Top Ten Tuesday: Ten books set in other countries that we at least marginally enjoyed

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. 

CJ's Selections

So Whitley of course blithely mentioned that this is like every fantasy book, but for once I'm going to NOT be snarky and take the category to mean Earth countries. Oh, snarky cobloggers. ;)  [[Not gonna lie, this is hard because I've been mostly reading fantasy these days.]] 

1.	The Arsonist / Stephanie Oakes - While half of this book is set in the ole US of A, half is also set in East Germany. It's partly the story of a white girl and Kuwaiti boy building a friendship, partly the story of a Cold War-era resistance fighter. Such an underrated book, beautifully and bitingly written. It really made me want to go back to Berlin.
2.	Warcross / Marie Lu - This one totally counts, as it is fully set in near-future Japan. And it's just a badass book about augmented reality video game worlds and hacking people's brains. Like, how could you possibly go wrong? Especially when Marie Lu and rainbow hair are involved. Definitely cemented Japan as one of my next abroad adventures, although sadly real life won't involve virtual reality games and hot mysterious tech heirs. I guess I could play PokemonGo...
3.	The Bedlam Stacks / Natasha Pulley - Although I liked her first better, THE WATCHMAKER OF FILIGREE STREET (mostly because TBS had such similar plot points that it was no longer novel), I did really enjoy this quasi-historical light fantasy about a British dude going deep into Peru to steal precious resources--and finding danger he didn't bargain for. The settings are lush and vibrant, with a precision of language I've come to associate with Pulley.
4.	Now I Rise / Keirsten White - If you don't know that I love this series, I've failed at my job. I LOVE THIS SERIES. The first, AND I DARKEN, was largely set within the Ottoman Empire, while NOW I RISE also takes us to the chilly wilds of Wallachia. I can't attest to White's level of research, being neither from those climes nor exceptionally familiar with the historical facts, but the picture she paints is a vivid backdrop for a compelling and brutal tale.
5.	Blood Rose Rebellion / Rosalyn Eves - Although I was a bit underwhelmed by the plot, which seemed a bit handwavey, I really enjoyed reading a book set in Hungary. YA set in Eastern Europe usually gets relegated to Russia, so it was exciting to see somewhere new. Some of the descriptions and traditions really caught my eye, and made me want to dive into some nonfiction to learn more about the things that Eves alludes to.

Your turn! What books set in other countries do you love? 

ARC Review: C.J.: Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

review         book

title: Aru Shah and the End of Time
author: Roshani Chokshi
pages: 368
format: Paperback ARC
buy it: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
rating: 3.5/5 (from hated to loved) or 6.5/10 (all books I've ever read)
recommended for: Fans of Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi, and other fantastical middle grade adventures set in a backdrop of myth and legend.

Twelve-year-old Aru Shah has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school. While her classmates are jetting off to family vacations in exotic locales, she'll be spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, waiting for her mom to return from her latest archeological trip. Is it any wonder that Aru makes up stories about being royalty, traveling to Paris, and having a chauffeur?

One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru's doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don't believe her claim that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru thinks. Then she can get herself out of this mess and never ever fib again.

But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it's up to Aru to save them.

The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers, protagonists of the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata, and journey through the Kingdom of Death. But how is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that?

in depth

• I just read Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief for the first time a month ago. It was everything that 12-year-old C.J. would have adored. Gods. Mythical figures. Kids my age being badass demigods and saving the world. As the first in Rick Riordan's new imprint, Aru Shah follows the tongue-in-cheek tone and demigod formula of Percy, but carves out a space all its own. 12-year-old C.J. is so jealous. 

• Chokshi brings the wit and sweeping adventure of her young adult offerings to a younger tale that will delight and captivate kids and adults alike, set against the backdrop of early Indic lore. I was familiar with many of those legends, but much was new to me too. Chokshi does an excellent job of acquainting her readers with the legends while injecting her own cheeky modern twists, like the asura who steals souls in the beauty shop, or the Night Bazaar layered over a Costco. She also doesn't talk down to her reader; there are words and concepts untranslated, and I can only imagine many easter eggs for people who have grown up in Hindu culture. 

• As with any good middle grade, the characters steal the show. Aru is Indian (at least half Gujarati, on her mother's side), spunky and relatable from page one. She doesn't quite fit in, her mom is working all the time, and all she wants to do is fit in with her wealthy classmates, even if it means crafting wild half-truths. She's the kind of girl who wears Spiderman pajamas and takes no prisoners. Mini is my soul twin, half-Indian and half-Filipino, nerdy and know-it-all-y, afraid of getting in trouble but also fiercely honorable. Aru's brazenness and Mini's logic temper each other and make for a perfect hero duo. Plus there's a snarky pigeon named Boo, which just speaks for itself. 

• Allowing for the fact that I'm quite a bit older than the target demographic, it goes without saying that some of the plot points felt predictable, and there was a little too much exposition that took place in stilted dialogues. That said, Chokshi created an exciting quest reminiscent of ancient myths: a race to find three keys to the underworld, an enigmatic demon stalking the heroes, magical objects and supernatural puzzles. Chokshi's lush descriptions render Aru's world in vivid color. 

• I'd recommend this book to a young fantasy lover without hesitation. Like Percy Jackson and Karuna Riazi's The Gauntlet before it, Aru Shah introduces a charming heroine faced with zany trials and old myths become new. It's a quick, fun read that will have many kids dashing to the library for copies of the Mahabarata and Ramayana. And for kids who already live on those stories, I can see it being a fresh, loving mirror of a familiar world. 

in a sentence

Aru Shah and the End of Time is a charming, cheeky twist on early Indic folklore centered around two Indian girls with a lot of cleverness and heart. 

rating         

will i read this author again?  Yep. This is my third book of hers and I have no intention of stopping 
will i continue the series?  I might. I'd like to see where it goes. 

Note: I received this copy from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review.  The price of the book and its origin in no way affected my stated opinions.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten books that are for sure on our Spring TBRs (lol I know we're so funny)

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. 

CJ's Selections

I swear I'm actually going to read these during a period of time reasonably designated as "Spring." [[this is also a good indication of how i miss books from my tbr because it's just such a foregone conclusion i'm going to read them that i didn't realize i didn't add them and then i just feel embarrassed]]  

1.	Whisper of the Tide / Sarah Tolcser - Sarah's debut THE SONG OF THE CURRENT was one of my breakout favorites of last year, considering I usually don't like books about boats for some reason. But with its magic, lore, and swoony romance, I couldn't say no to the sequel. There was such a cliffhanger!
2.	City of Bastards / Andrew Shvarts - I still don't know why ROYAL BASTARDS isn't more celebrated. I thought Andrew's combo of incisive sarcasm, swashbuckling, and brutal fantasy was such a fun, unique alternative to the typically serious offerings we get in high fantasy. It's like PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN for sword and sorcery, and the ending was so OMG explosive that I need book two so everything can be okay. *tears*
3.	Ruin of Shadows / Linsey Miller - Next on my parade of sequels to 2017 debuts (seriously I didn't notice this until now) is the follow-up to MASK OF SHADOWS. In her debut, Linsey gave us a genderfluid assassin named Sal. The original had a few hitches in pacing and plotting, but it also concluded with a few shockers that got me hooked. I'm hoping to get some of the worldbuilding that was missing in book one.
4.	#murdertrending / Gretchen McNeil - I've never read Gretchen before, but when my friend at Disney was like "Hey, want to review this book about teenagers trapped in a murdery reality show?" I was like "HOW DID YOU KNOW EVERYTHING I LOVE." Yeah, I'm a macabre s.o.b., hush. It'd be cool if this was a chilling commentary on the American prison-industrial complex, but I'll settle for a creepy thriller about sicko voyeurism.
5.	Name of the Wind / Patrick Rothfuss - My friend gave me this book when I left grad school, and obviously I'm a terrible person and haven't gotten to it yet because of ARCs and things. So when I saw her this weekend she basically threatened to disown me if I don't read it soon (along with half our other friends because APPARENTLY EVERYONE BUT ME HAS READ IT) so I need to get on this clearly. Plus magic and such.

Your turn! What books are on your Spring TBR? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten books that surprised us, which may or may not be a good thing

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. 

CJ's Selections

I'm usually pretty good at telling whether I'm going to enjoy a book, which is why I've been so good at avoiding really dreadful ones. But every so often, something sneaks up on me: a book I loved more than I thought I would, a book I expected to love and want to throw across the room. 

1.	A Crown of Wishes / Roshani Chokshi - When I got to this, I'd already read A Star-Touched Queen. I thought it was okay, but kind of--read: very--slow. The first half was so draggy! But it was pretty, so I tried her second one. Thank god. ACOW smacked me in the face with its awesomeness. Gauri and Vikram gave me all the slow-burn feels that were missing from Maya's story, plus a tightly-wound plot and lots of stabbing. I'm so glad I gave Roshani another chance.
2.	Queen of Shadows / Sarah J. Maas - If you're going to be all SJM!?@L!! then you might want to stop reading now. This was the book that killed me love of her books. I'd liked the first three a lot--I used to stan Throne of Glass--hardcore. But then it took me like a month to read QoS because IT WAS SO BORING. And I kept reading other people's reviews and no one seemed to see what I was seeing! And the ships were all mixed up and half of it was just about Calaena and Rowan jumping into bed and I DIDN'T CARE. By the time I realized SJM herself was sketchy, I'd already lost all interest in going further in her tales.
3.	The Secret of a Heart Note / Stacey Lee - For a contemporary romance about a topic that totally didn't interest me, this fluffy little fluffball was epically adorable. I'd read Outrun the Moon first, so Lee's super sharp writing was my main incentive to read this. Pretty sure I lost twenty years of cynic street cred, but SO worth it. This quasi-magical tale yanked the hopeless romantic in me out through my spine and left me looking like one of those heart-eyes emoticons.
4.	And I Darken / Kiersten White - I didn't go in expecting to hate this book, but I definitely had the wrong impression of it. I'd heard it pitched as a genderbent Vlad the Impaler story. So naturally I was expecting some bad Transylvanian accents and people turning into bats and shit. Instead, I got a hardcore sweeping historical, brutally and beautifully rendered, with the political intrigue of The Winner's Curse on crack and two morally gray narrators--plus my empire-building cinnamon roll Mehmed.
5.	A History of Glitter and Blood / Hannah Moskowitz - I had no idea what I was getting into when I opened this ARC. I was expecting a dark fairy story and it was that, but it was also an unapologetically brutal, bizarre, bisexual postmodern ball of chaos with a consummately unreliable narrator who was literally writing the book while you were reading it. It's still one of the coolest, weirdest books I've ever read, and I only wish more people worshipped it properly.

Whitley's Selections

1.	The Duchess War - This a super petty entry, guys. See, I didn't like the author. *le gasp* you say! Not like Courtney Milan? BUT WHY? For no good reason, that's why. I was mildly pissed off about a twitter exchange with no moral value attached to it (i.e., no one was 'wrong' or 'problematic' or whatnot), thus the "this entry is super petty." But one day I found myself with nothing to read while out to dinner, and I had the Duchess War on my phone, so... I loved the book, like really absolutely loved it, but the whole time I was reading I was also going "damnit, why is this good, let me hold onto my pettiness!"
2.	The Great Hunt - I expected this book to be bad. I expected it to be tropey and cliched and full of Stock White Fantasy, but also I was in the mood for some stock-trope-cliche fantasy. I was so ready for this one to fit that uninspiring bill. What surprised me was how utterly boring it was. How do you pick that many cliches and not make at least one of them actually interesting? They're cliches because they're fun, it should have been at least an entertaining combination! Alas, nope.
3.	Public Relations - I don't know why I picked this one up. I don't read a lot of contemporary works; it's just not my style. But ... IDK someone posted something about it on Twitter probably, which is where most of my TBR comes from, and for some inexplicable reason I picked it up. I thought it would be light and funny and kill an afternoon. Which, to be fair, it was all of that. But I didn't expect to connect quite so hard with the main character! Every other chapter had something that made me chuckle with glee and cry 'yes, someone else does that too!' If you're in the mood for a New Adult (it's at the higher end of that, like 24-26, does that still count? Maybe we need more sub-categories) then I'd highly recommend this one.
4.	The Thousandth Floor - I'm honestly still surprised I like this one. It's rich teens having rich teen problems, plus a lot of weird incest. (Adopted siblings, BUT STILL.) I wasn't supposed to like this one. I still can't tell you why I like this one. But there it is.
5.	Into The Dim - This came out during what felt like a whole rash of time travel books, and I picked it because it seemed like the one most suited to me. LOL NO. This book was such trash. I hated it as thoroughly as I've ever hated SJM or CC. The misogyny and nonsense was completely off the wall. This book took 'rape as a device to show the bad guys are bad' and cranked it up to...well, okay, 9.5, BUT THAT'S STILL TOO MUCH. Not to mention the main character who couldn't keep her eidetic memory straight and female characters who kept randomly going missing to make room for the boys and a plot that missed out on all its best potential. Sigh, I had such...middling hopes for it, too.

Your turn! What books most surprised you? For better or worse. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten of our favorite quotes from books, at least that we can remember

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. 

CJ's Selections

There are so many quotes that I love from literature. I've dog-earred (YES, DEAL WITH IT) so many pages of so many books with some of my favorite lines. Of course, actually recalling them all would mean going back through hundreds of books and trying to remember which line I found interesting. But here are the ones that I can remember...at least enough to look up. 

1.	Iron Gold / Pierce Brown - Something about this struck me, particularly in reference to a character who has been disaffected, beaten down. It's simple but powerful. She was just a child realizing she could mock the world.
2.	All the Bright Places / Jennifer Niven - There were so many lines in this that pierced me through. I know many people have criticized this book, but for me it didn't glorify suicide. It glorified life, and the importance of mental health treatment. And Finch's experience of depression had so many similarities to my own that it shook me, so deeply that I read it in a sitting and painted a scene in the middle of the night because I couldn't sleep without getting it out of me. The quote in that painting was darker, but this particular quote was so hopeful in that witty, dry way of Finch's, when he still had light. I learned that there is good in this world, if you look hard enough for it. I learned that not everyone is disappointing, including me, and that a 1,257-foot bump in the ground can feel higher than a bell tower if you're standing next to the right person.
3.	The Critic as Artist / Oscar Wilde - It's difficult to pick just one Oscar Wilde quote, but I could fill up a whole TTT and more if I just stuck to his canon. So I picked one that I particularly love, something a little cynical because of course it is. Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
4.	Lullaby / Chuck Palahniuk - Here's another guy I could quote for days, although many of his most poignant lines are quick and simple and best enjoyed in context. But this one stands quite well on its own, and it's one that will often come to my lips out of nowhere for no reason at all. Although, oddly enough it doesn't come from HAUNTED, my favorite Chuck book (tied with CHOKE; LULLABY is top four). We're all of us haunted and haunting.
5.	Something Strange and Deadly / Susan Dennard - I added this to Goodreads forever ago, and I'm glad I came across it again. Susan's not as quoted as some authors *hem* but her books are full of so many powerful phrases that weren't purloined from other books and twisted to her own uses. Shade aside, I do love this one, although I'd never say no to a bit of both. How could I dream when I knew I could act instead.

Review: C.J.: The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

review         book

title: The Wicker King
author: K. Ancrum
pages: 320
format: Hardcover
buy it: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
rating: 3/5 (from hated to loved) or 6/10 (all books I've ever read)
recommended for: Fans of The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo, and other dark, atmospheric stories that blur fantasy and reality, truth and lines. // CW: Child neglect 

The Wicker King is a psychological young adult thriller that follows two friends struggling as one spirals into madness.

When August learns that his best friend, Jack, shows signs of degenerative hallucinatory disorder, he is determined to help Jack cope. Jack’s vivid and long-term visions take the form of an elaborate fantasy world layered over our own—a world ruled by the Wicker King. As Jack leads them on a quest to fulfill a dark prophecy in this alternate world, even August begins to question what is real or not.

August and Jack struggle to keep afloat as they teeter between fantasy and their own emotions. In the end, each must choose his own truth.

in depth

• Holy toxic friendship, Batman! Ancrum's debut is a twisted psychological thriller where love and destruction, reality and fantasy, blur into a dangerous maelstrom with devastating consequences. It's mental health rep is questionable--you have a kid whose hallucinations result in a deadly game--but I do think Ancrum treats her characters with empathy and care, producing complicated and imperfect people rather than villainous caricatures. Personally, I wasn't bothered, but it's worth noting. 

• (The part that concerns me more is the psychiatric hospital, because they're mostly not really like that. However, Ancrum ties it all up with an author's note addressing the mental health and child abuse issues, and I think it goes a long way toward addressing the more problematic aspects. But I'll be curious to see what others think. I'll also note that it's on some LGBT shelves, but August's and Jack's identities are never explicitly stated.) 

• The book hinges on August and Jack's friendship. They're close in a way that's part brotherly, part lover, sometimes heartwarming and sometimes concerning. It's a codependent borderline relationship that is miles beyond unhealthy, bordering on abusive. The adults in their lives are ineffectual, indifferent. It's other teens who recognize the danger and function as voices of reason. The wrap-up wasn't satisfying from a "we learned this is bad" perspective, but personally the lack of closure didn't bother me. I tend to like a good dark ending. 

• Whether you like the plot or not, Ancrum's style is an omen of big things. She uses short, punchy, episodic chapters with evocative titles to unbalance the reader and create an experience as fractured as Jack's hallucinatory reality. August's pyromania gets disappointing short shrift, but in both words and drawings, we get an ominous taste of Jack's fantasy world. The concept of him as king, August as his knight, has an Arthurian quality with a dark edge that's both nostalgic and highly unsettling. I only wish Ancrum had made it more unclear whether the Wicker King's world is real or not; the reveal feels too obvious. 

• While The Wicker King left me wanting more in several key areas, it was definitely a quick, strange, enjoyable little read that left a lingering sense of unease. Which, incidentally, is a good thing. I didn't love it, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. 

in a sentence

The Wicker King is an uneven debut that short-changes some of its coolest elements, but does deliver on the promise of atmospheric, unsettling psychological horror. 

rating         

will i read this author again?  Yeah, her writing is solid enough that I'd like to see where else she goes 
will i continue the series?  N/A I think? 

Note: I purchased this copy.  The price of the book and its origin in no way affected my stated opinions.

ARC Review: C.J.: A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland

review         book

title: A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares
author: Krystal Sutherland
pages: 368
format: Paperback ARC
buy it: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
rating: 5/5 (from hated to loved) or 8/10 (all books I've ever read)
recommended for: Fans of dark comedy, of contemporary with an edge, of books like Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer and It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini. // CW: Death, Suicide, Child abuse 

Ever since Esther Solar’s grandfather met Death, her entire family has been doomed to suffer one great fear in their lifetime—a fear that will eventually lead each and every one of them to their graves. Take Esther’s father, for instance: He’s an agoraphobe who hasn’t left the basement in six years. Then there’s her twin brother, Eugene, whose fear of the dark goes far beyond the things that go bump in the night. And her mother, Rosemary, is absolutely terrified of bad luck.

As for Esther, she’s managed to escape the curse…so far. She doesn’t yet have a great fear because she avoids pretty much everything. Elevators, small spaces, crowds—anything that might trigger a phobia is off-limits and is meticulously recorded in her semi-definitive list of worst nightmares.

Esther thinks she has it all figured out, until she’s reunited with an old elementary school classmate—and first crush—Jonah Smallwood. The encounter leaves her stranded at a bus stop and swindled out of her phone, all her cash, a Fruit Roll-Up she’d been saving, and her list—not to mention her dignity. But the theft is also the beginning of an unexpected friendship between the two, one that sends the pair on a journey of self-discovery as they try to break the curse that’s consumed Esther’s family. Together they face their greatest fears, one debilitating phobia at a time, only to discover the one fear they hadn’t counted on: love.

in depth

• Hands down one of my favorite books of 2017, and on the shortlist for all time. Esther's story is a dark comedy that toes the line between giddy and heart-wrenching, delivering on both fronts. It's also one of the few books that I could look into like a mirror, because Esther's particular struggles with depression and anxiety were so familiar I almost cried.  I don't know if it's Own Voices, but it feels so true to my experience that I can only imagine many others will find themselves in it. 

• The premise sounds supernatural--every member of Esther's family has a special phobia that will kill them--and Sutherland leads you on a merry goose chase trying to guess whether it's real or not. It's such a clever way to make phobia concrete, because when you're scared shitless of something like that, the quasi-magical menace feels real. Esther's journey to break the curse pokes gentle fun at the more ridiculous aspects while still being 100% empathic and respectful towards its characters. 

• The characters! I love them all, my bizarre and broken darlings. Esther, terrified of basically everything. Her brother, who sees monsters in the dark--and has a much scarier monster inside himself. Her father, who hides in the basement. Her mother, who fills the house with charms and is magnetically drawn to the casino. And the most amazingly adorable Jonah, a biracial artist whose charm and vivacity belies a vicious home life. Each has such depth and personality that you could almost pry them off the page. 

• Wrapped in sharp prose and a snarky whimsical package is a list-style rom com ala All the Bright Places (I do love my checklists, don't I?) but on a much, much lighter note. Esther and Jonah face each fear on Esther's list in increasingly unusual ways, and obviously they find love and friendship along the way. But it's not about love saving you and all that BS, so no worries there. I only wish Esther's bestie got more of a role and wasn't so sidelined by Jonah; YA best friends get the shaft a lot.  On the other hand, her brother and family are all hyperpresent and fairly treated. 

• If you don't like "mental health books", try this one anyway. It's a masterful mix of comedy and pathos, with quirky characters, snappy dialogue, and a whole lot of heart. Sutherland plays on a lot of tropes while casually turning them on their heads, and the result is absolutely stunning. 

in a sentence

A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares is a quirky dark comedy that tackles real issues with heart, depth, and a little tongue-in-cheek.  

rating         

will i read this author again?  Yes! Definitely want to go back and read My Chemical Heart 
will i continue the series?  N/A, but I'd definitely read more of them 

Note: I received this copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  The price of the book and its origin in no way affected my stated opinions.