Tag Archives: grief

Review: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry cover shows a girl's face in the top left corner and silhouettes of trees across the bottom. Unspooled threads are scattered across the whole cover.

Gathering Blue (The Giver Quartet #2)
Lois Lowry
HMH Books for Young Readers
Published September 25, 2000

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About Gathering Blue

Lois Lowry’s Gathering Blue continues the quartet beginning with the quintessential dystopian novel, The Giver, followed by Messenger and Son.

Kira, an orphan with a twisted leg, lives in a world where the weak are cast aside. She fears for her future until she is spared by the all-powerful Council of Guardians. Kira is a gifted weaver and is given a task that no other community member can do. While her talent keeps her alive and brings certain privileges, Kira soon realizes she is surrounded by many mysteries and secrets. No one must know of her plans to uncover the truth about her world and see what places exist beyond.

My Review

I thought that I’d read this book before, but either I did and have zero memory of it, or I’m mixing this one up with a different book. At any rate, I decided after listening to THE GIVER on audiobook that I would try to read the whole series this year. GATHERING BLUE is the second book in that series, though it doesn’t appear to connect to THE GIVER in any obvious way.

The first few chapters have some intensity to them. Kira has just come from a grief ritual honoring her mother, who has died. Upon her return to her village, she learns a powerful woman named Vandara intends to have Kira put to death so she and the other village women can have the land where Kira and her mother lived. Kira expertly navigates a conflict with Vandara, turning what could have become a violent confrontation into a visit to the elders for counsel.

I liked Kira’s character. In addition to being smart, she’s artistic and kind. Her mind whirs with patterns and ideas for embroidery. She takes care of a young boy named Matt and his little dog. I enjoyed the scenes getting to know her.

The Series So Far

The only issue I have with the book is kind of the same issue I had with THE GIVER. There’s a point in the story in which a minor character reveals something super important to Kira. She’s a passive observer. I wish that she uncovered that knowledge herself somehow, instead of waiting quietly and wondering.

The book kind of ends in a weird place, too. It’s unclear what Kira will do with her new knowledge. The third book in the series, THE MESSENGER, tells the story of the boy Kira cared for, though he is older at the start of that story. I’m hoping that book will address some of my unanswered questions.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Kira was born with a twisted leg and walks with a limp. She has chronic pain from her leg. Disability in Kidlit posted a review about how the story handles her disability..

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Kira carries a small scrap of fabric that she has embroidered in her pocket. The scrap seems to have a kind of magic to it– warning her before something bad happens or reassuring her when things will work out okay.

Violent Content
A group of women surround Kira, several holding stones, in a tense confrontation that teeters on the edge of violence. Kira worries about the woods and field where beasts prowl. Her mother and a village elder told Kira her father was killed by beasts on a hunt with the other men.

Drug Content
Kira wonders if someone was poisoned.

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Review: Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Compass and Blade
Rachel Greenlaw
Inkyard Press
Published March 5, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Compass and Blade

This world of sea and storm runs deep with bargains and blood.

On the remote isle of Rosevear, Mira, like her mother before her, is a wrecker, one of the seven on the rope who swim out to shipwrecks to plunder them. Mira’s job is to rescue survivors, if there are any. After all, she never feels the cold of the frigid ocean waters and the waves seem to sing to her soul. But the people of Rosevear never admit the truth: that they set the beacons themselves to lure ships into the rocks.

When the Council watch lays a trap to put an end to the wrecking, they arrest Mira’s father. Desperate to save him from the noose, Mira strikes a deal with an enigmatic wreck survivor guarding layers of secrets behind his captivating eyes, and sets off to find something her mother has left her, a family secret buried deep in the sea.

With just nine days to find what she needs to rescue her father, all Mira knows for certain is this: The sea gives. The sea takes. And it’s up to her to do what she must to save the ones she loves.

My Review

This reminded me of another at-sea, oceanically gifted protagonist story that I enjoyed. It’s not the same story as the other. The characters and motives are really different than the other book. But it definitely delivered on the adventure-on-the-high-seas kind of vibe I hoped for.

It feels like a series opener. I’m not sure what will happen with it now, though, since Inkyard Press has closed down. I’ve heard that the authors have been transitioned to HarperCollins, so maybe the series will continue under a new publisher? I don’t know how all of that works. At any rate, I hope the story continues– I’d love to know what Mira does next.

Dangerous Romance

Only two things tripped me up a little bit, and one is absolutely a personal preference thing that I’m only now realizing is the case for me. You know those stories where there’s instant sexual attraction between two characters for no reason or even against good reason? I’m discovering that makes for a difficult protagonist for me to connect with. I find it really hard to buy in, especially when she’s in real danger from him, a stranger. Not saying that someone couldn’t have those feelings. But because I don’t react to danger that way, I find it pulls me out of the story or makes me question the narrator’s reliability.

Totally a personal preference. I enjoyed the book despite that element. It really only comes up a small number of times.

The other thing that challenged me was the magic system. I think the story moved so quickly that sometimes I wasn’t quite sure I understood how things fit together in the larger world. For instance, the blood of magical creatures can be harvested by witches and given to an apothecary to make a powerful potion that can, for example, heal a bad wound. Beyond that mention, we never learn anything about witches. Are they people who have a natural magical ability? Is Mira a water witch? Do they perform magic or are they magic hunters? This doesn’t really come into play in the story, so it doesn’t require a deep explanation, but I found myself wishing that some of the peripheral magical elements were better explained.

Conclusion

I truly enjoyed the chapters on the water, whether Mira was swimming out to a ship or joining a crew and sailing off somewhere. Despite our differences in how we approach romance, Mira’s loyalty to and love for her people made her an easy character to root for, and I’m invested enough to watch for the release of a sequel. I think readers who like stories at sea or characters with a strong connection to the ocean or readers who swoon at star-crossed love will enjoy COMPASS AND BLADE.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
The larger cast of characters includes characters of different skin tones and identities.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. In one scene, two characters have sex, but it isn’t graphically described.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have a special (magical?) ability in the water. They can swim better, hold their breaths longer, etc. Magical creatures, such as wyverns, exist in the story world. Blood from magical creatures can be harvested by witches and used to make powerful potions. (I’m a little fuzzy on the magic system, but I think that’s how it works.) One character can do some kind of shadow magic. A promise between two characters can have a magic binding to it, depending on who’s involved.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some descriptions of battles between two opposing sides with serious injuries, including gunshot wounds.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of COMPASS AND BLADE in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: Coyote Lost and Found by Dan Gemeinhart

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , , ,

Coyote Lost and Found
Dan Gemeinhart
Henry Holt & Co.
Published March 5, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Coyote Lost and Found

It’s been almost a year since Coyote and her dad left the road behind and settled down in a small Oregon town. . . time spent grieving the loss of her mom and sisters and trying to fit in at school. But just as life is becoming a new version of normal, Coyote discovers a box containing her mom’s ashes. And she thinks she might finally be ready to say goodbye.

So Coyote and her dad gear up for an epic cross-country road trip to scatter the ashes at her mom’s chosen resting place. The only problem? Coyote has no idea where that resting place is—and the secret’s hidden in a book that Coyote mistakenly sold last year, somewhere in the country. Now, it’s up to Coyote to track down the treasured book . . . without her dad ever finding out that it’s lost. It’s time to fire up their trusty bus, Yager, pick up some old friends, discover some new ones, and hit the road on another unforgettable adventure.

My Review

I have a friend who loves voicey middle grade with a southern feel to it, and this book immediately made me think of her. Coyote is an absolute wonder. She’s unconventional and a little wild, kind of a loner, and has such a huge heart. I really like Rodeo, her dad, as well. He’s got a very hippy sensibility and definitely wouldn’t be everyone’s pick for best dad, but his temperament really works with Coyote, and he works really hard to make sure she has what she needs.

This is a book about grief. It’s a book about saying goodbye to someone you’ve already lost, and how sometimes grief is a journey, and on that journey, you have to say goodbye more than once. Some of the scenes in which Coyote and her dad talk about or around their losses were so poignant. I cried more than once.

It’s also a story set during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, so it has an underlying uncertainty and loneliness to it. It doesn’t have to do with the pandemic at all, really, but the shutdowns and fears about the virus impacted different characters and scenes in ways that made me think.

The only thing I kept waiting for and felt like was missing from the story is more information about Coyote’s sisters. She lost her mom and two sisters in a car accident long before this book (and another about Coyote and her dad) takes place. While this book focused on the loss of her mom, I felt like it was a little odd that she never named her sisters or had any memories of them or longing for them specifically. I haven’t yet read COYOTE SUNRISE, so it’s possible her relationships with them are explained more fully in the other book.

On the whole, I loved Coyote’s powerful voice and the sweet and silly rituals she shares with her dad and the lucky people they bring into their lives. I can definitely see fans of Kate DiCamillo’s contemporary novels or fans of Gillian McDunn loving this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Coyote’s best friend is Latine American. Another character is Asian American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
See violent content.

Romance/Sexual Content
Coyote gets uncomfortable when she realizes her dad may have romantic feelings for a neighbor.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A white clerk threatens an Asian American customer, holding up a baseball bat and saying racist things.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of COYOTE LOST AND FOUND in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: Where the Dark Stands Still by A. B. Poranek

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , ,

Where the Dark Stands Still
A. B. Poranek
McElderry Books
Published February 27, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Where the Dark Stands Still

Raised in a small village near the spirit-wood, Liska Radost knows that Magic is monstrous, and its practitioners, monsters. After Liska unleashes her own powers with devastating consequences, she is caught by the demon warden of the wood – the Leszy – who offers her a bargain: one year of servitude in exchange for a wish.

Whisked away to his crumbling manor, Liska soon discovers the sinister roots of their bargain. And if she wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts of his past.

Those who enter the wood do not always return…

My Review

From the moment I first heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. Polish folklore? A magical wood? A crumbling manor and a handsome host with dangerous secrets? Yes to all of these!

And from the first pages of the book, I was hooked on the story. It’s got some Beauty and the Beast or Hades and Persephone vibes to it, but I wouldn’t describe it as a retelling. This is a new and different story and so much more than a romantic fairytale. (Though there’s nothing wrong with those– I love them, too.)

I loved Liska’s journey. She spends her whole childhood and adolescence believing that her magic is a bad part of her, that it makes her evil. That it’s something she must never stop resisting. As she gets to know the Leszy and the creatures in and around his manor, she learns that her magic may be what saves her. In fact, it may save everyone she loves.

There are so many brilliant side characters in this book, too. Jaga, the cat who is not a cat, tells Liska things she needs to hear, but sometimes isn’t ready for. The hound who haunts her. The boy who doesn’t speak. The wise village leader. All of them bring so much to the scenes. The teasing moments and the snarky banter between Liska and the Leszy are so great. I loved both of them so much.

I can definitely see readers who loved HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS by Erin Craig or GILDED by Marissa Meyer loving this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Eliasz has had romantic relationships with both men and women. Characters are Polish.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used once.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl. References to sex.

Spiritual Content
The story takes place at a time when the church has become a dominant force for faith in Liska’s community. The people’s old ways– worshipping or fearing old gods, the use of magic, the belief in magical creatures is now out of favor. Magical creatures are referred to as demons, and anyone who uses magic is a witch and could be cast out of their village or worse.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battles between humans and nefarious magical creatures. Some body horror (descriptions of bodies transforming in creepy ways and trees growing through flesh) and scary situations. Liska has nightmares and wakes to see a scary hound near her.

Drug Content
Brief reference to a times Liska stole a bottle of vodka and drank a little bit as a child.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of WHERE THE DARK STANDS STILL in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

The Goose Girl (Books of Bayern #1)
Shannon Hale
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published December 1, 2008

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Goose Girl

She was born with her eyes closed and a word on her tongue, a word she could not taste.

Her name was Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she spent the first years of her life listening to her aunt’s stories and learning the language of the birds, especially the swans. And when she was older, she watched as a colt was born, and she heard the first word on his tongue, his name, Falada.

From the Grimm’s fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become queen, Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original, and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can lead the people she has made her own.

My Review

This book has been on my reading list for a really long time. I loved THE BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS by Shannon Hale, which I read years ago and was also based on a Grimm brothers fairytale. I’d heard of this book, too, but hadn’t gotten around to reading it until I joined the Beat the Backlist reading challenge. One of the prompts is to read a fairy/folktale you haven’t heard of before. Though I knew about this book for a long time, it’s the only place I’ve heard the story of the Goose Girl mentioned, so I am counting it for the prompt.

I went into the book thinking it was going to be a middle grade book, but I’m not sure why. Maybe because of the cover? I actually think this one would make a great book for middle school readers who are not quite ready to transition to YA, but have largely aged out of middle grade books. There’s a teeny bit of romance, but it’s not the focus of the story. Largely, this is about a girl who is figuring out who she is and learning to have confidence in herself.

I really liked Ani’s character. She’s sweet and humble, and awkward, especially at the beginning. But when she becomes a goose girl and pretty much has to learn to get along with others and begins to form friendships and relationships, she discovers her courage, too.

She has a couple of good women mentors. First, her aunt, who teaches her to speak with birds. Then, a woman in the forest who helps her recover when she’s lost and malnourished. Later, her supervisor, a woman in the town where she works as a goose girl, helps her when she gets injured and needs help. Ani also makes good friends, and those relationships become super important as she faces down her past.

Conclusion

This was a sweet story with a few intense moments. Ani must hide from soldiers who intend to kill her. She sees a horse that’s been killed. She witnesses battles.

But most of the story focuses on her and how she uses her abilities to protect others and bring people together and listen to them. I had a lot of fun reading it, and I’m glad I can finally share my review.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A man stands threateningly over Ani and makes a suggestive comment. It scares her.

A girl tells of how the tradition of women going to war with their husbands began. At one point, they bare their chests to the men, reminding them of what’s at stake if they lose the war, namely that the women will become the property of the conquering army.

A man makes reference to the fact that the princess will share a bed with the prince when they are wed.

Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Ani has the ability to speak to some animals. Her aunt tells her there are those who have the ability to “people speak,” which allows them to convince others to do as they say and the ability to speak to elements of nature, such as the trees, fire, or wind.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A man stands over Ani threateningly and makes a suggestive comment. Ani remembers fairytales about a mother’s blood saving her daughter in a moment of fear and doubt. She witnesses someone stabbed through the chest with a sword from behind.

Ani hears a horse has been killed and sees its dismembered leg, and later sees its head mounted like a trophy.

A man attacks Ani, chasing her and cutting her with a knife.

Battle scenes show fights with swords, javelins, and daggers. Some fatalities.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog.

Review: The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , ,

The Poisons We Drink
Bethany Baptiste
Sourcebooks Fire
Published March 5, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Poisons We Drink

In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family.

Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.

Then an enemy’s iron bullet kills her mother, Venus’s life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister Janus safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother’s killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge. The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave D.C.’s most influential politicians.

As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it’s hard to tell who to trust…Herself included.

My Review

I loved so many things about this book. First, of course, I loved the relationship between Janus and Venus, who are sisters. They’re very different from one another and argue a lot, but at the end of the day, each one knows her sister has her back.

I also loved the magic system. It’s complex, but really interesting. Venus is a “brewer,” meaning she makes potions. But in order to do this, she must commit to only one kind of potion brewing. She has committed to brewing potions in love magic, so things that impact relationships.

She gets embroiled in a political scheme when legislators propose a bill that would mean witchers (magic users) would be required to register with the government, which, considering the way witchers are already treated by the government, would be a terrible thing. I liked the way the political issue drove the story forward. It made for high stakes and some intense reckoning over morals and what someone might be willing to do to protect the people they love or avenge a loved one’s murder.

While I loved the magic system, there were a couple of moments– not a lot of them– where I got confused about how things worked. An action suddenly broke a bond. A character could suddenly do a kind of magic I thought she wasn’t supposed to be capable of or didn’t pay the price that I thought she said would be exacted if she took certain actions.

It’s possible that those were fixed before the book was released (I read a pre-release copy). Even with those few hiccups, I was super carried away reading the story of this wild, pink-haired witcher ready to mete out justice or vengeance, as the situation demanded, no matter the personal cost.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Venus and other characters are Black. Venus is queer. Another character is nonbinary.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two people. One chapter opens with an explicit sex scene. A couple takes a bath together.

Spiritual Content
Some characters can perform magic, limited by the energy they have in their bodies, which they can replenish with special baths and teas or naturally replenishes over time. Powerful magic can sap so much energy from a person that it kills them. When someone breaks a magical oath or does something terrible using magic, a deviation or corrupt magical being can become part of them. This deviant will continue to try to break free or take control of its host.

Violent Content
Humans fear and hate magic users. They legislate ways to control them, from limiting the number of witchers who can be in a single area legally at a time to proposing a bill that would require each witcher to register with the government (because that always goes good places). Terrorists target witchers. Enforcers use violence to break up witcher gatherings.

In addition, some scenes show violence during magic use, such as bones shifting or breaking, and brief descriptions of body horror. A powerful blood ritual binds two people after they press their cut palms together. References to murders by gunshot, bomb, or other means. Venus attacks a few people who have tried to harm her or her family members. In one scene, a person uses a magical bond to control another and makes them stab themselves.

Drug Content
Venus can create potions that convince people to forgive one another, love someone, or make them highly susceptible to new ideas. There are also potions that can restore health or save someone from death.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE POISONS WE DRINK in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.