social justice

Traitor to the Throne

Author: Alwyn Hamilton

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers (Penguin Random House)

Published: March 7, 2017

Rating: 5 / 5 Stars

For People Who Enjoyed: Wrath and the Dawn, The Grisha, Six of Crows, Star Wars, Rogue One, The Big Lie, Blame

This is a spoiler-free review!

I received this ARC from Goodreads and Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review! Yay! This was my first ever ARC, and as a genuinely fantastic read, definitely worth celebrating!

I completely forgot how much I loved this series. It’s been just over half a year since I read the first book, Rebel of the Sands, so I was pretty rusty on the previous events and who was who. Fortunately enough, Hamilton gives a solid Here’s What You Missed On Rebel of the Sands… in the opening chapter, which was both informative and didn’t feel like an unnecessary info-dump rehashing of what we already know.

I’d been warned by friends and various reviews that this book was different than the last and it had me worried. I went in with a deep love for Jin. He just about makes the series for me. Without Jin, I wasn’t sure if the plot could carry itself, because he carries half the charm. So when he wound up only showing up for about a fifth of the novel, it was disappointing, but I also didn’t find myself constantly looking for him or waiting for him to show up again. There was a delightful amount of action going on in the interim between Amani and Jin’s separations and their inevitable reunion. I almost forgot to wonder when I’d get to see their Han/Leia style snarky banter again.

Which brings me to one of the cleverest things Hamilton has done with this novel. It’s difficult to imagine Amani without Jin and Jin without Amani, both as two halves of a romance, and as partners in the rebellion. Yet by doing away with Jin early on in the plot of Traitor, Hamilton proves that Amani can, in fact, survive without a man. Not only does she cleave Amani from her love interest, she tosses her out of her comfort zone in a very female dominated environment. She goes from the very equal roles shared between the men and women of the rebellion, to the extremely insular patriarchal harem of the Sultan. Hamilton recently did a promotional interview explaining her choices in tossing her into the harem, which nicely expresses precisely why I have so much respect for this choice. By throwing this strong, independent female character into this group of women placed in a feminine space exclusively for the male gaze, Hamilton’s prised apart the problematic nature of patriarchal society and how much more work we have left to do in the feminist fight to demolition it.

Rebellion’s never been more relevant than now. When women are still fighting for reproductive rights in not only third world countries, but Western society today, we’re still fighting to be taken seriously in the modern world. And that’s exactly what Hamilton is reflecting here. She may not have started Rebel of the Sands with a particular real life fight in mind, but now she has one, and it gives her series so much meatier context. These women have no choice but to fight for their survival, whether it’s in the middle of the desert, fighting for justice, or fighting for the attention of the men that hold power over them. The women in Hamilton’s series are all united under the same struggle, regardless of their class.

I saw Alwyn Hamilton speak a handful of times while I was at YALC in July (hence the reason I read Rebel of the Sands in the first place) and at the time, her panel discussions on building a team of rebels was hypothetical and silly, goofy, fun. But now it’s real and she’s hitting the nail on the head. Hamilton is no dummy. The way she weaves her tales, builds characters, and gets her message across exudes intelligence. She knows exactly what she’s doing and it’s beyond a desert romance. It’s so much bigger now. It’s fighting for what’s right, no matter your gender, your class, your race… Fighting for truth, and justice…

For all.

*I’ve titled these under January instead of February in reference to the novels’ release dates, as it’s easiest to get a full round-up of the latest books at the end of every month.

After the Fall

It’s entirely possible Matt can see up my shorts.

Author: Kate Hart

Publisher: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux (Macmillan)

Published: January 24, 2017

For People Who Liked: Louise O’Neill’s Asking For It, The Girl on the Train

Target Audience: Readers who like gritty plots addressing rumours, sexuality, and sexual assault.

If I were an agent/acquisitions editor, would I select this for publication based on the opening chapter?:

Based on that opening sentence (quoted above) alone, I personally wouldn’t. I can tell Hart is already trying to set a specific tone to make a point, but it’s more likely to chase me off than reel me in. Within the first chapter, there’s clearly something going on involving a love triangle, and none of these characters are particularly engaging or likeable, so I can’t say why I should be interested…

From what I know of the plot based on the synopsis, the story’s supposed to focus around a specific discourse addressing serious issues in terms of sexist double standards teen girls face, but whether she addresses it well remains to be seen. If you want something bold and hard-hitting in terms of social justice writing in the name of sexist double standards, try Asking for It by Louise O’Neill instead.

Allegedly

Some children are just born bad, plain and simple. These are the children that don’t live up to the statistics. One cannot blame their surroundings or upbringings for their behaviour. It’s not a scientifically proven inheritable trait. These children are sociological phenomena.

Author: Tiffany D. Jackson

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins Children’s)

Published: January 24, 2017

For People Who Liked: Girl, Interrupted; Orange is the New Black, Gone Girl

Target Audience: Readers looking for diverse characters, particularly women and girls of colour. For people wanting to raise awareness of racism within the American justice system in the media, people who like mysteries, or Law and Order procedural-type plots.

Would I select this for publication based on the opening chapter?:

I don’t know if it’s immediately obvious that this is going to be a gripping story from the first pages, but the strong synopsis says so much about where the plot is going to go it’s hard not to at least be curious. For those unaware, the story follows a young black girl thrown into the criminal system as a child for murdering a white baby left in her care. That’s the exact sort of twist that makes me sit up and take notice.

Tiffany D. Jackson is a woman of colour writing about the POC experience of racism in modern America, so I think it’s safe to trust that she’s going to speak accurately toward this particular discourse. With this in mind, I’m going to assume the dialogue is language she’s familiar with and not simply stereotyping. As a white girl, I honestly have no frame of reference to tell me one way or the other, and I feel as though it’s not my place to judge. Regardless, by the first chapter, I was hooked and the first 20 pages breezed by without my notice.

I’ve heard rave reviews about this one and nothing but good things all around, so I would definitely recommend!