Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - HOLY SH*T

I don't normally read sci-fi/dystopian fiction — not because of any misguided superiority complex, but simply because my heart is more naturally drawn to quieter narratives that center around character rather than plot.

After reading a few interviews with Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff about Illuminae, however, I knew that I had to give it a try. And my goodness, am I glad that I did. I'm really shocked I haven't been seeing more people talk about this now that it's out!

To catch up anyone who isn't familiar with the premise, here's the book jacket copy from Amazon:

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, maps, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

First, the format of the book is absolutely brilliant, and I can't begin to imagine all of the work and creativity that went into conceiving it, let alone executing it. Everything feels authentic and helps draw the reader into the world of the book — and they way the AI is portrayed is so smart and consuming. This helped make the sci-fi aspects feel really accessible; being privy to "classified" documents is a sure-fire way to make kick my nosiness into high gear and keep me reading.

The other thing, and possibly most important thing, that made this book feel so accessible to someone who doesn't normally read sci-fi is that the main characters — Kady and Ezra — are such teenagers in the most endearing, frustrating, and compelling way. This may be true of most sci-fi/dystopian YA, but it seemed especially singular here. Everything that was happening to them was secondary to the fact that they were just teenagers trying to live their lives and make the best of the circumstances they were dealt: they were teenagers who happened to be dealing with espionage, not agents who happened to be teenagers. The entire way I cheered them on and felt their hopes, their grief, their fears.

Kady and Ezra weren't the only incredible characters. Almost every character who made it onto the page — and there were many — felt like a real, flesh-and-blood, breathing person, which instinctively made me care. Even the AI became a beautiful character, which is something I never expected to feel or say.

Another of the book's strengths is that it did NOT hold back. With anything. There were so many times that I had to sit and stare at the page because I couldn't believe that what just happened had actually happened. One of my favorite things about the book is the way it played up on my fear of "what would it look like to be moving closer to inevitable disaster and tragedy, but to still have to keep fighting because there's no other option." Towards the end, I was actually saying oh my God out loud. There may have been audible gasps.

Which brings me to the twists. THE TWISTS. Totally not gimmicky, the twists came hard on multiple levels throughout the book, keeping the tension and momentum going throughout the entire 599 pages. You'll just have to read for yourself to find out what these mind-blowing twists are.

The only negative I can say about Illuminae is that I didn't know it was the first of a series when I bought it and started reading it — and now I have to wait for the next to come out! What a problem to have.

Thank you Jay and Aimee for bringing such a crazy, brilliant thing into the world.

Other books I've written about:

Fans of the Impossible Life
Glory O'Brien's History of the Future

More Happy Than Not 

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

You can also find me on Twitter @HallockMarie. Come follow me there, we can talk about books! 

Kate Scelsa's FANS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE LIFE - The Magic I Wish I Had As A Teenager

 When I first saw a post about Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa, I felt like the book was written for me. I waited months to read it - and now that I finally did, I am not disappointed.

I'm not a fast reader, and lately I've been having trouble reading more than a few pages at a time. With Fans, I would sit down to read a few pages of this book and suddenly be 30, 40, 50 pages from where I started - a true testament to the success of the book's pacing. I even stayed after work to finish reading the last 40 pages, despite knowing I'd end up sitting in extra traffic and being late for an appointment.

To catch up anyone who isn't familiar with the plot, here's the summary from Amazon:

Mira is starting over at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to pretend that she could act like a functioning human this time, not a girl who can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby.

Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn, it’s as if he’s been expecting this blond, lanky boy with mischief glinting in his eye.

Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and impromptu road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives.

As Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira’s world, he begins to understand the secrets that they hide in order to protect themselves, to keep each other safe from those who don’t understand their quest to live for the impossible.

This is a truly character driven novel in the best possible way. When I first heard that the three different characters would be narrated in first (Jeremy), second (Sebby), and third (Mira) person POV, I was skeptical. It seemed like a lot, but it totally worked. 

Sebby's 2nd person POV was perfect, because it allowed the reader to really approach Seby's darkness in a way that wasn't too overwhelming, and also showcases Sebby's own trauma and distancing from himself and his experiences. Jeremy's 1st person POV feels the most intimate and vulnerable, and I think ultimately he is - while he had a terrible experience with bullying, it doesn't seem like he's as acquainted with inner darkness the way Sebby and Mira are, and it can be difficult to plunge into that world when you're not used to it. And Mira's 3rd person POV creates a similar distance to Sebby's, but one that's much more subdued, in a way that reflects her depression.

Through these characters, Scelsa constructs a world that showcases the dark, the breathless, and the mundane that's so prevalent in teenage life. And let me tell you - this novel does not back down at all, with anything (THAT PARTY SCENE). While at first some of the characters' behavior felt shocking, it didn't feel like it was for shock value at all, but rather a natural extension of the circumstances the characters were dealing with.

In that same vein, I thought Fans of the Impossible Life beautifully balanced how people who are not in a healthy place can be viewed very romantically and act out with romantic gestures - Sebby and Mira's "spells" to banish or conjure as a way of coping - while never romanticizing the mental illness or destructive behaviors themselves.

This book was a stunning exploration of the dark, twisty, incredible turns that friendships can take, especially when they're so much more than friendship but not quite anything else, either, in a way that felt very true to my own high school experiences.

When I was in a class over Labor Day weekend, the instructor asked us what our "stuff" is, the thing that we gravitate towards in the things we create and the art we engage with. My answer was "the bonds people create when they've reached rock bottom," and I feel like that is what this book is at it's core, at least for me.

It's a rare, special thing when you find a piece of your soul out there in the world, created by someone else, and this book is very, very special.

***

Other books I've written about:
Glory O'Brien's History of the Future

More Happy Than Not 

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

You can also find me on Twitter @HallockMarie. Come follow me there, we can talk about books!

A.S. King's GLORY O'BRIEN'S HISTORY OF THE FUTURE

I finished reading Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King this morning, and...have no idea how I feel about it. One of the things I've been challenging myself with lately is to not say something is bad when really I just don't like it, and that certainly applies to this: it is a good book. It does a lot of things and for the most part, it does them well.

As a general disclaimer, this is not the type of book I usually read. I'm very much a realistic contemporary girl, and this is...not that. But I'm trying to push myself out of my reading comfort zone, and ultimately, I'm really glad I did with this! To give some context, here is the summary from Amazon:

Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities--but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she's never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person's infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions--and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying: A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women's rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she'll do anything to make sure this one doesn't come to pass.

Amazon also describes this book as a "masterpiece about freedom, feminism, and destiny," and I would generally agree with that. Those aspects of the story were by far my favorites, although at times I felt like the feminism from Glory's POV (by which I mean some feminist statements that came up in her internal narration) were a little heavy handed and didactic.

Part of my conflict with this is that I'm not even sure if I think that's a bad thing, because I think it's great that these messages of independence and agency are being exposed to teens. At the same time, I felt that those moments sometimes pulled me out of the story because they didn't sound like a seventeen year old. One thing that does save it a little bit, though, is that it seems like as much as she does believe those feminist ideals, they're on some level just repeated, because she seems to have some very judgmental thoughts about her friend Ellie's sexuality that doesn't quite line up with the brand of feminism she's preaching (which I actually liked because it made Glory seem more realistic).

Within the vein of Glory being realistic - and before I go into what I loved about the novel - I want to talk briefly about Glory's voice. I personally did not buy into Glory's voice until probably about 2/3 of the way into the novel. To me, she seemed edgy and quirky in a very deliberate way; she felt very written. This might just be because she's so outside of the realm of how I think/how my friends think, and I wasn't able to relate to this as much. It could be that she put on that affect as a protective wall as a result of the trauma she experienced at a young age. Whatever it was, it wasn't my personal cup of tea.

There were, however, moments that I loved Glory's voice, and those moments were primarily where her humor or blunt perspective came through. For example, on page 37:

"Did you know nearly every serial killer in history had a porn addiction? Helped them dehumanize people so they could kill them," she [Ellie] said.
"You didn't learn that at homeschool."
"Rick told me. He's got all these books about serial killers."
"Wow. That's not creepy at all."
"Stop it."
"Okay," I said, but I still thought it was creepy.

Another thing I loved was Glory's friendship with Ellie. I think friendships in high school are some of the most intense - for better or worse - that people will have in their lives, ever. There's just something about being stuck with the same people and bonding out of necessity, the misery that is high school, and sometimes genuine, profound bonds. Sometimes there's a little bit of all of those things in high school friendships. Glory and Ellie have a little bit of all of those things and so much more, and the back and forth that Glory goes through between not wanting to be around Ellie and being around Ellie because it's so habitual and wanting to push Ellie away but never quite getting to the point of actually pushing her away - it's all just so genuine.

The other thing I loved about the book was the visions, or transmissions, as Glory calls them. Some of these are about people's pasts and ancestors, but primarily they are visions of the future, and eventually they start being compiled into short "Glory O'Brien's History of the Future" sections. These were my favorite parts of the book. It was these sections that kept me thinking about the book when I wasn't reading it, particularly after I watched the first GOP debate leading up to the 2016 elections. After that, the History of the Future sections had a little bit more of underlying panic and heaviness. The only thing I wish is that there had been more of them. I found myself rushing through Glory's narration to get to the History of the Future sections, and I got the sense that there was a lot more than Glory knew about that wasn't actually imparted to the reader, and I wish it had been (although for a YA novel, I guess it could have gotten too dark if it had gone into too much more detail).

Overall, I'm very conflicted about Glory O'Brien's History of the Future. Mostly, I think it's just not my type of book, but I'm also really glad that I read it. And even just for the History of the Future sections, I think it's an important read. I know that it will definitely stick with me long after I put it back on the shelf, which to me is the mark of an author's job well done.

Other books I've written about:

More Happy Than Not 

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

You can also find me on Twitter @HallockMarie. Come follow me there, we can talk about books!

More Happy Than Not - A Game Changer

After I finished reading Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertali, I was having a hard time getting into a new book. I tried a few different novels that I've had sitting around the house for a while, but nothing was sticking.

The same way I found Simon vs., I heard about Adam Silvera's More Happy Than Not via young adult authors and agents on Twitter. I didn't know much about the book other than a lot of people loved it, and that it fell within the LGBT YA genre that I've been inhaling lately.

I finished reading the book this morning, and it was absolutely stunning. It did not go where I thought it was going to go in the best possible way, and it knocked out Age of Innocence (which has been a favorite book since 2010) to get into my Top Five Favorite Books of All Time ranking (along with The Poisonwood Bible, The Things They Carried, The Jellicoe Road, and A Thousand Splendid Suns).

I hope More Happy wins all the awards ever. It deserves them.

Before I get too far into my thoughts about this novel, here is the summary from Amazon to catch up anyone who isn't familiar with the general story:

The Leteo Institute's revolutionary memory-relief procedure seems too good to be true to Aaron Soto -- miracle cure-alls don't tend to pop up in the Bronx projects. But Aaron can't forget how he's grown up poor or how his friends aren't always there for him. Like after his father committed suicide in their one bedroom apartment. Aaron has the support of his patient girlfriend, if not necessarily his distant brother and overworked mother, but it's not enough.

Then Thomas shows up. He has a sweet movie-watching setup on his roof, and he doesn't mind Aaron's obsession with a popular fantasy series. There are nicknames, inside jokes. Most importantly, Thomas doesn't mind talking about Aaron's past. But Aaron's newfound happiness isn't welcome on his block. Since he's can't stay away from Thomas or suddenly stop being gay, Aaron must turn to Leteo to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he is.

Okay, now we're all caught up.

I'm having a very difficult time organizing my thoughts about this book, simply because I have so many. Just to have a jumping off point, I'll start with what I liked about the craft and structure of the novel and then I'll let it devolve into gushing (I try to be self aware):

• The writing is so tight and clean, while also letting Aaron's (the narrator) voice shine through in this absolutely authentic, sympathetic way. I never for one second didn't believe anything that Aaron told me, even when it was clear he was confused and hurting and angry. Even when it became clear that everything wasn't quite the way it seemed, I still believed everything because it was so clearly what Adam was experiencing in the moment. The exact moment I was sold on Aaron's voice 100% was page 19, when he's asking for advice about his first time sleeping with his girlfriend Genevieve. It was just so sweet and awkward and real, and I fell in love.
• I adore the way the book is broken up into sections that each have their own titles, as well as each chapter (of varying lengths) having its own title. It made it feel almost like a series of personal essays, which only added to the authenticity of the entire book.
• Speaking of authenticity, every character in this book felt fully developed, even the characters that didn't have as prominent of a role. I felt like I knew the neighborhood and the kids' dynamics both before the story starts and during the events of the story, and even though there were so many people who did so many flawed things, all of it was so human that I understood why it happened, even when I hated it. Especially towards the end, even the things I never saw coming felt inevitable once they were rolled out, in this really heavy, bittersweet, perfect way.
• On that note, though, nothing in this book felt plotted (which is not to say that the plot was anything but super tight and effective). Something that I've developed after my first year in an MFA program is the blessing/curse of picking out issues as I'm reading/watching something. There were a few times in the first 1/3-1/2 of the book where I had moments of "where did that character go? what's going on with that?" but then all of those questions were answered in this super organic, surprising, beautiful way by the end of the novel.
• Another thing I loved about this book is that it's not really about one thing. It's not really about being gay, even though it inextricably is. It's not just about memory and loss and living with those things, even though it inextricably is. Part of the reason it hit me so hard is because there were so many threads that were all equally important to the story and to who the characters are at their core, in a way that poignantly reflects life. 

I feel like I need to stop now, because I could go on and on about this book, which no one wants to read, and I also want to avoid disclosing spoilers as much as possible. Basically, this book is a game changer for me; I always am a proponent of adults reading YA novels, but I really feel like this one transcends so many genres and demographics in a way that not all books are able to accomplish. 

As for my own experience with this book, I'm sure I'll be reading it many more times so that I can learn as much from it as I possibly can. It's the kind of book that I feel like writers would benefit from studying. What I would give to be privy to Adam Silvera's process from first draft to last draft with this story...

If I can accomplish half as much in my novels as Silvera accomplished in his, I will consider myself lucky. More Happy Than Not is truly a gem, and I eagerly await Silvera's next novel.

You can also find me on Twitter @HallockMarie. Come follow me there, we can talk about books!

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda OR The Most Perfect Book I Didn't Even Know I Wanted

This book (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli) is what inspired me to start writing this blog, because I just want to enthuse about it and share it with as many people as possible.

To avoid a rambling summary of the book and give you a jist of the plot, here is part of the blurb from the book jacket:

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: If he doesn't play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone's business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he's been emailing with, will be jeopardized.

Over the past couple months, I've seen a lot of hype about this book on Twitter and Tumblr. I figured it couldn't possibly live up to it, but I decided to buy myself a copy anyways. I was wrong. It was so much better than I ever could have hoped.

I was hooked from the very first page when Simon's humor and clear, shining voice jumped out at me (and continued to do so in a pitch-perfect, consistent way throughout the entire book without ever feeling one-note or monotonous). When I got to the epistolary sections of the book, which are written through email, I was delighted. I love it when authors incorporate modern technology into their stories.

When Simon made a My Chemical Romance reference, I fell absolutely in love.

This book was fresh and lively with a killer momentum and perfect beats of humor - I involuntarily laughed out loud more than once. Even in the heavier scenes (and there are definitely heavy scenes, which are executed skillfully and beautifully), Simon's inherent personality and voice creates a certain sense of levity. Situations suck, but life isn't so bad.

Pop culture references that feel completely natural coming from Simon and the other characters were so fun to catch and didn't once feel gimmicky or trendy. Likewise, epistolary sections can feel a little overused or like a device for info dumping or speedy characterization, particularly in some YA books I've read recently. The emails between Simon and Blue were nothing of the sort. I believed every second of them: two boys trying to figure out what they think and feel through a measure of anonymity online (the emails are set up under aliases) and come to bond through that. I'm sure it's something that's happened, if not exactly in this set up, countless times. Often, it's easier to be yourself online than it is to be yourself in real life.

However, the "real life" interactions Simon has are just as well-written. All of the secondary characters felt absolutely developed to me, and the sub-stories in the novel were equally entertaining and compelling. Not once did I wish that I was with other characters or watching a different plot point unfold. I was completely invested in every scene of this novel, and I think that's because I've been or have known almost every character in this book in real life. It's incredible.

Also, the romance between Blue and Simon is so endearing. I was squirming in my seat more than once while reading this. The mystery that Albertalli creates around Blue was wonderful; I had so much fun thinking I knew exactly who Blue was, only to second guess myself and be sure that Blue is someone else just chapters later. (I guessed who Blue was relatively early on, but changed my mind multiple times since that point as the novel wore on. Part of the fun was that it really could have been anyone, and the reader can't be wholly sure any more than Simon is until Blue chooses to reveal himself).

As a writer, this book was so great to learn from. The pace was sharp from beginning to end but hit a dynamic range of emotional notes. Albertalli's skill at starting and ending scenes is breathtaking, and reading the way she develops characters and their relationships with one another made me feel like I was sixteen again in the best way possible.

Basically, this book is probably my favorite YA novel I've ever read. I hope everyone gets to experience the joy that is this novel. It was everything I never knew I wanted in a book, and I'm going to treasure it.

You can also find me on Twitter @HallockMarie. Come follow me there, we can talk about books!