Rutabaga's Reads 2023: Part 17

Instead of trying to read every Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) in its entirety, I am doing “quick glances.” While this is my first Quick Glance ARCs compilation, it’s my fourth overall featuring ARCs. I am only featuring half of what was in the box, as I’ve had them for over one-and-a-half years and didn’t want to re-read the first chapters in all 10 ARCs.

            Disclosure: I’ve NOT been asked to provide reviews by the publishers, authors or the local Children’s Librarian. All opinions are expressly my own.

1. Barb and the Ghost Blade (May 31, 2022) by Dan Abdo and Jason Patterson.

Middle-grade fiction. Graphic novel.

The adult Berzerkers (a.k.a. Zerks) have all been captured. Barb, a Berzerker, must get to Maug Horn with her ragtag group of would-be Zerks. Maug Horn is the monster capital, so Barb and her little gang are not allowed. That won’t deter her in the least.

            While I’m not big on graphic novels, this one strikes me as a popular series (this is Book 2). The battles and mishaps look to be fairly comedic. Also, there’s a yeti named Porkchop. Who doesn’t appreciate a yeti in a story?

2. The Clackity (June 28, 2022) by Lora Senf.

Middle-grade fiction.

In Blight Harbor, the seventh most haunted town in America, shadows hide many things, including The Clackity. This creature lives in the shadows of the slaughterhouse, the one place that Evie Von Rathe’s Aunt Desdemona, the local paranormal expert, has forbidden her to go. When Des goes missing, to the slaughterhouse Evie goes.

            I surpassed the first few chapters of this ARC, such was my interest in it. It’s a fantasy horror for the middle-grade set. While there’s a creep factor, I doubt it’s one that’ll cause nightmares. For the youth you know who love scary stories or thriller novels, this (the first in a series) will hopefully sate their book thirst.

3. Eden’s Everdark (Sept. 6, 2022) by Karen Strong.

Middle-grade fiction.

There is a place called Everdark, a parallel world where the sun never rises, spirits linger between death and the afterlife and Eden’s late mother’s drawings are too real. The Witch of Everdark, beautiful and terrifying in equal measure, wants to make Eden her eternal daughter, thus keeping her in Everdark indefinitely.

            While I don’t know if it’s based on any specific mythology, reading the first two chapters already gives me folkloric vibes. It has fantasy, light horror and characters who know grief. I’m confident that it’s absolutely a book I’d enjoy.

4. Hither & Nigh (Oct. 18, 2022) by Ellen Potter.

Middle-grade fiction.

Join the Last Chance Club or be expelled from school. This is Nell Batista’s last chance. Strangely enough, the group is nothing like she imagines it will be, for their teacher starts giving them lessons in magic. Nell’s got street smarts, all the sharper since her beloved big brother went missing three years ago. It turns out that magic is real, and there’s a parallel NYC called the Nigh. Nell’s hoping the Nigh will hold the key to finding her brother.

            A story doling out magic, fantasy and adventure is absolutely one that I will read. My local library ordered this one in per my request. I would’ve happily read this ARC in its entirety, but I’ll check it out from the library instead.

5. What the Fact‽ (Sept. 20, 2022) by Dr. Seema Yasmin.

Teen (YA) nonfiction.

Real news. Fake news. Clickbait. The viral spread of information. Conspiracy theories. Your own biases and those of others. What is fact and what is fiction? How does one find truth in all the noise?

            It appears this book is to encourage the target age group – teenagers – to be freethinkers. And maybe it does, but I only made it through the Introduction, because it felt a lot like being talked at and not talked to. I do hope this book is actually quite insightful.

Rutabaga's Reads 2023: Part 16

I have surprised myself by having a second adult fiction compilation post for 2023. Sure, the year’s almost over, but it’s still 2023, so I feel victorious!

The Midnight Library (Sept. 29, 2020) by Matt Haig.

<This is a standalone novel.>

On the day she decides to die, Nora Seed doesn’t quite die. Maybe she’s comatose, maybe her subconscious is undecided and is in stasis, maybe she’s turned herself into a Schrödinger’s cat. That point doesn’t matter, because between life and death there is a library. Nora’s led a life of depression and disappointment, misery and regret. Her only living relative is her brother, Joe, but they appear estranged since she quit their band, The Labyrinths, years ago. Nora’s been stuck in Bedford, England. When Nora’s in the Midnight Library, she can choose a book, each book representing a life she could’ve lived if she’d made different choices: become an Olympic swimmer, stayed in The Labyrinths, married Dan (her former fiancé whose engagement she broke off last-minute), or married Ash (a surgeon who sometimes runs through her neighborhood) and had a child and a dog. It’s as though she’s trying on these lives. Some last mere seconds, others may last a few days, but as soon as she feels disappointed in that life, she returns to the Midnight Library. Her librarian is Mrs. (Louise Isabel) Elm, her childhood librarian when she was at Hazeldene School. Where is Nora’s perfect life? Will visiting all of these other lives erase all of her regrets? Time is fleeting, even in the library, and she’ll need to make a choice.

            If you need a new perspective on your own life, read this, but also read this if you don’t. Read it because it’s thought-provoking, hopeful and weighty. Who knew that a story featuring a main character with such severe depression would be such a charming, brainy fable? One can tell that Haig is a champion for mental health, and that’s inspirational. Nora’s lives are mostly ordinary, as most of ours are, but the roads she can travel are limitless. I mostly read fiction, and it’s a rare novel that makes me stop and think like this one did. It’s philosophical and contemporary, and I rejoiced when Nora decided that being alive was “a former curse and a present blessing.”

Mister Magic (Aug. 8, 2023) by Kiersten White.

<This is a standalone novel.>

Thirty years have passed since Val left the longest-running children’s TV program. Trouble is, she doesn’t remember leaving it or even recall ever being on the show. But she was. The six Circle of Friends were: Val, Isaac, Javi, Marcus, Jenny and Kitty. Marcus was the dreamer. Javi was the instigator. Isaac was the protector. Jenny was the friend. Val was the leader. But now, there’s no Kitty. Where is Kitty? They all assure Val that she was already gone when Kitty disappeared (did she die?), but Val can’t remember anything, not even her own little sister. The guys are thrilled to find Val, and she tags along to the reunion. Although she can’t remember them, Val can feel that she knows these people. The belonging is strong. But who’s Mister Magic? How can there be no surviving recordings of the show? “Take my hand / Stand on your mark / Make a circle / In the dark ...”

            Before I read White’s Acknowledgments section, I kept thinking the children’s program felt more like a cult than a children’s program with a fanbase that happened to be cultishly devoted. After I read the Acknowledgments and read of the inspiration behind the story, it made sense. This adult fiction novel is considered paranormal horror, but it’s not gory, graphic horror. The horror is more in the untrustworthiness of memory and The Stepford Wives vibe it gives off pertaining to the females in the cast (Jenny is the epitome of this, while Val, with no memory of before and being cut off from the world for 30 years, is definitely not). “Mister Magic” is propulsive, more eerie than frightfully scary, and unexpectedly moving. This piece of the desert with its pocket universe, its “sentient nightmare,” is a conflagration of secrets, rocky human dynamics and untreated trauma, but, for those of a certain age, it also feels nostalgic and the reader can tell it’s a deeply personal story to the author. Val’s preparing to open the doors. Are you ready?

            More adult fiction by White: Hide

Yellowface (May 16, 2023) by R.F. Kuang.

<This is a standalone novel.*

What would you do if your famous author friend choked on a pancake globule and died right in front of you? Snatch her latest work-in-progress (WIP) and polish it so you could pass it off as your own solo work with a sort-of clear conscience? Because that’s what Juniper (June/Junie) Song Hayward does when she witnesses Athena Liu choke to death. Athena’s the literary world’s darling where Junie’s published one novel, and it flopped. Athena’s WIP was a raw manuscript, but it’s clearly a masterpiece about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during WWI. Junie receives a staggering six-figure advance and earns out in good time (once an author’s earned out, that means said author’s sold enough copies to cover one’s advance and will then get to keep a percentage of all future sales). June Hayward rebrands herself as Juniper Song, Song being her middle name, and not an indication of any Asian heritage (of which she has none). When June skyrockets onto the New York Times bestseller list, she’s truly living her best life, except that she can’t get away from Athena’s shadow. It isn’t only that backlash is imminent because of her Caucasian self or that discrepancies are noticed by discerning readers (especially when the story says that she “double-dipped”), but that she sees Athena. Her clothes, her boots, her specific shade of red lipstick. What lengths will June go to safeguard her secret?

            Wow. This adult fiction novel is a first-person narrative that is as horrifying as it is entertaining. It’s a novel that brings questions of cultural appropriation, diversity, bigotry and authenticity under the harshest of judges (that which is social media) and lays out what a monster the publishing industry can be. It’s a biting critique and a smashing success. It’s a show of social media likes and the nasty flip side, when someone is cancelled. It is psychological and transfixing, thought-provoking, bold, snarky and smart. At one point, June wonders if another character is unwell, because, “She sounds unhinged. Dangerous.” June needs to take a long, honest look in the mirror, because she comes across as something of a paranoid, desperate madwoman, seeing ghosts and convincing herself that she’s in the right. In fact, she’s practically a victim. As far as I know, this is a standalone novel, but maybe there will be more social media storms in Junie’s future.

Rutabaga's Reads 2023: Part 15

If you’re familiar with my blog, you’ll know that where a YA compilation post has cropped up, you’ll soon see an inspirational fiction (IF) compilation post. Presenting the second IF post.

A Match in the Making (Feb. 21, 2023) by Jen Turano.

<This is the first novel in a series.>

It’s the summer of 1888, and 25-year-old Miss Gwendolyn Brinley has accepted a paid companion position for the Newport summer season, which turns into an assistant matchmaker position, of which Gwendolyn has no experience whatsoever. Her thoughts of a relaxing summer away from being a paid companion to her dramatic cousin, Catriona Zimmerman, fly away after she’s tasked with the daunting prospect of finding advantageous matches for Mrs. Parker’s rich clientele (who pay Mrs. Parker in sparkly baubles, especially those from Tiffany & Co.). Traditionally, only the feminine set were aware of matchmakers, but after Gwendolyn overshares with Mr. Walter Townsend, she suddenly finds herself with Walter as the first male client. Walter is wealthy, handsome and annoying. An undeniably successful businessman, he’s looking for a new mother for his three unruly children (nine-year-old Oscar and five-year-old twins Priscilla and Samuel). Love doesn’t seem to be a factor in Walter’s pursuit of a new wife, only that he “rubs along nicely with her.” Gwendolyn encourages him to value love and get involved in his children’s lives, for he really doesn’t know them at all. Walter is struck by Gwendolyn – by her beauty, yes, but also by her confidence and her way with his children. As Ethel, Walter’s mother, puts it, Gwendolyn “certainly is uncommonly competent.” That is high praise from Mrs. Ethel Townsend, a Knickerbocker as well as a Townsend. As Gwendolyn’s Newport Season is besieged by society ladies, society matrons and the male set to boot, how will she find the love match she’s so determined to find for Walter? Will it come out that Gwendolyn is a woman of means, complete with an estranged grandmother in Boston society, and not a woman of low social status?

            As expected from a Turano novel, Gwendolyn is a dynamic character in a delightful historical fiction tale. The first in The Matchmakers series brims with a fun plot as Gwendolyn simultaneously wanders through society misadventures and puts critical thinking to play. Generously sprinkled with humor, self-assurance and tenderness, this novel is buoyant and the characters distinct. I always find Turano’s stories to read quickly, as she makes the adventures of the upper crust far more than poise, proper decorum and perfect comportment. She paints word pictures, dropping us into a time we wish we could visit (but I refuse to wear a corset).

The Secret to Happiness (May 2, 2023) by Suzanne Woods Fisher.

<This is the second novel in a series.>

Her world is upside-down, her life is topsy-turvy. Callie Dixon (age 28) has recently been fired from her dream job as an executive chef after making a colossal mistake, and she fears that the symptoms she’s been experiencing (also recently) are signs of a chronic disease. She is floundering, though she struggles to admit it. She escapes to Cape Cod and her Aunt Marnie Dixon’s Main Street Creamery. The living space above the Creamery – small for Marnie and her daughter, Dawn (also 28) – is now like a shoebox with Callie there for an indeterminate amount of time. She doesn’t want to share her fear and is existing like an empty shell of the cheery, chatty person she’s always previously been, so Dawn drags her to a community class about the secret to happiness. The class is led by Bruno Bianco, a curiously gloomy fellow, and he gives her his book. They have some tough conversations, but Bruno is relentless and makes her face what she’s been avoiding. An unexpected bright spot in Callie’s life comes in the form of Leo the Cowboy. He’s a six-year-old who loves all ice cream. He’s got an important job at the Creamery; he’s their taste-tester! She does wonder who his single, mystery father is. She pictures a “round-faced, chubby computer geek,” and she’s impressed by Mystery Dad’s ability to give his son “all that he needed to make his life feel complete, his value and worth intact, with none of the pressure that Callie had felt from her own father.” What does Callie want in life? Has she been living for herself? Is there a secret to happiness?

            Emotional depth is ablaze in this second novel in the Cape Cod Creamery series. Callie’s steeply feeling the loss of her amazing career, fear of the future of her health and the nagging pressure of her dad, who seems to think life-altering events are as easily fixable as putting a bandage on a paper cut. Meanwhile, Dawn is stressing over a wedding venue and entrusting her mom to handle the ice cream making when Dawn and Kevin (Collins, 28) are on their African safari honeymoon. Dawn also wishes Callie wasn’t staying with them, as they’ve only ever been competitive with each other thanks to their dads, highly competitive brothers. There is faith and dawning realizations, emotional turmoil and happiness in unexpected places. It’s a sweet romance, though it’s not overly saccharine, with a hopeful tone sprinkled with new friendships and, progressively, optimism for the future.

            Favorite line: “Nothing is impopsicle.” – Dawn Dixon

            Book One: The Sweet Life

Yesterday’s Tides (Jan. 24, 2023) by Roseanna M. White.

<This is a standalone novel with familiar characters from previous series.>

Today is 1942. Yesterday is 1914. Two world wars. Two generations. In 1942, Evie Farrow is as familiar with England as she is Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Each day is much like the last one except for the Germans’ underwater missiles. When intelligence officer Sterling Bertrand washes ashore near her family’s inn, she determines that he will pull through despite his significant injuries, burns included. Inn-bound for weeks, Sterling is anxious to track a certain SS officer, but he’s also deeply intrigued by Evie, who holds secrets of her own. Why does a civilian receive hand-delivered correspondence from the Coast Guard (a.k.a. Coasties)? Why does the route of the SS officer he’s tracking trace a similar route that Evie’s traversed?

            In 1914, Louisa Adair is much more than the innkeeper’s daughter. She doesn’t only greet guests staying at the inn, including Englishman Remington Culbreth and Edgar Grenshaw, Rem’s cousin, she’s also the inn’s primary handywoman. There isn’t a cistern or a motor or a pipe that Louisa can’t manage. What’s not so easy to manage is Remington’s family. She isn’t good/sophisticated enough for Edith Culbreth. When Rem and Louisa are separated by an ocean, it doesn’t appear that their relationship will survive. Yesterday’s tides have ripple effects on the next generation. What will the outcome be?

            I can always count on Roseanna M. White to craft novels that make history interesting, contain clean romance and a detailed plot. This one holds the weight of family drama across generations, and it was initially confusing trying to piece together which of Evie’s nicknames for her family (not only by blood) matched which loved one. But putting those together was part of the puzzle, and I love puzzles. I love the incorporation of so many other familiar names from Louisa and Rem’s time, like Barclay Pearce and the Duke of Stafford. This Christian fiction, historical romance novel is smart and sweet with emotion that is raw and real, the prejudice and color issues of the time frustrating no matter the era. In this novel, the legacy of yesterday provides a good foundation for tomorrow. “Yesterday, today, tomorrow. Forever.”

Rutabaga's Reads 2023: Part 14

I’m here with my second YA compilation post of the year (cutting it close, I know). Middle-grade seems to be “winning,” but I remain a regular reader of YA novels, too.

Chain of Thorns (Jan. 31, 2023) by Cassandra Clare.

<This is the final novel in a trilogy.>

<Casual spoilers present for those who haven’t read this trilogy.>

Things are dire. Cordelia Carstairs’ father was murdered a few short weeks ago, her marriage to James Herondale seems a sham, her plans to become Lucie’s parabatai razed and, on top of all that, she’s become unwittingly bound to the ancient demon Lilith as her paladin. She can’t fight without summoning Lilith, so she has Alastair, her brother, hide Cortana, the blade that chose her. She flees to Paris with Matthew Fairchild, James’ best friend. The nightlife is glittering and her new wardrobe is daring. Elsewhere, Jesse Blackthorn is fully alive and in his body, and Lucie had a hand in that. James goes to track Lucie first with his dad, Will, and the warlock Magnus Bane. James, now out from under Grace Blackthorn’s (née Cartwright) twisted curse, feels the loss of Cordelia, but doesn’t know how to explain being in Grace’s thrall. He’s also been denying Belial what he wants, which is to possess his body, but can he keep denying Belial indefinitely? The other Merry Thieves aren’t without their secrets, either: Thomas Lightwood loves Alastair who doesn’t get on with James and Matthew at all, and Christopher Lightwood is mostly his science-minded self in his singed clothes, but there is compassion in him, seen when he visits Grace in the Silent City. Anna Lightwood seems all beautiful, sharp features in her tailored menswear, and Ariadne (Ari) Bridgestock has left her parents’ home. She’s living with Anna, whom she loves. Reality intrudes when the group learns that Tatiana Blackthorn has escaped the Adamant Citadel, and following Belial, a Prince of Hell, laying waste to London looks imminent. The secret that Belial is James’ and Lucie’s grandfather (and their mom’s demon parent) is no longer a secret, and that will throw the Herondale name under suspicion. Things don’t only seem bleak, they are bleak.

            Within the bulky page count of this YA novel are 11 ensemble characters slaying demons, dealing with the raving maniac Tatiana, untangling romantic drama, working through self-loathing, giving into make-out sessions, protecting one another, letting secrets out and finally battling Belial and confronting Lilith. There is some diversity amongst the ensemble and relationships both straight and queer. The trilogy-ending novel is, at turns, dramatic, romantic, dangerous and not without gore, and is all-around a dark fantasy adventure. Clare is there with her characters’ reliable banter and humor to help suffuse the dark tone. The epilogue is mostly tidy, though I have questions about no spoiler here. From funny to fiendish, bleak to bright(ish), the story retains its fantastic world-building.

            Side note: I admit that my interest in the Shadowhunters universe has been waning. While I enjoy Clare’s stories, the bulk of my disinterest comes from the chunky page counts. There are very few authors whose novels I’d happily devour if they were, say, a thousand pages, and Clare isn’t one of them for me. That isn’t to say that I won’t read any other Shadowhunter novels. I expect I still will, if they relate to an ongoing series or include the characters I’ve already come to know. But non-Shadowhunter novels are not on my to-buy list.

            The Last Hours Book 1: Chain of Gold

            The Last Hours Book 2: Chain of Iron

Iron Widow (Sept. 21, 2021) by Xiran Jay Zhao.

<This is the first in a series.>

<A trigger warning is included.>

Welcome to your nightmare, indeed. After her sister is killed (murdered?) in service to a Prince-class pilot, 18-year-old Wu Zetian gussies herself up (i.e. has her unibrow painfully and painstakingly plucked) and enlists as a concubine-pilot. When she is declared to be an Iron Widow by Senior Strategist of the Human Liberation Army Sima Yi – “a girl who sacrifices her male partner to power up Chrysalises” – the Sages make her a partner to the Vermilion Bird’s Li Shimin, age 19. He has top marks, but is no Prince-pilot. He’s the Iron Demon, murderer of his own family. Zetian doesn’t expect to survive long, even as an Iron Widow who could power her own Chrysalis, if only the misogynistic powers-that-be would allow her to. Normally, the girls die from the mental strain of battle, hence the need for many concubine pilots. They are sacrifices, but “girls are naturally weaker pilots!” and “Girls ... know how to sacrifice.” She and Shimin are unexpectedly joined by student strategist Gao Yizhi, stating that he can welcome himself in because he’s “young and rich.” The three will work to discover how the pilot system works in favor of the male pilots, and she’ll make a deal with Yizhi’s rich father, despite knowing he’s holding close non-consensual intel to try to control her. To tame her. But Zetian’s invaluable mental strength and, especially, the raging inferno within her cannot be tamed. And woe to anyone who gets in her way.

            “Up the sword mountain, down the fire sea,” this story is ferocious and brutal. The YA tale is sometimes horrible to read, like, drastically so. The story is bloodthirsty and full of rage – think of a primal scream in book form – with fast pacing, an action-filled plot and fantasy world-building. If you don’t read the story with care, it will beat you up. Wu Zetian is one of the most unapologetic female leads I’ve ever encountered (another is Lada Dracul), bold and brash. This story is thrilling, brutal and unstoppable. Zetian is clearly a feminist in a world with rigid gender roles. Queer themes are incorporated. A sequel is imminent. This forceful, ambitious story contains twists and a cliffhanger ending. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I’ll read the sequel. If I do, I’ll check it out from the library instead of purchasing it.

            P.S. The Chrysalises are “giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens (Hunduns) that lurk beyond the Great Wall.”

Queen Bee (Apr. 4, 2023) by Amalie Howard.

<This is a standalone novel.>

Her younger self, Lady Ela Dalvi, the daughter of the Earl of Marwick, is a naïve young lady who’d never dream of taking on the ton, the filthy-rich and lofty, those of the peerage and landed gentry alike. But that 1814 self is no longer the teenager battling acne and wearing Poppy Landers’ throwaway dresses (Poppy’s not a peeress, but her father is a wealthy landowner), her reputation ruined after her former only friend, Poppy, goes the vilest of routes, ruthlessly tearing apart Lady Ela’s reputation. When that happens, Lord Keston (Kes) Osborn, Marquess of Ridley and heir to the Duke of Harbridge, shuns her, tells her off, believing the worst of her. She’d built a friendship with Kes and his younger sister, Lady Zenobia (Zia), but that ends with Poppy’s despicable, vengeful, jealous act. Ela is sent to Hinley Seminary for Girls in Cumbria, about as far northwest as one can get and still be in England. Hinley is a school where girls go to be forgotten. Ela, now E, is bitter and angry, but she makes friends, especially in Church, who’s around 20 years her senior. By 1817, Lady Ela is now Lady Lyra Whitley, presenting herself as Lady Patience Birdie’s companion for London’s social season. She’s blossomed into a beautiful young woman, no longer flat-chested, no acne in sight, with her hair dyed black. She is unrecognizable as the disgraced 15-year-old from Burghfield, Berkshire. Instead, she’s the “newest fortune with legs,” an 18-year-old with a remarkable dowry. But she isn’t in London to enjoy musicales and make friends. She’s there to bring Poppy down. Will her plans for retaliation be stalled when she reunites with Lord Ridley? In this complicated game of real-life chess, there’s only room for one queen bee, and it’s definitely not Poppy.

            Call me Vengeance, because I delight in stories where the bullies get their comeuppance, and in “Queen Bee” the lead character’s purpose is to bring Poppy down. Readers know this from Chapter One. Ah, a Machiavellian plot. Delicious. It’s touted as “an anti-historical Regency romp,” which it is. The years fall within the Regency era, but this YA novel doesn’t exist to be a historical account, even though the author clearly did historical research. It’s of one young woman getting revenge on her backstabbing former best friend as she becomes a diamond of the first water. Howard creates an entertaining exploration of vengeance, forgiveness and women finding agency in a very patriarchal time. It’s sassy, gossipy and dramatic, fast-paced and engaging. The chapters alternate between Ela’s/Lyra’s past and present. Not having read Howard’s novels before, I didn’t know what to expect. But this story is funny and smart. It is a refreshing and enjoyable tale, and I especially love the diversity of the characters (multiple characters are of South Asian, African and East Asian descent).

            Standout lines: ”Sally Price, niece of fun-starved harpies, and future governess of a vainglorious, highfalutin London lady. That’s me.” (p. 227)

            Lines we can all live by: “It means you will keep your opinion and I will keep mine, as we are unable to come to any compromise or agreement. Neither of us is wrong in how we view the world. We are all still learning. Maybe one day, I will come to understand your point of view, and you will come to know mine, but that day is a while away. So ... we agree to disagree.” (--Church to Ela, pp. 156-157)