Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Rating: 1 star out of 5

"Even with an army at my back, I am still alone."

The follow-up to Red Queen, this book follows Mare, a rare person with red blood and silver abilities, as she whines endlessly about her life. Among other complaints, she feels it is hard being the chosen one, hard being alone even though all of your loyal friends are with you, and hard to be so special that no one else can understand. Mare spends the book attempting to find others like her, but it proves time consuming-- so time consuming that it takes up all 400 pages.

Sadly, this is the worst book I have every actually finished. I almost gave up on it many times, and having reached the end, I only regret that I didn't.

As a preliminary matter, I greatly enjoyed the first book, and I wanted to love this one, so no one could be more disappointed than I am about my opinions.

In brief: nothing happens. 400 pages should have been condensed to 100, which could have formed the mediocre beginning of a different book. As nothing happens, the book is incredibly boring. I've had heavy academic reading that was more interesting. There never seemed to be a point to the story.

Mare, whose conflict and overall personality I liked in the first book, becomes unlikable and unrelatable here. At times, I would have rejoiced in her death. The other characters in the book are ignored to a point that is almost farcical, except for when Mare is insulting and denigrating them. She gives special attention in this to her best friends. The only character given any real development is Cal, if you are paying very close attention. New characters are given so little time that I couldn't confidently list which ability a single one of them had even seconds after setting down the book.

Love triangles (or one girl with three male love interests as exists here) don't usually bother me. But for there to be a romantic story, there needs to be some kind of romance. Here, all the men just immediately fall for Mare. She then insults them endlessly in her head before, once in a long whole, kissing one of them briefly. I didn't get the impression that Mare has genuine feelings for any of them. I sometimes wondered if she is capable of genuine feelings at all. There is no sense of "Oh! She'd be good with him!" or "Oh! But she really loves him!" because Mare  seems to think they are all beneath her and barely tolerates them. The partial exception to this is Maven-- she is low-key obsessed with Maven, although he's evil and has treated her horribly. Despite her obsession, though, she doesn't seem to like Maven, much less have the capacity to love him.

Finally, Aveyard isn't a very good writer. She uses superfluous words to try to make the most dramatic, poignant, and quotable metaphors and similes possible. This wouldn't merit mentioning if it were done sparingly. It is done in nearly every paragraph-- sometimes more than once in a paragraph, and in a very heavy-handed and painful way. It is distracting, unnecessary, and detracts from the book.

Despite my incredibly negative feelings, I will probably read the third book to see if things turn around at all, but I'm not optimistic. If anyone is reading this who hasn't read the first book, I would advise you not to start the series.

I'd recommend this to no one. If you really liked the first book, skip this one entirely, get someont to spoil the last 10 pages for you, and pick up the third one hoping for the best.

Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Fever by Lauren DeStefano
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

As soon as I read DeStefano's first book in this trilogy, Wither, a few weeks ago, I knew I had to devour this book ASAP.

While this book didn't quite grab me the way that Wither did, it was nonetheless a compelling and worthwhile read.  DeStefano picked up right where we left off, and instead of falling into the typical trap where the second book is largely filler, she immediately threw Rhine and Gabrielle into a difficult situation- and their difficulties just kept on coming.

This book was slower than the first, and does drag in places.  Despite DeStefano's wisdom in keeping the plot moving, many of the characters we grew to love in the first book were entirely absent from this one, and at the end of the day, not much progress (if any, actually) was made toward a permanent solution to Rhine's dilemma. We did get deeper insight into Rhine, the deliciously twisted Vaughn, and into Rhine's brother Rowan through her memories of him and her search for him, though, so the book was far from wasted.

DeStefano also gives us no shortage of new characters to love. Much attention has been given to Maddie, the child who ends up accompanying Rhine on her journey.  However, I was more taken with the enigmatic Silas, and sincerely hope we haven't seen the last of him.  I'm always a sucker for a character who is rough around the edges but has a heart of gold, and I think I've found one in him.

I continue to struggle to feel anything for Gabriel, and as he remains Rhine's main love interest throughout this book, this is a real problem.  He is loyal, I get it.  But beyond that there is little about him to grasp onto, to root for, to care about.  In truth, if he is never heard from again in the conclusion, I wouldn't much care- and sometimes I'm not positive Rhine would either

The problems with world building in this book remain.  However, in the interest of enjoying the books and DeStefano's gorgeous writing, my advice to picky readers everywhere is to just do what I've done and let that go.  While it's all very well to fuss and fret about world building, and intellectually it can be fun and fulfilling, when novels are as gripping and well written as this I think energy is better spent enjoying them.

I am really looking forward to seeing how DeStefano pulls everything together in the final book.  I think if I were her I'd need a thousand pages- and I wouldn't mind if she wrote them.  January can't come soon enough.

Wither (The Chemical Garden, #1) by Lauren DeStefano

Wither (The Chemical Garden #1) by Lauren DeStefano
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Much as I try to fight it, occasionally I find myself judging a book by its cover.  Wither was that kind of book.  It was recommended to me by a friend because of my recent penchant for young adult dystopia, and like any careful reader I decided I should look it up before hunting a copy down.

My research left me feeling disappointed and uncertain about whether I should pick it up.  While the premise of a world where everyone is dying before their 25th birthday was intriguing,  a lot of discriminating readers seemed to think that the book was something of a joke, written by someone who doesn't fully understand what dystopia is or how to craft a universe.

And so, I tried to resist it.  But the cover kept calling to me until I couldn't stand it anymore and just had to pick the book up off the shelf.

I'm glad I did, and I'd like to make clear that, despite the complaints which do follow, I genuinely enjoyed this book and in my heart of hearts wish I could give it 5 stars.

First, the basic premise: due to genetic engineering gone horribly wrong, everyone in America is dying by their 25th birthday.  In reaction, people are marrying young and attempting to produce children.  However, some of the girls are being married off against their will into polygamous marriages.  Rhine is one such girl.  Kidnapped and sold into marriage to the very wealthy Linden at the age of 16, she is left to struggle with her desire to escape from her gilded prison, her twisted father-in law and his hunt for a cure, and her grim knowledge that her time on earth is limited.

Second, the rotten truth: everything you've heard about how the universe DeStefano creates is ridiculous, improbable, even impossible, is basically true.  However, before I commence complaining, I should say, without qualification, that if you are able to really suspend disbelief, the universe is fascinating.  Despite this, I was often left with the unsettling feeling that, were I to ask DeStefano herself a direct question about the universe, she would not know the answer.  Furthermore, I didn't ever feel like the universe DeStefano painted was one that could conceivably occur.  A world where all Americans embraced genetic engineering, could afford it, and not a single person chose to have a baby that was not genetically engineered not only didn't ring true- it was unfathomable.  Making it moreso was that this book is set what appears to be less than 100 years in the future.

Unlike some, I was not freaked out by the polyamorous or polygamous aspect of the book. I actually know people, in real life, who will admit to being polyamorous (though not polygamous), and who are not embarrassed by this.  In fact, I dated one once, though for a variety of reasons mostly centered around me and my old fashioned ideas, we were monogomous during our time together.  I'd actually be willing to let that go, even considering that, again, it is almost impossible to imagine a world where polyamory, much less polygamy, would be viewed as acceptable in America.  However, while I could understand how, in this universe, a 13 year old might marry, I couldn't understand how society had devolved to a point where it was acceptable for a 21 year old to sleep with a 13 year old.  I also couldn't understand why, if polygamous marriages were somehow vital to the survival of the race, some girls were just being killed while others were viewed as SO valuable as wombs.

 How we are supposed to accept that all of the world, other than parts of North America, are gone, is beyond me.  How we are supposed to accept that, after a flood, the parts of North America that remain are parts that would absolutely, 100% be underwater (Florida and New York, respectively) and not mountainous regions, is also beyond me.  This doesn't even touch on the science aspect of the story, which is a mess.

If any of this is likely to be a deal breaker for you, it's best that you just steer away from this book.

However, somewhat to my surprise, I found that it was not a deal breaker for me.

DeStefano's prose is steady and flowing, almost like a river. It lulls you into a sense of comfort and is genuinely pleasant to read.  However, she is also capable of creating waves and storms with her words, masterful at capturing the tensions beneath the surface and the calm before the storm. Her writing is crisp, her word choice is exquisite, and everything about her writing style screams to me that I want to read more by her. I devoured the book in two sittings, no small feat given how my life is currently structured, and am currently determined to get the next book in the series, Fever into my hands as soon as possible.

However, even more striking than DeStefano's prose is her masterful grasp of character.  It has been a long time since I read a book where I was truly invested in all the characters, both major and minor, and where those who I did not know much about, I wanted to know more about.  Rhine is a strong female character who is sure of what she wants and unfailingly human. I found it generally easy to identify with her, her reactions, and her hopes, fears, and dreams.  I could understand the conflict she felt about Linden and her determination to see her brother again was extremely touching.

I found DeStefano's sketches of Rhines's 'sister-wives', Cecily and Jenna, to be equally compelling.  They were well sketched characters who both grew enormously throughout the course of the book.  Cecily's transformation, in particular, was beautiful to watch, as she changed from a naive, somewhat selfish imp to a loving mother who was willing to make sacrifices for others.  Linden is a nuanced character and while we learned more and more about him as the book progressed, I was left feeling that there was more about him to learn and that I wanted DeStefano to have a chance to tell me, though I do think the book ended exactly where it should.

I do have some minor complaints about some of Rhine's actions- for instance, it did not make sense to me why she felt she could not tell Linden that she wanted to contact her brother, as I don't believe he would have denied her that.  In addition, her interactions with Gabriel, a servant at the house, did not move me to the extent that I think DeStefano hoped they would, and I had a hard time really believing that relationship.  However, overall, the characters and their relationships to one another were strong and believable.

I had to take a star off because of the problems with the world and some of my issues in understanding Rhine, but I have high hopes for the rest of the series and am really looking forward to whatever DeStefano does next.