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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

By Brookelorren on 6 Comments
Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes cover

When I first heard they were doing The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a Hunger Games prequel, last year, I was only mildly interested. Sure, I went to see all the movies, and it was one of the book series I’ve read in both Spanish and English, but it’s been at least 5 years since I’ve read it. Do I want to go back to the world? It turns out, the book was pretty good and now I want to reread The Hunger Games at some point.

The book centers on Coriolanus Snow, which, if you’ve read The Hunger Games, is an antagonist from the series. How is this book going to work out, making him likable? We’re all the heroes of our own stories, I guess. It turns out, I was pleasantly surprised.

What I Liked

What I liked most about The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was how it gives so much backstory into the original The Hunger Games trilogy. When we’re first dumped into the 74th annual Hunger Games, the capital has everything down already. They’re exciting (if not gruesome) to watch, there’s stakes for all the districts involved, and sometimes people actually volunteer for these things. The victors are rewarded! The 10th Hunger Games–not so much. They’re still figuring these things out. We get to see how these things are put into motion.

Then there’s “The Hanging Tree.” People have been talking about the origins to this song for years, wondering where it came from. It’s stuck with me for years, and I remember the tune still. We get to find out the story behind this song. I love it when book series tie into each other across a character’s universe (maybe that’s why I like shadowhunters books so much). There is so much here that brings Panem to life. It’s great.

Then there’s the story itself. Coriolanus is a sympathetic character–for most of the book. This is not the capital we’re used to, full of wealthy, privileged, and clueless citizens. While it is true they’re better off than everybody in the districts, Panem is only 10 years away from a devastating war. I have a German textbook written in the late 1970s, and from the impression I get from that book, they were still recovering from World War II (the infrastructure was so bad that telephone calls were a luxury). I found myself rooting for him throughout the book. He’s a mentor for the 10th Hunger Games, and gets assigned to the girl from District 12.

He’s thrown a lot of challenges and he has to overcome them. At the same time, despite his challenges, you see the ambition that eventually turns him into President Snow. His mentee is a great character as well, and you want to root for her too.

What I Liked Less

While I can’t say there was anything I disliked about The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, there was a part that surprised me. After the Hunger Games end, there’s still a third of the book left. What? Initially, it felt like the story should have ended there. However, the last third of the book shows us how Coriolanus Snow turns from a sympathetic character to being set on the path that leads him to becoming the villainous President Snow 64 years later. It also contains the origin to the song “The Hanging Tree,” which I really enjoyed.

Conclusion

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is an enjoyable story that gives us a lot of background into The Hunger Games. I want to go on and reread the original series now. There were times I didn’t want to put it down. I definitely recommend it if you liked the original series.

Naughts & Crosses

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Naughts and Crosses

What would life be like if hardcore racism still ran amok, except darker-skinned people had all the power and white people didn’t? This is the story of Naughts & Crosses.

Callum is a naught, or a white person in this world. His best friend in the whole wide world is Sephy, who is a cross. Callum’s mother used to work for Sephy’s family and they grew up together. When they were young, they didn’t think anything of it. As they grew older, they had to sneak off to be together.

Things start to get real when Callum and a few other naughts are allowed into Sephy’s school. It was really just a political move; the crosses don’t really want them there. Callum believes that he needs to pretend that he’s not Sephy’s friend when they’re at school, yet Sephy doesn’t understand why. This causes a lot of problems, because nobody thinks naughts and crosses should be friends.

At the same time, a group of naught terrorists is trying to fight for equality using violence. Tragically, they are pulled apart over time, even though in their hearts, they still love each other. I won’t tell you how their story ends, but this is not the book to read if you’re looking for a traditional happily ever after.

This is one of those books that is designed to make you think. A lot of the events in this book must have been inspired by history, such as the integration of schools in the United States, where the national guard had to be called in to ensure the black kids got to school safely. The Liberation Militia, the terrorist group of naughts in this story, could have been inspired by the more violently minded wing of the civil rights movement. There were little details, such as band-aids coming in colors for light-skinned people, that were also brought up in this book. My son experienced this the other day; some of his Halloween makeup was unusable because it was made for white people.

I enjoyed the book and the pages practically flew by. Will I read the next four books in the series? Maybe. The main characters in the next stories are different and so it’s not my top priority though.

While I don’t know about the rest of the series, I recommend Naughts & Crosses. Don’t read this book if you’re in the mood for a happily ever after, but if you’re in the mood for a tragedy that makes you think, this might be just the book for you.

War Girls

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War Girls cover

I recently read War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi. An advanced reader copy was provided to me by Bookish First and Razorbill in exchange for an honest review (thank you!). Bookish first has a great program for getting physical ARCs. If you join and use referral code 56cf541090ca608b4 then you’ll help me get free books (and start earning free books for yourself too). Anyway, I liked this book, although the beginning was a little difficult for me.

Onyii and Ify are girls living in 2172 in Biafra, which is located in Africa near Nigeria. They are part of a group of girls hiding out from the Nigerians in a country that’s at war. Most of these girls have seen combat before, and Onyii has already lost her arm. When their camp is discovered, their lives are changed forever. Onyii and Ify, who were like sisters at the beginning of the book, spend the next several years apart.

What I Really Liked

War Girls is a compelling story. It’s actually inspired by an actual war that happened in Nigeria in the 1960s, which makes it even more interesting. I liked the characters of Onyii and Ify, and thought what happened to them was pretty tragic. They’re pretty strong characters, which draws me to them. The setting is unique, and it gives us a glimpse into the future which I hope won’t come to pass (although it’s unlikely that even the youngest of us will live to see it). The ending of the book was especially good, and makes me want to read the sequel when it comes out.

What I Liked Less

Familiarity tends to make a book easier to read. This is why I really enjoy books where I have things in common with the characters, whether it’s music, computers, or even snippets of a language I’m learning. Unique settings are cool too, but when things are too unfamiliar, it can be difficult getting into the book. The first couple of chapters of Carve the Mark were difficult for me the first time I read it because their society was so different (although with the vocabulary used).

I don’t know much about the Nigerian civil war. When the characters started throwing around terms like Biafra, Fulani, Igbo, and oyinbo, I get a little lost. I’m actually still not sure about all of these terms. While I’m trying to learn these new terms, there are a lot of characters I need to meet. It was a little overwhelming. Once everything became more familiar to me, the book picked up speed, but there was a little bit of a learning curve to this book.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a book with badass girls in a unique setting (just look at the cover!), then you might want to pick up a copy of War Girls. However, because the setting is truly unique (unless you know a lot about Nigeria and/or it’s history) it may take a while to really get into the book. War Girls will be released on October 15th, but you can pre-order it at Amazon.com now.

Rebel: The Legend Finale

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Rebel cover

At 10 PM my time, the stunning conclusion to Marie Lu’s Legend tetralogy, Rebel, came out. I stayed up all night to read it, and I wasn’t disappointed.

This review contains spoilers for the rest of the series.

When we last left Day and June, it was July 11, 2142. It had been ten years since Daniel (going by Day at the time) had nearly died and woke up with amnesia. After ten years living in Ross City, Antarctica, Eden was interviewing for an internship back in the Republic. At a train station, Daniel “met” June for the second time.

Rebel starts a month later. Daniel and June hadn’t talked much since that night, but June and the elector were going to visit Ross City. Despite their years apart and the amnesia thing, deep down, Daniel never stopped loving June. But are they too different now?

Eden

Rebel begins with Eden. I just want to give him a hug. He’s been living in his brother’s shadow his whole life. He’s hella smart, and shares the Wing boys’ compassion for the little guy. Even though Antarctica’s gamified level system is supposed to create a meritocracy, the way it’s implemented is unfair. Eden is bothered by this and is drawn to the dark side. Is he going down the path to self-destruction? Can his brother save him, or will their relationship be irreparably harmed? There’s some really great brother moments in this story.

Worldbuilding

I loved the worldbuilding in Rebel and how this book ties into the other books in the Luniverse. The Antarctican level system was obviously built on programming developed by Hideo Tanaka for the Warcross game. The book subtly mentions this game that once took the world by storm. The characters return to Los Angeles, which beautifully illustrates what the world might be like if it was recovering from a backwards dictatorship.

Daniel + June

If you read Champion (which you probably should before reading Rebel) then you’ve probably wondered whether Day and June really get back together.

So what happens? Daniel has never forgotten about her. There are some really cute moments in this book. Daniel, who has probably never had an awkward moment with a girl in his life, doesn’t know how to react around his former love. It’s absolutely adorable. They still have feelings for each other, but has too much changed? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Conclusion

If you didn’t pre-order this book (and have already read the other three books in this series) then run to your nearest bookseller and buy it. I’m definitely going to read this book again sometime after my hardcover edition has arrived. Rebel has the satisfying finale that we’ve all been waiting for. I loved it.  How much did I love it?  It’s a contender for my favorite book this year.  I stayed up past 7 AM to read it.  To quote page 376, after reading this book, “the final puzzle piece of my heart has fallen into place.”

The Thirteenth Guardian

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I had the opportunity to read an ARC of The Thirteenth Guardian by K. M. Lewis (thank you Netgalley). My feelings on this book are nearly the opposite of what I felt about Children of Blood and Bone. While Children of Blood and Bone had fantastic writing, but just wasn’t the book for me, The Thirteenth Guardian had a story that clicked with me, but the writing itself didn’t match my love for the story.

What I Liked

I loved the story. The world is in chaos. Six individuals have to make their way to Innsbruck, Austria, because they have genetic traits that for some reason make them valuable. We don’t know why these people are special, or what the big secret is, until the very end. The book synopsis doesn’t really tell you that this is a disaster book, but this book is like Revelation on steroids.

The mysterious events are pretty cool, and seem to mirror the Biblical Exodus. The book heavily draws from the Bible and even some Medieval art. I loved this aspect of the story. As someone who lived in Italy for several years, I loved how some of these scenes took place in Rome and The Vatican, which I’ve visited a few times.

What Was Lackluster

Although I enjoyed this book so much that I sped through it in two days, I had to downgrade this book an entire star because I had problems with the writing.

Dialogue

The dialogue felt a little wooden and most of the characters didn’t use any contractions in their speech. I realize that some characters (like Data on Star Trek) talk without contractions as a part of who they are, but this is prevalent throughout the story. Here is one example I highlighted where the dialogue just wasn’t good:

"Oh, no.  That is horrible news, Leo."
"Yes it is."

Do people really speak like this?

Head Hopping

This may be a stylistic issue on my part, but I prefer when we can’t see into every character’s mind. One instance of this that stuck in my mind was where the book hopped into a minor character’s head for one paragraph so we readers could see that she was attracted to the other character, and then went back to a main character. Was that necessary? Maybe the author could have shown her flirting, or left that out entirely. At the time, I thought maybe that paragraph foreshadowed a relationship between the two… but no… that character was killed off shortly afterwards.

The Ending

Most of the end of this book was fine. We find out what the secret is, the characters are ready to start the next chapter of their lives, and then… they start talking about going on this quest that would literally require a Deus ex machina to complete. Without giving away too much, the world has gone through Revelation on steroids, technology of any kind is pretty much kaputt, and they start talking about finding a large object at the bottom of the ocean thousands of miles away. The book is supposed to be part of a trilogy, so I guess they do go after it? I don’t know how they’ll manage it.

Conclusion

I enjoyed The Thirteenth Guardian. If I see the sequel on Netgalley at some point, I would read it, despite my critique about the writing. This is his debut, and it is an indie book, so I do believe that there’s a good chance that his writing will improve. Even if the criticisms remain in place for the sequel, it was a good story and I wouldn’t mind seeing how the characters would pull off this impossible task.

Storm Glass

By Brookelorren on 4 Comments
Storm Glass cover

Storm Glass is the first book in The Harbinger Series by Jeff Wheeler. I was fortunate enough to get it for free when it was on audiobook. It was so enjoyable that I ended up purchasing later books in the series when they were on sale as part of Amazon’s Kindle Monthly deals. I recommend this book.

Cettie is an orphan girl living in a dystopian universe. In the land where she lives, the wealthy live in mansions in the sky, while the poor live in terrible conditions in the cites below. Her life is changed when a wealthy admiral tries to adopt her.

You might think that this would be the happy end where everybody sings Kumbaya and lives happily ever after. If that was, this would be a really short book. Instead, Cettie finds out that not everybody in the wealthy sky mansions are rooting for her. In addition, the wealthy people don’t find everything to be rosy either. As you read the book, you will discover that even for the wealthy, life can be precarious.

In another sky mansion, Sera Fitzempress isn’t impressing her parents, and she doesn’t think the way her father would like her to. She asks too many questions. Sera might one day rule the entire country; her parents want to make sure that she’s trained properly… they don’t want her to disrupt the status quo that doesn’t really do anybody justice.

I enjoyed this story. Sera’s chapters weren’t as exciting as Cettie’s at first, but towards the end, it really helped to set up how incredibly corrupt this country is, and… resolving everything that’s wrong with this place is going to be a very tricky knot to untie. I definitely want to continue reading this story at some point to find out what happens.

Storm Glass has an imaginative setting. Instead of science, people study “mysteries.” The mysteries govern everything from the law to why the mansions float in the sky. Cettie discovers that she has a talent for the mysteries, which comes in handy towards the end of the book (and beyond).

There are several intriguing characters in Storm Glass. Cettie and Sera, the main female characters, are interesting (and they finally meet towards the end of the book). Both have to deal with villains who almost ruin their lives. There are also adult figures in the books that eventually help them overcome the villains. A lot of YA books don’t have parental figures in the books (although in this book Cettie is 12 so I wouldn’t expect her to be completely on her own).

I plan to finish reading the rest of the books in The Harbinger series at some point in the future. I’d like to find out more about the mysteries of this universe.

Legend (The Graphic Novel) Is Adorable!

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Legend Graphic Novel cover

One of my Christmas presents to myself last year (with my gift card money) was getting a copy of the Legend graphic novels. I’m not really a graphic novel reader, but these were so adorable that I couldn’t pass them up. Besides, as a book reviewer, I’m starting to try new things.

Legend (in case you haven’t read the original novel) is the story of Day, who grew up in a poor family, and June, who grew up in a wealthy family, in the dystopian future country, The Republic. Fun fact: Day is related to Asher Wing from Warcross. Anyway, after June’s brother Metais dies, she goes to look for who she thinks is the killer. Things aren’t exactly as she thinks they are, and they end up on an adventure together.

The first thing that I notice about this book is that it’s adorable. The first few pages show 10-year-old Daniel (Day is a nickname) taking his trial, which is used to determine things like what high school (if any) you get into. 10-year-old Daniel is just so adorable you want to reach into the book and give him a hug, especially when you find out what happens to him.

Most of the book happens after they both turn 15 in this book. Legend the Graphic Novel follows he original storyline fairly accurately, although the order the story is told in had to be altered a bit to fit the format, there is less detail, and it’s not told form the 1st person perspectives of Day and June like the original novels.

One of the things that I appreciate about Legend the Graphic Novel is that it gets a lot of details from the book correct (unlike some movies that I’ve seen of popular movies ::cough cough Divergent::). The hair and eye colors seem accurate, most of the clothing seems accurate; even Kaede’s vine tattoo is correct. As someone who has written Legend fanfiction and strives to make sure I get the details correct, I appreciate that the graphic novel was done so well.

The fourth Legend book, Rebel, is coming out this fall.  If you don’t have time to reread the original series and want to review everything before you read it, you might want to try Legend the graphic novel.  It doesn’t take that long to read, goes over all the major details, and is cute on top of that.  Happy reading!

We Can Stop Calling it Legend 4 Now…

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments

So, Saturday night while I was on my last break at work, I saw that there would be a major reveal from Marie Lu on Monday morning (that’s today). So this morning, first thing I did was look to Twitter to see what the reveal would be. I was thinking it would probably be the title, and I was right.

So here it is. We don’t have to call it Legend 4 anymore, we can now call it Rebel! She also revealed the publication date (October 1st, you can pre-order it now like I did) and a description of the novel:

Respect the Legend. Idolize the Prodigy. Celebrate the Champion. But never underestimate the Rebel.


Eden Wing is a brilliant student. He’s about to graduate a year early from Ross University of the Sciences, with honors, and already has an internship lined up back in the Republic. But most people don’t introduce Eden this way. Instead, they say, “This is Eden, Daniel Wing’s younger brother.”


Ten years ago, Eden’s brother Daniel was known as Day, the boy from the streets who led a revolution that saved the Republic of America. His name was spray-painted on walls, his profile splashed on both rebel pamphlets and wanted posters. He went from being a hunted criminal to a national hero in less than a year.


Day has spent the past decade piecing together his memory of his time in the Republic, pretending to enjoy life in Antarctica’s capital, Ross City , and quietly hiding out from the world—even if it’s meant giving up June, the great love of his life. As long as he can keep his little brother safe, that’s all that matters . . .


But Eden isn’t safe. As the two brothers struggle to accept who they’ve each become, they grow more distant from one another than they’ve ever been. Eden finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into Ross City’s dark side, until even his legendary brother can’t save him. At least not on his own.


When June suddenly steps back into Day’s life, rekindling the flames of their romance, the pair team up to do whatever it takes to rescue Eden. But like the rest of the world, they may have underestimated Eden—what he’s capable of, where his loyalties lie, and how hard he’s willing to fight for what he believes.

There’s a lot of wonderful books coming out this year, but I think I’m looking forward to this one the most.

MORE Amazing Marie Lu News!

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments

It seems like every time I get major Marie Lu news that I can’t wait to share with everybody, I’m at work.  I spend my 15 minute breaks on Twitter; that’s when I see them.  I knew Marie Lu had some news to share with us either this week or next, but I couldn’t imagine that she was going to write a FOURTH book to Legend!  I’m so excited!

Oh, and it’s supposed to come out NEXT FALL!  I was a little disappointed last month when Ms. Lu said that Kingdom of Back wouldn’t be coming out until 2020.  Goodreads had been saying it was a 2019 release, so I figured I had over a year to wait for a new book from her.  This might be why there was the delay.  I do have some short stories to read (I plan on reviewing the Slasher Girls and Monster Boys anthology later this month, which has a story by her in it), but we get a whole new book next year. Yay!

Oh, and that’s not the ONLY good news today!  She will have another book called Skyhunter coming out!  It looks like Skyhunter is going to be a duology.

There is an article about the deal in the Washington Post.

So this last 30 days has been an AMAZING reading month for me.  Not only have I read some of the best books this year (Wildcard, Enchantée, Muse of Nightmares, more Mortal Instruments books), I get this news.  When I read this on my last break, I practically floated through the last hour of work!  And of course whenever anybody asked how I was, I told them “outstanding!” or some other thesaurus variant of the word.  If they asked why I was doing so well, I told them about the book, LOL.

Have a wonderful day!

Wildcard was a Wild Ride!

By Brookelorren on 4 Comments

Wildcard coverFinally, the wait is over!  Today was Wildcard‘s release day and I was so happy to get to read it.  The wait was worth it, though, it was a great book.

As with all of my reviews that deal with sequels, this may contain spoilers to the first book.

Our book starts right after Hideo downloads a program that takes away a person’s free will to commit crimes.  This causes some trouble right off the bat.  People are turning themselves in for crimes they committed but got away with, crime was prevented… wait, how could that cause problems?  We don’t all have the same standards about what is right and wrong.  Some countries have different laws that they want enacted.  Other wealthy people want exceptions for them (isn’t that the way the world works?).  To quote page 106 “Everyone’s going to want something different from Hideo.”

Emika quickly finds herself getting tangled up with Zero.  For a long time here, it’s hard to figure out who is the bad guy and who is not.  Hideo is trying to do something good by ridding the world of crimes like those that caused him to lose his brother, while Zero wants people to be able to make their own choices.  There seemed to be nobody in this book that had power that was actually good.

Time is ticking away for those that are trying to fix everything.  The beta version of the Warcross lenses (which Emika and most of the Warcross players have, and doesn’t take away your free will) will be upgraded on the final day of the Warcross season.  Emika must rely on her friends (and put faith into people she’s not so sure of) in order to figure out what’s going on and how to set things straight before the lenses upgrade and nobody has free will anymore.

Eventually, we find out the truth… which I won’t give away… but I really wasn’t expecting that.  There is a satisfying ending to it all.

One of the things that I’ve loved about the Legend series and The Young Elites trilogy were the love relationships.  I’m a big Day/June and Adelina/Magiano fan.  While this book does have a love interest, it’s a fairly minor part of the storyline, and I was fine with that.  The Warcross/Wildcard story takes place over a span of only a few months, while Legend and The Young Elites both cover a time span of over a year, so perhaps it is more realistic for the characters to not develop a deep love for each other anyway.

This book caused me to feel anger and happiness and cry, sometimes all in the same chapter.  In chapter 20, we find out what actually happened to Sasuke, and I found myself thinking, “oh, that’s sad.  Oh, how sweet.  I’m in tears now.  I’m so angry!” And then shock.  Later on, in chapter 32, I was really tearing up.  Especially when they were talking about loved ones… about how Emika missed her father and she says “And that’s when I realize that, at the end, we’d all wish for the same thing.  Just a little more time.”  I was thinking of my grandma as I read that:  how she seemed to be in remission from cancer, and then one day I got a phone call, and the next day she was gone.

The book says a lot about artificial intelligence and computer technology, and delves into some of the issues that we may have to deal with in the very near future.  Ray Kurzweil believes that one day we’ll be able to upload ourselves into the cloud and live forever that way.  Is that something we want to do?  Is that life?  Do we live on in people’s memories?  What role should technology play in our lives?  These questions popped up in my mind as I was reading Wildcard.

This was a great story that I highly recommend.

Previously on this blog, I reviewed Warcross.