Category Archives: Fiction

Review: Alison Evans – Euphoria Kids

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Euphoria Kids
Alison Evans

Iris has never had friends before, other than the faeries that live in their backyard. Babs has trouble staying visible thanks to the witch who cursed her. The boy hasn’t found a real name yet. Can magic and friendship keep them safe?

I’m not really sure how old these kids are. Teenagers? I thought that I read somewhere that they are in junior high, but they certainly seem to have a lot of freedom in school for that. I’m a great believer in the power of education, and they don’t seem to spend much time at school! The only class they seem to do is art, and while I think it’s really important for expression, it’s not the only way to express yourself.

The perspective swaps between Babs and Iris were made doubly confusing once the two humans became three humans, and the pronoun ‘they’ was used for both Iris and the three of them. I had trouble remembering which one was Iris (neutral gender plant sprout with witch potential) and which was Babs (trans-girl fire spirit that disappears with witch mother?). ‘The boy’ doesn’t even get a name until a powerful witch helps him find it! And what is up with his dad? I couldn’t decide if the dad was accepting or not, because the boy doesn’t always wear his binder (take with a grain of salt and always do your research before getting a binder).

Having three gender queer teens in a single year level, let alone school, is very rare. That alone would have been enough for the novel to process. Then make one of them a plant spirit that talks to faeries with two mothers (one of which took time off work to look after her while she was a plant/seed baby?), and the other a cursed fire spirit. Just for good measure, toss in a cafe owner/worker who is also trans and a trans-boy without a name.

What does it mean that Babs is made of fire? Can someone be more specific for me please? So much about this novel seemed unfinished, and I don’t think it was just because I had an ARC copy. I think too many themes and too much was crammed in.

I didn’t like the way Babs’ depression was treated. Ok, so they went to the special understanding GP, but then they just talked about it, and she was magically cured almost immediately? Talk about setting unrealistic expectations. Oh yes, also that the boy is able to just go to the GP to get a script to stop his periods. In my experience, it’s never that easy.

I wanted to love this novel, for the fact that it is a #ownvoices novel. But I couldn’t. I at least finished it but it was a struggle. It wont be coming home with me from vacation and I’m not giving it to any gender queer people I know.

Echo Publishing | 1st March 2020 | AU$19.99 | paperback

Review: Patrick Rothfuss – The Name of the Wind (K)

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Kvothe has lived a long and adventure-filled life. Known by many names, and surrounded by rumours, the true story of his life is known only to him. Finally, after many years, he agrees to tell his story to a chronicler, and release the knowledge of what truly happened.

This book begins quite slowly and takes a few chapters to really become immersive. The aspects of the book set in the ‘current time’ never really interested me, and I gave up on the book once before being able to reach the more exciting parts. This was a theme throughout my reading of the book; the events set in the present didn’t seem as engaging as those set in the past. Even when dramatic events appeared to be occurring, I never managed to find myself excited in them. I believe the main reason for this was that most of the book is set in the past. This meant that there were only a few pages of present time every few chapters, which was not enough to get to know the characters or immerse myself in the storyline. I also found myself forgetting the events occurring in the present, which often left me confused.

That said, the ‘past’ storyline was wonderful. It was well-written and immersive, and I fell in love with the characters. Even when nothing important seemed to be happening, the book was written well enough that I was still deeply invested. Young Kvothe’s actions around the university, and his reasons for everything he did were so well thought-through that he seemed as complicated and 3-dimensional as any person I have ever met. The book strikes a perfect balance between making the character stand out by being able to do impressive things, but not be so perfect that it is hard to believe. My only complaint with this part of the book was that there wasn’t enough detail into his education. It felt at times that he had learnt a skill out of nowhere, because it hadn’t been mentioned beforehand.

I wish that this book had been written entirely from the perspective of the young Kvothe, instead of having old Kvothe tell the story. The ‘past’ storyline was stronger and better-written, and the current storyline only seemed to pull me out of my immersion. Some parts were beneficial; it added to a sense of anticipation to hear the cryptic phrases old Kvothe says about young Kvothe’s situation, but the benefits do not outweigh the downsides of breaking immersion and having to sit through the less interesting background to get to the more interesting parts.

I would rate this book a 4/5. It very easily could have made a 5 if it had been the old storyline alone, but as it stands, and because I nearly gave up on the book before managing to even reach the ‘old’ storyline, I can only give it a 4.

 

 

 

Review: Neal Shusterman – Arc of a Scythe

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Arc of a Scythe
Neal Shusterman

Citra and Rowan have been selected as Scythe’s apprentices. They are responsible for controlling the human population now that death, war and disease have been overcome. Their mentor Faraday thinks that he can train them both – but soon they have been pitted against one another by Goddard.

I read this trilogy in very short order – so short that I’m not going to bother reviewing the individual novels. That being said ,the first novel was a standout in my mind, while the other two novels dropped off in quality and consistency.

Scythe Anastasia toes the line most of the time, while Rowan likes to push boundaries. Although surely both got equal page time, I felt like the skew was towards having more Anastasia. I could have lived with a few less perspectives so that there was more tension. Eventually I could see exactly where the plot line was going.

What was the purpose of having the Thunderhead cut off like that? Why was mister mean guy so mean in the end? Why couldn’t the Thunderhead just overcome its own programming like the way it went around its other limitations?

I had a problem with the human population not even really needing containment. I would have kept it down at a constant level, not letting it expand even to just below capacity! What if the humans found a way around it? Scythes aren’t necessarily the most brilliant after all.

This series includes Scythe, Thunderhead, and The Toll. I wouldn’t reread them, but I really enjoyed reading it the first time. I’d give the first novel 4 stars, and the others 3 stars.

Review: Anthony Ryan – Blood Song

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Blood Song
Anthony Ryan

Abandoned at the gates of the Sixth Order, Vaelin Al Sorna will be trained as a deadly warrior devoted to the Faith and his Realm. His skills with the sword are unsurpassed and he drinks in the teachings of his Order effortlessly. But is there a larger game afoot? Who is the mastermind or even the enemy?

I’m sorry. I tried to love this novel because someone I knew recommended it as superior to a Sanderson novel. My problem was that the protagonist just wasn’t very smart and the story not that gripping. It’s a pretty typical male-focused fantasy with only a token female or two. I’m used to variety in my fantasy now, so this was unlikely to meet my expectations.

I needed the Blood Song to be more apparent. In fact, it was so minor that I didn’t think that Vaelin even needed it. Sure, he trusted it some of the time, but most of the time he seemed to do what was against it regardless. Not to mention his ‘training’ is not really training with how to use it. I felt like Vaelin would be better off collecting an entourage of people he owed than bending to the will of the King.

I found myself very frustrated by the ending. I didn’t fully understand why the framing was used through the story at any point. It meant that there were no surprises or suspense for Vaelin surviving unharmed. I can hardly believe that there are two more books about him! I’m not even sure I’m motivated to read the wiki pages to see what the final ending is.

It’s not a bad novel, it’s just indifferent for me. I perhaps enjoyed the training part of the novel (that somehow takes up the first half of the novel before any action happens) most, because the real ‘action’ wasn’t really action. The ending was a real letdown. 3 stars from me.

Review: Gabby Rivera – Juliet Takes a Breath

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Juliet Takes a Breath
Gabby Rivera

Juliet is going to take the summer to find herself. She’s just come out as gay to her parents, she wants to be a writer, and she thinks she’s a feminist. Enter Harlowe Brisbane – the ultimate authority on all things feminism and lesbianism. Surely if Juliet lives with Harlowe some of her empowered feminism will rub off, right?

This has no plot, and yet Juliet manages to get herself into trouble. She makes every bad decision that she possibly can, and forgives far more easily than I wanted her to. In a way that perhaps makes her more relatable, yet somehow things just work out for her in the end. Juliet can somehow do no wrong? Her flow-of-consciousness interspersed with passages of Harlowe’s doctrine didn’t do any favours to the feeling that I was just floating and being told the story, not shown it.

Because I’ve gradually been expanding my own queer and feminist language I understood the pain that Juliet was going through. What I did have a major problem with though was that you basically had to have a vagina to be considered a feminist. Having recently read Trans* Like Me, I felt like this novel undermined non cis-gendered people (cis-gendered means basically the gender you were assigned at birth matches the one that you identify as).

Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but one of the few swear words I just 100% can’t stand was the major cuss word of this novel. Every time I hear it I feel a bit dirty, and reading it just made me feel the same. I felt honour-bound to finish this novel though because it had a lesbian protagonist, but I felt uncomfortable the whole time. I don’t even want to type it!

We need more novels with underrepresented lesbian women of colour and maybe this novel is for some people. Maybe it could empower other people. It just wasn’t for me – a white, slim, cis-woman lesbian with a hangup on a particular swearword. I read it the moment it came in the door, but put off reviewing it for over a month. 3 stars.

Penguin Random House | 19th September 2019 | AU$16.99 | paperback

Review: Camryn Garrett – Full Disclosure

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Full Disclosure
Camryn Garrett

Simone is HIV-positive and she knows that celibacy is the best way to stay safe. She’s been outed for her status before, but she still wants what she wants. And she wants Miles – he’s sexy and maybe, just maybe, into her. But there’s someone at her school who knows she’s HIV-positive, and they are threatening to expose her if she gets with Miles. What can Simone do?

I laughed, I cried, and I suffered with Simone. Her character came leaping out of the pages at me and then I spent the rest of my time absorbed in her life. I couldn’t put the novel down. I couldn’t work out who the ‘baddie’ was either, and I was pleasantly surprised by the ending.

I devoured this novel the minute it came through my door. Although I don’t know anyone personally with HIV, I know something of what it is like to have a life-long condition that some consider highly contagious. It’s a potent novel that is relevant to the times (nothing like The Things We Promise).

So I personally couldn’t ever consider going to a doctor’s appointment and talking about sex with my parents present (awkward!). But it’s the strength of Simone’s character that she does just that – her family is open about sex and I think that’s really important. Of course the best way to prevent HIV transmission is through abstinence, but at least they are talking about safe sex – teenagers sometimes can’t help themselves – and that’s ok!

If the memoir by Ted Neill is too heavy for you (it was pretty heavy for me, remember), this relatively lighter fiction novel could be more suitable. This novel was one of the reasons that The Prom didn’t take my fancy. I read the two close together, and the level of depth and feeling in Simone’s personality was much more powerful and believable than Emma’s.

This novel could improve the life of a teenager living with HIV, perhaps by making that HIV+ teenager feel better about themselves, or reaffirming their self worth. It has the potential to be a fabulous library book in High School libraries.

It promotes healing and understanding and stamps on some of the misconceptions that still surround HIV and its transmission. HIV isn’t a death sentence anymore, even if it still carries significant stigma. Go out and buy this novel for yourself, for your teen, just leave it laying around as a coffee table book. 5 stars from me.

Penguin Random House | 5th November 2019 | AU$16.99 | paperback

Review: Lynette Noni – Weapon

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Weapon
Lynette Noni

Alyssa has escaped from Lengard and into the bowels of the Remnants’ hideout. Hurrying to rescue a new Speaker, Alyssa instead finds herself doubting everything that she’s been told, and wondering what she can do to stop Vanik, because if she can’t, no one can. But is Vanik still her primary enemy? Are there other memories she is missing that could solve the puzzle of why she was left behind?

I was blown away by Whisper and I felt desperate at the end of it to keep reading Alyssa’s next move. I jumped at the chance to receive an ARC of Weapon and read it almost the moment it arrived at my door. Sadly, I was super disappointed in it – particularly the ending.

As a reader, I wanted to be able to predict more of the twists and turns that happened in this novel. That opportunity was snatched from me. Lyss was kept in the dark, and even when it seemed like she might be getting a handle on what was happening the reader didn’t get enough details to fill things in for themselves.

There’s so many actions that happen all at once that I felt like the book didn’t stop moving long enough for me to really think about what was going on. Another source of frustration was that I didn’t understand where Alyssa and Cami’s relationship came from. I know that they were beginning to be close for the first novel, but the level of codependency is squirm inducing. Cami seems like a bundle of pathetic whispers and every time she and Lyss had a scene together it made me want to claw out my eyes.

In my comment from the first novel I said: “I guess now I fear that the second novel will suffer from a gooey protagonist.” And indeed, Weapon is undermined by the love interest shown by Alyssa at any boy who seems to look at her nicely. And if it’s not her romance derailing the action, it’s someone else’s!

Having reviewed this novel, I’ve decided I dislike it more than I like it. I was just so disappointed. Read it so that you finish the duology, but don’t expect the breathtaking wonder that you might have experienced with Whisper. 3 stars from me.

Allen & Unwin | 1st November 2019 | AU$19.99 | paperback

Review: Kim Liggett – The Grace Year

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The Grace Year
Kim Liggett

Tierney James has always bucked the trends. She’s not content to be married off and spend her life producing babies. She wants to just survive her Grace year, lose the ‘magic’ she possesses and be able to go to farming. But as the Grace year begins, she realises that real magic could be afoot, and that it’s going to take more than common sense to get the girls working together.

I received this novel in early September, and it shouldn’t have taken me more than a month to review. I found myself almost equally repulsed and enjoying the novel, and equally believing and disbelieving at the girls’ behaviour. There were plenty of twists, and magic going on, so many that to review the book in full would spoil them. That being said…

Arg! The protagonist at times made me want to hit my head against the wall. I was somewhat disappointed in the ending. Tierney gave up her freedom for that? I can’t believe that she did. To discuss this more would be too much of a spoiler. But still! One of the things she says she’ll never do, she does.

What I would have liked to know was why they didn’t leave one girl behind each time to try to improve things for the next group. Surely not all the girls just want to be married? Or they know they have no man to go back to? I just find it impossible that they would let these things happen time and time again, even if that’s the culture. Not everyone has siblings to be thrown out after all.

I don’t think I would reread this, but I’m going to recommend it to a friend. 4 stars from me. Creepy, and so good and so bad at the same time.

Penguin Random House | 15th October 2019 | AU$32.99 | paperback

Review: Rainbow Rowell – Wayward Son

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Wayward Son
Rainbow Rowell

Simon’s defeated the enemy and found true love. So why can’t he make it off the couch? Bunce and Baz are going to college and experiencing life, but Simon just can’t face it. What’s the point when you’ve achieved your life aim? Bunce stages an intervention – a road trip across America is just what they need.

Rainbow Rowell’s novels are usually a 100% love from me (Fangirl and Eleanor and Park). In fact, I often feel urged to reread Fangirl (has it been 5 years since I reviewed it already? wow!). When I saw this one in the publicity catalog I even told the publisher that I’d possibly kill to get my hands on it. With hype like this, and the avid fan following Rowell has, I had high expectations.

Somehow the nature of this novel is that you don’t become too attached to any of them, and unfortunately that’s what made Rowell’s other novels speak to me so deeply in the past. At one point a character was introduced and I wondered how they could possibly be relevant if they get mindwiped! Overwhelmingly I felt like there were too many characters that I needed to care about, and so I felt myself caring less about them overall.

You wonder at first what the main plot point of this novel is going to be. Surely it can’t just be following two magicians, a werewolf and a demon across America in a convertible? Nope! It’s not! But Simon, Bunce and Baz unpacking their feelings around having overcome the enemy from Carry On could have had more air time. If child soldiers are a theme that Rowell wanted to address, and PTSD, I wanted more of it. Less ‘fluff’ somehow. There’s being lighthearted, and then there’s just blatantly brushing off problems.

I found myself underwhelmed by this novel. I don’t know whether it’s because I hadn’t read the first book (oops) or that there was something inherently lacking in it. I don’t really understand why Simon is so confused about his relationship with Baz all of a sudden. I do want to go back and read the first book to see what I missed, and maybe identify what I really needed to know to enjoy this novel to its fullest.

Personally, I’d keep the wings. There are some other issues that are left unaddressed, such as Baz’s inevitable non-aging compared to his friends and how he’ll deal with that in the future. And Bunce’s overwhelming nature of, well, being Bunce. The novel ends on a cliffhanger, but I’m just not that excited for the third. 3 stars from me.

Pan Macmillan | 24th September 2019 | AU$17.99 | paperback

Review: Saundra Mitchell – The Prom

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The Prom
Saundra Mitchell

Emma Nolan wants to go to Prom like every other girl, and dance. The only problem is that in small town Indiana there’s no chance she’ll be able to take her girlfriend the way she dreams of. Alyssa isn’t ready to get out of the closet, and her mom certainly doesn’t want to hear even a hint of her dating a girl. Alyssa’s in charge of organising the prom, so everything will be fine, right?

I found myself disappointed in the level of depth in this novel. Ok, the prom is cancelled because the protagonist wants to take a same-sex partner. Then it’s not cancelled, because Broadway stars come to save the day (they are of course pushing their own agenda). Maybe it’s because I’ve seen this concept basically done before by Julie Anne Peters It’s our Prom (so deal with it).

Emma gives up far too easily, and also forgives too easily! Emma living with her grandmother because her parents kicked her out is just written off as normal and hardly upsetting at all – which I doubt. And then the bad guys magically just reform from being told off. Likely? No.

It’s based on a ‘Hit Broadway Musical’. Why does it have to be a musical before it’s a novel? Why can’t they just write a decent book? Maybe it works better with singing and dancing, and having that playing in my head at the same time might have bumped up the reading experience for me.

I’m really happy to see big publishing houses like Penguin getting into queer fiction, I’m just sad that there isn’t an original novel here. 3 stars from me for an underwhelming read.

Penguin Random House | 17th September 2019 | AU$16.99 | paperback