Waking Brain Cells

Slated by Teri Terry

Kyla is just about ready to be released from the hospital after being Slated, her memory erased after she committed a crime.  She is sent to live with a new family and in a new life, unable to find out about who she had been and what caused her to be Slated.  But Kyla is different.  She has horrible nightmares that may or may not be flashbacks to her past.  She can draw, with both hands, something that she realizes could cause problems if discovered.  She has a voice in her head, cautioning her about things and not revealing too much.  But because Kyla is different, she may also be in more danger than anyone else.  Can she continue to follow the rules and pretend to be just another happy Slated teen?  Or will the truth she discovers be too much to maintain the façade?

In her debut novel, Terry has created a dystopian science fiction future that is dangerously possible.  The setting is the United Kingdom, but one that has changed entirely to a police state where ideas that are dangerous to those in power are worthy of getting Slated.  Against that already tense background, the drama of Slated teens plays out, struggling to learn to live, to think for themselves, and to find their way.  Teens will see their own struggles here, relating quickly to the premise.

Kyla is an intriguing heroine, she realizes she is different, but has no perception as to why.  Terry allows Kyla to be a true enigma to herself and to the reader.  This makes for a compelling read, but the reveal is placed so close to the end of the book that it feels hurried.  I would have liked to see either another chapter after the final one to help with that feel or for more hints to have been given ahead of time and along the way.  But that is a minor quibble and I was happy to see that this is the first in a series.

This fascinating and dark look into a possible future is filled with foreboding and lifted by strong writing.  Fans of Hunger Games will enjoy this new heroine facing different challenges in an equally ferocious world.  Appropriate for ages 14-16.

Reviewed from copy received from Penguin.

Stung by Bethany Wiggins

When Fiona wakes up in her bedroom, something is very wrong.  All of her clothes are faded and there is dust and trash everywhere.  The house has obviously been abandoned for some time.  When Fiona looks in the bathroom mirror, she is not looking into her own face.  Yes, those are her eyes, but she suddenly has breasts and hips, not the flat thirteen-year-old body she had been expecting to see.  She also has a strange tattoo on one hand, a black oval with ten marks around it.  Monsters are walking the city, attacking people and others have banded together to fight them off.  Fiona recognizes people she knows, but they are not friendly.  Chased through the ruined city, Fiona takes shelter in the sewers where she discovers help that comes with a price. 

Wiggins has created such a compelling scenario here.  It is a story of human hubris, the death of the honeybees, human intervention and eventually the fall of society itself.  The details of society’s collapse is told tantalizingly slowly in the novel.  Readers learn of things as Fiona’s memories return, and the pieces click into a whole background that is believable and impressive. 

Fiona herself is a heroine who will appear immensely to teen readers.  She is completely out of place in the world, but through it all shows tremendous grit and determination.  The characters around her are equally fully depicted: her romantic interest, younger brother, and various villainous characters.  They are complicated enough that it is difficult to tell hero from villain at times, adding to the thrill of the read.

The writing is solidly done with a brisk if not breakneck pacing.  This book does not slow down, it simply moves forward from one evil to the next, slowing only for romantic moments that are natural and fully developed. 

Get this into the hands of Hunger Games fans who will find the same mix of romance, horror and action here.  Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from ARC received from Bloomsbury.

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

Mahlia and Mouse survive in the war-torn area near the Drowned Cities, living a hunger and danger filled life dodging soldiers from both sides of the war.  But you can only hide and dodge for so long, Mouse gets caught by a wounded half-man who was bioengineered solely for war, named Tool.  Tool holds Mouse hostage until Mahlia brings drugs to heal him.  Even that is not easy, because a squad of soldier boys, injured by Tool, is there demanding the same drugs that Mahlia needs to free Mouse. Things do not go as planned.  Soon their village is in flames, Mouse is captured by the soldier boys, and Mahlia has lost everything.  Now it is up to her to decide whether she is just going to go on hiding or take an impossible chance and head for the Drowned Cities.

The book is like a strong dark current that submerges the reader, pulling you deeper and deeper into the novel.  At times, the tension and horror gets to be overwhelming, and I would have to put the book down and take some deep breaths in the sun before diving right back into the darkness.  Bacigalupi writes with an amazing clarity and strength.  Here he tackles war from the point of view of children who are caught in a situation not of their making, but who will do almost anything to survive.  The issue of child soldiers is at the heart of this story, but it also touches on war itself and the atrocities that come along with it on both sides.

Happily, there is also a golden and true heart at the center of this story.  It comes from its three main characters: Mahlia, Mouse and Tool.  All three are entwined in the war and yet somehow apart from it too.  Their story is one of dedication, friendship, and loyalty.  All things that are far too rare in the rest of this dark world.  Against that darkness, the three shine.

If you enjoyed Ship Breaker, this second book returns to the same setting but features different characters.  It’s an amazing feat to create a sequel just as good as the first, and Bacigalupi achieves that here.  Appropriate for ages 16-18.

Reviewed from library copy.

Unwholly by Neal Shusterman

Unwind by Shusterman was a single book with an amazing premise: an American society where teens who were too unruly or too burdensome were unwound into parts for others to use.  Fans of the first book will be delighted that Shusterman is turning that single book into a trilogy.  Book two picks up soon after the first.  All your favorite characters who survived the first book are here.  Connor is running the Graveyard, a place of safety for over 700 teens who escaped being unwound.  Risa is at his side, working to keep the teens all healthy.  She’s in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down.  Lev is working with teens to try to keep them from being unwound by their parents, forced by the courts to do this.  But wait, there are new characters too.  There is Starkey, a boy who knows that he is destined for greatness and is sure he could lead better than Connor.  There is Cam, a boy who was manmade from unwound teens, who is sure he is human though others doubt it.  There is Miracolina, raised knowing she is a tithe and will be unwound.  There is Nelson, the cop who was shamed when Connor escaped and who has not stopped chasing him.  There is rewritten history that keeps teens victims.  There is a large corporation working against them.  And that’s just the beginning.

Shusterman does an amazing job here of juggling all sorts of different perspectives while keeping each personality distinct and fascinating.  All of the characters, even the villains, have clear motivations and reasons that they see the world the way that they do.  Some are blinded by faith, others by obsession, and still others by their own view of the world itself.  His character building is well done, especially for such a large cast.

Shusterman continues to point out throughout the book how his concept is not far-fetched.  By using actual newspaper articles that point to teens being vilified, he firmly ties his fantasy world to our own.  The entire premise of the series is fraught with gray areas, ethics on both sides, and straight humanitarianism.  It is in this gray area that Shusterman does his most powerful work.

There are moments where the momentum flags and the pace drags a bit.  But that is a minor complaint and one that would never prevent me from finding out how the entire series ends.  Here’s hoping for another complex and complicated book to complete the set!  Appropriate for ages 15-17.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder is the best mechanic in New Beijing, so it is natural that the prince would bring his broken android to her for repair.  What he doesn’t know is that Cinder herself is also an android.  She is owned by her cruel stepmother, who uses Cinder to bring in the income for the entire household.  As a plague ravages Earth, the world is also under threat from above as the Lunar queen arrives to pressure the prince into marriage.  As the plague reaches her own family, Cinder is given away to become a test subject.  This brings her into direct contact again with the prince and also gives her new information about her unknown past.  It’s a past that may just be the key to the entire planet’s safety.

This is a glorious melding of science fiction and fairy tale where androids and Cinderella mash up.  It is the strength of the story itself that works well here.  The blend makes the book compulsively readable with the science fiction giving a grittiness to the expected fairy tale story.  At the same time, one looks for the fairy tale components and how they are reinterpreted.  The entire concept works brilliantly.

The middle of the novel does have some pacing issues.  While the reader knows Cinder’s secret past before Cinder does, that knowledge contributes to the slowing of the novel.  There is also a pivotal plot point that is set aside what seems to be a very long time, further slowing the pace. 

Cinder is a dynamic heroine who is notably human and caring.  She is strong, but beyond that is also reassuringly sometimes clumsy and confused.  The reworking of some of the characters of the fairy tale, including one of the step sisters works well.  While the book follows the arc of the Cinderella story, Meyer also inserts new facets that fill the tale with surprises for the reader.

A riveting book that features a strong heroine and a brilliant storyline, this book will be enjoyed by dystopian and romance fans alike.  Appropriate for ages 13-17.

Reviewed from copy received from Feiwel & Friends.

Also reviewed by:

• An Abundance of Books
• Angieville
• Annette’s Book Spot
• Book Harbinger
• Bookworm Nation
• Ex Libris
• Hooked on Books
• Killin’ Time Reading
• Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf
• A Library of My Own
• Miss Remmers Reviews
• Popcorn Reads
• The Reading Fever

Prized by Caragh M. O’Brien

In this sequel to Birthmarked, Gaia has escaped into the wasteland with her infant sister, following a rumor to guide her.  Gaia is reaching the end of her strength and her baby sister is perishing when she is discovered by a rider from Sylum.  When she is brought into their matriarchal society, Gaia is forced to give up her sister into the society for care and must submit herself to their rules.  No man can speak to her first much less touch her, and a kiss can get you jailed.  Sylum is slowly dying, since there are many more male births than female.  But Sylum also cannot be escaped easily.  Newcomers get physically ill and then after that violent illness are unable to leave.  If they try to leave, they will die of an even more extreme illness.  So Gaia is trapped in Sylum without her sister, trying to follow their rules, when she discovers that Leon is also there, imprisoned.  In order to free him, Gaia has to give up the last of her will to the ruler of Sylum. 

I adored the first book in this series.  The Enclave was a skewed society that was fully rendered and well thought out.  O’Brien has done the impossible in a single series and created within her world another complete society that makes sense, surprises, and then displays its darker side.  Sylum is a world run by women, but also a decaying society where there are few rights especially for those who refuse to follow the rules.  It is a beautiful, green but dreadful place where the darkness is right below the lovely surface.  In short, it is immensely readable and a wonderful dystopian setting.

O’Brien introduces us to new characters just as we are getting reacquainted with those we enjoyed in the first book.  Gaia remains a fierce, independent force who is bright, inspiring and strong.  She is a character thrown into a society she does not understand, who makes waves with every step and friends too.  There are two brothers who serve as additional love interests in this complex society that forbids touching.  They are wonderfully similar but also very different, attractive in different ways to Gaia.  Still, there is also the angry and ever-frustrating yet fascinating Leon to consider.  As Gaia muses, it is actually a love square rather than a triangle.

This is a compulsively readable book, just like the first.  The world is well drawn, but it is the different societies that truly shine here.  I look forward to the rest of the series, because this book was very unexpected and I can’t guess what is going to happen next.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

Also reviewed by:

• The Allure of Books (author interview)
• Beyond Books
• The Book Bind
• The Book Muncher
• Ex Libris
• Never Gonna Grow Up
• Popcorn Reads
• Presenting Lenore