Me on The One Memory of Flora Banks

Title: The One Memory of Flora Banks
Author: Emily Barr
Release Date: May 2, 2017
Publisher: Philomel Books (Penguin imprint)

Seventeen-year-old Flora Banks has no short-term memory. Her mind resets itself several times a day, and has since the age of ten, when the tumor that was removed from Flora's brain took with it her ability to make new memories. That is, until she kisses Drake, her best friend's boyfriend, the night before he leaves town. Miraculously, this one memory breaks through Flora's fractured mind, and sticks. Flora is convinced that Drake is responsible for restoring her memory and making her whole again. So when an encouraging email from Drake suggests she meet him on the other side of the world, Flora knows with certainty that this is the first step toward reclaiming her life. With little more than the words "be brave" inked into her skin, and written reminders of who she is and why her memory is so limited, Flora sets off on an impossible journey to Svalbard, Norway, the land of the midnight sun, determined to find Drake. But from the moment she arrives in the arctic, nothing is quite as it seems, and Flora must "be brave" if she is ever to learn the truth about herself, and to make it safely home.

The One Memory of Flora Banks is an intriguing look at memory and perception, at a girl who has no short-term memory but can suddenly remember a kiss, at what makes her feel brave, but it missed the mark with me.

Flora is kind, sweet, and friendly, mostly because much of her personality is stuck at the age at which the amnesia first took over her memories. She's a ten-year-old in a seventeen-year-old's body. Because of her type of amnesia, she struggles to keep recent memories in her head. Her life is full of gaps and confusion, notes and post-its and messages scrawled on her arms in thick marker. But then she kisses Drake, her friend Paige's boyfriend, and hours later she can remember it. Days later, she can remember it. This new memory sets off a journey for Flora, away from her home and towards Drake, but there are certain things that some people have been keeping from her.

The premise of this book is interesting, I was drawn in by Flora and her lack of memories of the last seven years. At the idea that she could suddenly remember something. At the idea that something was being kept from her by someone close to her. Reading this isn't like other books, Flora's life happens in spurts and moments, full of repetition and reassurances. But it just didn't click with me, not completely. I felt both interested and not, curious about where Flora would go while waiting for something else to happen. While this didn't completely work out with me, I do think some will enjoy this, those who like contemporary stories with gentle intrigue and mystery about them, those who like lost and unreliable narrators.

(I received an advance copy of this title from Penguin Random House Canada.)

Me on Devil and the Bluebird

Title: Devil and the Bluebird
Author: Jennifer Mason-Black
Release Date: May 1, 2016
Publisher: Amulet Books (Abrams imprint)

Blue Riley has wrestled with her own demons ever since the loss of her mother to cancer. But when she encounters a beautiful devil at her town crossroads, it's her runaway sister's soul she fights to save. The devil steals Blue's voice—inherited from her musically gifted mother—in exchange for a single shot at finding Cass. Armed with her mother's guitar, a knapsack of cherished mementos, and a pair of magical boots, Blue journeys west in search of her sister. When the devil changes the terms of their deal, Blue must reevaluate her understanding of good and evil and open herself up to finding family in unexpected places.

Devil and the Bluebird is all about the journey, what we're looking for and where we end up. Who we meet along the way, the good and the bad, and the pieces of ourselves that we discover.

Blue is intelligent, compassionate, and lonely. Ever since her mother died, ever since her sister left. Something's been missing in her life, something that was there when they were together. And now, afraid something has happened to Cass, she heads off to the crossroads in order to make a deal with the devil, following the folktale her mother told her. And so her journey begins, heading west from her home in Maine in order to find her sister, her guitar on her back and her boots leading the way. But what Blue doesn't expect are the people she meets along the way, the hard lessons they teach her, and the ways the devil alters their deal.

I think this book says a lot about faith (both the religious and non-religious kind), about journeys and destiny. About the people you come across in life, the good and the bad, the kindness and the criminals, and that you should trust that nugget in your chest that represents your instincts. There's a curious sort of charm that runs through this book, brought on by Blue's introspection, her perceptions of the people she meets, and the music that goes along with it. I would recommend this to contemporary YA fans, to those looking for books all about the journey and how the destination you're looking for might not be the one you end up at.

(I borrowed an e-book copy of this title from the library.)

Me on The Ship Beyond Time

Title: The Ship Beyond Time
Author: Heidi Heilig
Release Date: February 28, 2017
Publisher: Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins imprint)

Nix has spent her whole life journeying to places both real and imagined aboard her time-traveling father's ship. And now it's finally time for her to take the helm. Her father has given up his obsession to save her mother—and possibly erase Nix's existence—and Nix's future lies bright before her. Until she learns that she is destined to lose the one she loves. But her relationship with Kash—best friend, thief, charmer extraordinaire—is only just beginning. How can she bear to lose him? How can she bear to become as adrift and alone as her father? Desperate to change her fate, Nix takes her crew to a mythical utopia to meet another Navigator who promises to teach her how to manipulate time. But everything in this utopia is constantly changing, and nothing is what it seems—not even her relationship with Kash. Nix must grapple with whether anyone can escape her destiny, her history, her choices.

The Ship Beyond Time is mysterious and alluring, dark and deceptive. A journey through time, towards fate and towards fear. Can history be changed? What of the consequences? Is there any hope to finding what was once lost?

Nyx is full of worry and fear. Even though they are now safe, now free to travel the seas once more, she can't help but worry. Worry that she will turn into her father, a broken shell of a man now off drugs but still desperate to make it back to the woman he once loved and lost. After leaving Hawaii, after realizing how she feels about Kashmir, she's not about to lose him.

What is time when you can travel across it? The idea of travelling anywhere at any point in time, as long as you have a map of it, is intriguing. Compelling. But then what is the future? Are you racing towards it or running from it? And what if time could be altered? What if the past could be changed?

A sense of something bittersweet and melancholy runs through this book, like mist swirling about the ankles. What is home? What is time? What is knowledge? What is fate? These are the questions asked by Nix, feared by Nix. An enchanting story of history and myth, of place and belonging, of love and loss. Of the lengths some will go to in order to save those they care about.

(I downloaded an e-galley of this title from HarperCollins through Edelweiss.)

Me on The Last of August

Title: The Last of August
Author: Brittany Cavallaro
Release Date: February 14, 2017
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins imprint)

Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are looking for a winter break reprieve in Sussex after a fall semester that almost got them killed. But nothing about their time off is proving simple, including Holmes and Watson's growing feelings for each other. When Charlotte's beloved uncle Leander goes missing from the Holmes estate—after being oddly private about his latest assignment in a German art forgery ring—the game is afoot once again, and Charlotte throws herself into a search for answers. So begins a dangerous race through the gritty underground scene in Berlin and glittering art houses in Prague, where Holmes and Watson discover that this complicated case might change everything they know about their families, themselves, and each other.

The Last of August is a mystery wrapped in complication, a race across Europe and a search for answers. A coming together of old friends and old foes, a maze of motives and reasons.

Jamie is still struggling to understand Charlotte Holmes. Sometimes he thinks he has her figured out, but then she does something, says something, and he's left confused. He wants things to go back the way they were. He wants to know how to fix things, how to fix Holmes, but it's not going to happen. She needs to be who she is. Not everything can be fixed. But can he leave? He's in pretty deep now. And after all he's seen, does he want to leave?

Under the genius of Charlotte Holmes is a complicated, bruised young woman. Trying to navigate her life around someone who wants her dead, around her distant parents and her controlling brother. Around her own demons that appeared after she was raped. She wants Watson close, she knows she needs him around, but she worries if she can give him what he wants. The brief chapters told her point of view are a gold mine for this train of thought.

I was so curious as to where this book was going to go, what trouble Holmes and Watson would get themselves into. But because so much is layered in doublespeak and mystery, I do wonder how much I missed while reading. How much I missed of the mystery, of the moments when Holmes would piece it together. After that ending, after everything that was said and revealed in this book, I'm certainly looking forward to the third one.

(I downloaded an e-galley of this title from HarperCollins through Edelweiss.)

Me on Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant

Title: Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant
Author/artist: Tony Cliff
Release Date: August 23, 2013
Publisher: FirstSecond (Macmillan imprint)

Lovable ne'er-do-well Delilah Dirk has travelled to Japan, Indonesia, France, and even the New World. Using the skills she's picked up on the way, Delilah's adventures continue as she plots to rob a rich and corrupt Sultan in Constantinople. With the aid of her flying boat and her newfound friend, Selim, she evades the Sultan's guards, leaves angry pirates in the dust, and fights her way through the countryside. For Delilah, one adventure leads to the next in this thrilling and funny installment in her exciting life.

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant is a thrilling adventure across foreign lands, led by an exciting and troublesome heroine.

At first glance, and perhaps the second and the third, it seems that Delilah Dirk is a magnet for trouble. No matter where she goes, who she talks to, she seems to end up running for her life with a bag of treasure in her hand. But why? Why does she do this? Why the travelling, the adventuring? Because of her upbringing? Because she has a deep desire to see everything the world can offer? Who knows.

But it seems like the book is more about Erdemoglu Selim, the Turkish Lieutenant, than it is about Delilah. Instead of an account of her adventure in Constantinople, it's more of an account of Mr. Selim and what becomes of her life after meeting her, after travelling with her, after getting into scrapes and battles with her. He's a simple man, looking for something more but stuck in his present role in the Turkish Janissary Corps. A personable man who can brew a fine cup of tea. A man not looking for too much trouble, which is what seems to follow Delilah Dirk around the world. But, what can you do?

Even as I say that this isn't about Delilah, it is. This book is all about what she does to the places she visits, the people she meets. The things that change after she sweeps through like a sudden storm. As she travels, searching and meeting and running and stealing, she has a substantial impact on every she comes across.

The artwork is bright and expressive, detailed when it needs to be. The changes in the characters' expressions were great, it was rather obvious to see when Delilah was annoyed or when Mr. Selim was confused or perturbed. When both would savour a good cup of tea. This definitely reads like the start of an epic adventure and I'm eager to know where they end up next, what trouble they'll get into.

(I borrowed a copy of this book from the library.)

Me on No Holding Back

Title: No Holding Back
Author: Kate Evangelista
Release Date: October 18, 2016
Publisher: Swoon Reads (Macmillan imprint)

Everyone knows that Nathan is in love with his best friend, Preston... Everyone except Preston. Nathan has always accepted that Preston was too focused on his swim training to worry about love. But Preston is heading off to train for the Olympics soon, so if Nathan wants his chance at love, he has to speak up now. But saying "I love you" is surprisingly difficult, even for someone as confident as Nathan. Maybe a whirlwind vacation in Europe could help? But... what if it doesn't work out and he loses the best friend he's ever had?

No Holding Back is a sweet story about friendship and love, about focus and determination.

Nathan is determined to plan this luncheon for Preston's overbearing and controlling mother, even if she keeps undermining his ideas. But he knew she would be this way, he and Preston have been friends for years. And Nathan's been crushing on him for almost as long. He knows Preston, knows how driven his is when it comes to swimming. Nathan knows how sometimes Preston gets too focused, too involved. Which is why this vacation to Europe is actually a great idea. Give them both time to relax, even while Nathan is busy planning. And maybe Nathan would finally gather up all his courage and tell Preston how he feels? But what if it doesn't work out?

Preston has tunnel-vision when it comes to swimming. It's all he knows, all he works towards. He's been dreaming of making the Olympic team for years, and now he's one step closer. Maybe. If the club coach would ever e-mail him to let him know whether or not he made it in. It's a good thing he has Nathan as a friend, setting him straight when Preston stresses out and over-thinks. But this European vacation idea? He's not so sure. What if the e-mail comes early? And once he's in Europe, why are things sometimes awkward with Nathan?

This is a sweet story about two young men who need to stop and be honest with each other, with themselves. Stop and look around and think about what they really want. But that was it. I kept searching for substance. And there were moments when the story stuttered and dragged on. It's a bit of a clichéd story. But if what you're looking for is a sweet and simple gay romance, if you like the friends to something more trope, then give this a read.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.)

Me on A Darkly Beating Heart

Title: A Darkly Beating Heart
Author: Lindsay Smith
Release Date: October 25, 2016
Publisher: Running Brook Press (Macmillan imprint)

No one knows what to do with Reiko. She is full of hatred. All she can think about is how to best hurt herself and the people closest to her. After a failed suicide attempt, Reiko's parents send her from their Seattle home to spend the summer with family in Japan to learn to control her emotions. But while visiting Kuramagi, a historic village preserved to reflect the nineteenth-century Edo period, Reiko finds herself slipping back in time into the life of Miyu, a young woman even more bent on revenge than Reiko herself. Reiko loves being Miyu, until she discovers the secret of Kuramagi village, and must face down Miyu's demons as well as her own.

A Darkly Beating Heart is rough and painful, a look at anger and betrayal, at the harm we do to ourselves and to others. At the things that push us, at the lives we leave behind. At the darkness that can stew and fester inside of ourselves.

Reiko is rage and fury in human form. Nothing matters anymore, nothing but being angry. Nothing but getting her revenge on those that hurt her. Especially if that means killing herself in a way that publicly hurts them. She can't create anymore, she feels nothing from her art, from her photographs and collages. It's not worth it. All she can do now if she wants to feel something in cut herself and look for a way to end it all.

Considering the author's note at the end, I got the feeling that she really wanted to be as accurate as possible when it came to showing modern day Japan and the time slip moments set in the 19th century. She wanted to be faithful to Japanese customs and culture, not just paste the setting over North American values. Not being Japanese or ever living in Japan, I can't speak on the accuracy, but in my own personal opinion the setting certainly wasn't North America. Reiko has American values because she's American. But the other characters? The Japanese characters? From my own perception of Japan, they seem accurate and realistic. But again, this is my opinion. Readers from Japan might feel differently in terms of the author's accuracy.

This is a very dark story with multiple references to self-harm, suicide, and causing harm to others, so this might not be the book for some readers. I certainly didn't expect them and was taken aback for a moment or two before continuing. This was certainly a look at anger and what it does, how it changes us. How destroying it is. And the time slip moments were interesting, the moments in historical Japan with Miyu, her father, and the incoming samurai. I would recommend this for those looking for a darker sort of book, one full of revenge, but to take care in case of being triggered when it comes to suicide and self-harm.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.)

Me on Enter a Glossy Web

Title: Enter a Glossy Web
Author: McKenna Rhea Ruebush
Release Date: September 27, 2016
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books (Macmillan imprint)

Twelve-year-old George has no idea what to expect when she's sent to stay with eccentric relatives following the disappearance of her brother. Soon after her arrival, she learns that Uncle Constantine has been kidnapped. George sets off to recover him and is joined by two orphaned boys along the way and Cavendish, a talking map. Together they visit magical worlds full of monsters, witches, and dragons as they attempt to find Constantine--the Timekeeper--a man of great significance. If he's not rescued, events will cease to happen at their designated times, disrupting the unfolding of the universe. Can this ragtag crew save the future before being outwitted by evil captors?

Enter a Glossy Web is an exciting adventure full to the brim with magic, discovery, impossibility, and danger. Time is running out, and George and the boys have to hurry if they're going to save the universe.

George is a smart girl, a thoughtful girl. A lonely girl. After her brother's disappearance, she can't lose anyone close to her again. She keeps count, but even then, her uncle goes missing on a work trip and her aunt is kidnapped. She's been given an impossible quest, rooted in the fantastical bedtime stories her uncle told her during a meteor shower, and she follows it, determined to save the family members taken from her. But she doesn't want to remember what happened before, in Istanbul. Her companions, the young boys named Caleb and Mikal, are a curious pair. Their story, the beginning that they share with George, is a sad one, and soon they help her solving puzzles and searching for keys. But they also have things they don't want to talk about. They have secrets, they have fears, and they don't want to confront them.

How charming was this book! It reminded me of the impossible magic of childhood, of playing pretend and stories filled with magical creatures and different worlds. Of fantasy stories of children saying the day and adults helping them instead of hindering them. So many supportive adult characters! This was such a joy to read, so much fun to read. I loved reading about George, Caleb, and Mikal wandering through different worlds like the Land of Dreamers and The Children's Republic as they searched for the keys that would help save the worlds. A must-read for middle grade fans, for fans of fantasy worlds and adventure and wonder.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.)

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 The Pharos Gate

Title: The Pharos Gate
Author/artist: Nick Bantock
Release Date: March 22, 2016
Publisher: Chronicle Books

A love story for the ages, the tale of Griffin and Sabine is an international sensation that spent over 100 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and continues to beguile readers 25 years after its original publication. Here to celebrate that anniversary is the final volume in Griffin and Sabine's story—a book that can be enjoyed as a singular reading experience or in conjunction with the series as a whole. The Pharos Gate rejoices in the book as physical object, weaving together word and image in beautifully illustrated postcards and removable letters that reveal a sensual and metaphysical romance, one full of mystery and intrigue. Published simultaneously with the 25th-anniversary edition of Griffin & Sabine, The Pharos Gate finally shares what happened to the lovers in a gorgeous volume that will surely delight Griffin and Sabine's longtime fans and a new generation of readers.

The Pharos Gate is magical, a return to the impossible and inescapable magic of the previous books. A return to a couple separated by land and sea but connected by the depth of their love for each other, connected by happenstance. By letters and postcards.

The first three books enchanted me as a child. The gorgeous and sometimes abstract artwork of the postcards. The curved lines of Sabine's handwriting. The nervousness and hesitation in Griffin's first few messages, the panic at the end of the first book. The intensity of their journey. The way this story is told in few words, the finite number of words that can fit on the back of a postcard, but conveys enough emotion and determination as any thousand page book can.

Here is the last stretch for Sabine and Griffin. After corresponding for more than a year, after travelling around the world, after a failed attempt at being together, they are ready to leave their homes and their lives behind. They've shared secrets, shared artwork and ideas, shared the depth of their love for each other and the joy and sorrow that sprang up from it, like seedlings in the spring. They're ready to be together. But it's not so simple. Their first encounter was by chance, Sabine somehow, in the South Pacific, being able to see into Griffin's London studio. It was impossible. Improbable. And here are those in the world that will not allow them to meet.

There's an extra something in this book, an extra poignancy that's currently lost in the digital age, in the age of technology and immediacy. Time passes so slowly here. The longing, the waiting. The yearning to find a card in the mailbox, to see the familiar handwriting. This is what I remember when reading those first three books so many years ago. The desperation in Griffin and Sabine's words. Their desire to finally be face to face, to finally be together without fear or anger or distance in their way. Without the rules of the world in their way. They defy their hunter, defy the idea that "the pragmatic and the ethereal" should never meet, never marry. This is their choice. No matter what the rules of the world are, what some say. Their connection is stronger than that, goes deeper than that, and they will not be kept apart any longer.

I wonder if these books are where it started, my love of the mundane combined with the extraordinary. With storytelling. With epic love stories and connections. This is a definite must-read for those who fell in love with the earlier books, for those who've always wondered what happened between The Golden Mean and The Gryphon. For those looking for a piece of the impossible.

(I received a finished copy of this book to review from Raincoast Books.)

Me on Out of Frame

Title: Out of Frame
Author: Megan Erickson
Release Date: March 15, 2016
Publisher: Intermix (Penguin imprint)

Perpetually shy, Quinn Mathers is content to remain in the shadow of his brash best friend Jess Hartman. But before their college graduation, he and Jess have planned one last hurrah: a spring break Caribbean cruise. And it won't be just any cruise. On board are members of the reality show Trip League, which follows young twenty-somethings on adventures around the world. Since the show's beginning, Quinn has been fascinated by J. R. Butler, with his amazing body, warm eyes, and killer grin. Unfortunately, he's straight—or so the world thinks. At nineteen, J. R. signed a contract to play straight for the show, and there's no way to get out of it now. Yet with each passing day, Quinn and J. R. find it harder to keep their hands off each other and to keep out of the camera's frame. But when the lens finally focuses on them, J. R. must decide if he's willing to risk his career by admitting his bisexuality, and Quinn must determine if he's bold enough to stand in the spotlight with the man of his dreams...

Out of Focus is about two people trying to figure each other out, trying to figure themselves out, together while trying to keep things secret. Which is hard when you're on a cruise ship full of cameramen and drunk college students. These are the struggles of two men who want to be honest with themselves, with those around them, but for some reason or another keep getting held back.

Quinn is sweet, kind, and often slightly worried, which is just how he is. Growing up an only child with nervous parents, some of it was bound to wear off. But he doesn't want to be worried so much anymore. He wants to live after the last few years of constant college, constant saving and working, and a not-so-healthy relationship. He wants be alive, he wants to be wanted, but he doesn't want it to hurt.

J.R. is essentially living two lives. The public life, the one shown on camera, has him being tough, harsh, sneering, and straight. In his private life, the one he lives when he's alone or talking to his parents and brother on the phone, he's none of those things. He's been caught by circumstance and his own failed trust in his agent, stuck playing the role of the slightly tough straight black guy on a 'reality show.' It's wearing on him, weighing him down, and he wants nothing more than the show to end and for him to finally life honestly and openly as bisexual.

This book certainly shows, especially from J.R.'s point of view, the struggles of occupying a space where you can't be truthful, where you can't be your honest self. Of erasure, of being bisexual when everyone else thinks he's straight. He's been typecast in Trip League, crammed into a stereotype that those in charge of the show wanted, and it hurts him. He's constantly in a space full of people telling him to be quiet, to keep pretending, to not rock the boat and be different. Because it doesn't matter, right? He can just date women. Because he would've already dated women so he's basically straight, right? No. And all the while every piece of him is screaming to stop hiding. During the cruise he has Quinn to lean on, to be honest with, but it's not enough.

What I like about this series is how honest and realistic everyone's problems are. This could happen to anyone, everyone, and does happen so often in real life. So many hide their sexuality, their personality, their mental health status, because of family reasons, other personal reasons, work-related reasons. It's sad that, as open and progressive as many parts of the world claim to be, people still can't be honest and open about who they are. What they're anxious or worried about. Who they're attracted to, romantically and/or sexually. It's easy to look at what sets us apart, from differentiates us from each other, while forgetting that we're all human beings that deserve equal respect. A great addition to the series.

Quick note that as with most new adult titles out there, there is some explicit sexual content.

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

Me on The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Volume One

Title: The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Volume One: At the Edge of Empire
Author: Daniel Kraus
Release Date: October 27, 2015
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

May 7, 1896. Dusk. A swaggering seventeen-year-old gangster named Zebulon Finch is gunned down on the shores of Lake Michigan. But after mere minutes in the void, he is mysteriously resurrected. His second life will be nothing like his first. Zebulon's new existence begins as a sideshow attraction in a traveling medicine show. From there, he will be poked and prodded by a scientist obsessed with mastering the secrets of death. He will fight in the trenches of World War I. He will run from his nightmares—and from poverty—in Depression-era New York City. And he will become the companion of the most beautiful woman in Hollywood. Love, hate, hope, and horror—Zebulon finds them. But will he ever find redemption?

The Life and Death of Zebulon Finch, Volume One is the start of an epic story, a look back at beginnings. At the first lifetime that crafted Zebulon Finch and the second that showed him all the horrors and delights of the world.

Zebulon is reflective and bold, not necessarily all that boastful. There are many words he wishes to share with his readers, which makes him a pensive and witty narrator. His tales are full of intricate details, from his childhood in Chicago with his controlling mother, to his time as a member of a gang, to his death and subsequent awakening. To his afterlife full of charlatans and criminals, villains and heroes, people desperate for money or desperate for fame. Or desperate for life. From America to Europe and back again. He wanders through space and time, experiencing, learning. Decaying. Because, with all his adventures and stories, Zebulon Finch is still dead.

It's a curious story with a voice keen to describing every single detail of what occurred to him and around him during his time as a resurrected young man. It's almost 700 pages of description, narration, and reflection on how cruel he once was, how clueless he was, how jaded he was, how battered he was, how smart he was, and how reminiscent he's become.

The idea of this story is intriguing, very intriguing, but I struggled with the overall length of the story. Zebulon has had more than 100 years to ponder life, to wonder about peoples' motivation for their actions. To think about why him, why didn't he die. It's a dark story full of wit and adventure, but it's just so long. If you think you can handle the length, if you are interested in Zebulon's journey from Chicago to Georgia to Boston to France to New York to Hollywood, if you're interested in the story of a dead man discovering what it is to be alive and human, then give this a read.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Simon & Schuster Canada.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (250)

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

Title: Map of Fates
Author: Maggie Hall
Release Date: March 8, 2016
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (Penguin imprint)

From Goodreads:

Two weeks.

That’s how long it took for Avery West’s ordinary life to change forever: In two weeks, she discovered she was heiress to a powerful secret society known as the Circle, learned her mother was taken hostage by the Circle’s enemies, and fell for a boy she’s not allowed to love, just as she found out another was her unwelcome destiny. 



Now, Avery crosses oceans in private jets to hunt for clues that will uncover the truth about the Circle, setting her mom and herself free before it’s too late. By her side are both the boys: Jack—steady, loyal, and determined to help her even at the expense of his own duty—and Stellan, whose connection to Avery grows stronger by the day despite her best intentions, making her question what she believes at every turn.
 


But at the end of a desperate hunt from the islands of Greece to the red carpet at Cannes comes a discovery that not only changes everything, but could bring the whole world to its knees. And now Avery is forced to face the truth: in the world of the Circle, no one is what they seem.

I'm looking forward to this next book. I like the sort of international intrigue that's centered around secret societies and puzzles and travelling around the world. I do wonder about Avery's relationships with Jack and Stellan, which one she'll fall for more. Which one she'll end up with. What will pop up from the Circle and ruin everything. With it being the second book, it's bound to end with a big surprise or explosion or something.

Me on Wonder at the Edge of the World

Title: Wonder at the Edge of the World
Author: Nicole Helget
Release Date: April 14, 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Hallelujah Wonder wants to become one of the first female scientists of the nineteenth century. She knows every specimen and rare artifact that her explorer father hid deep in a cave before he died, and she feels a great responsibility to protect the objects (particularly a mesmerizing and dangerous one called the Medicine Head) from a wicked Navy captain who would use it for evil. Now she and her friend Eustace, a runaway slave, must set out on a sweeping adventure by land and by sea to the only place where no one will ever find the cursed relic....

Wonder at the Edge of the World is a dangerous adventure for one young girl and her friend. They travel across treacherous lands and terrible seas in order to hide something mysterious, but they must be careful along the way. They wouldn't want to fall victim to the relic's whispers.

Hallelujah is a smart, strong-willed, opinionated girl. She's rather matter-of-fact, something of a know-it-all. She has one way of looking at the world, the way she learned from her father: the scientific, adventurous way. She trusts that what he said was true. Why would he lie? He's why she is the way she is, stubborn, only seeing one way forward. For someone so young, she's very set in her ways. But sometimes it's not all about science.

What inquisitive child of an explorer and a scientist, raised on tales of danger and wonder, wouldn't want to travel? To see the sights for themselves? To have an adventure? Lu's father, before his death, presented the world to her as a place to be discovered. A place where secrets wait to be revealed. And so Lu heads out to do what her father didn't have the time to do.

Something dark is circling Lu, something primal, mysterious, and magical. What is the Medicine Head? What are its secrets? Obsession drove her father to learn more about it, and it drives Lu, but in a different way. To get rid of it. To stop the whispers. But will she be able to resist? Will it fall into the wrong hands?

Lu confronts a number of difficult topics on her adventure. Slavery and racism, obsession and greed. Evil. She confronts all of them, ready to push her way through, ready to do her father proud and finish what he could not. I would definitely recommend this to those looking for a complex and thrilling middle grade adventure story.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Hachette Book Group Canada.)

Me on Stone in the Sky

Title: Stone in the Sky
Author: Cecil Castellucci
Release Date: February 24, 2015
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan imprint)

Abandoned and left for dead on a remote space station, no one expected Tula Bane to survive. Yet over time, she sound friends, family, and even love. When it's discovered that the desolate planet beneath the station is verdant with a rare, invaluable resource, aliens from across the galaxy rave over, including Brother Blue, the man who nearly killed Tula years ago. The man she has dreamed of destroying ever since. But Tula needs him alive to ensure the protection of the Human Wanderers who hitch from spaceship to spaceship. Without her leadership, they are as sure as dead. Mired in an intergalactic power struggle and town between two loves, Tula must tread carefully to save those in her care, and the lives of Humans throughout the galaxies.

Stone in the Sky, like its predecessor, explores what it is to be Human, what it is to struggle to find your place in the world and among the stars. It explores what home is, whether it be a person or a place, and how much Humans crave having a place to call their own.

It's been more than a year since Tula became the only Human on Yertina Feray again. More than a year since Brother Blue tried to kill her, again, when she threatened to expose his con. More than a year since she finally found her place on the station. But Brother Blue would always be a threat as long as he was alive, and now that he's returned, Tula's forced to fight back again. It's not as easy this time. She struggles even more than before, searching, waiting. She's still resourceful, still smart, still Tula. But this journey seems so much harder on her.

What was refreshing about the first book was the lack of romance. Years apart from Humans, Tula had no idea how to react around them, but they made her feel again. Made her feel Human again. She didn't want it, didn't want to be vulnerable again, but she still craved being around them. She wasn't as alone with them around. There's just as much romance here, but this time around I longed for it. Because the story continues, I wanted more of it. After the first book I wanted her to be happy, and she was, but that would never last. After Tin Star, only part of Tula's story had been told. The romance here makes me happy. Tula is torn because both give her something she's needed after years of being alone. Both make her feel. Because of the story, because of Tula, it works.

There's a lot to be said about the resiliency of Humans, about our ways of continuing on and coming together in times of great hardship. About how manipulative and sneaky we can be. Our greatest traits and worst flaws come together to show what imperfect creatures we are. This duology has been such a journey, it couldn't have ended better.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.)

Me on All Fall Down

Title: All Fall Down
Author: Ally Carter
Release Date: January 20, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic Press

Grace Blakely is absolutely certain of three things: 1. She is not crazy. 2. Her mother was murdered. 3. Someday she is going to find the killer and make him pay. As certain as Grace is about these facts, nobody else believes her -- so there's no one she can completely trust. Not her grandfather, a powerful ambassador. Not her new friends, who all live on Embassy Row. Not Alexei, the Russian boy next door, who is keeping his eye on Grace for reasons she neither likes nor understands. Everybody wants Grace to put on a pretty dress and a pretty smile, blocking out all her unpretty thoughts. But they can't control Grace -- no more than Grace can control what she knows or what she needs to do. Her past has come back to hunt her, and if she doesn't stop it, Grace isn't the only one who will get hurt. Because on Embassy Row, the countries of the world stand like dominoes, and one wrong move can make them all fall down.

All Fall Down is filled with mystery and international intrigue. Grace is on a mission. She knows someone killed her mother and no one will stop her from from finding the person responsible.

Grace is... interesting. Unhinged? Reckless but afraid. Snide and snarky but apologetic. It's like we see bits of the person she was mixed with bits of the person she is now. She's unable to move on after seeing her mother murdered, which is both good and bad. It's good that she isn't willing to give up, that she's determined, but it's not good because of how obsessed she is with finding the killer. But who else will? No one is really supporting her, not really, not in the way she needs. In the beginning she doesn't have anyone to lean on. They're all there to keep her safe, keep her out of trouble, but that doesn't quite translate into them helping her.

There's something that bothers me about some of the people in Grace's life. I didn't get the feeling that they wanted to help her. Some do, during the course of the book, but some don't. Those people think she'll get over it, that she's just acting out, that she's paranoid or lying. They can't see that she's suffering, that she needs help. It's a mix of her psychological problems, her stress disorder and anxiety attacks, and some people don't see that. Part of it is on Grace for thinking she can handle everything on her own, but part of it is on the people who say they care about her. She doesn't need fancy parties with important diplomats. She needs someone who trusts that what she says is true. And probably a therapist.

The setting is interesting. It's a different country with a dark past and secrets under its streets, but it's also American in the embassy, in Grace and the others who live and work there. Taking place on a street of different embassies in a foreign country, there's certainly a hint of tension in the air. It's certainly a strange feeling, being in such a strained environment, where any misstep could mean distrust or even war between countries.

This is a book with a lot of intrigue and tension. The stakes are so high here. One wrong move and a war could start. But while that is serious, it also, partially, sounds impossible. What would have to happen for a war to start? Of course, this might just be my inability to suspend my disbelief in this one instance, but I am curious as to what it would take in this series. I would recommend this to readers looking for some international intrigue in their contemporary YA, to readers looking for a broken but still hopeful heroine, and to fans of Ally Carter's previous books.

(I received an advance copy of this title from Scholastic Canada.)

Me on Now and For Never

Title: Now and For Never
Author: Lesley Livingston
Release Date: May 27, 2014
Publisher: Razorbill Canada (Penguin Canada imprint)

Past and present collide on the high seas when Clare and Allie hurtle back in time once more in a perilous attempt to retrieve Marcus Donatus—Allie's blast-from-the-past crush—and put an end, once and for all, to the Time Monkey Shenanigans. But when Clare and Allie unexpectedly find themselves temporal stowaways on a Roman warship full of looted Celtic gold, sailing straight for the heart of a magic-fueled maelstrom, there's not much they can do but hang on for the ride—and hope Milo can tap into the Druid lore trapped in his genius brain to help bring them home, before it's too late. The only thing that's going to save Clarinet Reid and Allie McAllister now is if they join forces with old enemies, new loves, and unexpected friends.

Now and For Never is the conclusion of the epic adventures of two friends through time, of magic and Druids and Romans, of scheming plots and fate.

Clarinet Reid and Allie McAllister are two average teenage girls. They're friends who laugh together, argue with each other, and travel through time to stop an evil jerk of an enemy together. Well, a few evil jerks. Well, not evil, just misguided and drunk on treasure and/or power. I love Clare and Allie as a duo. They're friends who get each other, who accept each other's flaws and continue to roll on with the crazy, who are always there to help each other.

There's a moment near the beginning where Clare voices her concerns to Allie regarding Marcus. Their separate visits to the past were different, Clare's short visits with the Druids compared to Allie's long stop with the Romans. They're two sides of a brutal war, two different opinions. Clare has her prejudices against the Romans for what they did to Comorra and the Iceni people, and she tells Allie that. She tells Allie that she's biased against not saving him. She tells Allie that she doesn't like having those biased feelings. And Allie understands. Both of them understand. They might argue about sense and reason and whether travelling through time is a shimmer or a zot, but they'll always be friends.

I like how the author goes back in time with Clare and Allie, how she takes what we already know (or presume to know) about Ancient Britain and the Druids and Romans and fiddles around with it a bit. Yes, it's all implausible, but it's still exciting. This series takes history and time travel and, while still treating the history seriously, also pokes fun and makes it entertaining. There's a lot of pressure on Clare and Allie to right wrongs, to fix timelines, but there's still a sense of light-heartedness that runs through the book. It's serious but also fun.

This series has been a wonderful mix of time travel, British history, sass, geek culture quotes, and two best friends. I'm a bit sad to see it end, but their adventures are over. For now. And Stuart Morholt will always be a jerk.

(I purchased a copy of this book.)

Me on The Geography of You and Me

Title: The Geography of You and Me
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Release Date: April 15, 2014
Publisher: Poppy (Hachette Book Group imprint)

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father. Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and, finally, a reunion in the city where they first met.

The Geography of You and Me is thoughtful and emotional book, a story of two teens searching for something very important. They're searching for something, searching for a place that's theirs. A place where they can laugh, cry, scream, shout. A place where they can be themselves. But what if that place isn't a place?

Lucy and Owen are different people. They have their separate lives, their likes and dislikes, their reasons for wanting to find the place that's theirs and theirs alone. But for one night they're together, first trapped in an elevator then wandering a dark NYC. Their blackout banter was great. It wasn't easy-breezy but a little strained, a little awkward and unfamiliar. But it was because they didn't know each other. It was entertaining and honest, and as quickly as it started it ended. Their separate lives return with the lights, taking hold and pulling them back. What could have been disappears, but that doesn't stop them from thinking about the other.

There's a sense of longing that fills this book that's both bitter and sweet. Wanting to be in the right place and with the right person, trying to figure out who you are and where you want to be. Journeys like that can take a lifetime. After that one night, Lucy and Owen continue their lives, but something is missing. Something they keep searching for. With different people, in different places. But it's never the same.

I found this a heart-warming journey of a book. The idea that home isn't a place but a person is one some people don't consider. That sometimes it's with a specific someone and not a location is where you're the most comfortable being you. You're able to like what you like, hate what you hate. There's a curious sense of magic afoot when you meet someone and connect with them like that. Either in an instant or over time, either romantically or not, that person becomes extremely important to you. And you'd do anything to be by their side again.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Hachette Book Group Canada.)

Me on When You Were Here

Title: When You Were Here
Author: Daisy Whitney
Release Date: June 4, 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group imprint)

Danny's mother lost her five-year battle with cancer three weeks before his graduation-the one day that she was hanging on to see. Now Danny is left alone, with only his memories, his dog, and his heart-breaking ex-girlfriend for company. He doesn't know how to figure out what to do with her estate, what to say for his Valedictorian speech, let alone how to live or be happy anymore. When he gets a letter from his mom's property manager in Tokyo, where she had been going for treatment, it shows a side of a side of his mother he never knew. So, with no other sense of direction, Danny travels to Tokyo to connect with his mother's memory and make sense of her final months, which seemed filled with more joy than Danny ever knew. There, among the cherry blossoms, temples, and crowds, and with the help of an almost-but-definitely-not Harajuku girl, he begins to see how it may not have been ancient magic or mystical treatment that kept his mother going. Perhaps, the secret of how to live lies in how she died.

When You Were Here is an emotional and moving tale of a young man's search into his mother's life. There is grief and loss and family, but also death and love, and how utterly confusing the two are.

Danny is a mix of messed up emotions. He's broken, depressed, listless, and with no sense of direction, no idea of what to do next. There is no emotion in him, apart from anger at the world, affection towards his dog, and confusion towards his sort of ex-girlfriend. It's like his mother was an anchor in his life, and his memories of her aren't enough to hold him down to continue on with his life.

Love and death have a way of going hand in hand in life. They are both completely confusing, hard to understand, and unmistakably irresistible. We can't escape either of them. We love, we die, the ones we love die, our love for others die. But why are love and death so important to the human condition? Why do we base our lives on them, why do we both run from them and run towards them? Is the challenge of trying to understand them that pulls us in? Or is it that, without them, life would be meaningless?

After his mother's death, Danny's at a loss and is unsure of where to go next. Losing someone takes a lot out of you, it leaves the world feeling incomplete, like you're not sure how to navigate the place you've always lived in, a place you know like the back of your hand.

Danny is searching for reasons why his mother died, but he never expects to learn lessons in love, life, and letting go. The world is far from perfect, there will be pain and loss, but you have to think of the good times, you have to do what makes you happy. You have to love life and love those in your life like nothing else matters.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Hachette Book Group Canada.)

Me on Ink

Title: Ink
Author: Amanda Sun
Release Date: June 25, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building. Then there’s Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets. Katie never wanted to move to Japan, but now she may not make it out of the country alive.

Ink is an intriguing story rich with modern day Japanese culture, Japanese mythology, and magic. In a country with such rich history there's bound to be something lurking around, something searching for power. A rather serious tone travels through the book because there's so much at stake for Katie. Like survival.

It's very much a stranger in a strange land sort of book, Katie with her American customs and American way of thinking. So much research has been done by the author on Japanese geography, customs, and myths. And the English/Japanese language barrier was addressed, which was good. It was nice to see the author not sweep it off to the side and avoid it.

I find that Katie tries to be strong and ends up with a façade over her face. She somewhat refuses to accept that, for the moment, she has to live in a foreign country with a relative she barely knows and speak a language she barely understands. In a culture so different from the one she grew up in, she's lost and puts up a wall, not complaining but not accepting. In the beginning, And so she waits for the day she can go back to North America, until danger arises and curiosity kicks in.

There's an instant something between Katie and Tomohiro. I'm wary of saying it was the often hated insta-love, I think it's more instant anger or hatred or confusion. And then Katie sticks her nose in because she wants to know why what happened happened. She wants to know why he's a walking contradiction, why he's angry and closed-off but also quiet and friendly. Why his drawings come alive. Yes, following Tomohiro around makes her a creepy stalker, and no, I wouldn't suggest doing this in real life, but Katie's recklessly stubborn and she wants to keep those she's managed to make friends with safe. And so, with her big nose, she shoves her way in like a foolish idiot and gets caught up in a huge mess of trouble.

Part of what I found compelling, beyond the setting, is the darkness and the magic in the ink. The fantasy aspect, the dark magic in the ink drawings, it all reaches back into Japanese myth, into lore and legend, and hints at the true power of the gods. In ways it's a subtle sort of magic, elusive at times, but in other ways it's clearly there, extremely dangerous and powerful. But Katie's involvement, Katie's connection, must be addressed. Why is a Caucasian girl from New York somehow involved?

Certain things are very clear in this book. The gods are real, the kami have power, the ink is dangerous, and it wants them both. Everyone is at risk. Now that she's part of it, Katie has to figure out what to do next.

(I received an advance copy from Harlequin Teen.)