Despite all of
the YA novels I have read this year alone, this is only my first Part YA post
for 2014. In nickname, at least. Enjoy!
Icons (May 7, 2013) by Margaret Stohl.
On The Day, 13
Icons fell from the sky and generated an electromagnetic field so immensely
powerful that it halted electrical activity within a certain radius. Electrical
activity that didn’t only disrupt or
disable modern technology, but also
shut down chemical processes or reactions within this radius, this field. And
by chemical, yes, good-bye to approximately one billion lives in one instant. Dol
(full name: Doloria Maria de la Cruz) and her “best-and-only friend,” Ro (full
name: Furo Costas) belong to none of the Silent Cities, but are Icon Children
in a Grass Mission. They hide from Sympas – Occupation Sympathizers – and
Embassy soldiers. Living in the Grass Mission is to live without electrical
energy or technology. That’s all centralized in the cities. But Dol and Ro will
wind up on Santa Catalina Island, very close to Ambassador (of the Los Angeles
Projects) Leta Amare, whom they all fear, when they’re captured. The Ambassador
is in direct contact with General Ambassador to the Planet Hiro Miyazawa, and
he’s in contact with the House of Lords, the aliens. Dol and Ro will meet
fellow Icon Children Lucas Amare (yes, the Ambassador’s son) and Timora “Tima”
Li. Dol also meets Fortis, a Merk, who is a handy person to know, and Dr.
Orwell Bradbury Huxley-Clarke. Doc is a Virtual Physician, a Virtual Human, a
machine. There’s also Colonel Virgil William Catallus. He’s not an alien, but
he is a monster.
The four young people aren’t
together by coincidence. They don’t know the details, but they may actually be
part of the Grass Rebellion and a conspiracy. The arrival of the Icons may not
have been such a surprise, at least not to some. If that’s the case, then how
can the Icon Children’s very big emotions – sometimes scarily uncontrollable
and explosive – be strength enough to overpower those with all the power?
Another dystopia. This is not a
negative thing, but I admit there are other dystopian fiction trilogies/series
that I prefer over this one, the first in a series. Stohl is the co-author of
the Beautiful Creatures series with
Kami Garcia (see: “Unbreakable” below), and I’ll confess that I preferred Garcia’s
supernatural thriller over this science-fiction dystopia. Both of those books
represent the authors’ first solo forays in book publishing. However, I still
found this story to be structured with layers that surely haven’t all been
explored. Despite the fear shown by the main characters, there is also strength
and a sense that they must figure out the part of themselves that’s super
emotionally charged. Although I didn’t love the story, I still found it to be
intriguing. I also liked how the author included bits of Embassy news at the
end of each chapter. The news varied and added information and active interest
for the reader. Not so interesting? The oft-seen love triangle.
Mystic City (Oct. 9, 2012) by Theo Lawrence.
Ooh, a forbidden
romance, and now Aria Rose – daughter of Johnny Rose, head of the political
party that controls the western half of Manhattan – is engaged to Thomas Foster
– son of George Foster, head of Manhattan’s eastern side. They’re residents of
the Aeries, in families that are richest of the rich and most powerful of the
powerful. The Roses and Fosters have always been enemies until the engagement
of their children brings their families together. It sounds like Romeo &
Juliet with a happier ending. Except.
Aria has no memory of being engaged
to Thomas or loving him or even going on a date with him. She has no memories
of secretly meeting him in the Depths, which is where the poor live, far below
them and their skyscraper Aeries, at ground level where the waters are claiming
more of Manhattan every year. The Depthshods barely scrape by and no Depthshod
likes a Foster or a Rose. The Depths are also where the mystics have been
banished to. Like witches or wizards, each mystic has her/his supernatural
gifts which aren’t the same across the board. They are drained twice a year,
looking pale and sickly. All because of the Conflagration. Aria should despise
them, but she doesn’t, and much of that is probably thanks to Hunter. He’s a
rebel mystic who may know the past she can’t remember. But how to unlock it?
And is Aria really in love with
Thomas? Or is it merely a political stunt? The Roses and Fosters uniting
against the mayoral candidacy of Violet Brooks, radical mystic? Well, at least
Aria’s best friend, Claudia “Kiki” Shoby, provides some humor.
This is a story where the rich get
richer and more powerful and the poor remain poor and, for mystics, quite
literally drained. There are destructive secrets swirling about, and I like
that Aria, despite her lack of memories, plods forward to try to find her
memories and discover secrets. Instead of looking like a fragile, doe-eyed
princess who follows her parents’ expectations, she becomes independent, fiery
and defiant. The author doesn’t rush this transformation, which is important to
things appearing more believable. I also like how he wrote Hunter. Hunter has
enough cool cockiness to give him a fighting chance against the Roses and
Fosters, but his head isn’t so inflated that he overwhelms scenes with Aria.
Overall, this book is an easily readable, urban fantasy dystopia. Not the most
inspiring, but the book will look lovely on your bookshelf. It shimmers!
School Spirits (May 14, 2013) by Rachel Hawkins.
It’s all in a
day’s work for Isolde “Izzy” Brannick to vanquish vampires and banish spirits,
but attend a real high school? Laughable! And the reason her mom, Aislinn,
wants her to attend high school is to banish a ghost haunting students and
faculty at Mary Evans High in [fictional] Ideal, Mississippi. But that is also
laughable – in a ridiculous way – to Izzy, because ghosts “are nothing. They’re
… They’re like Brannick training wheels.” So it should be a quick matter of
reconnaissance on Izzy’s part – then get in, get the job done and leave before
she’s even had the chance to make friends. She teams up with Romy Hayden,
Dexter O’Neil and Anderson and joins their Paranormal Management Society. All
in the name of research, naturally. [And yes, the acronym for the club is PMS.]
But strangely, Izzy finds that she likes hanging out with them. Romy is the friend
she’s never had, and Dex is the … friend?
… she’s also never had. Dex makes her feel all unexpectedly tingly, and not in
the way that she can sense Prodigium, though there may be that, too. The
concept of having friends is new to Izzy, so how much can she trust them to
know about her?
The ghost haunting Mary Evans High
is vengeful and unusually strong. Izzy will have to discover why if she expects
to vanquish it for good. Did someone summon it? Did her newfound friends? No
matter how busy she is finding answers and keeping the truth of herself secret,
she’s ever thinking about her sister, Finley, missing for six months, and she
expects her mom blames her for Finn’s disappearance.
Hawkins, author of the Hex Hall series, does another masterful
job of writing teenage characters who actually sound like teens. Dex can be
over-the-top in his speech, but that makes his character all the more likeable
and the dialogue all the more amusing. The banter between Izzy and Dex screams
connection, but theirs is a friendship first with a non-mushy romance
potentially blooming second. For example, Dex declares, with mock seriousness,
that they are best friends because, “Three fries I’ve stolen from you. That
cements it.”
“School Spirits” is a fun ghost
caper with a solid plot, some twists and an ending that’s mostly tied up neatly
but with one thing sorely unsolved. This humorous novel is currently
standalone, but I hope that that won’t always be the case.
Unbreakable (Oct. 1, 2013) by Kami Garcia.
Who doesn’t
appreciate a good ghost story now and then?
Okay, so it’s not just a ghost
story, but it does involve a secret society of ghost hunters that are tasked
with protecting the world from a vengeful demon. That society is the Legion of
the Black Dove, and Kennedy Waters learns the hard way that she’s part of it.
Probably. Or so the boys say. First, her mom dies (though she originally has no
idea that paranormal forces were responsible). Second, death tries to find her.
Fortunately, she’s saved by mysterious twin brothers Jared and Lukas Lockhart.
Circumstances provoke her to go with them for safety reasons, so she meets
Priest, a young genius, and Alara, a beautiful but formidable girl. The four of
them are part of the Legion, and Kennedy is supposedly the fifth member. But
what can she offer the team? She has no ghost hunter training (okay, fine,
vengeance spirits training) and is therefore totally ill-equipped to track down
and destroy the demon Andras. She isn’t an expert in symbology, weaponry,
alchemy, mathematics or engineering. All she has is an eidetic memory. Guess
it’ll be on-the-job training for her, because the demon waits for no one and in
fact would rather kill them all off so he can clear the way for his evil
takeover. So they scour within a certain radius to locate pieces of the Shift
which will destroy Andras. But they also have to find Andras’ hidey center, the
Marrow. Can they succeed? Will Kennedy prove herself to be a member of the
Black Dove?
Best known for her Beautiful Creatures collaboration with
Margaret Stohl, “Unbreakable” is Garcia’s first solo expedition, and I’d say it
was successful. This YA supernatural thriller was at times tense, intense,
edge-of-your-seat and creepy. And while there is jealousy and redemption and
romance, the book is more thriller than anything. This was a fast-paced
adventure that I would not want to take in real life, but it’s engaging to
read. Garcia’s novel contained eerie twists and sinister locations. There were
times I actually got goose bumps!
“May the black dove always carry
you.”
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