Roe, Robin.  A List of Cages.  Disney-Hyperion, 2017.

Adam Blake, a senior in high school, is the happiest, most energetic, albeit clumsy, student at his high school.  Although he has ADHD, he has learned to compensate and has excelled in his classes and is one of the school’s most popular students.  One of his classes involves being a student aide to Dr. Whitlock, the school psychologist, and he is bored most of the time during this period.  One day, she asks Adam to locate a freshman named Julian, who, consequently, lived with Adam and his mom for a while after both of his parents were killed in a tragic car accident.  After several years, Julian’s uncle took custody of him, and the Blakes were not allowed to see him.

Adam is thrilled to see Julian again and is happy that he actually remembers him.  However, Julian has become extremely shy and withdrawn and is slow to open up to Adam.  We learn through Julian’s eyes that he also has undiagnosed dyslexia and is scorned by many teachers for his poor grades and scholastic performance. 

Adam begins spending a lot of time with Julian, and he is accepted into Adam’s group of senior friends.  Adam notices that Julian’s clothes are old and do not fit him well, and that Julian often misses school due to illness.  Adam eventually figures out that Julian is keeping secrets from both him and Dr. Whitlock.  What Adam and his friends ultimately discover about Julian could put all their lives at risk!

This debut novel by Robin Roe is an emotional roller coaster of a ride.  I am a sucker for teenage male protagonists, and she has created some very special ones.  The novel is character-driven, told in first-person through the eyes of Adam and Julian.  All the characters, including the supporting group, are exceptionally well developed.  Adam is just a great guy and well liked by students and teachers.  Julian has had a lot of trauma in his life since losing his parents but is still disdained by his teachers and his impatient, evil uncle.  All of Adam’s friends have distinct personalities.  I did not like Charlie, Adam’s best bud, at first, but he grew so much during the story that I actually ended up loving him.  He is like a giant, lovable teddy bear and fiercely loyal to his friends!

The dialogue and setting are authentic, the characters are wonderful, and the villain is hateful.  I could not believe the abuse that Julian has to endure from his uncle, who does not even care for him one bit.  The scenes where Julian is locked in a trunk emotionally drained me.  It was no surprise to find out that Robin Roe is an adolescent counselor, since she portrays the characters so realistically and compassionately.

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This novel has it all—family, friendship, great characters, a little romance, drama, and a happy ending, despite cruelty.  It is a real page-turner, and I highly recommend it for high school and public libraries.  I give it five out of five fleur de lis!

Review of Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Raasch, Sara.  Snow Like Ashes. Balzer +    Bray, 2014.

On the continent of Primoria, there are four Season Kingdoms—Spring, Summer, Winter, and Autumn, which sit on a chasm of magic.  All of them have eternal seasons and female rulers who wield magic through conduits, talismans to control their kingdoms.  The Rhythm Kingdoms—Paisly, Ventralli, Yakim, and Cordell—go through all four seasons and have males who rule through their conduits.  The eight kingdoms lived in more or less in harmony until Angra, Spring’s evil conduit, and his army attacked and destroyed Winter, broke its conduit in half, and killed its queen.  Only twenty-five of Winter’s citizens were able to escape; they rest were killed or taken to Spring’s work camps.

Sixteen years later, only eight Winterians remain of those who escaped.  They are constantly moving around so as not to be captured by Angra or his general, Herod.  The eight citizens spend their days trying to survive and searching for their conduit.  Finding the two halves of their conduit would mean freedom, the return of magic, and the rebuilding of their kingdom. 

The two youngest Winterians—Mather Dynam, Winter’s future king, and Meira, an orphan—infants when the attack on Winter occurred, are now teenagers.  Their leader, Sir William, has trained them to fight fiercely for Winter.  Meira knows Mather will one day be her king and is of a higher class, but she still has feelings for him.  On her first journey to look for the conduit, not only does Meira have an encounter with Herod, but she also recovers half of Winter’s conduit.

This leads to a series of events in which Meira, guided by encrypted dreams, becomes first a commodity, then a soldier, and finally a prisoner.  She must deal with courtly politics and Angra’s evil magic to find her true destiny and place in Winter.

Snow Like Ashes, Sara Raasch’s debut novel, is a wonderful fantasy read.  The world building and the concept of designing kingdoms based on seasons are fresh and beautiful.  The main characters are strong, heroic, and selfless, ready to sacrifice anything--even death--for Winter.  The descriptions of the battle scenes are so real, the reader will feel he is right there on the battlefield fighting with the soldiers!  In addition,  if you like love triangles, you will not be disappointed!  The cover art is awesome; it depicts a chakram, a type of throwing knife, Meira’s weapon of choice, on a bed of fresh snow.

The only negative about the novel is the pacing.  The plot sometimes slows down and takes awhile to pick up speed again.  However, there is enough happening during the slow parts to keep readers motivated to continue reading.

Snow Like Ashes is the first in a series of the same name.   Icicles Like Kindling, a novella eBook-only prequel, was released in September.  It covers Meira’s life from her infancy to age sixteen and was originally intended to be the prologue in Snow Like Ashes.    Ice Like Fire (Snow Like Ashes #2) will come out this year!

This book will be enjoyed by fans of Kristin Cashore’s Graceling series and readers of The Games of Thrones series by George R.R. Martin.  I highly recommend it for middle school, high school, and public libraries.  I give it four out of five fleur de lis!

Review of Shallow Pond by Alissa Grosso

Grosso, Alissa.  Shallow Pond.  flux, 2013. 

The Bunting sisters have lived in Shallow Pond, Pennsylvania all their lives and people constantly mistake one sister for another.  The oldest sister, Annie, has raised the two younger girls ever since their mom and dad passed away.  The youngest sister, Barbara, nicknamed “Babie”, is a senior in high school and wants nothing more than to graduate and leave Shallow Pond forever.  Babie’s best friends are always trying to pair her up with guys at school, and when a new, handsome orphaned guy named Zack Faraday arrives at school, Jenelle and Shawna decide he would be the perfect date for Babie for the town’s winter carnival.

Although Babie feels an instant connection with Zack, she has no desire to have a relationship that might cause her to want to stay in Shallow Pond.  She doesn’t want to end up like Annie, now twenty-six, who was dumped by her boyfriend, Cameron Schaeffer, when she was a high school senior, or like her other sister, Gracie, now twenty-one, who works as a cashier in the town’s only grocery store.

Cameron Schaeffer has recently returned to Shallow Pond after losing his job, and Gracie has fallen in love with him.  Babie is not happy with Gracie over this development because she was hoping that Cameron and Annie would reunite.  When Cameron leaves town unexpectedly, Gracie hurries to find him.

Annie has been sick, and when she begins to get even worse, her sisters rush her to a hospital where she is treated by one of their father’s friends.  It turns out that she has a mysterious genetic illness and could soon die.  This revelation releases a series of events that take the book in a totally different direction!

Told in first person by Babie, this novel started out very slowly and repetitious.  The same scenes kept reoccurring—Babie hates Shallow Pond, and her friends love it.  Babie doesn’t want a boyfriend, but she is drawn to Zack.  Babie talks to Zack and then runs away from him.  Finally, about midway through the book, the plot began to branch out.  

Science fiction fans and readers who love a good romance will enjoy Shallow Pond.  I recommend it for high school and public libraries.  I give it four out of five fleur de lis!

Review of Rebel Heart (the sequel to Blood Red Road) by Moira Young

Young, Moira.  Rebel Heart.  Margaret K. Elderry Books, 2012.

In this second installment in The Dustland series, the evil Tonton, led by "The Pathfinder", have become even more brutal than before.  Families are being kidnapped, killed, and forced out of their homes to make room for "Stewards of the Earth" in New Eden.

 

Saba, Lugh, Emmi, and Tommo are heading West through the wastelands with its Wrecker debris, in search of "The Big Water", which is supposed to be a type of paradise.  Saba has been having hallucinations and dreams of people she has killed, and she and Lugh are having disagreements.  Saba wants to part ways with her family and friends and search for Jack, but Lugh thinks that Jack is trouble.

 

In the meantime, Jack is also heading West to meet Saba.  He stops at The Lost Cause, the tavern that Molly Pratt owns, to deliver a message.  Unfortunately for him, members of the Tonton show up while he is there.  Now Jack is missing and is presumed to have joined up with the Tonton.

 

If you are looking for action and adventure, this sequel is for you!  While I feel that Rebel Heart is not as good as its predecessor, Blood Red Road, it is still riveting and exciting!

 

Saba does not start out the story as a strong character, but she overcomes her weeknesses as the book progresses.  Jack is portrayed as a cold-blooded killer and must re-earn his way into Saba's good graces.  Lugh has so many problems, which is logical, bu it makes him appear stubborn and selfish at times.

 

New characters are introduced in this sequel.  My favorite is Dr. Salmo Slim, Traveling Physician and Surgeon, with his camel, The Grand Champeen of the Pillawalla Camel Race, who is pulling a broken down wagon supposedly filled with medicines and potions.  I also loved little Auriel Tai, the "Sky Speaker", who tries to heal Saba's dream demons and is wise beyond her years.  DeMalo plays a large part in the book and tries to appear caring and alluring to Saba, but he has ulterior motives!

 

Like Blood Red Road, this book uses intentional misspellings and no quotation marks in its dialogue.  There is a third installment, as yet unnamed, coming but not until 2014!

 

I recommend Rebel Heart for middle school, high school, and public libraries.

 

**Reviewer's Note:  The copy reviewed was a digital ARC received from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Review of Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Wither by Lauren DeStefano; Simon & Schuster, 2011.

A number of years previous to the beginning of the story, all diseases in the world are eradicated through genetic engineering. “First Generations” later discover that there is a problem with subsequent generations. All females at age 20 and all males at age 25 will develop a genetic virus and die. While scientists desperately seek a cure, the lab and all research are destroyed in an explosion. Young teenage girls are considered a commodity and are stalked and kidnapped by Gatherers, who sell them to be young brides to wealthy men. Polygamy is widely practiced and encouraged.

Rhine and Rowan Ellery are twins who lost their parents to the lab explosion. They are living in their parents’ house in Manhattan and working at odd jobs in order to make ends meet. They are very careful, always looking for Gatherers and turning away anyone trying to take advantage of them. They are living in their basement and have even booby trapped their kitchen so that they can be alerted to any intruders invading their house.

However, Rhine is not careful enough because she is ultimately lured away, kidnapped, and sold to be one of three wives to twenty-year-old House Governor Linden Ashby, who lives on an estate in Florida. His current wife, Rose, is now twenty-years old and dying. Rhine’s “sister wives” are Cecily, age fourteen, and Jenna, age eighteen. Their roles are to be companions to Linden and produce children to be secretly used as guinea pigs towards a cure. The household is actually headed by Linden’s father, Housemaster Vaughan Ashby, who is a widower. Vaughan is supposedly a medical doctor and is looking for a cure for the virus so that he can save his son.

Even before Rhine enters the Ashby estate, she is trying to find a way out and back to her twin brother. As the days pass, Rose tragically dies, and the three wives become emotionally closer because they spend so much time together. Rhine discovers how controlling Vaughan is and how little Linden knows of the outside world.  Much of Rhine and Linden’s time together is spent going to elaborate parties in a nearby city.

Vaughan eventually discovers that Rhine is drawn to Gabriel, a servant in the house, and is considering escaping from the estate. The results of his discovery lead to Gabriel’s being sent to another floor to work, the tightening of the wives’ freedoms, and, unfortunately, in one of their deaths. In the last moments of the book, Rhine and Gabriel do escape and make their way to freedom.

I have really gotten caught up in the dystopian movement! From the moment I started reading Wither, I was totally spellbound. Imagine a world where lives are over nearly before they have begun and a world where polygamy is commonplace, widely promoted, and accepted! While these ideas seem repulsive to me, I was so drawn into the story that I could not stop reading! Told through the eyes of Rhine, readers see both the cruelty and the oppressiveness of those who are wealthy and, therefore, feel entitled. We also see how being orphaned has affected the young and made them desperate for the necessities most people take for granted—food, shelter, water, and warmth.

Author Lauren DeStefano’s descriptions of the Manhattan living conditions, the Ashby estate, and the flamboyant parties held in an unnamed Floridian city are breathtaking. Landscapes, foods, clothes, and furnishings are explained in lush detail. All the characters have distinct and recognizable personalities. I loved Deidre, Elle, and Adair, the very young domestics who were charged with taking care of the sister wives. They are so dedicated to the women they serve! I also loved the sister wives, especially Jenna, even though she is initially withdrawn and moody.

I did not expect that Rhine would become friends with her predecessor, Rose, or any of the sister wives. However, they were there, both emotionally and physically, for each other. I also did not think Rhine would have any feelings except hatred for Linden, so I was surprised that she empathized with him. Rhine grew tremendously within the novel. She comes to believe and accept that it is Linden’s father, Vaughan, who is actually stifling and controlling everyone within the house, and who is keeping Linden in the dark about what has really happened in the world. The idyllic life that Rhine lives within the Ashby estate is a much better life than the squalid one she lives with her brother. I am surprised that she would even think about leaving it all behind, but obviously, blood, true love, and freedom are thicker than a wealthy life of leisure!

What a powerful book this was! I was surprised and excited to find out that this is actually going to be a trilogy called “The Chemical Garden”! I am so looking forward to the next two books in the series! I highly recommend this book for high school libraries and public libraries!!!

Book trailer for Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Review of The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey

The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey; Simon & Schuster, 2010.

In this sequel to Rick Yancey’s The Monstrumologist, Dr. Pellinore Worthrop and his young apprentice, Will Henry, travel to snowy Canada to search for fellow scientist and former best friend, John Chanler. Chanler had gone off to hunt for the Wendigo, known by the Indians as outiko, aka Lepto lurconis, a type of cannibalistic monster which is perpetually starving, even after gorging, and can travel on the wind! While in Canada, Dr. Worthrop and Will Henry are “deserted” by their guide, who has gone insane, and must travel back to civilization, carrying the ill John Chanler through freezing temperatures and many feet of snow. Once back in New York, Chanler seems to be getting worse, and Dr. Worthrop, who is in town for the annual congress of the Society for the Advancement of the Science of Monstrumology, orders him to be taken to the hospital. Much to Worthrop’s dismay, his teacher, Abram von Helrung, has decided to present a proposal to the society about the Wendigo, which Worthrop believes to be a myth! Will Henry is introduced to von Helrung’s thirteen-year-old niece, Lilly, who tries to lead Will astray, while Chanler escapes from the hospital and begins leaving a trail of blood and gore in his wake! He leads a band of monstrumologists on a chase to capture and kill him before he can kill, eat, and mutilate the poor immigrant residents of the New York City tenement neighborhoods.

Rick Yancey has produced another fantastic gory thriller! Many of the new characters in this book are extremely funny and likable! Muriel Chanler, John Chanler’s wife and Pellinore Worthrop’s former fiancé’, is elegant, and presumptuous. Chanler, on the other hand, is portrayed as cynical and mean-spirited, and then, of course, as a monster! I find it interesting that Chanler’s monster speech patterns are reminiscent of Gollum’s in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Lilly, the teenage niece of von Helrung is a talkative “know-it-all”, and the scenes with Will and her are quite amusing! There are a number of cameo appearances by well-known historical figures, the most famous being Thomas Edison. The inclusion of Abram von Helrung is a veiled reference to Bram Stoker’s Van Helsing vampire hunter. The descriptions of 1888 New York City and, especially, its manure blocks, “crossing sweepers” and slums are dark and depressing, contrasting with those of the more prominent and wealthy parts of the city.

Readers will again have to get out their dictionaries, for there are many unusual words in the novel. There is plenty of blood and guts to keep the pages turning until the end! Even though this book is a sequel, readers will not necessarily need to read the previous volume. However, I do prefer The Monstrumologist over Rick Yancey’s most recent work. I highly recommend it for high school and public libraries!