Always Bring Books

Review: Where There’s Smoke (Panopolis #1) by Cari Z.

January 2nd, 2017

3 of 5 stars

If you’re a fan of superhero movies and comics, this is the novella you didn’t know you wanted.

It’s about getting caught in the crossfire (metaphorically) between Heroes and Villains in a corrupt, Gotham-like city called Panopolis. Edward Dinges (yes, it’s pronounced ding-us) is an ordinary dude working at a bank when a Villain called the Mad Bombardier robs it. The robbery is a strange beginning to a life-changing relationship for Edward.

This little story takes the moralistic superhero paradigm and turns it on its head. The main Villain is a nuanced character with an interesting backstory and a moral code. The main Hero is a pushy tool who is a borderline stalker. Edward follows a blog that reports on the goings-on of Panopolis called the Supertruther blog, and it asks some questions about what it means to be an on-looker and consumer. By consuming the show that the Heroes and Villains put on everyday when they clash throughout the city, are the so-called ordinary citizens contributing to the unsafe status quo? Are they, with their expectations and admiration of the Heroes, perpetuating the corruption and dysfunction of Panopolis?

As for the writing, it’s pretty tight, as it should be in a novella, and transparent. Each scene has a cinematic sensibility with its focus on action rather than introspection. That’s not to say that there’s no introspection. The first person POV from Edward’s perspective lends itself to introspection when needed.

The serialized presentation of the first two novellas mirrors the format of comics nicely.

And now I’m off to read the second one!
Sunset Park (Five Boroughs #2)

October 31st, 2016

http://riptidepublishing.com/a-statement-on-sh
Review: Dear Fang, with Love by Rufi Thorpe

October 30th, 2016

4 of 5 stars

This book was not what I expected–in the best way possible. Its many layers discuss family mythology and history and their effects on identity, the Holocaust, mental illness, absentee fatherhood, mothers. (I could go on.) And it does so in a completely absorbing and engaging manner.

We get two first person narratives, one in the form of the father Lucas telling the story of his and his daughter Vera’s visit to Vilnius, Lithuania and the other in the form of Vera’s letters to her boyfriend Fang. It’s Vera’s letters that really showcase Thorpe’s ability to write a voice that sings right off the page. (The letters probably helped to paint Vera as a more interesting character to me than Lucas, though that’s not to say that Lucas isn’t sympathetic or an interesting storyteller.) Thorpe also has the uncanny ability to capture what an art history professor of mine liked to call interiority. Both Vera’s and Lucas’s interiority are marvelously rendered in Thorpe’s seamless prose.

Needless to say, I’ll be reading Thorpe’s previous novel and eagerly awaiting her next work.
Review: We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

October 30th, 2016

4 of 5 stars

If you knew the world was going to end, but you could save it, would you? That’s the question Henry, our sarcastic narrator and protagonist, has to answer.

I did not expect the beautiful gut punch this novel is. With its unique treatment of grief and mental illness, it’s like no other YA novel I’ve read (granted, I don’t read a ton of YA, though I did when I was a kid). Also, the fact that the main character just so happens to be on the LGBTQ+ spectrum is refreshing. This is not a coming out novel. It’s more like a coming to novel–as in, coming to life again. Sort of.

Have I mentioned the aliens yet? (That’s actually what initially intrigued me about the description for this book.) They’ve been abducting Henry for years and have given him 144 days to decide whether to save the world. His journey to deciding is made all the more interesting when he meets Diego–who has just as fraught a past as he does and might be interested in more than just friendship–and by the compulsively readable first person narration we get from Henry.

Hutchinson’s descriptions of Henry’s grief due to his boyfriend’s suicide are spot on and made this book a stand out for me.
Review: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

October 30th, 2016

3.5 of 5 stars

I’m glad I finally got around to reading this. It’s just as heartwarming as everyone says, but what I really like about it is how refreshing it is. Besides the fact that the main character is accepted by his family and friends without question, not all the characters are white. Imagine that, an actually diverse cast.

This is also just straight up entertaining, with funny lines like: “I don’t even know. I’m just so sick of straight people who can’t get their shit together.” You and me both, Simon. You and me both.

I’ve heard this described as a high school romantic comedy with a gay kid at the center, and I don’t think that’s entirely accurate, but the description does hint at how this is different in the realm of YA about LGBTQ+ kids. There is coming out, but it’s not a coming out story. It’s a story about friendship and the way the world can be if we give it a chance. It’s also a story about self-acceptance, about learning to be who we are, without apology.

So pick this up for an ace first person narrative with some funny one-liners and a hopeful perspective.

Review: Where There’s Smoke (Panopolis #1) by Cari Z.

Sunset Park (Five Boroughs #2)

Review: Dear Fang, with Love by Rufi Thorpe

Review: We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

Review: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli