were made into a PG-13 movie I think I’d be excited to watch it, but I think the lack of visuals in the book hindered it a bit.

If you like spy thrillers with a side of romance, you’ll enjoy this.

If you are intrigued by politics in the Middle East and seeing the difference between Islam and terrorist groups that twist the religion for their own benefit, you’ll probably find this interesting.

As I said, there are many things to be interested by, but if my comments on the execution of those ideas resonate with you, then you may want to look at a different espionage thriller.


[Content Advisory: 1 f- and 10 s-words; two graphic sex scenes that lasted a page or two; a lot of violence including beheadings; an almost rape]

**Received a copy of this book in a Goodreads Giveaway**

The Ferryman is a mixture of Inception, The Matrix, Total Recall, and Passengers (the one with Chris Pratt and J-Law). It is a long book with layers. Every time you think you know what’s going on, you peel back another layer. 

I think I might have preferred a bit shorter tale, but I’m not sure it would have been possible with the complexity of the story. And I stayed pretty invested in the story to know what was going on! 

Plus I read a pretty good chunk of it on an airplane in which I was very uncomfortable and nauseous so part of me was becoming disengaged as I was nearing the end which I don’t believe is a fault of the book as much as my circumstances. 

It’s a thought-provoking, dystopian-type, sci-fi thriller that bends reality and takes you for a ride.

There are a few themes throughout the book: People ruining the earth. The selfishness of humans when faced with devastation. The love of a parent for a child and child loss. The politics of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots.’ The idea that meaning comes from a designer. 

The formatting of the book are chapters from Proctor Bennett’s POV (first person) and Thea’s POV (third person). 

I’ll give you some plot points, comments, and then I’ll have a SPOILER section so make sure to scroll past that if you don’t want to spoil the surprises. Then I’ll end with my ultimate recommendation.

Proctor Bennett lives on the island of Prospera.

“Prospera exists in splendid isolation, hidden from the world.” (Guarded by an electromagnetic Veil to shield them from the outside world.) 

Prospera is the island for the Prosperan residents (the well-off). The nearby island, the Annex, “is home to the support staff— men and women of lesser biological and social endowments who nevertheless are, in my experience, wholly pleasant to be around.”

The third island is called the Nursery. It’s an enigma. No one knows what goes on there exactly except that it is essential to “the regenerative process that serves as the foundation for our way of life.”

People live as long as they want basically. No one truly knows anyone’s age. But once someone’s monitor percentage falls below a certain number or a person decides they’ve lived long enough and wish to retire, they take a ride on the Ferry. The Ferry takes them to the Nursery where they will be ‘reborn’— as a teenager— to live a whole new life on Prospera again. 

Proctor’s occupation is Ferryman. He helps people go through the ‘retirement’ process and escorts them to the Ferry and the start of their ‘new life.’ 

Everything is just ideal. 

Except Proctor’s given mother, cuts out her monitor, goes out to sea clutching an anchor, and her body is never found. And then years later Proctor’s estranged given father has decided to retire. Proctor is his Ferryman. 

Right before his father is to board, he starts to run away, other guards take him down and he utters these shocking words- “There were things about your mother, son, things you didn’t know… The world is not the world. You’re not you. It’s all Oranios.”

This is the catalyst that sends Proctor on an existential journey as he questions his very existence, the inter-workings of Prospera, and what is beyond the sea. But to question the status quo is not an acceptable behavior and he finds himself at odds with the city’s leadership, sent on the Ferry against his will. 

Caeli, teenager and “a master of shrugging,” has also entered his life in a mysterious way and he can’t find out anything about her. If he can figure out who she is, he may just find the key to everything. 

Meanwhile, we are privy to the life of Thea, resident of Prospera but cohorts with a resistance movement on the Annex. She crosses paths with Proctor, not so accidentally, and together they embark on a mission much larger and deeper than either of them ever imagined. 

By the time you peel back the deepest layer, you will be 78% finished with the book, but still over an hour and a half of reading left. 

I liked Proctor’s relationship to Jason Kim and wish there would have been more of it. 

I don’t like books with a lot of swearing anway, but the swearing seems out of place for the setting of this book. 

I looked up if this was going to become a movie (it’s not… yet) but instead stumbled across an article in which Cronin listed the influences he had for writing this book. They weren’t the ones I listed already… haha. They were: Planet of the Apes, The Tempest, Never Let Me Go, Lost (definitely), and 2001: A Space Odyssey. So if you can imagine a book with all of those combined and it intrigues you, you should read this book.

One thing worth pondering further is the significance of ‘the ferryman’ job. Cronin could have written Proctor to have had any occupation on Prospera, but he was a ferryman, escorting people to their ‘rebirth.’ And I wonder what underlying significance this has after finishing the book and seeing Cronin’s role in the last 10% of the book. He is still escorting people to the next part of their ‘life,’ isn’t he?

A character says ‘That’ll Work!’ in Chapter 9, and I was shocked to know that they were aware of the awesome YouTube channel by that very name…

I like this quote:

And I guess that’s a good summary of the book. Stuff happens. 

It was heart-wrenching to read of Proctor and Elise’s relationship with their daughter. 

As a mother of four littles, I know the ups and downs and I know the intensity of a love that you never knew you were capable of having until you stare your child in the face. 

A discussion of Prospera’s life philosophy:

The regenerative process is chilling to think about as it pertains to reality because it really feels like much of the world would prefer this. 

Prosperans can’t have children because of the whole process. But they can choose when they would like to obtain a ward— a 16 year-old— to parent. 

But the commitment is low. If the ward is disfigured or disabled in any way, they can return them to the nursery to ‘try again.’ Or if the ward is too much for them and they change their mind.

In today’s sexual revolution the idea of consequence-free sex is considered a human right. Pregnancy and child-bearing and child-rearing are treated like burdens and disadvantages to women. It’s sad. I fear if we were to ever get the technology to replicate Prospera’s regenerative system, the culture would be totally on-board for that. Because humans are selfish and they want what they want when they want it, how they want it, without any negative consequences or results. 

Perhaps this scenario can shock people into recognizing how close their own life philosophy gets to this heartbreaking fictional one. 

We are not designed for a ‘perfect life’ without pain or sacrifice. Child-bearing is a gift. Sacrifice is love. Children are a blessing. I just can’t imagine life without children in the world. We need them. They spur us to love, to sacrifice, to teach. 

If you don’t believe me that Prospera is not too far off from our reality, read this:

Culture’s message to be your best self and to remove any obstacles to being your authentic self and living your dreams is today’s message. Feel free to be alarmed by this. 

SPOILER SECTION

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….

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Okay let’s talk about the deepest layer. 

The truth is this: 

In the ‘real world’ the planet is becoming uninhabitable. Proctor Bennett and his wife Elise have discovered an exoplanet far far away that seems to be able to harbor life. 

But the journey will take them 230 years. 230 years of cryo-sleep. Humans (supposedly) can’t healthily survive that much time in cryo-sleep because we will run out of dreams, or rather, run out of source material for dreams. And our dreams would become our nightmares played on repeat for hundreds of years. People would wake up with all sorts of mental problems, paranoia, etc. 

The solution? 

Consciousness integration.

The designer: Elise, Proctor’s wife. 

Prospera was the designed world they could continue to build off of in their dreams. The regenerative process part of the design accounts for people’s consciousness figuring out what was going on in reality and being ‘put back into’ the dream so they wouldn’t remember.

The other problems…

Everything would have been fine except Proctor and Elise lost their four-year-old little girl to a drowning accident right before the ship’s rushed departure from Earth. Elise, the mind everyone would be leashed to for a couple hundred years, was emotionally broken and Proctor didn’t have time to account for it. They were forced to hope for the best, hope that what her mind generated for everyone to live in wasn’t chaos. 

Which became a world without children. 

Added to that, a police state, which was not in the original design. How did this happen? Well a few of the leadership team for this mission woke up from cryo-sleep on time only to discover Caelus was covered in ice- seemingly unlivable. Instead of solving the problem, they opted to go back into the dream and not wake anyone else up. They would rather live in a happy dream they knew wasn’t real than deal with reality that was potentially devastating. 

Proctor awakens on the ship after layers of discovery only to realize the only way to save the people on the ship from an eternal cryo-sleep to their death requires him to go back into the dream. 

See… complex right! I was pretty surprised when I peeled back that last layer. I thought just realizing the truth was going to be the end of it, but Cronin took it one step further— he had to go back into the false reality.

I think it’s really interesting that they recognized what gave someone purpose, which is essential to a fulfilling and happy life, is understood only through the lens of a Designer. 

 The character did not go so far to say he had proven the existence of God, but I think this is a compelling train of thought. If there is no Designer, then where do we derive meaning and purpose? Are we even capable of knowing what is meaningful? An arbitrary existence, a randomness to life— where is the purpose? It would definitely feel empty. 

I think a Designer makes sense to us because we understand in the deepest parts of us that there must be something more out there, a Creator with a purpose and a plan. It’s not wishful thinking… it just makes sense.

 

One of the political aspects to the story is that this mission needed funding. So 15% of the ship’s population were investors— the wealthy. In the dream, they became the Prosperans. The rest of the population became the support staff living on the Annex. 

But apparently Proctor designed this this way. His intention was to use the investors to get them there, but they didn’t get to stay. They kept them in cryo-sleep and only woke up the others. 

Proctor’s justification:

Proctor ultimately decides to stay on the ship, leave the colony behind and take the investors back to Earth (I think?). He says this, then:

And I don’t know how I feel about this. I think it’s pretty unethical to use the investors’ money, bring them to a colony they think they get to be part of, and then not allow them to be because you believe it’s your job to make them better people in the way you believe they need. They get no choice in the matter. 

It also implies that people with money have no values, principles, or morals. It can be true, but these days it’s pretty popular to hate people with money and assume things about anyone in a certain tax bracket. We have to stop making sweeping statements even if they make us friends. 

As for the colonists, I guess I understand that it would be best if the dream was a life they wanted to leave. Because would we, as people, rather live an amazing lie or an unpredictable or painful truth? Our relentless pursuit and demand of pleasure and happiness would seem to suggest, if given the opportunity, a lot of us would choose the lie. 

The colonists’ experience in the dream state galvanized them to step up into a tough job of colonizing a new planet but with a sense of pursuing justice and equality for their new settlement. Do you think it would work in the long-term? 

So yeah, the ending definitely made me ponder and I haven’t decided if I like it completely. I tend to prefer happy endings so I’m glad that everyone didn’t all die and that a colony was actually possible, but the part where Proctor goes back on the ship with the investors gives me pause. Of course, I do feel for the idea of Proctor and Elise being in a world where their daughter is alive, but again, should we trade reality for self-serving lie? 

An interviewer posed this question (“live in a world of happy misperception or the cold, hard real?”) to Cronin and he answered: “Oh, give me an analog world. I’d be happier in it I think. Actually, no, I’m quite sure I would. I’ve reached a point in life where capitalism is interested only in my ability to buy pharmaceuticals and financial products, so I’m just going to lean in.”

I think it’s tongue-in-cheek(?) but decipher this quote how you would. I think it surprises me a little and then a little not. 

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If you’re willing to put in the time commitment for such a long book, I think I would recommend this one. As I stated at the beginning of the review it’s a mixture of Inception, The Matrix, Total Recall, and Passengers, so there is some mystery and a questioning of reality that makes for an interesting plot. 

It keeps you engaged wondering what is real and what is not. 

I think this would make a good movie, but it’s not in the works yet. It’s just written in a way where you can really visualize the ‘reveal’ moments. 

Cronin said in an interview that the emotion he wanted readers to feel while reading this book was ‘awe.’ I suppose there were moments where I felt that. The kind of awe I felt after watching Inception where your mind is being blown and the thought of what is real and what is not is causing your brain to short-circuit. That kind of awe. 

Not the ‘look at that majestic beautiful thing, I’m going to worship it’ kind of awe. 

In conclusion: The Ferryman is a fun, mind-bending ride!

**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

“Speak of dragons, and I’ll tell you of warriors who walked their flames. Speak of shadows, and I’ll tell you of heroes who brought the dawn. Speak of pain, and I’ll tell you of the Time who stole it away.”

This is part of a series but can easily be read as a stand-alone.

I really enjoyed this story and plan to go back and read the other books in the series! Hayley’s writing is really compelling and beautiful.

Like this quote: “what is hate but razor shards of shattered love?”

Her world-building is great and the time travel parts connect well.

Hayley is an indie author and I had never heard of her before so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the story intrigued me and I’m glad to have discovered her!


This fantasy novel tells the tale of a girl with special healing powers who discovers she is the key to saving her people from the fear and darkness that covers their world from The Dead King.

In this world, their ‘god-like’ character is Odriel— “a spirit-guide.” He’s the good spirit.

Then we have his brother Idriel. He’s the bad spirit. He has been half-resurrected by a couple powerful magi who all stand to benefit from him taking over Odriel’s realm.

“Ten years ago, Valente Conrad, a human gifted with Idriel’s necromancy, and Ivanora, a magus blessed with Idriel’s unfathomable yanaa, raised Idriel from the dead using the body of an ancient soul-eater from Carceroc forest.”


Our main character, Emara, with the help of a talking cat, discovers her healing ability is more powerful than she thought. She is actually a Time Heir. Part of the trio of Odriel’s Heirs. The other two are the Dragon Heir and the Shadow Heir.

“‘Fire was borrowed from the dragon, invisibility from the shadow, and healing from time.’”

The Shadow and Dragon Heirs approach Emara, requesting she help them in their plan to kill The Dead King before he is fully resurrected (think Voldemort) and kills more of their people.

“All those years running. Surviving. Trying to fight back against the monsters that had taken her mother, her home, her people. Searching for a why hidden in the horror. And here it was— offered from the palm of an assassin of a half-remembered myth.”

But the plan devolves quickly and Emara finds herself a century in the past charged with finding another magus (singular form of magi) to help her hone her powers so she can come back to the present and fix what has gone terribly wrong!

“I know as long as yanaa flows through my veins, Odriel is with me, and I will be his hands to light the dark, protect the helpless, and heal the wounded.”


I really liked the variety of characters. It looks like book one tells the story of the Dragon Heir and book two is the story of the Shadow Heir.

It’s possible reading this one provides some unintentional spoilers to those books since it occurs last, but I think with the fantasy genre, it’s still worth reading, even if out of order because you it just creates a fuller picture of the world and the people in it.

I would definitely recommend this series and this author! I think this is a great series for both adults and young adults. It’s a clean book, which is another big plus!



Pronunciation Guide:
(the author provided me a list of words and how to pronounce them so I included a few of the most used words here if you’re interested!)

Austerden: aw-ster-den
Aza: ay-za
Bellaphia: bell-ah-fee-ah
Carceroc: car-sir-rock
Chipo: chee-po
Emara: em-ah-rah
Idriel: eye-dree-uhl
Ivanora: eye-vah-nora
Makeo: mah-kay-o
Odriel: oh-dree-uhl
Okarria: oh-car-ree-ah
Rastgol: rast-goal
Yanaa: yah-nah


[Content Advisory: no f- or s-words; no sexual content]

**Received a digital copy from the author in exchange for an honest review**