Me on A Fierce and Subtle Poison

Title: A Fierce and Subtle Prison
Author: Samantha Mabry
Release Date: April 12, 2016
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers

Everyone knows the legends about the cursed girl--the one the señoras whisper about. They say she has green skin and grass for hair, and she feeds on the poisonous plants that fill her family's Caribbean island garden. Some say she can grant wishes; some say her touch can kill. Seventeen-year-old Lucas lives on the mainland most of the year but spends summers with his hotel-developer father in Puerto Rico. He's grown up hearing stories about the cursed girl, and he wants to believe in her and her magic. When letters begin mysteriously appearing in his room the same day his new girlfriend disappears, Lucas turns to her for answers--and finds himself lured into her strange and enchanted world. But time is running out for the girl filled with poison, and the more entangled Lucas becomes with her, the less certain he is of escaping with his own life.

A Fierce and Subtle Poison is a dark and mysterious tale filled with secrets, a mixture of superstition and some very real, very serious, disappearances all wrapped up in tense, beautiful prose. Is there really a ghost in the house at the end of Calle Sol? Is there a witch who will grant wishes? Or is something far more sinister hiding behind its walls, behind the leaves?

Lucas is caught up between worlds, between his life is Houston and his summers in Puerto Rico. Between the opulence and money grubbing of his white father and the love and later abandonment from his Dominican mother. Between listening to the stories and legends of the señoras, the tales of heartsick nuns and cursed girls and a house that birds refuse to fly over, and thinking about the practical things he could do with his future. He doesn't understand his father's motives, his need to build fancy, pretentious hotels for rich people to stay in while the locals can only hope to work there, but he knows that it's his father's money that lets him go there in the summers, hang out with his local friends and get drunk almost every night. It's like he's in limbo, until he swears he sees the girl with green skin and grass for hair. Until the letters come. Until his wish is returned to him. Until he falls head first into poisoned plants and a poisonous girl.

The setting also brings this book to life. The warmth of the sun and the rage of the storms, the lashing wind and the pounding rain. The mosquitoes, the lush greenery that entices while hiding poison in its leaves. The very clear divide between the rich white hotel guests and the Puerto Ricans struggling to make enough money to leave. The stories mixed in with Lucas's words, the secrets and the ghosts and the hidden magics of the islands. The tucked away things that are kept alive by those who believe in the unknown and the impossible.

There's something about this book that might stick to you like honey or sap from a tree, dark and syrup-like. Something that seeps into you and lingers. Because of the stories and legends that race through the streets, because of the scientist's work, you're never quite sure of what Lucas sees, what's happening. Is the girl poison because of a curse? Or is it because of an experiment? Does Lucas hallucinate because of the poison, or is he seeing the truth behind the stories? I wanted to believe in the magic of this book, I really did. I love books that fiddle with truth and perception like that, books like this and The Walls Around Us and The Accident Season. A must-read for those looking for magical realism, for those looking for something a little different, a little dark and dangerous.

(I received an e-galley of this book to review from Algonquin through NetGalley.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (273)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: The Shadow Hour
Author: Melissa Grey
Release Date: July 12, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press (Random House imprint)

From Goodreads:

Everything in Echo's life changed in a blinding flash when she learned the startling truth: she is the firebird, the creature of light that is said to bring peace.

The firebird has come into the world, but it has not come alone. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and Echo can feel a great and terrible darkness rising in the distance. Cosmic forces threaten to tear the world apart.

Echo has already lost her home, her family, and her boyfriend. Now, as the firebird, her path is filled with even greater dangers than the ones she's already overcome.

She knows the Dragon Prince will not fall without a fight.

Echo must decide: can she wield the power of her true nature--or will it prove too strong for her, and burn what's left of her world to the ground?

Welcome to the shadow hour.

I'm so excited for this. I remember reading the first one last year and finding it full of magic and secrets in ways that reminded me of Daughter of Smoke & Bone and I didn't want it to end. I wanted to know more about the characters, wanted to follow them on more hunts and chases and adventures. :)

Me on The Nameless City

Title: The Nameless City
Author/artist: Faith Erin Hicks
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Publisher: First Second Books (Macmillan imprint)

Every nation that invades the City gives it a new name. But before long, new invaders arrive and the City changes hands once again. The natives don't let themselves get caught up in the unending wars. To them, their home is the Nameless City, and those who try to name it are forever outsiders. Kaidu is one such outsider. He's a Dao born and bred--a member of the latest occupying nation. Rat is a native of the Nameless City. At first, she hates Kai for everything he stands for, but his love of his new home may be the one thing that can bring these two unlikely friends together. Let's hope so, because the fate of the Nameless City rests in their hands.

The Nameless City is the start of a smart, bright adventure, a story that begins in a city with as many names as people who live there with two young people who couldn't be more different struggling to understand each other.

Kai has the look of a kind, friendly boy. He's eager, he's excited to finally be near his father, to finally meet him, and he's curious about the happenings of the city. Of why it has ten thousand names and is nameless. He's bookish, more interested in learning and reading than fighting. He's sweet, naive, and the city can be cruel. Rat is a homeless street girl, a native of the city. She's angry at a number of people, specifically the Dao. She's angry at those who look down on her, who think they're better than her. And she has a right to be angry. Kai confuses her. He's the one Dao who looks at her as an equal, as a person, and it's hard for her to not see it as a trick of some kind. But it's not, and they need to trust each other if they want to save the city from certain enemies.

It's not a secret to some that I'm a fan of Faith's artwork. How expressive the characters faces are. The clear black lines. There's always a bit of fun in Faith's art. Here, the flips and tricks, the running and jumping over rooftops. The surprise on Kai's face. The anger on Rat's. The boredom of the guards while they look away from their work to discuss their vacation plans. The detail on all the buildings, the stonework and the tiled roofs. So much detail. And the colours done by Jordie Bellaire are somehow bright but also a little muted.

The Nameless City. It's a city caught up in politics and colonialism and seems to be unable to escape it. But the same can be said of other cities, of real life cities. Look at how far the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans expanded their empires. Look at all the countries and islands that used to be British, French, Spanish, Portuguese, or Russian colonies. Look at the history of Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul. It seems to be a part of human nature to travel and expand, to find new lands to live in, and when the resources look appealing, to take it from its native inhabitants under some kind of illusion or through war, and then spend years worrying that someone could take it from them. The city is a collection of people, names, customs, and discrimination. Every new ruling country comes in thinking it's better, and currently in this city, it's the Dao who think they are better. But they're not.

What makes you who you are? In the case of this book, what makes someone Dao? What makes them a native of the Nameless City? Do they have to be born there? Erzi, the son of the General of All Blades, was, but he is also Dao. He's caught up in being Dao, in wanting to keep control of the city, and feeling as though the city is his because he was born there. Mura is not Dao, but she's been Erzi's bodyguard for years. She owes her life to him. Kai is Dao, born in the homelands, but currently his home is the Nameless City. Rat was born in the City, is a native, but seemingly has no say or control. But why? She was born there, so, like Erzi, the city is hers, yes? No. It's a twisted combination of colonialism, power, entitlement, and racism that is a struggle for many to overcome.

Is it where we are from, where are parents are from, or what race we are what defines us? Or is it our thoughts and values? Our actions? The connections we make with those around us? I think this book is rather smart when it comes to discussing war and empire, conquerors and victims. Of how easy it is to talk about leaving but how hard it is to put it into practice, how hard it is to stop a war. I would definitely recommend this to kids looking for adventure as well as to teachers looking for a visual way to teach empire and colonialism.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Macmillan through NetGalley.)

Me on This Week's Book Week (200)

This Week's Book Week is rather similar to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews only with far more rambling and a less witty title. ;)

It's been pretty sunny this past week, which is nice, but it means some of my most hated things: mowing the lawn and getting all stuffed up with fresh grass and pollen.

Reviews going up this week will feature The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks (Tuesday) and A Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry (Friday). :)

Bought/borrowed/received:

With Malice by Eileen Cook (e-galley from HMH through NetGalley)

Me on Tell the Wind and Fire

Title: Tell the Wind and Fire
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Publisher: Clarion Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt imprint)

In a city divided between opulent luxury in the Light and fierce privations in the Dark, a determined young woman survives by guarding her secrets. Lucie Manette was born in the Dark half of the city, but careful manipulations won her a home in the Light, celebrity status, and a rich, loving boyfriend. Now she just wants to keep her head down, but her boyfriend has a dark secret of his own—one involving an apparent stranger who is destitute and despised. Lucie alone knows the young men's deadly connection, and even as the knowledge leads her to make a grave mistake, she can trust no one with the truth. Blood and secrets alike spill out when revolution erupts. With both halves of the city burning, and mercy nowhere to be found, can Lucie save either boy—or herself?

Tell the Wind and Fire is a battle between the light and the dark, the privileged and the downtrodden. This is the story of a girl struggling with what she knows and wondering how strong she'll have to be in order to save those she loves.

Lucie is a girl living a lie, living the high life in the Light after leaving behind a childhood in the Dark. But is she really better off? She knows bits and pieces of the truths that hide on both sides, that because of lies and omissions she was able to leave the Dark for the Light, that she has Light magic in her. The only nice piece of her life is her boyfriend Ethan, the affection and the support he gives her. But then circumstances change, then someone appears who both throws a wrench into plans and saves the day for a short time. Then everything changes and Lucie is left questioning, worrying, scrambling. By the end, she's running and risking her life, ready to face off against anyone who would try and stop her.

Not having read A Tale of Two Cities but knowing the basic storyline, I could see the similarities. The ideas carried through both books. There's a lot said about the divide between the rich and the poor, emphasized by the creation of the Light magic and the Dark magic. Of the mistakes made by some and the secrets held by Lucie's boyfriend, the events that have created and impacted the stranger that suddenly appears in their lives. I was intrigued by this magical world created in the guise of New York City, the Light and the Dark parts that rose up and split it in two.

This book takes some turns, some complicated and confusing turns, and then some dark turns that I wasn't expecting. I thought this would be similar to the author's previous books but it's far more serious. Far more deadly. I was intrigued, yes, as to where it would go. How similar it would be to Dickens' original work. It started off a bit slow, a bit confusing as there's some surprising plot before some backstory, but the pace really picked up in the later half. If you were already interested in reading this, then go right ahead, but if you were expecting the quirky humour of the author's previous series, then know that this book is far more serious. But then how could it not be when we're talking about an uprising?

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt through NetGalley.)