23 September 2015

Review: Zeroes

Zeroes Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'll be honest - Scott Westerfeld hasn't been doing it for me lately. I didn't love how his World War I steampunk thing ended, the Uglies series petered out for me, I found Afterworlds to be almost unreadable, but I still reached for this one when I had an opportunity to read it. Like with his previous books, the ideas are ultimately better than the execution, but this one was certainly more solid (and it might be a credit to the co-writers on board).

The story is about a bunch of teens who have some special powers. One has an inner omnipotent voice, for example, and he's able to disrupt a bank robbery using it. He meets others with similar power strengths and it throws him and others into a fairly major situation.

The idea behind this is for some sort of new, modern superpower tale for a technological age, and it works at some points and not others. I had trouble accepting the stakes, though, as well as just going along for the ride. A book like this kind of needs to transport you away a bit, and this didn't quite do it. I feel like I have nothing to say about it because, as fine as it was, it really left no impact on me.

Fans of Westerfeld will probably enjoy this. There is an X-Men sort of feel to it in a way, too, so there's that angle, but it's just okay.

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15 September 2015

Review: Tonight the Streets Are Ours

Tonight the Streets Are Ours Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I haven't read a ton of Leila Sales's books, but I didn't love where Mostly Good Girls went. Tonight the Streets Are Ours is a much better read, but still suffers from a sort of strange plot that leaves some issues unresolved and ultimately left me wanting to get some better resolutions.

Arden, at her core, is extremely loyal. Perhaps to a fault, as she takes the fall for her best friend at school and doesn't hold enough people in her life accountable. She does, however, become addicted to a blog written by a guy in New York and, on a frustrated whim, decides to road trip up to New York City to meet him and figure out his deal.

It's a weird, cavalier story about the results of this road trip, which is fine, but so much of it feels unresolved (or at least less acceptably resolved) to really fall in love with this book. The weird stuff with her dad, the way things happen at the school, the lack of any real consequence to up and running off to New York City, all of it just feels more like wish fulfillment than a true worthwhile story. I think I might have wanted more, or maybe just wanted different.

Overall, a decent story. Not one I loved, but a quick read I did enjoy on a whole.

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08 September 2015

Review: A Pocket Full of Murder

A Pocket Full of Murder A Pocket Full of Murder by R.J. Anderson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There's a habit in middle grade fiction to blur genres a bit to grab a broader audience. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it's a mess a bit. A Pocket Full of Murder is a murder mystery wrapped in fantasy elements, neither of which ends up being compelling enough to sustain a narrative on its own.

The good? A pretty interesting magic system that ends up being almost completely unimportant to the overall plot by the time the story ramps up. A mystery that, on the surface, sounds compelling and interesting.

The bad? Most everything else. When you set up a fantasy universe and then basically abandon it, why bother with it at all? The answer, of course, is to bolster the mystery aspects, but it's clear the magic is a bit of a crutch to flesh out what ends up being a pretty straightforward tale without a lot of reason to call it a "mystery" at all. It almost feels like the book is looking to use the existing tropes and expectations to mask a story that doesn't really work and, more importantly, would not appeal to the kids its geared toward without the gimmicks.

A solid pass here. I had decent expectations for this, and it didn't even really come close.

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Review: The Afterlife Academy

The Afterlife Academy The Afterlife Academy by Frank L. Cole
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

With monster hunter books apparently a thing now, we get The Afterlife Academy, which pits a kid directly in the war between angels and demons. The afterlife is a thing, the academy not so much, and the result is a questionable story on a whole.

We start with someone who is killed, ends up in the afterlife, and is quickly assigned to a kid to help protect him, sort of like a guardian angel. The kid is quickly front and center in a quest for a summoning book that demons want to get their hands on, and it becomes a mad race to sort everything out.

The story mostly doesn't work, with a lot of disjointed narratives and hanging threads to ensure that we're not really taking anything too seriously and making a book that really doesn't work as a result. It's not especially funny, yet there is a lightness to it that persists. It's not especially dangerous, but we're supposed to feel like there's a massive interdimensional threat in play. It's just kind of rough around the edges, and really could be done better on a whole. Definitely pass on this one.

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04 September 2015

Review: Armada

Armada Armada by Ernest Cline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So let's get it out of the way: Armada is a nostalgia trip wrapped up in old video games and science fiction movies designed to scratch a certain itch. It's not great literature, it's not for everyone, and it's impressively great at what it's trying to do. Ernest Cline has hit upon a certain type of mainstream retro storytelling, and it works.

Why, then, is everyone so down on this?

It's not Ready Player One, no. That was brilliant in ways this isn't, as this is more a straightforward Ender's Game-meets-The Last Starfighter as opposed to a blatant video game story. But it's not as if it was a betrayal of what is being tried here. I mean, what do people expect when they pick up this book that they didn't get? I don't get it at all. Is it the anti-gamer attitude permeating the science fiction fandom at present? Is it some other cultural touchstone I'm missing?

If you can put aside whatever baggage you might bring to the table, you'll know if you'll enjoy this before you even pick it up. If Ready Player One was transcendent, you'll love this. If you thought it was trash nostalgia, just skip this altogether. If you're in the middle, take it for the goofy action movie it is. Just leave your own stuff at the door.

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01 September 2015

Review: The Vanishing Island

The Vanishing Island The Vanishing Island by Barry Wolverton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think pirates are interesting, but, for whatever reason, the more swashbuckling narratives never seem to grab me. The Vanishing Island is probably the best of the lot that I've had an opportunity to read over the years, but even then, it's been more of a slog than an enjoyment, and part of it may be due to curriculum changes we've seen recently.

Part of the charm of this one is some of the historical nods. A kid desperate to get on a ship ends up apprenticing under Rand McNally, he eventually enlists on a ship searching for Marco Polo's treasure. There's mysterious forces at play as well, so it becomes a sort of classic pirate tale in many regards. Where this book begins to fall flat is the attempts (over and over and over) to include nonfictional pieces within the narrative. The facts strewn about in the story absolutely break the narrative, and drag down the entire story as a result.

It's not unreadable by any means. If you or your kid reader like pirate tales, this is actually a pretty decent one. Certainly better than The Map to Everywhere, as a more recent comparison. It's just frustrating where the book feels like it has a bunch of information crammed into it so the story can be more palatable to a Common Core era. There's no need for it, and it could have been a much better story if it was a lot tighter on a whole.

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Review: A Curious Tale of the In-Between

A Curious Tale of the In-Between A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Probably closer to a 2.5.

Middle grade ghost stories can be interesting tales, and most of them either act as short stories or go toward the absurd/humorous. A Curious Tale of the In-Between attempts to go the creepy route, and to sometimes positive and sometimes negative results.

The tale starts with a parent who hangs themselves, and quickly there's the bridge or tear in the fabric that brings out the ghost that only Pram can see. It's believed to be an invisible friend, then becomes something a little more, and ultimately becomes the meat of the story. The setting itself is important to the overall tale, and lends itself to the creepy atmosphere that's coming across, and thus keeps it from falling into the expected tropes.

Why, then, am I so lukewarm on this? It's almost too dark in many ways, it feels like a book out of time in others. If this were published 50 years ago, I could see it as a classic, but it feels almost painfully outdated at times. I didn't find the story entirely satisfying, either, but I do realize this might be more my preferences for a book like this than anything else. I just don't feel like this entirely worked, and that the flaws aren't overcome by the good in the story. There are some cool magic things, and I like a middle grade book that takes chances, but on a whole...

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Review: Hilo Book 1: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth

Hilo Book 1: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth Hilo Book 1: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Middle grade graphic novels can be very hit or miss. Just from the cover alone, I assumed Hilo would be a winner, but I had no clue it would be this good.

The story is pretty simple. Hilo crashes to Earth, is discovered by a neighborhood boy, and is quickly assimilated into the local town. Quickly, though, we start getting snippets of why Hilo has come to Earth, how he got here, and what's going to follow.

The story plots itself out really well, with a good mix of reveals and development. The entire cast of characters is fun, there are numerous callbacks that remain funny without losing their luster, and there's the right level of danger and fun for this audience to more than get the story across. I raced right through this and was quickly sad that I know I'll have to wait a while for the next volume.

On a whole, great for any comic lovers, but a great introduction to comics for the right readers. Definitely worth room on your shelves.

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Review: Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've professed my love for Jennifer E. Smith's YA books for a long time now, and I can say, without hesitation, that Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between is far and away my favorite book she has written, and has upped the bar in terms of how young adult romance can be done.

The story takes place over an evening where two high school sweethearts, about ready to head off to college, are ending their relationship so that they don't have to continue it long distance. This isn't something they necessarily want to do, but the two are spending their last night together revisiting some of their favorite memories and times together. Things don't quite go as planned, and it, of course, gets complicated, but the story is about those highs and lows in all relationships.

Why is this so great? There are so many reasons to consider. The characters are really likable, the story is not a new one but still feels new and fresh (the analogy I made initially was Daniel Handler's Why We Broke Up, but this is much more sincere). The entire thing is so relatable that it's hard to read in a way - you know what you want to happen, you see the writing on the wall, and yet. And yet. It's certainly a tug-at-the-heartstrings tearjerker but doesn't feel emotionally manipulative either. The narrative itself feels almost like a documentary in a sense, and that's just really great.

I don't have a negative thing to say about this at all. It's pitch-perfect, and it's something that I hope anyone and everyone who reads YA finds a way to enjoy. It's so really well done, and that's with my sky-high expectations in place already. Highly recommended.

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Review: Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

've professed my love for Jennifer E. Smith's YA books for a long time now, and I can say, without hesitation, that Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between is far and away my favorite book she has written, and has upped the bar in terms of how young adult romance can be done.

The story takes place over an evening where two high school sweethearts, about ready to head off to college, are ending their relationship so that they don't have to continue it long distance. This isn't something they necessarily want to do, but the two are spending their last night together revisiting some of their favorite memories and times together. Things don't quite go as planned, and it, of course, gets complicated, but the story is about those highs and lows in all relationships.

Why is this so great? There are so many reasons to consider. The characters are really likable, the story is not a new one but still feels new and fresh (the analogy I made initially was Daniel Handler's Why We Broke Up, but this is much more sincere). The entire thing is so relatable that it's hard to read in a way - you know what you want to happen, you see the writing on the wall, and yet. And yet. It's certainly a tug-at-the-heartstrings tearjerker but doesn't feel emotionally manipulative either. The narrative itself feels almost like a documentary in a sense, and that's just really great.

I don't have a negative thing to say about this at all. It's pitch-perfect, and it's something that I hope anyone and everyone who reads YA finds a way to enjoy. It's so really well done, and that's with my sky-high expectations in place already. Highly recommended.

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