One Sentence Reviews: June

I was really certain I'd get at least Rose Madder done before the end of the month, but moving has really taken it out of me. That, and I've just read my eighty-eighth (88th!) book of 2015.

Until I get my properly grumptastic feet under me again, have some one sentence reviews for the month of June!

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JUNE 2015

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• The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes (2013, time-traveling thriller)
• Depression-era drifter finds a house which opens onto other times, already full of memorabilia from the murders he then feels compelled to commit. -- Like most time-travel stories, it's a fun head exercise tracking how all the pieces will fit together, but it has very little heart. 3/5 stars.
• A Replacement Life by Boris Fishman (2014, contemporary)
• Journalist's attempts to distance himself from his Jewish family fail when his grandfather enlists him to falsify his memoirs, so that he and his peers can benefit from grants set aside for Holocaust survivors. -- You know you're reading Literary Fiction when the author writes the essay for you. 2/5 stars.
• Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (2006, graphic novel memoir)
• Cartoonist records accounts of her childhood in a funeral home and contrasts her coming-out experience with her memories of her closeted father. -- Well-composed and thought-provoking, at least for an afternoon. 3/5 stars.
• Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel (2012, graphic novel memoir)
• Cartoonist records the process of trying and failing to write about her mother, punctuated with Freudian dream analysis. -- I was just about clawing at the walls to get out of this suffocatingly neurotic meta-book; I can't deny that I think in similar patterns, but seeing them all laid out on the page was exasperating beyond belief. 1/5 stars.
• Tea With The Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy (1999, magic-realist mystery)
• Alarmed by her daughter's cryptic messages, a traveling musician enlists the help of a polite Chinese stranger to find and rescue her, unaware that he is an ancient creature looking for his own lost meaning. -- It's a comically bland thriller, but I enjoyed it for being exactly how I'd picture an encounter with a dragon in modern times to go. 2.5/5 stars.
• Rose Madder by Stephen King (1995, contemporary thriller)
• Battered wife flees to make a new life, finding courage in her recurring dreams of a labyrinth and in a mysterious painting, while her cop husband tracks her down. -- This is the scariest story King has written, but it's paradoxically one of his rare tender, affirming novels. 4.5/5 stars. (Full review here!)
• Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed (2012, fantasy)
• Aging ghoul-killer investigates a growing number of monsters while his apprentice bickers with the local shape-changer. -- There are very few books that I don't finish, given how quickly I read... but this one wasn't even worth the remaining two hours it might have taken to get to the end. 1/5 stars.
• Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu (2010, afrofuturism)
• Doubly condemned for being both female and a child of rape, a mixed-race girl fights for her village sorcerer to train her before her powerful father kills her in the dream world. -- I couldn't pull away from this fascinating and unusual story... until the halfway point, when it devolved into juvenile love triangles, and finished on a sickeningly awful note. 2/5 stars.
• Last Night at the Blue Angel by Rebecca Rotert (2014, historical)
• Apiring jazz singer chases elusive fame, while a long list of heartbroken lovers and her own daughter cling to the scraps she leaves behind. -- I liked the dichotomy between seeing Naomi as a terrible mother and the great grief of her neglected child's life, and seeing Naomi in her own narration as a brave and terrible person fighting wildly against the limitations placed upon her. 4.5/5 stars,
• Mariel of Redwall by Brian Jacques (1991, YA fantasy)
• Shipwrecked amnesiac enlists the aid of Redwall Abbey and its allies to fight the corsairs who still hold her father hostage. -- This was my first Redwall book and it still--clearly--has a place in my heart, like all stories about heroic mouse girls punching villains in the face. 3/5 stars.
• Pink by Lili Wilkinson (2009, YA contemporary)
• Resenting the categories she has been placed in, lesbian punk teen transfers to a prep school to try out being popular and straight. -- Boy, this author had a weird bee in her bonnet: "Don't accept me so easily!" 1/5 stars.
• Wildthorn by Jane Eagland (2009, YA historical )
• Forced into a Victorian-era mental asylum by unknown betrayers, aspiring female doctor strives to escape and confront the truth. -- A moderately fun historical piece, not terribly memorable. 3/5 stars,
• Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle (1999, YA ghost story)
• Sulky young American expat helps her new stepparents restore a historic (read: haunted) farm in Dorset and takes it upon herself to free the ghost she loves. -- Better on the reread than my first try, and thanks to Della for making me pick it up again; Jenny is a strikingly charismatic narrator in a tale with good twists. 3.5/5 stars.
• Rage: A Love Story by Julie Anne Peters (2009, YA contemporary)
• Young teen's attempt to support her troubled girlfriend creates a cycle of abuse instead. -- This was so much an Issue Book that I couldn't even describe the characters to you; that said, the Issues at hand were ghastly and worth discussing. 2/5 stars.
• Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden (1982, YA contemporary)
• A chance meeting in an art museum turns into a close friendship, which turns into more. -- I knew this was a Lesbian Classic and assumed it was because the pickings were slim; I didn't realize it was because this was the sweetest, gentlest story of falling in love I've read in a long time. 4/5 stars.
• We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach (2015, YA contemporary)
• Ensemble cast of teenagers band together in the face of a potential meteoric apocalypse, hoping to make their final days count for something. -- Throughout the entire reading experience, I kept thinking "Life As We Knew It did it better." 2/5 stars.
• Empress of the World by Sara Ryan (2001, YA contemporary)
• Various characters at an intensive summer school work through various family-, identity-, and romance-related issues. -- It has a few good moments, but nothing you would regret not reading. 2/5 stars.
• Keeping You A Secret by Julie Anne Peters (2003, YA contemporary)
• Class president never thinks about diversity until a new transfer student lobbies for a lesbigay club; class president then thinks about it a lot harder, falls in love, and becomes villainized by parents, schoolmates, and former friends. -- Julie Anne Peters writes really well-developed characters in bizarrely underdeveloped relationships, but I can see why this particular one of her books gets discussed a lot in alternative YA circles. 3.5/5 stars.
• Far From You by Tess Sharpe (2014, YA mystery)
• High school senior exits rehab to conduct an investigation of her best friend's murder while battling her own crippling injuries, a painkiller addiction, and the aspects of the mystery she'd rather stayed secret. -- It starts out like the author is ticking off her research points, but develops into an emotionally mature mystery (the ending of which I sincerely did not see coming.) 4/5 stars.

Book Grumps isn't moving...

... but the grump herself is!

Let this stand as my apology to you, dear reader, for the lateness of June's book reviews. Most of the time, when I'm not at work, I'm packing boxes. Still, I'm really excited about the books in my review stack. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming reviews of Stephen King's Rose Madder, Nnedi Okorafor's Who Fears Death, and the Alison Bechdel's Fun Home!

One Sentence Reviews: May

One sentence summaries, one sentence reviews of all the books of May--both the dross I've already mostly forgotten reading, and the gems I'm looking forward to reviewing. I finished up a number of series this month, so there isn't as much variety as before. (Maybe this will be the summer I get around to reading the Discworld books...)

P.S. 69 books and counting for 2015!

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MAY 2015

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• Cold Magic by Kate Elliott (2010, steampunk)
• Rambunctious Phoenician schoolgirls have magic, get married, and fail to explain their own plot despite repetitive fact-dumping about their alternate history/steampunk world. -- A lot of plot-induced headache with no payoff. 2/5 stars. (Full series review here!)
• Cold Fire by Kate Elliott (2011, steampunk)
• In which our heroines bumble into the Caribbean and make out with everyone; also, zombies. -- This one gets half a star more than the others because the free Caribbean society was interesting. 2.5/5 stars. (Full series review here!) 
• Cold Steel by Kate Elliott (2013, steampunk)
• In which our heroines get lost in their own plotlines, change sides several times for no reason, recap the plot to each other in every conversation, and I guess save the world; also, more zombies. -- I was really hoping the author would have the nerve to axe her narrator. 2/5 stars. (Full series review here!)
• The Finger: A Novel of Love and Amputation by David L. Robbins (2014, contemporary/humor)
• A flaky writer offers his girlfriend anything she asks to stay with him; she proposes permanent mutilation to demonstrate his sincerity; America's favorite talk show host rigs the outcome. -- A surprisingly tender book, for all of its comedic premise, with great side characters. 4/5 stars.
• How To Kill A Rock Star by Tiffany DeBartolo (2005, contemporary romance)
• Music-addicted reporter realizes that she can only secure her budding rock star fiancee's success by breaking up with him. -- A book to remind you of when you were young enough to give your heart 100% to the things you loved without shame. 4/5 stars.
• Breath and Bones by Susann Cokal (2005, historical)
• Fallen from convent grace to be an artist's model, Famke tracks her beloved painter across the American frontier, modifying his masterpieces as she goes. -- A great book about drop-kicking the male gaze and classical definitions of beauty, with a side of cross-dressing and robbery, ending as always with tuberculosis. 4.5/5 stars. (Full review here!)
• Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw (1985, historical)
• Egyptian street rat is blackmailed by two different factions into spying on Hatshepsut's court. -- A dated but nevertheless endearing book about an unapologetically terrible person. 3/5 stars.
• The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison (2014, urban fantasy)
• (Part of the Hollows series) Rachel Morgan accidentally steals pieces of a particulate elven goddess, which, as usual, nearly ends the world. -- The heart has gone out of the series, but the comedy and the action remain. 3/5 stars. (Full series review here!)
• Into The Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond by Kim Harrison (2012, urban fantasy)
• (Part of the Hollows series) An anthology of various side stories and histories. -- These made so little impression I don't even remember finishing the anthology. 2/5 stars. (Full series review here!)
• The Witch With No Name by Kim Harrison (2014, urban fantasy)
• (Part of the Hollows series) Everything blows up. -- Don't ask me to summarize the final book in a series; I have to be vague. Still mad about Ivy. 3/5 stars. (Full series review here!)
• Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (2009, contemporary thriller)
• Former child-survivor of a brutal family massacre makes an appearance at a serial killer fan convention to supplement her donation-based income, learns the brother she put behind bars might have been innocent all along. -- Not personally moving like Flynn's other stories, but a solid thriller. 4/5 stars.
• Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (2015, YA contemporary)
• Gay high schooler is blackmailed into setting up his friend with a creep, or risk having his online relationship with a mystery fellow student outed for th world to judge. -- I was not prepared for this book about all the ways you have to keep coming out, over and over again, to be as cute as it was. 3.5/5 stars.
• All The Rage by Courtney Summers (2015, YA contemporary)
• High school rape victim is shunned after going public with her accusations, but joins in the search for another missing girl. -- A staggeringly brutal emotional journey that falls flat at the ending. 4/5 stars. (Full review here!)
• Shackle and Sword by Alanna Morland (1999, fantasy)
• Unappealing hero meanders through faux-medieval life while the gods have no effect upon his life whatsoever except to periodically remind the reader that he likes animals as much as he likes fighting. -- What a pointless book. 2/5 stars.

Review: "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell

Astronomers studying the Alpha Centauri system pick up a broadcast of unearthly music, finally putting the existence of alien civilizations beyond down. While government and scientists debate, private organizations take action. The first mission to contact an alien race is led by representatives of the Jesuit Order.

Years later, the sole survivor of the mission to Rakhat is retrieved from an alien brothel: bizarrely mutilated and, by his own admission, a murderer.

Father Emilio Sandoz's survival is as miraculous as it is inconvenient. The media demands answers of the Jesuits, outraged by the behavior of their representatives and the civil war they sparked among the peaceful alien society they discovered. To preserve the reputation of their disgraced order, the Father General of the Society of Jesus must force Sandoz to speak. No one, least of all Sandoz, is prepared for his confession.

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The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (1996)

5 out of 5 stars 

Complexity of Writing: 4/5
Quality of Writing: 5/5
Strength of Characterization: 5/5
Logic of Plot Development: 5/5
Evocation of Setting: 5/5
Effectiveness of Pacing: 5/5
Resolution of Conflict: 4/5
Emotional Engagement: 5/5
Mental Engagement: 4/5
Memorability: 5/5
Bechdel Test: pass?
Diverse Cast: pass
Content Warning: character deaths, rape, reference to child prostitution, cannibalism, suicidal thinking

Overall Response: I am devastated and become something new.

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More Thoughts: I don't have a category for The Sparrow. It defies classification and shatters my petty little rating system. Mary Doria Russell doesn't just write a successful story--she succeeds on a level I didn't know was possible. 

Review: "All The Rage" by Courtney Summers

No one in Grebe believes Romy Grey about the sheriff's son. Her former crush on him, her willing presence at his house, her family history of alcoholism, all add up to one thing in the eyes of her peers: she is a liar who would say anything for attention. Telling the truth has cost Grey everything.

After the traditional high school lake party, Penny Young, Grey's onetime best friend, goes missing. The police searchers who look for her find Grey instead, wandering in a daze on a country road. Grey's rescue gives her peers a new reason to hate her: if the searchers hadn't split their forces to help her, they might have found Penny by now.

In the face of her classmates' resentment and the Grebe sheriff's accusations, Grey joins in the search for Penny. Despite everything, she thinks that Penny would have done the same for her.

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All The Rage by Courtney Summers (2015)

4 out of 5 stars 

Complexity of Writing: 3/5
Quality of Writing: 4/5
Strength of Characterization: 4/5
Logic of Plot Development: 4/5
Evocation of Setting: 4/5
Effectiveness of Pacing: 4/5
Resolution of Conflict: 2/5
Emotional Engagement: 5/5
Mental Engagement: 4/5
Memorability: 4/5
Bechdel Test: pass
Diverse Cast: pass
Content Warning: graphic description of rape, suicidal thinking, bullying, drug use, racism, misogyny, character deaths

Overall Response: I'm almost glad the ending flopped because otherwise this book was almost too intense to handle.

***

More Thoughts: Generally, I don't like talking about books by comparing them to other books, but I can't discuss Courtney Summers' All The Rage without bringing up Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak.

Series Review: The "Spiritwalker Trilogy" by Kate Elliott

Cousins Cat and Bee Barahal are lucky to be alive in an age of invention and change. They are among the first women to be educated alongside men in the academy of Adurnam. But the daughters of Phoenician spies and soldiers weren't born to sit quietly and behave: adventure is in their bones.

To Cat's surprise, so is magic. On her twentieth birthday, cold mages from the powerful Four Moons House come for her, citing an old contract marrying the eldest Barahal girl to the heir of their house.

But Phoenician families like the Barahals are renowned for their sly dealings. The contract that snared Cat was meant for Bee, whose prophetic visions make her a prize to whoever owns her. The thwarted mages of Four Moons House are determined to try again to claim her--over Cat's dead body.

Now both cousins are on the run, revolution and old magic igniting in their footsteps.

***

The Spiritwalker Trilogy by Kate Elliott (2010)

2 out of 5 stars 

Complexity of Writing: 3/5
Quality of Writing: 1/5
Strength of Characterization: 2/5
Logic of Plot Development: 1/5
Evocation of Setting: 3/5
Effectiveness of Pacing: 1/5
Resolution of Conflict: 1/5
Emotional Engagement: 2/5
Mental Engagement: 2/5
Memorability: 2/5
Bechdel Test: pass
Diverse Cast: pass
Content Warning: none that I can recall

Overall Response: What a colossal letdown. I have a headache.

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More Thoughts: Dear reader, if you took a shot for every Conveniently Overheard Conversation in this series, you'd be dead from alcohol poisoning. And your mourners could still host an open bar at your funeral reception with the booze you didn't get to finish. Yikes.