**There maybe a few minor spoilers in this review**
First of all, our Cousin Sarah has good taste in books because I really enjoyed this series. So thank you Sarah for the suggestion. I’m sorry that I waited so long to read it.
One of the themes I got from this series is how past shapes our present and our future. As someone who has a degree in history I really appreciate that. The saying of “those who don’t learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them” maybe cliche but it’s also true. History is littered with examples of forgetting or ignoring the past and then surprised when the results are the same. Look about what is going on today. Many of the same rhetoric that is being said on both side of the aisle have all been said before. There have been so many correlation between what is currently going in the United States with what lead to other Countries descent into authoritarian regimes. Agree or disagree that is the direction the US is going, one must be a little nervous with what they are seeing happening around our country. Right now is the perfect time to look back at our past and see what we can learn.
The Tearling was founded by William Tear and his followers by leaving the United States that had fallen into Martial Law and extreme poverty. They crossed the Atlantic and through a mysterious portal to land in the “New World” to start an utopian society where everyone was equal. No one was more important then another but this was never truly the truth in practice, even from the beginning of their new colony. William Tear always stood higher then everyone else even though he tried not too. His opinion was enough to sway an issue to right or the left. He was the King without the title. You add the people’s unwillingness to talk about their pre-crossing life led to the downfall of the society after only one generation. They failed to learn from their own past. They felt that had moved beyond the troubles of their past but when things fell apart they resorted back into the old habits and fear that lead the downfall of the past and again fell part again. Three hundred years later, Kelsea inherits a country with very little assets and has the traffic it’s own people to a neighboring country to survive. The people are mostly illiterate and live in poverty. The ideals of William Tear have long been forgotten. Kelsea with the help of the Mace, try their best to right the wrongs of their past but with little army and even less of a treasury she is fighting an uphill battle. Kelsea is not perfect herself. She is young and inexperienced. She has a temper on her that makes to make rash decisions. She was also left in the dark about her own countries history, particularly the resent history that she has to learn about her people as she rules them. She makes some great decisions but she also makes some terrible mistakes. Which is important because it is sometimes to easy to make the protagonist to perfect. It would be very easy to make Kelsea a saint, bringing her country back to it’s former glory but Erika Johansen doesn’t do that. Nor does she give us the perfect happy ending either but I’ll get to that later.
The Tearling is a curious place. It takes place in the future but is clearly a Medieval society. They lost most of their medical supplies and doctors in the crossing and 300 later they still haven’t developed any technology. They don’t even have a working printing press. The Horror! They do have a little bit of magic. Kelsea also inherits two sapphires that give her abilities to see into the past and powers. The ability to see into the past and the future help her but also make things a bit tense. She starts to have visions of the past through two women who helped shape the early Tearling. She sees how life was before the crossing and how the Tearling fell. She struggles to figure out how the past is supposed to help her but she knows it’s important. As her kingdom starts to fall apart and those who are most loyal are starting to question. When she finally figures out what to do it’s ruthless and brave that runs head on into doing not knowing what the outcome will be. In the end *spoiler* she does bring back William Tear’s vision for the New World even though it’s not how she imagined it. It’s very bittersweet that accomplished what she set out to do, she righted all the inequality the country had suffered through but it left her a little alone in her victory. Then again, who knows what the future will bring for Kelsea. Maybe all we have to do is gleam into her past to see where Kelsea will go next.
*** This review may contain Spoilers ***
This was a fun book to read if a little uneven. The sequel to Riders, Seekers picks up a week after the first book ended. Daryn has returned from Georgia after watching Marcus, Jode and Gideon reunite but too scared to face them. She’s still blaming herself for abandoning Bas to the other realm with Samrael, the leader of the Kindred. Gideon is still conflicted because he’s mad at Daryn for her role in Bas’ situation plus losing his hand but he’s also madly in love with her. The trials of teenage love. It’s been eight months and time is running out get Bas back so Daryn, Gideon and the other Riders of the Apocalypse must reunite to go into the Rift, face their demons and save Bas. Now I say it was fun because mixed with all the teenage angst were some funny moments. I truly appreciate Gideon’s snarkiness and sarcasm. A little uneven because it didn’t feel the momentum of the first part of the book didn’t stay to the last part. The book spends half of the book trying to find Bas and then we find him and find out that he was just the bait. Samrael was only using him to get Daryn and the real conflict begins. I sort felt that all the trials that happened before were kinda meaningless now. It seemed like a long way to go to get to the payoff and we did it wasn’t as satisfying and felt rushed. I wish we had spent less time on the Bas search and more on the Samrael/Daryn debate of forgiveness and who deserves it. Other then that, it was a good book.
Phew! I did it. I only had about 48 hours to read my DRC and I just barely made it under the deadline. It helped that those last two days fell on my days off from work. I’m very glad that I got a chance to read it. Believe Me was a touching and honest memoir of man who struggled by persevered not just in his career but in his life. Eddie Izzard is mostly known for his stand up but he is also an actor and transgender. He talks openly about his sexuality and trying to identify who he is when there really wasn’t a word for it, the loss of his mother when he was six and breaking into the entertainment industry when you have no idea on how to find the door. He goes step by step throughout his life that lead him to where he is now and those who are familiar with his stand up will notice how many of his chapters are written like his shows. With a topic and then a short digression into a topic that’s related but not really related before coming back to the original thread. It’s filled with humor and grief. Hard times but good times too. He didn’t have an easy road but it wasn’t all tragedy either. He owns up to his privilege of growing up in a middle class household. How the hard work of his father not only inspired him but allowed him to be able to follow his dreams and when he wasn’t able to pay the bills, his father was there to support him. He talks about the fear of coming out and knowing that it could be the end of his career but how he had to do it. I don’t think I have ever read a more clear and detailed experience of someone’s coming out. I think most people see it as it as a one time thing. You Say I’m Gay! and that’s it but really it’s like multiple coming outs. Once to themselves, then close friends and family and then coworkers and so forth. To my LGBTQ+ friends, I hope that I have been supportive you and know that I believe that you are all brave for being you. It’s also a good demonstration that if want something you have to be willing to work for it. Eddie’s path to success had a lot of failures and a lot of unexpected detours but he used everyone of them to learn and grow and kept at it. He’s still looking for new challenges like performing his stand up in different languages to connect more with people from different cultures. Fans of Eddie will love it but I think people looking for inspiration will get a lot out of it too.
I keep waiting for Rick Riordan to write a bad book. The Dark Prophecy is not that book. He just keep coming up with fresh and different ideas of making these old stories relevant and fun. Whoever is the God or Goddess of story telling, Rick Riordan is their son. When we last left Apollo, he’s reeling from the betrayal of Meg, a new prophecy sending him to Indianapolis and the reappearance of Leo and Calypso. That’s a lot for a former God turned mortal teenage boy to handle but handle he must. When Apollo, Leo and Calypso arrive they are greeted by some very polite monsters because of course the monsters that inhabit the Midwest would be polite. they are rescued by two former Hunters of Artemis Emmie and Josephine who tells them that their daughter is missing. She had gone to the dark oracle for help from the second Emperor who has made Indianapolis his home. Of course this Emperor Apollo has personal history with making everything more awkward. As the crew tries to figure out how to defeat Emperor Commodus and get the next prophecy without going crazy they experience the same mythic hi-jinks of the other books. Yes, these book can at times feel be formulaic but it never feel feels like that. They are just fun, witty and refreshing. Rick doesn’t shy away for the more uncomfortable stories from Greek and Roman mythology or tries to wash them out either. Many of these stories are not happy or fun but then again neither is life and yet Rick never lets it get to dark. He is always able to find the absurdity in them. Bring on the next one.
This is a story of how people deal with abuse. No seriously. Yes, they are mostly fairies and there is magic and takes place in a land full of both of those things but deep down it’s about the effects of abuse and how we deal with it. Almost every character has suffered some kind of abuse one way or another. In 
If you are not immediately charmed, heartbroken and uplifted after reading this then you should check your pulse. This is the perfect blend of romance, coming of age story and social commentary. It centers around a day in the life of Natasha and Daniel, two teenagers on the cusp of major changes in their lives. It also touches on the minor interactions that seem meaningless at the time but how that connection could and some times do change someone’s life. Natasha and her family are illegal immigrants from Jamaica who are being deported at 10 o’clock that night. She is trying to stop their deportation when she meets Daniel, a Korean-American boy who has the day off so he can prepare and meet for an interview for admission to Yale. From the moment they meet there is an immediate connection. They both share the immigrant experience of being from two places at the same time. Even, though Daniel was born in the US, he is often assumed to be from someplace else. He’s never Korean enough or American enough. Natasha was born in Jamaica but now has lived most of her life in the US. Her friends are here, her future is here she doesn’t want to leave. When they meet though, their futures couldn’t be different. Daniel’s life has already been planned out for him while Natasha’s is now unsure. Daniel’s parents are dead set on him and his brother to have a better life then they did, which means, Yale and becoming a doctor and marrying a Korean girl. Natasha, was planning on going to college and was going to be a data scientist and now all of that is uncertain. Anyway, they meet and while they don’t know anything about each other they know they have a special bond from the beginning. Daniel is a poet and romantic. He’s convinced that their meeting was fate. That they are meant to be. Natasha is a scientist and a realist. She doesn’t believe in love is real or anything that can’t be scientifically proven. As Natasha tries to kill time before she meets with an immigration lawyer Daniel convinces her to spend time with him to prove that love can be scientifically proven and so they go allover New York, getting to know each other and becoming first friends and then falling in love. They meet each other’s parents and face each other demons. While the story focuses on them, we get glimpses into the lives of the people around them. From their own family but the random people that they briefly come in contact with. The security guard that scans Natasha’s bag, the secretary of the lawyer. They all paint a picture of how we all relate to each other and how our decisions big and small can change a complete strangers life. It’s something to think about. It was talks about how racism presents itself in other communities. Daniel’s Korean parents own a black hair care store in Harlem but when his father and his brother meets Natasha they treat her in their shop. They own a shop that caters to black shopper and yet they can’t even hide their own negative biases. This was a beautiful novel that not only tells a perfect story of two kids struggling to figure out who they are while dealing with the forces outside of their control but also doesn’t shy from taking on tough issues of racism, immigration, depression and even family. You need to read this book is all I’m saying.
Waverly is perfect except so can’t sleep so she spends her nights running. Marshall is loser burn out, who spends his nights drinking and smoking pot. They have nothing in common and since they don’t run in the same social circles they have no reason to interact, until Waverly decides to try an experiment to help her sleep and ends up in Marshall’s room. I’m wrong they do have one thing in common. They both have terrible coping habits. Waverly has created this kind of ice princess persona. She is the perfect student, the perfect social butterfly, the perfect daughter and the perfect citizen. Since junior high, she has planned her and her best friend’s ascent up the social hierarchy. Now that she is there, she is trapped in this persona she has created and doesn’t know what to do with herself. Her own fears of people seeing through her carefully crafted facade keeps her up all night. She runs, she does homework, she watches horror movies late at night. Marshall is the opposite, he’s almost too open. He cares too much. His home life is a mess. He’s parents were going to get divorce but then his dad gets sick so they decide to stay together even though it makes them unhappy and everyone else unhappy. To deal with it he does everything to know the pain. He drinks until he gets sick. He smokes until his stoned. He makes out with a girl that he knows he doesn’t like but that she likes him. He rarely goes to class because what’s the point? He’s not going to college. Things start to change when Waverly magically appears in Marshall’s room. It’s weird and uncomfortable and awkward as neither of them know what’s going on and Marshall is the only one who can see her. To Waverly it’ a dream that helps her sleep but when she wakes up their remnants of the dream remain. She has leaves on her feet from walking outside or a gigantic hickey from last night’s make out session. At night they can be open and honest with each other but in the bright of day they can barely acknowledge each other existence. Marshall wouldn’t fit in Waverly’s world. However, they are just want each other needs. Waverly shows Marshall that he matters, that he could be so much more then what he is right now. And Marshall shows Waverly that she doesn’t have to be perfect all the time. I was really drawn into these characters and I wanted them to find a way to each other. It was satisfying when they both stood finally stood up for themselves to their various bullies. For them to both realize what was truly making them feel unhappy and finally doing something about it. At times I found myself identifying with both Waverly and Marshall. There are times in my life that I felt I had a certain ways to fit in with my friends, especially in high school. You say and do things that you know the other person wants to hear and do because it’s just easier to go along. I also know the feeling of just trying to numb the pain instead of dealing with it. I like to think that I have good coping mechanisms but not always. This book is just a reminder that sometimes the biggest obstacles to being happy is ourselves. Literature is great like that. It’s entertaining and full of life lessons.
