Review: Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu

Title: Devoted 
Author: Jennifer Mathieu

Published: 2015, Roaring Brook Press

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Audience: Young Adult
Source: Library

Find It: Goodreads

I have this one life that’s mine, stretching out before me like the smooth, dark water of the sea, and God is inviting me to hold my breath and slide through the waves, my arms outstretched, my feet kicking, my soul headed for points unknown.

Rachel, he tells me, dive in.

Rachel Walker’s life has always been one of certainties. As a female of the Calvary Christian church community, she is the responsibility of her father until she comes of age. She is expected to help her mother take care of her many siblings in preparation for the day when she will marry, where she will then become the responsibility of her new husband and have the task of having her own children.

Rachel is seventeen -- a mere year away from marriageable age -- and the more she helps her own overstressed mother, the more she observes her older sister Faith’s life -- the less certain she is of the life she’s expected to live. When local pariah Lauren, who left Calvary Christian (and her family) a number of years ago after refusing to submit to its demands, returns to the area, Rachel’s curiosity is piqued. What really caused Lauren to leave, and why did she decide to come back to the area? Through illicit email contact, Rachel forms a tentative friendship with Lauren and comes to realize there’s so much more to life, if she’s willing to forsake what her family and church have planned for her.

It would not be incorrect to assume that Devoted is a novel that explores the place of religion in a teen’s life. It would not be an entirely accurate assessment, however, either; Devoted is about so much more than religion, and Mathieu’s sophomore novel sensitively and respectfully discusses the challenges associated with the clash of personal desires with the responsibilities imposed upon a person by others. Rachel’s struggles with her faith and her journey towards discovering what she wants in life is one that teens struggling with any previously-established life certainties will be able to relate to.

The struggles that Rachel undergoes with regard to her faith feel very real and very relatable. There’s no sudden epiphany that her family and her church community are wrong, but neither is Rachel willing to continue to accept all they tell her to do. Rather, Mathieu gives Rachel a series of small steps towards establishing a new set of convictions. During Rachel’s gradual transformation, she’s plagued by many doubts, and everything is far from resolved at the end. Like Rachel, however, readers can take comfort in the fact that by the end she’s in a much better place than she was initially.

Nowhere are Rachel’s struggles more apparent than through her relationships with others. She feels sympathy for her mother and older sister Faith, who have willingly chosen to remain in their oppressive lifestyles, but it is her relationships with her younger sister Ruth and friend Lauren that best illustrate Rachel’s doubts. Ruth is still very much a believer in all Cavalry Christian and their family expects from young women, while Lauren is very much the opposite. They stand at opposites sides of who Rachel once was, and who she can be, but neither is presented as superior, and Rachel cares for both of them equally.

Perhaps the best aspect of Devoted is that Mathieu does not demonize any particular character for his or her beliefs. Rachel’s family and her church community may be misguided in how they attempt to control the lives of their youth, but that doesn’t make them bad people; they’re simply following what they believe to be true. The same can be said for Lauren and her utter abhorrence of everything religious-based, and the Treatses and their more quiet acceptance of religion.  

Mathieu’s novel presents a respectful look at extreme religious groups, demonstrating how gray areas can be found on all sides. Rachel’s struggles are poignant and relatable. The only issues I found within this novel is its length (it appears that Mathieu enjoys writing shorter, succinct novels) and Rachel’s tentative relationship with local high school boy Mark Treats, which is beautifully tentative but also feels a bit too perfect. Those minor complaints aside, Devoted is a quietly powerful book and highly recommended.

Rating: 4 stars

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Review: The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

Title: The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place

Author: Julie Berry

Published: 2014, Roaring Brook Press

Genre: Historical Fiction, Comedy

Audience: Middle Grade

Source: Library
Find it: Goodreads


The seven students of St. Etheldreda’s School for Young Ladies thought that their Sunday dinner was like any other. They expected to eat their poor meal of buttered bread and hot beans while their headmistress and her brother ate veal. But this Sunday does not turn out as expected, as, upon eating the veal, both Mrs. Plackett and Mr. Godding fall to the ground, dead.

The unexpected turn of events has left the girls in an anxious state. Rather than being concerned about the fate of their headmistress and her brother, or even about who would have poisoned them and why, the girls instead worry about their own situations. Once the village of Ely and their parents find out about Mrs. Plackett’s demise, they’re sure to be sent away to their homes or other boarding schools, never to see each other again. So the girls make a pact: they’ll bury Mrs. Plackett and Mr. Godding and find a way to keep the school going with no one the wiser.

To put it simply, The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place is a farce. This is a story of exaggerations and is frequently tongue-in-cheek. The story takes place in Ely, England in 1900 and focuses on the absurdity and hilarity that ensues as seven friends try to cover up their headmistress’ murder. The seven leading ladies of this tale are: Dear Roberta, who is both sweet and genuinely good, Disgraceful Mary Jane, who enjoys the power of seduction, Dour Elinor, who fascinated with all aspects of mortality, Dull Martha, who is a bit slow on the uptake, Pocked Louise, who harbors a love of science, Smooth Kitty, who is the leader of their little band, and Stout Alice, whose heart belongs to the stage.

Underlying improbable situations, however, are some worthwhile messages, including that of sisterhood. As one of the girls points out, none of them have any sisters. The friendships they’ve formed with each other are therefore that much more powerful, that much more important to them. Theirs is a sisterhood formed not simply by blood, but by choice, and it’s one they’re willing to do just about anything to keep intact.

Woven within the farcical elements is a more typical murder mystery story. Who killed Mrs. Plackett? Why? Are the girls themselves in danger? Despite the small town atmosphere that Ely has, Berry has created a story full of red herrings, where nothing is cut and dry, and where each person remains a suspect until the big reveal. The mystery aspect is very well done, and combined with the humor it makes for a very readable, entertaining book.

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place is a delight to read in novel form, but it is something I could see becoming even stronger if told on the stage. The characters could become more distinct, the humor more pronounced, the wit that much more apparent if made into a play.

As a book, though, it still provides an absolutely memorable reading experience. Berry has created a story that believably pulls together elements of historical fiction, farce, murder mystery, and sisterhood. It’s absolutely worth reading.

Rating: 4.5 stars

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Review: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Title: Nimona

Author: Noelle Stevenson

Published: 2015, HarperTeen

Genre: Fantasy

Audience: Young Adult

Source: Library
Find it: Goodreads

Lord Ballister Blackheart didn’t ask to become the villain of the kingdom, but he’s since accepted -- and even come to embrace -- his role. Neither did he ask for a sidekick -- and certainly not a sidekick quite like Nimona. When Nimona reveals her shape-shifting abilities, however, Blackheart realizes she may indeed become a valuable asset in his vendetta to prove that the ruling Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics -- and its star hero, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin -- isn’t quite as heroic as it claims to be.

On the surface, Nimona appears to be more or less your typical good vs. evil story, albeit one that is told through the perspective of the villains. It isn’t long, however, before all conceptions of good and evil are turned on their head, transformed, and erased; Blackheart and Nimona perform undeniably evil acts, but so do Goldenloin and the agents of the Institution. The people of their quasi-medieval world suffer for the sake of keeping face, personal gain, and self-righteousness. Through the actions and beliefs of the “heroes” and “villains,” Stevenson spins a tale that intelligently examines the morality, responsibility, and culpability of all sides in this conflict.

In the midst of all the moral ambiguity stands Nimona herself, perhaps the greatest enigma of them all. She’s a shapeshifter and a bit too eager in her pronouncements for the destruction of everything. But who, exactly, is Nimona? And what benefit does she gain through an alliance with Blackheart? These questions are as central to the story as Blackheart and Goldenloin’s conflict (and their implied relationship).

From Nimona’s punk-inspired main form (which is wonderfully curvy), to the Inquisitor’s long, serpentine frame, Stevenson’s cartoonish, goofy illustrations generally work well with the text. At times the illustrations feel a bit too cartoony, however, and on occasion detract from the story’s intelligent, thoughtful examination of morality.

The format, illustrations, and emphasis on a heroes vs. villains conflict give Nimona an unsurprisingly comic-like feel, which may dissuade certain readers from this story. Those willing to look past the format, however, are in for a treat. Nimona is a story for those who like their morals gray, their rivalries bitter, and their resolutions open-ended.

Rating: 4 stars

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Review: Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell

Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell

Published: 2013, Harper

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library

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Tilda is not all that fond of the duties and responsibilities that come with being princess of Alder Brook. And she knows that her people are not that fond of the fact that their heir has a lame foot. What Tilda really wants to do is to be like her muse, the writer Boethius, and write great works that would have people remember her as a writer, rather than as the princess with the lame foot.

Through a combination of circumstances, Tilda finds herself a fugitive, unable to return to her homeland, and also in the company of her two friends eager to prove themselves by slaying dragons. Tilda begins crafting the Handbook for Dragon Slayers in the hope that it will establish her value as a writer. As for her lands, well, she figures she’s not a good princess anyway and is content to first travel with her dragon-slaying friends and then perhaps join a convent and devote her life to writing.

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Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Published: 2011, Scholastic, Inc.

Genre: Young Adult Realistic Fiction, Satire

Format: Audiobook

Source: Library

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“Maybe girls need an island to find themselves. Maybe they need a place where no one’s watching them so they can be who they really are.”

En route to an island getaway where pageant contestants are to prepare for their big event, the plane carrying the contestants for the Miss Teen Dream beauty pageant crashes. The majority of the contestants die, as do all the adult sponsors, leaving about a dozen teen girls to figure out how to survive while they wait to be rescued.

Beauty Queens defies any easy classification. It is partially a survival story, as the girls learn to build shelters, fish, and (gasp!) eat grubs. It has dystopian leanings, as the world in which the girls inhabit is run by the totalitarian Corporation, which attempts to control all aspects of its citizens’ lives, especially the females. It has a tendency towards the fantastical, as the island comes alive with man-eating snakes, a mysteriously lighting volcano, and conspiracy theories galore. It is feminist through the depictions of its lead females and their actions, hopes, and needs. And it’s also pure satire, with all the Corporation propaganda and the comments on beauty and power.

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Review: El Deafo by Cece Bell

El Deafo by Cece Bell

Published: 2014, Amulet Books

Genre: Middle Grade Memoir

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library

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When she was four, Cece Bell was hospitalized for meningitis. Shortly after she was released, Cece’s parents began to realize that her infection had caused severe deafness. El Deafo is Cece’s memoir of how she struggled with hearing loss during her childhood.

El Deafo is the nickname/superhero persona that Cece gives herself. Cece is given regular hearing aids to wear while at home, but her doctors do not think those are sufficient for her to use at school, and so she’s also given a Phonic Ear. The Phonic Ear consists of a hearing aid box she straps across her chest, earbud-like cords that attach to her ears, and a microphone that her teachers wear. Cece quickly discovers that the Phonic Ear is not only extremely helpful in hearing all that her teachers say, but that if her teachers forget to turn it off during breaks, she can hear what they’re saying and doing all over the school. In a world where she can’t help but feel disabled (especially since everyone else is willing to propagate that perception in their treatment of her), the Phonic Ear has given Cece what effectively feels like a superpower.

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Review: The Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson

The Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson

Series: The Remnant Chronicles, #1

Published: 2014, Henry Holt and Company

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library

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It can take years to mold a dream. It takes only a fraction of a second for it to be shattered.

Princess Arabella Celestine Idris Jezelia, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan - called Lia - has no desire to further her country’s political gains through marriage to the prince of Dalbreck. She’s grown up with brothers and has seen each of them take their relationships into their own hands and wants the same for herself. So on the eve of her wedding, Lia and her maid Pauline flee the nation’s capital and settle down in the seaside village of Terravin. There Lia works at an inn and plans to create a life of her own choosing.

But choosing to forsake her own duty as a First Daughter doesn’t mean that others are content to let Lia ruin this potential alliance. Her father’s soldiers are out searching for her, there’s a bounty set for her capture, and two outsiders from very different backgrounds are also seeking out Lia: the jilted prince of Dalbreck wants to see just who Lia is, to think that she could run away from their marriage, and the northern Kingdom of Venda has sent an assassin after Lia, because a potential alliance between Morrighan and Dalbreck is the last thing they want.

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