Review: Bloody Jack

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy

L.A. Meyer

YA historical fiction

Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas.There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret. This could be the adventure of her life--if only she doesn't get caught. . . .

I had this book on my shelf for the loooongest time. My friend had shoved it into my hands forever ago. At first it looked to me like a cute middle grade adventure, the kind I would've liked when I was younger, and therefore didn't strike my fancy during the period in which I was reading Fifty Shades of Grey, for example. However, a few weekends ago (yes I'm so behind in my reviews) I opened the first page to see what it would be like and I was hooked.

Let's start with the setting. EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY LONDON. DOES IT GET MORE PERFECT THAN THAT?? Notice my blog design and you get all you need to know about my favorite time and place to read about. Except this time it's not a grand Institute, no balls or seasons or corsets and carriages. No, in Bloody Jack we visited London as the regular people experienced it - dirty, people dying of diseases left and right and not even getting a proper burial as their bodies are getting picked up by experimenters. Starving orphans on the streets scavenging to survive- that is where we meet or protagonist, Mary.

We learn that Mary actually come from a semi-ok financial situation, and that she was even taught to read. But no money or education can stop the death of your parents by plague and being cast out onto the streets. There Mary is picked up by a gang of smart and tough kids led by the lovable Charlie.

I loved this first part of the book. The way it's written, in Mary's garbled street-speech, the fast pace, the childish way in which Mary understands things - it all sucked you right in to the tragedy that was those kids' lives, but also their fun and adventure and family that they built together.

Throughout the novel, we grow up with Mary. How she gets herself on that boat, cleverly hides her identity as a girl, and takes on the name and role of Jacky. It was incredible how a story about a child became a tale of a ship's boy, but then slowly to that of a woman. Despite the book's blurb, I didn't expect the book to dive that deeply into femininity and what it means to be a woman. The whole theme of it made the story so much more realistic - if you were a growing girl among boys who hasn't seen any grown women in years, it would also be a subject that kept you up at night. In this respect, Bloody Jack was very different from other stories where girls pass as boys, like Leviathan or Alanna.

So, behold:

Review: The Sword of Summer

The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1)

Rick Riordan
middle grade, Norse mythology

Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother’s mysterious death, he’s lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.
One day, he’s tracked down by a man he’s never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god.
The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years.
When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision.
Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die . . . 

Behold, the book I basically started reading in November and finished a week ago.  Round of applause, please.

No matter what, come hell or high water, Rick Riordan's books will be good. However, I realize now that the appeal will lessen the older you get. 

Unlike the Percy Jackson books, and like Heroes of Olympus, The Sword of Summer was a massive, almost 500-page book. Let's be honest - Heroes was not as good as PJ, but we loved it and read it anyway, partially because we loved the familiar characters and world. In the case of Magnus Chase, I found the size a bit of a problem. The Norse world and it's rules are not as familiar to the average reader as the Greek Gods and stories are (at least to me) and I found all the character arcs and backgrounds and subplots rather confusing. 

Also, I found the supporting characters rather dull and not as relatable as Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson always were. Blitz and Hearth were not young kids, and Samirah, while having cool and useful abilities, didn't usually add much to the scene. 

Truthfully though, all of the above is really just one flaw, and that is that the book was not Percy Jackson. If you can read it without expecting it to be what it cannot be, you should enjoy it(:

On to the things I loved: humor as spot on as usual, THE CHAPTER TITLES, the cover, the fact that it's a trilogy, pure originality, pop culture references, the dedication, Rick Riordan fandom inside jokes (passes out even more than Jason Grace), the talking goats, the talking sword. 

Review: Demigods and Monsters

Demigods and Monsters: Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series

Which Greek god makes the best parent?Would you want to be one of Artemis’ Hunters?Why do so many monsters go into retail?
Spend a little more time in Percy Jackson’s world—a place where the gods bike among us, monsters man snack bars, and each of us has the potential to become a hero.
Find out:
Why Dionysus might actually be the best director Camp Half-Blood could have

How to recognize a monster when you see one

Why even if we aren’t facing manticores and minotaurs, reading myth can still help us deal with the scary things in our own lives

Plus, consult our glossary of people, places, and things from Greek myth: how Medusa got her snake hair extensions, why Chiron isn’t into partying and paintball like the rest of his centaur family, and the whole story on Percy’s mythical namesake.

When I bought this I thought it was going to be something like The Demigod Diaries or The Demigod Files - some bonus Riordan content. When I realized what it was though, I was a bit diappointed but interested. Behold, my thoughts:

The introduction was really cool to me - it's basically Rick Riordan expressing his amazement that people could find symbolism and deeper meanings in a bedtime story he made up for his kid. Includes interesting quote by Mark Twain. 

Monster Recongnition for Beginners- cute, entertaining. Liked the footnotes. 

Why Do So Many Monsters Go Into Retail? - found this boring, was unable to figure out the concrete claim the writer was trying to make. 

Stealing Fire From the Gods -  well written, but a familiar concept. 

Would You Want to be One of Artemis' Hunters? - a question I (and I bet every other female reader of The Titan's Curse) had thought about a bunch of times. The whole dilemma in one essay.

Dionysus: Who Let Him Run a Summer Camp? - ahhh loved this. Mr. D is my favorite. 

The Gods Among Us - heartfelt. A good and important read.

Percy Jackson and the Lords of Death - some new and interesting comparisons to Maya mythology, and a How To Build A Middle Grade Adventure guide.

Eeny Meeny Miney Mo(m) - oh, admit it. You thought about which godly parent you'd want a million times. This essay confirmed my choice! (APOLLO)

Percy, I Am Your Father - rating of the gods based on their parenting skills. An overlook over the whole series, some very good points. 

As Bad as They Wanna Be - all about Hades and Nico. I loved this! Always thought they deserved more credit than they got. 

The Greek Hero- New and Improved - agreed!

Not Even the Gods Are Perfect- nicely done, but a subject discussed in other essays. 

Frozen Eyeballs - about oracles and prophecies. Had more potential than it lived up to. 

The Language of the Heart - ehhh.

A Glossary Of Ancient Greek Myth - cutely written, actually had a lot of new info there, but I still stopped halfway through because you can only read a list of definitions for so long.

Overall? Not going to excite your middle grader, but if you have a thoughtful fan in mind this might work for them. Rating:

Happy 2016 dear people! So sad I missed December here on the blogosphere, and looking forward to a year filled with happiness and books!

Love, 

Esty

Book to Movie Review: Mockingjay pt. 2

The Hunger Games - Mockingjay part 2

Book by Suzanne Collins

As the war of Panem escalates to the destruction of other districts by the Capitol, Katniss Everdeen, the reluctant leader of the rebellion, must bring together an army against President Snow, while all she holds dear hangs in the balance.

I just. How can it be over?? Remember when we all anticipated the first movie? No one knew who Jennifer Lawrence was, we heard Rue's eerie whistle for the first time. It's been a great four years. You can read my reviews of the previous movies here.

Like the book, the Mockingjay movies are not as colorful and crazy as the first two. They're more serious, and are much closer to real life. That's also the reason I like them (book and movies) so much, though Catching Fire remains my favorite. 

SPOILERS AHEAD..

First item of praise, is that the makers of THG movies know all the Hollywood cliches and they use them against you. There's that scene in the tunnels before the mutts attack when the silence and the cameras just let you KNOW that something is about to happen and you brace yourself for a heart attack that doesn't come. But then it does and you fall off your chair. 

And the general problem of knowing what's going to happen just makes this more painful- waiting for Finnick to die, and Prim. And even the ones I had forgotten about wrenched my heart strings deeply- Boggs, the Leeg sisters. 

The actors continue to delight, with all the new people really bringing some great stuff to the table. I just wish we had more Josh Hutcherson - Peeta had a much stronger presence in the book than he did here, though granted that was in Katniss's thoughts. 

Overall, this installment and the series in general were very faithful to the source material, a fact for which I am eternally greatful and wouldn't have been able to forgive if it hadn't been true. The only little piece I wanted but didn't get was the cake at Finnick and Annie's wedding that tips Katniss (and us) off that Peeta is getting better. (ETA: also the memorial book K&P make in the end)

The scenes were truly glorious: 

Haymitch reading Plutarch's letter to Katniss
Katniss screaming at Buttercup the cat
HAYMITCH KISSING EFFIE
Effie saying goodbye to Katniss - finding the life of a victor
YOU LOVE ME REAL OR NOT REAL
my name is Katniss Everdeen
it's primrose
the scene of the symbolic Hunger Games
shooting Coin
my dear Katniss we agreed never to lie to each other
ADORABLE CHILD JUMPING ON DADDY PEETA
the Avox and his brother

And so many scenes that packed subtle punches- in the end, when Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta are eating back in District 12 and watching Paylor become President with Plutarch looking on, and Haymitch says " And they say no one ever wins the games". I loved that - it continues the implications that the whole war on the Capitol was also a game in a way (a game of thrones?), and Plutarch remained a gamemaker all throughout- somehow always on the winning side, and always influencing. It also shows how tyranny repeats itself, as do all human mistakes (This much is said explicitly in Plutarch's letter). 

The only thing I'm truly upset about: the distortion of Gale's character. They made him just SO DAMN ANNOYING. Everytime Peeta did or said anything relating to Katniss Gale had some stupid jealous comment about it. It was so irrelevant and unimportant, and book Gale was better than that. Also, the thing I ultimately respected most about Gale and in general about The Hunger Games is that Katniss didn't get to choose her beau in the end. GALE PICKED UP AND LEFT. He gave her an arrow, told her to shoot straight, kissed her forhead and scedaddled off to live his life. It was amazing, and cemented my love for him despite me being firmly Team Peeta. And while the double bomb was his idea, and as much as the book tried to make it seem otherwise, PRIM'S DEATH WAS NOT GALE'S FAULT. "Goodbye Gale" is not how Katniss and Gale should have ended, after all they'd been through. 

If you read up until here, with all my disregard for grammar and thousands of run-on sentences, YOU ARE AWESOME AND I LOVE YOU. Rating:

Review: Destroy Me

Destroy Me (Shatter Me 1.5)

Tahareh Mafi 

Companion to the Shatter Me trilogy

In Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner—and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she’ll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of. . .
Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner’s father, The Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son’s mistakes, it’s clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.
Set after Shatter Me and before its forthcoming sequel, Unravel Me,Destroy Me is a novella told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

You can read my reviews on the Shatter Me books here.

Ahhhhhh this was exactly what I wanted from Tahareh Mafi. Warner in all his glory!

What a sweet, smart, and DAMN SEXY man he is. You watch as he goes from running the world to an abused child in the presence of his father. You feel his pain as reads Juliette's words and knows all too well how she felt. How he slowly, but then all at once, falls in love with a girl he thinks can't love him. GOD IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL TO READ.

Being a short story, there isn't all that much more to say - so, behold my favorite quotes that I hope will inspire you to pick up the series/novella:

“And I've fallen.
So hard.
I've hit the ground. Gone right through it. Never in my life have I felt this. Nothing like this. I've felt shame and cowardice, weakness and strength. I've known terror and indifference, self-hate and general disgust. I've seen things that cannot be unseen.
And yet I've known nothing like this terrible, horrible, paralyzing feeling. I feel crippled. Desperate and out of control. And it keeps getting worse. Every day I feel sick. Empty and somehow aching.
Love is a heartless bastard.”

“I’ve come to believe that the most dangerous man in the world is the one who feels no remorse. The one who never apologizes and therefore seeks no forgiveness. Because in the end it is our emotions that make us weak, not our actions.” 

“These letters are all I have left.26 friends to tell my stories to.26 letters are all I need. I can stitch them together to create oceans and ecosystems. I can fit them together to form planets and solar systems. I can use letters to construct skyscrapers and metropolitan cities populated by people, places, things, and ideas that are more real to me than these 4 walls.I need nothing but letters to live. Without them I would not exist.Because these words I write down are the only proof I have that I’m still alive.” 

“My opinions,” I say to him, quietly this time, “should not so easily break your own. Stand by your convictions. Form clear and logical arguments. Even if I disagree.” 

Review: Prodigy

Prodigy (Legend #2)

Marie Lu
Dystopia 

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector. It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long. 
But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

You can read my review of Legend here. 

After Legend's promising start, I had high hopes for Prodigy. I'll say I really enjoyed reading it- I was totally sucked in. However, it didn't totally blow my mind with it's originality like the first installment. 

The whole joining-the-rebellion-only-to-find-out-the-rebellion-is-corrupt-too is a staple in the genre. (By corrupt I just mean not the utopia the heroes imagined) The best-friend-and-constant-companion-turned-love-interest is also something we see in every other YA read. Also, I-didn't-tell-you-so-as-not-to-hurt-you. Also, trust issues. You know the drill.

So yeah, all our favorite overdone cliches were there. Despite all that, there were lots of twist and surprises that kept me hooked. Tess experiences growing up, and she gets some well-deserved attention in Prodigy. June, I learned, IS ACTUALLY 15 despite sounding 30 in her head. Day and June both utilize their smarts and strengths in this novel, making it a fun read. Anden being profoundly different from what everyone expects serves as a nice little moral hidden here, too. 

I also liked the problem solving skills that our MCs show off. Instead of the typical 100 pages of everyone being mad at each other and doing stupid things because of a misunderstanding, Day and June talk things out after they fight and take leaps of faith for each other. They both earned my respect and saved the pages of the book for the real interesting stuff. If in the previous book I wasn't all over the relationship, I'm totally rooting for it now.

As for the ending - I rolled my eyes and grunted in annoyance but I am salivating for Champion. Rating: 5 stars

Happy reading!
Love,
Esty