Life in the new town could be so great, but then things are gettingtrigger warning (view spoiler)[ trauma, domestic violence, bullying (hide spoiler)]
Life in the new town could be so great, but then things are getting weird. People are getting weird. Does the big corporation half of the town relies on for jobs have something to do with this?
I liked the characters. Our protagonist belongs to one of the two black families in town, and he'd love to befriend his basebull buddy from the other black family, but everyone wants to be friends with him. His single mom is a top-notch journalist who has won awards and now buried her career in the local newspaper, for her family, to get her three sons into better surroundings and possibly a brighter future.
Then there is Kyle, the sidekick. The possibly new best friend. Kyle has autism. At the start of the novel, he isn't diagnosed yet, but that's because his father fears the stigma of the diagnosis in a small town.
What I did not like that the horror parts I was promised mostly played out as nightmares, and the main plot was more sci-fi-y. I understand that this is a case where you didn't want to give too much away, and I also understand that the target audience has consumed less media than I have, but I found the plot too predictable. It's like the middlegrade adaption of (view spoiler)[ the first Kingsmen movie (hide spoiler)] and I'd rather re-watch that.
I guess this one was just not for me. The arc was provided by the publisher....more
trigger warning (view spoiler)[ boot camp, kidnapping, grief, homelessnes, drug addiction, mention of rape, mention of suicide, being orphaned, racism,trigger warning (view spoiler)[ boot camp, kidnapping, grief, homelessnes, drug addiction, mention of rape, mention of suicide, being orphaned, racism, misogyny, self harm (hide spoiler)]
Iphigenia is shocked when she finds out the real reason for her fathers suspiciously generous decision to go and dine with her: It's so her brother can be kidnapped and placed into a bootcamp. Enraged, she flees the scenes and wanders through Portland. Meanwhile, her brother manages to escape the bootcamp, and is adopted by an all-female punk band.
The beginning is a lot of plot in one chunk, but only to set the scene. Afterwards, the novel gets characterdriven, and for once, I was fine with it. Every single character is interesting. Well, the protagonist's father is interestingly revolting, but interesting nonetheless.
This book is set in the 1990-ies, but the main issue is that there is no mobile communication. Apart from that, it could be set anytime, really, as long as there is an active punk scene.
Both protagonists have their own chapters, and since they share the same parents, both deal with being biracial: Their mother is Mexican while their father is Greek, and they have this weird and normal thing where they feel between all cultures. On top of that, I suspect that Orr is on the autism spectrum. He is never called an autist, but the description fits, the meltdowns, how the world sometimes is simply too much, his ways of coping with that - which is what makes his father think the best decision is boot camp.
Similiarly, the person Iph meets is never called non binary, but is described without use of pronouns. Said person is George, and through George we meet a lot of people in Portland not everybody would want to see. The homeless, the sex worker, the drug addicts. George helps out in the local needle exchange, and thus we meet some more awesome characters.
Then, suddenly, from what felt like a road trip despite them being in one place, there is magical realism and it went from nil to 100 in a very, very short time which was weird, and unexpected, but I liked it.
I am sure I'll find my mind drifting back to these fictional people a lot and I am curious about other works by the same author, if there are any. This was simply beautiful. In some places, it hurt, but not too much to have to quit, and then I was invested. The arc was provided by the publisher....more
An ordered but fantastic life gets disordered and more fantastical trigger warning (view spoiler)[ grief, trauma, gun violence, cancer (hide spoiler)]
An ordered but fantastic life gets disordered and more fantastical on one single day - the day the Harding-Pencroft Academy gets attacked and destroyed, with Ana Dakka'rs class left alive, as they were going on a sailing trip to get some hands-on experience on what they're learning in theory day in, day out.
Ana Dakkar is the last living descendant of Capitain Nemo of 20.000 Leagues under the Sea fame. You don't have to read the novels by Jules Verne before reading this one, and to be honest, I didn't even know there were two books. I only read one and that was so long ago when I pic book two up again, I'll make sure to re-read the first one.
At this point in time, this seems to be a standalone. The world building is so rich that there could be more in the future, but this book was intended for all those who heard about Percy Jackson and are intimidated by the sheer amount of books that universe has. And, well, all those who say "New uncle Rick book? Sign me up!" And his book has all the points we love: A group of young people who have to work together to save the day, aspects of found family, animal sidekicks, diverse cast and rep.
The school is sorted into four houses, but not based on randomly assigned character traits. Every house has a speciality, and while everyone may get some basic training in all aspects, you really get down on your speciality: Sharks are combatants and strategists, orcas archivists and healers, cephalopods equipment and engineering, dolphins communications and codes. Everyone gets basic weaponry training or first aid courses, but if you can, you get the healer for your injuries and let the warriors plan your battle strategies.
We have a reasonable explanation for why children need to fight. (view spoiler)[ Ana's class was sheduled for sailing and they escaped the attack by being in a bus when it happened. They had one teacher to accompany them because the class is not that big, and said teacher hid some health stuff he should have talked about which incapacitated him and left the crew without adult supersivion. They have a theory as to where they were headed and figure it out with the skills learned in school, and from there we roll. (hide spoiler)]
The time it took me to read this was down to me being sick and moody and had not anything to do with this book. I knew I would read the whole thing so I was in no hurry. If you want to dip your toes in Rick Riordan's writing without commiting to a huge series, this is the perfect one. If you decide to read more afterwards, please be aware that the author has been busy for quite some time and is one of those who learn in their craft. If you go from this to the first Percy Jackson book there will be noticable differences, especially in regards to diversity and queer and disablity rep....more
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