Series Review: The Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu

Opening Thoughts

Lu’s debut trilogy hadn’t really been on my radar until two coworkers decided to establish an impromptu readalong. Because when do I ever say no to an additional chance to read and discuss books?

I wasn’t overly impressed with Legend and would have been content to end reading the trilogy there, but shortly thereafter I had the opportunity to borrow the remaining two books and took it. And I’m actually glad I did so. Overall, the story got better as the series progressed.

Although I will try to focus here on my general thoughts of this series, this review will contain some spoilers for Legend. I will try to limit spoilers for Prodigy and Champion.

Legend by Marie Lu

Series: Legend, #1

Published: 2011, Penguin

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian

Source: Library

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June Iparis has achieved the practically-impossible score of 1500 out of 1500 on the government-mandated Trial each citizen must take at the age of 10. She’s considered to be a prodigy and the Republic of America’s most valuable asset.

Day received a failing score on his Trial, which means that his “inferior” genes are not wanted by the Republic as it continues to wage war against the Colonies, another governmental system developed in the ruined wasteland that once was the United States of America. Day was experimented on and then was supposed to be sent to a “work camp” (in actuality a death camp), but he escaped and has been actively working to thwart the Republic ever since.

The Republic, which has worked so hard to turn June into a model soldier and place Day behind bars, is ultimately responsible for bringing the two of them together. And once together, they discover that neither is able to return to his/her old life ever again.

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Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Published: William Morrow Books, 2013

Genre: Adult Fantasy

Source: Library

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Oh, Neil Gaiman. Every book of yours that I’ve read has further convinced me that your writing style and my reading preferences are just not going to mesh. And so, after reading your most recent release, I am going to respectfully refrain from reading other books of yours in the future. While I admire all you’ve accomplished as a writer, I have to admit that you’re just not the right writer for this reader.

After returning to the area where he grew up to attend a family member’s funeral, an unnamed man cannot resist the draw to drive past his home and visit the house of Lettie Hempstock, the mysterious girl he befriended nearly four decades ago. But Lettie is not at home. An older woman - who the man reasons must be her mother - says that Lettie hasn’t returned. Being in the house and wandering around outside to the pond that Lettie referred to as an ocean allows the man’s long-hidden memories to slowly surface, memories about an opal miner, a sinister housekeeper named Ursula Monkton, and other, stranger beings who wished to cohabit the Earth.

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Review: A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

Published: 2014, Viking Juvenile

Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction

Source: Library

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“This is why we all fight so hard. Not just for the vote, but for an equal opportunity in the world. A vote is a voice. I think you underestimate yourself, Queenie. This is your fight, same as it is mine.”

I confess that A Mad, Wicked Folly disappointed me. Once again, I fear that it was the hype that did me in. I mean, it sounded like such a perfect book for me: art, suffragettes, an Edwardian heroine unwilling to allow her gender determine her place in society, who strives to be better than her male peers. But ultimately it’s not as much of a “me” book as I had hoped.

As the daughter of an upper middle class family, Vicky Darling’s life is more or less set out for her. And as far as her parents are concerned, Vicky is in France to attend a finishing school. When they learn otherwise - that Vicky has not only been secretly taking art classes, but that she agreed to pose nude for her fellow artists - she is immediately sent home. The only way they see Vicky’s name (and their own) back in good graces once more is to focus on Vicky’s societal debut and arrange for her marriage.

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Review: Restless by William Boyd

Restless by William Boyd

Published: 2006, Bloomsbury

Genre: Adult Historical Fiction, Thriller

Source: Library

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I stood there in the kitchen, watching her staring across the meadow still searching for her nemesis and I thought, suddenly, that this is all our lives - this is the one fact that applies to us all, that makes us what we are, our common mortality, our common humanity. One day someone is going to come and take us away: you don't need to have been a spy, I thought, to feel like this.

I feel as though I’ve really been striking out with my book club’s latest picks. The worst part is there’s no real reason why I shouldn’t have enjoyed Restless. It’s not the typical type of book that I tend to read, but it’s still fairly interesting and well written. Some pretty substantial disconnect made it difficult for me to enjoy this very much, however.

Practically out of the blue, Sally Gilmartin tells her adult daughter Ruth that she is not who she’s claimed to be for the past few decades. She created a new life for herself as Sally Gilmartin, but she fears her efforts have begun to unravel before her very eyes. She’s worried that her past has finally caught up with the woman who was once Eva Delectorskaya, a woman of Russian heritage spying for England during World War II.

Of course, Ruth isn’t inclined to believe Sally at first, and instead thinks that her mother is going mad. But as Ruth continues to read her mother’s journal entries, she’s swept away by the story of a young Russian woman who, after her brother’s untimely death, decides to continue his work with a British spy agency. Known as Eve Dalton, Eva travels across many countries and takes advantage of her many skills and knowledge. But she learns that the dangers of this lifestyle may outweigh the positives.

I don’t have too much to say about this book. It’s clear that Boyd has done his research. There are many scenes from this book that seamlessly integrate real-life events and Boyd’s own characters. I thought that I knew a fair bit of World War II history, but apparently I not as much as I thought. Either that, or my knowledge is more specific to American involvement and certain overreaching concepts such as the Holocaust (which is very possible). Either way, I feel as though this is a story that would be better enjoyed by those who really know their World War II trivia (especially that as related to British involvement/espionage).

Both Eva/Sally and Ruth are fairly well-constructed characters. I didn’t have a problem with either of them, but neither did they summon up too many emotions for me. I was never more than mildly amused/surprised/worried by their situations. I might have had the potential to be more involved in Eva’s story, but I already knew that she ends up leaving her service and becoming Sally Gilmartin, so the element of surprise was missing. Not every story needs to leave the fates of its characters as a surprise, necessarily, but my lack of empathy for the characters coupled with the fact that I knew that Eva manages to survive made me a bit less involved.

There are also many loose threads. I can understand the loose threads surrounding Eva’s life; once she decides to be a spy, nothing in her life can ever be clear-cut again. I get that. And the main mystery surrounding her increased paranoia and decision to reveal her past to Ruth is resolved. I never felt as though Boyd put the same amount of effort into Ruth’s story, however. Her story functions as both a frame narrative and a second story to Eva’s. Outside of her learning about her mother’s history and helping her get a sense of resolution on things, not much is resolved about Ruth’s personal conflicts. Again, resolution is not always necessary, but the lack of any sort of resolution on Ruth’s made me wish that Boyd hadn’t devoted as much time to her characterization and life outside of her mother.

Restless is not a bad book. It’s just not my type of book. If you like your historical fiction and thrillers with a decent dash of spies and espionage thrown in, then this just might be the book for you.

Rating: 2 stars

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Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Series: Everneath, #1

Published: 2012, Balzer + Bray

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Source: Purchased

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“I’d like you to ask yourself, Who loses hope first? And who never gives up? Because it’s not the supernatural abilities that set mythical creatures apart.” She leaned forward. “It’s the decisions the human characters make, in impossible situations, that have us still talking about them centuries later. Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they are graced with.”

I bought ebook versions of both Everneath and its sequel Everbound on a whim when they were on sale. Even though paranormal romances are among my least favorite types of books, I’d heard good things about this series. I was also just plain curious. If anything, this reading experience has further cemented my belief that while there are good books found within the paranormal genre, they’re by and large just not for me.

Nikki Beckett lost her mother months ago due to an accident with a drunk driver. Since then she had constructed some semblance of normality once more. But when she found out her mother’s killer was acquitted and her boyfriend Jack may have cheated on her, she was desperate for an escape from all her negative emotions, so desperate that she agreed to accompany her new friend Cole to a place called Everneath and allow him to numb her pain by feeding off of her emotions.

After having spent one hundred years with Cole in Everneath (equal to six months of Surface time), Nikki is changed. She’s lost the majority of her memories, except for this one persistent image of a boy: Jack, her boyfriend. As her one hundred years in Everneath end, Nikki is given the option of going straight to the Tunnels of Everneath, essentially becoming a human battery for the rest of her life, or else delaying the inevitable by returning to the Surface for six months before then being sentenced to the tunnels. Nikki chooses the Surface and the opportunity to regain her memories about Jack, possibly the only thing that allowed her to survive those one hundred years in Everneath. But Cole believes she’s special, different from all the other humans he’s fed off of over the centuries, and will do anything to convince her to return to Everneath on his terms.

The basic premise of Everneath ensures that the reader will feel at least a little bit of anxiety. After all, Nikki’s made an inescapable bargain with demons, more or less, who will eventually return to reclaim her. The story alternates between Befores (detailing the events that led up to Nikki’s decision to join Cole in Everneath) and Afters (counting down to Nikki’s return to Everneath). Normally these types of stories make me a bit anxious. 

As the time flies past, however, I found myself feeling peeved by Nikki’s (lack of) agency, rather than simply anxious for her predicament. Emotionally, Nikki is a mess. She was a mess before traveling to Everneath, and, surprisingly, all those problems she hoped to escape are back with her when she returns to the Surface. And they’ve multiplied. It takes Nikki a while to realize that she actually doesn’t want to return to Everneath, and then the book is little more than a mad dash to escape fate. I suppose I can’t fault Nikki for acting like a teenager, but my experience reading this does show me how much of a difference it makes that I’m not the intended teen reader here.

At this point, it seems almost a prerequisite for a paranormal romance to feature a love triangle. Everneath certainly fits that bill as Nikki must come to terms with her feelings for Jack and for Cole. First there’s Jack, Nikki’s best friend for years and the one who helped her cope with her mother’s death. He’s been the object of her (seemingly) unrequited love for a while, until suddenly he admits that he also has feelings for her. Things are going well until a misunderstanding at a spring training camp for the football team and cheerleaders causes Nikki to believe that he’s cheated on her. And. of course, from the beginning Nikki has suffered from feelings of inadequacy compared to Jack.

Then there’s Cole. Blond, cocky, and mysterious, he is Jack’s polar opposite in many ways. Because of Cole, I consider Everneath to contain a love triangle, although it seems pretty clear that Nikki does not harbor romantic feelings for him. He was there and able to take away Nikki’s pain, and so she uses him. But there never seems a question of whether Nikki will love Cole instead of Jack. Rather, the question seems to be whether Nikki will choose to accept loving Jack and the consequences that entails, or whether she will choose the more emotionless life that Cole offers. Although Nikki believes that Cole is incapable of love, he’s clearly the harborer of unrequited feelings here, not Nikki.

So this story includes a triangle of complex feelings, but perhaps this doesn’t quite qualify as a traditional “love triangle.” That’s a small grace.

Although the story has both explicit and implicit ties to Greek mythology, Ashton’s use of mythology felt somewhat inaccessible and confusing at times. There were mentions of both Greek and Egyptian versions of the afterlife, of the Persephone myth, of Orpheus and Eurydice, and more. There’s even some Hindu myths thrown in the story. It seems as though Ashton attempts to clarify the juxtaposition of myths through Cole, having him inform Nikki that all of humanity’s mythology is based off of different interpretations of Everneath.

Fine. I can accept that. After all, most of our myths and legends have similarities and probably were adapted from one specific source. The tales presented in Everneath, however, just seemed a bit...off. I know my Greek mythology fairly well, yet some of the explanations about myths had me scratching my head. Who, exactly, is like Persephone in this world? The Everlivings like Cole? The Forfeits like Nikki? And what roles do the Shades and the Queen have in all of this? Really, it all boils down to the fact that Everneath presents a very, very strange juxtaposition of mythology and I found the worldbuilding lacked some essential clarity.

Everneath isn’t bad necessarily, but neither is it great. It works as a slightly more creative take on traditional paranormal romances, but its confusing worldbuilding left me with an aftertaste of unfulfillment. I suppose you could say I ended up feeling a bit emotionless towards it all, rather like the Forfeits fed on by the Everlivings. Despite all of this, I do plan on reading my copy of Everbound because Everneath does end on one fantastic cliffhanger that really does justice to the characters and their motives.

Rating: 2 stars

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Review: The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

Published: 2013, Simon Pulse

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary, Romance

Source: Library

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They say you can never step into the same river twice. And maybe that's how it was for Papi now, memories shifting and re-forming soundlessly beneath him while the rest of us sat on the shore and watched.

Oh, dear. It appears I may have found a YA contemporary author who does not work for me at all. While I tend to gravitate towards speculative fiction by and large, I’ve found a certain sense of comfort associated with contemporary fiction. Sometimes it’s nice to wrap myself in the more familiar, the more ordinary. Somehow, though, The Book of Broken Hearts simply ended up frustrating and underwhelming me.

Jude Hernendez was supposed to spend her summer before college relaxing, hanging out with friends at the local coffee shop, participating in a community production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, going on a road trip. Instead, she spends her days taking care of her father, who is slowly deteriorating due to early onset Alzheimer’s.

There doesn’t seem much that she and her father can do in the face of his disease, until they discover her father’s old ‘61 motorcycle. Seeing his motorcycle again brings up many memories for her father, and for the first time Jude has hope that they may be able to fight back against her father’s memory loss. Jude decides to devote her time to getting her father’s motorcycle repaired, and, perhaps with it, his memories strengthened. But to do that, Jude needs help. Help which comes in the form of local mechanic-in-training Emilio Vargas, who just happens to have two brothers who broke the hearts of two of Jude’s sisters.

My major complaint with The Book of Broken Hearts is how childish Jude’s narration tends to be, and this is more than just a case of me no longer being a teenager myself. First of all, Jude’s on the older side of YA protagonists, having just graduated from high school. It’s ridiculous that she gives her dog Pancake some narration (which really amounts to nothing more than mentions of squirrels). It’s silly that Jude truly believes in the oath that she and her sisters took years ago, foregoing any contact with the Vargas brothers on pain of death (not literally). It’s saddening that Jude thinks that repairing a motorcycle can become a panacea for her father’s condition (but understandable, I suppose). I can allow for the intense emotional stress to have taken some toll on Jude’s day-to-day maturity, but not to the degree I found within the novel.

The eponymous Book of Broken Hearts is an heirloom that has been passed down to Jude by her sisters. All three of them recorded their relationship woes, most notably those woes related to the Vargas brothers. Two of her three much-older sisters had their hearts broken by two of the Vargas brothers, duly recorded in the book. As a sign of solidarity, the three sisters decided to make a pact against any further involvement with that family. Jude was in the room at the time and also ended up partaking in their blood oath. Although Jude has been the owner of the book for many years, she hasn’t written anything of note. And she’s convinced she won’t until her friendships start breaking, friends unable to empathize with her situation. The only one who can, really, is Emilio Vargas, who Jude knows is off-limits. I suppose the conflict that Jude has between pleasing her sisters and doing what she wants isn’t a bad theme by any means; it’s just that there are so many richer themes to explore in this book that I didn’t see the point of Jude’s intense fixation on the book, the oath, and Emilio.

After all, this is a book about Alzheimer’s. Jude’s father is in his early fifties and was only diagnosed a few months ago, but his condition is steadily worsening to the point that he can no longer work and cannot be left alone. With Jude’s sisters all living away from home and their mother working full time, it falls on Jude to be her father’s caretaker. The relationship between Jude and her father, as she watches him struggle with his memories and sense of self, is where the heart of this story lies. Ockler tries to incorporate a bigger examination of family dynamics, as readers become introduced to Jude’s mother and three sisters, but none of those characters can hold a flame against the relationship that Ockler establishes between Jude and her papi. Frankly, it is quite depressing to read about at times, but the glimmers of hope make the effort of struggling through the hard parts more than worth it. I just want the story to be about Jude and her papi, with perhaps a dash of Emilio thrown in. Is that too much to ask for?

I did like Emilio and the purpose he serves within this novel. Despite the title and the oath, Emilio’s presence is much larger than that of a love interest. As their hired mechanic, Emilio represents the hope that Jude retains that her father’s condition, if not quite irreversible, can at least be lessened. He also proves to be exactly what Jude needs, never trivializing her concerns, always there to comfort her, and there to challenge Jude’s preconceived notions of herself and her wants in life. Essentially, Jude needs Emilio to bring out the best in herself, but not because he’s attracted to her. Rather, Jude’s self-realizations are able to occur because of Emilio’s support as a friend, which is a welcome relief.

Ockler focuses on two distinct Hispanic cultures within her society: Jude’s family is Argentinian while Emilio’s family is Puerto Rican. I studied Spanish in school, and so the knowledge that Ockler’s book focuses on two Hispanic cultures was the biggest draw for me. I liked the inclusion of the Spanish language and parts of Jude’s Argentinian culture (Emilio’s Puerto Rican culture isn’t really discussed), but I found myself wishing for even more. Much of Jude’s culture seemed to be relegated to language and food, which was a shame.

Is this a terrible book? Of course not. I freely admit that I’m a bit picky about what works of contemporary fiction I enjoy reading. Still, I felt as though the romantic aspects and family dynamics of this novel are overplayed. I would have been fine basically focusing primarily on Jude’s relationship with her father. Jude is also a frustratingly immature narrator, which is something that never settles well with me. I can see what other readers have enjoyed in this book, but it’s not for me.

Rating: 2 stars

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Review: The Known World by Edward P. Jones

The Known World by Edward P. Jones

Published: 2003, Amistad

Genre: Adult Historical Fiction

Source: Library

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“We are all worthy of one another.”

The Known World starts with the death of Henry Townsend, a well-known and well-respected black man who worked his way to freedom and now owns his own plantation. With his death comes grief, of course, but also questions as to what’s in store for the many people, free and slave alike, who lived under his care. This is not merely the story of Henry’s successful rise in status, however. This story reveals the harsh realities of life in antebellum Virginia as told through the experiences of all those who call it home: blacks and whites, freed and enslaved, rich and poor.

As one of my coworkers mentioned during our October book club discussion, The Known World reads like an oral history. A transcribed work of oral history is perhaps the best, most accurate way that I could describe this book. There’s not really one central plot. In fact, the story doesn’t follow a linear timeline, instead meandering through a series of vignettes featuring a very large cast of characters.The unifying characteristic between characters is either their relationship to Henry Townsend or else to the town in which he lives.

If ever a book needed to include a cast of characters as part of its paratext, it would be this one. Jones focused on at least ten characters to a fairly substantial degree, and dozens of others are mentioned as well. I was fortunate enough to find an extensive character list online, which enabled me to have a better understanding of the convoluted relationships between the characters. Jones does not necessarily throw readers headfirst into this story, but neither does he spend much time helping to refresh readers’ memories on who each character is, even if a hundred pages stand between the next mention of that character. By focusing on such a large group of characters, readers are afforded a much more extensive view of life during this time; readers just must be willing to suffer through some initial information overload and confusion.

Ambitious is probably the best single word to describe Jones’ herculean effort to provide a snapshot of this era of American history. He touches on so many different aspects of life: enslaved blacks, enslaved blacks who worked their way up to freedom, blacks born free, poorer whites whose situations are not much better than slaves, slave-owning whites, middle-class whites, tensions between races, tensions between genders, concepts of freedom and servitude, and so much more. There’s a lot to unpack in this book, which I think can be best understood through discussion with others. I was grateful to have the opportunity to talk about this book with my coworkers.

The downfall of Jones’ work is ultimately in how widespread the novel is. By not really focusing on one issue or one family, the story spreads itself too thin. There are simply too many characters that I struggled to figure out who really mattered, and who I was supposed to empathize with. The third-person omniscient narrator also contributed to this problem. It simply provided far too much distance between the readers and the characters and made some of the truly awful experiences they endured a little more difficult to conceptualize. For a book dealing with things such as the retrieval and punishment of runaway slaves, of the horrible practice surrounding the sale of freed men, and of the grey area involved in being a former slave who now owns slaves of his own, I wasn’t able to experience nearly as much emotion as I wanted to. I wanted to be swept away with strong feelings for what I read about, but that just did not happen.

As little more than a series of vignettes about the lives of people living within this southern town, The Known World also lacked any sort of linear structure. Many times I had to pause at the start of each new vignette and think about who this person is, how they related to the previous section I’d read (if at all), and figure out this new character’s place within the story as a whole. Transitions between sections were virtually nonexistent. Each long chapter detailed three or four events, but I could never grasp the relation between the events chosen in each chapter. And, much like informally told stories themselves, the narrator had a frequent habit of interrupting the current vignette at hand to describe random tidbits about the later life of newly-introduced characters. In a way, this did help make the story more circular and establish a certain tone and mood. It was also distracting, however.

I think Jones makes some powerful messages about America’s history within this work and I can understand why it has received critical acclaim. Readers considering this one should be forewarned that it does require a bit more focus and dedication to read this one than many other works of fiction. Is it worth it? That’s something for each reader to decide. For me, I found the experience reading it to be frustrating, but the following discussion was still rewarding.

Rating: 2 stars

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