Tag Archives: reviews

September 23, 2014 · 9:11 am

Review: The Golden City

The Golden City (The Golden City, #1)The Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In a genre awash with elves, dwarves, and wizards, The Golden City is a splash of interest. There may be those sorts in the wider world, but The Golden City features the little-seen sereia (mermaids) and selkies, seals that can shed their skins to become human.

While still traditional magical creatures, these are wonderful bright spots in an overcrowded genre. I just loved getting to know the inner workings of mermaids and selkies. Sereia have a complicated social structure but are at nature similar to aristocratic humans. Selkies are a whiff of human with a great deal more seal; they’re a little simple, and lusty.

The story doubles its benefits by setting the story not in the traditional vaguely-British countryside, but rather in historical Portugal. This opens up whole new realms: the clothes they wear, the languages used, the traditions they keep, their religion and culture. It’s fantastic.

In The Golden City, Cheney has crafted a light and delicate story, part mystery, part spy tale, and the lightest touch of romance.

Oriana Peredes is a sereia–mermaid–who is a spy among the humans in the Golden City. She works as a companion for the Paris Hilton of the aristocracy–perhaps sweet, but empty-headed, and wanted by several suitors. The pair are on their way to a secret rendezvous with her mistress’s suitor when they are abducted. When her mistress is murdered right in front of her with elements of mysterious magic at work, Oriana puts aside her mission as a spy in order to find vengeance for her friend.

As she works to discover who tried to kill her, Oriana meets Duilio Ferreira, a police consultant and member of the nouveau riche. Oh, and he’s half-selkie.

Together they work to solve the case and protect the innocents of the city, and feel out the first touches of romance as they try to solve the riddle of destiny and whether it is even possible for a sereia and selkie to find love.

(HOWEVER, if you’re interested in paranormal romance, look elsewhere. This is a Victorian romance… in short, there is barely any more than a sideways glance and a flutter of the heart. It’s a nice change of pace, but I admit it was a tad unsatisfying.)

I picked this book up on a whim, and I am so glad I did! I can’t wait to read the next and learn more about these fascinating sea fantasies.

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September 2, 2014 · 8:58 am

Review: Gone Girl

Gone GirlGone Girl by Gillian Flynn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Gone Girl” is without a doubt the best, most original book I’ve read all year. Maybe in the past few years. It’s outstanding, and if you even remotely like crime novels or TV shows, you need to read this book.

I know, it’s super-hyped and sometimes you may not want to read a book because it can’t possibly be that good and books sometimes get popular because of some unquantifiable zeitgeist. Worry not: “Gone Girl” is just genuinely good and surprising.

It’s the kind of book that makes you say, “OMIGOD, you HAVE to read this book!” because you desperately want someone to talk to about it.

It’s a book that says, “Oh, you think you’ve seen this on “Law & Order” that one time? You think you know what’s coming? WHAM! YOU KNOW NOTHING!”

It’s the kind of book that made me wonder, initially, if my newly acquired husband could ever turn out to be a murderer. And then it made me wonder if maybe I had it in me to be a murderer.

“Gone Girl” really takes the crime novel standards and turns them on their ear. It’s revolutionary in a lot of ways. I mean, how often are you allowed to view the story from the perspective of suspect #1–and yet don’t know if he did it or not?

The set-up is that it is Nick and Amy’s fifth wedding anniversary, and their marriage has started to unravel. Nothing major, just bits here and there; it’s not what it was. And then Amy goes missing. As is so common in crime shows and books and in real life, suspicion automatically falls on Nick.

I won’t reveal more than that, because as much as I want to talk about this book, the surprises are worth keeping secret for other readers–they’ll hit you like a club to the head.

The story is incredible for the writing alone (excluding the truly brilliant plot for a moment). It’s told from both Nick’s perspective–he talks to you as if you’re perhaps his little mental Jiminy Cricket, or an audio diary–and from excerpts from Amy’s diary, which retells parts of their lives, leading up to the cataclysm, from their first meeting all the way up to the collapse of their marriage. The tone is spot-on: it sounds just like normal people. I’ve never seen real-life captured so thoroughly on the page, so intimately intertwining the reader and the author’s voice. Gillian Flynn is a helluva writer. Plus, I used to live in Missouri, where the book is set, and I am astounded by the little details only a Missourian would pick up on, little things like the blanket adoration for the Cardinals baseball team–things that make these people seem very much alive.

I guarantee, no matter how much a TruCrime connoisseur you think you are, you will be surprised, pleased, disturbed and amazed by this book. I absolutely cannot recommend it enough.

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August 26, 2014 · 9:15 am

Review: Skeleton Crew

Skeleton CrewSkeleton Crew by Stephen King

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For a collection of short stories, this book took me forever to read. It’s an interesting peek behind the curtain of the famous writer while also being chock-full of scary, interesting, and mysterious tales. It’s a lot of fun, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to read it on your relaxing vacation (see: took me 3.5 months to read it all).

If you’ve read King’s famous “On Writing,” you may find this book extra interesting. He can’t help but reveal himself in these short stories, and when they are all collected together, it’s easy to see commonalities. For one, I feel like I have a real roadmap to Bangor, Maine (King’s beloved hometown). The laundry where he worked before he found a teaching job (and then became a writer) makes several appearances, and country roads in the vicinity twist and tangle until some of the more unruly characters appear. I have to wonder if King’s drug addiction lies behind some of the more nauseating and skin-crawling horrors: the rat-person in “Mona” in particular, and certainly the methodology in “Survivor Type.”

It’s interesting to read “The Mist” and King’s thoughts on it in the decades before it became a movie (his son Joe Hill even being “cast” as the precocious little kid in the story). The story, which opens the book, is one of the best, but is not the most frightening, by far. “The Jaunt” is a cheerful attempt at science-fiction, with the ending practically obvious from the get-go. The final story, “The Reach,” wasn’t horror in the slightest; it’s more of a quiet contemplation.

I found it intriguing that the horror factor in several of the stories (“The Mist,” “The Raft,” “The Monkey,” “Morning Deliveries (Milkman #2)”) is never clearly defined, explained, or even resolved. Particularly in “The Mist” and “The Raft,” bad things just sort of happen, and there isn’t a lot anyone–reader, character, perhaps writer?–can do about it.

While I enjoyed reading these stories because it allowed me to study King while he was at work (or, as he says, “my muse shat on my head–this happened as it always does, suddenly, with no warning.”), it reads like the grab-bag off his desk: a little of this, a little of that, some worth more, some not worth writing on the back of a napkin. It’s a ragtag bunch of stories, and shows the breadth of King’s talent and interests, but may not be for every reader.

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August 17, 2014 · 9:02 am

Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora

The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1)The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’m not sure I’ve ever had such trouble rating a book with such excellent writing. The truth, though, is that, while it is exceedingly well-written, it’s convoluted and faces so many different plot options it is hard to stick with the story.

Let’s start with the good stuff: Lynch has wrought a fantasy-tinged world in greater detail and clarity than the real world. His Camorr has layer upon layer of complexity, beauty, grime, seediness, character, and mystery. Despite the ample attention to detail, I wanted more. I wanted to know about the incredible Elderglass towers and how they were created, and how humans came to occupy them. I wanted a calendar of all the holidays in the city and descriptions of each festivity. I wanted to peek inside the temples of each of the 13 gods. It is rich and detailed and effortless; characters curse and revel in this very real world without a hint that this is fiction.

I’m also quite pleased with the confidence schemes that Lynch has concocted. They are as much of a joy to the reader as the characters committing them upon unwitting folk. Locke Lamora sells his false-face activities well, and I hungered for more of the like. In fact, I wished the whole book were nothing but a testament to the way Locke got himself in and out of one scrape after another.

That’s also the problem: from the first 1/3-1/2 of the book, that was what I thought I was reading: a lighthearted and amusing tale of a con men pulling a con. And I liked that. It was great fun trying to guess how Locke was going to manage the next touch against his enemy, wondering how close he could get to being caught.

But then the book took a sudden and dark turn, literally out of nowhere. It felt like this was not really one book, but three, smooshed together. To the point that, as much as I liked the characters and the overall world, I’m not sure I want to read any more adventures. I felt like the book I started and the book I finished were not at all related; the plot got twisty, and not always in a good way.

Possible spoilers to follow. Read at your own risk.

In vague terms, here are the major plot intersections I can identify:

  • Locke, as a child, is taken up by the Thiefmaker.
  • Locke, as a child, finds a new home with Chains.
  • Locke and his gang, now grown, are pulling a big con on some wealthy folks.
  • It seems the secret police are onto the con… oh no! Oh wait, no, that’s just more of Locke’s cleverness at work.
  • While doing a typical errand, Locke is encumbered by a marriage engagement he can’t easily escape. What will ever become of him?
  • A bad guy, heretofore unknown to the story, kidnaps Locke and requires he perform an impossible task.
  • OUT OF FREAKING NOWHERE, the bad guy kills the girl Locke was supposed to be engaged to, less than two chapters after it was introduced, forcing his boss to require Locke to help him fight the bad guy.
  • Double-cross by the bad guy. Things are not going at all according to plan.
  • Everyone you love is murdered. Locke swears revenge.
  • More murder, almost excessive. Bad guy takes over.
  • Other villain only previously hinted at turns out to be real and hatches a plan to get Locke.
  • Locke overcomes multiple obstacles and difficult situations to win the day, much the worse for wear.

 

I gotta say, I felt like I couldn’t really enjoy the book after the marriage-proposal feint. I’m not even sure what point it served; it feels like that could be cut entirely from the book without a mark of incident. It just seems too convoluted, and it made it hard to know what I was supposed to be cheering for at any given moment. Plus, dark-revenge-tale is deeply different from the lighthearted caper we were enjoying at first.

My other beef is the situation with female characters. Though there are ample women used as setpieces and secondary characters, some even with some mild action, this book is a sausage-fest. There’s even plenty of opportunity for a female character: one is mentioned repeatedly but never shows up. You could change one (or more) of the characters in Locke’s gang into women without at all changing the story. A few women toward the very end of the book see some action, but it seems half-hearted. Though characters–even a whole chapter!–claimed that women were not to be trifled with, it seemed more sentiment than truth, and made me wonder if Lynch was somehow afraid to write women characters (which is foolish, because his background ladies were really interesting! Just…not a lot to them.)

I’m not sure I would recommend this book. It feels like those who would like a fantasy caper might not like the end (like me) and those who might like a gore-heavy revenge story might not get through the lighter beginning material to see the stuff they liked. But it is incredibly well-written and I’m impressed with Lynch as a whole. Perhaps I’d like one of his books that ran shorter than 720 pages.

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July 17, 2014 · 9:52 am

Review: Dave Ramsey’s Complete Guide to Money

Dave Ramsey's Complete Guide to Money: The Handbook of Financial Peace UniversityDave Ramsey’s Complete Guide to Money: The Handbook of Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you’re unsure about how to manage money, or have already made some big mistakes and are trying to recover, or just want to brush up on some obscure things, this book will likely help you out.

HOWEVER…it has its flaws, despite the enthusiastic baying of many of Ramsey’s constituents.

I received this book as a very well-intentioned gift to help my new husband and I get our marriage started on the right foot. I’m already persnickety about how I manage my money, so I may not be the ideal audience for this book, but as much as I read about personal finance, I figure there is always room for a little more knowledge.

I did find it practical. Ramsey uses folksy analogies and down-to-earth language to explain the sometimes high-falutin’ financial language that can be a barrier. His strategies are fundamentally simple: don’t be in debt, save money before you buy something. He has undoubtedly helped many people find a workable strategy to put themselves on a path to financial security, and that is to be commended.

But I found parts of the book deeply distasteful. My concerns:

It’s Self-Serving.
You’ve probably heard of Dave Ramsey by now. He has a radio show, a whole series of classes and DVDs, and several books. This book aims to make sure you know who he is–the appearance of his name TWICE on the front cover, as well as the plug-in for his class “Financial Peace University,” is just another way to build his personal brand.

Now, that may be unavoidable–it is a self-help book, after all–but the repeated references back to Ramsey’s personal products, other books, and stuff he’s selling started to make me feel like I was at a flea market (want this? How about this? No? Well, you definitely need one of these!). Ramsey’s a smart marketer; if he can get his hooks into you with this book, he hopes you’ll buy everything he’s ever made.

He Doesn’t Think Much of Women
I’m sure if you spoke to Ramsey–and he seems like a very affable and likeable guy–he would insist that he loves women and that I’m crazy for suggesting this, but his own book would be great evidence against him. Ramsey may like women well enough, but the book repeatedly takes a “that’s nice, little lady” tone. Women are called out repeatedly based on negative female stereotypes–“stop shopping ladies!”–and reminded that they are best in the home with the kids, whereas men are repeatedly held up as the providers, the “real men” who “take care of their families,” the ones who are the responsible ones.

Even when he praises women (mostly via his wife) he is slighting them with more aw-shucks patronizing: following an apocryphal tale of President George H.W. Bush wherein Barbara supposedly gets the upper-hand, Ramsey discusses the way decisions are made in his family–he makes decisions and “if I’m not careful, I’ll just roll right over her when it’s time to make a decision. It’s not that she doesn’t want to contribute…”

Let me finish the line for him: it’s that he’s already made up his mind and his wife’s vote isn’t as important.

This is further shown in his advice, including that married couples have one bank account and one only. That may work out very well for some people, and the more power to them, but having one bank account and no money of their own is one of the most common ways women end up poor: husband leaves, takes all the money and there is nothing in her name (or, she wants to leave, husband takes all the money, etc.) I feel strongly that both spouses need some way to access at least some money without involving the other.

Evangelical
Ramsey does a good job of talking to the reader as if you are just like him. Which is great, and is a sign of excellent persuasive writing! Except. Ramsey is an evangelical Christian, and you may want to avoid this book if you aren’t as well.

Even though I’m a Christian, I must not be the same variety as Ramsey. I felt that I was being beaten over the head with the Bible every other page for awhile there.

And while I am happy that folks have a spiritual life they can tend and enrich themselves with, Ramsey doesn’t even cater to the idea that you may not be the same. The chapter on giving never mentions how to give to charity except through your church. Further, his example about giving exorbitant tips to waitresses on Christmas Eve fell flat with me. He says the only reason a waitress might work that day is because she really needs the money. Well, Dave, I came up with a few other reasons:
-Her boss won’t let her have the day off, and while she doesn’t need the money so much this month, she needs long-term job security, and that means she doesn’t get to pick.
-She’s Jewish/Muslim/Buddhist/FSM-ist and doesn’t celebrate Christmas.
-She’s Christian, but is celebrating Christmas in two weeks because that’s when her family can all get together.
-She thinks she’ll get extra tips from the travelers desperate for a meal on Christmas Eve. And besides, it’s generally quiet.

Four reasons I just thought off on the spot! Not everyone is the same as you, man.

Additionally, as an intellectual-type person, it is useless to me when he provides a Bible verse as the reason why I should do something. Sorry, I want evidence. History has shown that Bible verses can be made to fit just about any situation.

Anathema to Debt or Help
This is tricky, because I almost agree with him here, but he takes it to extremes that I find uncomfortable. Ramsey repeatedly insinuates that money should not come to people from the government, and further suggests that putting “burdens” on wealthy people will “make the golden eggs dry up.” I see your Trickle-Down Economics at work, sir. Let’s just say I disagree and found his mixing of politics with finances when it isn’t needed.

But further than that, he is completely 100% opposed to debt. On paper, I agree with him: debt is not a positive, and, particularly for people struggling under a mountain of debt problems, his strategies will be effective. But I think it’s short-sighted.

Debt, in my opinion, is like a pit bull: Sure, it can be awful, but it can also be useful tool when used properly. Much like a pit bull can be one of the meanest fighting dogs out there in the hands of an abusive animal, debt can turn on you quick. But a pit bull well cared-for and attended to will be the sweetest dog in the neighborhood.

I think his “no debt at all” view is problematic in particular for young people. Ramsey’s quite a bit older than me, so perhaps he doesn’t remember, but having zero credit history (yes, that means zero history of debt) will make it hard to get: an apartment to rent; a job (they sometimes check the scores); a car; and, eventually, a mortgage on a house. Zero credit history is treated the same as bad credit history, and refusing to teach people how to handle credit responsibly means young people who end up in a bad spot. Additionally, his “pay cash for everything” strategy is an effective way to get him something else he rails against: kids coming back after college.

One of the things that most upset me in this book was a story from a reader about how her son was going to school, the Dave Ramsey way! It is featured as an example of doing things right, and it hit me like a brick. In this story, a boy works hard in school, gets several scholarships, and his parents have saved money for some of his tuition for college…but it’s not enough. Because they are following Ramsey’s preachings, they don’t get a loan of any kind, but instead pull their son out of college. He was already accepted, but he is forced to withdraw (wiping out, by the way, all that prepaid tuition money).

He goes to community college (which has a drop-out rate of well over 50% right now) and then…drops out after one semester and joins the Navy. The story was submitted before the boy finished, but supposedly he was working on college classes while he was in the Navy. (This story is on page 251)

This story just breaks my heart. It’s not a triumph. This kid was on a path to go to a good school in his state, but his parents dropped him rather than let him take on a loan. As a result, he is working on a ship somewhere far from home. I have a dear friend who went to the Navy, and…it’s not easy. It wasn’t this kid’s real choice. He learned that his parents won’t support him in his future. I feel sorry for him.

The mom says “saying no to college was hard, but it turned out to be a good thing.” Yeah. A good thing FOR HER.

Mistakes
I found copy editing mistakes a few times, which always makes me leery, but then I found a glaring error of fact, which scares me more–a book is a big investment, so the time should be put in accordingly. When it isn’t, it makes me worry about the rest of the content (the mistake is this: Ramsey cites the New King James Bible as the “first in the English language.” It wasn’t. It’s the third, and was created not as a way for folks to access scripture but as a political move to consolidate a divided country.)

In Sum…
This book has exceptionally good advice to help people get out of debt and establish new patterns. It’s written for those who don’t know much of anything about financial planning or organization. The basics are sound, and I found the chapters on insurance and investing basics to be the most informative and helpful. I also like that it comes with budget worksheets in the back.

That said, this book is not for everyone. And I would say that it–and all the rest of the Ramsey brand–absolutely should not be the exclusive place you get advice.

It comes down to what you value. My impression is Ramsey values money (the having, and the dispensing of it) above all else. In order to have money, he advocates sacrificing time, personal interests, sleep, a diverse diet, and educational opportunities for your children. Me? My values are a little different than his. Take his advice, therefore, with a grain of salt.

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July 10, 2014 · 9:32 am

Review: Sick Puppy

Sick PuppySick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Other folks declared this book hilarious, incredible, a great send-up… me, I couldn’t finish it. The sad, horrible truth is I literally found it more interesting to listen to the numbers being called at the Social Security office than to try to read this book. (To be fair, though, they’re experimenting with cat videos! Cat videos!)

I guess I just don’t get it. I gave up, but I gave it a decent effort. It just refused to hold my attention. And I found the characters too cardboard-cutout to be remotely funny. Everyone is ridiculous to the extreme. Not only is the environmentalist so pro-environment that he shares a tent with a bobcat, he also is sufficiently crazy to blow up a bank (here’s a problem: I actually found his rationalization for bank-exploding perfectly reasonable and rational and not at all a sign of instability. Hmm.). The “bad guy” is not only a gross capitalist with no morals or regard for other people, he also cheats on his wife, eats disgusting quantities of food, “hunts” blind deaf rhinos, and litters at every opportunity.

It was like watching one-dimensional characters prance across a foam board in a kindergarten classroom.

This effect was exacerbated by the storytelling style: Hiaasen clearly isn’t a fan of “showing.” Everything was telling. Blah blah blah backstory at random times. Any chance for action was thrown out the window because everything is just declared, never shown directly on stage. It’s basically a play where the actors just stand around monologue-ing.

No thank you. I’ll be putting this Sick Puppy down.

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July 2, 2014 · 10:00 am

Review: Skin Game

Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15)Skin Game by Jim Butcher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Dresden Files series, by and large, is fun, but lately the books had gotten a little…heavy. (There was brooding…a lot of brooding.) I had started to feel like maybe Butcher was struggling to find realistically scary foes for his super-charged wizard to deal with, and all the gloom and doom was feeling oppressive.

But not Skin Game. For this book, our friendly-ish neighborhood Chicago wizard gets back to some good old-fashioned problem solving, and it’s a joy and a relief.

(Spoilers below!)
After months of isolation on the jailhouse island, Dresden is antsy for action…and he’s learned a few new skills (Parkour!). But the ability to leap tall objects in a single bound isn’t really enough when it comes to stealing from Hades himself while trying to avoid being killed by an arch-nemesis-turned-temporary-coworker. With the help of old friends and a bit of divine intervention, Harry is up to the challenge.

(ok, clear from spoilers here on out)

This book was a nice change of pace because several characters who had been on the bench for awhile finally got to come out and stretch. I still miss some of the original old gang, but for the most part, we got to revisit a lot of characters who had been unavailable or at least busy elsewhere. Butcher clearly put a lot of thought into the effects some of Harry’s actions would have on even his closest friends, and it’s good to see folks with their own distinctive character arcs. (It would have been all too easy to have everyone else stay the same–is is the (Harry) Dresden Files, after all.)

This book reminded me what I liked about the Dresden Files, and I’m happy to be back on the bandwagon.

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May 27, 2014 · 9:55 am

Review: Local

LocalLocal by Ryan Kelly

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book, I swear I did.

The art is gorgeous and has depth despite being exclusively in black and white. It’s evocative and distinctive. Plus the main character has freckles-you don’t see that a lot in comics.

And my fiance recommended it to me, and most of the time that means I’m going to love it.

But I just don’t “get” Local. Or rather, by the time I did “get” it, I didn’t care anymore.

Local is an indie comic that I read in large trade form: I’m not sure if it originally debuted as individual single issues, but I pity the reader who tried to follow the story that way if it did. The idea is basically 12 loosely tied together short stories generally but not always revolving around Megan McKeenan. It’s billed as a “coming of age” story, and supposedly the stories are told sequentially by year, with Megan aging a year between each.

But it’s a mess to follow. You can’t tell that time is jumping around, and because the place IS ALSO jumping around (one of the central themes is moving around and trying to become “local” in new cities), it feels completely disjointed. Oh, and if that’s not enough jumping for you, you also jump around with point-of-view characters, including one section that focused on the lead of a band that is never again mentioned.

So. Supposedly it’s a coming-of-age story for Megan, but it comes across as a jumble. Ignoring all the non-directly Megan stuff, you’re left with the portrait of an extremely screwed up girl. Between bad luck and poor choices–and poor choices which, I feel, vastly outstrip “normal teen experiences” with their horribleness–her life is one catastrophe after another. I just want to buy her a sandwich and direct her to a counseling center.

And yet, despite the repeated failures of her life, we’re supposed to believe that things more or less all work out in the end for her. I’m finding that very hard to believe, though the final story tries hard to make it sound like she has finally seen her problems and they just sort of got better.

The “lesson” I got from this story is “life sucks and then you die.” Which…just isn’t my kind of thing to read for pleasure. Your results my vary.

No, Megan’s story is tragic at best, an overdramatic moral tale at worst.

But the art is beautiful, so if you’re feeling existential and/or you are an impressionable teenager, Local might be for you.

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May 13, 2014 · 10:26 am

Review: Sex Criminals

Sex Criminals, Volume 1: One Weird Trick (Sex Criminals #1-5)Sex Criminals, Volume 1: One Weird Trick by Matt Fraction

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Funny. Poignant. Beautiful. Oh, and it has sex in it.

It’s pretty rare that my fiance reads a book then says, “OMG, you HAVE to read this.” So it was a big deal. And I devoured it. This comic is gorgeous and probably deserves the “Comic of the Year” banner the New York Times gave it (though Saga, Volume 1 really can’t be forgotten).

This comic answers a question everyone has asked themselves at some point: “If I could freeze time everytime I had an orgasm, what would I do?”

…Of course everyone has asked that question.

For Suzie and Jon, the answers vary, but when they meet and discover they aren’t alone in this crazy ability, they decide–of course–to rob a bank.

In other words, Sex Criminals is a totally run-of-the-mill story.

Just kidding. It’s irreverent, but it’s also fairly deep. (Spoilers to follow, but really you should read this comic anyway and most of this stuff is introduced right away.)

When Suzie’s dad is killed in an act of random violence when she is 10, she struggles to cope. Her mom is barely holding herself together, and Suzie is left to process it all on her own. She finds solace in the quiet of the bathtub, where the running water can erase sound and leave her to just “be.” Except…the water under the tap feels [em]really good[/em]…and time stops.

Suzie struggles to figure out puberty and this ability (can everyone do this? Why don’t any of the books explain this!?) all alone, and uses what she calls “The Quiet” (this time-frozen thing) to work out her feelings. She grows into a smart girl who loves libraries, and is desperate to save her local library, even if it means buying up every book, one at a time.

That’s how she meets Jon. They have an instant connection; even reading about it feels like reliving the Best First Date Ever. And then, when they have sex… woah. They discover, finally, they aren’t alone in this ability. And then they hatch a plan.

Can I just stop for a minute and talk about the art? Man, this kind of book is why comics/graphic novels need to exist. You just couldn’t get the same effect in reading about how Suzie’s elementary classroom had a motivational poster that says “Reading is Sexy” and get the same kind of laugh I did when I noticed the derpy frog poster in the background of an otherwise tragic scene. There are visual clues like that everywhere, and it is just …amazing. And Suzie and Jon look like real people. Praise be to Chip Zdarksy for drawing a woman with kick-ass HUMAN proportions! It’s so refreshing.

And then there’s the colors! You’ll just have to see it to know what I mean, but The Quiet is really transcendental art. It’s gorgeous.

Sex Criminals is definitely a book for an adult…well… it might also be a book for a teenager who is still figuring out that whole sexuality thing, though the cover alone might freak out the parental types. While sex is important to the story, it is always tasteful and the art is never more than PG-13, though the brash and totally careless way the characters talk about sex is definitely going to be a turnoff for some readers (don’t worry; the sex acts described in the high school are all made up. I think.).

This really a science-fiction/Bonnie-and-Clyde/coming-of-age book and … it’s just great. True, author Matt Fraction and artist Chip Zdarksky may have come up with the concept as a way to tell as many sex jokes as possible, but I can’t blame them for that, and I can’t wait to read more. And see more.

(This book only got 4 stars because I think the pacing may be a little uneven. We’ll see. There was one section that, while still pretty to look at and which gave me a giggle, made me really glad we bought the volume rather than the individual comics. That story was…a tad thin.)

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April 29, 2014 · 9:53 am

Review: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line

The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars, #1)The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

TV and movie screenwriter Rob Thomas may bring the noir novel back–and that is a wonderful thing.

“The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line” is the first in what may be a series of Veronica Mars books that follow after the TV show AND the recent movie (Rob would be a fool if there weren’t more!). If you’ve never seen either the show or the movie, here’s the rough notes: Modern noir/murder mystery with all the basic elements but replace the solitary and case-worn older male PI with a 28-year-old petite blonde and a penchant for snarky comebacks. What isn’t there to love about this?!

[Full disclosure: I was one of the folks who Kickstarted the recent movie. I didn’t discover the TV show until about a year and a half ago, though, so I wouldn’t consider myself a super-fan or anything. It’s a darn adorable show and I enjoyed the movie. Plus I got a cool T-shirt. But I wasn’t planning on buying this book: it was loaned to me by a friend who not only had never seen or heard of VMars in other incarnations, but didn’t know about the Kickstarter stuff.]

NOTE: Don’t read this book OR this review any further if you want to see the movie but haven’t. The novel will spoil a bunch of the movie for you, in a very casual way. So see the movie first for optimum flow!

Things are a bit tense for Veronica on the open of the book. Her dad is still recovering from his serious injuries–he’s doing well, but isn’t back to himself and isn’t allowed to work–and though Veronica has been manning the PI desk while he’s gone, there haven’t been any cases. Money is starting to look tight, and Veronica’s decision to drop her whole career path and life to return to the private investigator life in Neptune is starting to look questionable at best. (For once, though, Logan isn’t at the heart of some scandal; he’s tucked away doing important military things and is barely in contact.)

But when first one, then two college girls go missing while spring-breaking at Neptune, the city council wants them found…and don’t trust corrupt and/or stupid Sheriff Lamb to keep ruining Neptune’s image. Veronica goes on the case–forcing her to face straight-on her father’s understandable fears for her safety.

It’s a great mystery, and unlike some others, I didn’t see the result coming at all. The story has all the same snap and zest as the show/movie, and it felt like returning to a beloved but slightly changed town. Perhaps it shouldn’t have surprised me so much, but Rob Thomas is excellent with dialogue. It’s like he’s somehow channels 20-something women today, which is pretty crazy. The non-dialogue bulk of the story is solid, even though there are some minor things a long-form writer (versus a screenwriter) would have done differently (that’s probably something only the really devoted reader will notice, however). It’s a lot of fun and would make the perfect summer read. I can’t wait for there to be more.

But… well, I couldn’t give it 5 stars because of a plot decision that is both minor and a major spoiler, depending on your perspective. It never felt plausible and threw off my feeling that this was a realistic concept.

SPOILERS BELOW
It seems like a complete betrayal of readers for Veronica’s estranged mother to also just “happen” to be the step-mother of one of the missing girls. I mean, really? First, that the daughter would have selected to go to Neptune for spring break instead of ANYWHERE else. Second, that she would then go missing. Third, that her missing persons case would have some seriously hinky twists to it?

It all felt too contrived. I am all for more drama and intrigue with Veronica’s mother, and we did get some interesting character development out of the situation, but for a first novel in what will hopefully be a series, it felt like Rob threw that in merely to play “rehash all the important characters from Veronica’s past.”

There was no reason for her mom to make an appearance in this. No plausible explanation, even, for the scenario to come up. Maybe if this had been a later novel I could have accepted the “amazing coincidence” of Lianne being involved in a case Veronica had to solve, but this was just a little too much for me and it felt trite.

Overall, this is a really fun book and I hope to see more. The noir genre is old and had been pretty musty. A feisty and smart gal like Veronica may be exactly what it needs to come back to life.

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