So let’s talk the controversy. I was excited about reading this book because I thought it sounded interesting and was curious how Veronica Roth would follow up her Divergent series. That was until reviews started to come in and people began talking about the racism surrounding the plot. Now, I don’t necessarily think it is intentionally racist but it is definitely problematic. So the plot revolves around two different races of people who share the same planet. The fair-skinned, peaceful Thuve people and the dark-skinned warrior race Shotet. Right there raised flags for me. That the more violent people are described as being dark in skin, eyes and curly hair versus the more light skinned, blue eyed, straight hair peaceful neighbors. Everything about the Shotet’s is described violently from their language to their tradition of marking their arms with every kill. It brings up images in our society about we are programmed to think that those with darker skinned are more dangerous then those of us who have lighter skin tones. That the lighter skinned people are somehow inherently just better people. And that is why at first I felt a little uncomfortable reading it. However, it didn’t turn me off either. As the story continued, I became more invested in the characters Akos and Cyra. I don’t think ever really got past the uncomfortableness of it but I did want Cyra to best her abusive brother and Akos to rescue his. They compliment each other really well. Cyra has a gift for pain. Pain that she inflicts on others but also lives in her while Akos gift is that he nullifies the current. In this world, everyone has a gift granted by the current. Each gift is different depending on the person. Cyra brother is the ruler of the Shotet people and has been using her as his own personal torturer. She has gained the reputation of being cruel when she is only doing what she is told to do but deep down she knows that she deserves the pain she feels thanks to her painful history. Akos is kidnapped by the Shotet with his brother when their fates clash with the Shotet ruler. Both Cyra and Akos really grow throughout the novel. They both see in each other that they don’t have to be what they raised to be. That they can choose their own paths. The ending was a little meh but it did pose one interesting question that makes me at least interested in the sequel. It might be too late for Veronica to fix the unfortunate world building choices in the sequel but I do hope that in the future she takes more time to ask herself, why she is making these choices in her writing. Is it because this is who the character really is or something that has been internalized in herself coming out on the page.
Review: Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
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For a Matriarchal society, Fennbirn is kinda a violent place. For example, how they pick the Queen that will rule them is a bloodbath. Three Queens, triplets, who all a special power shall we say, Katharine is a poisoner, Mirabella an elemental and Arsinoe is a naturalist. When they turn 16 one of them will ascend to the thrown by using their powers to kill the other two. They are raised together until the age of six and then separated to be fostered by families who share their powers. The families teach them all it takes to master their powers so when the yearly festival of Beltane comes in the year of their 16th Birthday, they will be ready to impress their people, their suitors and imitate their sisters. It’s the first time they are to see each other in years and probably the last time they will see each other until one comes to kill the other. It’s blood thirsty but we are getting ahead of ourselves. Three Dark Crowns is only the first book in the series so it spends a lot of time introducing us to our Queens and the world they live in. Katharine (so nice to have it spelled correctly) is a poisoner that has trouble building her immunity to the many poisons her family feeds her. Arsinoe is a naturalist who can’t even make a flower bloom. Only Mirabella powers is strong. She can make fire, bring down a storm with wind and lightning and control water. The Temple and it’s Priestess have put all their power behind Mirabella to gain control over the island from the Arron family who run the Black council. The Council rules while the Queens come of age. I said that it’s a Matriarchal society as the head of the household are women. Men come second. Whatever sister wins, they will marry one of the suitors from the Mainland but will only ever be the King-consort. A ceremony title and nothing else. His only job is, when the time is right, knock up the Queen so the next set of Triplets can be born. I guess not a bad gig if you can get it. The part is, this book is filled with female characters. It passes the Bechdel test and themselves. Not to say there isn’t male characters but they take up the roles usually for the girls. They are the love interest and the supporting friend or teacher. Nice little swap there. Anyway, Mirabella is the strongest of the three and assumed to easily win the crown but of the three of them she is also the kind-hearted. She remembers her sisters and how that once upon a time they loved each other. She doesn’t think she can kill them. Katharine on the other hand, so wants to prove that he is as strong as the poisoner queens that have come before her. The last few Queens have been poisoners and the Arrons are hell bent on keeping their power. Arsinoe is a little bit of a wild child. She knows that she is weak and hears what people say about her. Her best friend is also the most powerful naturalist in hundreds of years. Only making Arsinoe look even weaker. After their 16th birthday, the sisters do everything they can to prepare for Beltane and find ways to make themselves stronger to give them a chance to survive but threats to their lives might come from outside of their sisters. The Spiritual leaders of Fennbirn have lost influence of the years thanks to the Arrons stronghold on the Black Council. When they heard that Mirabella was as strong as they were the Head Priestess took over her training and are using her to regain power. When it becomes clear that Mirabella is not going to be able to kill her sisters to gain power, they hatch a their own scheme to win their throne. For fans of Game of Thrones or Falling Kingdoms this is one’s for you. While there are not as many deaths, yet, there are political intrigued, many characters and storylines to follow. There’s a twist ending but it’s pretty easy to see it coming. I’ll give you a clue, just look at their names. Which ones don’t really match up with their powers? All and all it was pretty good and I’m looking forward to the sequel.
**Spoilers. I was lucky enough to get an Advance Copy of this book back in December. Spoilers will happen in the review so be prepared.**
Let’s be honest. Sherlock Holmes is a dick. I haven’t read any of the books but every character based on the novels, whether it’s Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr. or Hugh Laurie they are all Grade A assholes. Charlotte Holmes is no different. And you know what, it’s kind of wonderful. Now don’t get me wrong. Charlotte may be a genius but she’s not a role model either. Too often, female characters in book, movie and TV shows have to be likable and often one dimensional. This includes when they are the main character. Male protagonists don’t have this problem. They can be a dick and still be the hero. Charlotte is cold and calculated. She doesn’t adhere to social norms and doesn’t try to fit in. She is also a recovering drug addict teenage girl that is less then a year removed from being sexually assaulted. In other words, she complicated and complex as her great great great great literary grandfather and that’s just fine. Like Sherlock Holmes, Charlotte is humanized by her Watson. Jamie keeps her from completely losing her humanity but he’s also her weakness as she is his. Jamie frequently asks why he continues to stay friends and be in love with Charlotte when she often ignores him, insults him and is constantly puts himself in danger but every time he has a chance to leave he can’t. Instead, he puts himself in the line of fire to try to protect each other. In their own way Jamie and Charlotte try to protect each other only to hurt each other even more. It’s complicated and complex. They are a powder keg ready to blow. Charlotte still dealing with the trauma of her rape and Jamie is respectful of that but he can’t deny his own feelings and wants. There is this thread of tension because you know they both want more from each other but unable to give it. There is always frustration and relief but also realism in it. One does not just get over something like that and one does not turn off ones feelings each other. Both Charlotte and Jamie are allowed to show all their faults. They are allowed to be unlikable. They complicated and complex and it’s wonderful.
You know that moment. That moment when the main character makes a declaration statement that you can’t help but groan because you know they are just going to be disappointed. Yeah, that happened about midway in this book and yeah, Mare was crushed when she found out she was wrong. It wasn’t all that big a surprise because it is the third book our of four, so there still needs to be some drama left. She couldn’t be set in romantic life so soon but it was also like, C’mon Mare! Haven’t you learned anything yet!? Anyway, I think I’m getting ahead of myself. King’s Cage was another fast paced thriller that fits in nicely with the previous two books. Mare begins as a prisoner of Maven, who is using her as a propaganda against the Scarlet Guard. As Mare is imprisoned she battles Maven in an emotional tug of war. She is shackled in silent stone manacles, depriving her of her power and making it impossible to fight back. Her only weapon is to use what she knows of Maven but this is not easy because her own feelings for Maven are complicated. The first part of the novel was interesting as Victoria explores the effects of abuse and can you be held accountable. This is an addition to previous themes of what makes a person a monster. Mare is scared that her powers has made her cold and heartless, to easy for her to kill someone and move on with her life. Thanks to Maven’s mother, he doesn’t have those thoughts because so much of his memories she took away from him. She took away his fears and love of his father and brother. I’m not even sure what you call this abuse. She literally molded him to be the cold killer he is today. The only sense of humanity he has is obsession with Mare but even that has been twisted. Cal on the other hand is still Cal. While he has shown some growth over the novels, he isn’t quite as developed as a character as Maven is. There seemed to be a change in him as he seemed to be turning around about the Scarlet Guard and what they are trying to achieve but the first chance to return to his old life is presented to him the seems to have taken it. The book is still Mare’s story but as the conflict expands beyond her, we are given new Point of Views from Cameron and Evangeline. This is a welcome change as all three woman are different and come at the conflict from different views. They obviously see this conflict from different point views but they all think they are in the right. My one grip with this book was the ending. After pretty cool cliffhangers of the first two books, this one sort of fell flat to me. It wasn’t the game changer of the others. Sure, it assured that Mare was going to have to stand on her without one the Princes beside her but it was also predictable. I guess since this is what is leading us to the finale, I wanted it to be more. That being said, I am super stoked to find out how this series is going to end.
The Swan Riders is the sequel to The Scorpion Rules that I didn’t even know existed until I made a little trip to The Strand last year with a friend. When I saw it, I knew I had to buy it. The Scorpion Rules was one of the better books I read in 2015. It’s yet another dystopian novel but this time with a very sassy AI. It takes place about 500 years in the future after several devastating natural and non-natural disasters. The biggest problem is a shortage of water that has lead to several violent wars. So the U.N. decided to appoint the A.I. named Talis to come up with a solution. His solution was to go all medieval on the world. Every government must give a child as hostage and if they open war on another nation, the hostage dies and oh, a city is going to be blown up too. At the end of The Scorpion Rules, our heroine Greta, the crown Princess of the PanPol Confederation that covers Canada to Great Britain, volunteers to become an A.I. not save herself but also save Elian, the hostage from the neighboring country that openly declared war on her nation. It turns out that turning Greta into an A.I. doesn’t sit well with a lot of people. The new King of PanPol Confederation refuses to give up a new hostage to replace Greta and soon rebellion starts to take hold. As for Greta herself, the transition from human to A.I. isn’t an easy process. In fact no many new A.I.’s survive the first couple of days so it’s a race to get Greta to the home of A.I. across Saskatchewan through an open rebellion. The thing is the rebellion isn’t from the people Talis thinks it from. Talis, Greta and two Swan Riders race across the country they are attacked and Talis is gravely injured. Now they all must figure out why he was attacked before he dies and the city of Halifax is destroyed. In way they have to convinced an A.I. to be more human and a human to be more A.I to change the world. I’ll admit that I liked the ending of the first book. I liked the open ending so when I did see the sequel I wasn’t sure how I felt about it beyond I had to read it. This wasn’t as good as the original but it was still good. While The Scorpion Rules was fast paced, this one was at times a little sluggish. It just didn’t have the same flow. While the main theme of this one is what makes us human and if we take out our human emotions from solving our problems then when do we cross the line of turning into a monster. Can you really have peace through terror? The threat of killing off a hostage or destroying entire cities hasn’t stopped countries from declaring war on another. Maybe there are less conflicts but I wouldn’t say this world was peaceful by any means. So while Talis rule may have saved billions people statistically but it hasn’t changed the world for the better and everyone needs help now and then.
In the second book of Michael Grant’s Soldier Girls series, Rio, Frangie and Rainey have survived their first battle in Africa but the war isn’t over as the focus now turns to Italy. Each of them have to deal with the reality of what they have done and what they will be asked to do in the future. They all have been asked to do things that they never thought they would have to do even though they knew they would be going into war. It’s interesting how each of the our three heroines deal with their emotions but also how the adversity makes each of them stronger. The narrator is still unknown though there are some pretty strong hints a to who it.
2 Women, So Many Books 