Author Archives: Bethlylou

Review: Red Rising by Pierce Brown

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Featured imageI wanted to like this book more then I did.  It’s not that I didn’t like it but I found it hard to get into it and stay into it.  I’m not sure if it was the writing style or the characters or the pacing.  I just never truly connected with it fully.  Maybe I have hit my threshold on Hunger Gamesish type dystopian.

Red Rising is about Darrow, who is a miner on Mars.  He and his family are Reds.  The lowest of the color castes.  Their job is to mine precious elements to prepare the surface of Mars for colonization. They were told they were colonist but really they are slaves.  Mars was colonized for centuries and the ruling color castes, Golds, have been living it up on the surface, while Reds toil away below.  All this is revealed to Darrow after his wife, Eo, is executed and Darrow joins the Army of Ares to take down the Golds and the Society from the inside.

Maybe for me it’s more of a question of pacing then anything else.  Eo, is executed so early in the book, that I was never able to get to know her or Darrow or their relationship.  Obviously they were in love.  I got that much and apparently Eo was someone that everyone loved.  True, it’s sad when anyone is killed at such a young age.  Especially over something that is a simple as a song but it was a blink and you miss her and she’s gone.  Oh, ok.  Then Darrow is whisked away by the Army of Ares, told the truth about how the Society really is and joins the rebellion.  I guess I never felt I had time to know who Darrow was before all this happened.  I didn’t get to know where he came from before he was set out on his revenge.  I think this is also a problem of the author because to compare to the Hunger Games, the reaping happens very early on in the book and Katniss and Peeta are on the train to the capital by the third chapter but by then the connection for me was already made.  I was invested.

After a lengthy process of changing Darrow from a Red to a Gold, which includes surgeries, we finally get to the Institute that turns Golds into the leaders and rulers of the Society.  The Institute is nothing but a Hunger Games style of live action game of Risk. The students are set up into different houses where they try to invade, conquer and slave the other students.  Again with the pacing. At times, it was exciting and I hated that I was at my stop on the train and had to stop reading to get off but then momentum would end and I was like “can we get on with it”  The ending itself was also a little meh.  I guess it does set up nicely for the sequel, Golden Son, which is out now.

It was ok.   I’ll probably will read the sequel eventually but not right away.  I think this was Pierce Brown’s first book, so hopefully the next one will be better.  I like the concept, I do.  The execution just wasn’t quite up the the task.

GoT! What might have been and What might be.

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Who knew I would be writing about HarperCollins twice in one week? It turns out HarperCollins London’s office is moving into a swanky new office.  According to this article, there are conferences rooms named in honor of their authors, Hilary Mantel and George R.R. Martin. And it’s the Martin room that interests me.  This room has on display the original letter that Mr. Martin wrote to his agent about the plot of The Song of Ice and Fire.  The final paragraph has been blacked out keeping the ending a mystery, for which I am glad about.

Some kind soul took pictures of the letter and posted it on Tumblr. I don’t think I have to say this but I will, Spoiler Alert.  While many of Mr. Martin’s original ideas did not come to pass, some still might happen.  Including the five characters who Mr. Martin originally intended on surviving the whole series.  I give you a hint, all five are currently still alive though may not be for much longer.  So, click at your own risk. 

For those who found the letter to hard to read or too lazy to read it,  MilfordAcademy summarized the letter on the blog Oh No They Didn’t.  Again, don’t read unless you really want to know. You’ve been warned!

So what do you think?  Who wishes some of what he originally planned had happened?  There’s a few things I definitely do and other’s I’m very glad never happened but I guess there is still time.

Oh My God! This is Huge!

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Featured imageAnyone who ever went to high school in the United States and maybe outside the US has read To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  It’s considered an American Lit classic and despite it’s success it’s Miss Lee’s only book.  That is until now.  HarperCollins today announced that Miss Lee will publish her first her book in over 50 years Like OMG!  This is amazing.  Not only is it a new book but it’s a sequel. Go Set a Watchmen follows an Adult Scout as she comes cack to Maycomb, Alambama.

The book is set during the mid-1950s, some 20 years after To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout (Jean Louise Finch) has returned to Maycomb from New York to visit her father Atticus and is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand both her father’s attitude toward society, and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood

This is awesome!  It turns out that Go Set a Watchmen is actually Miss Lee’s first book.  When she showed it to her editor, the editor said she should write about a young Scout, so she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird instead.  She thought the manuscript was other destroyed or lost.  Surprise! It was not.

Well it might not be all good news.  HarperCollins only has contact with Miss Lee through her Lawyer and Literary Agent so there are questions about whether Miss Lee has really signed off on this.  It would be sad if that was true and I hope that it is not true.  I’m not sure if this is good or not but for now I am going to be excited about the new release and will wait patiently for July 14.

I can’t think of a clever title so Award Winners it is!

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The American Library Association announced the winners of the Newbery, Caldecott  and Printz awards today.  These honor the best on Children’s literature.  Past winners, like Johnny Tremain, The Graveyard Book, and The Westing Game are now consider classics so it’s a big deal to win.  Not to mention a boost in sales. No doubt tomorrow hundreds of parents went into bookstores all over the country asking for them.

Featured imageThere are a few stand outs.  Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson has already won the National Book Award for Young Adult, was honored with the Coretta Scott King Award and was also a Newbery Honoree.  It’s Ms. Woodson’s memoir of growing up in the south and in New York, told mostly in verse.  On a personal note, Ms. Woodson lives in the neighborhood that I work in and is a very nice woman.  So I couldn’t be happier for her.  I haven’t read it yet but it’s definitely on the to-read list.

Featured imageGrasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith was named a Printz Award honoree.  I have read this and let me tell you, it’s kinda of messed up.  I became interested in it since it takes place in Iowa, my home state.  It’s a story of Austin, a horny teenager who struggling with his feelings for both his girlfriend Shann and his best friend Robby.  If that wasn’t enough problems for a teenage boy, he and Robby accidentally unleashed six foot praying mantis’ that will destroy the world.  Yeah, I know.  Weird. In one way, it was refreshing to have a novel take on bisexuality in such a head on way but on the other hand, the female lead Shann, is pretty one dimensional. So it’s progressive in one way and a step back in another way.  It’s still worth a read though.

Have you read any of the other winners or honorees?  If so, sound off in the comments below.

Public Service Announcement: Great Books coming out today!

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For those of you not stuck in Blizzard Juno (Is it really necessary to name winter storms?) There are some really good books coming out today.  Two I’ve already mentioned and one I’m really looking forward to reading (though I wish it wasn’t a prequel)

Featured imageI was Here by Gayle Forman.  I wrote about earlier this month.   I do not stress enough.  Keep your tissues close while readiing. Also Gayle Forman fans, she has opened an online store with really great t-shirts and tote bags.  You should check it out.  Gayle Forman’s All. The. Feels. Shop

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The Mime Order is finally out so go out and read it.  Oh Warden, you are just so wonderful. You won’t be disappointed in this sequel.

Featured imageI haven’t talked about Fairest yet.  It’s one I haven’t had a chance to read.  It’s a prequel to the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer.  That would be Cinder, Scarlet and Cress.  I love love this series.  It’s a retelling of the fairy tales, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel but set in the future and with Aliens from the Moon!  The last book, Winter was supposed to come out now but Miss Meyer had to push back the release because Winter with all of it’s characters and stories overlapping, it took longer to write.  So we must make do with Fairest. The prequel about the big bad Lunar Queen Levana.  I’m not sure if I really care that much about Levana’s back story but I need to read something to hold me over until November when Winter comes out.

So there you go.  Three great choices to read while it’s awful outside.  What will you be reading this week?

Tennis, Anyone? The Academy Series by Monica Seles

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For those who know me, I love the sport of tennis.  I actually love sports.  I think they are one of the real dramas in life. They are unpredictable and entertaining.  They happen live so no edits or rewrites. Almost nothing can unite a group of people, city, state or country the way sports can.  So yeah, I love sports but I really love tennis. So two years ago, when tennis legend Monica Seles decided to write a teen novel, I was so on it. So in honor of the Australian Open currently being played, here’s the skinny on The Academy Series.

Featured imageI once described the first book in the The Academy Series, Game On, to friends as Gossip Girl meets Bollettieri’s.  For those not in the know, Bollettieri’s is a tennis academy in Florida that has produced such great champions as Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Maria Sharapova and Seles herself. In Game On we are introduced to Maya, a tennis player who dreams of playing professionally.  She has earned an scholarship into the prestigious Academy that will hopefully set her on her way to tennis glory.  There are two ways into the Academy, scholarships or just being filthy rich and buying your way in.  At the Academy Maya meets many different people.  There’s Cleo, her roommate, who hopes to make it in Golf to support her family in China.  Nicole, already a tennis star, who is threatened by Maya.  Renee, a swimmer, who’s rich family has sort of dumped her there even though she doesn’t really have much athletic ability and Travis and Jake, sons the of Academy owner.  Travis, the golden son being groomed for Football glory and Jake, the bad boy living in his brother’s shadow.  I think you get the picture.

Featured imageNow, these are not the greatest books but I don’t think anyone who picked them up were looking for them to be.  They are fun beach reads with not a lot of substance but a whole lot of drama. It turns out that Maya has more to worry about than just her tennis. She also has to contend with possible endorsement deals, internet gossip, jealous rivals and boys’ fickle affection. Life at the Academy is a lot harder than Maya thought it would be.  The best thing about Game on and it’s sequel, Love Match is the friendship between Maya, Cleo and Renee.  Renee is clearly in the Haves and Maya and Cleo, the Haves-not but they make it work.  You don’t always get books with good female friendships. (You don’t really get it in movies or TV for that matter either.)  Girls are often rivals for grades, boys, beauty, etc. I really dug the friendship of these girls.  They are vastly different.  Cleo is a free spirit and a lesbian.  Renee is super rich and beautiful and Maya is your average American girl from Buffalo.  They are constantly supporting each other and pushing each other forward.  They sometimes get jealous of each other but they do always find ways back to each other.  Oh and they talk to each other.  What a concept!  What I don’t really like about the series is the lack of tennis. Maya is determined to make it as a player.  It’s her dream but tennis often falls to the back burner as soon as she has an opportunity to pose for an ad campaign or audition for a movie or Travis or Jake start to show interest in her.  It’s not until one of those things falls apart that she recommits herself to tennis.  Promising to focus on tennis from then on or until, you know, the next thing pops up.  Not exactly the best message for young girls.

So basically, if you are looking for a book about girls and sports, this really isn’t it.  It definitely has it’s problems but I do think fans of Gossip Girl and the like will like it.  At the moment, it’s only the two books.  Seles definitely left things open for a third book but I haven’t been able to find any news of a third book coming out.  I have to admit that does disappoint me because there are some story lines that would like to see how they unfold but those are the breaks.

Bonus: For more on The Academy, here’s Brian Phillips of Grantland.com’s hilarious review of the series.