Early Review - Tides by Betsy Cornwell (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Size: 304 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books
Release Date: June 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-0547927725
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: ARC from Amazon Vine
Rating: 3/5 stars


I got a copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. I am always interested in selkie mythology and was curious and interested in reading this book. It was a decent book but not spectacular. There is a lot of interesting selkie mythology in here but I didn’t find the characters to be all that engaging.

Noah and Lo are a brother and sister who go to live with their grandmother in her island home for the summer. Noah is working on a marine biologist internship there and Lo hopes to escape to a place where she can draw in peace. Once there they notice something strange about their grandmother’s friend. Things get even weirder when Noah finds out the beautiful girl he is drawn to is a selkie.

I really enjoyed the selkie mythology throughout the story. This was the best part of the story for me. Selkie mythology from various parts of the world is discussed and it was really interesting.

The book also explores some social issues but not in much depth. For example Noah’s grandmother and her female friend are lifetime partners, so there is some brief discussion on how hard to was to be a lesbian back in the day. Noah’s adopted sister Lo suffers from bulimia, so there is discussion about how Lo is fighting this horrible disease. None of the issues are explored in great depth, Lo’s bulimia does play a large role in the story though.

I had a lot of trouble engaging with the characters though. The point of view bounces from Noah, to Lo, to Mara (the young selkie), to Mara’s mom, to Noah’s professor, etc. The story ends up being fractured by all of the points of view and I feel like as soon as you start to engage with a character then suddenly you are reading from someone else’s POV.

I thought the story was a bit predictable and boring as well. Mara is searching for one of the lost Younglings and Noah is working with a marine biologist. Right from the beginning you can tell what is going on and what will happen. There were no twists and turns, the story was very simple and linear.

The writing was easy to read and the story wrapped up nicely. There were some very beautiful descriptions throughout the book as well. The setting is beautiful and has a very dreamy summer feel to it.

Overall this book was okay; it didn’t offend me in anyway but it didn’t really grab my attention either. It was just something to read and then set aside. While I enjoyed the selkie mythology, I found the story predictable, and the characters difficult to engage with. I would definitely recommend reading The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan if you are interested in selkie folklore, this book was an excellent YA read that I absolutely loved. While I probably won’t be reading any more of Cornwell’s books I can tentatively recommend this if you are really into reading about selkies; it’s an okay...if not inspiring story.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Paranormal Reading Challenge
- Debut Author Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Review - Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler (4.5/5 stars)

I got an advanced reading copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program.  When I saw that it was about a girl who gets forced into the job of Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, I was intrigued.  This book is a very short read, but was an interesting and well-done book.  I enjoyed it.

Lisabeth Lewis is anorexic, and she is getting worse and worse.  She is so bad at this point that her brain is getting fuzzy and she is always cold.  Then one day a delivery man brings her a package, it is a set of scales...and a black horse.  The next day she thinks maybe it was all a dream; she did after all try to overdose on antidepressants that same night.  Then she get a visit from Death and he gives her a choice; Lisabeth can be Famine or Death can kill her.  Lisabeth decides, despite her recently attempted suicide, that she will try out the Famine thing.  Little does she know that her refusal to eat may be affecting hunger in different parts of the world.  She will also find that Famine doesn't have to be a force of evil, but can be a force of hope.

This book was really well done.  First and foremost it tackles the issues of eating disorders.  Previously I have read Wintergirls and that was a very well done book that showed the harm eating disorders can do to a person and their family.  This book does the same thing, but it includes some gallows humor, is witty, and of course has the Four Horsemen in it. 

I was impressed with how well Kessler integrated eating disorders with the mythos behind the Four Horsemen.  I was impressed with Lisabeth as a character; Kessler really gets in Lisabeth's head and shows the readers what drives Lisabeth's eating disorder.  I enjoyed that Lisabeth's parents, boyfriend, and old best friend all questioned her health and were supportive of her getting help.   It was nifty how Lisabeth figured out how to use her powers to help people; and it was just cool to watch Lisabeth use her powers as Famine in general.

This book is fast-paced and packs a lot of story for its short length.  I had a really hard time putting it down.  It also packs a lot of humor.  Death is an incredibly amusing and funny character.  Even War and Pestilence have intriguing personalities.

If I have one complaint about this book it is that I would have liked to see more scenes and adventures with Lisabeth acting as Famine.  As a bonus the author includes an afterward in which she discusses her personal struggles with eating disorders and eating disorders of her friends.

Overall this was an excellent read.  It tackles the issue of eating disorders in a realistic way that is meaningful but not absolutely heartbreaking.  There is some great witty humor throughout the book and Lisabeth's powers as Famine are pretty neat.  The story wrapped up nicely and ended well.  I look forward to reader more of Kessler's works in the future.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The Debut Author Challenge
- The Young Adult Reading Challenge
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

 

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (5/5 stars)

This is the first book by Laurie Halse Anderson that I have read, although I have "Speak" on my bookshelf to read too. It was a great book; albeit an uncomfortable, somewhat depressing, and difficult read because of the subject matter. I listened to this on audio book and the audio book was very well done; the reader did a good job of changing her voice for Leah's thoughts vs. what Leah said, etc.

This book is told from the perspective of Leah. Leah is anorexic and regularly cuts herself. She finds out that her ex-best friend was found dead in a hotel room. The book follows Leah's mental and physical degeneration as she tries to make unbelievable weight goals; first 95 pounds, then 85 pounds, etc. Leah feels clean, in control, and strong when she is not eating. It also deals with all the external troubles in Leah's life. Although no one really treats her all that badly, she is lonely because her mother is a very busy heart surgeon and her dad is a famous historian. She now lives with her step-mom Jennifer, her stepsister Emma, and her father.

This book was really well done and really sad. This is not a book to read if you are depressed and it definitely won't leave you feeling great; although it will leave you a lot to think about. Leah, in no way has a horrible life. She just feels neglected enough by her parents that she starts to spin out of control. She starts thinking that "being the thinnest" is the only thing that can distinguish her. She is stuck between two outstanding parents who want her to both follow their loves; she is tugged into trying to be what everyone else wants her to be and not eating is her way of rebelling. It doesn't help that her ex-bestfriend was bulimic and introduced Leah to additional ways of avoiding weight gain; using laxatives and diuretics.

Over all the characters in this book were very believable and very heart-breaking to read about. Everyone from Leah herself, to her parents try who to understand what they can do to help her, to her stepsister who is torn between being embarrassed by her sister's thinness (she tell her classmates Leah has cancer) and loving having a sister, struggles in a very believable way. Anderson does a wonderful job of portraying the world through Leah's eyes as Leah gets sicker and sicker from starving herself. Leah looses time, starts seeing things, and makes the strangest connections between things as her brain starts to have trouble functioning.

The interesting thing about they book, is that in despite of the fact that I do feel sorry for Leah, she comes off as very selfish. She doesn't care about anyone around her and all that she is doing to them; she gets lost in her own misery and pain. The only person that she even cares about a little bit is her stepsister Emma.

This is a great book to read if you want understand the minds of teenagers who inflict physical pain to center themselves, find themselves, and deal with emotional pain. It's a great book to read even if you are older, like me, and need to remember what it was like to be a teenager. I think both teenage boys and girls will come away from a lot to think about from this book too. I remember being pretty ego-centric as a teenager, and this book aptly shows what that can do to the people around you. This book was about way more than eating disorders; it was about having everyone else expecting you to be someone you aren't, dealing with that pain, and figuring out how to determine who you really are. There is one point in the book where Leah is looking in the mirror and she can't figure out if she is too fat, too thin, or what she even looks like at all and that is what this book is about.