Review!: Lorali- Laura Dockrill

I have heard so much buzz about this book, so I was super excited to get a signed proof copy from Hot Key Books. It's an unusual premise for a YA novel, mermaids, but worked so well. I don't think I've read many mermaid books before. The story follows Lorali, a mermaid who has surfaced in an english seaside town, where she washes up (naked) in a storm and meets a bewildered teenage boy, Rory. There are multiple points of view, with chapters narrated by Lorali, Rory, and The Sea. It's a great story, tying in all these points of view, showing the relationship between the sea and the land and the inhabitants of each. It's a modern setting, with mobile phones and blogs, but there are pirates at sea, who either hunt or respect the mer-people, and fight amongst each other. The mermaids have their home in the Whirl, a deep, hidden part of the sea, and mostly fear the people on land, for there is a history of hunting and capturing mermaids for their tapestries (tails). Laura Dockrill manages to very quickly show us this world she has built, and explain its history and people, in what could easily become a series of novels from this world (although not necessarily continuing to follow Lorali's story). A tip top story, balancing the fantastical with the mundane.

Five things I loved about Lorali:

1-The Sea chapters are great, providing an almost omniscient voice, which fills the reader in on the histories of characters, and the present goings on in and on the sea. These chapters aren't just for details and info though, The Sea is a character in her own right.

2-The lore of how mermaids become mermaids was brilliant, and I don't know much mer-lore, but I was pretty convinced of this theory. I also like the idea what this could be happening all across the world, maybe a sequel could show us mer-life in another ocean. 

3-The reaction of the British public to news of mermaids was perfect too, with newspaper articles and blog posts working really well in between chapters. It again added another perspective, and gave the character narrators events to react to without them having to explain everything to the reader in an unnatural way. 

4- Lorali herself was a wonderful, joyful character. Her story was a perfect fairy tale beginning, with the protected princess escaping the confines of her castle and finding adventure. Her curiosity and confusion as she slowly figured out her own story was great. I also loved the idea of female mermaids being the dominant sex, that was a nice touch.

5- The ending was perfect for the story, and I won't spoil it but it captured the theme of two separate worlds perfectly.

Bonus- The beautifully preened pirates was such good idea. The strong, menacing, pirates also being perfectly tailored and coiffed, with their fine dining and crisp white sheets made for great characters and gave them the air of an elite club. 

Childhood Favourites: The Claidi Journals - Tanith Lee

Law of the Wolf Tower, Wolf Star Rise, Queen of the Wolves (and Wolf Wing, which I've only just realised exists- oops) make up The Claidi Journals series by Tanith Lee. News broke of Lee's passing a few weeks ago, so it felt like a good time to write about this childhood favourite of mine. I absolutely loved this series, which I must have read around the age of 10-12, and reread many times again. I just got so lost in the worlds Lee created- the gardens of (the second book?) especially, and all the different towns they had to travel through, which seemed to be almost completely isolated communities popping up across a kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland. The sheep land is maybe my favourite. The travelling Hulta were wonderful too.

I had no idea Tanith Lee had written 90 novels, so I should probably get to work on remedying that!

REVIEW! Books I read in April: Half Bad, The Country of Ice Cream Star, A Darker Shade of Magic.

Ooh I read some right gooduns in April. All of these have been recommended by various bloggers and booktubers so I was very much looking forward to reading them, and I was not disappointed, whee! I read Half Bad by Sally Green, The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman, and V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic. 

Half Bad

This is a story about witches in Britain, but not quite the usual kind. Nathan is half white witch and half black witch, and growing up in a predominantly white witch modern Britain, which is warring against black witches. As the son of the most notorious black witch, Marcus, Nathan has been brought up by his white witch grandmother and has been tracked and monitored by the corrupt and prejudicial Council for his whole life.

Nathan is quite young at the beginning of the book, and we see him grow up and slowly learn more about who he is, and why he gets treated differently to his half-siblings. There is quite a gritty, realist feel to the setting, while there are potions and shape shifting and magical occurrences, this is set against a grimy and grey backdrop. Nathan gets involved in punch ups at school (a normal non magic school attended by non magic children- fains), is nauseated by hearing mobile phone static in his head, and has to learn how to pick-pocket wealthy city workers. His time spent in a cage in the Highlands is just as grim. However, this is a fast paced and witty book and a fully formed novel in its own right, though it is the first of a trilogy. Read it!

The Country of Ice Cream Star

Wow, where do I start with this book. I thought it was pretty wonderful. It's set in a post apocalyptic America, about 80 years after a virus has wiped out most of the population. The people who are left behind are all black and all children, dying of 'posies' before they reach their 20s. Ice Cream Star is 15 and part of community called Sengals. They hunt and live in the Messa woods, and search old 'evac' houses for clothing and supplies. The amazing thing about this book is that  Sandra Newman has created a language, a kind of English dialect, which at first is a little jarring, but soon easy to understand. A few chapters in and my own thoughts were in Ice Cream's language. And it was really hard to shake it after I'd finished. So a pretty immersive read. It's a long book, and so took me a long time to read, but it was well worth it. Ice Cream is a brilliant strong character and leads the story of this unsettling world, through capture, becoming a Queen, and Russian invasion, always looking to do the "right" thing. 

“I know, ain't evils in no life nor cruelties in no red hell can change the vally heart of Ice Cream Star.” 

A Darker Shade of Magic

This is a magical tale of multiple Londons, dark and dangerous magic, and excellent coats. A great introduction to what should be an exciting trilogy. Kell is a great misfit character, taken in by the Royal family but never quite fitting in there, feeling like the a trophy of the King and Queen rather than part of the family. Loyal to his duty, as one of the last Antari, to travel between the worlds and between Londons. His many sided coat is amazing, I want one. He reminds me a lot of Howl (of Howl's Moving Castle) and there is something of a Diana Wynne Jones feel to the Schwab's writing. With his red hair and search for answers he also reminds me somewhat of Kvothe (from The Name of the Wind). I loved Lila Bard, who dreams of being a pirate, and is tough and strong as long as she keeps telling herself she is tough and strong. The coat and cape she acquires is a thing of wonder too. In Lila I saw a bit of Hester from Mortal Engines, fending for herself, determined not to rely on anyone. The worlds were beautifully built and the plot very fast paced, taking place over just a couple of days. The baddies convincing and the heroes strong, flawed and independent. So much happened in this first book, but there are so many questions left unanswered and potential paths left open that I am very much anticipating the next in the trilogy with great excitement. 

I've already read some wonderful books in May- so I'm excited to share those with you next month! I'm currently doing the #MayBookChallenge on Instagram so go follow me there- @ruthlily. 

REVIEW! Books I read over Christmas: Let it Snow, Only Ever Yours, Looking For Alaska.

Helloo! Happy New Year!

One of my resolution type things this year is to do more blogging, in the form of book reviews, little essays, general musings etc. So I thought I'd start with a write up/ review type thing of the YA books I read over the Christmas hols!

Let it Snow 

I started with Let it Snow, three interconnecting stories by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle. I read this one by the fire on Boxing Day and it was a lovely cosy place to be whilst reading about romantic adventures through a storm storm. I enjoyed Maureen Johnson's opening story the most, something about the "chance encounter" storyline really appealed to me. Nothing huge was tackled issue wise; just never judge a cheerleader by the cover, or maybe do judge a cheerleader by the cover, and teacup pigs make good gifts, and maybe you fancy your best friend, you should have a think about that. It also made me want to eat all the food at that Waffle House. Cheese. So much mention of cheese. I spent a lot of the time reading it being easily impressed every time the stories connected and characters popped up. I also spent a lot of time wondering how they went about writing it. Did they make it up together and then choose a bit, and did they choose when the other characters would be in each story and who went first and just how??

Read it while it's still cold outside. Good, harmless, snowy romance fun. 

Only Ever Yours

In quite a stark contrast, the next book I read was Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill. I felt pretty drained after reading this one. Dystopian futures are my bag, so I was very excited to read this, having enjoyed Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy and Scott Westerfield's Uglies series, and I was not disappointed.  I was willing to brush over the not very sciencey "future where no girls are born" thing to fully invest in the idea of a future where girls are manufactured 'eves' for men, and to breed more men, and grow up competing with each other, in an isolated school, to be ranked in order of their beauty. With mirrors covering every surface, a 'vomitorium' next to the cafeteria, and target weights, it all felt almost too close to reality. Every thought I had about my body or clothes or face over the days I was reading made me double take and realise my thoughts weren't that far off those of the girls in the book. I highly recommend reading this book. It felt like a cut above the rest to me.

::::::SPOILERS::::::

What really impressed me and set this book apart from other female led dystopian fictions I've read, was that there was no male accomplice and escape partner. There was no real love interest. And there was no escape. In other fictional dystopian worlds, most of the population is oppressed, so there is a possibility for an uprising, for a spark to ignite, and for a romance to drive a couple to escape together or lead a rebellion. But in Only Ever Yours, the men are not really oppressed, or not in the same way as the women. The patriarchy is so immensely strong and seems to be unbreakable. Darwin seems to be beaten by his father, but as he says to freida, there is no way to escape. There is no "other side" that can be escaped to. And so the real love that could have sparked a rebellion, the love between isabel and freida, never has a chance to ignite as there would just be nowhere to go. When you continue the the comparison between the setting of the book and the reality for girls in our world, this is a reeeealllly depressing thought. Read the book! It honestly feels like a cut above the rest and the 'no happy endings' ending felt so true to the story and not at all a token attempt to be taken seriously. It commands so much respect. Louise O'Neill, thank you.

Looking For Alaska

Swinging right back into reality with a rather harsh bump, I read John Green's Looking For Alaska next. It took me a little while to get into, probably as I'd just read Only Ever Yours and wanted stupid Miles to quit talking about the curve of Alaska's hips or whatever and leave her alone because she wasn't created just for Miles to ogle at, unlike the poor freida and isabel who were created to be ogled at and had no choice, but does Alaska really have a choice? Waaaah. Alaska's rants on the patriarchy and calling out the boys in their objectification of girls eased this a little. Although the book is essentially about the whole girl on a pedestal thing. I think it explored this and the 'mystery girl' narrative pretty well, which I imagine is the intention. In true John Green style there is a literary quirk, Miles reads biographies of authors and historical figures and memorises their last words, which I actually enjoyed as far a literary quirks go. I think Miles needed this quirk, otherwise he's just guy who puts girl on pedestal. (I should have read more YA when I was an actual young adult in high school. Maybe I would have been more pretentious and quoted the classics and stuff. I think I mostly read Harry Potter and the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series. I quoted them A LOT.) Favourite scene is probably the awkward teenage sexual encounter scene, toothpaste tube, we're often sheltered from that kind of honesty in YA, I have found. 

I found it to be very much like Paper Towns, maybe that's why The Fault in Our Stars was such a success, it really stands out from the guy-from-Florida-puts-more-popular-mysterious-damaged-girl-on-pedestal trope. Teenagers, boarding school, class divides, pranks!

Wooh! I hope that was enjoyable. I'm currently reading We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler, and I have E. Lockhart's We Were Liars, which I've heard is great, and Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, to read next!