Ahoy there mateys!

This was a fantastic young adult book recommended multiple times by fellow blogger bookwormanic. It tells the tale of three teenage kids’ senior year living in a rural Tennessee town, told from their respective perspectives. I found this book to be hauntingly moving, realistic, and heartbreaking. It has been a while since I was so very mesmerized by a novel. I read the book and my world faded away to be replaced by the stories of Dill, Lydia, and Travis.

While Dill seemed to get the majority of the attention in the novel, I loved all three characters. Their friendships are filled with so much love and yet they keep secrets from each other and struggle at times. Also all three of their viewpoints felt so distinct and well developed. I also enjoyed all of the adults who were the secondary characters. It was nice to have a range of adults in a young adult novel whose characters were developed and added to the story. Of course not all adults were nice but they certainly seemed multi-faceted.

Also despite being a young adult novel, Dill, Lydia, and Travis are not superheroes and do not easily solve their challenges. The novel also acknowledges that parents can and do sometimes help and that asking for help is okay. All three teens had realistic responses to what they were going through. And those included some extremely hard challenges of abuse, poverty, being school outcasts, bullying and a variety of other life changes. This book also acknowledges that high school, while it can be tough, is not the end of a person’s life.

So many young adult books seem to suggest that high school is both the best time of your life and will determine your very future. Perhaps for some. And there is no doubt those are formative years. But life does go on after high school and the period after high school is usually a time of major change. The author handled these issues seemingly with grace and understanding. I highly recommend this complex and lovely novel.

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Ahoy there me mateys!

This novel was a random find in a local library. I picked it up because of the title. It was written by a Finnish author. Reason number one to read it. Reason number two: It is a dystopian novel that has been compared to the handmaid’s tale. I highly enjoyed Margaret Atwood’s novel.

Now, other than the story being a patriarchy were women have no rights and whose function is breeder, it did not seem all that similar to the Atwood novel. The book was definitely its own special thing. If anything, the author seems to have drawn parallels or commentary from H.G. Wells book the time machine which I have to admit I have never read. But Sinisalo uses descriptions and the terms “eloi” and “morlock” from that novel. Perhaps I should add Well’s book to my list of ports to plunder. But I digress . . .

I did very much enjoy this novel. The main character Vanna/Vera is a morlock who looks like an eloi and has to pretend to be one in order to survive. Her sister is of course a more traditional eloi. The story revolves around what happened in their relationship as they grow up. Some of that story is told through traditional narrative while other parts of it are told from letters that Vanna/Vera writes her sister. Of course, it is more complicated than that.

You also have some sections told in transcript form, dictionary entries, nationally published eloi stories, laws, Vanna/Vera’s homework assignments, government sponsored propaganda, etc. Oh and from Jare’s perspective. Jare is awesome, but I will leave it at that because I don’t want to spoil it. Add in philosophical viewpoints, shamanism, and capsaicin addiction.

Yes, you read that correctly. There is an entire underground black market illegally selling chili peppers. In fact, the peppers are a major component and through line in the entire novel. Highly informative to me since I like my peppers either mild or not included at all. Usually the latter.

I do not think this novel is for everyone. I found it highly engaging and interesting but it is certainly dense with ideas and not a simple read. Very mature subject matter. But I have found myself pondering over the ideas of this novel throughout the day since reading it and would recommend it to those who like complex ideas of society, addiction, genetic engineering and other lofty subjects.

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Ahoy me mateys!

If you liked the hunger games then you will certainly like this. I am a little behind in getting to these books. I couldn’t put legend down and stayed up way too late reading into the night (a habit of mine). This is another dystopian novel of our (well the United States) possible future with children as the heroes of course. The main characters are a boy named Day and girl named June. Both are fifteen years old and intelligent and savvy. But of course they are on opposite sides of society. June is living life in the high social order of the ruling class and Day is a criminal. This leads to a somewhat predictable yet always enjoyable through line in the relationship between the two of them. The first book does not get too much into the underlying problems of the leaders or politics of the Republic but the hints are there for the next book in the series. I hope I get a lot more details and specifics. Onward!

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Ahoy there me lovelies . . . This was a wonderful young adult fantasy book. The main character, Ileni, is a sorceress who is sent to teach assassins how to use their magic skills. Except this sorceress is about to lose her powers and have no magic at all. She has volunteered for the position knowing that it is likely going to kill her. I have a soft spot for books about assassins and for strong female characters and for magic. This book even has some romance thrown in for those who like that sort of thing. Oh and can I add murder mystery. A hodgepodge of fantasy ideas put together in a delightful way. I would say that overall though this book is character driven with Ileni figuring out what her place in supposed to be in the world when the future she thought she was destined for falls through. While not a long book (I read it in a couple of hours) it was fun and engaging the entire time. The glimpse of the overall world building, while small, is enticing. I enjoyed this author’s book and am excited for the sequel once it comes out. Oh, in looking at the author’s site it IS out. Must track it down . . .

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