Me on The Culling

Title: The Culling
Author: Steven dos Santos
Release Date: March 8, 2013
Publisher: Flux Books

Lucian "Lucky" Spark has been recruited for training by the totalitarian government known at the Establishment to join the ruthless Imposer task force. Each Recruit participates in increasingly difficult and violent military training for a chance to advance to the next level. Those who fail must choose an "Incentive," a family member to be brutally killed. If Lucky fails, he'll have to choose death for his only living relative, his four-year-old brother Cole. Lucky will do anything to keep his brother alive. What he isn't prepared for is the undeniable attraction to the handsome and rebellious Digory Tycho. While they train together, their relationship grows, but daring to care for another Recruit in a world where love is used as the ultimate weapon is dangerous. As Lucky soon learns, the consequences can be deadly.

The Culling is brutal and deadly, a dangerous world controlled by a murderous government hiding behind a mask of righteousness. Lucian will have to fight, fight with everything he is, fight for everything he has, and hope it's enough to keep those he loves alive at the end.

Everything Lucian does is for Cole. Everything. He's all he has left, and so every sacrifice must be made. He just never expected to make this sacrifice, to be forced to leave him and train in order to return and fight for both of their lives. Then comes Digory, igniting a spark between the two of them, Digory who helps Lucian as much as he can, and Lucian ends up a little torn between him and his brother. There's also Lucian's past friendship with Cassius, the new prefect for the city. Something happened between them, something in the past before the book started, and I'm very curious as to what it was.

In any dystopian, there will be secrets the ruling group is trying to hide. There will be threats of physical harm and death. There will be those who choose to rise up and fight back and those who crumble under the massive weight of the world. In order to connect with readers, there must be strength in the characters but also weakness. Lucian is battered and bruised, especially after going through what he has, but he still pushes on.

It's not every day that I come across a dystopian YA where the main character is gay, or where a different male character has a husband and all of the surprise stems from the fact that he's already married and not that his spouse is a man. It gives a different sort of glimpse into the world the author has crafted. Yes, it's brutal, lethal, and razor sharp at all the edges, but apparently it's a world where people can marry within their gender and not be discriminated against.

Now, this book is similar to The Hunger Games, rather similar, but that being said I found it different enough to be interesting, to hold my attention right to the end. So many questions are left unanswered at the end, and so now I'm left waiting for the next book.

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

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (118)

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

Title: 3:59
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Release Date: September 17, 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins imprint)

From Goodreads:

Josie Byrne's life is spiraling out of control. Her parents are divorcing, her boyfriend Nick has grown distant, and her physics teacher has it in for her. When she's betrayed by the two people she trusts most, Josie thinks things can't get worse.

Until she starts having dreams about a girl named Jo. Every night at the same time—3:59 a.m.

Jo's life is everything Josie wants: she's popular, her parents are happily married, and Nick adores her. It all seems real, but they're just dreams, right? Josie thinks so, until she wakes one night to a shadowy image of herself in the bedroom mirror – Jo.

Josie and Jo realize that they are doppelgängers living in parallel universes that overlap every twelve hours at exactly 3:59. Fascinated by Jo's perfect world, Josie jumps at the chance to jump through the portal and switch places for a day.

But Jo’s world is far from perfect. Not only is Nick not Jo's boyfriend, he hates her. Jo's mom is missing, possibly insane. And at night, shadowy creatures feed on human flesh.

By the end of the day, Josie is desperate to return to her own life. But there’s a problem: Jo has sealed the portal, trapping Josie in this dangerous world. Can she figure out a way home before it’s too late?

From master of suspense Gretchen McNeil comes a riveting and deliciously eerie story about the lives we wish we had – and how they just might kill you.

This sounds all kinds of creepy and dangerous and filled with possible mix-ups. The alternate reality trend is slowly creeping its way forward after Through to You, very slowly, and I'm interested in more books like it. I'm rather jealous of those going to BEA this summer, I heard Gretchen will be there signing ARCs. :)

Me on When We Wake

Title: When We Wake
Author: Karen Healey
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group imprint)

Tegan is sixteen and just like every other girl living in 2027. She's happiest when playing the guitar, she's falling in love for the first time, and she's joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental collapse, social discrimination, and political injustice. But on what should have been the best day of her life, she dies, and wakes up a hundred years in the future, locked in a government facility with no idea what happened. Tegan is the first government guinea pig to be cryonically frozen and successfully revived, which makes her an instant celebrity, even though all she wants to do is try to rebuild some semblance of a normal life. But the future isn't all she hoped it would be, and she appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better future?

When We Wake is intriguing, incredibly thoughtful, and incredibly relevant. How much will the world change between now and 100 years from now? What will be our worth as people? What will the planet look like? How will visitors and refugees from different countries be treated? If a terrible truth is being hidden from the rest of the world, will anyone be brave enough to bring it to light? This is an exploration of a changing world, an exploration of faith, and a conformation that, sometimes, you have to speak out in order to save the world.

The best comment I can give Karen Healey about this book is that I hope I never experience a future like this. It's frightening realistic. I don't live in Australia, but I can recognize hints and pieces of what's happening then happening now. It's eerie, and scary, and serves in increase both my fear for the future and my hope that we won't ruin it.

Tegan brings a 21st century Aussie teen's attitude and knowledge of her world to a far different 22nd century Melbourne. And it's not just Melbourne, it's the whole world. She's so normal, she has friends and a boyfriend and she's passionate about changing the world, and suddenly she's a publicity stunt, a girl brought back to life, an instant celebrity. The culture shock is staggering at every turn but she still manages to fight her way through every roadblock, even when it looks like she might not make it out alive.

The future Tegan encounters is different from the present she knows. There's a notable loss of resources, the shrinking of the oceans and the disappearance of forested areas. The temperature is on the rise, inflation is on the rise, technology is on the rise. There are new diseases to fight, new battles to encounter. The social customs and norms aren't what she's used to, and neither is the technology, but Tegan is a fighter. Her guts and strength are what propel her into the unknown, into the journey she tells the reader all about.

I think the purpose of books like this is to show readers, teenagers and adults alike, that things need to change now in order to keep the future from looking similar to what's portrayed. Destruction, devastation, poverty, refugees. It all sounds pretty depressing. But we can hope that, if the future turns grey and dismal and if there's a secret as big as the one Tegan discovers, that there will be those fighting to tell the truth and help humanity remember its roots. The future doesn't have to be frightening, it can be better, but we're the ones who have to work hard to keep it bright.

(I acquired an advance copy at ALA Midwinter.)

Me on This Week's Book(less) Week (41)

This Week's Book(less) Week is like Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews only names by me. And no books.

What do you guys want to see during the Canadian YA Lit event? Besides a giveaway. Which there will be.

I developed an awesome bruise this week. I know that sounds weird. I had some blood drawn early in the week and the nurse had to move the needle around a bit and so now I've got this wicked bruise on my arm. :)

(I'm prefacing this by saying that I'm actually writing this bit on Monday.) So, I saw Penguin Teen tweet that the Isla and the Happily Ever After cover would be revealed on the 28th, as well as new covers for Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door. There has been so much blogger frustration over cover changes, and with Penguin especially, they seem rather notorious for changing covers during a series. But it's not just them. Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Disney-Hyperion, Hachette. I wouldn't be surprised if every publisher is guilty of annoying readers by changing the cover part-way through a series.

Now, take a look at some release dates. Anna: Dec 2 2010. Lola: Sept 29 2011. Isla: Sept 17 2013. It'll be 2 years between books. The cover change makes sense. Refresh, revamp, draw in new readers. Re-release Anna and Lola with new covers in paperback soon then Isla in hardcover in September. From a marketing standpoint, it makes sense. From an existing reader and fan of the previous covers and someone who hates it when book spines don't match on bookshelves standpoint, it stings. Since this is all speculation on my part, I'd love to know Penguin's reasoning behind it.

As the week went on (it's Wednesday afternoon as of this sentence), I became indifferent. Stephanie Perkins tweeted that she loves the new covers, that they're like her dream covers, that they're worth the change. On Wednesday, Kelly Jensen made a good point, and I'm going to paste her tweet here: "It's getting too hard to keep up with all the cover reveals and when and where and then it's super easy to forget the book period." Because it's true.

(And now it's Thursday and the new covers have been revealed.) It's amazing how people can be so passionate about their resistance to change. My Twitter feed is right now (Thursday afternoon) filled with a mixture of anger, enjoyment, marketing rage, and multiple people telling everyone to calm down and move on. I like the new covers, I'm happy that the author loves them so much, and this just means we're a little bit closer to FINALLY READING ISLA.

I debated on whether or not to totally erase what I'd written earlier in the week and barely talk about this, but I didn't. Feel free to comment at will. Or not. It's up to you. :)

No books this week. Instead, here's what I read over the past week and a bit. :)

Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider (You guys know me, you know I don't read a lot of contemporary YA, but there's something about this book. It's out in June. Also, I've heard that this isn't the final cover.)
Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz (So many series are ending this year, I'm getting all emotional.)
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd (I've read Wells' Moreau, so I knew what would happen, but I didn't expect the echoing liquid SQUICK sound that traveled through the book. Finally, some proper gothic horror. My review will be up in a couple of weeks.)
Once Every Never by Lesley Livingston (A re-read because of another book.)
Every Never After by Lesley Livingston (I really like Lesley's books, yay for Canadian content, and this series is all kinds of history and time travel and geek fun.)
City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster (A rather interesting fantasy with Asian inspiration.)

Me on Let the Sky Fall

Title: Let the Sky Fall
Author: Shannon Messenger
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster imprint)

Vane has no idea how he survived the Category 5 tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the dark-haired girl who's swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is. Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She's also a guardian, Vane's guardian, and has sworn an oath to protect him. Even if it means sacrificing her own life. When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both their families, Audra's forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim, the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand, but unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them but the forbidden romance that's grown between them.

Let the Sky Fall is mysterious and enthralling, lush with power and danger. So important is the need to discover the truth, the need to prove oneself worthy, and the desire to survive. Connections twist their way around the pair, known but forbidden. There are whispers on the wind, brushing at them, pushing past them, telling them something is coming and they should be prepared for the worst.

An under-written, in my opinion, mythological creature is the sylph, the air elemental, containing the power to command the various winds and breezes that circle the world. Since they are under-written about, like other creatures that control the four elements, the sylphs in this book are so unique and different they make the book stand out as something new. Combined with the history and culture established by the author, as well as the different types of winds, they were possibly the most compelling part of the book for me. Air and wind, they're such normal everyday occurrences, but what if they could be controlled?

The danger in this book is very immediate. A precarious situation from the start, the author doesn't beat around the bush and instead introduces the reader to the tension almost immediately. Audra, also, doesn't beat around the bush with Vane. Someone is coming for them, possibly to take them, possibly to kill them, and so Vane is not-so-gently shoved head-first into a world he doesn't know and a battle he isn't prepared for.

Chapters alternate between points of view, showing the readers both Vane and Audra. The learning and the knowing, the discovering the truth and the fear of being found, the future in Vane and his powers and the past in Audra and the secrets she keeps. The two come together and need to rely on each other, hopefully without pride getting in the way.

Vane has attitude, snarky and sarcastic guy attitude, and it works well compared to Audra's prideful fear and stubbornness. He has a connection to the wind that reaches back into a past he can't remember, and he discovers he's more than he thought, that he's not what he thought, that there's more out there waiting for him. But does he want it? He wants Audra, he craves more than the simple connection of constantly seeing her in his dreams. Now he knows her, but he also knows what's at stake, and his pride swells at the chance of becoming stronger just for her. It's also for him. If he doesn't grow, if he doesn't survive, then what was the point?

Audra is a frightened, broken girl, unwilling to expose a part of their shared past to Vane. She doesn't want to be hated or feared by him. In a way, a complicated way, she likes him, but her mission draws a line in the sand between them. Teach him, train him, make him learn, but don't fall for him. Getting close isn't an option. And the secrets she keeps, and there are a fair amount, will only serve to hurt him in the end. Her pride and her fear, her massive stubbornness, completely block the way. She can be compassionate, she can seem so young and fragile, but when it comes to her flaws being exposed she can get volatile.

Something is chasing after Vane, someone who craves power and control. There is a saying about absolute power, that it will always corrupt those who attempt to possess it. There can be power, but there must also be peace and compassion, sense and reason. Violence will never be the answer.

Neither Vane nor Audra are perfect. Both have their issues and their mistakes, the desire to hide the bad parts of themselves from the other. Imperfect characters make for engrossing stories and powerful lessons. The looming darkness is drifting its way towards them, and soon everything will converge into one massive storm.

(I acquired an advance copy at ALA Midwinter.)