Tag: march releases

Sneak Peek Weekends

March Sneak Peek Previews #2

Sophie Pinkoski

I’m rounding out the month with some of March’s contemporaries for you guys!

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life

Inexplicable Logic

I have a memory that is almost like a dream: the yellow leaves from Mima’s mulberry tree are floating down from the sky like giant snowflakes.

Author: Benjamin Alire Saenz

Publisher: Clarion Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Published: March 7, 2017

For Those Who Enjoyed: History is all You Left Me, At the Edge of the Universe, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, David Leviathan, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, A List of Cages, Perks of Being a Wallflower

As an agent or acquisitions editor, would I select this for publication?

Full disclosure, I have not read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, (not that you’d need to  – this one isn’t the long-awaited sequel), so I’m going in completely blind. I expected Saenz’ writing to be more poetic for some reason. It’s not doing a ton of things any different than the contemporary authors I’ve read lately. But it does feel very true to the teen experience, so I definitely understand why teens are so attached to his writing in that sense. I do like seeing more and more stories written by male authors about boys who cry and feel things. It’s important for boys to see themselves in the stories they read, and be told that they’re allowed to be emotional, to let it all out. Toxic masculinity hurts boys just as much as it hurts girls in the realm of patriarchy and feminism, so it’s nice to see more authors taking on that conversation. The narrative voice also has a lot of character; it’s engaging. The dialogue is so realistic, and so natural, it’s easy to forget you’re even reading.

In terms of if I would personally pick it for publication, it’s a bit unfair of me to say I wouldn’t, simply based on my leaning more toward fantasy, but that’s how publishers/agents are like in real life… And that’s why we have publishers and their imprints specialising in different genres! What doesn’t fancy one agent or publisher would be gold for someone else! That doesn’t make this one a bad read at all. In fact, I would highly recommend it to readers, especially those who already love Saenz’s work. It’s nice that Clarion at Houghton Mifflin picked this one up! (Fun fact: Simon & Schuster have full bragging rights for snapping up Aristotle and Dante, meaning Saenz is published under different houses…)

You’re Welcome, Universe

You're Welcome

Six stencils in and it’s gone. Okay, the tag vanished by Stencil Number Two, but I have a point to prove. I’m not covering up your scribbled slur with just anything, I’m making art here. I’m creating. I’m on fire.

Author: Whitney Gardner

Publisher: Knopf

Published: March 7, 2017

For Those Who Enjoyed: History is all you left me, Love and First Sight, The Fault in Our Stars

As an agent or acquisitions editor, would I select this for publication?

I’m not terribly interested in a graffiti plot, so I wouldn’t personally publish it, but the hook is both interesting and important. I’m seeing more and more disabled characters in YA lately, which is really nice. I’ve seen a handful of blind protagonists, but I don’t think I’ve seen any deaf protagonists until now. I’m so glad YA authors are starting to write stories about disabled characters doing normal teenage things, getting into trouble, being rebellious, talking back… All these things you’d expect from an able-bodied character. Almost as if they’re ordinary people or something… hmmm…

In any case, good on Knopf for bringing representation where representation is needed. See? Look how easy that was. Publishers, take note!

 

Goodbye Days

Goodbye Days

Depending on who–sorry, whom– you ask, I may have killed my three best friends.

Author: Jeff Zentner

Publisher: Tundra Book

Published: March 7, 2017

For Those Who Enjoyed: A Good Idea, History is All You Left Me, All the Bright Places

As an agent or acquisitions editor, would I select this for publication?

Wow, that opening line gives me chills… This may be because I’ve got morbid interests, but this is the exact kind of contemporary I’m into. I could probably read contemporary YA novels about death forever. I don’t like happy, fluffy novels. That’s why I don’t read contemporaries that often. Which is why I’m so here for all these heart-wrenching contemporaries that really go through the motions in terms of addressing grief and trauma. I will always defend YA novels that deal with real, hard truths of being a teen that go beyond the everyday rabble. People die, and teens struggle with that. It’s important that they have a voice to speak for them, and tell them that they’re not alone. I support that and I will continue supporting that. Also, the consequence of texting while driving is something I rarely see addressed without being condescending. Teens know it’s bad, but there’s that assumption that if it’s going to happen to someone, it’s definitely not going to happen to them. And I think it’s nice to bring it back to them in a shocking way that talks to their level. This is where I might make an exception in my extremely sci-fi/fantasy based imaginary agency/publishing house and choose this one for publication. Or at least pass it on to a more contemporary imprint.

 

Books, Reviews

ARC Book Review: These Vicious Masks and These Ruthless Deeds

Sophie Pinkoski

These Vicious Masks and These Ruthless Deeds

Author: Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas

Publisher: Swoon Reads (Macmillan)

Published: February 2016 and March 14, 2017

Rating:

These Vicious Masks: 4 / 5 Stars

These Ruthless Deeds: 3 /5 Stars

Overall: 3.5 / 5

For Those Who Enjoyed:  X-Men, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, The Dark Days Club, Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, The Parasol Protectorate

This is a spoiler-free review!

These Vicious Masks

I received an early release copy of These Ruthless Deeds from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve decided to review these two together, because I finished the first book immediately before the second and wouldn’t have had time to post a review of These Vicious Masks before the release date of These Ruthless Deeds. Plus, I think my love for the first book gives a richer context to the second.

As a fanatic of both Victorian literature and magical powers, I was so giddy getting into These Vicious Masks. What made it even more enticing was the silly, tongue in cheek way the characters and dialogue was written. It’s like a solid mix of Joss Whedon and Jane Austen in terms of sassy, witty rejoinders. There’s a stereotypical dark and brooding love interest which the protagonist keeps poking fun at for being so. You suspect you’re getting into a Rochester or Heathcliff situation with him, when really he’s just a socially awkward, kind-hearted Darcy. The pair of them, plus Evelyn’s best friends and sister have this very snappy whip smart dynamic which is easily the triumph of the series.

Oscar Vicious Masks

I felt These Ruthless Deeds lost some of that charm with the shift in focus from that ragtag team to the Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters-esque Society of Aberrations. The first book spends so much time poking fun at society matters that the focus on Evelyn’s return to society was boring by comparison. Because she spends so much time under the Society’s thumb, the narrative loses the snappy dialogue that made the first book so fun to read in the first place. I happened to read an interview snippet from Zekas who noted that she and Shanker only keep dialogue that make them both laugh in their drafting stages and it feels a little like they abandoned that rule by the second book in favour of this dry political intrigue plot.

What I did like about These Ruthless Deeds was how Zekas and Shanker addressed the British Empire. There are moments here and there where it’s explicitly stated that the Society of Aberrations is working to round up people with magical abilities in order to protect the country’s Imperial interests. Since the British Empire’s historical background is rooted in horrific deeds and has been documented as such in so many novels of the time, I wanted them to go full blown dark, gothic horror on it. Although bringing down the political conspiracy within the Society does have massive consequences by the end of the novel, I wanted it to go further with it and really drive home the horrible things the Empire is doing to the world and not just immediately to the characters at hand.

While I did still thoroughly enjoy These Ruthless Deeds, the novelty of what made the first book so good wore a little thin. But if you’re a huge fan of Jane Austen, Gothic literature, X-Men, and Joss Whedon’s sass, you will love this series.

Books, Reviews

ARC Book Review: Brother’s Ruin

Sophie Pinkoski

Brother’s Ruin

Author: Emma Newman

Publisher: Tor (Macmillan)

Published: March 14, 2017

Rating: 3 / 5 Stars

For Those Who Enjoyed: A Hazard of Good Fortunes, H.G. Wells, Dracula, Sweeney Todd, Mirabelle Mysteries, Sherlock Holmes, The Dark Days Club, Northanger Abbey, Jane Eyre, From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Parasol Protectorate

*This is not a spoiler-free review! You can find a spoiler-free version on Goodreads!)

Brother's Ruin

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review!

This was a nice, pleasant read. If you’re looking for a quick, simple vacation read where you don’t have to think too hard about the plot, this one’s for you. Brother’s Ruin has that very quaint quality to it that many cosy historical crime novels in women’s literature would have. It’s not a gripping thriller mystery beachside read. But a gentle mystery you save for a rainy day at your lake cabin with a cup of tea.

Because it’s so short, I don’t have too much to say about it. If  you’re stuck inside on a snow day or something, it’d definitely take you one sitting to read it in its entirety. What grabbed me about it was the fact that it’s set in the 19th century. Victorian history and literature is my jam (my undergrad was focused on it). The cover design has a steampunk vibe to it, which is always appealing. And I was personally hoping the title would hint at some tragic demise.

That’s not necessarily what happened… but it was charming nonetheless.

Newman has an extraordinary talent of making the grim underbelly of Victorian London oddly warm and inviting. Not to say that she strips away the grungy aspect of the poor and terrible living conditions, like many people who glamourise the 18th and 19th centuries do, but that she incorporates it in a very quiet, gentle way. The plot focuses on Charlotte Gunn, who is engaged to a lovely, if boring, straight laced man, and earns her own living as an illustrator on the sly. Her family is in dire straights because her father owes money to a seedy lending business, and her sickly brother is being tested as a recruit for a magical institution. It plays like your typical Victorian domestic novel. And even with the subtler supernatural elements, it reads like one. There are no intense action sequences to be found, despite the fact that shocking things do happen. Newman just has a way of glossing over the more vulgar plot points without ignoring them altogether.

Brother’s Ruin is the first book in a series Newman’s titled Industrial Magic, which isn’t the most original title in existence when it comes to steampunk magic plots. But I do like that it hints at the type of rules for her magical world building she’s created for herself. Newman’s magical focus is on this new age of industry, where factories have come into prominence and trains and clocks have become the latest thing. Applying things like pyromania or telekinesis to engineering is a stroke of genius I wouldn’t have necessarily thought of, and I like that little twist.

As such a lover of Victorian crime, I would’ve liked to see Newman go darker with it. The big twist is that there’s a death trap that causes heart failure, and I would have loved to see a proper exploration of exactly how that contraption works and the magic at play there. It was just a little too vague for me and I didn’t feel completely connected to the darker elements of the plot as a result.

One of the last things I wanted to address was the fact that the cockney dialect almost crosses the line into Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins territory, but it toes that line well. As a result, because it’s so concise and the dialogue is, for the most part, true to the era (which is also more than can be said for many modern writers of Victorian history), it feels like a genuine Victorian novel. It doesn’t quite have the crazy insanity of a penny dreadful, but it would undoubtedly belong in a women’s periodical.

It’s just very pleasant and safe, and a nice book to pick up if you just want to shut off for a little while.