Review: Code Name Verity

Have you ever been SO SURE about how you feel about a book for, like, the first half of it, only to be proved completely wrong by the second half? Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein grew on me like no book has for a long time.

The story starts as the written journal/confession of a British (Scottish, NOT English, thank you very much!) spy (code name Verity), captured in France during World War II. She was captured near a plane that held many radios, so her captives expect information from her about wireless codes and the like. What the end up getting is a rambling story, not about Verity herself, but about her best friend, Maddie.

I spent a good portion of the book begin confused about why she was talking so much about Maddie. Verity was found with Maddie's papers instead of her (forged) own, but I couldn't quite tell why she was spending so much time on her. And without giving anything away, it's hard to tell you how important the stories about Maddie end up being.

All I can safely say is that I ended up reading the last 100 pages at 2 in the morning, culminating in a sobfest like I haven't experienced from a book in a long time, after which I had to play dumb games on my phone for an hour to calm down. The next day, I read the first few chapters again and loved them. This was one hell of a book to start 2013 with, and it's going to be hard to find others to measure up.

Final verdict: Read this. Read this now.

Review: Sandcastle Girls

Until this past summer, I had never read any of Chris Bohjalian's books. They were popular, and, from what I heard, quite good, but they seemed a little... too bookclub-y for me. But when I coworker showed me a copy of his latest book, The Sandcastle Girls, and said it had something to do with the Armenian Genocide, I had to at least give it a shot.

The Sandcastle Girls is the sweeping story of Elizabeth Endicott, a Boston-area society girl who travels to Aleppo in 1915 to bring aid to Armenian refuges, and of Laura Petrosian, a current-day novelist struggling to understand her own heritage. Bohjalian has said that this is the most important book he'll ever write, and without even having read anything else by him, I'm inclined to agree.

While there are a number of books out there that tell the story of the Armenian Genocide (The Road From Home by David Kherdian specifically comes to mind because it is a Newbery Award Honor book), there are almost none that tell the historical facts without becoming overly preachy or dull. As an Armenian who has studied the genocide, I know that too many of these facts too quickly can turn readers away, especially if they went into the reading not knowing the history. Bohjalian, however, metes out the historical facts at just the right tempo to keep readers interested but not flat-out horrified. Perhaps because the 1915 parts of the story are told not by an Armenian but by a Westerner, the reader learns the facts as she does, in bits and pieces. Even the present-day parts of the story are told by someone searching to understand her heritage, so we the readers are invited along to learn with her.

Historical facts aside, the emotions and relationships in this book are wonderful. It is a fish-out-of-water romance set in the most desperate of situations. My mother and I argued over the ending - I loved it, she HATED it - but we both loved the book as a whole. If everyone in my family hadn't already read this one, I'd be giving it for gifts at Christmas, no question.

Review: The Song of Achilles

There are times when I start reading a book really wanting to like it, but no matter how hard I try to put aside the little things that irk me, it just ends up a disappointing mess. I'm saddened that The Song of Achilles happened to be one of these instances.

I should start by saying that I am a HUGE Trojan War nerd. I've read most of the books out there, and I can describe parts of the epic in such detail that I can see people's eyes glaze over as they listen to me talk about it. But of course, that means I hold books about the Trojan War up to pretty high standards. And I know that my idea of the characters are going to be different from someone else's interpretation of them. But I found Miller's Patroclus so weak that I had a hard time caring.

My problems with Patroclus started very early. In most accounts, Patroclus kills a friend, and he and his father go into exile to escape. Here, Patroclus' father is shamed by his act and sends his only son far away. Much later, Patroclus proves he doesn't have much skill on the battlefield and spends his days in camp with the women (only later finding any use for his time in the healer's tent). These weak characterizations just don't jibe with my idea of Patroclus, and I found myself struggling against them every step of the way. I had no indication of why Achilles cared so much for him.

The story itself is fine, following Patroclus from his youth through his upbringing with Achilles to the Trojan War itself. That's a lot of ground to cover, but Miller moves things along well. Achilles himself felt a bit bland to me, but I loved his mother Thetis, who was the perfect blend of cold and calculating and overprotective. And I'm still confused by Briseis, who plays such a pivotal role in Achilles' motivation. There are a lot of characters to keep straight, and if you're not already knowledgeable about the story, you might have a little trouble, but the appendix should sort you out.

I guess that my biggest issue overall was that I just had a hard time caring - about people, about actions, about consequences. Miller's writing is beautiful (aside from some discrepancies with tense usage, but that should fall to an editor to fix), and I can't wait to see a story from her that I don't already know so well.

Buy The Song of Achilles on Amazon
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Review: The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt

Like most kids' book nerds that I know, I was waiting (im)patiently to hear all the award winners from this year's ALA Midwinter meeting. This is when the Newbery and Caldecott winners are announced, as well as a whole slew of other awards. My favorite of the bunch is the Alex Award, given to novels written for adults but which would appeal to kids ages 12 to 18. Many people call these "crossover novels" because of their appeal to YA and adults.

When I was in the YA age group, I just called these "novels." But I digress...

Two of my absolute favorite books from last year were on the list: Ready Player One and The Night Circus. I'm sure I won't get around to reading the rest, but I was intrigued by The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, so I borrowed it from work.

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt is exactly what it claims to be: a scrapbook. The book is filled with color reproductions of photographs and ephemera as if it were the real-life scrapbook of a young woman in the 1920s. Frankie is from a small town in New Hampshire and doubts that she'll ever leave, until the smallest of scandals sends her to Vassar College, then on to New York City and Paris. The book takes no time to read, and the story is a bit predictable, but the form is unique enough that it will seem fresh and new to a lot of readers. I'm not entirely sure how many teens will actually enjoy this book, although more and more kids seem to be interested in the 1920s (I think, in part, because of the buzz around the Great Gatsby movie coming soon).

For those who enjoy The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, I would suggest any of Nick Bantock's books (I've only read the Griffin & Sabine trilogy), which combine art and story in ways that are exciting and intriguing.

Buy The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt on Amazon
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Review: The Ruby in the Smoke

My very first book of 2012 was not one I chose for myself. Instead, I started off the year with the January title for the Forever Young Adult book club. I'm a member of the Thursday night Boston group, which is filled with awesome ladies who love YA as much as I do. I'm always sad when I have to miss a meeting.

The Ruby in the Smoke, the first of the Sally Lockhart mysteries, by Philip Pullman is not a book I would ever have picked up if not for the book club. I have walked by it millions of times in the store, and even recommended it a few times to girls who wanted mysteries and historical fiction combined. I don't think I was wrong to walk by it. Not that it's a bad book - in fact, as far as Victorian mysteries aimed towards the teen set go, I think it's quite good. It's just not my cup of tea (insert bad Victorian London joke here).

Sally Lockhart, who was recently orphaned when her father sank along with his merchant ship off China, is a strong character whom I actually liked. She's determined to figure out what's happening, even when it takes her to the seedier side of London or has her experimenting with drugs. She's able to turn a photography business around with practically a single idea. She doesn't let the fact that she's an orphan with no home of her own get her down.

And yet, it takes another character (completely out of the blue, I might add) to solve the mystery of where this ruby is hiding. Really, Pullman, after all these pages of Sally being kick-ass and smart, you leave the actual mystery solving to a boy?!

Like I said, I just don't like mysteries (in the typical sense of the word). I especially don't like Victorian mysteries (although I don't mind other books that take place in Victorian times). My other book club read The Moonstone (the first British mystery novel) last year, and this reminded me of it very much - plodding and slow, and then everything happens at once. I hated every minute of The Moonstone.

And yes, I did watch the BBC movie version of this book as well. I couldn't help it - it stars Billie Piper and Matt Smith. It was cute, but it dumbed down some of the more interesting aspects of the story. I'd rather read the book than watch the movie again.


Buy The Ruby in the Smoke on Amazon
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Review: Revolution

I have to admit, when I first heard about this book last year when it came out, I thought it sounded kind of stupid. I don't think I heard more than a one-sentence description before deciding that I didn't need to read this one. It had something to do with "two girls, living two centuries apart..." and I was out.

What a difference a year makes, huh? I was scanning through titles on my library's digital audiobook catalog and stumbled upon Revolution again, but this time, I took the time to read the full description. I couldn't wait to stick it on my iPod. What struck me so differently this time? I have no idea, but I'm so glad that it worked out, because I absolutely loved this book.

The story follows Andi, a privileged girl who lives in Brooklyn, attending private school with the cast of Gossip Girl and only awkwardly getting along with any of them. She'd rather be playing her guitar, which she plays very, very well. In fact, music is her escape - from dealing with the sudden death of her brother, from her mother who has mentally slipped away from the world, from her father who has left them behind. So when her father drags her, kicking and screaming, to Paris (where he's going for work), it's no surprise that she'll do anything she can to get back home, even if that means working on her thesis (about a French musician) like her father wants. While she's pouting around the apartment they're staying in, she finds the journal of Alexandrine, a girl caught between the royals and the revolutionaries during the French Revolution - and that's when the story really starts to pull together.

Andi's voice is what really hooked me on the story. Since I was listening to the audiobook, it was like the story was being performed for me (one reader does Andi's part, including accents for the various characters, and another read's Alex's diary entries). But even now, flipping through the actual book to write this, Andi's voice jumps off the page. She feels like a real girl who has had to deal with things that no one should have to deal with (teen or not), and her being rich and privileged hasn't helped her one bit. She is in turns desperate, exhausted, exhilarated, suicidal, full of life, pouty, and a million other things (like most teens, in fact).

The story was mostly compelling. Like I said, Andi's voice kept things fresh and interesting for me. The segments that were Alex's diary entries lagged a little bit in comparison. (The might also have lagged because I find diary entries in general to be a bit of a cliche, but to be fair, they were used perfectly in this case.) Had I been reading the book instead of listening to it, though, I would have been able to skim through those bits and gone happily on my way.

I was very happy to find Donnelly's playlist on her website after finishing the book. Music plays so heavily into the story, and Andi name-checks all kinds of musicians and songs, so it was great to see them all listed (although the list seems awfully short, but I guess a lot of the songs were repeated over and over again in the book).

4/5 stars

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Review: The Night Circus

It's rare that a book's atmosphere overshadows its plot, but in Erin Morgenstern's debut novel, The Night Circus, I found myself caring less about what was happening and more about where it was happening. Specifically, the night circus of the title, Le Cirque des Rêves.

Le Cirque des Rêves rolls into town unannounced, sets up without fanfare, and opens its gates at dusk. It is exquisitely detailed, every inch of it black or white, and is filled with tents that boggle the mind or tear at our sense of possibility. Explore all you want - there's always more to see.

The plot itself is interesting, too, although it is overshadowed by what feels like the main character, the circus. The story begins with two master magicians and a bet. Each magician chooses a student - Celia and Marco, in this instance, although the bet has been played out by these two magicians before - and teaches them all they need to know in order to win the game they're playing. The game, though, is never explained to the students, and they are left filling in the details for themselves as they go.

Add to that a plot about a boy, Bailey, who first encounters the circus as a child, then comes across it again as a man deciding whether to take on the family business or strike out on his own. At first, the story jumps back and forth between these two plot lines, but of course, they begin to converge.

Like I said, though, the atmosphere of the book mattered so much more to me than the actual plot. Sure, I was interested in the story behind the circus and how the game between Celia and Marco was to be played out, but when I finally got to the ending, I didn't care much anymore. I was just upset to see my journey with the circus end.

Truth be told, I was not entirely happy with the climax of the book as I was reading it. It felt a bit rushed and out of place. When I read it, I thought it might have ruined an otherwise beautiful book. It's been a little while since I finished the book, though, and I'm coming to terms with the ending. In hindsight, it seems right and just - and the only way to keep the circus alive, which is just how I want it.

Besides my out-right love for the atmosphere of the book, I also have to commend Morgenstern on her use of tenses and perspectives. The main narrative is told in the present tense - something that many writers try and fail terribly at. Instead, its use makes the story feel urgent, a big feat for a story that spans over 30 years. Interspersed throughout the narrative are short chapters written in the second person (still present tense), offering glimpses of the circus as a visitor would see it (Example: "You cannot bear to watch. You cannot look away."). I loved how each of these, usually only a page long, pulled me deeper into the world of the circus. Perhaps this is why I felt the atmosphere was the strongest character.

There's been a lot of hype around this book, most of it just, but the comparisons as "the next Harry Potter" or to Twilight are all wrong. In fact, I got in an argument with a coworker over whether to shelve this in our bookstore's Young Adult section or not (the correct answer is no, but I let the coworker keep a couple in her display anyway). Also, apparently the Wall Street Journal thinks three stories written over 20-something years makes a trend? Just forget anything you've read about The Night Circus (other than that it is GOOD) and form your own opinions on it.

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5/5 stars

Review: The Map of Time

The time travel continues in a much more literary form with The Map of Time. After Ruby Red, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (which is not exactly time travel but does involve traveling through time... what?), and Hourglass, I wasn't sure if I wanted any more of this genre. (And yes, I have read other things with no time travel in between that I haven't written about yet.) But this sounded so different, I couldn't wait to jump in.

"Set in Victorian London with characters real and imagined, The Map of Time is a page-turner that boasts a triple play of intertwined plots in which a skeptical H.G. Wells is called upon to investigate purported incidents of time travel and to save lives and literary classics, including Dracula and The Time Machine, from being wiped from existence." I have to be honest, I didn't read this bit from the back of the book before I started reading the book. I had been given an even briefer description - Victorian London is in a time-travel fervor after H.G. Wells writes The Time Machine - and was already sold. I'm a big fan of the steampunk sub-genre, and this hinted to having a bit of that aesthetic.

In reality, this book is not one narrative but three, although they do all intertwine and feature H.G. Wells as a main character. And the way author Felix J. Palma handles the idea of time travel in a society with far fewer technologies than our own is masterful. Whether it's the man who wants to save the woman he loved from being killed or the boy who loves a girl and wants to stop her from doing something destructive, these characters approach time travel from very real and, often, very personal perspectives. I especially liked how Palma touched upon the idea of paradoxes repeatedly, because the ideas of changing the past or meeting yourself in the past are something that have to guide the storytelling when dealing with shifting timelines.

As much as I loved this book, which is a bestseller in Palma's native Spain, I had some trouble getting into it. Specifically, the paragraphs are loooong and overly-verbose, although I have a feeling that this was done on purpose to give the book a more Victorian feel. The very beginning, especially, when there is a whole page devoted to which kind of gun a character is going to use to kill himself, can get a bit tedious. Push on,though, like I did, and you'll be well-rewarded.

As a side note, H.G. Wells is a main character throughout this book, and it is mentioned frequently that all of London is so excited by time travel specifically because of his book The Time Machine. While it's quite possible to read this book without having read The Time Machine, I'll take a moment to plug the classic. It's really very short and easy to read, plus you'll sound smart when you say you've read it.

I never read many classics when I was younger (except what was forced upon me in school), so this one had escaped me until a few years ago. Then I discovered DailyLit, which feeds you classics in tiny bite-size pieces that are easy to digest. I had The Time Machine sent to my RSS reader (but you could get them emailed to you too), and in about a month, I had read the whole thing without trying. Best part: it's free. Really, do it. Even if you don't want to read The Time Machine (but you should), give DailyLit a try.

Also, The Map of Time has one of the coolest covers I've seen in a long time.

Check out the first chapter - in text or audio - on the book's website.

5/5 stars

Disclaimer: The advance copy of this book was provided to me for free from the publisher.