jess
I did not love this book. But, I really appreciated the author's note at the end.
I think the book had believable characters and a moving plot. I just did not like the POV character, and sometimes that happens.
I think the author was able to convey the almost painful attachment we can make to some memories and how people can obsess over things that don't mean anything to others. He does some beautiful work with having characters grow and also let other people be.
Audiobook
This middle grades book has some outstanding mythology and storytelling. Probably a good one to go through multiple times. Once to read and the next to enjoy the story already knowing the world and its gods.
There are a couple of plot surprises that readers might anticipate but are still satisfying.
The detail of this story is strong enough to bring the reader in without getting to weighed down.
As we rolled past the 43rd anniversary of this eruption, I read my first (extended) historical account of it in this book.
Largely, I thought this narrative was useful, informative, and gave insight that we don't hear often.
However, I didn't enjoy the actual writing. About a third of the book is a biography of the Weyerhausers, which is interesting, but feels unwarranted. Surely more of the text could have been used to help us readers get into the head of Governor Ray, who must have been quite a character.
In addition to that over extended or imbalanced attention, we get some tiny details about some of the people who perished that are completely unnecessary or do not propel their story forward.
I say, go ahead and read this. It is worth the few hours.
In a world where most of our POV characters overcome all odds to become ___ , Barn 8 forges a new path. Things are hard, characters are not feeling or doing well, we are forced to think about motivation and mental illness and hard choices. I walk away thinking I probably have a new perspective on things now, but whatever that is, it is still unsettled in my head.
There is a small little aside story with a chicken as the POV character, and that is another bit altogether. The book has humor, but it also has some real tragic stuff that we get to deal with.
Turn on the nostalgia for the older generations here, this book transports us back to the Challenger launch (and disaster) in 1986. That's not the point of the story, though - we have 3 POV characters that are siblings - all in 7th grade. These kids are doing okay, but they all have their unique struggles - and the same great science teacher. There is a lot going on in this story, Fitch, Bird, and Cash are all relatable kids. I think this would be a pretty good book for middle grades - especially kids dealing with uncertainty about their place in the world - about whether they are good enough or should dream...so all kids, really. I enjoyed it.
Wow. This whole series invites you to rethink life.
The Toll is the third book in a series that imagines a future where humans have created sentient AI and advanced medicine and technology to the point where no-one has to die. But, alas, folks do still have to die, so there is a whole group of people, the Scythes, who are charged with killing people to keep the populations down. There is a religious movement in this post-mortality age, where some adherents are quite fervent (as always), but they believe in one true resonant sound. Some stuff happens in the books where there is a big noise - because the AI gets mad/sad, and these religious people get pretty excited about it and set up a hero/prophet (The Toll).
This whole third book is set up with three “people” perspectives: The Toll, The AI, and The Sycthes...and we see how these things play out. There are actually a lot of fantastic characters, and quite a bit is happening, but that is the gist.
Surprisingly, Shusterman is able to wrap this up with an ending that is both a bit of a twist and somewhat anticipated - bringing all of our worlds together and apart.
Recommend the whole series - you cannot start with this book, though, start with Scythe.
This book is a bit of the author - who also has a podcast - clarifying and working through examples of how to use lazy genius principles to focus on what matters to you in any given space and let all other expectations go. It seems silly, but the author helps to give you permission to choose what you care about and be honest that you can't care about everything at the same level all the time, and why would you, even?
I liked it. It's a little bit memoir, and it's a little bit self-help.
I think the most enjoyable part is how real Kendra feels - the author feels like your friend or someone you know really well.
I listened to this book.
This one is powerful - a thought experiment on what it is like to live in a different way, under different rules. It's a quick and easy ‘read' that also allows the reader to get outside themselves in so many games of ‘what if'.
I'll be honest, when I started this book, I was immediately put off by the main character being a football player - I thought I'd never be able to relate to the POV character because football seemed to be so important. But, that was just the first few minutes. We get into his world, and it becomes real human territory of uncertain relationships, messy real life.
What makes this story stand out is how much the reader feels the shock of what the POV character is experiencing - Shusterman doesn't tell us what is happening so much as let us fall into the experience of what is happening. I think it was well done-especially for reluctant YA readers who may relate to the actual POV character but not the other identities.
Imagine you are 12 years old and there is a threat of nuclear war over your head. That was reality for a lot of 5/6th graders in the early 60s as the Cuban Missile Crisis loomed.
Strasser gives us a view into what might have happened on one block if only one family had built a bomb shelter. The kids will be kids chapters flashbacks may be confusing to some for timeline reasons, but from a reading perspective, they are interesting and really ground us in the time and with our characters.
The dialogue, characters, and plot are all in line, but I felt like this book was a little too scary. The big injury is needed to motivate discussions of worthiness and race that the book also tries to touch on, but I don't know that it needed to be what it was. I'm not sure what kids would make of that.
Kids reading this book likely have lots of questions - or should be prompted because there are some talkable topics: bullying, stealing, sex, alcohol, racism, ableism...along with nuclear war.
Jasper gives us a somewhat regular world, but there happen to be anthropomorphic animals. Not that many.
Our POV character is mostly not terrible but also doesn't want to rock the boat. It's easier to not let it be known that we don't hate rabbits, right? As long as we, personally, aren't bad to rabbits, we are still good, right?
The whole story is an exploration in identity politics and what it means to be “in” and “out” group. The audiobook is well narrated with distinct voices for characters, making the story even more captivating.
I like thought provoking fiction, and I enjoyed this one.
Side note: The rabbit way mythos is all quite fascinating, and I super enjoy how solidly Jasper grounded this. I know it is all a part of authorship and practically essential to make your characters behave, but sometimes story mythology/religion that is entirely made up feels, well, incomplete. This one didn't.
In a world where magic was bound up to keep the people subservient, a child is born who will have so much power that she can fix the wrongs of the past.
And then a whole book goes by and she does nothing magical at all.
Reader note of caution: there is some violence for violence's sake in this book - in some cases it is graphic and disturbing - especially the “hunt”.
When our POV character survives but in a place she's never been...and then she comes to have near god like power. She still feels like she is not in control of her self or her life or her choices.
On the whole, the book is depressing, continuing the theme. I, unfortunately, expected something good to happen in this book. I am not sure if I will read the next one. Surely there will be a next one because the ending cannot be the end.
We get a bigger look at the world. We get a closer, deeper look at some characters. The author does well at making us care about the characters.
What if you didn't have to feel pain? What if every think you could need was available to you?
There's a lot to enjoy in this story - the idea of a carefree world, the concerns of such a world, what differences we can see, and then...the characters and human drama. Scythe gives us a chance to ponder a world where a benevolent AI maintains a post-mortal world where humans are encouraged to thrive but don't actually have a purpose. Except a few - and their purpose is to kill - to keep the numbers down.
Um, so I have a huge point of departure in which I don't think people would have near as many children if they wouldn't die - so the premise of an ever expanding population seem a little exaggerated, but only in my point of departure. The author has decided it is a problem, and it works for the story.
I'm enjoying how well the author is playing out a very human drama within the carefully constructed world where human drama feels completely unnecessary. But, humans gonna human.
The story constantly gives the reader opportunities to think about what it means to be human, to have faith, to hold to convictions, to trust, etc. All while entertaining the future where our every need is taken care of.
The excerpts from the Thunderhead are a delightful alternative view of the story - like the scythe journals in the first book.
This book is a fun story about what it means to be a friend, to be yourself, to trust, and to wait. It's about patience and of honor.
There were a couple of times where it seemed the characters had the thoughts of older kids - just slightly more aware and mature and outside thinking, but it doesn't take away from the story.
This is a heartfelt story of a mom just trying to do her best. It's raw and relatable. Our POV is a single mom just barely scraping by. Every disappointment expressed by her daughter, who is her whole world, hits you like a punch.
For most of the book, I was pretty sure it would end poorly for our POV character and her daughter. No prince swoops in to save them, no rich uncle appears, no unicorn arrives. Well, a better off uncle does appear, but the mom chooses to struggle and scrape by because she sees that the kindness they offer really is a different kind of prison and not what she wants. What happens, then? Well, she is still making it work, somehow, by getting up every day and trying. And, I think they will be alright. There's a huge surprise in the last sentence of the book!
Audiobook well narrated (not an option on editions)
Sabaa continues the dramatic escape and rescue plan from An Ember in the Ashes. At the end of that book, we are basically running away, so book 2 was essential. At the end of this book, there is a bit of a button up. A reader could walk away. I already have book 3 - compelled to keep reading because I'm interested in the magic/mythology of the world and the characters.
This world holds a lot of promise even with the very simplistic splits of peoples.
A few things are too good to be true here, but I like that we got to keep moving forward.
And...when a character has some herbs to prevent pregnancy (no details for spoilers), well, I could not believe that because of the conditions of the character (likely first time) and conditions (remote/away from familiar places/running).