I don’t want to sound overly dramatic when I say this, but I’m gonna go for it nonetheless: rape, or the possibility of rape, is such constant, persistent background noise in the life of most women that we forget the extent to which we negotiate around the threat. Even women who don’t consciously think of themselves as having ever explicitly feared rape or changed their behavior to avoid it will answer in the affirmative when you ask them more specific questions: do you and your […]
“I like flaws. I think they make things interesting.”
This is a fairly uninformed opinion, but as a casual reader of YA I feel like there has been a dearth, of late, of straightfoward, non- high concept/fantasy YA. Sarah Dessen seems like she hails from a class of YA authors from the mid to late aughts that mine realistic, if unusual, situations to examine the poignant emotional minutiae of the teen experience. The Truth About Forever is the sensitive and quietly resonant story of Macy Queen, who had been the first person of her […]
What was I really expecting, with a title like that…
I had said after reading Punkzilla that I was getting too old for a certain type of YA novel — the ones full of partying and drinking and teens disobeying their parents. I don’t mind these in service of a good story, but they rarely are. Alas, I had already purchased fml, so I read the damn thing anyway and…yep. Punks kids all over my lawn. “People aren’t meant to be perfect. We’re all imperfect people looking for perfect moments to share with other imperfect people.” So, fml […]
“I am become a blade”
Spoiler warning! This is the third book in the Grisha trilogy and therefore NOT the place to start reading. This review will contain at least some minor spoilers for the previous books in the series, and who starts a trilogy with the third book anyway? Go read from the beginning, starting with Shadow and Bone. This review will be here when you’re caught up. Alina is shadow of her former self, trapped in tunnels underground, “protected” by the zealous Apparat (former high priest of Ravka) […]
“And they burned waxily ever after…”
Save Wax is about a town called Paraffin, Vermont, and how some of its residents were murdered and replaced with wax figures. It’s also really, really funny. One of the residents, Poppy, was disgraced on a nationally televised talent show. She throws herself into serving as president of the drama club, the Giddy Committee. After her biggest bully pulls yet another prank on her, Poppy visits the local candle factory to get to the bottom of things. She ends up meeting a mysterious old woman […]
“Like Digby himself said: The truth is almost always disappointing…”
Save Trouble Is a Friend of Mine is a mystery with an overachieving girl, Zoe, and a boy who is a young version of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock. Digby is brusque and tactless, he even looks like Cumberbatch. He just shows up outside her door one day, and next thing you know, they are searching for a missing girl and investigating the possible cult across the street from her new house. You can read my full review here.
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