the camelion Poet (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
altogetherisi) wrote2011-09-29 07:28 pm
altogetherisi) wrote2011-09-29 07:28 pm
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Summer Book Reviews part 1
I read some books. I had some thoughts about them. I wrote those thoughts down. Ta-daa!
I can't be bothered to post them all at once though, that would be exhausting. Here are spoiler free reviews for Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey and The Traitor Game by BR Collins, which were for the record, both further steps along the way toward my rehabillitating te first person narrative :P
Guardian of the Dead struck me very much as written for people like me – strong female lead, check, diversity, check, unequivocal rejection of rape culture in passing, check, more complex plot and characters than I was expecting, check, unexpected ending, check. Awesomeness, double check.
I loved the fact of the characters – an insecure tall blonde, an attractive asexual Maori boy, a beautiful and tougher than might be expected girl of Asian descent, a good looking red haired boy – as well as the reality of them, enjoying their company as it were, their reactions – just who they were. I think this is the first book I’ve read that explicitly included an asexual character, and his coming out story.
And Ellie! I think you are most excellent Ellie, who is – miracle of miracle! – able to be attracted to more than one person at a time. Thank god. Without ever creating a love triangle of painful stupidity. You can’t choose? Well, you may be polygamous, but more likely, you’re an idiot. Ellie is sweet, sensible, straightforward but crucially not at the cost of her character traits. Insecure in some areas, confident in others, she fights with whatever she has, she gets angry and scared and tempted and guilty; and at the end of the day she’s a good person, selfless and doing the best she can to help as many people as she can. Flaws do exist but do not overpower her. Basically, I love you Ellie Spencer. What a wonderful character.
The character that isn’t a character here is the New Zealand setting and Maori culture, myths and traditions touched upon in the book. Obviously it isn’t the job of the book to educate me, but knowing nothing of Maori culture I found it fascinating and so refreshing to read a story involving these elements, and indeed including Ellie’s awareness and acknowledgement of disproportionately white areas and racism, including in a couple of cases the way her own mind works.
Basically, this book is good, interesting and refreshing for a variety of reasons, and perhaps particularly vindicating if you’ve been around the fandom feminism and racism etc discussions of the last couple of years and the ongoing diversity in YA stuff. Yay.
The Traitor Game I got because Play kept nominating it for bookdeyada and though it hasn’t been picked (yet!) I was intrigued. It wasn’t quite the book I was expecting – perhaps I should have read more reviews or something. It was good, a bit painful, a bit harrowing, a bit raw, and yeah, a bit more than a bit different from what I had been expecting.
Essentially, while this book contains two parallel stories about adolescent boys, friendship and betrayals, one set in our world and one in the fantasy world of Evgard, invented by the boys in our world, they are not equally weighted. There is a lot more of the our world story about Michael and Francis, than the fantasy world one about Argent and Columan, and within that our world text an examination of bullying and some aspects of victimhood that I personally found cut very close to the bone. There was also one of those sets of events that due to the characters involved become horrifyingly inevitable – I had many moments of thinking “no, no , no, oh god no, oh please, don’t do that, no, oh jesus, no” D: D: D: And yet, because the character work was so well done I never hated, or ever even really disliked, the character whose actions I was begging to be different, for the words to rearrang themselves on the pag. I Was holding my breath at points, really freaked out and horrified and practically praying for a happy ending while being les and less capable of imagining how it could possibly be fixed.
I don’t think this book passes the Bechdel Test, and I don’t have much to say about female characters in it, expect I suppose that I feel that the two that have any actual character beyond being cameos seem to be generally awesome and distinct and treated fairly as interesting and flawed individuals as much as can be possible given their relatively little amount of screen time, so that’s good. I think it’s an understandable sacrifice in this book expressly about boys, homosocial relationships and friendship and bullying, set in an all boys school.
On the other hand, diversity wise, it does have a gay character, and one that is IMO coded gay, and as I say I think the two female characters given more than a cameo are fleshed out and respected, non formulaic and interesting, and could totally carry a different book on their own, so that’s cool.
Coming back to the actual subject matter, I think it’s fair to warn for bullying including matter of fact (ie non gratuitous) descriptions of violence; homophobia ranging from casual comments through vicious conversations all the way up to physical assault; and contemplation of suicide. However the worst of the events touched upon by the book IMO are those in the past, alluded to but not described, and or being off screen all the more powerful for the author letting the lasting damage speak for itself, and for the reader’s imagination to fill in the blanks. Horrifyingly, in my case.
I wrote a bunch more about the portrayal/stereotypes of boys in some books/popular media, particularly as opposed to girls, and about different types of bullying depicted also, but I can’t be bothered to type it up right now. Um, maybe at some point. It got long. The point was, this book is a refreshing change IMO, if you can consider something I found raw and a bit harrowing “refreshing”. But, it’s good to see patterns challenged.
Thing I found disappointing about this book: NOT ENOUGH EVGARD. Seriously. Want more Evgard. Like, now. Where is it. Give it to me.
BRB building a Judas Floor.
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I'll let you know what I think of it!
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Spoilers for TTG
I had many moments of thinking “no, no , no, oh god no, oh please, don’t do that, no, oh jesus, no” D: D: D:
Yes! GPOY so much. I was reading it in a youth hostel in London sharing a room with my mum and my friend and I kept wanting to yell at the pages but I couldn't and they kept looking over at me like 'wtf is up with you' and I was just like 'this boooook, omg. HOW COULD HE'
And yet, because the character work was so well done I never hated, or ever even really disliked, the character whose actions I was begging to be different, for the words to rearrang themselves on the page.
YES. (I am just going to agree with everything here) I love the way the characters were written so you understood what they were doing even though you kind of hated it (and that is one thing this author is really good at, layered, believable characters)
and one that is IMO coded gay
Which one are you thinking here? (I'm not disagreeing, just wondering (: )
(The author is female and has written other books with female mcs and female pov, not that that affects this book, I just thought it was worth mentioning (: )
THERE WILL BE SPOILERS NOW. PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ISI, LOOK AWAY
Okay, I am bad at thoughts but I will try and have some.
Evgard thoughts: I loved the Evgard plotline so much, I could've read a whole book about that because I love gray moralling and the good guys being not so good. I mean, it's clear that the Arcasterians are bad because of the slaving and treating people like objects but then the merish come storming in and it's all about vengeance and their so bloodthirsty and it's understandable but at the same time I just wanted to make them go away (but then the duke was worse in so many ways so I was just CONFLICTED) and I loved how I wasn't sure if it could be called a happy ending and there was no real resolution, just the chance of more war.
TD;DR I LOVE STORIES WHERE I DON'T KNOW WHAT SIDE I'M ON AND I LOVE PEOPLE SWITCHING SIDES SO THE WHOLE EVGARD PLOT WAS BASICALLY WRITTEN FOR ME.
RL thoughts: One of the big things about the main story was how much I loved their friendship. I mean, not so much when it was crashing and burning but in all the flashbacks I was reading and thinking how much I wanted Francis to be my BEST FRIEND FOREVER. (Particularly the castle one, where Francis is talking about the ghist tower and it just shows how much time they've put into building this world/very unsubtle metaphor for their friendship. (When I was at warwick castle the other day with Sass and her friend and we were running around the battlements and going up the princess tower I just kept thinking about that scene and wishing I had more internet friends close by to go running round castles talking about worldbuilding with) )
And I have just realised that the Michael/Francis friendship pre-fuck-up reminds me most of my internet friends and the way it's so easy to be friends with all you guys and how you're always interested in everything and there's always fish around to help worldbuild or plot (if not to actually visit castles with) and this thought totally ran away with me.
I (thankfully) don't have a lot of experience with what Michael has gone through so I think it's a testament to the writing how well it came across, particularly considering most of the past was implied (and I think that almost makes it worse for the reader because instead of it being spelt out, you're left to fill Michael's past with your own worst fears.)
In conclusion! I have more thoughts than I thought I did. I want to dance on your judas floor and be BFFs with Francis (in fact, I want to be BFFs with both of them because they seem like awesome people to have around when you're worldbuilding) and I was going to say something about the Arcasterians/merish parallels to Romans/Celts but this comment is already VERY LONG so I will just leave it there (:
Re: Spoilers for TTG
RE: I really want a Judas Floor, I was thinking I would remove the viper element, even though I love snakes, just so y'know, people wouldn't actually die. There would just be a bouncy net. Or maybe a ball pit. Something fun. And then I Would totally invite you to come try to cross it! In my head, it is installed in part of my writing castle. Yep. The real thing with the Judas Floor though was... I kinda thought it was sexy. All beautiful and mysterious and dangerous and secretive. My kinda floor!
I kinda wanted to cry and rage at how it unfolds and what Michael does and how the boys misunderstand each other and how everything just spirals so horribly. AND I WAS ON THE BEACH. IN MY BIKINI. That was really good writing, that I could be upset with the actions of a character and yet understand them completely and not hate them for it.
I read Columen as gay, esp since he was fantasy!Francis. Or at least, interested in Argent. You think that was just my slash goggles? I would love Columen/Argent slash.
And also the Duke/Argent, because I am going to hellWhich of her other books have you enjoyed?
Congrats on managing to have some thoughts :P
I loved Evgard. I can't overstate how much I loved Evgard, both during the Evgard chapters and when Michael mentioned other details about it, and I would totally have loved an entire book about it; indeed, the thing I found disappointing was not enough Evgard. LOL good guys! Who do you think are "the good guys"? The protag is a double-traitor! Yay morally grey! My fav colour of morals XD And sure, no real conclusion for Argent; but that was, after all, the only time in Evgard history when the Mereish ever occupy Arcaster, so there's clearly history flowing on, continuity beyond the story we are given. So that gives me a little more satisfaction :) BUT YES I AGREE WHAT AN AWESOME PLOTLINE SO MUCH DELICIOUSNESS!
They have a *lovely* friendship. I would slash Columen/Argent but I would never for Michael and Francis because I just love their friendship so much. And then betrayals oh noes D: But they hurt so so much because they are so so important to each other, and Michael is obsessed with the idea that Francis has other friends but really, Michael is clearly his most important closest best friend.
Also I would love to go run around a castle with you sometime. Like, set the date, and I would BE THERE. Actually, come to think of it, the next book I want to write for this year's Nano is mainly set in a castle. So I should think more about castles.
COME BACK AND TALK TO ME ABOUT ROMANS AND CELTS BABY. I love the Celts patriotically, and Boudicca for being kickass etc. but the Romans! Are like, my favourites!
possibly slightly because of the slaves and violence and decadence not despite of itBut yes. This was a very good book and I'm very happy to have read it, so thank you very much for making me aware of it :)
Re: Spoilers for TTG
I read Columen as gay the first time, I think. Then I read a review which mentioned Argent/Duke had happened in subtext (which I totally didn't get from the book because I read it when I was too innocent for such things) and after that I started feeling more like the Arcasterians have less rigid sexuality (or more of a ancient Greek kind of thing where you marry a girl and fuck all the boys) so maybe Columen was appreciative but I don't know if he would ever act on it because of Argent's history.
Which of her other books have you enjoyed?
Okay. She has written 4 books (that I know of). TTG is my favourite because of the subject matter and the Evgard themes.
Trick of the Dark - is my 2nd favourite. It has a female MC, hints and themes from Peter Pan (though not the same story, just an interesting idea that was clearly inspired by), amazing character work in the form of a family who are going through many Issues. It's about the relationship between a brother and sister (where the sister idolises the brother but maybe shouldn't)
It doesn't deal with explanations for the supernatural elements, but it's still awesome.
Tyme's End - I read most recently and, um... it's the one I would be least confident reccing. Characters were still interesting and mostly well done but something I thought should have been at the end wasn't? It was a bit too much like 3 separate stories. (It's hard to explain without giving a lot away but it disappointed me somewhat. Though some of the end was awesome and all the threads were kind of tied up they just didn't tie together...)
Game Runner - I didn't buy this when it came out because SFX only gave it 2 stars but then they gave Maureen Johnson's new book a really terrible review so I think they just hate YA. Have ordered it and will let you know (:
Evgardddddd. I think there should be All The Fics set in Evgard and I don't even care what characters appear in them (though, maybe a fic about Col and his sister-whose-name-I-can't-remember post-book...)
I think Argent's relative (grandfather? grandmother?) who said that thing about the losers fighting back harder next time is the single 'good guy' of the Evgard sections (:
Possibly also Columen. He seems pretty good (though also entitled and privilidged and I really want a story about him and Sister hiding out in Evgard and living as peasants and possibly spending a few nights with Argent's family in skyph and learning lots about the real world before eventually retreating to another Arcasterian towns and either taking Arcaster back or negotiating a real peace treaty)
HAH, Francis's other friends. LOL. They are clearly just like casual acquaintances whereas Michael is his One True Friend forever. (I also do not ship them, strangely enough. I want them to date some other Best Friends though and go on awesome double dates possibly with bowling.)
IF ONLY I WAS STILL HOME. I do not think there are any castles around lboro but we should totally hang out all the time.
ROMANS AND CELTS, OKAY, SO. The Arcasterians (any time you want to look up their actual name, you know (: ) are like the Romans with their winter games (basically the gladiator arena amirite????) and it's like Britain with the Roman's occupying and the celts clinging on to small places (I don't actually know anything about history, but this is how it is in my head) which is emphasised with the Arcasterians speaking latin and the Mereish speaking a dialect based on (I think?) Cornish (or something? I can't really remember?) and also the Acaster parallel I mentioned earlier with the Greek thing (possibly also a roman thing) of sleeping with All the Boys.
I am so glad you liked it! I get paranoid about reccing books but I love this one so much and no one in the world has heard of it because of it being not at all well known and all.
Re: Spoilers for TTG
Where my feet were quick and my soul did soar,
But to miss a step is to know no more;
And that's where I learnt to dance...
Ahem. Noticing some patterns in being fans of sexy and potentially fatal dancing opportunities.
You didn't pick up that subtext?! OK, a bit of me did wonder if I was just imposing my kink upon the canon, so appreciates being vindicated by the voice of God, but basically, you should read the book again with your slash goggles on. The Duke/Argent jumped at me
and I found it deliciousYou're right though, it could put an interesting spin on Columen/Argent, since he knows what happened and also basically looks exactly like the Duke. SO maybe Columen admires Argent but never makes a move for fear of pressuring him or triggering him or generally making Argent's life worse. And then Argent's interest is Iaspis is also totally interesting, adding another dimension. Hmmmmm. Now I want all the fic to fill in the gaps with lots of sex and feelings and confusion and angst.I didn't ever pause to consider actual identity or whether fucking the slave boys would be considered normal or some kind of indulgence but that's an interesting idea considering the Roman parallels. Hmmmmmm. I wonder.
I love Michael and Francis but I can't ship them sexually, I just can't. Like Turk and JD. Baffled at the idea the author kinda does, BAFFLED. I hope they eventually live together in a flat and then a house and then just never move out even if they end up with partners and families and they should be each other's kid's godparents and never stop spending their Saturdays together.
When are your holidays?! PICK A CASTLE AND LET'S GO. Also, let's go bowling.