Ratgirl, Song of the Viper, by Gayle C. Krause (A Book Review)

Ratgirl, Song of the Viper tells the tale of Jax Stone, a sixteen year old orphan in Metro City, a town where the majority of the inhabitants are forced to live underground in the sewers to escape the killer rays of the sun.  Her goal in life, besides staying alive, is escaping with her friends and little brother to Antarctica, the last place left where it is safe to live above ground.  Complicating matters is the corrupt mayor of the town and his evil scheme involving the town’s children.

Ratgirl is a futuristic, dystopic spin on the tale of the Pied Piper filled with action, betrayal, sacrifice and romance. All good things in my world. Jax Stone is my favorite type of girl, one who doesn’t depend on boys to solve all her problems, no matter how chiseled and swoon-worthy they may be. Jax is a strong leader in a desolate world, a good heroine in the YA world of literature.

Ms. Krause is skilled in the craft of writing and creates a tale that is easy and enjoyable to read. I downloaded the e-book onto my iPad, something I’m still new at, something that infuriates my children who like to “share” my technology. They were pleasantly surprised at how quickly I finished the book. So, Kudos to Ms. Krause for a story that kept me reading. My kids appreciate it too. ;)

Parental note:  Cussing and some mature themes.

          --Suzi Ryan

Divergent, by Veronica Roth (A Book Review)

Hunger Games fans rejoice! The Divergent series is the new dystopian hotness. The story takes place in a much altered Chicago with society broken into factions, each one representative of a particular virtue: Abnegation (these are the selfless people who put all others before them, in charge of the government), Candor (the honest ones who speak the truth at all costs), Dauntless (the brave ones who train to protect and kill, the military of this society), Amity (those devoting their lives to peace and farming), and Erudite (the intelligent, the geeks of the society, in charge of research). Once a year, all 16 year olds must choose their faction, the one they will stay with the rest of their lives. Do they choose the faction they’ve been raised in or jump ships to another, leaving behind their family forever?

Beatrice Prior makes her decision, one that surprises even her. Sealing her own fate, she then embarks on a quest to discover who she really is within the faction she chooses. The process is not an easy one with death as a possible consequence of failure to adapt. There is also the burden of knowing she could be cast out at any time, forever Factionless, poor and hungry. But Beatrice has a secret that she must guard well. One which others would kill her for. 

Divergent is a series filled with action, choices and consequences, betrayal and (thankfully) a bit of romance.

My overall impression is this was a very good book, definitely worthy of my hardback purchase. It had a few of my very favorite things: a girl with a secret, a girl who can take care of herself most of the time, and a boy who needs a good slap as much as he needs a good kiss. Ms. Roth has a writing style that is enjoyable and easy to read with well developed characters (even the ones you are rooting will meet a slow and painful death).

A teen that I know (who loooooooved this book, btw), excitedly grabbed my brand new copy, flipped open to chapter one and read aloud to me, “‘There is one mirror in my house.’ I’m telling you, I was hooked from the first sentence!” A teen, hooked from the very first sentence of a YA novel??  Kudos, Ms. Roth.  Kudos.

So…this one’s gonna be a movie, guys.  Check it out:

http://www.deadline.com/2012/09/divergent-scheduled-for-march-21-2014/

Read the book first, people!!

Parental note:  PG-13 violence and only one cuss word that I noticed.

Now, please excuse me whilst I go pick up my copy of Insurgent. In hardback, of course.

          --Suzi Ryan

Blood Red Road, by Moira Young (A Book Review)

Summary:  Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome for a new generation, only with a chick as the one kicking post-apocalyptic tail feathers.

The only world Saba knows is Silverlake, a dried up land where life is hard and food is scarce.  Strange, cloaked riders on horseback appear on the heels of a wicked dust storm, capturing her twin brother Lugh and stealing him away.  Saba, knowing almost nothing but stories of the world beyond her home, vows to get him back.  Her journey lands her into a world of violence and corruption.  She teams up with renegade Jack and a girl gang of insurrectionists called the Free Hawks.  Together they endeavor to rescue Lugh and depose a corrupt king. 

Sound the trumpets!  Fire the canons!  Cue the choir of angels!  It’s finally happened.  You have no idea how much I’ve longed for this day.  I’d almost given up.  But Ms. Moira Young has done the impossible for me—she created a female protagonist that I loved from the first page.  Saba.  This is not a story about a girl, quaking in her espadrilles, who sits back and watches the boy save her repeatedly while she nibbles on her cotton candy pink glitter nail polished fingertips.  Yessssssss!!  J

I loved this book, I loved this book, I loved this book.  Whew!  I feel so much better to have that off my chest.  Blood Red Road is now located in the very short stack of books I will read again one day.  I lost track of how many times I moaned and laughed out loud. I truly can’t remember having this much fun reading any book.  Ever.

All that gushing aside, there are a couple of things I should prepare you for.  This book is written without the use of quotations.  Glancing at other reviews, it seems to have taken some people a number of pages to adjust to this.  I confess, for me, it was easy and refreshing.  If you find yourself initially frustrated, I urge you to push forward. You’ll catch on.  This is a post-apocalyptic/dystopic world where no one goes to school.  They have their own verbiage, slight variations to English slang.  Perhaps a sample from the book to demonstrate?  Here goes:

He throws his head back an curses unner his breath. Stands up. Whatever I say now, he says, you ain’t gonna believe me. 

Alright, so one of the reasons I loved this book so much is that I am a Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome fan  (This admission will unfortunately clue you in to my age).  I have a sneaking suspicion that Ms. Young is as well.  I’d go so far as to suppose she has an old Beyond Thunderdome movie poster hanging up somewhere with a lipstick kiss on a youthful Mel Gibson’s cheek.  J  This story also involves a bit of cage fighting and I confess, any time I read a fight scene, a crazed crowd cheered from the recesses of my brain, “Two men en-tah, one man leaves.”

This is the point in my review where I offer up some tidbit of criticism, as no author is perfect and the art of writing is a continual refining process…nope, I got nothing.  This is  story with action, adventure, romance, drama, tension, tears,  plot and characters I can’t get enough of.  Fans of The Hunger Games will find plenty to get excited about here. 

Here’s the part of my review where I was going to implore Hollywood to add this to the list of YA fiction it scoops up for the big screen.  But then a little birdie whispered in my ear that my wish is already coming true.  Who you ask?  Why, Ridley Scott.  Oooo…I’m all aquiver.  Check it out:

http://pages.simonandschuster.com/bloodredroad

Parental note:  Some cussing.

As I end this book review, cue the guitar and keyboard.  Sing it, Tina Turner.  “We don’t need another heeeeero,  We don’t need to know the waaaay home.  All we want is—” Ms. Moira Young to write quickly.  I’m ready for the next book.  Like, now. 

            --Suzi Ryan