Selah has finally found her father only to lose the rest of her family. And with her transformation to novarium in process, the clock is ticking down to her destruction if she doesn’t complete the final phase in time. Answers will only be found by returning to the one place Selah least wants to go: the Mountain. She must gather the answers she needs, rescue her family, and bring her friends to safety before time runs out.
I think my first mistake was probably in reading this book without having read Thunder, the first book in the series. I never felt like I could fully grasp the storyworld elements critical to the tale. I’m still not totally sure what Landers are and I definitely didn’t follow the First, Second, and Third protocol explanations or understand why they were relevant. A lot of the information comes out in the form of dialogue, but I kept feeling like I was missing the pieces of information that would make everything suddenly make sense.
The side characters were my favorite. Mari and Cleon and Treva, in particular. Selah felt uneven to me, sometimes acting like a grown adult and other times reading much more like a younger teen. Some of her conversations with Bodhi (I LOVED the character names in the story) felt like they were arguing because this is the scene in which they’re supposed to argue. Some of the dialogue felt like it was jumping around and responses didn’t seem to follow any linear ideas.
I liked that there were all these groups vying to use Selah for their own means. Even her father had his own agenda. That kept me guessing and wondering what would be around the next bend in the story.
Bottom line for me: if you’re going to read this series, start with Thunder. I haven’t read it, but I think I would have enjoyed Lightning a lot more if I wasn’t struggling to understand the mechanics of the storyworld in the midst of the tale itself.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content Brief kissing.
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content There are some brief battles, but very little gory detail. One of Selah’s companions is fatally injured and asks to be left behind.
The year Louisiana – Easy for short – meets Janis Joplin is the year everything changes. Easy is a car mechanic in her dad’s shop, but she can sing the blues like someone twice her age. So when she hears that Janis Joplin is passing through her small town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Easy is there with her heart – and her voice – in hand. It’s 1970 and Janis Joplin is an electrifying blues-rock singer at the height of her fame – and of her addictions. Yet she recognizes Easy’s talent and asks her to meet her in Texas to sing. So Easy begins an unusual journey that will change everything.
About Caroline Stellings
Caroline Stellings is an award-winning author and illustrator of numerous books for children and young adults. She has been given many honours for her work, including nominations for both the Geoffrey Bilson Award and the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award, and she has won both the ForeWord Book of the Year and the Hamilton Literary Award. Her picture book Gypsy’s Fortune (Peanut Butter Press) was chosen as a Best Bet by the Ontario Library Association. Caroline has a Masters degree from McMaster University. She lives in Waterdown, Ontario.
Why I Can’t Wait to Read Freedom’s Just Another Word
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Caroline Stellings, but The Manager is the book that really made me fall in love with her writing. I loved the spunk and heart in that story. It was all the things I wanted the movie Million Dollar Baby to be. Read my review here.
I love music in literature, so as soon as I saw the name Janis Joplin, I was pretty sure I needed to read this book. I loved Scar Boys by Len Vlahos and I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuenhert.
If you’re a reviewer or have a NetGalley account, you can request Freedom’s Just Another Word for review from Second Story Press. The book will be available for purchase on September 1, 2016.
Let me know if you request the book or think you want to read it! I’d love to know how you like it.
The Raven King has been on the To Read list of practically every blogger that I follow. I’ve been a pretty big fan of the series so far, so I was really eager to get into this last chapter of the tale.
If you’re new to the Raven Cycle, here’s what you need to know:
Growing up in the company of psychics, means getting used to people knowing your future. Blue has always been told two things about her future: she will fall in love, and, if she kisses her true love, he will die. She meets Gansey and his friends and realizes she’s seen him before. On the Corpse Road, walking among the other souls of those who will die in the coming year.
Gansey died once already. And because of Glendower, he knew life again. Now, Gansey believes his purpose is to find the Welsh king of legend and wake him. He brings three remarkable friends with him on the quest. Adam, who has made a bargain with a magical forest, to serve as its hands and eyes, Ronan, who can bring items back from his dreams, and Noah, a boy who died on the ley line years ago, and joins the friends now as a ghost.
So now it’s the fourth book, and Gansey et al are closing in on Glendower’s location. But a powerful demon has been set loose, and the team needs to find Glendower before the demon destroys Cabeswater and Ronan with it. If they can wake the legendary king, they can use the favor he’s promised to put an end to the demon.
One of the most difficult things about a highly anticipated book like this is it has so many expectations to live up to. We’ve followed this big stories all the way to this point and we’re braced for the big satisfying moments where dreams are realized and plots come full circle and everyone lives gloriously if not happily ever after.
Here comes a little diversity. In the first three books, the central characters are a pretty narrow bunch: four white boys and a white girl. The Raven King introduces Henry, a Korean boy, and reveals two of our boys as having feelings for each other. While I liked that the story broadened in terms of diversity, and I liked Henry a lot, I didn’t really feel like those elements were as well-integrated into the story. I kept waiting for Henry to emerge as having some critical role, and apart from having a really cool artifact and some comic relief, he really doesn’t add much in his own right.
The boy/boy romance. I really couldn’t decide how I felt about it. Totally did not see it coming, which I kind of liked. On the other hand, I felt like after three books, I should have suspected something. Also, one of the boys had a girlfriend earlier in the series, and I wondered why the other hadn’t responded to this girl as more of a rival in a romantic sense? Then again, maybe I’d see some of those queues if I went back and reread the first three books?
The climax really threw me. Pretty much from the point where the cloud of ravens come up through the end of the book kind of went downhill for me. Things happened too easily. Oh, here’s a car. Oh, here’s a cave. Oh, here’s a sacrifice. I kept thinking, that’s it? That’s all we get? ALL this buildup for THIS?!
Also – okay. I spent the whole book anticipating this big boss fight with this waspy demon (perfect villain considering Gansey’s life-threatening allergy to bees.) What we got was the literary equivalent of the boss fight in Halo 4. (Go with me, here. You pretty much fight your way through aliens level after level and finally make it to the big scary bad guy and it’s like, ‘press right-trigger to defeat boss.’ Kind of a letdown.)
So, the wasp-demon fight went down a whole different way, leaving some pretty big loose ends: The Green Man? Henry’s mom? Piper’s dad and his brother?
I was relieved when I discovered there was an epilogue. But honestly, it didn’t answer any of the questions the story left me with. In fact, I really didn’t know what to make of it. Sure, we get to see the characters moving on after completing this quest which has dominated their lives for four whole books, but it was like suddenly they’re ordinary people. (And ordinary people who make weird choices. Really, Adam??) I had a rush of the same feeling I get when watching The Return of the King in the scene where Aragorn is finally crowned king and suddenly he’s soft and sweet and awkward and I’m like where is the warrior who didn’t even blink at taking on nine freaking Nazgûl?! But I digress.
Bottom line: am I glad I read it? Yes. Totally. Even if every review said exactly all these things, I would still have said, yes, but I need to read it. I need to follow Blue and Gansey to the bitter end. So I’m not sorry. The first three-quarters of the book was great. Lots of tension. So many moments where I was biting my nails and holding my breath. I loved the stuff about Blue and her dad. I loved that we got to see Ronan at home and kind of unguarded. All the stuff revealed about Ronan’s dad and his brother Declan? Awesome.
So there are good things to be had in the story, too. For me, like I said, I’m glad I read it. Now I want to go read Dream Thieves or The Raven Boys and let those earlier, grander parts of the story live on in my mind instead of the true final moments of the series.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used moderately throughout the book.
Romance/Sexual Content Kissing – girl/boy and boy/boy.
Spiritual Content Blue’s mom and their other housemates are psychics. They perform a tarot card reading early on in the book. Gansey and his friends are looking for a Welsh king who, according to myth, sleeps somewhere along the Ley Line that runs through their town. If Gansey and his entourage can find the king and wake him, legend says he’ll grant them a favor. Along the course of the hunt, one of their rivals woke a demon. The demon will destroy Cabeswater (a magical forest), Ronan’s home and family, and even Ronan himself unless they can kill it first.
Blue learns of a people who can transform into or disappear into trees.
A ghost attacks and physically harms Blue.
Violent Content The demon kills a woman in a pretty gruesome way. Later, a man shoots his daughter. A ghost attacks Blue, tearing at her face. The demon takes control of a boy and uses him to attack his friends.
Drug Content
Blue and Gansey attend a party where some boys are drinking alcohol.
One of the books I enjoyed reading lately is The Crowd by Alleece Balts. Today, Alleece joins me to talk more about what inspired her to write The Crowd and what we can look forward to when Ella’s story continues in The Journey.
ME: I find that a story is often inspired by a question. Was there a question that inspired you to write The Crowd?
ALLEECE BALTS: What if you found yourself the victim of bullying, but not at the hands of just one mean kid – what if an entire school was against you? What could you do on your own? That’s a pretty heavy subject matter, but I didn’t necessarily want to write an angry or brooding book because I feel like there are already a number of dark books out there that deal with bullying. So for The Crowd I really strived to write something entertaining that was a little lighter and more approachable but still got readers thinking about the topic of bullying and what they – as an individual – can do. We also tend to focus only on the victim and the bully in those situations and I wanted to look beyond that to the bystanders and onlookers witnessing bullying who often have more power than they think. There are a lot of young people and even adults who possess the social capital necessary to stand up for another person, or change the subject when faced with gossip, or question a racist, sexist or derogatory “joke” and break the cycle of bullying.
ME: I think you’re right – that’s a really heavy topic, and a really important one. You definitely managed to address issues of bullying without letting the story become dominated by those darker elements. I liked that there was a lot of lighter content. One of my favorite characters was Ella’s Aunt Meg. What inspired you to create her or include her in the story?
ALLEECE BALTS: I think there is a little bit of the writer in every character and Aunt Meg was such a fun character to write for that reason. I am a big tea drinker (with a growing obsession with sweet tea) and Aunt Meg always seems to have a steaming cup of tea in her hand. Also like me, Aunt Meg enjoys a quiet life. It was interesting to imagine how I would react if a teenager showed up unexpectedly on my porch and announced that she had come to live with me! Throughout the story, I really wanted to show how Aunt Meg and Ella’s relationship progressed from that first moment on the porch to them slowly becoming at home with each other. Not only did Ella grow through that experience, but Aunt Meg did as well – at a time in her life when she probably thought she was done developing personally.
ME: That’s a good point, and I think it added a lot of depth to the story to have that relationship between characters develop like it did. Do you have a favorite character? Were there things about your favorite character which couldn’t be included in The Crowd?
ALLEECE BALTS: It is surprisingly difficult to pick a favorite! But in telling the story, I was able to share a lot about each of my main characters. There is more to Ella, Jack, Lucas – and even Aunt Meg – than initially meets the eye when we first see them on the page. Just like in real life, there may be a moment in your past or a certain way you look or place where you’re from that defines you to those around you – fair or not. Whether you’re seen as a criminal or a nerd or a playboy, it can be difficult to scrub those past labels off ourselves and be accepted for who we truly are now. It was an interesting challenge to slowly reveal each character to the reader and adjust the expectation of who that character was. Also, one great thing about writing in a series is that I have the opportunity to continue to grow and expand my characters as they encounter new trials.
ME: Very true. I’m interested to see where the story takes the characters next! Do you have a favorite scene or moment from The Crowd? What makes it special to you?
ALLEECE BALTS: Although it isn’t an especially intense or dramatic scene, one of my favorites is a chapter towards the middle of book where two characters are making Christmas cookies together. As they cut and frost the cookies, they each describe some of their yearly family traditions like singing carols or reading A Christmas Carol. It is a really sweet moment of openness between the two of them, and it’s special to me because I share some of those same experiences with my own family. I know that many of those traditions may not mean a lot when you’re young, but as you get older, those memories will become very precious – particularly if you have lost someone associated with those memories.
ME: Yes, definitely. Sometimes those heartfelt moments are just as important as the big conflicts. Are you working on the sequel to The Crowd at this point? Can you tell us a little bit about that?
ALLEECE BALTS: Yes, I am about 230 pages into the sequel, The Journey, which I’m hoping to release in December 2016. The original story for The Crowd was actually what will be the plotline for the first two books. When I began writing The Crowd, it became clear that it was just too much for one book. Then, as I was working on the second book, the idea for the third came to me, making it a trilogy. The series may end up being longer, depending on where the characters take it. We’ll see!
ME: Yay! It’s always fun to read more about characters we fall in love with. I’m excited to see where you take the second and even possibly third book. A lot of your readers probably have questions, too. What is one question about your novel you are often asked by your readers?
ALLEECE BALTS: The question I get the most from people who have read the teaser at the end of The Crowd is “When can I read the sequel???” But, beyond that, music is a big part of the book and I’ve had lots of inquiries about song lyrics from the band Wicked Youth, and readers have been especially curious about the lyrics to Songbird. I will say that there are some lyrics in the manuscript of The Journey so a few of those questions will be answered in the next book.
ME: Yes! I wondered about the lyrics, too. I loved the way the song was used in the story. It will be great to see those in the next book.
Whitfield Preparatory Academy ought to be the perfect school…
Not only does the Academy boast a distinguished faculty and lavish campus, it is also home to the privileged youth of the upper class. They will one day hold the reins of power in the business world and political arena – but for now, they exercise absolute authority at the Academy.
For seventeen-year-old Ella Parker, acceptance into the prestigious Academy is a dream come true. But her delight quickly turns to dread when she finds herself in the crosshairs of an elite group of ruthless students dubbed “the Crowd.” Ella’s been at the center of unwanted attention before – but never like this – and she’ll do anything to make them stop. Anything, that is, apart from accepting the advances of popular and wealthy playboy Jackson Montgomery, the leader of the Crowd.
Will Ella be humiliated, or triumph over her tormentors?
An irresistible story of faith, friendship, betrayal, and romance, The Crowd will immerse readers in Ella’s tumultuous struggle from the very first page.
On a hunt, Arud faces one of the ferine, a terrifying wolf with serrated teeth and murderous heart. He escapes home, but the wolf follows, and his mother begs him to go, taking his sister with him, to a village weeks away. Confused and frustrated at the secrets he knows his mother keeps, Arud takes Lykke and together they travel as quickly as possible. They must reach the village before the next moon frees all the ferine from the Dreadlands and allows them to hunt freely. A beautiful girl joins Arud and Lykke on their way. She tells him of a prophecy and a ritual which could alter the course of humanity. If Lykke is captured by the ferine, a powerful sorceress will perform the ritual and the ferine will be free to hunt and kill at will.
Right from the opening pages, this story takes off. I was immediately hooked. Arud’s family practically bursts with secrets, from his grandmother’s strange ways to his sister’s mysterious illness, to his father’s disappearance. Add to that deadly wolves already on the hunt for Arud, and I could not stop reading.
I liked the characters. There are a lot of named characters, but it didn’t feel like a lot to me as I read the story because they’re introduced at a nice pace, and for the most part, each contributes something to the story that makes that person memorable. Scalvia, the girl who accompanies Arud and Lykke, was definitely my favorite. She’s every bit the warrior, but still kind and sweet, especially to Lykke. Sometimes when story features a small child character, they end up unrealistically good. I felt like Lykke’s character had a great balance of being a good kid, but also still acting like a kid and wanting her own way sometimes.
Werewolf stories aren’t my usual go-to, but I really liked the unusual way those elements were worked into the story. The Viking mythology added some interesting elements, definitely something I don’t see often enough. This is sort of How to Train Your Dragon meets Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls series).
Fans of teen paranormal should definitely check out this book. I liked the fresh take on the werewolf lore and the complex, suspenseful plot definitely entertained.
Cultural Elements
The story contains a lot of references to Viking culture and lore.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content A few kisses between boy and girl.
Spiritual Content Some characters pray to Odin and Freya. Arud talks to Scalvia about his own belief that another god, a Creator exists. He often talks about the importance of faith. Some of the lines about faith are paraphrased from the Bible.
A powerful sorceress leads the ferine. She seeks to perform a ritual that will free the ferine from captivity in the Dreadlands and let them roam freely.
Violent Content Arud hunts and cleans the animals he catches. Some of the descriptions are a bit vivid. The wolf-like animals who hunt Arud and his sister attack animals and humans. Arud and his allies fight back in several battles. Descriptions range from brief to moderately detailed. I’m a bit sensitive to violence, and it was definitely at the upper edges of what I’m comfortable with, but other readers may not have issue with it.
Drug Content
Brief mention of elderberry mead included in table fare.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is which books top our wish lists (because every review blogger has one miles long, I’m sure).
So here’s a funny story. I was cleaning off the top of the dresser yesterday (It’s been a while, but let’s not talk about that.) and I totally struck gold. I found A BARNES & NOBLE GIFT CARD. Unused. For forty dollars!
Which of course translates into only one thing: book shopping!
My book wish list is ridiculously long and full of loads of books I am pining for, but here are the books which will be competing for purchase on my shiny new gift card. While some of the books I’m pining for most are still only available for pre-order, you’ll only see books already released on my list. I’ll save the pre-orders for another day. (Note: Sadly, basic math says I can’t buy all of these books with my gift card, so I’ll have to narrow it down from ten to the ones I want most up to the ceiling of my card. First world problems.)
Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury – I read a sample of the first few chapters of this book and definitely want to read the rest. In fact, I don’t know why I haven’t bought it already or at least tracked down a copy through the library.
The City of Ember (The First Book of Ember ) by Jeanne DuPrau – I know almost nothing about this series, except that one of my closest friends (and one of my only friends in real life who reads YA and admits to it) LOVES this book. And that, my friends, is good enough for me. I trust her. Even though she did not like Cry, the Beloved Country, which made me cry inside just a little bit.
Mindwar by Andrew Klavan – Strangely, I’ve only read the third book in this series, but I really enjoyed a lot of things about it. It gave me things I wanted from Ready Player One. I liked the characters, too.
The Shadow Hour by Melissa Grey – I’ve been absolutely pining for this book since I read The Girl at Midnight. And it’s finally here! The Girl at Midnight definitely reminded me of Daughter of Smoke and Bone with its other-world and girl-out-of-her-world things it has going on. I loved the characters. Loved the story. Can’t wait for more.
Jepp, Who Defied the Stars by Katherine Marsh – this book hit my radar when Katherine Marsh released another book called The Door By the Staircase, which also sounds great. Jepp deals with issues of fate, and I find myself desperate to know how his quest resolves.
X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz with Kekla Magoon – I forget where I first noticed this book. I think it might have been in a BuzzFeeds list or something. This is a novelized story about Malcom X, co-written by his daughter. Definitely interested in this one.
The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz – I might be the only person who hasn’t read this book. At least, that’s what I think whenever I see it, like, everywhere on the interwebs. Every time I read a historical novel I tell myself I should read them more often. I love the idea of reading a story set in the early 1900s about a girl who dreams of being more than a hired girl. Looks awesome. Must read.
Starflight by Melissa Landers – I think I saw this one advertised on Facebook, and actually, I can’t recall reading any actual reviews of it. Reading the book description makes me think Firefly meets These Broken Stars, which sounds like a great pairing to me. (If I had you at Firefly, we should be friends.)
This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab – I’m a huge fan of the type of fantasy-scape described in the marketing copy. Also– the copy claims this is perfect for fans of Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater and Laini Taylor? That’s me! (Okay, confession: I need to read Holly Black. Haven’t yet. But I will. Hopefully soon. but Stiefvater and Taylor are pretty sure bets for me.) Also I read some cool stuff on Victoria Schwab’s twitter page. That might be where I first learned about this book, actually. So, yay Twitter.
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson – I saw this on several must-read-type Top Ten Tuesday posts, and the description made me laugh so hard I almost had tears. Yes, please! There is never enough furious happiness in my life.
