For the Love of YA: February 2014

26 February 2014

The Tyrant's Daughter

ISBN: 9780449809976
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 11th 2014
Number of Pages: 304
Source: ebook (ARC from publisher)
Goodreads Summary: When her father is killed in a coup, 15-year-old Laila flees from the war-torn middle east to a life of exile and anonymity in the U.S. Gradually she adjusts to a new school, new friends, and a new culture, but while Laila sees opportunity in her new life, her mother is focused on the past. She’s conspiring with CIA operatives and rebel factions to regain the throne their family lost. Laila can’t bear to stand still as an international crisis takes shape around her, but how can one girl stop a conflict that spans generations?

J.C. Carleson delivers a fascinating account of a girl—and a country—on the brink, and a rare glimpse at the personal side of international politics.

*Bonus Backmatter includes a note about the author's CIA past, and a commentary by RAND researcher and president of ARCH International, Dr. Cheryl Benard. Recommendations for further reading are also included.

My Rating:

I received a free ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The main character of our story is a teenager girl named Laila who comes to America with her mother and younger brother (Bastien) after her father is assassinated in her home country, which is unnamed but we are told/it is implied that it is in the Middle East. Obviously, there is culture shock. Add on to this, she was royalty and is used to a higher standard of living. She must go to public school and she wears "American" clothing. She is fluent in English (as she has had private tutors her whole life) which helps but she does have problems with slang and some literal translations. Laila is taken under the wing of Emily, who is a delightful character who is dealing with her own set of problems and identity issues (wish her character was more developed!)

The story of her life back home is threaded into her life today. I feel that this story was well-written and Laila is a realistic and complex character. She has a number of things to deal with that she handles pretty well.

The accusations against her father:

"Are you sure you want to do this? I ask myself. Are you sure you want to know? I'm not sure of anything, really. But I do know that certain words have been planted in my head, and they are sprouting like unwelcome weeds: Dictator. This one compliments of Emmy.King. A tale told by my mother.
Massacre. An accusation in a newspaper.
Assassination. A sentence carried out by my uncle. ....I hope I can disprove them, replace them. Let them be lies, I plead silently." - The Tyrant's Daughter, 34

She struggles with doing "the right thing" for her family when confronted by a CIA agent named Darren Gansler, who tells her the truth behind her family's entrance into America:

"'Laila, I didn't bring your family here out of the goodness of my heart. You're here, or at least your mother is here, for a reason. Your mother made a deal the day you all got on the plane. We - the United States government, that is - went to considerable risk to get your family out of your country safely. I offered your mother a way out and guaranteed political refugee status here if she agreed to cooperate.'" - The Tyrant's Daughter, 69

There is an underlying political theme that really makes you think about America and our relationship with Middle Eastern countries. The things Laila discovers are shocking & her reaction at first is full of betrayal and confusion. You really feel her struggle.

We also have her having conflicting feelings for the boys in her life: Ian, the nice American boy who helps her escape her home troubles but she also feels like she has to act around him as the "Americanized version" of herself. Then there is Amir, who is from her home country but is of a different status. I loved their interactions and his heartbreaking story.

At one point in this story, Laila is told the classic story of Cinderella, at least the story that most Western cultures know and tell. She is excited to share her own story told to her as a young child - A sultan locks his beautiful daughter away (reminiscent of our story of Rapunzel as well). One night, the princess hears haunting music and decides to escape her tower to be with the musician who is the cause of this beautiful music. She just happens to lose a slipper while climbing down the tower. They run away and get married. The sultan is so outraged that he orders his guards to go village to village and kill whoever fits his daughter's slipper. The princess couldn't stand the killing of innocents and turns herself in. Her father orders that she is to be stoned for her crimes. When she is lead out to die, her love plays a song and it melts the sultan's heart. He forgives his daughter but cuts off her toes so that she may never run away again and "so that he would never again be offended by the sight of a slipper the size of the one that represented his daughter's shameful act." - 80

Laila's friends are shocked by what seems to them a barbaric tale and can't believe she was told this as a child. Laila didn't realize the differences between her country and ours and this is just one example of that.

This is a coming-of-age story and one that tells a story of a girl that has seen and experienced events far from our understanding and has to work through these issues. I believe the author at the end of this book describes it perfectly:

"Ultimately, this book is pure fiction that is inspired by real events. It isn't about a specific conflict any more than it is about any one particular country. Rather, it's the personal story of someone living on the periphery of war. It's the story of a girl grappling with questions about guilt, choice, blame, and identity under circumstances both extraordinary and mundane. It's a big story told in small details, and I hope that my readers come away feeling as if faraway issues are now a little more personal." - The Tyrant's Daughter, Author's Note, 284

I highly encourage you to also read the commentary written by Dr. Cheryl Benard at the end, as it also puts a real life perspective on the events and themes presented in the book:

"After all, nothing is black-and-white. It's not even gray. It's a fractured, fragile kaleidoscope of colors ready to shift at the slightest nudge of the wheel. Good people can do bad things. Good people can do good things that turn out badly. Or they can do great things that shine like beacons for centuries to come. Bad people can do bad things that turn out well, or they can do terrible things that cause enormous misery. Or other people can do things intended to please the good or bad leader that he or she would not have endorsed." - The Tyrant's Daughter, "Truth in Fiction: A Commentary" Dr. Cheryl Benard, 291

I think this would be a wonderful book to use in a high school literature class and in book clubs. There is violence described in this book, but this is something that kids in other countries experience on a daily basis, thus I feel teenagers should be able to handle it. This book didn't not receive a full star rating from me due to the ending (I wanted more closure and more of her world!) and the development of some characters not being fully realized.

25 February 2014

Firstborn

by Lorie Ann Grover

ISBN: 9780310739302

Publisher: Blink

Publication Date: January 28th 2014

Number of Pages: 292

Source: Local Library

Goodreads Summary: Tiadone has been forced to live her entire life as a female accepted as male in her community in order to survive as a firstborn child. But when she needs to pass the rites of manhood, she finds the Creator may have use for her feminine traits after all.

My Rating:

The setting for this book is hard to place in the context of time. It could be a past civilization or it could be set in the future, or even on a different planet for that matter. The R'tan village of R'tania has been taken over and ruled by the Madronians for years. They don't allow the R'tans to have first born females and they take these girls away and leave them to die on a cliff. A way to save the child is to declare the girl as a male. She must be brought up as a male and contribute to society as a male.

"'Remember the Madronians believe the first living child carries the greatest strength. Can you imagine them permitting a girl to have that power in a conquered village, or that they'd allow a family to offer only females to society? And we can be thankful they offer us the chance to declare our firstborn girls male to avoid ekthesis on the Scree.'"

"'But ekthesis is murder! There's no way a babe can survive if she's left alone in that shale wilderness. And what of those parents? That father? He didn't want to risk his future on a female?" My fear claws up and hisses, firstborn females are worthless. "Do you doubt I will provide for you in your old age?'" - Firstborn, 14

Tiadone is the first female to be declared male. The time is approaching where the males and females go through a "rite of passage" so to speak - males go off to defend the borders as soldiers and the females are secluded and focus on having visions of the future.

In order to "suppress" her feminine traits, Tiadone wears an amulet that seems to hang down over her pelvic region. This amulet contains the heart of a desert cat wrapped in her father's hair coils.

"..imbue me with the power of the fiercest, most dreaded in our desert, the cat. The amulet makes me male in my mind and in society. As a declared male, I'll wear the amulet for life and contribute as any other male in our village." - Firstborn, 15

Another aspect of both their religion and this rite of passage is the hatching of a Rapion (bird) from an egg that they carry on their person at all times. Each child recieves an egg after birth when their parents offer the placenta to the grown Rapions at a cave-like place. The Rapions take the placenta and leave an egg in its' place.

Tiadone's bird hatches with a unique and what most in her village believe to be an evil trait - it is a Singer. Rapions are "meant" to be silent and the fact that her bird sings is a bad omen.

We then begin the adventure and trials Tiadone faces as a declared male on the border & her growing feelings of attraction towards her best friend, Ratho. This of course leads to trouble and the fact that she openly defies the rulers.

This book is full of religious undertones and is closely reminiscent of the early explorers coming to native cultures and forcing their own religion on the people. Madronians conquer and force the R'tans to convert to their belief in the Four Winged Condor. They must give up their belief in the Creator Spirit and they destroy their holy texts - the "Oracles of the Creator."

Tiadone fights this and worships her own god in secret (as her father taught her). There are scenes towards the end of the book that further this fight for her own religion.

Some may not like this undertone, but I think it's good to experience and learn about beliefs other than our own. This also plays a big role in Tiadone's coming of age and finding her true self.

The ending is open-ended and though it could stand alone, I would prefer to see a sequel that continues her story (and that of Ratho & the new character introduced). The ending reminds me of a different dystopian book, Birthmarked.

24 February 2014

Unhinged

by A.G. Howard

Series: Book #2 Splintered Series
ISBN: 9781419709715
Publisher: Amulet
Publication Date: January 7th 2014
Number of Pages: 400
Source: Local Library
Goodreads Summary: Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she's always dreamed of.

That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.

As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.

If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she'll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head.

My Rating:

Book #1 - Splintered was a likable book. I mean I love re-tellings. This series is based on the story of Alice in Wonderland. To sum up the first book: Alyssa is a descendant of the original Alice. She can hear bugs & flowers talk and her mother is locked away in an asylum. Her childhood "dream friend" is actually real (Morpheus aka the caterpillar in the original story) and comes to her saying she needs to take her place as Queen of Wonderland and stop the Red Queen from destroying that world.

Now to book 2 - Thought we conquered the Red Queen but just kidding! So the same cycle happens - Morpheus begging (okay, he doesn't beg...more like tells with authority) Alyssa to come save Wonderland. Jeb doesn't remember anything that happened in book 1. So literally this is the same book sort of.

Both "love interests" are incredibly annoying. Morpheus just gets on my nerves with his yo-yo-ing treatment of Alyssa. And Jeb? What the heck happened to him?! He is not at all the guy I read about in book 1. And the ending, his actions made me angry (though I can see where he is coming from).

The solution for this love triangle?

"You've been given a chance at two lives and two loves. That is nothing short of a miracle." - Unhinged

Oh yeah....let's make her immortal in Wonderland and she gets to have BOTH guys. Really? I mean come on!

The whole book is supposed to focus on her "honing her powers" but I really don't see any of this. Just her hiding the truth from her loved ones and running around chasing silly things. She is facing this confusion over who she is:

"Fresh guilt simmers inside my chest...I can't just turn my back on that world; I can't let if fade to decay and ruin under Queen Red's thumb. Yet I can't abandon the people I love here, either. I don't know how to follow one side of me without leaving the other one behind." - Unhinged, 55

Yeah, can't help you there....how about you just split your time between the two realms? Why must it be one or the other?

Then we get this glimpse at the future:

"A most unique creature. The first child to be born to two netherlings who've shared a childhood...Through your child, Wonderland will thrive with new magic and strength. Our offspring will become true children once more; they will learn to dream again. And all will be right with our world." - Unhinged, 279

Just UGH! This is pre-determined? Well okay then....and now we have another world? AnyElsewhere is another dimension that doesn't really make sense to me.

So, who knows if I'll read book #3 (Ensnared). This book really let me down.

But hey, if you have the time to read and want to continue this series - go ahead and read this book!

17 February 2014

Cold Spell

by Jackson Pearce

Series: Book #4 Fairytale Retellings
ISBN: 9780316243599
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 5th 2013
Number of Pages: 323
Source: Local Library

Goodreads Summary: Kai and Ginny grew up together–best friends since they could toddle around their building’s rooftop rose garden. Now they’re seventeen, and their relationship has developed into something sweeter, complete with stolen kisses and plans to someday run away together.

But one night, Kai disappears with a mysterious stranger named Mora–a beautiful girl with a dark past and a heart of ice. Refusing to be cast aside, Ginny goes after them and is thrust into a world she never imagined, one filled with monsters and thieves and the idea that love is not enough.

If Ginny and Kai survive the journey, will she still be the girl he loved–and moreover, will she still be the girl who loved him?

My Rating:

This book has got a lot in it! It is based on the story of the Snow Queen, a fairy whose heart was made of ice - making her unable to love. She goes around stealing men and kissing them numb. They forget their families and lives.

"A woman all in white with hair so blond it almost matched the snow...the girl, as she wasn't much older than Dalia - glanced back toward the door, her eyes the same blue-gray as the snow-filled sky. Her lips curved ever so slightly into a gentle, elegant smile." - Cold Spell, 7

Pearce's story gives us Kai (the guy to run away with the Snow Queen) and his love, Ginny. Kai lives with his grandmother, Dalia, who had a run-in with the Snow Queen as a girl when her friend Michael disappeared. She warns Kai about mythical creatures and doesn't trust even Ginny. When she dies, a mysterious girl named Mora (aka the SNOW QUEEN) shows up and convinces Kai to leave with her. Before this though, Kai is changed into a heartless guy who says hateful things to Ginny.

Of course Ginny doesn't believe him and decides to take off after him (stealing dead Grandma Dalia's car) armed with Grandma's "recipe" book which includes spells and descriptions of the gruesome creatures she warned them about.

She runs into the Fenris (aka wolves) and is saved by Lucas, who can track and find anyone. He brings Ginny home to his wife, Ella, who was Miss Tennessee and is very rich. She cracked me up! Loved her character.

Her adventures also lead her to a bad of Travellers (think gypsies) where we meet their Queen, Brigit and her daughter, the Princess of Kentucky, Flannery. Flannery is awesome and fierce.

"Don't worry, I won't let them kill you...If you need to be killed, I promise I'll off you myself." - Cold Spell, 175

She is so blunt and I love it! And insightful too:

"What kind of leader would I be, though, if I got married just to hold on to the crown tighter? Nah. If I'm not queen enough on my own, then...maybe I'm just not queen enough." - Cold Spell, 193

We have the tie-ins to the previous books:

We still have the Fenris that are in all three previous books - Sisters Red, Sweetly, and Fathomless.

"I get it. The Fenris stole you; they stole your life. But that doesn't mean you can do the same thing to others." - Cold Spell, 294

And we also have some aspect of the mermaids we learned about in Fathomless.

"Madeline. Her old name, her human name. In the ocean, she'd been Ry; as a human, she'd been Madeline, and now she was ..." - Cold Spell, 143

I enjoyed the story very much and I loved the adventure. There is a bit of a lull in the middle, but it is setting the scene for the friendship that blossoms between Ginny and Flannery.

Recommend for all lovers of fairy-tale retellings and those that have read the previous books in this series.

Got to include my favorite quote, spoken by the lovely Ella:

"People who don't do anything annoy me. People who don't do anything yet excite me, because they can potentially do everything." - Cold Spell, 108

It really describes the real reason for Ginny's quest and shows how she begins to realize who she is.

14 February 2014

Fall in Love with a Good Book!

In honor of Valentine's day, I have compiled a list of some of my favorite YA romance authors and books. Check them out if you are in the mood for a good love story!

Authors that can really make you swoon:

(Click the author's name to see a list of their books!)

And if you are looking for some good romance book recommendations, I have compiled some of my favorites for you. By clicking on the book's title, you will be linked to the Goodreads page.

If you are looking for realistic romance, try these books: