Honey and Dream

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
New York, NY : Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015.
345 p. ; 22 cm.

What a fine and unusual novel this is.  In some ways I think I should end my review here and say, "Just read it for yourself, and see."

I read Bone Gap after seeing it come up several times - a finalist for the National Book Award and a Printz Prize winner this year.  As you can see on the author's website, the book has received a great deal of high praise - and I'd have to concur.  The author both employs - and cleverly does away with - realistic narrative.  Several reviews acknowledged "magical realism," but it is more than that - dreamy, psychological and mythical.

I love that the novel is set in a town that actually exists in my home state, and yet it really only exists between the covers of the book. I also appreciate that the novel could well be a lovely little adult novel and not just a young adult novel.  It tells the story (stories) of two brothers, the likeable and unlikable characters of the town, a Polish immigrant, a kidnapping, a romance (two romances?) and the magic of love and imagination.  What more could you want from a simple, and not so simple, coming of age story.

The novel made me think a bit of Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, Master's Spoon River Anthology, and even works of Günter Grass.  If you like well written novels, with a touch of romance, mystery, magic and danger, then Bone Gap should definitely be on your to-read list.

Like _________ on Steroids

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
New York : Del Rey Trade Paperbacks, 2014.
400 p. : ill., maps ; 21 cm.

I don't know if I would have read Pierce Brown's Red Rising but for a student who recommended it to me.  This student is an exceptional reader who comes to the library, checks out a trilogy of novels (such as the Red Rising trilogy) and brings them back in three or four days - having read them all! Yes, as a middling-fast reader I am jealous.

So I had to jump into the Red Rising series when this student returned them saying, "These are the best."  Did I have a choice?

I'm glad I read Red Rising.  It is a satisfying read.  As Booklist and Library Journal note, it is in the tradition of The Hunger Games, and should appeal to fans of that series.  I especially liked the opening of the novel, where the underground mining world of the main character, Darrow, is developed.  It is a grueling and brutal world of miners on Mars, laboring to harvest an element necessary for the terraforming of the planet. The miners are the Reds, and as the novel develops we learn that world (solar system) they live in is a hierarchy of genetically modified colors dominated by the beautiful and ruthless Golds - with Reds occupying the lowest rung.

The novel quickly moves from the realm of the Reds to a story of rebellion as Darrow is secreted out of his miserable (but meaningful life) and quickly inserted into a shadowy rebellion that aims to overthrow the entire order of the Golds.  From the paced opening, the novel rushes pell-mell into high-tech, high-combat mode with genetically modified beings and a deadly competition among the young adult Golds which will allow Darrow to gain access to the highest realms of power.  And how did Darrow a Red gain access to this elite competition?  Sorry, you'll have to read the novel to find out.

There is a lot of battle violence, romance, intrigue and tight plotting that holds everything together.  But for me, I found it a bit over-the-top, reminding me of how I feel with many contemporary movies--yes, the special effects are awesome and compelling to watch, but I want more finesse and subtlety.  That criticism aside, I would definitely recommend this series to dystopian, survival, science fiction, and thriller novel fans.  It delivers.

Admit It, You Loved It

Confessions by Kanae Minato
New York : Mulholland Books/Little, Brown and Co., 2014.
234 p. ; 21 cm.

Ok, maybe I didn't love it, but it is a good read.  It's funny to see a book praised as "a nasty little masterpiece" or "the most delightfully evil book you will read this year" - but that is the verdict on this well received first-book phenom of Japanese author, Kanae Minato.    

I found the opening of the book to be slightly disorienting - the avenging teacher at the heart of this novel is addressing her students in a way that no middle school teacher would in the US, but once you get past the slightly different mannerisms of the opening, the novel quickly pulls you in and doesn't let go. The novel opens with a punch, a teacher knows that two of her young students have killed her child, and she is leaving the school - but will get even.

The novel has been compared favorably to Gone Girl, and like that novel, it presents a really nasty view of human relationships - in this case between parents and children, children and children, and teachers and children.  There's really no redeeming characters in the book, but that doesn't stop it from being well plotted and compelling.  Part of Minato's success is the shifting narrative viewpoint.  We hear the story from about six different characters' perspectives - and from each come disturbing and/or shocking revelations.

I would definitely recommend this to a student who wants to read a good murder-thriller, revenge novel.  After all it's a vile little read that you just can't put down.