Life As We Knew It ~ Susan Beth Pfeffer

From Amazon:

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when an asteroid knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove. In her journal, Miranda records the events of each desperate day, while she and her family struggle to hold on to their most priceless resource–hope.

The current module of my graduate course places its focus on my favorite of the genres: Fantasy (and science fiction, too, which I’m coming around to.) When I looked over the list of books we’re required to choose from I ran into a problem. I’d already read the majority of them. Life As We Knew It stood out as one of the only ones I hadn’t read, in fact, which would be why I picked it. I had no idea when I sat down with it that it was going to take me daaays to read it.

Let me say this first: There is absolutely nothing wrong with this book. The writing is good, the concept offers up a fantastic hook, and for the most part the characterization is spot-on. When this book was on the middle school’s summer reading list in my town it was the one all of the students wanted. And I know there are a great many bloggers who loved it, too.

So why did I struggle with it so much?

Possibly because Miranda annoyed me. She was a very well developed character in that her emotional responses were honest and appropriate to her situation. My problem with her stemmed from the several screaming, door-slamming fights she had with her mother. There were too many of them, for one, and the reader doesn’t even actually “see” all of them. And beside, I didn’t need those displays of immaturity to make me appreciate the growth of Miranda’s character as her family’s situation worsens. That she could put momentary spurts of jealousy aside, that she knew what needed to be done in the end and did it even though she was scared, that would have been enough for me. The fights just didn’t fully ring true for me and seemed to force a theme unnecessarily. (To be fair, I didn’t love her mother, either, though her character was also well done.)

Another thing that made this a slow read was just the subject matter itself. The bleakness of it. I’m not a big fan of dystopian novels, though there are exceptions, and I don’t want to read about one disaster after another, about a situation rapidly declining with little to no hope of an end in sight. That’s just not what I read for. And I found myself reluctant to return to this book time and again because at a certain point I had just had enough of it. Plus there were things that just didn’t make sense to me (like, for instance, the fact that people were quick to loot homes of the deceased, but never became desperate enough to try to rob someone still living. I would think towards the end that that kind of desperation would have run rampant, but Miranda and her family felt mostly safe in their home from that kind of violence. And also, really? Not one scientist or astronomer had any inkling that the hit might impact the moon more thoroughly?)

I guess it’s good that I read this – as I mentioned earlier, a lot of my young patrons have, and I like to keep up with what they’re reading – but I didn’t really enjoy it.

Scrap Art – Attempt #1

I put it out there a while ago that I was going to make an effort to be more crafty, but all of the regular blah-blah-blahs made it seem okay to say “not today.” But! I have every intention of making good on my promise to myself, and that picture below? It’s a start.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about making cards – you know, for birthdays and maybe even Christmas. But I wanted to experiment a bit first using the supplies I had. (No easy task going through those supplies! They’ve taken on monstrous, unorganized proportions.)

I didn’t know where to start and, man, it’s tough staring at a blank sheet of burgandy cardstock. But the color kind of set the tone and I decided to do something regal and whimsical, something fairytaleish.

It was a pain in the rear trying to cut out that fairy, but it was worth it, even if the lines aren’t super clean. It’s also remarkably difficult to cut in a straight line – even with a guide! But this was for practice and, honestly, I’m pretty happy with the results. This might have made a nice birthday card for my little miss (had she not been sitting beside me as I was working on it.)

I think I’m going to try an actual card next time. My husband’s birthday is coming up. Hmm….

On the Edge ~ Ilona Andrews

The Broken is a place where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is nothing more than a fairy tale.

The Weird is a realm where blueblood aristocrats rule and the strength of your magic can change your destiny.

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, the place between both worlds. A perilous existence indeed, made even more so by a flood of magic-hungry creatures bent on absolute destruction.

Within its first month of publication I read a few chapters of Magic Bites and quickly realized that I wasn’t in the right mood for it. Due to a lengthy hold list on my library copy I sent it back, adding it to my list of future reads. I haven’t gotten around to that series yet, but when On the Edge was released and when Angie liked it, I thought, Why not?

Despite the cover, which, to me (& a friend,) is rather unfortunate, I really enjoyed this first book in the Edge series.

You know what I constantly find myself loving in novels? An older sibling taking care of younger brothers or sisters scenario. As soon as I discovered that Rose was responsible for her two younger brothers, Jack and Georgie, I liked her. Sure, she may think about what her life would have been like had her mother not died and her father not split, but she loves her brothers and does whatever is necessary to keep them safe and protected. And, even better, her adorable brothers appreciate her for it. That’s the type of family dynamic that really gets me invested in the story. So, already charmed by the two boys and rooting for Rose, I began to pay more attention to the world building and magic system.

As the synopsis points out, there are three physical layers, so to speak, of this world: the Edge, the Weird, and the Broken. The names kind of made me scrunch my nose, but the concept didn’t, and the variation in place is very important to the story. A specific scene, in fact, in which Rose helps Declan cross over into the Broken was key, I thought, in strengthening their relationship. The magic system was nicely done, too, and I would have loved to have seen that explored even more in the novel.

I’m going to wrap this up before it dissolves into random rambling. The short of it? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading the next one.

If you’re interested, you can read chapter here.

Thoughts on Tamora Pierce’s Lioness

If I could eat Tamora Pierce’s Alanna books whole, I would. As it is, I’m devouring them at a rate that will leave me with a severe case of heartache once they’re done.

As always, I owe Angie big time. Though the why of it now escapes me, I distinctly remember her mentioning these books to me, piquing my interest as only she can. I took home the first book, Alanna: The First Adventure, but had to return it to the library unread when one of my teen library patrons requested it. Lo and behold, however, the series ended up on the list for the current module of my course! I could not have asked for a better reason to make sure I read it in a timely manner.

My requirement was only to read one of the books, but I simply couldn’t stop there. Not when I couldn’t put down that first book until it was done. Not with a fierce driving need to know more riding my day. And so I read the first book in the morning, went to the bookstore to buy In the Hand of the Goddess that afternoon, and read it that evening. I’ve since picked up books three and four, and plan to read them as soon as I get the other two requirements for my course reading taken care of.

So what are these books all about? Well, they’re about a young girl named Alanna who dreams of becoming a knight and going off on great adventures. There is, of course, a problem with her plan. Women aren’t allowed to become knights. The only solution to her problem then is to become a boy, and she does so with the help of her twin brother, Thom, who never wanted to be a knight and trades places with her.

Alanna is made of stern stuff. Any girl undertaking to masquerade as a boy and withstand the physical, mental and emotional tests that will grant her knighthood has to be. But with her backbone comes a bit of pride and a temper quick to ignite given the right circumstances. To be more obvious about it, Alanna is an accessible character, one that you feel for and along with, and once you’ve met her you must follow her on her journey.

And don’t get me started on her friends! Because I loved each and every one of them – even Big Thor who we only meet briefly in book two. I very much would like a George, Jonathan, Gary and Raoul of my own. (Greedy, I am, but honest. They’re all awesome.)

This series has plenty of action and adventure, it has a very interesting form of magic, and the world is so deep that these first two books have only scratched the surface of it. Oh, and there’s more, plenty more, to recommend these books to just about anyone. I’ve one friend in particular to whom I’m going to do some serious pressuring suggesting. As for me, I’m already placing holds on or grabbing from the shelves everything else Pierce has written. I see a lot of my time being spent in Tortall.

I hope if you haven’t picked up these books that you do. They’re wonderful and addictive, and, you know, they made me happy during those quiet reading hours. So, yes, discover Alanna for yourself, and then come back and tell me what you think.

Small Doses

Every one of you who commented on my last post, thank you. Your kindness and warmth got through the numbed shock of those first few days. And your thoughts and words were very much appreciated.

I’ve done a fair amount of reading these past two weeks. When sleep won’t come and your mind plays on a loop, distraction is sometimes all you can ask for. So with all of these books piling up I’m going to try to get back into reviewing. I think it will help, but I’m not sure how good they’ll be. The reviews, I mean.

That’s it for now. Thank you all. Really.

On Wednesday night I got a call at work. It was my mother, and she told me that my 42 year old brother had died. Things will be quiet here for a little while.

Heart’s Blood ~ Juliet Marillier

From the book:

Whistling Tor is a place of secrets, a mysterious, wooded hill housing the crumbling fortress of a chieftain whose name is spoken throughout the district in tones of revulsion and bitterness.

A curse lies over Anluan’s family and his people; those woods hold a perilous force whose every whisper threatens doom.For young scribe Caitrin it is a safe haven. This place where nobody else is prepared to go seems exactly what she needs, for Caitrin is fleeing her own demons. As Caitlin comes to know Anluan and his home in more depth she realizes that it is only through her love and determination that the curse can be broken and Anluan and his people set free.

If you’re just curious as to whether I loved this novel or not, I did. But I had to spend time with my thoughts on it to realize that. If you’d like to know what shaped those thoughts, here you go…

After the death of her father, Caitrin is shuttered in a world of grief, prey to a pair of distant relations that invade her home and use ridicule and abuse to steal her confidence. Caitrin flees, traveling as far as she can to escape Market Cross and her tormentors. When she arrives at Whistling Tor and hears that the Chieftain requires the services of a trained scribe, Caitrin believes she has found a place to make a stand and regain her sense of self.

It seems relatively easy to give a character an abusive background. Simply tell us it’s so and we’ve no recourse but to believe it is. That’s not what happens here in Heart’s Blood. Quick to shy away from a raised voice and to retreat from an aggressive step, Caitrin exhibited very real manifestations of the trauma she suffered. Her thoughts were often a tangle and she questioned her instincts. More than the growth her reactions made possible and plausible, more than the sympathy her history invoked in the reader, Caitrin was a fully realized character you wanted to sit with for hours as she told her story.

Once Caitrin settled into Whistling Tor, her courage was challenged by the stronghold’s inhabitants, from the Chieftain himself to the unlikely specters that alienated him from those he was meant to lead. And with each step Caitrin took toward trust, the reader learned about those earning it.

Anluan, for instance, lashes out at Caitrin the moment he lays eyes on her, and his anger is a product of his own self-doubt and self-incrimination. The reader begins to understand how the past shaped Anluan’s present, what being a Chieftain means to him versus what he is able to do, and we eventually see how he tries to balance his frustration and fury with tenderness. Basically, his character evolves naturally and reasonably.

I’m happy to say, too, that the strong characterization did not end with Caitrin and Anluan. All of those staying at Whistling Tor came alive for me. Some, in the end, painfully so, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. And the only exception would have to be Caitrin’s tormentors; in a way, though, their shallow nature is revealed in the depth that Marillier does not allow them. So, thinking on it, I realized that I loved the characters, which is huge for me, but I realized that their world pulled at me as well.

Whistling Tor is very much shrouded: in secrets and mist, in pain and hope. The descriptions of the forest, stronghold, Irial’s garden, and the village were well done, and totally painted a picture in my mind. I felt like I was there, walking beside Caitrin into the library, or in the kitchen with Magnus. I felt the chill of early morning, heard the spectral voices whispering between the trees, and felt the flames of fire.

And then, of course, there is the mystery of Whistling Tor’s curse, a quest of sorts for freedom, and a story of love shared without condition. It had all the right ingredients, mixed in the best possible way.

The one thing that caught me off guard was the pace, which was slower than I had anticipated. I couldn’t turn the pages of Cybele’s Secret quickly enough, but I found that time had to be taken with Heart’s Blood; the story simply didn’t want or need to be rushed. I wonder if some readers may find themselves distracted, or impatient. And maybe the pacing seemed slow only to me. It certainly didn’t negatively impact my reaction.

I’ve not once been disappointed by Juliet Marillier, and Heart’s Blood is no exception. It will find its place on my keeper shelf, right beside her others.

Speaking of…

I’m glad my interest in non-fiction is kicking into gear now. Look what I just stumbled across:

Neverland: J. M. Barrie, The Du Mauriers, and the Dark Side of Peter Pan by Piers Dudgeon

The untold story behind Peter Pan: The shocking account of J. M. Barrie’s abuse and exploitation of the du Maurier family. In his revelatory Neverland, Piers Dudgeon tells the tragic story of J. M. Barrie and the Du Maurier family. Driven by a need to fill the vacuum left by sexual impotence, Barrie sought out George du Maurier, Daphne du Maurier’s grandfather (author of the famed Trilby), who specialized in hypnosis. Barrie’s fascination and obsession with the Du Maurier family is a shocking study of greed and psychological abuse, as we observe Barrie as he applies these lessons in mind control to captivate George’s daughter Sylvia, his son Gerald, as well as their children—who became the inspiration for the Darling family in Barrie’s immortal Peter Pan.

Barrie later altered Sylvia’s will after her death so that he could become the boys’ legal guardian, while pushing several members of the family to nervous breakdown and suicide. Barrie’s compulsion to dominate was so apparent to those around him that D. H. Lawrence once wrote: J. M Barrie has a fatal touch for those he loves. They die.

Doesn’t that cover just catch your eye? And then the topic…Well, Finding Neverland doesn’t exactly portray Barrie in this same light. I think it sounds fascinating. This one is definitely going on my list.