Book Review: A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: A Scatter of Light
Author: Malinda Lo
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Publication date: October 4, 2022
Length: 325 pages
Genre: Young adult fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Award-winning author Malinda Lo returns to the Bay Area with another masterful coming-of-queer-age story, this time set against the backdrop of the first major Supreme Court decisions legalizing gay marriage. And almost sixty years after the end of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Lo’s new novel also offers a glimpse into Lily and Kath’s lives since 1955.

Aria Tang West was looking forward to a summer on Martha’s Vineyard with her best friends—one last round of sand and sun before college. But after a graduation party goes wrong, Aria’s parents exile her to California to stay with her grandmother, artist Joan West. Aria expects boredom, but what she finds is Steph Nichols, her grandmother’s gardener. Soon, Aria is second-guessing who she is and what she wants to be, and a summer that once seemed lost becomes unforgettable—for Aria, her family, and the working-class queer community Steph introduces her to. It’s the kind of summer that changes a life forever.

After absolutely loving Last Night at the Telegraph Club, I was excited to read author Malinda Lo’s next novel, which promises (per the synopsis) a more contemporary story plus more about Lily and Kath, whose love story was so powerful in Telegraph. Sadly, A Scatter of Light lacks the impact of the previous book and felt like quite a let-down.

In A Scatter of Light, main character Aria plans to spend her summer partying with her best friends before starting college at MIT in the fall. When a boy she hooks up with shares nude photos of her online, she’s the one who gets blamed and shamed. Suddenly, her invitations from her friends’ families are revoked, and her parents decide she’ll spend the summer with her grandmother Joan in California.

Aria loves Joan, but she’s resentful at her friends’ betrayal, as well as the fact that her divorced parents — her father a writer, her mother an opera singer who’s mostly absent from Aria’s life — seem to be punishing her for something outside of her control. Joan is an artist and a free-spirit who lives in a lovely, airy cottage in a rural Marin setting, but Aria will have absolutely nothing to do there.

Until… she arrives at Joan’s, and meets Steph, a young woman just a few years older than Aria who does gardening work for Joan. Aria feels an immediate spark around Steph and doesn’t understand why. She’s straight… isn’t she? Running into Steph again soon afterward, she begins meeting some of Steph’s friends, and soon is included in their social circle. Aria ends up spending the summer with this group of lesbians, attending music festivals and the annual Dyke March, and although Steph is in a long-term relationship, it seems clear that Aria’s attraction to her is returned.

Set in 2013, the timeframe has a backdrop of the legalization of gay marriage. For Aria, this means that the possibilities she sees are both new and much more open than they were previously. Ultimately, though, I’m not sure how much this element truly matters. The novel is about Aria, her family dynamics, and her intense crush on Steph — it’s very much about Aria’s internal world, and there’s very little that seems to cross her consciousness that isn’t about herself or her feelings.

I really wanted to love this book, but couldn’t. Aria is selfish in many ways, especially in her pursuit of Steph, who she knows from the outset isn’t available. It’s a positive for Aria that this summer helps her understand who she is, but the cheating element is a huge turn-off, as is the fact that even when there’s a crisis with Joan, Aria can’t seem to shift her focus away from Steph.

It was a little difficult to understand Aria’s interests and passions as well. She’s headed for MIT and her academic passion is astronomy. She spends the summer sorting through her late grandfather’s academic records, including VCR tapes of his astronomy lectures. At the same time, she reconnects with her artistic side, with Joan’s encouragement, and begins painting for the first time in years. There seems to be an attempt to meld her artistic and scientific sides through imagery and thoughts about light, but none of this really gelled for me.

The synopsis and blurbing for this book do it no favors, promising that we’ll see Kath and Lily… which really only happens through information shared by Aria’s mother’s cousin, not by seeing them in person. Yes, it’s a “glimpse”, as stated, but I expected… more? Something else? There seemed little point in including them specifically, rather than addressing the social dynamic via new characters.

All that being said, A Scatter of Light is a fast read that held my attention, but overall, I found too much of the plot — as well as Aria herself — frustrating or troubling.

30Aug2023

Book Review: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: With the Fire on High
Author: Elizabeth Acevedo
Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Publication date: May 7, 2019
Length: 400 pages
Genre: Young adult fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Still, she knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain—and shouldn’t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. But even with all the rules she has for her life—and all the rules everyone expects her to play by—once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free.

I’m going to stick to a quick take on With the Fire on High: I loved it.

Told with beautifully descriptive language, this first-person story follows Emoni through her senior year of high school. She navigates college essays, caring for her toddler, and thinking about her future while also working part-time to help her abuela pay the bills. Emoni never regrets her daughter Emma, but she does dream of using her astonishing gifts with food to someday have a career as a chef, maybe even open her own restaurant.

Her charter high school adds a culinary arts elective that seems tailor-made for Emoni, even when her more practical side thinks it might make more sense to take an extra study hall instead and really get her grades up. Even once she starts culinary arts, she has doubts — why must she follow the instructor’s detailed recipes when she’s itching to put her own spin on the flavors?

Emoni is a strong, sensitive character who hasn’t had it easy. She’s had to learn responsibility the hard way and embraces her role as a mother, even while sometimes despairing that she’ll ever be able to work, study, and find a way to explore her dreams. She loves her family, her neighborhood, her hometown of Philly, but she’s also still a teen who loves her friends and maybe even is interested in the cute new guy who just transferred to her school.

I loved the writing in this book, and loved Emoni’s openness and vulnerability. She has doubts and worries, but also knows what’s right and where her priorities need to be. She’s loving and generous, and having ended up pregnant as a high school freshman, she’s learned to hold her head up even when the world seems to want to drag her down into shame.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author — it was wonderful. I’ve been hearing great things about this author’s books for years, and now I see why. I will definitely be reading more by Elizabeth Acevedo, and recommend With the Fire on High wholeheartedly!

16Jun2023

Book Review: Lion’s Legacy by L. C. Rosen

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Lion’s Legacy
Author: L. C. Rosen
Series: Tennessee Russo, #1
Publisher: Union Square Co.
Publication date: May 2, 2023
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Young adult
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher
Rating:

Seventeen-year-old Tennessee Russo’s life is imploding. His boyfriend has been cheating on him, and all his friends know about it. Worse, they expect him to just accept his ex’s new relationship and make nice. So when his father, a famous archaeologist and reality show celebrity whom he hasn’t seen in two years, shows up unexpectedly and offers to take him on an adventure, Tennessee only has a few choices:
1. Stay, mope, regret it forever.
2. Go, try to reconcile with Dad, become his sidekick again.
3. Go, but make it his adventure, and Dad will be the sidekick.
The object of his father’s latest quest, the Rings of the Sacred Band of Thebes, is too enticing to say no to. Finding artifacts related to the troop of ancient Greek soldiers, composed of one-hundred-and-fifty gay couples, means navigating ruins, deciphering ancient mysteries, and maybe meeting a cute boy.

But will his dad let Tennessee do the right thing with the rings if they find them? And what is the right thing? Who does queer history belong to?

Against the backdrop of a sunlit Greek landscape, author L. C. Rosen masterfully weaves together adventure, romance, and magic in a celebration of the power of claiming your queer legacy.

If you read the synopsis above and thought “gay teen Indiana Jones”… you wouldn’t be far off! Lion’s Legacy is full of daring adventures, death-defying traps, and mind-boggling puzzles… all wrapped up in a story about finding community and reclaiming queer history.

Tennessee Russo (who goes by Ten) is the 17-year-old son of a high-profile reality TV star and archaeologist. Each season of the show focuses on Ten’s dad going off on a danger-filled quest to retrieve an ancient artifact. For two of the show’s most successful seasons, Ten accompanied his dad as his sidekick and cameraman, but he walked away from his dad and the show after a heated argument over the fate of the recovered relics.

Now, after a two-year absence, Ten’s dad is back to entice him into one more adventure, but Ten’s really not sure that he trusts his dad or wants to spend time with him. However, the timing is great — after getting cheated on and then dumped by his boyfriend, he’s ready to get away and get immersed in a new quest, and his dad couldn’t have picked a better one: They’re going off in search of the Sacred Band of Thebes.

Legend has it that this band of warriors was composed of 150 pairs of bonded/married gay lovers, who pledged themselves to one another in a sacred ceremony. Some say that the rings the pairs wore — the sacred bands — were more than just symbolic, and that they imparted magical strength and fighting abilities to the men who wore them. Of course, the naysayers say that the warriors were committed as a platonic band of brothers — no gay subtext here! — but Ten is convinced that the Sacred Band of Thebes represents a crucial piece of queer history, and he’s determined to bring it to light.

Author L. C. Rosen (who also writes as Lev AC Rosen, and is the author of such fantastic books as Depth and Lavender House) creates an adventure tale with heart in Lion’s Legacy. The quest itself is lots of fun, full of deadly arrows, rickety plane rides, narrow cliffs, and spurting bursts of fire (plus a very cute local boy to act as translator). But what really makes this book stand out is the emphasis on reclaiming queer history, and how that shared history creates community and connection. The messaging is positive and lovely, and I really enjoyed how deeply Ten thinks about these things and expresses what it all means to him.

There’s also serious consideration given to issues around artifacts and where they belong — whether treasure hunters like Ten’s dad are committing thievery by finding these relics and selling them to the highest bidder… or whether such pieces should go to high-paying museums because they’re the ones most likely to keep them both safeguarded and available to the public, rather than hidden away in someone’s storage room forever. Through Ten, we’re shown the different sides of the issues, and also through Ten, are shown how someone committed to doing the right thing can also come up with creative and meaningful solutions.

Overall, Lion’s Legacy is a terrific adventure story with strong messages and very positive queer representation, and would make a great and very welcome addition to any young adult library shelf. This book is apparently the first in a series, and I look forward to seeing where Ten’s adventures take him next.

Highly recommended.

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11May2023

Book Review: Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Imogen, Obviously
Author: Becky Albertalli
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication date: May 2, 2023
Length: 432 pages
Genre: YA fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

With humor and insight, #1 New York Times bestseller Becky Albertalli explores the nuances of sexuality, identity, and friendship.

Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she’s got the World’s Greatest Ally title locked down.

She’s never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister. She even has two queer best friends. There’s Gretchen, a fellow high school senior, who helps keep Imogen’s biases in check. And then there’s Lili—newly out and newly thriving with a cool new squad of queer college friends.

Imogen’s thrilled for Lili. Any ally would be. And now that she’s finally visiting Lili on campus, she’s bringing her ally A game. Any support Lili needs, Imogen’s all in.

Even if that means bending the truth, just a little.

Like when Lili drops a tiny queer bombshell: she’s told all her college friends that Imogen and Lili used to date. And none of them know that Imogen is a raging hetero—not even Lili’s best friend, Tessa.

Of course, the more time Imogen spends with chaotic, freckle-faced Tessa, the more she starts to wonder if her truth was ever all that straight to begin with. . .

Imogen, Obviously explores issues of friendship, allyship, and identity with all the humor and compassion you’d expect from a book by Becky Albertalli.

Imogen, a high school senior, has already decided to attend Blackwell College next year. It’s only a half-hour drive from home, but visiting her best friend Lili — a freshman — on campus for a weekend feels like entering another world. Here, Lili is out and proud, and has a super cool group of queer friends who welcome Imogen with open arms.

The one small problem is that Lili, trying to fit in earlier in the year, told the tiny fib that she and Imogen are exes, rather than lifelong best friends. Imogen has always been clear in her straight identity, as well as being the most devoted ally possible — so while she’s not entirely comfortable faking a queer identity for the weekend, she’s willing to go along for Lili’s sake.

As Imogen spends more time with Tessa, Lili’s dorm neighbor, she feels a thrill that she can’t quite pin down. It’s just the excitement of finding her place with this new group and feeling like she’ll fit in when she starts college in the fall… or so she tells herself. But what if it’s more? What if she’s not as solidly straight as she’s always believed?

I really enjoyed this zippy, sparkly book. Imogen is a thoughtful, kind, aware young woman who’s so cautious about causing offense that she holds back when it comes to considering her own truth. It doesn’t help that her other close friend, Gretchen, seems to want to keep Imogen boxed in as she identifies her, rather than allowing Imogen to question. (When a Pride Alliance meeting topic turns to movie crushes and Imogen names an actress, Gretchen scolds her for appropriation — it’s really harsh, and no wonder Imogen questions every feeling she has, wondering if she really feels what she feels or if she’s subconsciously just trying to fit in.)

Like, there has to be a chance I talked myself into this, right?

Gretchen’s lectures and Imogen’s commitment to being respectful and a great ally seem to have really done a number on Imogen. She’s been told (again, by Gretchen — ugh) how she always tries to be a people-pleaser, and maybe what’s she going through now is just one more example of trying to be everything to everybody.

Is that what’s happening? People saw me as queer for a week, and it stuck?

Imogen is a very sympathetic character, and I loved how positively and diversely her new circle of friends is portrayed. Thankfully, she still has Lili and her supportive family, who are there to see her through her soul-searching and struggles.

Ultimately, this is an upbeat book filled to the brim with positive messages. I love how it captures the excitement and nervousness of the transition from high school to college, and how the start of college can provide the opportunity to recreate oneself and find a new place to belong.

In the author’s note, Becky Albertalli talks about her own journey of self-discovery and coming out. It’s clear that Imogen’s story mirrors the author’s in many ways, which makes this book even more personal and touching.

Imogen, Obviously is funny, engaging, sweet, and thoughtful. Highly recommended.

26Feb2023

Book Review: Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Luck of the Titanic
Author: Stacey Lee
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication date: May 4, 2021
Length: 368 pages
Genre: YA historical fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Valora Luck has two things: a ticket for the biggest and most luxurious ocean liner in the world, and a dream of leaving England behind and making a life for herself as a circus performer in New York. Much to her surprise, though, she’s turned away at the gangway; apparently, Chinese people aren’t allowed into America.

But Val has to get on that ship. Her twin brother, Jamie, who has spent two long years at sea, is on board, as is an influential circus owner. Thankfully, there’s not much a trained acrobat like Val can’t overcome when she puts her mind to it.

As a stowaway, Val should keep her head down and stay out of sight. But the clock is ticking and she has just seven days as the ship makes its way across the Atlantic to find Jamie, audition for the circus owner, and convince him to help get them both into America.

Then one night, the unthinkable happens, and suddenly Val’s dreams of a new life are crushed under the weight of the only thing that matters: survival.

I’ve been a bit obsessed with Titanic this week, after seeing the movie again after so many years, so I decided to dig into this YA historical novel about a Chinese-British teen and her Titanic voyage.

Valora and her twin brother Jamie grew up in London, the children of a Chinese father and a Cockney mother. Their father taught them a thousand ways to get by, whether through get-rich-quick scams, trickery, or performing amazing acrobatics and passing the hat. After the deaths of both parents, Jamie left England behind to work in the boiler-rooms of ships sailing the world, and Val worked as a lady’s assistant to a wealthy upper class woman.

Val’s employer, Mrs. Sloane, booked passage on Titanic for herself and Val, but then died shortly before the sailing date. Val decides to go anyway after learning that Jamie will be onboard as part of a crew of Chinese shipworkers being sent to New York and then Cuba for their next assignment.

Val plans to brazen out the sailing by pretending that Mrs. Sloane is there with her, keeping to herself in her first-class cabin, but plans go awry almost immediately. Val is denied boarding, as the Chinese Exclusion Act is in effect in the United States, and without authorization papers, she’ll be turned away immediately in New York. Val doesn’t take defeat so easily, and deploying her courage and acrobatic skills, she manages to sneak onboard, then find a way to inhabit Mrs. Sloane’s cabin and, courtesy of a black mourning veil, pretend to be the wealthy woman.

Meanwhile, once the ship sails, she reunites with Jamie, and divides her time between the first-class quarters and the lower deck seamen’s quarters, donning “sea slops”, eating in the third class dining hall, and concocting plans to perform a twin acrobatics act for the circus bigwig also traveling on Titanic.

The first 70% or so of Luck of the Titanic is the story of Val’s desperate attempts to avoid having her deceptions discovered, convince Jamie to give up his sea career and start a life with her in New York, and find a way to audition for the circus. And then, of course, none of this matters any longer, once the fateful night of April 14th arrives and Val and Jamie begin a struggle to survive as the Titanic sinks.

As with any book about Titanic, once the ship hits the iceberg, the drama is amplified and the scope of the human tragedy takes over the narrative. Naturally, this section of the book is the most moving and compelling. Val and Jamie take risks and make bold moves to try to ensure the survival of the crew they feel responsible for, but at the same time, each is committed to making sure the other makes it onto a lifeboat before it’s too late.

I found myself not entirely swept up in the book as a whole. It skews a little young, in my opinion — it might be good for a younger teen audience, but as an adult reader who often enjoys YA, I found it a little lean and less than believable. Val’s impersonation of a first class traveler, her stowaway status, and the remarkable luck she has in mostly getting away with it all and finding key allies stretches reality. In particular, the scene of how she gets on board in the first place is so beyond belief that it sets a tone of “okay, REALLY?” that lingers throughout the book.

The writing also didn’t sit particularly well with me. There are some truly clunky descriptions:

His back is steep and contoured like the cliffs of Dover when golden sunlight falls upon them.

… and some that I didn’t particularly understand. I really have no idea what these two are supposed to mean:

His hair tapers to a curve at the nape of his neck, like a hook waiting for a wriggly finger to bait it.

… brown rubber-soled shoes look as faithful as a pair of beagles.

Some of the dialogue is awkward too, although it’s not clear to me if the author is trying to capture era-appropriate slang or the Cockney influence. Either way, it doesn’t particularly flow.

“Jamie’s the oldest born, which means he’s the most important one, and he loves the queasy seasies.”

“Well, aren’t you a nelly naysayer, rabbitin’ on, all gloom and doom.”

I did appreciate learning about the status of the Chinese passengers, the rampant discrimination they faced even among the other immigrants in steerage, and the teachings and superstitions that Val and Jamie learned from their optimistic yet unsuccessful father.

Authors setting fiction in such a well-documented setting have a very specific challenge: Creating fictional characters to inhabit a world where every person present historically is known and accounted for. Some real-life Titanic passengers are present in the narrative, and as in the movie Titanic, where Jack Dawson is missing from ship records because he wasn’t a registered passenger, Val’s stowaway status is a viable excuse for how someone could be on the Titanic without ever becoming part of the written history.

Luck of the Titanic is compelling by the end, but it would be hard to write a story set on the Titanic that isn’t. I had too many issues with the believability of the story and the characters’ actions to truly get absorbed by the book as a whole — but overall, the approach was interesting enough to hold my attention, even if I wasn’t fully invested.

26Oct2022

Shelf Control #340: Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title: Voices of Dragons
Author: Carrie Vaughn
Published: 2009
Length: 309 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

On one side of the border lies the modern world: the internet, homecoming dances, cell phones. On the other side dwell the ancient monsters who spark humanity’s deepest fears: dragons.

Seventeen-year-old Kay Wyatt knows she’s breaking the law by rock climbing near the border, but she’d rather have an adventure than follow the rules. When the dragon Artegal unexpectedly saves her life, the rules are abruptly shattered, and a secret friendship grows between them.

But suspicion and terror are the legacy of human and dragon interactions, and the fragile truce that has maintained peace between the species is unraveling. As tensions mount and battles begin, Kay and Artegal are caught in the middle. Can their friendship change the course of a war?

In her young-adult debut, New York Times bestselling author Carrie Vaughn presents a distinctly twenty-first-century tale of myths and machines, and an alliance that crosses a seemingly unbridgeable divide.

How and when I got it:

I bought this book on a whim one day while browsing at my local sci-fi/fantasy bookstore.

Why I want to read it:

I’ve read four books by Carrie Vaughn, and have a few more on my shelves that I do want to get to. I love her writing style, her storytelling ability, and her imagination!

I don’t think I even read the synopsis before buying Voices of Dragons, but I do think it sounds like it could be a great read! The description of the world is fascinating — our modern world, but with dragons across the border. I’m really curious about the plot, and now that I’ve “rediscovered” it on my shelves, I’m eager to give it a try.

I see that this is the first of a two-book series — the second book, Refuge of Dragons, is described as a novella that wraps up the story. Here’s hoping I like book #1 enough to want to read #2 as well!

What do you think? Would you read this book?

Please share your thoughts!

Svetlana’s Reads & Views

__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link in the comments or link back from your own post, so I can add you to the participant list.
Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!

21Sep2022

Shelf Control #336: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

A programming note: I’ll be taking a mini-hiatus next week while traveling, and as of now, I’m not planning to do a Shelf Control post for 9/28. I’ll be back the following week!

Title: Little Brother
Author: Cory Doctorow
Published: 2008
Length: 382 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

Marcus aka “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.

But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.

When the DHS finally releases them, his injured best friend Darryl does not come out. The city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: “M1k3y” will take down the DHS himself.

How and when I got it:

I bought a paperback copy about 3 years ago.

Why I want to read it:

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure that I do want to read this! I’ve heard about Little Brother for years, but in general, tech-focused sci-fi isn’t usually my jam. Still, check out those blurbs by Neil Gaiman and Scott Westerfeld!

This book pops up on a lot of “best of” geeky reading lists, but I didn’t have a copy of my own until a few years ago, when I picked one up thinking it might entice my son to read a book other than those assigned for school. Nope, he didn’t show any interest, but I’ve held onto it, thinking I’d want to read it eventually.

So far, I haven’t been motivated to pick it up and give it a try, so at this point, I’m inclined to think that Little Brother will go in the donate pile next time I need to clear more room on my shelves. But… I’m open to being persuaded that I should keep it and read it!

What do you think? Would you read this book? And if you’ve read it, do you recommend it?

Please share your thoughts!

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Bookshelf Journeys
Reviews Feed

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Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link in the comments or link back from your own post, so I can add you to the participant list.
Check out other posts, and…

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9Jun2022

Blog tour + Audiobook Review: Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Tokyo Dreaming
Author: Emiko Jean
Narrator: Ali Ahn
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Publication date: May 31, 2022
Print length: 336 pages
Audio length: 9 hours, 12 minutes
Genre: Young adult
Source: Purchased/Review copy via NetGalley
Rating:

Return to Tokyo for a royal wedding in Emiko Jean’s Tokyo Dreaming, the sequel to the Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Tokyo Ever After
When Japanese-American Izumi Tanaka learned her father was the Crown Prince of Japan, she became a princess overnight. Now, she’s overcome conniving cousins, salacious press, and an imperial scandal to finally find a place she belongs. She has a perfect bodyguard turned boyfriend. Her stinky dog, Tamagotchi, is living with her in Tokyo. Her parents have even rekindled their college romance and are engaged. A royal wedding is on the horizon! Izumi’s life is a Tokyo dream come true.
Only…
Her parents’ engagement hits a brick wall. The Imperial Household Council refuses to approve the marriage citing concerns about Izumi and her mother’s lack of pedigree. And on top of it all, her bodyguard turned boyfriend makes a shocking decision about their relationship. At the threat of everything falling apart, Izumi vows to do whatever it takes to help win over the council. Which means upping her newly acquired princess game.
But at what cost? Izumi will do anything to help her parents achieve their happily ever after, but what if playing the perfect princess means sacrificing her own? Will she find a way to forge her own path and follow her heart?

I’m thrilled to be taking part in the blog tour celebrating the release of Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean. Many thanks to Macmillan Books for the chance to participate!

Tokyo Ever After was one of my favorite reads of 2021, and the sequel, Tokyo Dreaming, definitely lives up to expectations!

In Tokyo Ever After, we met Izumi Tanaka, Northern California teenager who suddenly discovers that her long-lost bio dad is the Crown Prince of Japan. Whisked off to reunite with the father she’s never known, Izumi faces a steep learning curve when it comes to fitting in as a member of the Imperial Family, especially with the eyes of all of Japan tracking her every move.

As Tokyo Dreaming begins, Izumi is in a very good place in her life. She’s finished high school, has become more acclimated to life in Japan, has learned how to behave like a real princess, and even has a happy relationship with the boyfriend of her dreams, her former bodyguard Akio. And best of all? Her parents have been reunited and despite their almost twenty years apart, have rekindled their love for one another. A royal wedding is on the horizon!

But Izumi and her mother don’t quite fit the mold of Imperial family members quite perfectly enough, and it’s clear that her parents may not actually get the official approval they’ll need to move forward with getting married. Izumi realizes that she can make a difference: If she polishes up her princess act and starts doing a better job of being perfectly in line with expectations, it’ll help her parents secure the stamp of approval.

But, as Izumi discovers, being a perfect princess may mean pushing aside her own interests and wishes for the sake of appearances, and that doesn’t actually bode well for her long-term happiness.

The plot of Tokyo Dreaming is not super high-stakes — it’s impossible not to expect a happy ending, so even though there are obstacles, I never expected them not to be overcome. The fun of this book is seeing how Izumi manages her life, from befriending her twin cousins — formerly nicknamed The Shining Twins (as in Stephen King, not because they’re glittery) — and discovering that they’re not as evil as she once thought, to gaining acceptance to a prestigious Japanese university, to losing her boyfriend but possibly finding another. Sigh — yes, there’s a love triangle, but it’s handled very well, and the author does a good job of letting us into Izumi’s feelings and showing us why it would be so hard for her to make a choice.

I loved the depiction of Japanese culture (I was practically drooling over all the amazing-sounding food!), as well as the vicarious pleasure of experiencing life as an Imperial Princess, with amazing clothes and experiences and first-class everything!

Izumi herself is a wonderful character, adapting to royal life but still the down-to-earth American girl she’s always been at heart. I love her relationship with her parents, and it’s lovely to see how her bond with her father has built after their years of not knowing each other. And the twins absolutely grew on me too!

The audiobook is a treat. Narrator Ali Ahn is amazing at portraying Izumi, her friends, her family members, the stiffly formal household staff members, even giving voice to the tabloid press! Plus, it’s fun to hear so many words and phrases in Japanese (and there’s enough context and/or translation to ensure that nothing is lost for those who don’t understand Japanese).

Together, Tokyo Ever After and Tokyo Dreaming are immersive, warm-hearted, fun-spirited books with terrific characters and a great plot progression. Tokyo Dreaming’s ending seems to tie up all the plot points, so I’m assuming the story is done at this point… but I’d be totally okay (i.e., jumping up and down happy) if another book in the series came along.

I highly recommend checking out both of these books this summer!

About the author:

When Emiko Jean isn’t writing, she is reading. Before she became a writer, she was an entomologist, a candlemaker, a florist, and most recently, a teacher. She lives in Washington with her husband and children (unruly twins). She is also the author of Empress of all Seasons and We’ll Never Be Apart.

Find out more at https://www.emikojean.com/

17Apr2022

Book Review: My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: My Lady Jane
Series: The Lady Janies, #1
Author: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication date: June 7, 2016
Length: 512 pages
Genre: Young adult
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Edward (long live the king) is the King of England. He’s also dying, which is inconvenient, as he’s only sixteen and he’d much rather be planning for his first kiss than considering who will inherit his crown…
Jane (reads too many books) is Edward’s cousin, and far more interested in books than romance. Unfortunately for Jane, Edward has arranged to marry her off to secure the line of succession. And there’s something a little odd about her intended…
Gifford (call him G) is a horse. That is, he’s an Eðian (eth-y-un, for the uninitiated). Every day at dawn he becomes a noble chestnut steed—but then he wakes at dusk with a mouthful of hay. It’s all very undignified.
The plot thickens as Edward, Jane, and G are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy. With the fate of the kingdom at stake, our heroes will have to engage in some conspiring of their own. But can they pull off their plan before it’s off with their heads?

I’ve always been fascinated by the sad story of Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days Queen — the young woman used as a political pawn following the death of King Edward VI. Put in place as queen despite not actually being next in line to the throne, her brief reign ended with Queen Mary seizing the throne, and shortly thereafter, both Lady Jane and her husband were beheaded.

But good news! In My Lady Jane, her story is revised, rewritten, and turned into an absolutely, adorably engaging romp. Heads DON’T roll in this version of the story. #justiceforjane

In the England of My Lady Jane, the political landscape is divided between Eðians (those who can assume an animal form) and Verities (those who can’t). Verities have persecuted Eðians for years, and the return of Mary to power signals a return of the terror of burnings and purges. King Henry VIII very famously became an Eðian when he turned into a lion in a fit of rage, but Edward doesn’t think he’s an Eðian… or is he?

Meanwhile, Jane — a girl who would rather read a book than do just about anything — is forced into marriage with a boy she doesn’t know, all as a means of securing political power for his father. There’s the inconvenient fact that Gifford (G) is an Eðian who turns into a horse by day… but that’s only one of the many obstacles facing the newlyweds.

Sound silly? You betcha. But SO much fun, and the writing is truly a delight. Here’s a sampling of some favorite passages and conversation. See for yourselves how adorable this is!

Wife #3 (Edward’s mother) had done everything right; namely, she’d produced a child with the correct genitalia to be a future ruler of England, and then, because she was never one to stick around to gloat, she’d promptly died.

So. Her husband-to-be was a philanderer. A smooth operator. A debaucher. A rake. A frisker. (Jane became something of a walking thesaurus when she was upset, a side effect of too much reading.)

“Was that a horse joke?”
“Neigh.”
“Was that a horse joke?”

“You have hay in your hair.”
He smoothed his hand over his hair before he caught her smile. “No horse jokes.”
“Never! But I wanted to ask: are you catching a chill? You sound hoarse.”

At this point, G realized he’d just asked a ferret what the dog said.

“Right. As I was saying, bears are always hungry. Try not to act like food.”
“How does one act like food?”

“…And Bess can stay with Jane to make sure she doesn’t ferret her way out of that cage.”
“Can you use ferret as a verb?” G asked.
She shrugged. “You can now.”

“Right,” G said slowly. He picked up his sword. “We are off, then?”
“Without hesitation,” Edward said.
And for a few moments, they hesitated.
Then they were off.

“Armies aren’t very good about carrying libraries with them. I can’t imagine why. We’d fight so much less if everyone would just sit down and read.”

As if on cue (or maybe a bit late on his cue), a kestrel flew through the window. “Edward!” At least, she hoped the bird was Edward. It’d be embarrassing to just start talking with a strange bird.

I loved this book, start to finish. I have the next two Lady Janies on my Kindle already, but I’ve saving them for when I feel like I need a reading treat. The next two are:

And after that, there are a couple of Mary books… so I have plenty to look forward to!

28Jan2022

Book Review: Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Author: Malinda Lo
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Publication date: January 19, 2021
Length: 416 pages
Genre: Young adult / historical fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

A story of love and duty set in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the Red Scare.
“That book. It was about two women, and they fell in love with each other.” And then Lily asked the question that had taken root in her, that was even now unfurling its leaves and demanding to be shown the sun: “Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.
America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a beautiful, sensitively told story of a young woman in 1950s San Francisco, discovering her sexuality, finding first love, and navigating her place in the world of Chinatown and beyond.

Lily Hu is a high school senior who loves math, science, and reading Arthur C. Clarke. She’s fascinated by the idea of rockets and space, and dreams of one day working alongside her aunt at the Jet Propulsion Lab. Lily is the oldest child of a Chinese-American family living in San Francisco’s Chinatown, and her world revolves around the neighborhood and its community. While she attends a nearby high school, her friends and her activities are all based in Chinatown too — until she starts to get to know Kathleen, a girl in her advanced math classes.

Lily and Kathleen — or Kath, as she prefers to be called — begin to form a tentative friendship after Kath accidentally picks up a newspaper ad that Lily had saved, a promo for a male impersonator’s appearance at a nightclub. Kath mentions that she’s been to the Telegraph Club once, and the two girls agree to sneak out late one night and go together.

Meanwhile, Lily is unsure what to make of the feelings stirred in her when she reads about Tommy Andrews, the nightclub performer, or when she spies a pulp novel at the local drugstore that features two scantily clad women on the cover. When she and Kath finally make it to the Telegraph Club, Lily’s eyes are opened, seeing women together in clearly romantic relationships.

As Lily’s story progresses, she and Kath explore their feelings and learn more about the secret underworld of gay life in San Francisco. At the same time, the “red scare” is bringing fear to Chinatown, as even naturalized or American-born Chinese people are threatened with deportation and pressured to inform on others. When Lily’s father’s naturalization papers are confiscated during questioning about communist activity in Chinatown, the danger strikes home, and Lily is confronted by the potential consequences her own actions could have on her family.

Last Night the Telegraph Club is a moving coming of age and coming out story, and also a well-researched and eye-opening look at a particular time and place in 20th century history. The author shares a great deal of information at the end of the book about her research, her intentions, who she interviewed, and even provides a wide-ranging bibliography for those who want to learn more.

As she points out, there isn’t a lot written about Asian lesbians in historical fiction. The topics covered within this book are a unique blend of LGBTQ+, Asian American, and San Francisco history, and they work together spectacularly.

Lily is a fabulous main character. She’s not flashy or outrageous by any means. A studious, smart girl devoted to her family, she’s really never stepped foot out of line prior to this point in her life. She struggles with the conflict between her identity, her emotions and desires, and her family duty. Lily is portrayed as a sensitive girl who might have truly thrived in the modern era, but because of the time and culture in which she’s born, there is no easy answer for her.

As a non-native San Franciscan myself, I’m always interested in learning more about the history of my adopted city, and Last Night at the Telegraph Club delivers. While many of the places and neighborhoods are the same, the city has changed in dramatic ways since then. I loved seeing all the familiar streets and landmarks mentioned as Lily and Kath and others explore the city, and appreciate that they venture beyond the areas often covered in popular media to include lesser known spots too, such as one of my own favorite places:

Judy had fallen in love with Ocean Beach the first time she saw it almost four years ago, right after she first arrived in San Francisco.

Although as Lily herself later reflects, you can’t always count on the weather:

She suspected it would be freezing out by Ocean Beach

On a more serious note, the response of Lily’s family to learning about her orientation is sadly typical of the time, but still incredibly painful to read:

“There are no homosexuals in this family,” she said, the words thick with disgust.

… and …

“There are studies,” her father said. “You’re too young for this. This is a phase.”

My only quibble with this book is that I wished for a little more at the end, between the last full chapter and the book’s epilogue. I can’t say much without entering spoiler territory, but I wish the events of the last chapter had been carried forward longer to show what happened in the ensuing months. The epilogue wraps the story up very well, but it’s almost too abrupt in its resolution. Still, overall, I’m happy with how things were resolved for the various characters, and felt so invested in Lily’s well-being that I wish I could check back in with her to see how her life turned out 10, 20, and 30 years down the road.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club is engrossing, moving, and sensitive, with memorable characters and a fast-moving plot that manages to convey so much, so well. Highly recommended.