The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia by Michael BoothMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was a little worried by the premise of this book - I didn't want to read something mean-spirited and petty, meant to tear down the widely held positive images of Scandinavia. Fortunately, it ended up being jocular rather than mean-spirited (though the author can be scathing when he wants to). Also fortunately, the author sets out to critique Finland (where I live) and falls in love with it instead!
And what a great book for me to read as I'm still settling into this society and culture. Hardly a day has gone by since starting this book that I haven't caught a snippet of conversation or a particular social behavior that makes sense only because of things I've learned within its pages.
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One of Us: Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Åsne SeierstadMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Perfection. This book made me sob. Not cry, sob. I am amazed at how the author turned what is ostensibly a book about a monster into a book about warm, intelligent, ambitious teenagers and the challenges they overcame and the good they accomplished before their lives were cut short. Masterfully done.
Edited to clarify: don't get me wrong, the bulk of this book, as far as page-count goes, is focused on a monster. Sometimes it was hard to wade through so much evil, though I did feel like Seierstad never sensationalized it or dwelt unnecessarily on the horror of it all. The magical part to me was that after finishing a book about a mass murder, I didn't feel dirty or weighed down or depressed. Instead, I felt the goodness and light and cheer of those murdered kids and their families. I'm still not sure how the author did it, but that's the effect I was left with.
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Six of Crows by Leigh BardugoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was looking forward to this book soooo much, and I wasn't disappointed...exactly. Just underwhelmed. I loved being back in this world but ultimately I didn't love these characters and I couldn't always understand exactly what was going on. I would recommend reading this book in a situation where you won't be interrupted, ever, so you can really sink yourself into the story and not have to come up for air. So good luck with that.
(On that note: the other day Miriam was reading a book and I kept asking her to do some chore or task. She turned to me, irritated, and said, actually said, "Mama, you're always asking me to do things while I'm reading! How would you feel if I was always interrupting you while you read??" I just looked at her in silence and after a moment I think she got the point, i.e., THAT IS THE STORY OF MY LIFE SINCE YOU WERE BORN, CHILD.)
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Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. MaasMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another great adventure from Ms. Maas, and one that ties in to the first book a bit more than books 2 and 3 did. However, I worry that Maas is falling into the Cassandra Clare trap, where something she tosses off in a series of weekend afternoons passes for quite good (really!) and therefore never gets elevated - either by an editor or herself - to something great. I very much felt that effect at work in this book. Her writing tics were more obvious (baring teeth, questions that are not questions, etc.), and the language turned to s-bombs way more often than it has in the past. This made me sad for two reasons: first, because it's a cheap fix that seems lazy in a book as rich as this; and second, because it very rarely seemed like what that character would actually say in that moment.
But I still really liked the book, and once again, the Manon parts stole the show. View all my reviews
Vengeance Road by Erin BowmanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
At least when I gave this three stars, I could say to myself that just because a book is different, doesn't mean I automatically give it a good review (like I was worried I did with The Wrath and the Dawn). Vengeance Road has a dead-serious female protagonist and an unusual setting (at least for YA): 1800s Arizona. And while the book did have a strong sense of place and time throughout (unlike Salt & Storm, which also had a unique setting but wasted it), after about halfway through I just wasn't into it anymore.
Part of the problem is that this book couldn't decide whether it wanted to really go for it with the violence and stakes and decisions, or just hang back in almost juvenile fiction territory. And as a result, it doesn't work in either category. It's too much for juvenile but too little for YA. I can't quite recommend it to my 10-year-old, even though I think she would love it, but it's probably not enough to hold the attention of my teenage niece.
But a worthy effort! I'd like to see more from this author, and more from this time period and setting, please.
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The Heir by Kiera CassMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
Welp, I found this year's FLAMES. FLAMES ON THE SIDE OF MY FACE book! Look, it's not the book's fault that I read most of it while unhappily awake in the middle of the night with a random case of insomnia. But it's not MY fault that this book is a pile of patronizing drivel. America 2.0 was constantly "oh, there's SO much work to do, but it's haaaarrrrd...I'll get a hand massage instead." I HATE people who get hand massages instead of getting crap done. If there is crap to be done, you DO IT, even if - nay, ESPECIALLY if - you are the ruler of a kingdom.
Hmph.
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Newt's Emerald by Garth NixMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
A perfectly enjoyable read, but in the end I would have liked this book to be either more or less than what it is. Either be completely fluffy and a bit more wink-wink and self-aware than it is now, so I can good-naturedly roll my eyes at the ridiculous parts, or else flesh the story out so that its world and its magic and its characters actually make sense.
The author's note says this was originally a novel within another novel he was writing, and I think it would have worked much better that way - as something we check in on from time to time, but never deep enough to really expose its story and character flaws. On its own, though, those flaws really stand out.
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