#ya novel review

[runawaymarbles]

Reading Mockingjay as an adult is extra devastating because. Of course the plucky teenager and her ragtag friends aren't going to sneak into a government building to kill the president with a bow and arrow. That's absolutely ridiculous. It's the kind of thing that's only possible in the kind of propaganda that Coin developed. But she's so good at it that in some ways she tricks the reader into thinking that's the kind of story this is, too--even after 3 books reminding us that pretty much everything that Katniss does the second she volunteers is manipulated by adults pulling strings to make propaganda in some form or another.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Weinersmith and Boulet’s “Bea Wolf”

On July 14, I'm giving the closing keynote for the fifteenth HACKERS ON PLANET EARTH, in QUEENS, NY. Happy Bastille Day! On July 20, I'm appearing in CHICAGO at Exile in Bookville.

Bea Wolf is Zach Weinersmith and Boulet's ferociously amazingly great illustrated kids' graphic novel adaptation of the Old English epic poem, which inspired Tolkien, who helped bring it to popularity after it had languished in obscurity for centuries:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250776297/beawolf

Boy is this a wildly improbable artifact. Weinersmith and Boulet set themselves the task of bringing Germanic heroic saga from more than a thousand years ago to modern children, while preserving the meter and the linguistic and literary tropes of the original. And they did it!

There are some changes, of course. Grendel – the boss monster that both Beowulf and Bea Wulf must defeat – is no longer obsessed with decapitating his foes and stealing their heads. In Bea Wulf, Grendel is a monstrously grown up and boring adult who watches cable news and flosses twice per day, and when he defeats the kids whose destruction he is bent upon, he does so by turning them into boring adults, too.

And Bea Wulf – and the kings that do battle with Grendel – are not interested in the gold and jewels that the kings of Beowulf hoard. In Bea Wulf, the treasure is toys, chocolate, soda, candy, food without fiber, television shows without redeeming educational content, water balloons, nerf swords and spears, and other stuff beloved of kids and hated by parents.

That substitution is key to transposing the thousand-year-old adult epic Beowulf for enjoyment by small children in the 21st century. After all, what makes Beowulf so epic is the sense that it is set in a time in which a primal valor still reigned, but it is narrated for an audience that has been tamed and domesticated. Beowulf makes you long for a never-was time of fierce and unwavering bravery. Bea Wulf beautifully conjures the years of early childhood when you and the kids in your group had your own little sealed-off world, which grownups could barely perceive and never understand.

Growing up, after all, is a process of repeating things that are brave the first time you do them, over and over again, until they become banal. That's what "coming of age" really boils down to: the slow and relentless transformation of the mythic, the epic, and the unknowable and unknown into the tame, the explained, the mastered. When you're just mastering balance and coordination, the playground climber is a challenge out of legend. A couple years later, it's just something you climb.

The correspondences between the leeching away of magic lamented in Beowulf and experienced by all of us as we grow out of childhood are obvious in hindsight and surprising and beautiful and bittersweet when you encounter them in Bea Wolf.

This effect owes a large debt to Boulet's stupendous artwork. Boulet brings a vibe rarely seen in American kids' illustration, owing quite a lot to France's bande dessinée tradition. Of course, this is a Firstsecond book, and they established themselves as an exciting and fresh kids' publisher in the USA nearly 20 years ago by bringing some of Europe's finest comics to an American audience for the first time. You can get a sense of Boulet's darker-than-average, unabashedly anarchic illustrations here:

https://www.comixtrip.fr/bibliotheque/bea-wolf-weinersmith-boulet-albin-michel/

The utter brilliance of Bea Wulf is as much due to the things it preserves from the original epic as it is to the updates and changes. Weinersmith has kept the Old English tradition of alliteration, right from the earliest passages, with celebrations of heroes like "Tanya, treat-taker, terror of Halloween, her costume-cache vast, sieging kin and neighbor, draining full candy-bins, fearing not the fate of her teeth. Ten thousand treats she took. That was a fine Tuesday."

Weinersmith also preserves the kennings – the elaborate figurative compound phrases that replace nouns – that turn ordinary names and places into epithets at you have to riddle out, like calling a river "the sliding sea."

These literary devices, rarely seen today, are extremely powerful, and they conjure up the force and mystique that has kept Beowulf in our current literary discourse for more than a millennium. They also make this a super fun book to read aloud.

When Jim Henson was first conceiving of Sesame Street, he made a point of designing it to have jokes and riffs that would appeal to adults, even if some of the nuance would be lost on kids. He did this because he wanted to make art that adults and kids could enjoy together, both because that would give adults a chance to help kids actively explore the ideas on-screen, but also because it would bring some magic into those adults' lives.

This is a very winning combination (not for nothing, it's also the original design brief for Disneyland). Weinersmith and Boulet have produced a first-rate work of adult and kid literature, both a perfect entree to Beowulf for anyone contemplating a dive into old English epic poetry, and a kids' book full of booger jokes and transgressive scenes of perfect mischief.

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/24/awesome-alliteration/#hellion-hallelujah

[jesncin]

⭐️✨LUNAR BOY RECIEVED ANOTHER STARRED REVIEW FROM KIRKUS REVIEWS!!!✨⭐️

We now have two starred reviews, from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly! Starred Kirkus reviews are extremely rare and difficult to get, we're beyond blown away that Lunar Boy was able to get such a prestigious mark. Reading a review praising the Indonesian and queer representation has me all in my feelings.

[jasminewalkerauthor]

Trope chats: death personified

Death, the eternal mystery that awaits every living being, has been personified and conceptualized in various ways throughout literary history. This installment of trope chats embarks on an exploration of the personification of death in literature, tracing its evolution over time, examining its impact on society, and considering the cultural influences that shape its myriad representations.

I. Ancient Personifications: The Grim Reaper and Beyond

The personification of death dates back to ancient mythologies and folklore. In Greek mythology, Thanatos, the god of death, was often depicted as a winged figure escorting souls to the afterlife. The Romans similarly personified death as the god Mors. In medieval Europe, the Grim Reaper emerged as a skeletal figure wielding a scythe, becoming an iconic representation of death in Western culture.

II. The Dance of Death: Medieval Allegories

During the medieval period, the "Dance of Death" emerged as a popular motif in literature and art. This allegorical theme depicted death as an impartial force claiming individuals from all walks of life, emphasizing the universality of mortality. The macabre dance, often portrayed in murals, manuscripts, and woodcuts, became a poignant reminder of the transience of human existence.

III. Literary Personifications: From Shakespeare to Modern Works

In literature, death has been personified in countless forms. Shakespeare's "Hamlet" features the haunting figure of Yorick's skull, a memento mori that encapsulates the inevitability of death. The works of Edgar Allan Poe often feature death as a spectral presence, accentuating the eerie and supernatural aspects of mortality. In contemporary literature, authors like Neil Gaiman ("The Sandman") and Terry Pratchett ("Discworld") play with the personification of death, offering nuanced and sometimes humorous portrayals.

IV. Cultural Influences: Eastern Perspectives

Beyond Western literature, Eastern cultures have their own personifications of death. In Hinduism, the god Yama serves as the lord of death and justice, presiding over the cycle of reincarnation. Japanese folklore features the Shinigami, death spirits or gods who guide souls to the afterlife. These representations showcase the diverse ways cultures interpret and personify the inevitability of death.

V. Allegories and Symbolism: Death as a Literary Device

The personification of death in literature is often employed as a literary device to convey complex themes. In John Donne's "Death, Be Not Proud," death is addressed as a transient force, diminished in the face of eternal life. In Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude," death takes on a fantastical and whimsical persona, blurring the lines between life and afterlife.

VI. Impact on Society: Fear, Reflection, and Coping Mechanisms

The personification of death in literature has a profound impact on society. It instills fear, prompting individuals to confront their mortality and grapple with existential questions. Simultaneously, it serves as a tool for reflection, encouraging contemplation on the nature of life, the inevitability of death, and the legacies one leaves behind. Literature becomes a conduit for coping with the existential anxiety that death elicits.

The personification of death in literature, an ever-present and evolving theme, offers a lens through which humanity examines its mortality. From ancient mythologies to contemporary novels, death takes on myriad forms, reflecting cultural perspectives, existential concerns, and the evolving nature of storytelling. As literature continues to shape our understanding of the inevitable enigma, the personification of death remains a timeless and resonant exploration of the human condition.

[romantasyreader28]

Dark academia-ish collage📚

My collage, pls don’t steal❤️

[meeka-chann]

Novel #14

All The Bright Places

By Jennifer Niven (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Favorite lines from the novel:

• “Sometimes I say and do things without thinking, and people don't like that, people like labels. They like putting you in a box. They want you to be who they want you to be.”

• “People are stupid, but the tiniest few might actually mean well.”

• “He taught me that it was okay to get lost, as long as you find your way back.”

• “The thing I realize is, that it's not what you take, it's what you leave.”

• “You are all the colors in one, at full brightness.”

• “We do not remember days, we remember moments.”

• “The great thing about this life of ours is that you can be someone different to everybody.”

• “The problem with people is they forget that most of the time it's the small things that count.”

• “It's my experience that people are a lot more sympathetic if they can see you hurting.”

• “'Lovely' is a lovely word that should be used more often.”

• “You make me lovely, and it’s so lovely to be lovely to the one I love.…”

• “You have been in every way all that anyone could be.… If anybody could have saved me it would have been you.”

• “Sometimes there’s beauty in the tough words—it’s all in how you read them.”

• “I do my best thinking at night when everyone else is sleeping. No interruptions. No noise. I like the feeling of being awake when no one else is.”

• “We are all alone, trapped in these bodies and our own minds, and whatever company we have in this life is only fleeting and superficial.”

• “I learned that there is good in this world, if you look hard enough for it. I learned that not everyone is disappointing, including me, and that a 1,257-foot bump in the ground can feel higher than a bell tower if you’re standing next to the right person.”

• “I know life well enough to know you can’t count on things staying around or standing still, no matter how much you want them to. You can’t stop people from dying. You can’t stop them from going away. You can’t stop yourself from going away either.”

• “I know myself well enough to know that no one else can keep you awake or keep you from sleeping.”

• “What would I have said to him if I'd known I would never see him again?”

• “She is oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. The same elements that are inside the rest of us, but I can’t help thinking she’s more than that and she’s got other elements going on that no one’s ever heard of, ones that make her stand apart from everybody else.”

• “People rarely bring flowers to a suicide.”

• “I am on the highest branch.

We are written in paint.

I believe in signs.

The glow of Ultraviolet.

A lake. A prayer. It's so lovely to be lovely in Private."

• “Stars in the sky, stars on the ground. It’s hard to tell where the sky ends and the earth begins. I feel the need to say something grand and poetic, but the only thing I come up with is “It’s lovely.”

• “Sorry wastes time. You have to live your life like you'll never be sorry. It's easier just to do the right thing from the start so there's nothing to apologize for.”

• “Because it's not a lie if it's how you feel.”

• “No more winter at all. Finch, you brought me spring.”

• “There are bright places even in dark times, and if there isn't… you can be that bright place.”

• “You got at least a thousand capacities in you even if you don't think so.”

• “Maybe even the smallest places can mean something.”

• “You saved my life. Why couldn't I save yours?”

• “You know what I like about you, Ultraviolet Remarkey-able? Everything.”

• “And in that moment there’s nothing I fear except losing hold of her hand.”

• “What a terrible feeling to love someone and not be able to help them.”

The photos used are not mine. Credits go to the rightful owners.

[middlegradeeveryday]

What I’m Reading Right Now:

Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano Past Reads This Year:

The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mats Patel by Sheela Chari (4.5 stars)

Frostheart by Jamie Littler (4.5 stars)

Maybe a Mermaid by Josephine Cameron (4 stars)

Front Desk by Kelly Yang (5 stars)

Almost There (A Twisted Tale) by Farrah Rochon (4 stars)

Emily Windsnap Book 4: The Sirens Secret by Liz Kessler (4.5 Stars)

The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan (4 Stars)

Emily Windsnap Book 3: The Castle in the Mist by Liz Kessler (4 Stars)

Emily Windsnap Book 2: The Monster in the Deep by Liz Kessler (4 Stars)

Straight on till Morning (A Twisted Tale) by Liz Braswell (4.5 Stars)

The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities by Rick Riordan Presents (4.5 Stars)

The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler (4 Stars)

Stars Above: A Lunar Chronicles Quintet by Marissa Meyer (4.5 Stars)

When Life Gives You Mangos by Keeren Getten (5 Stars)

The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O’Neill (4 Stars)

Magical Boy: Volume 1 by The Kao (4.5 Stars)

Jujistsu Kaisen 0 by Gege Akutami (5 Stars)

Jessi’s Secret Language (Graphic Novel) by Ann M. Martin (4 Stars)

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi (4.5 Stars)

Goldilocks: Wanted Dead or Alive by Chris Colfer (3.5 Stars)

[sophieinwonderland]

The Plurality of... The Hybrid Chronicles: What's Left of Me

Over the past couple weeks, I've been listening to book one of The Hybrid Chronicles, What's Left of Me.

And it is AMAZING. Fantastic story with a fantastic narrator!

As always, expect huge spoilers ahead!

A World of Twin Souls

The Hybrid Chronicles takes place in an alternate reality where every person is born as two people. Each has their own name. Each has motor control of the body at different times and can switch who is in control. And they communicated with each other internally with mindvoices just like most systems.

This is how it is in the beginning, at least.

There's a recessive soul that usually fades away naturally though childhood. Usually around 4 or 5. Some take longer. If the recessive soul doesn't fade away, if they don't "settle", then the two become a Hybrid.

If a child reaches 10 and hasn't settled yet, they're sent away to nightmarish institutions.

The history the government gives explains that Hybrids are all terrible and chaotic. At some point in the history of The Americas (The whole supercontinent appears to have one centralized government in this universe) people rebelled against the Hybrid leadership, massacred the Hybrids, and took control of their new Hybrid-free nation.

The Americas became intensely xenophobic and trade was cutoff from the rest of the world.

The government of The Americas pushes constant anti-hybrid propaganda, showing the other nations as violent and destructive because of their hybrid leadership.

A weird note on names: One of the least believable things about this story to me is that parents give their children two names. It seems like it would make much more sense for them to just call each soul by the same name. Maybe with a number attached. For example, you might just have Addie 1 and Addie 2 instead of Eva and Addie. Then when the recessive soul fades away, it will feel less like your child just died. Because it seems really messed up that there's just a world where you're expected to name two children, knowing that one would be guaranteed death. (In real life, it's common for places with high infant mortality rates to not name their babies immediately.)

But then again, maybe some people tried that, and it just resulted in one of the souls choosing a different name for themselves anyway. And then if that soul with a different name settled as the dominant, then the parents get a child with a name they didn't choose. I suppose I could accept that headcanon. 🤷‍♀️

Eva and Addie

That brings us to the main characters. Our viewpoint character is Eva, a recessive soul who has lost motor control of the body. But she didn't fade away completely. She shares a head with Addie.

The two have to constantly hide who and what they are from the world, lying to everyone and saying that only Addie survived.

At the same time, Eva longs for nothing more than to be able to move her fingers again. To talk to people outside of their body.

The relationship between these two characters is the heart of What's Left of Me. The two are like sisters. They comfort each other when they're hurt or scared. They fight with each other. They fight for each other. And they are both willing to sacrifice for the other.

Addie has to wrestle between her desires to remain "normal," and to support Eva and let Eva be herself.

As a system, something I often hear come up from singlets is a question of why you would let someone take control of your body.

And I think this amazing bit of dialog when Addie and Eva find a way for Eva to regain her mobility encapsulates it perfectly.

When you care about someone, of course you would be willing to give up time for them. Even if it's hard sometimes to step away from the reins.

At its core, this book is about pluralphobia. In part, from a society that is openly hostile to plurals. But it's also about internalized pluralphobia. It's about Addie and Eva's self-hatred instilled into them by a world that refuses to accept them.

It's about their own struggle to be able to accept themselves.

This is such a poignant quote and it stuck with me more than anything else in the book.

So far, most of the excerpts from this are focused on the general premise of the book and the relationship of the protagonists. What I'm going to say next is more spoilery as it's from near the end of the book. If what I've mentioned already as enticed you to read it for yourself, this is a good place to stop...

...

...

...

Acceptance

Through the story, Eva gradually regains motor controls and the two start to accept themselves more.

And I must say that it's an amazing journey. I love seeing Eva so excited to talk to people and even just move her fingers for the first time in years.

Every new milestone is so well-written. (And the narrator does an incredible job playing the characters in the audio book.)

And it all culminates in this exchange, with Eva in full control and no longer hiding, or ashamed to be who she is.

Proud. Determined. No longer afraid to be who she is.

Parallels to Real Pluralphobia

The ages of settling are interesting to me. If it's not done intentionally, it at least feels like a pretty big coincidence.

I recently mentioned my feelings about imaginary friends and the belief that many of them are sentient beings. Through that lens, you can see a lot of parallels.

An imaginary friend in childhood may be treated as if they're real by the rest of the family, just playing around. It's often seen as a normal thing. But as a child ages, imaginary friends are more stigmatized. Children are expected to outgrow them. And most will disappear.

Except when they don't...

And then having people in your head is suddenly treated as an illness. You're suffering psychotic hallucinations or a dissociative disorder. Much like with hybrids, you're treated as if you're "sick" or "broken."

And the age range of this is pretty close. Most imaginary friends fade away during early childhood. This is also when self-states are alleged to become fully integrated and why 10 is usually considered the maximum cutoff for the trauma that causes DID.

Stigma of plurals as "dangerous" is persistent through our media in the form of the evil alter trope, and through media that portrays malevolent psychotic hallucinations as self-conscious entities with their own identities and personality.

There's not some huge government conspiracy in real-life. But the connections are definitely there between the fear of hybrids in The Hybrid Chronicles and the pluralphobia and ableism plurals experience in the real world.

And with our country's history of ableism, even being forcefully shipped away to an institution for being plural would have been a real fear 50 years ago.

On mechanics of Manifestation Types and Emotion Influence...

Having compared the plurality of the book to real plurality and to imaginary friends, I should mention that the souls of the book are exclusively fronters. There are no inner worlds, nor do either Addie or Eva have external visualized mindforms.

And even when she lacks control, Eva seems to almost always be attuned to the body.

Another thing the book handled really well, I thought, was the sharing of emotions between the two and how they can both experience emotions from the other, while clearly identifying those emotions as belonging to the other soul.

And with this excerpt, I feel I should also give a shoutout to the unique formatting choice to denote their mind speech. Though, full disclosure: the audio book can be confusing sometimes when that formatting doesn't exist and you have to depend heavily on context clues to figure out if something was said in their head or through their mouth. Sometimes I didn't realize that something had been verbalized... or not verbalized... until a few sentences later.

Conclusion

What's Left of Me is a fantastic book exploring (whether intentional or not) plurality and pluralphobia in an alternate universe where everyone is born with two souls. It's such a great story, and the dynamic between Eda and Addie is handled amazingly.

Writing this felt weird. When doing The Plurality of… Batman (Failsafe), I was focusing on one character who happened to be plural and ignoring most of the story aside from what was relevant to that.

Likewise, The Plurality of… Skyward - Diones dealt with a single alien species. None of these really felt like I was writing a review of the whole work.

But with What's Left of Me, the plurality is so central to everything that it's practically unavoidable. It's seeped into every layer of the worldbuilding and the characters.

I still left a lot out. There are a bunch of hybrids in this book and a lot I could say about each of them. Maybe I will another time. I chose to only focus on Addie and Eva to keep this from getting too unfocused and avoid giving much more away than I needed to.

And that itself is a situation I haven't been in, where I feel like I need to omit a lot of the plurality in a story just because there's SO MUCH there.

It's a plural world where about half the characters are plurals.

And I only talked about the main two.

There is just too much plurality in this book to cover it all in a single post. So do check it out for yourselves.

And as always, thank you for your time. Have an amazing day! 💖

[elenajohansenreads]

Books I Read in 2024

#26 - Imogen, Obviously

Rating: 5/5 stars

And now we have recaptured the magic of Simon that I felt was sorely missing from The Upside of Unrequited.

It's impossible not to see how this novel (2023) is deeply informed by Albertalli's experience in publicly coming out (2020) after years of criticism since her debut novel (2015) for writing queer characters while being, as her Wikipedia page puts it, a "presumed heterosexual."

While I don't share that exact experience, I am a white American bisexual woman who didn't come out until later in life, mostly because I didn't even figure out I was bi until my early thirties, and it was several more years before I felt comfortable enough to claim the label, precisely because of the pressures of compulsory heterosexuality, straight-passing "privilege," and the eternal debate raging in my head due to imposter syndrome of "but am I really queer enough?"--all of which are a part of this story.

This book might be YA and hopefully has both entertained teen readers and helped some of them figure out who they are--but it's also very much a book Albertalli wrote for herself, and for me, and for an entire generation of women who are queer adults now despite growing up either believing they were straight, or knowing they weren't but staying closeted, or even not knowing enough about themselves to question who they were.

While most of the supporting cast is queer and supportive, one character in particular is the queer gatekeeper loaded with good intentions but often spouting toxic rhetoric despite that. I appreciated the nuance of it, because her history naturally makes her defensive in understandable ways, but the narrative doesn't shy away from calling out her bullshit, and the ending doesn't resolve her part in the story--she's a loose thread deliberately, and it's rare for me to say this, but I like that decision. It's not important to Imogen in the midst of her happy ending that she decide if she can forgive that behavior and they can continue to be friends. That's something she clearly can figure out later as she figures out more about herself (and hopefully if the gatekeeper's behavior improves to the point where she no longer deserves that descriptor.)

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

Take All of Us by Natalie Lief

Publisher: Peachtree Teen / Holiday House

Release date: 4 June 2024

Genre: young adult apocalyptic/dystopian horror

If you like:

Unbury-your-gays

Disabled kids surviving an apocalypse together

Found family

Zombies 🧟‍♂���

Some light cannibalism

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

Synopsis

Five years ago, a parasite poisoned the water of Ian’s West Virginia hometown, turning dozens of locals into dark-eyed, oil-dripping shells of their former selves. With chronic migraines and seizures limiting his physical abilities, Ian relies on his best friend and secret crush Eric to mercy-kill any infected people they come across.

Until a new health report about the contamination triggers a mandatory government evacuation, and Ian cracks his head in the rush. Used to hospitals and health scares, Ian always thought he'd die young... but he wasn’t planning on coming back. Much less facing the slow, painful realization that Eric left him behind to die.

Desperate to confront Eric before the parasite takes over, Ian joins two others left behind—his childhood rival Monica and the jaded prepper Angel—on a journey across town. What they don't know is that Eric is also looking for Ian, and he's determined to mercy-kill him.

Content warnings

Death, violence

Ableism

Blood, gore, body horror

Cannibalism (but its not super graphic imo)

Vomiting (but descriptions of vomit is minimal)

Abandonment

Past medical content

Epidemic

Hallucinations

Mentioned physical/parental abuse

Review

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!! 💀🧟🛢️

There's a post about how if people became zombies they would just continue going about their day-to-day lives because that's what their bodies remember. That is literally this book.

I found the synopsis to be rather misleading. It gives the impression that this book is a scary survival thriller, where the characters have to fight to stay alive, against terrible odds with heavy angst. While Ian, our main boy, does do some angsting, for the most part, this book feels really cute and cozy to me. The begrudging-allies-to-found-family pipeline is real and I eat it up every single time. The characters initially beef with each other upon meeting, but quickly bond over their shared circumstances (being abandoned, chronic illnesses, being outcasts). I liked how the author quickly established their personalities and circumstances, making it clear how their dynamic works from the get-go.

I'm sleep deprived and running out of steam so the rest of this review is in bulletpoints.

The Romance

Cute!

It's giving 😳👉👈

I didn't expect it to turn out the way it did, given the synopsis, which made it sound very ominous.

The Chronic Illness Rep

idk how accurate it is, as I have no first-hand experience

The synopsis says that Ian gets chronic migraines, but he is dead for most of the book, so he doesn't have any migraines in the story, but he also doesn't mention it ever

He does talk about his epilepsy though, but mainly in terms of how people react to him (staring, calling for an ambulance when he doesn't need it)

The synopsis says that Monica is chronically ill, though the book doesn't state exactly how, and she also uses a cane

Character Arcs

Ian's arc is mainly about how, as a chronically ill person, he struggles to take up space because of the guilt he feels from needing people to help him

I think Ian's arc was well-executed, but the arcs for all the other characters were lacking

I wish Eric could have gotten his own arc, he has a bunch of stuff that goes unaddressed

The Premise

The most unrealistic part of this book is that the dead people have oil for blood and the US government didn't round them up and throw them in the Oil Extractor 3000

The most realistic part of this book is that the government (belatedly) discovered a parasite in this town's water supply that turns people into zombies and instead of trying to clean the water or evacuate the townspeople, just told them to drink filtered water

Amount of Horror

Most of this book didn't read like horror to me, other than the light cannibalism

The last 10% is the most horror-y part, very trippy and strange, with more gory bits

Overall

This wasn't the best written book, there were some minor plot holes, and the character development could use some work

But! This was so entertaining and so much fun to read so 5 stars just for enjoyment reasons

[checkoutmybookshelf]

And the Familiar was a Sourdough Starter

This is actually not a book I picked up, it was a book a friend who is very into baking loaned me. And let me just tell you, it was a DELIGHT from start to finish. There were baked goods, an aggressive sourdough starter, and so, so many gingerbread cookies. There were also excellent questions about what it is to be a hero, the limitations and failures of authority, and under what precise circumstances climbing up a garderobe becomes a viable option (spoiler alert: it's when there are literally no other options). Let's talk A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking.

There will Be SPOILERS below the break! Be warned!

Fourteen-year-old Mona is a baker first and foremost. If she sometimes can save overworked dough with magic or make a like of gingerbread men can-can, well thats just a thing she can do. She is a baker. Until, of course, a dead body shows up on the kitchen floor.

Dead bodies showing up randomly is just never, ever a good thing.

Its even less a good thing when a bougie, dickheaded wizard from the castle decides you did it, and because a whole lot of people at a whole lot of levels failed catastrophically in their job, you end up in the position of having to climb a garderrobe to galvanize a weak leader into not doing a magical racism. And then because EVEN MORE PEOPLE FAILED TO DO THEIR JOBS, you at 14 are the last wizard left to defend the city (which is currently sans army) against a bunch of mercenary raiders. Oh, and your magic is entirely bread-based.

I, much like Mona was, would have been royally pissed that I had to be a city-saving hero at 14 because the system and a bunch of key individuals failed that hard and it somehow got left to me. And that is possibly one of the best parts of this book, is that discussion that heroes rarely feel heroic, and then asks WHY. And the answer is almost always some variation on "because a bunch of other adults fucked up." And that sucks, and it's hard, and it's unfair, and all of that is acknowledged in story. But Mona still has to step up and BE that hero.

Thankfully, however, the book at least acknowledges that the 14-year-old should never have to make the sacrifice play. Knackering Molly, a deadass (pun fully intended) horse necromancer who was heavily implied to have been forcibly employed by and subsequently deeply traumatized by the army in her youth, steps up to make the sacrifice play to save the city that did her so dirty. And she does it not because it's heroic or even because it's the right thing to do, no. She does it because if she doesn't, then another wizard kid--of whom she is rather fond--would have to. It's not fair that Molly has to take that hit either, but she was a grown-ass adult who was capable of making that choice, and I love that she did it for Mona. If Mona hadn't been in the picture, I think Molly would have let the city fall without a second thought. And that might even have been the right choice.

Wrapped up in Mona's hard lesson in adults fucking up is a hard lesson about the fact that authority can be weak and corrupt, and it can and will use state actors (the "all cops are bad" energy of a couple of scenes in this book is legendary) to oppress and murder people without power or authority. It encourages questioning and holding authority figures accountable. And once the fight is over, it acknowledges that being given a butt-ton of awards and recognition doesn't make any of it ok. Mona is still angry at the Duchess after all is said and done, and that is very much framed as perfectly understandable and acceptable.

Now, while the politics and power brokering and coming into an adult understanding of how systems of authority work are really excellent parts of this book, they're not the only excellent bits. We have got to talk about the magic system.

People who hate soft magic systems should leave now, because the magic system in this book is softer than raw dough. There is no Sandersonian breath counting here. But I have always thought that magic systems shouldn't get in the way of a good story, and I like a good soft magic system. This one also goes back to basics with what they call sympathetic magic--basically, if you have a bit if a thing, you can command the rest of the thing (you might recognize this as thaumaturgy).

This works beautifully for baking magic, because you can do a LOT of this with dough. And Mona does, from little magics like saving overworked dough or stopping biscuits from burning to full on bad gingerbread men who sabotage the enemy and GIANT BREAD GOLEMS. Seriously, the magic and the baking works together with a natural synergy that just happens effortlessly. The gingerbread men are sassy and wonderful.

But of course I would be remiss if I didn't mention Bob the Sourdough Starter. Bob is...an accident, more or less, from when Mona panicked that she had killed her aunt's sourdough starter and threw magic at it. Bob was the result. Bob eats flour, sugar, odds and ends of baking, and the odd dead fish when nobody's looking. He also has definite opinions about people. Mona is the center of his world, and Spindle and Aunt Tabitha are acceptable. Uncle Albert gets growled at, and when Mona yeets Bob at the Spring Green Man during his attempted assassination of her, Bob burns the Spring Green Man like acid. Needless to say, when the city is besieged, they yeet chunks of Bob at the oncoming hordes and it is...disturbingly effective.

In this house, we stan Bob. From a safe distance and with a haddock I hand, if at all possible.

Overall, this book was a delight to read, and I'm a little sad I have to return it to one of my book buddies. Mona was a treat as a protagonist, the supporting cast was colorful and fun, and the stakes were realistically high. I highly recommend this treat of a book.

[heyteenbookshey]

Let's relaunch this bitch

This blog was first made I believe in 2011 when I was eighteen and kept rolling for a few years until like many people in their early twenties I stopped reading YA.

But guess what I started again! A lot of rereading or reading new-to-me stuff from 00's and 10's but also contemporary YA--have you read We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds? It's AMAZING.

And NEW ADULT?? I'm lumping it in with this blog this genre didn't event exist when I was in college WOW

Anyway

Since I'm back in the YA space why not return to this space?

I don't imagine anyone is holding a candle for this blog in 2024 but I make no promises about it being the same or different because there's a big difference between a mega disaster college student running a YA blog and a 31 year old adulty adult running it.

Maybe it'll be better!

I am out of the loop and need recommendations for this journey! Please reply or send an ask with your recommendations!

And if you're wondering: why are you still reading YA at 31?

Because I've tried a lot of other stuff and nothing as intense, real, brain chemistry sparkler cracking and GOOD as good young adult literature.

[mantimae]

I wanna take a sec to talk about Lucky Penny.

If you haven’t been lucky enough to have heard of Lucky Penny before now: it is my favorite graphic novel. It has been since junior year of High-school. I am now a senior in my final semester in college (and accounting for my Covid style gap year) Lucky Penny has been my #1 fave graphic novel for six years and counting.

It’s funny, it’s raunchy, the characters feel real, the story is well paced and takes some very fun and unexpected twists! However, the story and art aren’t the only reason I love Lucky Penny. I originally found Yuko Ota and Ananth Hirsh via their autobiographical book of daily life comics Johnny Wander: Our Cats Are More Famous Than Us, which I had picked up from the local library and was absolutely thrilled to find out was a webcomic that at the time was still actively updating. On their website (linked here!) you can actually read Lucky Penny and their Autobiographical comics completely for free as well as their current (still updating) work, Barbarous.

For me Lucky Penny acts as a bridge and a love letter to middle school me, who avidly read webcomics on solo hosting sights, many of which have been lost to time or have simply stopped updating. Self published webcomics outside of companies like Tapas (formerly Tapastic) and LINE Webtoon have ensured that solo host websites are far and few in between and routinely get looked over. Despite existing in the face of these big companies Johnny Wander lives on.

Lucky Penny is like warm soup. It’s comforting and every read feels different depending on where I am emotionally and just in my life in general. You can find Lucky Penny free to read on Johnny Wander here and even grab a physical copy for yourself here if you prefer paper. Updates on Yuko Ota and Ananth Hirsh’s current work and activities can be found on their respective tumblrs @aidosaur and @ananthhirsh

If you choose to read Lucky Penny I hope you love it. I’m sure you will. :)

[jasminewalkerauthor]

Deep dives into folklore: Mermaids

I have heard in many places this year that 2023 is the year of the mermaid, with rise of ocean inspired fashion, release of the little mermaid and one could even say with dua lipa's mermaid barbie. Before the now wholesome representations of the mermaid, they were represented women's sexuality and vengence.

The origins of the mermaid can be traced back to ancient civilizations, where tales of sea creatures with human-like features appeared in various cultures. In Mesopotamia, the goddess Atargatis was depicted with a fishtail, while the Babylonian deity Ea was associated with water and wisdom. In Greek mythology, the sirens were alluring, half-bird, half-woman creatures who lured sailors to their demise with their enchanting songs. Though not exactly mermaids, these early figures laid the foundation for the concept of human-fish hybrids.

The mermaid we are more familiar with today has its roots in medieval folklore and maritime legends. One of the earliest written accounts of mermaids can be found in the ancient Syrian tale of "The Story of Simbad," which dates back to the 8th century. In this story, the protagonist encounters fish-tailed women on an island, emphasizing the allure and danger associated with these creatures.

During the Middle Ages, mermaids increasingly appeared in European folklore, often portrayed as seductive beings who used their beauty and mesmerizing songs to entice sailors to their doom, possibly taking influence from the sirens of greek mythology. These mermaids were seen as symbols of temptation, warning against the dangers of desire and the unknown depths of the sea.

The Renaissance period brought a shift in the perception of mermaids. As exploration and trade expanded, sailors returned with exotic tales and souvenirs, including depictions of mermaids. Artists of the time were inspired by these accounts and started to portray mermaids in their works of art. Renowned painters such as Hieronymus Bosch and Hans Christian Andersen's iconic "The Little Mermaid" further fueled the mermaid's popularity, embedding her in the realm of literature and art for generations to come.

As scientific knowledge advanced, mermaids gradually lost their mythical status and were relegated to the realm of superstition. The Age of Enlightenment and the rise of rationalism questioned the existence of such fantastical beings. Exploration and scientific discovery revealed the true nature of marine creatures, and mermaids were exposed as mere products of human imagination.

However, the mermaid's allure persisted even in the face of reason and skepticism. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the mermaid took on new forms in pop culture. P.T. Barnum, who you may recognise from the greatest showman, capitalized on the public's fascination with the unknown by exhibiting "The Fiji Mermaid," a grotesque hoax of stitched-together animal remains. Mermaids also made appearances in literature, such as "Peter Pan," where the character of Mermaid Lagoon adds a touch of enchantment to the story.

In the 20th century, mermaids experienced a renaissance in film and television. The original Disney Little Mermaid (1989) transformed the mermaid into a beloved and relatable heroine, providing a new narrative that focused on themes of personal agency, self-discovery, and true love. This reinvention not only delighted audiences but also cemented the mermaid's status as a cultural icon.

With the advent of the internet and social media, mermaids have experienced a resurgence in contemporary culture. Mermaid subcultures have emerged, with enthusiasts participating in mermaiding activities, donning elaborate tails, and engaging in underwater performances. The mermaid has also been adopted as a symbol of environmental activism, reminding us of the delicate balance between human activities and the preservation of marine ecosystems.

Overall, the concept of the mermaid has undergone a remarkable transformation over time. From ancient myths and folklore to modern-day popular culture, the mermaid has evolved from a cautionary tale of temptation to a cherished symbol of beauty, adventure, and environmental consciousness. The enduring fascination with mermaids serves as a testament to their enduring appeal and their ability to adapt to the ever-changing currents of human imagination.

[richincolor]

The Glass Scientists by S.H. Cotugno

Summary: The gothic worlds of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, and more collide in this graphic novel series about buried secrets, mad science, and misunderstood monsters. For fans of stylish reimaginings like Lore Olympus and gaslamp fantasies like The Night Circus ! London isn’t the safest place for mad scientists these days. After that whole ordeal with Frankenstein, angry mobs have gotten awfully good at hunting down monsters and wiping out anything they don’t understand. In fact, if it weren’t for one extraordinary young man, every out-of-the-box thinker would have been locked up . . . or worse. That young man is none other than Dr. Henry Jekyll. He believes mad scientists would thrive if they could just fix their public image, which is why he founded the Society for Arcane Sciences, a place where like-minded eccentrics could come together to defy the laws of nature in peace. But everything changes when a mysterious stranger arrives, bent on taking the Society in a radical new direction. With everyone turning against him, Jekyll’s life starts to spiral out of control, shattering all his carefully laid plans and threatening to expose his darkest secret—one that could destroy everything he has built from the inside out.

Review: I can't get over what an exciting time in graphic novels it is right now, especially in the YA and Middle Grade space. There is just so much out there -- from queer romcoms to thrilling adventures to well, graphic novels like The Glass Scientists. Creator S.H. Cotugno is someone I already follow online, since S.H. has worked on cartoons like Gravity Falls and The Owl House. Not to mention the graphic novel has garnered praise from creatores like ND Stevenson and Molly Knox Ostertag.

It's gothic, it's spooky, it's funny, and it's heartwarming -- and I was along for the ride. The Glass Scientists follows one Dr. Henry Jekyll, the founder of the Society for Arcane Sciences -- where quirky scientists (deemed "mad scientists" by society) go to follow their passions and find a home with other like-minded innovators. Outside the Society for Arcane Sciences lies the city of London, a place that is none too friendly (read: lots of angry mobs) when it comes to these scientific endeavors.

This is a story that mixes werewolves in with Frankenstein and the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde -- a delightful gtohic mishmash set in London. The illustrations are evocative and perfectly suited to the tone of the story, which veers between heartwrenching to laugh-out-loud hilarious. There are plenty of characters to root for, from side characters to the hero, who is in a battle with himself.

The Glass Scientists collects the first 7 chapters of its webcomic iteration -- that means that the graphic novel does end on a note that leaves you looking for the next installment. I'll definitely be checking out the webcomic to keep reading. If you're interested in a fun, gothic read, perfect for spooky season, this is it. Check it out!

Recommendation: Get it soon!

[michaelbaileywriter]

Station Identification Time

Who Am I? I’m a writer originally from Falmouth, MA who now lives in Oxford, MA with my awesome wife Veronica, two dogs, and four cats who don’t like to let us sleep in. After 15 years with the Falmouth Enterprise, where I worked as a general and political reporter, blogger, and editor, I left the news industry to focus on my creative writing. In addition to my novels (more on that in a…