Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard

I have to confess that I often judge a book by its cover.  Who doesn't love attractive jacket art?  I'm absolutely the kind of person who will pick up a book at the store if the cover art catches my eye.  And how great is the image to the left?  If you don't want to pick up the book based on that fantastic cover, then you must be blind.  That being said, if you know absolutely nothing about the book at all, you may be thinking you're getting ready to read an historical fiction tale; maybe something about "Bloody Mary" for example.

What you're going to get, however, is a fantasy/sci-fi/adventure story that presents very little that we haven't already seen.  The story opens with Mare Barrow, who lives in poverty with her parents and sister.  Her brothers are off fighting in war, and her sister is apprenticed as a seamstress.  Mare has no skills, so she spends her time picking pockets around town, dreading the day she will be "conscripted" to go the front lines of battle.  At least Aveyard didn't give her a bow and arrow to hunt food for family.  Mare just steals things outright. 

The world in which Mare lives is strictly divided into two castes: the Reds, like her, who are poor laborers and soldiers, and the Silvers, the elite ruling class.  But Silvers don't just merely have silver blood (literally), they also have X-Men like superpowers which keep the Reds in check.  One day Mare runs into Prince Cal, heir to the silver throne.  He takes a liking to Mare and arranges for her to have a job inside the palace, thus freeing her from having to go to war.  In a pivotal moment, Mare is serving the silvers during an exhibition: young women from across the land have come to prove their worth in order to become Cal's bride and future queen.  But this is no Cinderella-like ball.  The girls enter an arena and show off their powers and skills.  One such demonstration causes Mare to lose her balance and she falls into the arena.  Rather than be killed, however, an electrical jolt awakens something within her, and in front of everyone, she begins to produce lightning and electricity.

Because no Red has ever displayed powers before, the royal family quickly concocts a story to explain that she is a long-lost Silver princess, and they move her into the palace to keep a watch on her.

What follows is nothing new: Mare has to attend classes and training exercises.  She might as well be at Hogwarts, except without a wand.  She's also betrothed to Cal's younger brother, Maven.  Although she harbors some feelings for Cal, Mare and Maven begin to bond as she realizes they are both working in secret with a rogue group intent on taking down the royal family. 

I enjoyed a lot of this book, despite the fact that so much of it was familiar.  Towards the end I got a little tired of the fights and scheming and plots, and skimmed the last 100 pages or so to the end.  Naturally we will be set up for a sequel.  Give this one to students who have read Hunger Games and Divergent and still want more.

Saint Anything, by Sarah Dessen

There are some authors in the YA world who are like comfort food: mac and cheese, your favorite hot beverage, etc.  Or maybe in the case of Sarah Dessen, pizza and garlic knots.  (I wanted to eat ALL THE PIZZA after reading this book.  Nom nom nom).  That being said, just because I'm comparing Dessen to pizza doesn't mean her books per se are necessarily comforting.  Dessen always serves up YA lit that is both true and challenging.  Her characters experience real problems that aren't always resolved in a neat bow in the end.  I think this is probably what makes her novels still so popular in all the school libraries where I've worked. 

Saint Anything is a bit darker and grittier than some of her previous books.  We open on high schooler Sydney, whose family has been thrown in disarray after her brother, Peyton, has been sentenced to jail for drunk driving.  He hit a young man, causing the boy permanent paralysis.  Peyton's shadow hangs solidly over the prep school they both attended, and Sydney is in desperate need for a fresh start, so she transfers to the local public school where no one knows her family history.

Things are home aren't much better.  Her father is emotionally absent, not taking much of a role in anything.  Her mother, on the other hand, is living in supreme denial of Peyton's crime.  Her number one priority involves Peyton's phone calls from jail and keeping track of everything going on at his penitentiary.  At one point she even calls the warden over some trifle issue.  The way she goes on, one would think Peyton's at summer camp and not jail.  No one in the family shows any remorse or guilt over what happened to the victim of Peyton's crime.  No one - except Sydney.  She feels she must carry the burden of guilt because someone has to.

It was very difficult to get through parts of this book, emotionally.  The mother drove me CRAZY.  I wanted someone to shake some sense into her.  (Peyton does, eventually).  Dessen also introduces us to Ames, one of Peyton's friends who takes an unhealthy liking to Sydney.  He's creepy and uncomfortable.  The fact that Sydney's parents are so blind to his actions was infuriating.  I hope teens reading this book WILL TELL SOMEONE if they are put into a similar situation.  It was hard to believe that no adult did anything about Ames until the end of the novel.  Ugh.

Still, so much of Sydney's path to personal healing and reconciliation with her brother rings true.  She meets a group of students at school who embrace her and don't pass judgment on her family.  She slowly begins to fall in love for the first time.  She seeks advice from her friend Layla's mother, since her own mother is so emotionally absent.  She doesn't like talking on the phone to Peyton, until she discovers they both watch the same Real Housewives-esque reality show, and the ice begins to thaw between them.

I think Dessen tries a little too hard to wrap everything up neatly.  The ending felt a bit rushed and the conclusions forced.  Still, I have no doubt that this book will be snapped up by Dessen's fans, as it should be. 

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger

5 to 1, by Holly Bodger, is a book whose premise I enjoyed much more than its execution.  We're in India, far into the future.  A culture that previously put so much emphasis on having boys rather than girls has produced a population that cannot continue.  Girls are in short supply, and therefore are a prime commodity.  Because there are 5 boys born for every 1 girl, the state has set up a series of tests designed to match the best boy to every girl, with the hopes that their marriage and subsequent offspring will produce more girls.  The winners are assured a life of comfort and riches, while the losers are sent to "the wall."  (You know nothing, Jon Snow...).

The story begins with Sudasa, 17, beginning the preparations for the contest where she will select her husband after a series of tests.  The boys are not given names and are simply referred to by number.  The book switches back and forth between Sudasa's point of view, told in verse, and "5," told in first person narrative.

If this book reminds anyone of Kiera Cass's The Selection, you're not alone.  I liked the idea that it was boys competing for the hand of the girl instead of the other way around.  However, 5 to 1 reminded me not just of The Selection, but so so so many other YA titles, that I felt there was very little here that was new.  We've seen the idea of arranged marriages in Matched.  Women who are valued for the reproductive role in The Handmaid's Tale.  Being told that life outside "the wall" is bad and therefore you know the main character(s) will end up outside of it: The Giver, Delirium, Divergent, etc...

This book was such a short, fast read, I felt that the author did not give us time to flesh out the characters enough for us to care about them.  The end is not surprising or suspenseful, even though it's clear there will probably be another title to come. 

Additional purchase recommended only where The Selection is constantly checked out and students want something else to tide them over.

Review given in exchange for a digital ARC from NetGalley.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

I think it's safe to say that fairy tale retellings are certainly the 'in thing' right now.  As I write this review, Cinderella is at the top of the movie box office, and the Internet is all abuzz about the new live-action version of Beauty and the Beast set to begin filming with Emma Watson.  Teens who just can't wait until that film comes out, however, can spend many a happy hour with in the stacks of YA Lit devoted to fairy tales.  A Court of Thorns and Roses, the first in a new series by Sarah J. Maas, tackles the familiar Beauty and the Beast story but gives it a fresh spin.  It's a little bit Beauty and the Beast meets The Hunger Games meets Twilight.  I realize that sentence may be a big turnoff to many people, but don't let your biases get in the way. A Court of Thorns and Roses is exciting, sexy, violent, and sure to find an audience.

The story begins with 19-year-old Fayre hunting in the woods.  She lives with her father and two selfish sisters.  Once a wealthy family, their mother died and the father lost their fortune.  They now live in poverty in a small cottage, getting by on the meat and furs Fayre brings in thanks to her hunting skills.  One day she kills a large wolf, expecting to sell its fur in the market for a handsome price.  What she was not expecting was for a large beast to show up at their cottage, demanding Feyre come with him as payment for killing one of his soldiers.  It was no ordinary wolf she killed.  It - and the beast - are not just animals.  They are faeries, powerful creatures who once ruled the human lands.

In keeping with what we know of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, Fayre at first resents her captivity and has no interest in being friendly with the beast (named Tamlin).  Of course, the more she learns about the Fae and the curse that has been placed upon them, she begins to soften, eventually falling for the one who's taken her prisoner.  

Whereas the familiar fairy tale ends with Belle falling for the beast, he becomes a prince, and they live happily ever after, Maas's story gives our heroine a second act.  Fayre fails to declare her love for Tamlin aloud, and thus unwittingly condemns him into the hands of the one who cursed him, an evil woman named Amarantha.  When she realizes what she's done, Fayre goes to Amarantha's lair to try and save Tamlin.  She is given two options: solve Amarantha's riddle or undergo three dangerous and deadly trials.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is best suited for high school students, as it contains a few rather steamy sex scenes, as well as scenes of graphic violence.  Although there are additional entries in this series still to come, and there are still some questions left unanswered (what happened to Feyre's family?), I think this entry can stand alone as Maas does a good job at bringing the narrative to a conclusion.

Review given in exchange for an ARC from NetGalley.

None of the Above, by I.W. Gregorio

It's senior year for Kristen Lattimer.  She's just been crowned Homecoming Queen and is looking at a track scholarship to college next year.  The night after the Homecoming dance, Kristen decides it's time to lose her virginity to her boyfriend Sam.  What should be a romantic night is ruined when she experiences terrible, agonizing pain.  This leads her to seek a gynecological exam.  The news is shocking: Kristen is intersex.

Although outwardly she looks like a girl, she has no uterus, and blood tests show that her chromosomes read XY.  Thus begins Kristen's painful journey of discovery: not only to learn more about her diagnosis, but to learn just what defines one's gender.

At first Kristen tells no one - not even Sam - about her diagnosis.  However, one drunken night, she spills the beans to her two best friends, Vee and Faith.  Soon the news is spread all over school, and the bullying begins, both at school and online.  Even her track coach says Kristen cannot participate with the track team because other schools have filed complaints about cheating.

The author of None of the Above, I.W. Gregorio, is herself a surgeon, and her medical knowledge comes through in the scenes with Kristen and her doctors.  I felt that these scenes, although factual, were a little too dry in their exposition.  It's quite obvious that Gregorio is trying to educate the reader by dispelling many rumors and myths about those who are intersex.  There are other plot points that seem a bit too pat, as if she was going through a check sheet of YA tropes: Homecoming queen? Check.  Happens to be reading Merchant of Venice is English class with its themes of gender identity?  Check.  Parent who is supportive but distant?  Check.

I like that this book explores an issue so rarely discussed in YA lit.  Gregorio is one of the founding members of the We Need Diverse Books campaign, so I applaud her efforts.  But I think it's obvious that Gregorio has a medical background and very few YA titles to her name.  Point more mature teen readers to Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides for additional reading on this theme.

Things We Know By Heart, by Jessi Kirby

In the opening moments of Things We Know By Heart, teenager Quinn wakes up to the distant sounds of sirens, and somehow she just knows they are for her boyfriend, Trent.  Skip ahead to over a year later, where Quinn is still deep in grief, not only over Trent's death, but over the future they will never have together.  A year later, and Quinn refuses to let herself move on or let go of Trent.  However, she writes donor letters to those people who received his organs, and she's heard back from all but one - the one who got Trent's heart.

Relentless and a bit obsessive, Quinn uses her best Internet sleuthing skills and figures out the recipient is a boy named Colton, about her age and living nearby.  Crossing all lines of acceptable behavior, Quinn goes to see him, intending to confront him, but she chickens out.  Instead, she befriends Colton and soon the two start spending more and more time together.  All the while, Quinn can't bring herself to tell Colton the truth.  Obviously, we as readers know everything will come out eventually, and it won't be pretty.

As YA romances go, I felt that Things We Know By Heart was pretty lightweight.  Colton is too much the Perfect Teenage Boyfriend.  He's cute, sensitive, outdoorsy... other than the fact that he still has to stop and take medication for his heart, Colton has few flaws.

There are many four star reviews for this book over on Goodreads, which completely baffles me.  It's hard for me to review books like this not from a grown-up point of view.  The adult in me just Really.Disliked.Quinn.  I know her boyfriend died tragically, and that's a sad thing.  But they weren't married.  They didn't have kids or a family together.  They were juniors in high school.  And although I'm sorry Quinn won't get to go to her prom with Trent or celebrate graduation with him, I just didn't feel very sympathetic toward her decision to just shut down and refuse to move on.  I think part of the problem is that we, as readers, don't get to know Trent as a character.  We just know a few fleeting details: he was an athlete, he once brought Quinn a huge sunflower.  I think if we had been invested more in their relationship, I would have cared about Quinn more. 

Colton, on the other hand, is the more interesting character, but Kirby makes this Quinn's story.  As Quinn begins to fall for Colton, she begins to heal emotionally and starts to move on with her life.

I'm sure there are plenty of teenage girls out there who will eat this up.  I think it would be an additional purchase for libraries, but not a necessary one.

Review given in exchange for an ARC from Edelweiss.  Book will be published in April.

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

I started reading Challenger Deep with little idea of what the book was about.  As soon as I saw that an ARC was available of the newest Neal Shusterman title, I was all GIMMEGIMMEGIMME *makes grabby hand motions*

And then I plunged right in.  That being said, I was then thoroughly confused for the first part of the book.  We begin by following two storylines involving a boy named Caden.  In one, he is a normal high school boy who likes art and drawing.  In the other story, he is a crew member on board a pirate ship with a captain, a navigator, and a talking parrot.

What is happening?  I'm so lost!  But of course I stuck with it, and very slowly the pieces began to fall into place. You realize that it's Shusterman's intentions to throw you into this confusing narrative, because that's how jumbled it feels in Caden's head.  He begins to struggle in school and starts slipping away from his friends and family.  His parents finally realize he needs help that they cannot give him and Caden is checked into a psychiatric institution for teens.  It is heartbreaking.

However, through the fog of Caden's mind, the reader realizes the pirate ship scenario is Caden's way of trying to make sense of his illness and the people around him at the institution.  How far into the abyss will he go?

An author's note at the end tells us that Challenger Deep was inspired by the similar journey of his son, Brendan, who supplies the illustrations in the novel.  Such personal insight makes Caden's story feel authentic and we are pulled in tightly to his struggle.  I found this book to be a surprising change of pace for Shusterman, who mostly traffics in sci-fi and fantasy, but I loved it.  Shusterman never disappoints.

Review given in exchange for a digital ARC from Edelweiss.  Book will be published in April 2015.