“Choose to Rise” is a lyrical account of the Armenian Genocide. I know what you’re thinking: how can such a horrendous (but historically important) part of our history be LYRICAL? Allow me to explain. “Choose to Rise” is a historical fiction of the events that happened in the years leading up to the Armenian Genocide, during, and very briefly the aftermath. The vast majority of this book occurs over the span of a few years (1913-1915) and is told in first person through the main character Armen, who is finally telling his grandchildren what he and his family endured. Despite the heavy subject matter, the author endeavors to make his readers really feel what his characters (and countless real people) encountered. He aims to bring that era to life by painting us a picture through prose. Mekaelian’s descriptions throughout the book are just lovely, which is why this book has a lyrical quality to it. While I thought the author’s writing was beautiful, it didn’t always work well with the story he was aiming to tell, however.
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Let me start by saying that I don’t typically read middle-grade books, but my niece and nephews are getting to that age where they can start reading “real” books, and being the awesome aunt I am, I’m going to shower those ragamuffins with literature. So, I read this in preparation for that. While this book says it’s about the issues First Daughter Audrey faces when she is uprooted from her comfortable life and whisked away to the White House, and then plopped into a school that felt like “Mean Girls” meets “Cruel Intentions” but for children, none of that really mattered for the story. You can take away the whole living in the White House thing and this story stays pretty much the same: a young girl whose parents aren’t giving her enough attention or freedom, acts out in an attempt to be treated as “not a child”. Which, as “not a child” anymore, sounds silly because rebelling in that way has the opposite effect, but I guess this is what sounds good to kids these days… “The Devil’s Backbone” is a crazy, delightful blend of science fiction, action adventure, psycho-thriller, and epic Western fantasy with some of the best dialogue I’ve read in a while from an indie author. Holy cow, did I enjoy myself on this wild ride! We follow Sadie Bishop, who is recovering from a massive trauma, as she embarks on a dangerous jaunt through the Badlands of a futuristic America. In this world, only Citizens (basically people who pay off all their debts and remain good little worker bees) can reap the benefits of society—good food, medicine, and the best technology the world can offer. Gaskill has crafted a world that felt so natural to where our current society might be headed, and I LOVED the social commentary that was tied to that. He does a great job of presenting it “as is” rather than beating the reader over the head with a message that is best left as a tumultuous undertone to this futuristic land. Anyhoo, Sadie is plagued by something deep in her urging her to forgo the comforts of Citizen life and head out into the treacherous no-man’s land, where those dangerous men and women who lost their Citizenship now scrape by in a new Wild, Wild, West. Why does Sadie feel such a compulsion to go out there? She doesn’t know, but she can’t ignore the call, either. While that point got a little murky as the story progressed, I really can’t say enough good things about Gaskill’s novel! Growing up, I loved hearing stories and reading books about dragons. I love good dragons (like those in the Dragonriders of Pern series) and I love greedy evil dragons, (think Smaug). So obviously I enjoyed that this book has both kinds of dragons inhabiting a fantasy world under siege in need of a prophesized one to come in and save the day. This book follows the same formula you find in most adventure/fantasy novels, where a young person (who is living their normal boring life, ignorant of magic or anything fantastic) is met by a person from another realm, begging for help. Saying, essentially, “help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.” That’s pretty much what you get with this book, but with more flavors of Snow White then Star Wars (sorry?). You want an epic fantasy of Tolkien proportions? What am I saying, of course you do! Which makes “Seeds of Hatred” PERFECT for that itch! I mean at almost 500 pages (I’m not including the glossary of characters or places, though that became a serious lifeline—I’ll explain later), “Seeds of Hatred” follows three main characters as they struggle against mysterious forces that have turned their beliefs and morals upside down, and constantly threaten their lives through a prophecy-esque fantasy tale (it even has a prophecy poem which should be familiar to lovers of The Lord of the Rings stories). Now, I say three main characters, but there are a lot more than just that in the book… Nadeau has fleshed out all of supporting characters personalities and provided them with complex goals so they not only feel substantial (which is awesome) but they also connect the main characters plot-lines together (which got confusing). |
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