Review of The Darkness Within (A Dragon's Spell, book 4)

The Darkness Within (A Dragon’s Spell, book 4)

Author: Abby Arthur

Publisher: Abby Arthur

Publication Date: December 2020

    In this fourth and final short story in a four-story series, the three royal siblings of Jasikx and the adopted son of the dragon who controls them are sent on a mission together. Twins Tarrek and Albree, their sister Sheva, and their accomplice Zi are a powerful four. But faced with two enemy dragons, a highly trained samurai, and the samurai’s family, they find themselves desperately struggling just to survive, let alone acquire the samurai target the dragon sent them after.

    Albree is the archetype perfect teenage boy - with bravery, looks, charm, and wit to spare. Fortunately, his potentially annoying perfection is leavened with comedic sarcasm. Quietly intelligent, cheeky in the way that comes with being the older twin, and thoughtfully solemn at points, Tarrek is Albree’s well-matched counterpart. Sheva, cheeky sister and eager fighter, brings humor to match Tarrek’s seriousness and power and prowess to battle. Zi  - a sassy, skilled, unlikely partner to the royal trio - is an entertainer out of battle and a fierce, levelheaded opponent when he needs to complete a mission. The convergence of all four characters in this, the fourth and final installment, brings the collection to a climactic end anticipatory of the next volume. I would recommend this short story to middle grade fantasy readers looking for a familiar type of kingdom - one with heroes bound to save people, but also needing to fight their own demons.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of Dragon's Blood (A Dragon's Spell, book 3)

Dragon’s Blood (A Dragon’s Spell, book 3)

Author: Abby Arthur

Publisher: Abby Arthur

Publication Date: December 2020

    In this third short story in a four-story series, prince Tarrek Vaydmehn isn’t fighting with his twin, Albree, by his side. Instead, Zi, adopted son of the dragon controlling Tarrek and his brother, is the prince’s next mission partner. Tarrek, a master archer with the ability to bend light, is a force to be reckoned with on his own. But Zi is a master in another skill - magic. When the two of them face an elf who can block Tarrek’s light bending powers, Zi might be the only one who can save them.

    Quietly intelligent, cheeky in the way that comes with being the older twin, and thoughtfully solemn at points, Tarrek is Albree’s well-matched counterpart. Zi  - a sassy, skilled, unlikely partner to Tarrek - is an entertainer out of battle and a fierce, levelheaded opponent when he needs to complete a mission. Fragments of information about the rest of Tarrek and Zi’s personal lives help build them as characters and make readers emotionally invested in the next chapter of their journey. I would recommend this short story to middle grade fantasy readers looking for a familiar type of kingdom - one with heroes bound to save people, but also needing to fight their own demons.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of Shattered Blades (A Dragon's Spell, book 2)

Shattered Blades (A Dragon’s Spell, book 2)

Author: Abby Arthur

Publisher: Abby Arthur

Publication Date: December 2020

    In this second short story in a four-story series, we meet crown prince Tarrek Vaydmehn of Jasikx, twin of prince Albree Vaydmehn. If their lives were entirely their own, the royal pair would be partying after a performance by Albree and his sister Sheva’s band. Instead, the brothers are under the control of a dragon’s spell. This time, Albree and Tarrek are chasing after a multiplier, whom the dragon wants alive. The mission would be hard enough on its own, but a mysterious opponent who attacks both the princes and the multiplier makes it even worse.

    Albree is the archetype perfect teenage boy - with bravery, looks, charm, and wit to spare. Fortunately, his potentially annoying perfection is leavened with comedic sarcasm. Quietly intelligent, cheeky in the way that comes with being the older twin, and thoughtfully solemn at points, Tarrek is Albree’s well-matched counterpart. There’s some apparent substance to our young heroes as well. In a few short chapters, readers get to glimpse them vulnerable, persevering, frustrated, courageous, infatuated, and intelligent. Fragments of information about the rest of Albree and Tarrek’s personal lives help build them as characters and make readers emotionally invested in the next few chapters of their journey. I would recommend this short story to middle grade fantasy readers looking for a familiar type of kingdom - one with princes bound to save people, but also needing to fight their own demons.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of Fire and Shadow (A Dragon's Spell, book 1)

NOTE: As you'll soon find out by reading this review, it is for a short story that is the first in a four-story series. I will be releasing reviews for each short story in individual posts. For readers who consistently look at this blog or are planning on reading the reviews for each short story, know that the summaries for each will be different, but the portion of the reviews that "analyze" the writing, plot, etc, will be more or less the same.

Fire and Shadow (A Dragon’s Spell, book 1)

Author: Abby Arthur

Publisher: Abby Arthur

Publication Date: December 2020

    In this first short story in a four-story series, we meet Albree Vaydmehn, prince of Jasikx. Albree’s having a terrible birthday week. The ability to travel through shadows, something that has always been his refuge, has been twisted into a curse; a dragon has him under a spell, forcing him to chase after a firebender. The spell doesn’t care that he’s in a band, that he has a twin brother and a little sister, and that his sweet sixteen has officially been ruined. It wants him to secure his target, no matter the toll.

    Albree is the archetype perfect teenage boy - with bravery, looks, charm, and wit to spare. Fortunately, his potentially annoying perfection is leavened with comedic sarcasm. And there’s some apparent substance to our young hero. In a few short chapters, readers get to glimpse Albree vulnerable, persevering, frustrated, courageous, infatuated, and intelligent. Fragments of information about the rest of Albree’s personal life help build him as a character and create a lead-in for the second short story. Unfortunately, the influx of information can sometimes be overwhelming and create confusing references. I would recommend this short story to middle grade fantasy readers looking for a familiar type of kingdom - one with a prince bound to save people, but also needing to fight his own demons.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of To Sleep In A Sea of Stars

To Sleep In A Sea of Stars

Author: Christopher Paolini

Publisher: Tor Books

Publication Date: September 2020

    First contact, romance, and warfare - what could possibly go wrong? 300 years in the future, humanity has ventured and colonized beyond the home solar system of Sol. Galactic exploration offers many jobs. Kira Navárez is a xenobiologist, which means that she gets to help colonize new planets while learning about their native flora and fauna. When she stumbles across a rock pile on a foreign planet that contains an alien relic, she is delighted… until the relic moves. Kira is thrown not just into a personal biological crisis, but an intergalactic war. First contact sends her to the limits of explored space in the fight to save her species. But it also leads her on a remarkable journey of discovery and self-transformation.

    To Sleep In A Sea of Stars is marvelous. The writing spares no detail, helping readers to inhabit both the story and Kira’s perspective. The dialogue, cursing included, is believable; it meshes with the descriptive writing, allowing characters and plot to develop together. Description and dialogue also support the rapid pace, keeping Paolini from overwhelming or confusing the reader. Kira is an arresting character who grows with - and because of - the events thrust upon her. For a xenobiologist like Kira, interacting with life forms usually means gathering samples and studying them in a lab. First contact with an extraterrestrial sentient species would ordinarily be a dream come true, but the sentient species she finds seems to want to kill her and the entirety of humanity. Being forced to comprehend a fundamentally alien perspective tests Kira’s character and intelligence. Because Kira is an empathetic person capable of both fierce love and easy kinship, her crisis evokes more than just horror and suspense. Her love and protectiveness for the people she considers her friends never leaves, helping to sustain her as the rest of her world falls apart.

    820 pages might seem excessive for a novel about one woman finding some friends and fighting some aliens. But it’s not. To Sleep In A Sea of Stars explores the curiosity and passion that drives us to explore the galaxy, and the intelligence and sensitivity that makes us capable of connecting with the aliens we wish to find. This is Paolini’s first science fiction novel, and he puts his experience as a fantasy author to good use in creating a truly “other” alien species. I would recommend To Sleep In A Sea of Stars to older YA science fiction and fantasy readers looking to deeply connect with a story that explores the boundaries of humanity. 

- D. K. Nuray

Review of Nucleation

Nucleation

Author: Kimberly Unger

Publisher: Tachyon Publications

Publication Date: November 2020

    As an operator for the company Far Reaches in an age of private space exploration, Helen Vectorovich’s job is to pilot vehicles, known as waldos, billions of miles away. She does so from her “coffin”, which allows her to merge her own senses with those of her distant waldo. Helen is an elite explorer who never directly faces danger - until she suddenly does. When a routine mission turns deadly, Helen must fight to save both her job and her life while searching for the saboteur. Junior pilots jockeying to replace her, rival companies trying to take control of the botched mission, and bad rumors about her sanity spreading give Helen more than enough challenges. Her situation gets worse when it begins to appear that the mission’s failure may not have been an accident.

    From the first page, Nucleation has no shortage of perils and surprises, but the fierce, ingenious character of Helen carries the story as much as the plot. As an operator, Helen has to exist in and understand two places - her own world and that of her waldo. This tension is the story’s mainspring. For readers who find the large number of scientific and technical terms confusing, the dialogue between Helen and her colleagues and the momentum of the plot keeps the story intriguing. Helen is part Hermione Granger and part Lara Croft blazing through a fast-paced story that is part science fiction, part space western. Nucleation can feel like too much action crammed between the covers, but this is a forgivable excess. I recommend this novel for middle grade and YA readers who enjoy speculative fiction adventure, fast-paced action, and resourceful female characters and don’t mind some colorful language.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of A Girl Is A Body of Water

 A Girl Is A Body of Water

Author: Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

Publisher: Tin House Books

Publication Date: September 1, 2020

    “‘The minute we fall silent, someone will fill the silence for us.’” Kirabo, coming into her thirteenth year, is growing up in rural 1970s Uganda. Her culture has both saved and silenced her. Abandoned by her 13-year-old mother, Kirabo is being raised by a grandmother and aunts. Despite their efforts to “love the mother out of the child”, Kirabo yearns to find the woman who left her but all questions about her mother are unanswered. Coming of age, she also begins to recognize a second self, a rebellious and unreconciled identity that is at odds with her sweet and eager-to-please nature. She begins to look for answers to her past and a place for her selves away from home, sneaking to the village witch and bonding more with her distanced father. Growth for Kirabo is about more than age and physical maturity. Before she can find her place in the world, she must collect, understand, and make a whole person from the pieces of who she is.

    A Girl Is A Body of Water feels almost too rich – in language, personalities, cultural and physical setting, and transformative experience – to lend itself to mere summarization. More than most authors, Makumbi allows the reader to inhabit her main character’s perspective. And despite being a girl’s “coming of age” story, it is not full of trite assumptions. For example, powerful use of Ugandan folklore brings up questions of what it means to be a woman in a male-dominated world, but at the same time questions whether a man with social power is a man with an easy life. The expansive introduction to Ugandan culture is done deftly, primarily conveyed via Kirabo’s interactions with her large family. Evocative language and elaborate description strengthen the story without excessively burdening it.

    One of the most striking characteristics of Makumbi’s story is the unfiltered honesty of the incidents and themes that eventually define Kirabo - as if the author were a battlefield photographer doing her best not just to tell, but to show, not sparing any discomfort and closing the gap between observation and experience. Powerfully candid writing about relationships and struggles with body images may make some readers uncomfortable. And the proofreading at a few points was a little spotty. But these are trivialities. A Girl Is A Body of Water is a captivating, exquisitely told, and emotionally outspoken story. I would recommend it to older YA readers and adults looking for a thoughtful, vivid piece of realistic fiction best read and digested slowly.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of The Midnight Library

The Midnight Library

Author: Matt Haig

Publisher: Viking Books

Publication Date: September 2020

    “At the beginning of a game, there are no variations. There is only one way to set up a board. There are nine million variations after the first six moves. And after eight moves there are two hundred and eighty-eight billion different positions. And those possibilities keep growing.” The game is chess, but this is said to Nora Seed as a metaphor for life. The problem is that at thirty-five years old, she already feels defeated and doesn’t see the possibilities. That’s why Nora decides to take her own life. But instead of dying, she becomes suspended between life and death in the Midnight Library, where each book offers Nora a different version of herself. Among that infinite supply of lives, Nora must choose the one that she will keep.

    For a book that starts with the main character’s suicide, The Midnight Library is a surprisingly thoughtful and witty search for balance. When Nora begins her journey through the Midnight Library, she offers readers an opportunity to step back and compare her lives and choices to theirs. The regrets that she chooses to redress offer the question of what regrets we, the reader, might fix in another life, or whether we might choose another life at all. The Midnight Library is certainly intriguing. The humor and everyday dialogue entertain, but the story also prods the reader on a psychological and philosophical level. When Nora enters the Library, she is given fresh starts. Kind of. Entering each new life at thirty-five gives her both the tools and experience of an adult and the necessity of growing into her world as a child would. That allows the story to grow with her, moving both slowly as she explores one version of herself and quickly as she jumps from life to life. This book could be read for simple pleasure and excitement, but also as a way to consider and vicariously consider how choices affect the arc of a life. I would recommend The Midnight Library to YA fans who enjoy Earth-based fiction, developing characters, engaging writing, and considering how the choices we make shape and define us.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha, book 1)

Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, book 1)

Author: Tomi Adeyemi

Publisher: Henry Holt Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: March 2018

    Eleven years ago, magic vanished from Orïsha. In what would be named as the Raid, the monarchy killed all divîners old enough to be maji, leaving shattered children and families and a caste-divided kingdom. Zélie lost her mother during the Raid. She scrapes by with her father and brother Tzain in Ilorin, a small town literally on the sea. When divîner taxes are raised yet again, she heads inland to make a sale that should provide for her family for the next year. Instead, she is found by none other than Amari, Orïsha’s princess. Amari has fled from her brother Inan, her mother, and King Saran, and has stolen the only thing that can bring magic back. The princess should be a natural enemy of the divîner and her brother, but they are forced together - because it turns out they only have one moon to bring magic back, and Inan is leading the chase for the three fugitives. In the midst of the chase, romances bloom among the four, further complicating an already improbable alliance.

    Children of Blood and Bone is fast-paced and beautifully written. Alternation between the perspectives of Zélie, Amari, and eventually Inan conveys the emotional intensities and complexities that define and bind the characters. Through the disparate perspectives the kingdom itself is also revealed to us, as we become privy to the very different ways that each character sees their homeland. Adeyemi hooks readers from the first sentence and doesn’t release them even once the story closes. The cliffhanger ending makes a sequel both certain and compelling, but does not cheat the reader by leaving the story feeling incomplete. Children of Blood and Bone isn’t a story for readers who want a quick and easy read where details of character and place are secondary to the plot. It is a story for readers who want to feel Orïsha’s soil underfoot, see gods reawakened, and share the desperate determination of an oppressed people. I highly recommend this book for YA fantasy readers who want to inhabit their stories and evolve with their characters.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of The Girl from Far Away

The Girl from Far Away

Author: Jennifer Austin

Publisher: Far Away Stories

Publication Date: July 2020

    Jessica “Jess” Durand, a seventeen year old on Earth, hates her life. Her preferred escape is her dreams. But her dreams are not normal. She dreams of Ella Day, a seventeen year old girl on the world of Biack. If Ella was real, Jess would know her better than anyone else. Sensibly, Jess assumes that her dreams are just that, until she blacks out at school and wakes up trapped on Biack. At first, neither she nor the people there can believe that the other exists. The place that has been Jess’ escape is suddenly the one place she wants to escape from. Then she finds Ella, and realizes that she can’t go back to Earth yet. Because Biack needs her.

    The Girl from Far Away is a coming of age story with elements of fantasy, mystery, romance, and a little science fiction. The twisting, exciting plot is paired well with characters that grow into themselves through the story. The dialogue is witty and engaging, with a realistic mix of seriousness and teenage flippancy. Occasionally added to the mix is some comedic differentiation between British and English vocabulary. Some of the content is a little adult, but neither explicitly nor a distraction from the story. The dramatic ending sets the book up nicely for a sequel. I would recommend The Girl from Far Away for YA and adult readers who enjoy fast-paced novels with arresting plots and characters and a striking patchwork of genres.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451

Author: Ray Bradbury

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Publication Date: October 1953

    Guy Montag is a fireman. In this case, that means a man who makes fire. A man who breaks into houses in the middle of the night, armed with a hose filled with kerosene instead of water, and burns books. This is a future in which books are illegal and society has traded technology and entertainment for vitality and liberty. Montag thrills in destruction, in the smell of kerosene and the crackle of flames. He is drawn to to secretly save an occasional book, but the action is more of an impulse than a deliberate one. Then he encounters a woman who refuses to leave her house when he comes to burn her books, and a girl whose passion and curiosity kindles Montag’s own. That is when his doubt begins - doubt about himself and his society. His impulsive thefts become purposeful, and he comes ever closer to being hunted by the same society he has brutally defended.

    Despite being written almost 70 years ago, Fahrenheit 451 feels hauntingly current and even disturbingly familiar. The characters’ behavior may seem strange - Montag and his wife cannot remember where they met, “friends” only gather around screens, and the government has systematically attempted to erase the true past. People are fed a diet of pills and propaganda, of entertainment instead of education. Many listen to “ear-thimbles” instead of one another and confuse “family” and “friends” with entertainers. The reflection of ourselves in this narrative is perhaps far clearer now than when Bradbury wrote this book. Bradbury’s future looks entirely too much like our present.

    From the opening pages, there is a steady, building, almost relentless tension to the story that is maintained even during lengthy philosophical dialogue. The multiple supporting static characters emphasize the importance and singularity of the dynamic main character. The technology in the story is disturbingly recognizable. Writing nearly three quarters of a century ago, Bradbury crafted a story that today presents a plausible future - and a relevant warning. Fahrenheit 451 was and remains a book that can make us think, feel, and fear. It is a terrific choice for YA and adult science fiction readers, but the passage of time and a single genre do not confine or define this story.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird

Author: Harper Lee

Publisher: J. B. Lippincott & Co.

Publication Date: July 1960

    There is arguably no better time to read this book than now. Then again, that might be true of every year since this book was published more than half a century ago. While To Kill A Mockingbird is set in a town far removed from our place and time, the themes it addresses and the choices made by its characters seem all too familiar. The setting is sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, in the Depression era 1930s. The fact that many of Maycomb’s inhabitants are segregated, racist, and hypocritical is neither unusual nor unexpected. Nor is the central horror of the book - the brutal persecution of a black man, Tom Robinson. Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, who is five years old when the story begins, is the narrator. She grows up with her father, a white widowed lawyer named Atticus, her brother Jem, four years her senior, and her friend, Dill who visits during summers. Everything changes for Scout’s family when Atticus agrees to defend Tom, who is accused of raping a white woman.

    Lee’s choice of Scout as narrator allows us to discover Maycomb through the keyhole perspective of a precocious child. Scout awakens to the harsh realities of Maycomb - to racism and class conflict, to insensible hatred and to the cruelest falsehoods in the name of virtue. Our perception of Scout’s world grows with hers. There is no shortage of good stories about the complexities and terrible consequences of prejudice and hate. Why does a 60-year-old story remain not only relevant, but compelling? Maybe because it makes you not just furious, but sad. Deeply, profoundly sad. Fury is powerful, but often without constructive direction. Sadness makes us care and empathize, makes us not just want to destroy what’s wrong, but make things right.

    To Kill A Mockingbird is also just a well-told story. The dialogue of the main characters fits and evokes the time period. Their vivid, unorthodox personalities help us feel a deeper connection with them as well as the whole of Maycomb. The experiences of Scout and Atticus certainly don’t promise us a better future, but they do show us why we must hope and try. I recommend this book to mature middle grade readers and up. 

- D. K. Nuray

Review of Olive the Lionheart

Olive the Lionheart

Author: Brad Ricca

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Publication Date: August 11, 2020

    You’ve never heard of Olive Macleod. And you still wouldn’t have if she hadn’t left behind secret diaries, and if Brad Ricca hadn’t opened them to us in this remarkable story. A Scottish aristocrat, Olive was 30 years old when her fiance, the famous naturalist Boyd Alexander, went missing in Africa. So she did the natural thing for a female aristocrat in 1910 - she went after him. Her story is true - this book was written after her secret diaries and letters to Boyd were found in a Scottish castle that happened to be one of her family homes. The stunning African setting, unconventional protagonist, and elements of romance, adventure, and mystery lead the story on a novel’s path. Olive’s diary entries and letters are woven in neatly, contributing to the plot while immersing the reader in her experience, perspective, and time period. Little details and sentences such as “‘a woman… is always capable of doing what she wanted to’” further contribute to the reader’s understanding of who Olive was.

    Finely tuned details do not just shade the portrait of a remarkable character. We learn early on in the story that Olive kept a daily diary, no matter where she was camped or how exhausted she was. You know, just the sort of thing you would do when you’re looking for your lost fiance in Africa. Her diligence and observations lead the reader on a fascinating journey through time, unveiling a broad picture of colonial Africa. Olive accomplished feats that no man, let alone a woman, had done before. If she wanted to learn how to shoot, hear a tribal story told, or see the 250 secluded wives of a chief, she would find a way to do it. Ricca not only brings to light the untold and unforgettable story of a fearless woman, he brings to life the history of a continent that made humans who and what we are.

    Olive the Lionheart is riveting - for its writing, for its detail, for the portrayal of the meeting of cultures and societies, and for the real emotions that lift Olive’s voice out of the pages. Rich details can sometimes slow the narrative and make the story hard to digest, but it is worth slowing down to digest them. Also, for roughly the first 40 pages, already-introduced characters’ last names are included when they appear, and Olive’s name is included more often than necessary. This is perhaps meant as an aid to the reader but instead is a disruptive formality. Overall, this book is captivating, insightful, and well put together. I would recommend it for YA readers and up who enjoy biographies, history novels, strong female protagonists, and a rich setting and plot.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of Skyward (Skyward series, book 1)

Skyward

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: November 2018

    "Claim the stars." That's what Spensa’s dad, a pilot, told her all the time - until he was killed in battle. He fought for the Defiant, who are the last remainder of the human race. They are constantly fighting the Krell, enemy aliens about whom little is known, beyond their goal of exterminating humanity. The Defiant are forced to live in caves, restricted from seeing the sky or even venturing far outside their home caverns, to avoid Krell detection. Pilots, who live above the surface and fight for humanity’s survival, are regarded as heroes, almost to the point of sainthood. Spensa’s dad was regarded as a hero - until he broke ranks in battle, was shot down, and branded a coward. Spensa’s lifelong dream has been to become a pilot and clear her father’s name, but in the course of making her dream come true, she must come to realize that true history isn’t always written in the textbooks.

    In Skyward, Sanderson uses the dialogue and well-crafted development of characters to convey messages such as “‘Be who you are’” and the complications of feelings of duty and destiny. Unfortunately, the quality of writing is sometimes less than the quality of the messages, with points where the language feels oversimplified even for a youthful audience. The plot has balanced moments of comedic relief and heavy reveal, along with unexpected twists. Skyward ends on a cliffhanger leading straight into its sequel, Starsight. I would recommend this book to middle grade to YA readers who enjoy a blend of mystery, fantasy, and science fiction without getting hung up on occasional variations in writing level. 

- D. K. Nuray

Review of The Kingdom of Back

The Kingdom of Back

Author: Marie Lu

Publisher: G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: March 2020

    Nannerl Mozart is the older sister of Wolfgang “Woferl” Mozart. She too was born with a gift for music. At age eight, her playing on the clavier is already worthy of royal performances. There are three things holding her back from the future for which she should be destined. First, there is her tyrannical father, who has made it clear that he will only instruct her and permit her to perform until she becomes an adult. There is also her gender, as there are no female composers or performers in eighteenth century Austria. And then there is Nannerl’s brother. A prodigy as well, Woferl begins to outshine his sister, playing and composing at the tender age of seven, even teaching himself the violin. It seems that Nannerl will have no chance to be remembered for her gifts, until a stranger appears to her in a dream. In a magical land, which she later comes to call the Kingdom of Back, he offers her a chance to be remembered by the world, but the cost may be giving up her world as she knows it.

    The Kingdom of Back is an arresting story of the bond between the Mozart siblings, and the strain on that bond when they are forced to compete for fame. There are enough facts and historically accurate characters to infer that Lu took the time to carefully blend the Mozarts’ fictional story with known facts. The Kingdom of Back is smoothly interleaved with pieces of the Mozarts’ known, real life. The Kingdom comes to feel more like a final puzzle piece in the Mozarts’ story rather than simply an author’s imaginative idea. This is a fantastic read for YA or adult readers who enjoy historical fiction infused with mystery and magic, but also containing themes applicable to real life, including the deep bond between siblings and the difficulty of choices.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness

Author: Ursula K. Le Guin

Publisher: Ace Books

Publication Date: March 1969

    “Light is the left hand of darkness | and darkness the right hand of light. | Two are one, life and death, lying | together like lovers in kemmer | like hands joined together, | like the end and the way.” The Left Hand of Darkness questions how far outside the surroundings of Earth and our social realities we will have to go to find the borders of who and what we are. Set on Gethen, a planet of permanent winter, a Terran (human to readers) envoy named Genly Ai interacts with aliens who would be identical to Terrans if not for the fact that the aliens have no set gender, changing from neutral to male or female during each mating cycle. In other words, Gethenians are fundamentally different. In a chronicle of Ai’s attempts to convince the societies on Gethen to join the Ekumen, the society of known worlds, Le Guin explores the complexities and frailties of different forms of government, the extent to which social interaction is controlled by gender, and who and how we might be if this elemental aspect of our nature were altered.

    As much as the book is about how we govern ourselves and how gender governs us, it is also about connection - about what binds us together when we remove the limitations of conventional social norms. Le Guin wove a delicate combination of otherworldly adventure, familiar human politics, and philosophy. Her story is dense and eloquent, requiring and capturing the reader’s full attention from the first page. Gethenian myths and beliefs add another layer of distinctions between Gethenians and Terrans. If I might fault The Left Hand of Darkness for anything, it would be for having a little too much social observation and critique packed into one read. While the underlying story is compelling, loading a narrative with what feels like a profound contemplation of the nature of humanity sometimes burdens the momentum of the story itself. But this is a complaint about what is a gripping, intimate, and intelligently sensitive novel.

    A half-century ago, the concepts that The Left Hand of Darkness addressed were progressive and thought-provoking. Le Guin’s vision was so powerful that they remain progressive and thought-provoking now. The questions Le Guin raises in the story are neither simple to pose in a novel nor easy to answer, so I would recommend this book to more mature YA readers and adults who enjoy thoughtful science fiction. 

- D. K. Nuray

Review of What If It’s Us

What If It’s Us

Authors: Becky Albertalli and Adam Silveria

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: October 2018

    Arthur is in New York City for one summer. His internship at his mom’s law firm comes with two less than welcoming female coworkers. All Arthur wants to do is go back to Georgia and see his two best friends again, especially after recently coming out. Being in New York is a dream come true, but a reminder that dreams and reality don’t always reconcile perfectly. Ben is a lifelong New Yorker. His Puerto Rican background has affected much of his life, but then again, so has being gay. A recent breakup - Ben’s first - sends him to the post office with a tightly sealed box holding tightly sealed memories, but that task ends up being more of an adventure than he could have anticipated. Ben and Arthur should never have met. Tall versus short, summer school student versus Yale hopeful, Georgia versus New York, but one coincidental moment brings them together. They don’t get each other’s numbers, they barely get each other’s names, but the moment is enough for a connection. Arthur and Ben have just one summer. They have three months for friendship, discord, understanding, and hopefully, love.

    What If It’s Us is a modern-day Cinderella. Instead of a glass slipper, there’s Instagram. Instead of a prince and a princess, there’s two princes. Their happily ever after might be diferent than a conventional fairytale. However, the elements of rapidly dwindling time and love found unexpectedly are familiar. The colorful language at parts is unnecessary, but also conveys the strident personalities and attitudes of most New Yorkers. What If It’s Us is fairytale fanfiction. Part of what makes it such an energetic, enticing book is that the fairytale themes of unexpected intensity, vulnerability, and the strength of a genuine bond are relatable. The tender hope of Arthur and Ben and the drama and imperfection of the characters infuses the capricious, fast-paced plot. The story is also written from the alternating perspectives of the main characters’, a format that lends itself well to the dual authorship. The language can be unrefined, the characters interactions with one another unfiltered and occasionally a touch too gritty, but I would highly recommend this story to young adult readers who enjoy romance and the allure of a findable destiny.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun (original script publication)

Author: Lorraine Hansberry

Publisher: Vintage Books

Publication date: March 1959

    A Raisin in the Sun was written as a play about a black family, the Youngers, who are about to move into an all-white neighborhood in post-WWII southside Chicago. Despite being written as a script, it reads with a novel’s completeness and narrative continuity. The main characters are Mama, the matriarchal grandmother, her two children Walter Lee and Beneatha, Walter’s wife Ruth and their son Travis. Big Walter, the late grandfather, is also key in the development of the story. Each character’s personality, family role, and dreams are revealed in their conversations with one another. This dialogue sensitizes the reader to who each person wants to be and what conflicts their dreams have with segregation and the perspectives and dreams of their fellow family members.

    The family itself is relatable. The siblings get into silly fights, Mama does everything she can to support her children, and everyone is trying to make a way for themselves. The story is also rich in symbolism and metaphor, some of it obvious, but some subtle and requiring an understanding of the characters and their perspectives. Similarly, much of the superficially ragtag dialogue is rich with metaphor and symbolism. The Youngers’ daily conversations carry both a passion for life and a permeating sadness at its hardship.

    A Raisin in the Sun isn’t exactly new - it’s been out for six decades. Yet it is still read and analyzed as part of school curriculum. In a simple plot, Hansberry vividly captured setting, tangible emotions, characters that the reader can sympathize with if not empathize with, and an acute sense of the influence of segregation on the lives of black citizens when this story was published. A Raisin in the Sun is a dense, savorable read for middle grade all the way up to adult readers who enjoy rich historical fiction. Adults may be able to read much deeper into the story, particularly those with personal memories of this time in history, but it is a valuable story for any reader.

- D. K. Nuray

Review of The Toll (Arc of a Scythe, Book 3)

The Toll

Author: Neal Shusterman

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: November 2019

    The Toll is Neal Shusterman’s third novel in the Arc of a Scythe series. With Endura gone, the world is changing under the ever-tightening hand of Scythe Goddard. Citra and Rowan have seemingly disappeared forever. Relationships between scythes and Tonists have quickly escalated to extreme violence. The Toll has emerged as their pacifier. The world is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Thunderhead. It is up to the world, in all of its splendor and ugliness, to decide in which direction it wants to go. There are those who will greedily surge towards power and those who will claim it without planning to do so. Scythe Goddard is the first kind and The Toll is the second. In a new world torn apart by greed, uncertainty, and religion, who will prevail? Will humanity ever return to its previous state, or is the future careening in an unalterable direction?

    The Toll is an unquestionably grand finale to the Arc of a Scythe series. Neal Shusterman’s diction is admirable, his characters are dynamic, and the plot flow from Thunderhead toThe Toll is inventive despite being a tiny bit predictable. The plot also leads to the question of what makes a society righteous, and what lines should or should not be crossed to improve society. What undermines The Toll is the way it is written. In Scythe and Thunderhead, Shusterman tossed readers puzzle pieces of the plot. The pieces were well-timed and well-rationed, and their purpose became apparent within a reasonable amount of time. In The Toll, the puzzle pieces are still being tossed, but the length of time before they make sense deters the reader, and a few pieces seem to have no real purpose at all. Readers and authors both know how hard it is to finish a series with the same vigor, promise, and skill as it began. Those who delighted in Scythe and Thunderhead may find The Toll a bit disappointing, but still enjoyable.

- D. K. Nuray