Four stars for this one but I don’t think I’ll be putting it on the “why isn’t this a bloody movie yet” list, only because it’s a powerful book that wFour stars for this one but I don’t think I’ll be putting it on the “why isn’t this a bloody movie yet” list, only because it’s a powerful book that would be even more difficult to stomach in visual form. But let’s be honest, Ribay is a shoo in for the National Book Award again on this one. Back in his Filipino-American contemporary milieu for the first time in five years, this book combines a lot of aspects of his previous books - mixed race Filipino-American boys who don’t have the best relationships with their families, as well as pointed political commentary about racism in America and colonialism and corruption in the Philippines.
This time, Ribay tells the story through four generations of young men - Francisco, a migrant farm worker on the California coast caught up in the Watsonville riots; Emil, who seeks to be as all-American as possible to reject his father’s unionist legacy; Chris, who wants to learn about his family and national history and rejects his father’s support of Reagan and Marcos; and Enzo, the modern boy struggling with anxiety that only gets worse when Covid strikes.
Though I’m not Filipino, I can still see (as I did with Patron Saints of Nothing) some commonalities between my own family of Maltese immigrants (particularly the political differences between some generations) and the Maghabol men of certain ages. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if there weren’t some hidden connections to Ribay’s other novels - the Philadelphia setting for Enzo’s chapters being the same hometown as Bunny and Nasir from After the Shot Drops, or Francisco’s full name including “Reguero,” which makes me wonder if Jay Reguero from Patron Saints could be a distant cousin of Enzo’s.
At least I know Ribay isn’t going to take five years to write his next book, not when he’s set to publish his next Roku book for Chronicles of the Avatar next year…...more
When I was in high school, senior year, I got to volunteer behind the librarian's desk, and the librarian recommended me a lot of good books to try ouWhen I was in high school, senior year, I got to volunteer behind the librarian's desk, and the librarian recommended me a lot of good books to try out - including The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, which had flown under my radar until that time. Now, fourteen years after ending the original series and ten years after ending the first spinoff Slayer Chronicles, Z Brewer is back with their latest legacy sequel, a stealth job of it that focuses on original characters of whom Vlad himself would approve, plus some vampires both (to quote Young Frankenstein) "famous...and infamous!"
We're no longer in Bathory or Stokerton, but in the very similar town of Nowhere - I believe Brewer once said Bathory and Stokerton were in Michigan, so my guess is that Nowhere is in Wisconsin since there's tons of farmland around the town to supply the Tasty Cow. (And, as Alys's backstory indicates, there's a lot of travel to get there from California.) Halloween, meanwhile, is fast approaching - unlike the Vlad Tod books, this one only takes place over the course of a few weeks, not an entire school year. But there's still room for tons of Easter eggs involving Elysia, the Slayer Society, and the return of some of our favorite goths from the old days, namely October and Sprat.
Brewer's back just as excellently as Tim Burton was this year with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Vlad Tod would approve, and my inner teenager does too, because Viktor Valentine is the kind of protagonist whom Z writes best - the kid just trying to live his best life between the boring mundanity of humanity and the macabre pull of Elysia, with the help of video games, horror movies, and the occasional scary book or two. And, of course, dinner to go from the Tasty Cow....more
I'm really starting to feel like I'm outgrowing Zentner here, between this book and how I was whelmed at best with Colton Gentry's Third Act. To be faI'm really starting to feel like I'm outgrowing Zentner here, between this book and how I was whelmed at best with Colton Gentry's Third Act. To be fair, this one is very different for Zentner, not only a collaboration with another author (and I've never read anything by Brittany Cavallaro yet, though her solo books do seem interesting), but also partly a novel in verse (half verse and half dialogue, but still somewhat jarring to read), and also no longer in Zentner's usual Deep South settings, but instead in Michigan, which I believe was Cavallaro's idea so no fault to her on that one. But the story in this book just feels like a half-baked, watered-down John Green love story (and I say this being extremely not a fan of John Green), right down to the fact that one of the teenagers in this couple is disabled (though far from just being set-dressing, her degenerative eye condition is pretty essential to her character.) Unfortunately, for me, it's gonna have to be a DNF....more
I guess Pawley is making some steady progress on getting the revamped Generation Icarus series reissued in this new format - I don't think the third bI guess Pawley is making some steady progress on getting the revamped Generation Icarus series reissued in this new format - I don't think the third book is out yet? But hopefully by the end of this year at least. In the meantime, though, it was great to once again get a throwback to the old Wattpad days with one of the best angel books you're not reading, now in a new form, with a hell of a lot more focus on Tui than I remember (but that's only a good thing, because she's really become one of my favorites in the Flight over the years.) And dear God, did I ever forget how strong the "post dramatic Jess disorder" was with these books...but I should be ready to see how Pawley wraps things up in the newly minted third and final book soon enough......more
Wattpad has this complete book for free, but only this one - not its sequel, which is available only in a five-chapter sample. This one, however, is qWattpad has this complete book for free, but only this one - not its sequel, which is available only in a five-chapter sample. This one, however, is quite entertaining on its own, being less of a typical "superhero" story. You won't get too many Marvel-style stories here. Nope, it's a little closer to I Am Number Four in style, or perhaps Heroes - darker, edgier, characters on the run, government agencies involved, that sort of thing. Oh, and they have to stop the apocalypse, of course. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table, but it's still a good story.
The only trouble is that the book ends on a mild cliffhanger. Mild, but still annoying because I have all but no chance of buying the complete sequel anytime soon. :(
Merged review:
Wattpad has this complete book for free, but only this one - not its sequel, which is available only in a five-chapter sample. This one, however, is quite entertaining on its own, being less of a typical "superhero" story. You won't get too many Marvel-style stories here. Nope, it's a little closer to I Am Number Four in style, or perhaps Heroes - darker, edgier, characters on the run, government agencies involved, that sort of thing. Oh, and they have to stop the apocalypse, of course. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table, but it's still a good story.
The only trouble is that the book ends on a mild cliffhanger. Mild, but still annoying because I have all but no chance of buying the complete sequel anytime soon. :(...more
The second sprawling story of the world of Wildwood also demands a Laika-produced claymation film adaptation, so here's really hoping that the WildwooThe second sprawling story of the world of Wildwood also demands a Laika-produced claymation film adaptation, so here's really hoping that the Wildwood movie next year does well enough to merit a franchise. For this book, we get a brief glimpse of Prue in the real world of slushy wintertime in St. Johns - if I'd been able to read this book when I was younger, I would be a lot more aware of Portland actually possibly getting snow in the winter before I moved up to Oregon. Then, after a brief visit to the office of some quirky Ukrainians (whose dialogue is pretty damn accurate, based on my brief conversation with a Ukrainian food seller at the Vancouver Mall last weekend), off we go to the Wildwood again, though now with a lot of emphasis on the industrial wastes separating Oregon's Narnia from Oregon's biggest city. That part alone is what demands the Laika adaptation quickest of all, because it'd be something to see how well they capture that industrial vibe - and how well it compares to, say, Chicken Run or Fantastic Mr. Fox....more
Yoon Ha Lee brings his signature style of gender diverse Korean space opera to YA, and it surprises me greatly that this book doesn't have a higher GoYoon Ha Lee brings his signature style of gender diverse Korean space opera to YA, and it surprises me greatly that this book doesn't have a higher Goodreads average, because it deserves one. Well, maybe my review will help bring it up a couple points or so. Sure, it's a bit predictable in its story beats, being a mecha story with a protagonist infiltrating the ranks to take down the empire that subjugated her people. And a lot of other reviews inevitably compare it to the popular YA mecha drama Iron Widow, albeit steeped in Korean culture as opposed to Chinese. But there's definitely one thing that Lee does right that Xiran Jay Zhao does wrong - Lee writes a gripping story with characters you can actually root for. Which is why I was able to read this book in one sitting, and will happily come back for more in the planned second and third books of this trilogy. And for a film adaptation if ever we're lucky enough to get one....more
Randy Ribay hasn't published any new novels since at least pre-Covid, but this year, he's got two of them - including this start to a new Chronicles oRandy Ribay hasn't published any new novels since at least pre-Covid, but this year, he's got two of them - including this start to a new Chronicles of the Avatar duology, taking over from F.C. Yee after his work on duologies for Kyoshi and Yangchen. Here, Ribay gives Roku a slightly similar storyline of self-doubt to Kyoshi, whose having been mistaken for a false Avatar has become the stuff of legend by the time he's been identified as the Avatar as a teenager.
Naturally, Roku's main issue is that he has a lot of trouble just learning to bend a second element, as he struggles greatly with airbending not unlike how Korra would later on. But also, he's got his friendship with Prince Sozin, the future Fire Lord, to balance with his slowly building new friendship with Gyatso, even though Roku and Gyatso don't get along as well as they would later. Interestingly, Gyatso hasn't developed his fondness for pai sho at this point in the timeline, and Sozin rather openly insults Gyatso for being a vegetarian like the other Air Nomads.
But for this book, the main conflict centers on an island which is disputed territory between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. While there's a consistent theme (consistent with the established TV series as well as the Kyoshi and Yangchen books) of Earth Kingdom royals being not the best people, here it's definitely seen more through the view of the Fire Nation looking like they're trying to plant the seeds for their future war of conquest and genocide. Additionally, once we see the island itself, a pretty tropical paradise kind of place, it's not hard to see it as Ribay taking inspiration from his ancestral land of the Philippines, which so many colonial powers (Western and Eastern alike) have had their eye on over the years.
Thankfully, Ribay is already set to publish his second Roku novel next year, and hopefully they give him the chance to write a second duology just like Yee did....more
If I was still working at the Stanford Bookstore, I'd be hand-selling this book to the best of my ability. Unapologetically by and for Black boys who If I was still working at the Stanford Bookstore, I'd be hand-selling this book to the best of my ability. Unapologetically by and for Black boys who believe they have no magic in this life, LaDarrion Williams takes us to Caiman University, an HBCU for magic, and many types of magic as practiced in Black cultures throughout history. Malik, the protagonist, has known he's had magic for years, but due to a bevy of troubles in his life, the magical family he barely even knew about brings him to Caiman U a little ahead of schedule because of rising threats to the Black community, magical and non-magical alike, throughout the South. His friends and family are never exactly who you expect, though - and while I was able to predict a few betrayal twists, they still stung like a mother, if you know what I mean. The fallout from the last hundred pages or so will definitely cast a pall on the inevitable sequel, which promises to be full of drama, not to mention the presence of one of the most famous Black witches in history. Hopefully by next summer I'll be able to read it along with everyone else!...more
Up to now, I haven't read any of James Islington's books before, but I think that'll have to change now that I've finished this one. I believe it was Up to now, I haven't read any of James Islington's books before, but I think that'll have to change now that I've finished this one. I believe it was recommended in the Red Rising subreddit, in part because of its similar Romanesque styling and propulsive story arcs. But Vis Telimus, our protagonist here, is nowhere close to a copycat of Darrow. In fact, in some ways, he's Darrow's opposite, but also they could probably relate to each other because of how much their respective empires have taken from them. Vis grew up as a prince named Diago, but he's been in hiding since his family's homeland became just another colony of the Catenan Empire. And he's not sneakily infiltrating the academy to bring down the Empire, but because there's a mystery that he needs to solve. A mystery whose answers, when they come...well, not everything is solved in this book. In fact, there's a hell of a lot of story threads left hanging. But thankfully Islington is already working on the second book, because while the book does take its sweet time building up to its ending, that ending is a massive mind blower on multiple levels, and I, for one, demand resolution on all those levels ASAP....more
Ransom Riggs is baaaaaaaaaaack! And I am 100% all in for this.
Like Miss Peregrine before it, this latest series opener from one of the best authors inRansom Riggs is baaaaaaaaaaack! And I am 100% all in for this.
Like Miss Peregrine before it, this latest series opener from one of the best authors in the YA business follows a boy whose family trauma has shaped him into a depressed young man who doesn’t think he stands a chance in the world. But that’s because the world doesn’t respect him like he deserves, except for his buddy with the strange taste in smokables. (I told my buddy Koda that Emmet resembled him a lot in that respect, but funnily enough, Leopold bears a stronger physical resemblance to Kodes, being six foot plus and lean and rangy.)
This book comes with a pretty retro package and a premise that calls to mind the recent indie film success I Saw the TV Glow, though decidedly from a heterosexual and cisgender perspective, and with more focus on salvaging lost family secrets. But it also functions as an effective allegory for the real world troubles plaguing California, especially LA. The parallel universe of Sunderworld ain’t just a lost 90s show where you gotta Keep Circulating the Tapes - it’s a real place of magic focusing camera lenses, a populace begging for a savior and then making memes out of him when he flops on live TV, magic as a natural resource that used to be in great supply but is now running dangerously low (reminiscent of not only the oil that made LA a big boomtown in the 20th century, but also the water which California never has enough of because the state is slowly turning into a great desert)…
There’s just so much awesomeness in this book, and it wouldn’t be Riggs without a weapons grade cliffhanger that sneaks up with lightning speed and smacks the reader in the face.
I do have to say, though…Richter. Can. CHOKE.
Because if Leopold were my kid, I’d be proud that he can repair his own car and drive stick, and maybe that encouragement would help him come out of his shell sooner.
(And one more thing - did Riggs give Leopold a yellow Volvo wagon as an homage to the Maitlands’ car in Beetlejuice? With the new movie coming out, I’m inclined to think so.)...more
For this hella hyped new series opener, I'm going to give it a 3.5 rounded up to a 4. Other reviewers have pointed out how much this book is a throwbaFor this hella hyped new series opener, I'm going to give it a 3.5 rounded up to a 4. Other reviewers have pointed out how much this book is a throwback to the YA dystopian boom of the 2010s, combining a lot of well known stylistic hallmarks - a protagonist joining one of a large number of postapocalyptic factions, a certain fascination with the number twelve in the structure, first person present tense narrative, and a high dose of action punctuated by minced oaths from a Utah writer...yeah, it's safe to say that while The Maze Runner has lost its luster in part because of its author's awful behavior behind the scenes, here at last is a strong spiritual successor to rival Brandon Sanderson's Steelheart and Skyward YA sci-fi series. Already they've announced the remaining titles in the trilogy, and I'd say the confidence is well earned....more
The third book of The Raven Rings took a little while to arrive for me at the library after reading the first two in relatively quick succession, but The third book of The Raven Rings took a little while to arrive for me at the library after reading the first two in relatively quick succession, but unfortunately it did keep the series' downward trend going. While the first two books had constant action over their hundreds and hundreds of pages and led to some wild cliffhangers on each one, this time, the story manages to move super fast and still take forever to wrap up at the same time. I do feel like the ending is pretty unexpectedly abrupt and unlike the endings of most similar fantasy series, but I'm still thinking about whether that was a good or a bad thing. I'm gonna go with neutral in the end, though, I'm thinking. To this series, I now declare a good old Norwegian farvel....more
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