A queen
offers her hand to be kissed,
& can form it into a fist
while smiling the whole damn time.
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo piqued my interest because it was written by a National Book Award winner, and it was on Amazon’s monthly list of best YA fiction.
Oh, and it was written in verse. That sounded kinda bonkers to me, and I wanted to check it out.
So far, it’s my favorite book that has been released in 2020.
Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray is a Young Adult Extended Universe Star Wars novel.
Star Wars was my favorite thing as a kid. I watched the movies over and over. I played with the toys. I dressed up as Darth Vader (on normal days, not just Halloween). But I didn’t get into EVERYTHING Star Wars-y. I did not bother to read the many, many spin-off novels or comic books. I pretty much just stuck with the movies and my imagination, even as I got older and more movies were released. The lackluster prequels and sequels didn’t exactly spark a greater interest in that galaxy far, far away.
However, the Disney+ show The Mandalorian got some good buzz, so I watched it. I liked it. Wanting more good Star Wars content, I checked out the cartoon series Rebels (also available for streaming on Disney+). I loved it. I wanted even more Star Wars content, particularly stories set in the early days of the rebellion (the same setting as Rebels), and preferably featuring Leia, a hero of mine since I was in pre-school. I chose the YA novel Leia, Princess of Alderaan to scratch that itch.
I loved it!
But would it have mattered if she’d been someone else? If she’d been a social butterfly, they would have said she liked to drink away her pain. If she’d been a straight-A student, they would have said she’d been eaten alive by her perfectionism. There were always excuses for why girls died.
Leigh Bardugo’s latest book Ninth House is by every measure a success, and it’s easy to see why.
In Ninth House, Alex Stern begins her new life as a student at Yale University. But with her background, and her ability, she’s not like the other students. In Ninth House we explore, through Alex, a blend of the real and the unreal as she learns about Yale’s exclusive clubs and their influence, their dealings with magic and ritual and power.
The library at Osthorne Academy for Young Mages was silent save for the whisper of the books in the Theoretical Magic section. Honeyed sun poured through two tall windows onto rows of empty study tables, which still gleamed with the freshness of summer cleaning. It was a small library – each section took up only a row or two of tall metal shelves – but it was big enough to hide in. Sunlight from the windows along one wall of the library spilled between the shelves, casting long shadows.
I didn’t know what to expect from Sarah Gailey’s Magic for Liars. Not when I purchased it. Not when I began reading it. And not on page 100, nor 200, nor 300. It’s safe to say that I haven’t been this continuously surprised by a book in quite a while.
There are so many different things at play in this book. It hits on so many familiar themes, it feels like it should be completely cookie-cutter. But it isn’t. Gailey brings so much more to these pages than just that. Somehow, though, even at that last page turn I couldn’t quite shake those cookie-cutter expectations.
Several people who weren’t Andy walked by as I waited for him. Manhattan is less legit than it once was, for sure, but this is still the city that never sleeps. It is also the city of ‘Behold the field in which I grow my fucks. Lay thine eyes upon it and see that it is barren.’ People gave the sculpture a quick glance and kept on walking, just as I had very nearly done. I tried to look busy. Manhattan’s a safe place, but that doesn’t mean a twenty-three-year-old woman by herself on the street at 3 A.M. isn’t going to get randomly harassed.
I first heard of Hank Green’s debut story An Absolutely Remarkable Thing in November 2018’s Book of the Month (not sponsored), and I was skeptical even then. I was instantly minded of 2016’s Sleeping Giants, but other than that it was hard for me to get an impression of what I was supposed to expect from this book.
Now that I’ve read Green’s book, I’m still not entirely sure whether what I got from it is what they’d intended (or what they’d advertised). It’s been a really interesting reading experience. I hope these insights prove helpful for prospective readers!
In 2018, Leigh Bardugo released her novel Six of Crows. It’s the first story in a new series, taking place in her previously-established universe known as the Grishaverse. Six of Crows has been very well-received, and I know first-hand that there’s a lot for a discerning book club to discuss in this book. Whether your book club is preparing to discuss it, or you’ve read it on your own and are looking for more, I hope the questions below will help guide you.
Note: If you haven’t read Six of Crows, you can read my review of it here.
Please let me know if you use these questions, find them helpful, or think I missed something. And of course I would love to see your answers to any (or all) of these questions in the comments. Happy discussing!
Of course, MAJOR SPOILER WARNINGS below:
Inej would find her own way in. The rules of fair play along the gangs were from Per Haskell’s time. Besides, she was the Wraith – the only law that applied to her was gravity, and some days she defied that, too.
Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows is a new story in her well-established fantasy universe known as the Grishaverse. Having not read any of her previous works in this universe, I was surprised and pleased to find that this book did an excellent job of introducing the unique magic system her universe hinges on (and is named for) without dipping into any textbook or encyclopedia-style descriptions. Readers new to Bardugo need not fear – Six of Crows is an excellent place to begin.
As a typical heist story, Six of Crows hits every mark. It has the large cast of rich characters each with their job to do and each with their private motivations – which Bardugo links together artfully and entertainingly as the story unfolds. It has the high stakes, the bad guys, the complicated plots and machinations. It has the breath-baitingly, nerve-wrackingly difficult tasks. And it has plenty of well-timed comedic and touching moments to wrap it all into one lovely narrative.
One Dark Throne is the sequel to the 2016 YA fantasy Three Dark Crowns. Since this review is of a sequel, it may will contain spoilers for any previous books in the series.
“’Once, I was a mouse,’ she says and strips off her glove. She reaches into the cage to stroke the rodent’s tiny bald haunches.
‘But I am not anymore.’”
There was a time in my life where I was only reading series, finishing one book and opening the next as though there was a chapter break instead of an ending and a beginning. I don’t do it often anymore, but Blake’s Three Dark Crowns series offered the perfect opportunity for a return to that extra level of indulgent immersion.
I was pretty open about my concerns with Three Dark Crowns in my review, and went into its sequel with mixed expectations. Right away, my primary frustration focused on how little the characters question the things, people, and events around them. This continues throughout the book, as do many of my concerns regarding Blake’s worldbuilding and the general “unreliable narrator” issue Blake’s shaky presentation of the rules creates. (Read more about that in my previous review.)
“Three dark queens
Are born in a glen,
Sweet little triplets
Will never be friends
Three dark sisters
All fair to be seen,
Two to devour
And one to be Queen”
If there’s one thing I don’t often review it’s solidly 3-star reads, but that’s exactly what Three Dark Crowns is. It’s a fine read, and I enjoyed it and its sequel, but the best thing that can really be said about it is just that admission – that yes, I enjoyed it well enough.
Three Dark Crowns tells the story of three teenaged sisters, triplets, each a magical queen of the (also magical) island of Fennbirn. Upon their sixteenth birthday(s), the balance of rule on the island shifts and their lives become a wild west “this island isn’t big enough for the three of us” battle royale. The girls are obligated by the rules to kill or be killed, until one sister remains standing – the sole queen of Fennbirn.
My issues with the rules of this fictional universe are too long to list, and I must admit that as a reader I had the option of accepting the rules of this universe as-is and taking it on faith that they’re reasonable. Ultimately, I did do this with the sequel and had a much more enjoyable experience thereby. Where this caused me trouble with this first book is a little complicated. As I was reading, it felt almost like a frustrating unreliable narrator issue – as though I was reading some Jeff Vandermeer surrealist piece instead of a YA fantasy by award-winning YA author Kendare Blake.
If you are a scientist you believe that it is good to find out how the world works; that it is good to find out what the realities are; that it is good to turn over to mankind at large the greatest possible power to control the world and to deal with it according to its lights and its values.
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel is a kinda-YA book about scientists discovering and then figuring out an ancient giant alien robot. It is the first book of a series (The Themis Files series). My reviews this year have mostly been all-out endorsement (Pachinko and Purple and Black) or a kind of resigned acceptance of well-meaning mediocrity (Beneath the Sugar Sky). My feelings for Sleeping Giants are more complex. On the one hand, I like how the book is about figuring out an ancient giant alien robot. On the other hand, that’s pretty much the only thing I liked about it.