Reviews :: Book Genre :: Young Adult :: Page 9

Several times now I’ve sat down with my wife and have attempted to explain a China Miéville book. I’ve tried to tell her how cool it is and how amazing the ideas are.

I tried to tell her about THE CITY AND THE CITY (EBR Review) and how it was about two cities that occupy the same space, and how you weren’t allowed to look at the other city. How you could be identified by the way you walked and talked as being from one city or the other. I once tried to tell her about a special kind of magic in KRAKEN (EBR Review), where you were able to fold large, three dimensional objects as if they were a piece of paper down into small pieces of origami. I even tried to tell her about a cool race of cactus like people that lived in the Bas-Lag novels: PERDIDO STREET STATION (Amazon), THE SCAR (Amazon), and IRON COUNCIL (Amazon).
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When I heard that Paolo Bacigalupi was going to follow up his award-winning debut novel, THE WINDUP GIRL (EBR Review), with a smaller YA book, I was a little disappointed. I loved THE WINDUP GIRL. It was rich and intense. It was complicated and diverse. It was gritty and cruel and I thought it was great. How on earth could Bacigalupi… wow this review is going to be hard to write if I keep having to write his last name. Let’s go with Paolo from now on shall we? Anyway, how was Paolo going to match those strengths in a YA novel? Turns out I needn’t have worried.
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Well it took me far longer than it should have, but I have now finished THIEF’S COVENANT by Ari Marmell. THIEF’S COVENANT (Amazon) is a short (and satisfyingly) breezy read, but finishing up final projects for school has really cut into my reading time. I am pleased to say that I have been having relatively good luck with my reading endeavors lately, and the debut of Widdershins does not disappoint. In a YA market saturated with dystopian settings it’s nice to read one set in a fantasy setting.

Meet Adrienne Satti, also known as Widdershins. Street urchin, turned aristocrat, turned thief, Widdershins has led a rough life. Orphaned at a young age, Widdershins has known both poverty and high class. Having returned to the shady alleys from whence she came, Widdershins has established herself as a daring thief but will her street smarts be enough to save her from the dark conspiracy brewing in the depths of Davillon?
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I am not the ideal target audience for a YA novel. But lately… man, it seems like there have been some amazing YA novels coming out. I suppose this is the benefit of being a reviewer–reviewers have to read everything. Because of this, my already broad reading tastes seem to be in a continual state of expansion. They evolve. But whatever, right? You just want to know what I thought about the YA novel VODNIK by Bryce Moore (Amazon).

Before we begin, I can already see some of you readers wondering where you have heard that author’s name before. He’s an occasional reviewer here at EBR. Before you all grab your torches and pitch-forks, remember that I am ALWAYS honest when it comes to reviewing a novel. If I like it, I like it. If I hate it, I hate it. Bryce approached me a while ago asking me to review his novel, VODNIK. I believe my exact words were, “OK… but you realize I have to be honest right?” He realized the position I was in, and still agreed. I guess he felt pretty confident.

With good reason.
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Lex Bartleby has an attitude problem. Once a straight A student, she now likes to fill her school days by punching, kicking, or biting anyone who might have the nerve to annoy her. Her grades are in the toilet, and she just has trouble giving a damn. In an effort to break through to her, her parents send her off to live in with her Uncle Mort for the summer in a tiny village called Croak.

Once there, she discovers anything but a pastoral farm scene. Her uncle is a Grim Reaper, and Croak is a town devoted to killing people. Not in a cold-blooded sort of way. More of a necessary-duty-for-death-to-function angle.
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I don’t often read YA, but when I do, I read Dan Wells. His writing is just so accessible to younger and older readers alike. So when he approached me a year ago about reading a draft of his newest novel, a dystopian SF titled PARTIALS (Amazon), I jumped at the chance.
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You know him for his Science Fiction like THE DERVISH HOUSE (EBR Review) and others, but now Ian McDonald invades YA territory with PLANESRUNNER (Amazon) and a world where the Earth exists in almost limitless parallel universes.

Our PoV character is teenage Everett Singh, soccer goalie, science smarty-pants, and son of the brilliant Tejendra Singh, who created the infundibulum–a sort of map to the parallel universes, or “planes”. Before now only the ten Earths that have been able to create gateways can visit each other, but with Tejendra’s invention any earth can be jumped to. But agents from the E2 plane will do anything to get the infundibulum, even kidnap Tejendra from under Everett’s very nose. Little do they know that it’s Everett who his dad left it to for safekeeping, and he’ll do anything to rescue his dad.
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One of my favorite books last year was ROT & RUIN (EBR Review) by Jonathan Maberry. It was a great take on the after-effects of the zombie apocalypse from the eyes of a teenager. It was also a great example of YA well-done–a fast paced story with fun dialogue and a setting that mixed horror and humor well.
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Ever since we started this lovely little blog we’ve found our horizons broadened. Out of necessity–and due to our unwavering commitment to be being completely awesome–we read a pretty much everything that is sent to us. If we had to point at one area where our appreciation has grown significantly, it would be with YA novels.

That brings us to Robison Wells and his first major novel, VARIANT (Amazon). It is completely awesome. Why? Because we said so.
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A few generations ago, the sentient Ship found the planet Home, and seeded a human colony there. Ship promised to return one day to check up on their progress after it finds more planets to colonize.

Now Ship has returned to Home, and the people there aren’t sure they want it to come back.
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