Presenting my
first young-adult (YA) compilation post of 2020!
*This is the first novel in a trilogy.*
The residents of
Ikhara belong to a caste system wholly dependent on their appearance. The Paper
caste comprises of those fully human, yet they are oppressed and often thought
of as less than human. The Steel caste contains human-demon hybrids that may
serve others but are not slaves. The Moon caste includes those who are fully
anthropomorphic; they are known as demons. Every year, the Demon King (a bull
form) invites eight Paper Girls into his Hidden Palace of Han. It is touted as
a high honor, and their families receive extra benefits, but the girls are
prisoners, concubines to a brutal and markedly unstable king. Lei would not
have caught anyone’s attention, but with eyes the color of liquid gold, “a
symbol of the heavens’ good fortune,” the 17-year-old is kidnapped from her
dad’s herbal medicine shop in the small village of Xienzo and presented as the
first-ever ninth Paper Girl. She wants to resist, but with the threat of her
dad’s and Tien’s (a Steel caste worker who’s like family; she affectionately
calls Lei a “little nuisance”) blood on her hands, she goes with the king’s
general. She has hopes of discovering the whereabouts of her mother, abducted
seven years before. She can hardly face the idea of being summoned to the Demon
King’s bedroom even though it is the main reason any of the girls are there in
the first place, but she discovers friendship with some of her fellow
courtesans, including Aoki, the twins Zhen and Zhin, and Wren, the most latter
of whom she acquires a very special bond but who also has secrets that she
doesn’t want to share, lest she endanger Lei. How will she survive the treacherous
court of the Demon King?
A land of magic, a severe imbalance
of power, a strong heroine, forbidden romance and a dangerous kingdom form the
intricate layers of a darkly gorgeous story that is lush in its glittering
extravagance, compelling in its terrifying portrayal of sexual violence and the
threat of it and powerful with dangers looming from multiple sides. The
imbalance of power makes me angry and reading of these characters with their
pretty, made-up faces and fancy garments representing various Asian cultures to
ready themselves for a terrible king’s desires makes me want to spit fire. A
story for mature readers with its take on forced prostitution, this is a YA
fantasy story that is extremely unsettling and maddening. I commend Ngan’s writing
in managing to create a main character who is empowered despite everything. I
cheered, I got mad, I was disturbed, and I still want to battle demons. Through
the intensity of it all, I have managed to get caught up in this world … with
fangs bared, claws out and teeth gnashing.
*This is the first novel in a
purported duology.*
In this
gender-swapped retelling of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” Amaya (a.k.a.
Silverfish a.k.a. Countess Yamaa) Chandra has worked for years on a debtor
ship, told she was sold off by her mother for the misdeeds of her deceased
father. The Brackish is a debtor ship of children slaves who are
starved, abused and worked almost to death. They’re under the greedy eyes of
Captain Zharo. On what should be Silverfish’s last day, she rescues a man called
Boon. He promises her unimaginable wealth and revenge against Kamon Mercado, a
merchant in the neutral colony of Moray, part of the republic of Rehan under
the figurehead Rehanese ruler, between the ever-feuding Rain and Sun Empires.
So Amaya takes on the persona of Countess Yamaa and is trained in the ways of
the elite to impress the vain and wealthy denizens of Moray. Her aim is to get
close to Kamon’s son, Cayo, but she realizes he isn’t like his father at all.
And she can’t get close to Kamon’s youngest, a daughter named Soria (she’s two
years younger than Cayo), as she has fallen ill with the dreaded ash fever.
That’s what took their mother years back, and there is no cure. They cannot figure
out where it originated, but Cayo is determined to make his sister well. The
only medicine on the market is terribly expensive, and his father is not the
rich man he once was. To what ends will Cayo go to get the medicine Soria
needs? Will he return to his ways in the Vice Sector? Can those ruled by
avarice who also rule their sectors be overthrown by a young man braced with
determination and light pockets or a young woman with a fake name and deep
pockets of questionable origin?
The smell of corruption practically
wafts from the pages in this novel at times darkly shimmering and
overpoweringly rancid. Even corruption has politics, and coupled with a
knife-wielding, 17-year-old girl with revenge on her mind, the adventures are
perilous and full of attitude. "Scavenge the Stars" is diverse on multiple levels without drawing attention to the diversity, be it by race or orientation or what have you, and those are always points in an author's favor. The characters aren’t outward heroes; they have
flaws and make bad judgment calls, too. The setting is lush in its danger and
the world-building detailed, though the ending felt a bit rushed, and I wish
the book contained a map (I do appreciate good maps of fantasy worlds). I look
toward the sequel, but am keeping my guard up. One never knows what malice
awaits!
*This is the final novel in a trilogy.*
It turns out A
isn’t the only one who moves from body to body every day. One such person,
known as X, is desperate to meet A, and he decides that Nathan will get him to
A. Nathan, a person that A lived as for a day, realized he was missing a day of
his life. Normally, A is meticulous in covering evidence of his visits, but
enough of something stuck with Nathan that he felt affected. He keeps thinking
“Rhiannon,” which brings him to her door. Rhiannon is now dating Alexander, and
he’s a good guy, but she isn’t over A. A disappeared, assuming they could never
have a real relationship, but Rhiannon is adamant that he shouldn’t have made
that decision for the both of them. They eventually decide to meet up, and
Nathan finally reveals that X (formerly Reverend Poole) has been stalking him.
In X’s desperation to meet with A, he goes so far as to assault Nathan. X is
clearly not a good (or stable) person in any form he’s in, nor does he want to
be. A knows this and yet he also looks forward to the conversations, having
never met anyone who body jumps as he does. Will X’s words be so convincing as
to fool A into thinking he’s trustworthy? Or will A work with Rhiannon and
Nathan to force X out? Is that even possible?
The concept of someone living out
one’s life in a different body every day intrigued me, which is why I read “Every
Day” back in 2016. I got through this entire book before realizing I was not,
in fact, reading the second installment, but the final one, and, honestly, I
didn’t think I was missing anything by not reading “Another Day.” Levithan
tells the story through the primary characters of A, Rhiannon, Nathan and X and
also includes insight from other body jumpers of a multitude of ages, giving
more credence to the fact that A and X are not alone. The concept is unique,
and the author provides a diverse cast of characters for A to inhabit. It isn’t
only that he might be male or female for the day, tall or short, Caucasian or
not, but that he may inhabit someone who’s battling mental health issues (and
not winning), bullying or poverty. “Someday” isn’t primarily a relationship
story, but more one of morality. If you jumped bodies every day, would you
strive to better the person or would you be destructive, knowing the
consequences would be placed on an unwitting individual as you moved on without
a worry? What does your soul say?
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