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Title: Ash
Author: Malinda Lo
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 275
Total Page Count: 313,125
Text Number: 1072
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: After losing her parents, Ash finds herself with only an ambiguous fairy guardian as a companion. This is a Cinderella retelling made distinctive by its literal fairies and queer themes. It grew on me, but slowly—and I'm an easy sell on this premise and have enjoyed the author's work elsewhere. It's one of the first books (particularly YA books) that I felt could be improved by a first person narration; the predictability of a fairytale, at least in the initial setup, combines with the distant voice and dream sequences/inset narratives to make for a slow start. It improves when it develops into its central conflict; the dreamy, distant voice flatters the fairy elements, the view grows more engaged, and I sympathize with & applaud the character arc. But the resolution is too easy—it's an interesting idea, but lacks consequence (despite that I enjoy a happy ending for a queer text). I wanted to like this more than I did, and I'm not sure I'll read the companion novel.
Title: Owl Moon
Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: John Schoenherr
Published: Philomel Books, 1987
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 313,155
Text Number: 1073
Read Because: fan of the author, hardcover borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This is beautiful. The art is strong, evocative ink sketches and loose, desaturated colors; there are engaging background details and bold panels where bold panels are required. But, unusual for a kid's book, the art takes back seat to the text. Yolen takes a numinous approach to a small, intimate, concrete moment—so evocative, both of relationships with nature and between parent and child. It's haunting and almost poetic, and feels like the deep winter night it depicts. That the last panel is too heavyhanded is the only weakness, but given that this is written for children I think that baldness works. And there's absolutely crossover appeal—this reads beautifully as an adult, and may be one of my favorite Yolen books.
Title: Skim
Author: Mariko Tamaki
Illustrator: Jillian Tamaki
Published: Groundwood Books, 2008
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 135
Total Page Count: 313,290
Text Number: 1074
Read Because: fan of the author, hardcover borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: A teenage goth's first crush occurs in the landscape of counselling and performative grief that follows a peer's suicide. This is brief, but not slight, yet still insubstantial. Its wealth of elements—goth/Wicca, teen suicide, homophobia, sexual awakening, the largely unaddressed issue of a student/teacher relationship, race, and dissolving friendships—are delineated yet so precise in their combination that it feels like a sincere portrait of young adulthood. Similarly, the protagonist grows and changes but the plot ends on the cusp of her future rather than with closure—again true to life, especially adolescent life, but narratively unsatisfying.
Tonally, this reminded me of other slice of life, inward-facing queer YA, specifically Life is Strange—but without any strangeness, except for the still-unaddressed issue of the student/teacher relationship. Perhaps digging into that would have improved this for me. As is, this is deep in a soft way, deep in its intersection of race/queerness/otherness, of performative grief and bullying and teen suicide, but it gets overwhelmed by the bald angst of a teenage diary. I wanted to like it, but came away surprisingly unmoved. The standout exception is the art, which is a style I've never seen in a graphic novel: loose, expressive, richly shadowed. It gives space to the interior moments, and counterpoints the balder diary entries/dialog with strong facial expressions.
Title: A Tyranny of Queens (Manifold Worlds Book 2)
Author: Foz Meadows
Published: Angry Robot, 2017
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 415
Total Page Count: 313,760
Text Number: 1076
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Picking up where the first book left off, this follows Saffron's reintergration and Kena's political upheaval, but the presence of Leoden and Kadeja linger. This solves all of my problems with An Accident of Stars, which I admired more than I enjoyed: There's more wonder, here, more memorable magics, many dealing specifically with portals/worlds/liminality, and it engages questions core to the portal fantasy trope, particularly re: choosing worlds and choosing destinies—it's an even more satisfying take on the trope. It benefits from being a sequel; less energy goes into recalling the cast and invented words, and the focus is narrower and deeper. I've rarely seen an entire book spent considering the fallout of a character death, and it's effective. Finally, it's better written—better plotted and paced, but moreover there was an earnest moralizing of the first book cast an unflattering, artificial sheen on its diversity and themes, and that's more refined here; there's even more diversity, an equal emphasis on progressive, heartfelt character moments, but it feels organic and therefore more effective. While still not perfect (the coincidence-laden climax rankles, however justified it is in the text), but after a middling experience with the first book I'm so glad I stuck around—this is a pleasure.
Author: Malinda Lo
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 275
Total Page Count: 313,125
Text Number: 1072
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: After losing her parents, Ash finds herself with only an ambiguous fairy guardian as a companion. This is a Cinderella retelling made distinctive by its literal fairies and queer themes. It grew on me, but slowly—and I'm an easy sell on this premise and have enjoyed the author's work elsewhere. It's one of the first books (particularly YA books) that I felt could be improved by a first person narration; the predictability of a fairytale, at least in the initial setup, combines with the distant voice and dream sequences/inset narratives to make for a slow start. It improves when it develops into its central conflict; the dreamy, distant voice flatters the fairy elements, the view grows more engaged, and I sympathize with & applaud the character arc. But the resolution is too easy—it's an interesting idea, but lacks consequence (despite that I enjoy a happy ending for a queer text). I wanted to like this more than I did, and I'm not sure I'll read the companion novel.
Title: Owl Moon
Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: John Schoenherr
Published: Philomel Books, 1987
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 313,155
Text Number: 1073
Read Because: fan of the author, hardcover borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This is beautiful. The art is strong, evocative ink sketches and loose, desaturated colors; there are engaging background details and bold panels where bold panels are required. But, unusual for a kid's book, the art takes back seat to the text. Yolen takes a numinous approach to a small, intimate, concrete moment—so evocative, both of relationships with nature and between parent and child. It's haunting and almost poetic, and feels like the deep winter night it depicts. That the last panel is too heavyhanded is the only weakness, but given that this is written for children I think that baldness works. And there's absolutely crossover appeal—this reads beautifully as an adult, and may be one of my favorite Yolen books.
Title: Skim
Author: Mariko Tamaki
Illustrator: Jillian Tamaki
Published: Groundwood Books, 2008
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 135
Total Page Count: 313,290
Text Number: 1074
Read Because: fan of the author, hardcover borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: A teenage goth's first crush occurs in the landscape of counselling and performative grief that follows a peer's suicide. This is brief, but not slight, yet still insubstantial. Its wealth of elements—goth/Wicca, teen suicide, homophobia, sexual awakening, the largely unaddressed issue of a student/teacher relationship, race, and dissolving friendships—are delineated yet so precise in their combination that it feels like a sincere portrait of young adulthood. Similarly, the protagonist grows and changes but the plot ends on the cusp of her future rather than with closure—again true to life, especially adolescent life, but narratively unsatisfying.
Tonally, this reminded me of other slice of life, inward-facing queer YA, specifically Life is Strange—but without any strangeness, except for the still-unaddressed issue of the student/teacher relationship. Perhaps digging into that would have improved this for me. As is, this is deep in a soft way, deep in its intersection of race/queerness/otherness, of performative grief and bullying and teen suicide, but it gets overwhelmed by the bald angst of a teenage diary. I wanted to like it, but came away surprisingly unmoved. The standout exception is the art, which is a style I've never seen in a graphic novel: loose, expressive, richly shadowed. It gives space to the interior moments, and counterpoints the balder diary entries/dialog with strong facial expressions.
Title: A Tyranny of Queens (Manifold Worlds Book 2)
Author: Foz Meadows
Published: Angry Robot, 2017
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 415
Total Page Count: 313,760
Text Number: 1076
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Picking up where the first book left off, this follows Saffron's reintergration and Kena's political upheaval, but the presence of Leoden and Kadeja linger. This solves all of my problems with An Accident of Stars, which I admired more than I enjoyed: There's more wonder, here, more memorable magics, many dealing specifically with portals/worlds/liminality, and it engages questions core to the portal fantasy trope, particularly re: choosing worlds and choosing destinies—it's an even more satisfying take on the trope. It benefits from being a sequel; less energy goes into recalling the cast and invented words, and the focus is narrower and deeper. I've rarely seen an entire book spent considering the fallout of a character death, and it's effective. Finally, it's better written—better plotted and paced, but moreover there was an earnest moralizing of the first book cast an unflattering, artificial sheen on its diversity and themes, and that's more refined here; there's even more diversity, an equal emphasis on progressive, heartfelt character moments, but it feels organic and therefore more effective. While still not perfect (the coincidence-laden climax rankles, however justified it is in the text), but after a middling experience with the first book I'm so glad I stuck around—this is a pleasure.
