Rutabaga's Reads 2022: Part 8

We’re over halfway through 2022, yet this is my first YA compilation of the year. I’ve got a new-to-me author in this batch, and I have ILL (InterLibrary Loan) to thank for that book.

Cinder & Glass (Mar. 8, 2022) by Melissa de la Cruz.

*This is a standalone novel.*

In this twist on the beloved fairytale, Cendrillon de Louvois (age 15 at start and jumps to age 16) intends to follow in her beloved late mother’s footsteps and become a lady-in-waiting to royalty. Her father, the Marquis de Louvois, is a favorite advisor and dear friend of the king. She wants to see Versailles, but also worries about her lacking etiquette in a sea of courtiers and royals. She’s far more comfortable with her friends Elodie and Marius, employees of the Marquis, than she is amongst those her father and godmother, Lady Françoise, cavort with. She does find an unexpected ally in Auguste, Prince Louis’ illegitimate half-brother. Then her father dies unexpectedly soon after marrying Lady Catherine Monvoisin. The story jumps forward a year after Lady Catherine demotes Cendrillon from stepdaughter to a servant (but not one who’s paid) and in a year has become adept at cooking, washing, mending, etc. Catherine’s increasingly awful to Cendrillon, as is Severine. Alexandre does seem to have compassion toward Cendrillon and interest in Elodie. Cendrillon adopts the name Cinder after presenting herself at Prince Louis’ ball. He chooses 25 young women to vie for his heart, including Cinder and her stepsisters. As Cinder advances in the competition, she realizes she may have to choose between freedom (to get away from her horrid stepmother) or love (for Auguste, though he bears no title).

            While I wouldn't normally want to read another take on “Cinderella,” I do trust de la Cruz’s writing. The YA novel isn't fast out of the gate, but that’s easily overlooked with the cast of bold female characters. Even Lady Catherine, despicable as she is, is certainly ambitious (and greedy). The story is rich in historical detail and this historical twist with a The Bachelor-style competition makes for an entertaining and corset-fashionable take on a familiar fairytale. Likely true of the time, the characters do appear to read within a white default, but the author does include tender, budding romances, both straight and queer. It’s a strong story for lovers of YA and fairytales.

            P.S. I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but look at it, it’s gorgeous!

Last Night at the Telegraph Club (Jan. 19, 2021) by Malinda Lo.

*This is a standalone novel, but a companion novel (not a sequel) is due out this fall.*

It is San Francisco in the mid-1950s. McCarthyism continues during this decade, and homosexuality is not only not culturally acceptable, it’s also believed to be linked with Communism. Lily Hu is 17 years old in the mid-1950s. She is Chinese-American, born in America to Chinese parents. Lily is “a good Chinese girl.” A good Chinese girl would never attend the Telegraph Club, a lesbian bar, to see Tommy Andrews, Male Impersonator. And even if she went once, she would never go there again and again with her classmate, Kathleen (Kath) Miller. She and Kath have been in the same advanced math classes for years, now the only female students in their math class senior year. Despite this, she’s never really noticed Kath. Lily is shocked to admit to herself that she has feelings for Kath and that they’re reciprocated is both freeing and shocking. But America in 1954 is not a safe time or place for two teenage girls to fall in love. Lily’s father’s hard-won citizenship is already hanging in the balance since his citizenship papers were taken away because he wouldn’t declare that a patient was Communist. But Lily won’t lie about her feelings for Kath, despite the challenges and emotional pain the truth brings. However, if the FBI finds out Lily is a lesbian, it’ll be seen as reflecting poorly on her father when he’s already facing the possibility of deportation. How will love shine in the bleakest of times?

            The YA novel I received through ILL (thank you, RWPL), it’s the first I’ve read by Malinda Lo, and I was blown away by it. This is a queer, historical fiction novel, complex in its history, beautifully sensitive, emotionally fraught and tender as a feather-light touch. I’ve not read much when it comes to LGBTQIA+ romance, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the gold standard. Lo writes in such a way that the reader can’t help but feel empathy toward Lily. I wanted to lift her up when things were falling apart and be the aunt figure who let her stay until she was firmly standing on her own two feet again. Emotions can be exhausting, but that only gives the novel more depth. It has the energy of youthful desire and shimmers with the light of first love. This story is Lily’s bildungsroman. It’s a coming-of-age story, a coming-out story. It’s a love story.

Steelstriker (Sept. 28, 2021) by Marie Lu.

*This is the concluding novel in a duology.*

*Any spoilers are also included on the book jacket.*

Six months after the fall of Mara to the Karensa Federation, the world is savage and broken, and Talin is no longer a Striker. Instead, she has become a nightmare of the Premier’s (Constantine Tyrus) making. She is one of the Federation’s best and most feared designs, a human war machine, a Skyhunter. She patrols the skies with her lethal strength and knife-sharp steel wings, and she protects the sickly Premier, who keeps her in check by holding her mom hostage; Talin is, herself, a hostage. How pleased or angry he is with Talin affects where her mom will go as each two-week mark comes by. Talin’s thoughts remain her own – for now – but she fears the connection she has to the Premier, especially when her intact connection to Red gets Aramin and Adena captured. Red and Jeran hitch a ride to Cardinia, the capital of the Federation, to save their friends and free Talin. But to free Talin, they must find and save her mother first. Talin feels so helpless, but murmurs of rebellion ignite a spark of hope and encourage action.

            The concluding novel in the Skyhunter duology is sophisticated. That may sound like an unlikely characteristic for a dystopian YA novel laden with thrills, suspense and action, but it really is sophisticated. Lu’s world-building in this duology has been stunning, the political landscape  realistically rocky in darkly sci-fi novel form, the protagonists are tough and impressive yet flawed, and the antagonists are villains fleshed out so well that they’re easy to despise. What really clinches the sophistication of the story is the way Lu pens the psychological battle between Talin and Constantine. This novel contains betrayal and subversion, but also love and sympathy. Sometimes even pity. This sequel is tumultuous and intense to its bitter-bright end.

            Book One: Skyhunter