tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34439018035535752382024-03-13T11:11:23.093-06:00The UndergroundK. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.comBlogger309125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-55745254839678071312024-01-05T13:56:00.002-07:002024-01-05T13:56:26.289-07:00Book Review: Cinder <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinmimAFbeqfnmVC0uhiZlY1hp-921jtTZ533Ospd68_JShmuSEwet9VEjVuQpwZ4sxtyPRR_8Wx550dyYhJseRtzpSNm4A4npu1SR5tXvJ694S2HV46QCfn8Sq2xlILKuxvlOunH2tMEy7WlhipbaE7noqvD9teRvsikTwDMWrmGeFGRGSG78iqitR7A/s2097/cinder.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2097" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinmimAFbeqfnmVC0uhiZlY1hp-921jtTZ533Ospd68_JShmuSEwet9VEjVuQpwZ4sxtyPRR_8Wx550dyYhJseRtzpSNm4A4npu1SR5tXvJ694S2HV46QCfn8Sq2xlILKuxvlOunH2tMEy7WlhipbaE7noqvD9teRvsikTwDMWrmGeFGRGSG78iqitR7A/w268-h400/cinder.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer </b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>My Review:</b> I picked up Cinder about 10 years ago when the book released, so this review has been a long time coming. As the cover and title suggest, Cinder is a steampunk retelling of Cinderella, set in a futuristic New Beijing filled with cyborgs and robots. It expands the original story by introducing a deadly plague that's crippled the globe and tense intergalactic politics centered around a possible royal marriage. In the midst of all this lives Cinder, who works as a mechanic in a Tatooine-like market in order to buy herself a new ankle and car to escape her abusive family.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Let's start with the positives: Meyer's characterization is on point. The chemistry between Cinder and Prince Kai is POPPING. They're both strong, charismatic individuals with their own lives and motivations who end up crossing paths again and again until it leads to something more. It's a satisfying change from YA books where the love interest seems to have no life outside the main character. I was also pleasantly surprised by the political drama between the Lunar kingdom and the people of Earth/New Beijing. Meyer simplified world politics into a handful of state powers to create an us-vs-them structure between Earthlings and Lunars, while still showing how New Beijing is under pressure from other states to make peace with the aliens. This simplified political drama feels perfect for YA readers transitioning from younger fantasy stories towards adult "romantasy," with court drama, politics, and inter-cultural clashes. Despite that, the line between Earthlings and Lunars was depicted as very black and white. Meyer describes how Lunars are savage, totalitarian, and oppressive to their own peoples, committing genocides and using mind control without hesitation. While there is some evidence that "not all Lunars" are evil, the book doesn't do enough to show that good and evil are not tied to one's race. It's trying to play out a more adult political drama, yet falls back on a childish good guys and bad guys dichotomy that feels out of step with what the rest of the book is trying to do. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">While the book does make an effort to avoid the "love at first sight" trope, it steers headlong into "not like other girls." In the years since this book was written, a lot has been said about the "not like other girls" girl who presents herself as "one of the guys" while putting down girls with traditionally feminine interests. This trope ultimately perpetuates misogyny by pitting women against each other while arguing femininity is somehow inferior. Cinder uncritically leans into this trope -- she puts down other girls for wanting to go to the ball, she implies other girls are vapid while she's smart because she cares about mechanics, she resists Prince Kai's flirting and somehow this is supposed to make her cool, etc., etc. This book could have thoughtfully deconstructed and subverted the trope, as Cinder's condescension could have been seen as a defense mechanism for the insecurity she feels about her cyborg parts, but instead the book uncritically embraces the trope without any awareness for the misogyny being perpetuated. In the wake of feminism's sisterhood movement, this book feels both cringey and dated. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As far as plot goes, I was disappointed by how predictable it was. The book is a retelling, so I expected a certain degree of predictability, but the new parts of the story that Meyer added-- the plague, the politics with a different state, the Lunar people's magic (or lack thereof) -- were so predictable that it was a struggle to stay focused. There was no attempt to subvert expectations - it was almost cliched in the way it did exactly what you thought it would, yet the narration ups the drama by trying to make these incredibly mundane plot twists seem shocking. Perhaps it's my years of reading that make this book so predictable, because Cinder isn't bad at what it does. If you want something that plays into your exact expectations for a teen princess story, then Cinder is it, but unfortunately, that's all it is. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The final letdown for this book was its lackluster sense of setting. Despite being a steampunk world set in a futuristic Beijing, little effort was put into worldbuilding. We get some description of cramped alleyways, concrete, or tall skyscrapers, but other than that, the world is largely blank. Meyer relies on the droid characters and Cinder's cyborg parts to expand the steampunk elements, yet only utilizes them aesthetically and makes no effort to show how their addition influences the world. Steampunk cities are often infused with so much personality that they become characters themselves, yet New Beijing is almost entirely flavourless. Sadly, this is probably Cinder's biggest missed opportunity.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Despite my complaints, Cinder is an incredibly solid story with some decent writing, great characterization, and decent political drama. While I found the book a little boring and Cinder's Alt Girl routine tiresome, the book never became a drag to read. It would likely be a hit for teen girls who are graduating from books like Anna and the French Kiss and moving towards Strange the Dreamer or A Court of Thorns and Roses. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>TL;DR: </b>3/5 stars. A solid steampunk Cinderella retelling that errs on the side of predictable and anti-feminist. </div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-35693601802744404912023-12-24T14:52:00.003-07:002023-12-24T14:52:43.013-07:00Book Review: Every Heart a Doorway <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBcmaUpImMAJGFm0yXNcPK_EtXZ91gXjimZIvvv6oSxJG9jex1BAfJuFSMN4q8pAaujL6YsNRD07-3_ZjKwA8R0RKafD5y7_m5vwphpfzaaYvr-6VHMjDCdMAz70H0pLyzU1p2zYh1KGjn0zZWliXSecgSdX-Cf2s2tWgCHKuqPwmskbqnu-fH-nRG4i7/s2560/every%20heart%20a%20doorway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1685" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBcmaUpImMAJGFm0yXNcPK_EtXZ91gXjimZIvvv6oSxJG9jex1BAfJuFSMN4q8pAaujL6YsNRD07-3_ZjKwA8R0RKafD5y7_m5vwphpfzaaYvr-6VHMjDCdMAz70H0pLyzU1p2zYh1KGjn0zZWliXSecgSdX-Cf2s2tWgCHKuqPwmskbqnu-fH-nRG4i7/w264-h400/every%20heart%20a%20doorway.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">No matter the cost.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>My Review: </b>Portal fantasies have a long history in children's fiction, but what happens when the portals close and we have to head on home? How do you go back to ordinary after experiencing the extraordinary? Seanan McGuire explores these questions by looking at the psychological effects of losing the one place we really belong. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">When teenagers return from their portal worlds, they’re often confused, lost, and desperate to return to their fantasy worlds, leading parents and friends to think they’ve gone mad. That’s where Eleanor West comes in. A left behind herself, Eleanor has opened a home for children who have walked between worlds to save them from mental institutions or abuse at the hands of their families. Funnily enough, the school Eleanor constructs functions much like a residential treatment facility. The kids live there, they go to school, but they also attend therapy-like sessions where they discuss the worlds they came from, process their experiences, and attempt to move on. While the story doesn't focus on this therapy aspect (as there's a murder mystery afoot), it was refreshing to see therapy represented in a positive light, especially with the fantasy elements layered in. Many writers vilify the therapy process for cheap drama (the One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest effect), but Eleanor's home is represented as a safe space, possibly the only one available to them in our world. The teachers/counsellors are gentle and supportive, the environment facilitates healing, and characters are able to self-actualize by being true to themselves, rather than forcing themselves to fit a world that doesn't accept them. It would’ve been cool to see more of this, but there is a murder to solve, so I can’t fault the book from moving on. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The book also focuses a lot on family – both the found families characters discover within the school, and the original families that may love but never truly understand or accept them. The way the story represents letting go of original and abusive families in order to find love and acceptance in a found family is quite queer. Of course, the book is very queer just based on representation – it has trans, asexual, and gender non-conforming characters – it pretty much covers the whole rainbow, but the approach to otherness and belonging takes on a very queer perspective that many will find comforting. The promise of a world that unconditionally accepts and loves you for who you are is a very tempting premise to queer kids growing up in a world that tells them they're inherently wrong, weird, and disgusting. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The main character, Nancy, has some of the typical traits of plain or invisible YA protagonists. Some YA protags are Bella Swan clones, with little to no personality (aside from being 'nice') so they can be used as blank slates for readers to project themselves onto. While Nancy does fall into this category of boring, blank main characters, McGuire changes things up by creating relevant plot and character reasons for why Nancy is such a wall flower. Nancy's perfect portal world was the land of the dead, where she spent a lot of time impersonating a statue and aspiring to be unmoving and unfeeling. When she arrives back in the real world, she finds it difficult to reconnect to her body and emotions, triggering catatonic-like behaviours. McGuire's interpretation of the "bland wall flower" is a fascinating deconstruction of a writing trend, but ultimately I still found myself bored and annoyed with Nancy's lack of motivation or personality. I wish she had been a secondary character and allowed someone with more agency to take on the main role. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">All in all, this was a beautiful story with many fascinating aspects that I could probably blather on about for another few paragraphs. I'm not usually a fan of school stories anymore, since they often feel formulaic to me, but the heart at the center of this story -- that queer nonsense about belonging and otherness-- hits the nail so hard on the head that it's an instant win. This book has a way of seeing the unseen, acknowledging that deep desire for love and acceptance, and promising that it's out there, just waiting for you, if you're brave enough to go out and look for it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>TL;DR:</b> All in all, 4/5 stars. A beautifully queer story that centers around a tense murder mystery. </div>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-5188562301366813742023-12-05T14:44:00.000-07:002023-12-05T14:44:27.535-07:00Book Review: Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhcjWwoxnDptml8BKyF2HG7UJDJO2AJMDf4EkWFezdudXa3IfQvN6NoO7nxkAPdop5Hv6g7bVefe_R1jX-pRftbZs_CNisuYKojE-biL5uJGOhKxIAUldSS0RSeY8uRAKbRvlyHLZtVU3oCpZC5XP3EH_BbROuOO5zUWeyB9Ppe5AeItVS2Du_fyTOQ/s2550/noopiming.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2550" data-original-width="2550" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhcjWwoxnDptml8BKyF2HG7UJDJO2AJMDf4EkWFezdudXa3IfQvN6NoO7nxkAPdop5Hv6g7bVefe_R1jX-pRftbZs_CNisuYKojE-biL5uJGOhKxIAUldSS0RSeY8uRAKbRvlyHLZtVU3oCpZC5XP3EH_BbROuOO5zUWeyB9Ppe5AeItVS2Du_fyTOQ/w400-h400/noopiming.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> Mashkawaji (they/them) lies frozen in the ice, remembering a long-ago time of hopeless connection and now finding freedom and solace in isolated suspension. They introduce us to the seven main characters: Akiwenzii, the old man who represents the narrator’s will; Ninaatig, the maple tree who represents their lungs; Mindimooyenh, the old woman who represents their conscience; Sabe, the giant who represents their marrow; Adik, the caribou who represents their nervous system; Asin, the human who represents their eyes and ears; and Lucy, the human who represents their brain. Each attempts to commune with the unnatural urban-settler world, a world of SpongeBob Band-Aids, Ziploc baggies, Fjällräven Kånken backpacks, and coffee mugs emblazoned with institutional logos. And each searches out the natural world, only to discover those pockets that still exist are owned, contained, counted, and consumed. Cut off from nature, the characters are cut off from their natural selves.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Review: </b>If you're searching for something out of the box, then Simpson's novel may be just what you're looking for. Noopiming mashes together prose, poetry, and traditional Indigenous storytelling to create a text that defies colonial genre boundaries and narrative conventions. </div><div><br /></div><div>Noopiming doesn't follow a traditional plot structure, so giving a description of events is challenging. The text follows seven characters as they navigate their lives in a hyperconsumerist society cut off from nature. Each character is an aspect of Mashkawaji, a being frozen in ice and isolated from the rest of the world, though the text is vague about who or what Mashkawji actually is. The seven eventually unite to resurrect Mashkawaji from their place under the ice, a moment of metaphorical connection that bonds each character into something bigger than themselves. This is largely what the book is about -- isolation and relationships, alienation and connection -- and we see this through the way the characters struggle on their own before ultimately coming together into a community. The book relies heavily on symbolism and metaphor, using a poetic abstractionism to communicate the story through feeling rather than action. Poetry readers will almost certainly have an easier time connecting to the text because of its willingness to eschew narrative for expressionism. </div><div><br /></div><div>There’s a beautiful equality all across the text. Human, animal, and spirit characters are on a level playing field – there’s no hierarchy of gods and monsters here. Every character resists the effects of colonialism, from animals dealing with loss of land, to nature reeling from climate change, to Indigenous people themselves displaced and disconnected from nature. This equalization crosses into gender as well – while there is the old man, the old woman, and gendered figures, almost all characters use ‘they/them’ pronouns. Simpson downplays pronouns and gendered indicators for most characters to allow the space to focus on other aspects of their personhood. The text is by no means genderless - it simply places their gender secondary to who they are as people. </div><div><br /></div><div>Noopiming is a bit of a strange beast and it's certainly not for everyone. It's not really a novel, or a prose poem, not fantasy or contemporary. It asks some hard questions about capitalism, consumerism, commodification and climate change, but wraps it in poetic symbolism that asks you to feel more than analyze. Lovers of poetry, nature, and spirituality may really resonate with this text, but if you're a fan of traditional western storytelling, this one might be worth skipping. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>TL;DR:</b> 4/5 stars. An intense intermeshing of prose, poetry, and Indigenous storytelling that takes a hard look at colonialism and consumerism. </div><div><br /></div><br /><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-15466702810275583262023-11-28T14:47:00.003-07:002023-11-28T14:47:58.426-07:00Book Review: The Narrows <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7JMitgI4X4WJIJcLJvXEpCObx4bvjjbQEucfzzf7ft6Zt1ewiTPvzvt3vB30GJMsfSrlV15u9zaJZUg069_sKux5hL3820Sw5q953g1jaoxh2dYExJFCB0RBSO41bbfmMYon9BtDxwu3M31Z61jJuXf3Wkq2jQOPG0E7f6WZBn72GRxSyTdR2I3kvg/s1360/the%20narrows.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="907" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7JMitgI4X4WJIJcLJvXEpCObx4bvjjbQEucfzzf7ft6Zt1ewiTPvzvt3vB30GJMsfSrlV15u9zaJZUg069_sKux5hL3820Sw5q953g1jaoxh2dYExJFCB0RBSO41bbfmMYon9BtDxwu3M31Z61jJuXf3Wkq2jQOPG0E7f6WZBn72GRxSyTdR2I3kvg/w266-h400/the%20narrows.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: The Narrows by Ann Petry </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description: </b>Link Williams is a handsome and brilliant Dartmouth graduate who tends bar for a lack of better opportunities for an African American man in a staid mid-century Connecticut town. The routine of Link’s life is interrupted when he intervenes to save a woman from a late-night attack. When they enter a bar together after the incident, “Camilo” discovers that her rescuer is African American and he that she is a wealthy, married, white woman who’s crossed the town’s racial divide to relieve her life’s tedium. Thus brought together by chance, Link and Camilo draw each other into furtive encounters against the rigid and uncompromising social codes of their town and times.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>My Review:</b> I really wanted to like this book. Over her life, Ann Petry worked as a social worker and a journalist, taught courses and wrote for the NAACP, and conducted sociological studies on the influence of segregation on children. This work gave her a very sociological perspective on the world and ultimately influenced the creation of The Narrows, which breaks down systematic racism to illustrate how many moving pieces intersect to justify the vilification and murder of black people. In Petry’s own words: “My aim is to show how simply and easily the environment can change the course of a person’s life.” When I step back and consider the book in whole, it’s so beautiful I could cry, because Petry demonstrates a nuanced understanding of how sociology and psychology shape oppression. However, the experience of reading this book is painful. Beyond that, when taking any of the book’s parts on their own, there’s almost nothing to like about them. It’s like throwing a bunch of garbage at a canvas, yet it somehow makes the Mona Lisa. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Petry wrote the book with a reflective perspective, using repetition and flashbacks to show how the past continuously interjects into the present and influences our behaviour. It doesn’t matter that Othello was written over 500 years ago, the story of a successful black man marrying a white woman to the displeasure of white men still influences the world around us, shaping perspectives and stereotypes. Petry also uses this reflective structure to demonstrate how childhood trauma shapes us long into adulthood. This reflective style is the crux of my problem with this book, because on the one hand, it is utterly brilliant. It artfully (and accurately) represents how the brain processes memory, how our social environment builds our identity from the ground up, and how we fall back onto sociological programming in times of stress. Yet on the other hand, this writing style is frustrating and boring to read. At times, the repetition becomes so overwhelming that it borders on obnoxious, which robs it of its power. Some scenes took forever to get through simply because the story had to continuously stop to repeat mantras or plot points that we've already seen a dozen times already. If not for this reflective perspective, the book could have easily been half or a third its size. While I think there's something meaningful to be found in this style, it certainly could have been cut down. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">On top of the irritating writing style, every character is terrible. Not even in a “they have flaws” kind of way, but in a "they're a freaking monster" way that left little for me to relate to, attach to, or root for. Link, the main character, beats his love interest (though this is played off as romantic "lovers' quarrels," which... certainly says something about the author and the time period). Bill Hod, a quasi-father figure, beats Link as a child, Camilla betrays her love interest in a sickeningly anti-feminist way, and Abbie cares more about being an upstanding citizen of “the Race” than being a good mother. Even characters who don’t do anything overtly wrong are presented with a kind of sleaziness – from Mamie Powther who is presented as sexually devious, to Jubine the photographer who exposes injustices perpetuated by the rich, but is described as little more than a "greedy voyeur." While this is largely influenced by the POV character and often reveals more about the speaker than the subject (Abbie perceives Mamie as disgustingly sexual, for example), every character's perspective is coloured by this pessimism towards other people, and by the end of the book, all that negativity begins to weigh on the narrative. While the book attempts to present every character with duality, it leans too far into their flaws, leaving little good behind to appreciate. There’s lots of fascinating psychological angles to this story, but likeability is hard to come by. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As you can see, this book is a frustrating one for me. On the whole, I think it brilliantly explores how historical sociological scripts intersect with an individual's trauma and environment to shape oppression, but I can’t point to a single character or scene that I actually like. The reading experience is so dreadful that I can't in good faith recommend it to anyone, unless you're a literary scholar that's more interested in meaning than your own enjoyment. It's a real shame, too, because I do believe this book is something special, if only reading it wasn't such a drag. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>TL;DR:</b> 2/5 stars. A painfully dreadful read that culminates in an insightful deconstruction of systematic racism. </div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-40893202276365132782023-11-22T14:55:00.000-07:002023-11-22T14:55:53.272-07:00Book Review: Romance in Marseille <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXQL0g2qXwAeUijCJttMKhhqpM2ND4m7Zf72dE0diKlnK1uuPbFn97JI0Kzn3_xg2gcj9zDdVhTBRGqiOh2SNg-kTf6BTufJAw-1pmRT668gIyNECGr9z21CVdsi8xMJNFS2jtPZPkQij7wH75vzeXPUnfrec1lJebETGVUblE8tJZ4EL2m0iy3NLfg/s336/romance%20in%20marselle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="220" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXQL0g2qXwAeUijCJttMKhhqpM2ND4m7Zf72dE0diKlnK1uuPbFn97JI0Kzn3_xg2gcj9zDdVhTBRGqiOh2SNg-kTf6BTufJAw-1pmRT668gIyNECGr9z21CVdsi8xMJNFS2jtPZPkQij7wH75vzeXPUnfrec1lJebETGVUblE8tJZ4EL2m0iy3NLfg/w263-h400/romance%20in%20marselle.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: Romance in Marseille by Claude McKay </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> Buried in the archive for almost ninety years, Claude McKay's Romance in Marseille traces the adventures of a rowdy troupe of dockworkers, prostitutes, and political organizers--collectively straight and queer, disabled and able-bodied, African, European, Caribbean, and American. Set largely in the culture-blending Vieux Port of Marseille at the height of the Jazz Age, the novel takes flight along with Lafala, an acutely disabled but abruptly wealthy West African sailor. While stowing away on a transatlantic freighter, Lafala is discovered and locked in a frigid closet. Badly frostbitten by the time the boat docks, the once-nimble dancer loses both of his lower legs, emerging from life-saving surgery as what he terms "an amputated man." Thanks to an improbably successful lawsuit against the shipping line, however, Lafala scores big in the litigious United States. Feeling flush after his legal payout, Lafala doubles back to Marseille and resumes his trans-African affair with Aslima, a Moroccan courtesan. With its scenes of black bodies fighting for pleasure and liberty even when stolen, shipped, and sold for parts, McKay's novel explores the heritage of slavery amid an unforgiving modern economy. This first-ever edition of Romance in Marseille includes an introduction by McKay scholars Gary Edward Holcomb and William J. Maxwell that places the novel within both the "stowaway era" of black cultural politics and McKay's challenging career as a star and skeptic of the Harlem Renaissance.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>My Review:</b> If I had to sum up Claude McKay’s Romance in Marseille in three words, it’d be: queer, punny, and unsatisfying. There’s a lot of elements to like: disability rep, a black man’s success against white society, gender play and fluid openness to sexuality, but the ending undermined a lot of the positives and left a bad taste in my mouth. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Lafala is a young sailor who travels the world guided by his wit and whimsy, but while stowed away on an American ship, he ends up with frostbite that requires him to amputate both feet. In a twist of fate, Lafala meets a white lawyer while lying in recovery who helps him sue the shipping company for damages. After winning his case, Lafala skips town before the lawyer is able to scam him out of his share and returns to the port town Marseille to reconnect with old friends. Now a rich man, the people of Marseille clamor for Lafala's attention-- and his money-- but Lafala manages to stay one step ahead of his potential scammers at every turn. In this way, the novel is great. It's the story of a black man who, despite his hardships, outsmarts scammers and white oppressors to escape to paradise. Unfortunately, this feels muddied at the end, as his found family are also the people attempting to scam him, confusing their motivations and allegiances. This is what makes the book interesting to some, as they can analyze the characters from multiple perspectives, but to me it reads like a tragedy wherein greed wins over love, loyalty or friendship. The found family that’s established is sacrificed so Lafala remains the smartest man in the room, and the payoff doesn’t feel worth the sacrifice. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The representation in this book is wonderful. While there’s not a lot of outwardly queer characters, there is heavy implication that certain characters are gay. Characters also question and play with gender, whether through clothing, joking around, or debating the nature of gender roles. As well, Lafala spends the entire book without legs and is never defined by his disability. There’s a nice balance between how it affects his life/mental health and how it doesn't make him less of a person. McKay’s writing is also delightfully punny. He plays with metaphor and symbols, twists language to suit his needs, and utilizes sharp-witted wordplay that is both funny and thought provoking. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>TL;DR:</b> 3/5 stars. A sharp-witted queer tale with excellent disability rep and an unsatisfying finish. </div><div><br /></div><br /><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-11511182250703668232023-10-30T13:00:00.000-06:002023-10-30T13:00:00.511-06:00Book Review: Tilly and the Crazy Eights <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6w--8vJVANJny6Zw2bRTIfVhFlu3fFV_xj4-fg2GMIPw3Lz3C_vkpiw_jk6f-hX2ifroQg1rDN6Rtk1YCl9-OjOgFCrDS0YM3cO3bFq_2FySqNR_lY5IJy3c-OUCt02QCO1QqqaXelxk_yl7R1aBiHsEuTAFnnJsLIL2Mog8WDeRjRRQGiXWUOoeBDA/s400/tilly%20and%20the%20crazy%20eights.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6w--8vJVANJny6Zw2bRTIfVhFlu3fFV_xj4-fg2GMIPw3Lz3C_vkpiw_jk6f-hX2ifroQg1rDN6Rtk1YCl9-OjOgFCrDS0YM3cO3bFq_2FySqNR_lY5IJy3c-OUCt02QCO1QqqaXelxk_yl7R1aBiHsEuTAFnnJsLIL2Mog8WDeRjRRQGiXWUOoeBDA/w268-h400/tilly%20and%20the%20crazy%20eights.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: Tilly and the Crazy Eights by Monique Gray Smith </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> When Tilly receives an invitation to help drive eight elders on their ultimate bucket list road trip to Albuquerque for the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow, she impulsively says yes. Before she knows it, Tilly has said goodbye to her family and is behind the wheel--ready to embark on an adventure that will transform her in ways she could not predict. Just as it will for each and every one of the elders on the trip, who soon dub themselves "the Crazy Eights."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Tilly and the Crazy Eights each choose a stop to make along the way--somewhere they've always wanted to go or something they've wanted to experience. Their plan is to travel to Las Vegas, Sedona, and the Redwood Forests, with each destination the inspiration for secrets and stories to be revealed. The trip proves to be powerful medicine as they laugh, heal, argue, and reveal hopes and dreams along the way.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">With friendships forged, love found, hearts broken and mended, Tilly and the Crazy Eights feel ready for anything by the time their bus rolls to a stop in New Mexico. But are they?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>My Review: </b>This character-driven story, filled with Indigenous humour and wisdom, takes readers on a journey of healing across the United States. When Tilly is dragged on the cross-country journey with eight eccentric elders, she leaves behind her unsatisfying marriage to think about her future - and whether divorce may be the answer. Though the journey challenges Tilly, through the wisdom of the elders around her, she finds clarity on her marriage and returns home to make the best choice for herself. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">While Tilly's story is heartwarming, nothing about it resonated with me enough to make me fall in love, leading to its mediocre rating. The book is a short journey story where each character undergoes a personal transformation that reflects back on Tilly's struggle with her marriage. Despite it being a bit predictable, the characters are presented with an authenticity to them that helps the story stick its landing. The characters appear a bit flat at the beginning, but as the journey unfolds, their bucket list experiences reveal more depth and open opportunities for reader identification. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The book is comprised of short chapters (sometimes only 2 pages), which does jolt readers out of the story. Just as a scene gets going, it stops and the book moves to a completely different scene with other characters. While this is disjointing, it does create a snapshot atmosphere that reminds me of vacation photos. The story also doesn't focus on one character and spends equal time exploring each elder's personal journey, which can make the story feel scattered. Each elder's journey is largely separate from the rest and feels loosely connected to Tilly's struggle, which is supposed to serve as the emotional throughline. The writing is straight to the point and doesn't linger on poetic language, but does contain some solid metaphoric descriptions.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Tilly and the Crazy Eights is a cute journey story with some poignant wisdom, but it just failed to connect with me in a meaningful way. Because the characters deal with issues like empty nest syndrome and physical aging, older readers may have an easier time relating to the story if they've experienced similar life events. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>TL:DR:</b> 3/5 stars. A cute story about healing that feels a little scattered. </div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-62965084871213519572023-10-18T13:21:00.001-06:002023-10-18T13:21:52.270-06:00Book Review: The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOSRtO7r6FUNQ34bmY0ptqRA1ooKjLqrwa79DvsSwfVGFjDSui_yc3I6L3kBKAlsR9Wr4ildVlc2vHQ0u_6Y-ZHcd1_dbC4EUbzyiAjzy5hXOyT5RwBYkyoLIl8rQZjkQ-_gpjC_NIYBph3l4wrn40YGMMFvKbnaLzN7MEIjzIy3_pm7jHV6w1s84Bw/s2560/prairie%20chicken%20dance%20tour.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1707" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOSRtO7r6FUNQ34bmY0ptqRA1ooKjLqrwa79DvsSwfVGFjDSui_yc3I6L3kBKAlsR9Wr4ildVlc2vHQ0u_6Y-ZHcd1_dbC4EUbzyiAjzy5hXOyT5RwBYkyoLIl8rQZjkQ-_gpjC_NIYBph3l4wrn40YGMMFvKbnaLzN7MEIjzIy3_pm7jHV6w1s84Bw/s320/prairie%20chicken%20dance%20tour.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Book Review: The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour by Dawn Dumont</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> 'The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour' is loosely based - like, hospital-gown loose - on the true story of a group of Indigenous dancers who left Saskatchewan and toured through Europe in the 1970s. Dawn Dumont brings her signature razor-sharp wit and impeccable comedic timing to this hilarious, warm, and wildly entertaining novel.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>My Review:</b> When the usual dance troupe gets food poisoning. John Greyeyes is tasked with leading a replacement troupe through a series of powwows across Europe -- except the replacement dancers can't dance, and John only has a few days to whip them into shape. Along the tour, the crew stumbles into a series of wacky adventures, including a plane hijacking, an FBI smuggling investigation, identity theft, and a break and enter at the Vatican that lands one of the dancers in jail. Dawn Dumont has crafted a riot of a book that is both utterly ridiculous and grounds readers with solid, heartfelt moments. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While Prairie Chicken is a wild ride shot through with humour, it does address topics like racism, residential schools, and homophobia with the seriousness that they deserve. It doesn't linger on these topics, but they surface as important aspects to character arcs. Due to trauma, several characters are closed off to love, but over the course of the novel, they begin to heal their trauma and open themselves up to love again (including self-love). Watching these silly little characters grow and learn to love themselves despite their flaws was truly endearing. It's hard not to fall in love these characters, even if we don't spend much time directly in their heads. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The narrative has next to no introspection -- the prose is entirely focused on the action of the scene. And holy, there is a lot. The book features a large cast of main characters and they all take part in almost every scene, which makes things busy. The book also doesn't linger on moments and keeps the action moving as much as possible. While some might find the busyness overwhelming, the writing is balanced and scenes flow so the reader doesn't lose the thread of the narrative. Coupled with it's style of humour, the book feels like a Benny Hill sketch, in a good way. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At the end of the day, The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour is pure, heartwarming fun. I laughed so much while reading it and it still brightens my day to think of this ridiculous story. Plus it's got a gay Indigenous cowboy who is Done With Everyone's Shit<span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-size: 14px;">™, </span>so it's got a special place in my heart. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>TL;DR: </b>5/5 stars. A hilarious and heartfelt story of a ragtag crew that crosses Europe to find themselves.</div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-70922362366193286072023-10-06T16:39:00.004-06:002023-10-06T16:46:05.194-06:00Book Review: Passing <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyScj52mD15eGJOWAaSi17GtDEdxaCE6ZaZ_Pf99PsVUgl48KryZVyi4MeuE4wgk_5dpe71A0TwGknkitdwGoEGqk-lPSWc0E3dvVyc6H3q-WD3QQM73VaoqaZPp5Ya3WAr-5CMK0IoevQTUHOyefZCIu4NZ56oB3fRWUcCgARq7dkaBifHb6lbcU5Aw/s1612/passing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1612" data-original-width="999" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyScj52mD15eGJOWAaSi17GtDEdxaCE6ZaZ_Pf99PsVUgl48KryZVyi4MeuE4wgk_5dpe71A0TwGknkitdwGoEGqk-lPSWc0E3dvVyc6H3q-WD3QQM73VaoqaZPp5Ya3WAr-5CMK0IoevQTUHOyefZCIu4NZ56oB3fRWUcCgARq7dkaBifHb6lbcU5Aw/w248-h400/passing.jpg" width="248" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: Passing by Nella Larsen </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> Irene Redfield is a Black woman living an affluent, comfortable life with her husband and children in the thriving neighborhood of Harlem in the 1920s. When she reconnects with her childhood friend Clare Kendry, who is similarly light-skinned, Irene discovers that Clare has been passing for a white woman after severing ties to her past--even hiding the truth from her racist husband.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Clare finds herself drawn to Irene's sense of ease and security with her Black identity and longs for the community (and, increasingly, the woman) she lost. Irene is both riveted and repulsed by Clare and her dangerous secret, as Clare begins to insert herself--and her deception--into every part of Irene's stable existence. First published in 1929, Larsen's brilliant examination of the various ways in which we all seek to "pass," is as timely as ever. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>My Review: </b><i>"It's funny about 'passing.' We disapprove of it and at the same time condone it. It excites our contempt and yet we rather admire it. We shy away from it with an odd kind of revulsion, but we protect it." </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nella Larsen's Passing is a tour-de-force of character study and political commentary. As the title implies, it takes a closer look at the act of passing, where a minoritized person is able to pass as a member of the dominant group, and the resulting effects on one's psyche. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The story follows Irene, a light-skinned black woman who has spent her life doing everything she's supposed to - she's a good wife and mother, a law-abiding citizen, and an upstanding member of "the race." Yet within the first few pages, we can see Irene's repressed desires lurking just below the surface. She wants to be a good representative of "the race," yet she wants freedom from that responsibility. She wants her husband to want her, yet she's so enamored with her beautiful friend, Claire, that it borders on homoerotic. Claire is a light-skinned black woman who has been living her life as a white person, passing even to her racist white husband. For some reason, Claire can have it all - life as a white person and confidence in her black identity, and it drives Irene mad. Envy becomes obsession, until Irene starts to feel threatened by Claire's challenge to her worldview, and decides she must defend herself. Though the book is a character study on the psychological effects of repression and racism on identity, Larsen never lets us get too close to Irene's thoughts, inviting an air of mystery. Does Irene hate Claire because she passes as white? Is she jealous? Does Claire actually threaten Irene's marriage, or was it all in her head? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This book has so much longing slammed in its less than 100 pages - desire to be someone else, desire to be free, desire for a better life, desire to return home to your people, desire for queer love - and it's contrasted against intense repression and restraints - racism, segregation, heteronormativity, doing what's expected - making it a masterwork of tension. Irene wants so much, but the major thing holding her back is herself, which becomes very obvious once Claire re-enters her life. She is both victim and oppressor, having internalized society's messages about what she's expected to do to the point where she's sacrificed her own wants and happiness in exchange for security. This book is not a queer story, but it is heavily queer coded. Irene is very focused on Claire's beauty and irresistibility throughout the text. She insists to herself that she wants nothing to do with Claire, but as soon as Claire makes contact, Irene falls over herself to see her. She also expresses that she's powerless against Claire's influence, which gives the impression of a queer person struggling with their attraction. Irene's eventual vilification of Claire also speaks to Irene's attempt to distance herself from those feelings in order to retain the stability and safety that comes from her straight marriage. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I really loved this book. As someone who can relate to the act of passing, it offers an incredibly interesting perspective on the practice. I also love diving into the minds of unreliable, flawed narrators, especially when they make you doubt if you're really getting the whole story. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>TL;DR:</b> All in all, 5/5 stars. A high tension, psychological character study exploring the nuances of passing, deception, and repression. </div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-26147093555254991662023-09-29T13:40:00.000-06:002023-09-29T13:40:05.603-06:00Book Review: Firekeeper's Daughter <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiopELTNTj3Srkf9upUv39QNrpM_ZfzzQ0NuLkEwaiA43HXpflVvofUHBYKTsPoycIp5eCHxX5bZ2UXuRgLpFAkimgHdM9xQqKFdV60OPxR3Qv-O89L4LykSFBFuvRNxDtXcOfpp3aHKv4S7XgK84Ba_N54R5mKaLz8vCjFOqpg8ptt0QamE4UsGyP4rg/s2560/firekeepers%20daughter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1692" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiopELTNTj3Srkf9upUv39QNrpM_ZfzzQ0NuLkEwaiA43HXpflVvofUHBYKTsPoycIp5eCHxX5bZ2UXuRgLpFAkimgHdM9xQqKFdV60OPxR3Qv-O89L4LykSFBFuvRNxDtXcOfpp3aHKv4S7XgK84Ba_N54R5mKaLz8vCjFOqpg8ptt0QamE4UsGyP4rg/w265-h400/firekeepers%20daughter.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley </span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Goodreads Description: </b>As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in—both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. When her family is struck by tragedy, Daunis puts her dreams on hold to care for her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother’s hockey team.</div><div><br /></div><div>After Daunis witnesses a shocking murder that thrusts her into a criminal investigation, she agrees to go undercover. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home. How far will she go to protect her community if it means tearing apart the only world she’s ever known?</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Review: </b>Alright, peeps, I've got a good one for you today. This was, hands down, the best YA novel I've read in years. Every element was expertly handled, from the characters, to the plot, to its believability, all the way to its spectacular ending. Best of all, it doesn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to YA fiction - it honours many well-loved tropes while also breathing new life into these plot elements through a fresh Anishinaabe perspective.</div><div><br /></div><div>Firekeeper's Daughter is a crime story done right. Many YA crime novels struggle with believability and don't fully justify why teenagers are the leads in criminal investigations when the police are RIGHT THERE. Why would an adult put a child in danger when there are so many other options they could take? For this story, it's the isolation and insular Ojibway community that justifies Daunis' involvement in the undercover case. The police have already introduced an Indigenous undercover cop pretending to be a teenager to get into the crime ring, but due to the community's culture, the police can't get close enough to the suspects to gather evidence. Daunis, however, is someone who can get them in - not only is she Indigenous with direct ties to the community, but she also has direct ties to the suspects, the land, and is well-versed in chemistry. The plot kicks off with the murder of Daunis' best friend, which reveals that on Daunis' reserve, someone has built a drug trafficking ring that stretches across multiple states. A group has been synthesizing powerful meth with an unknown compound, likely a plant that grows around the reservation, and it's the intersection of culture, intelligence, and her social positioning in the community that gives Daunis the edge in solving the case. I loved that this book took the labour out of my suspension of disbelief. </div><div><br /></div><div>Daunis has become one of my favourite YA heroines, possibly ever. She's got a distinct personality that resists falling into the "good girl/good student" trope that plagues many YA heroines. Daunis may be smart and more or less on the straight and narrow, but she resists black and white binaries -- she drinks and parties with her friends, she isn't scared of the meth users in her community, even if she doesn't partake, and she has no guilt over using prescription pain medications to cope with hard times. The book doesn't problematize her substance use or riskier behaviours, and instead treats them as a couple of dots on the diverse pointillism painting that is Daunis. Many YA novels seem preoccupied with "right" and "wrong" behaviours, especially from the main character, and end up pushing puritans ideals of the Madonna-whore complex, even if they don't mean to. Most often, they lean towards the "good girl" trope, where the MC wouldn't dream of drinking or drugs, though some protagonists do lean into their problematic behaviours and the narrative is quick to reinforce these behaviours as wrong, dangerous, or shameful. Firekeeper's Daughter avoids all of that moralizing by showing that these points of Daunis' character, whether it's something "good" like her intelligence or "bad" like her substance use, never end up defining her.</div><div><br /></div><div>Boulley's masterful character crafting skills go beyond her main character -- everyone in this book was so realistic and well-rounded, but they also engage with character tropes in fascinating ways. Boulley is also quite subtle about this character depth, introducing small moments that don't stand out, but add layers to the roles we're used to seeing. Lily, the best friend with the big personality, becomes more than just the side-kick. Boulley contrasts the strong parts of her personality with gentler moments and circumstances while still honouring the original trope. Lily is loud but small, protector but also victim, and the wise one whose always getting into trouble. Jamie, the new love interest in town, also engages with traditional tropes in an interesting way. He is very much the Bland Boyfriend trope - a seemingly perfect man with no personality outside of the protagonist, yet Boulley gives us plot reasons for why he's like this. The fact that he's largely disconnected from his roots also becomes a major point in their relationship later in the story, which is a fascinating twist on what's usually just lazy writing. The Fake Boyfriend trope also plays a part in the story, but unlike most versions of this trope, it doesn't feel contrived, which is saying something for a trope that's best described as, "There were a thousand other ways out of this situation, why did you pick this one?" </div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, a really riveting book that takes what's familiar and beloved about YA and elevates it to new levels. The writing is crisp, clear, and beautiful, with many lines oozing wisdom and maturity. The way plot elements collide with aspects of Indigenous culture and spirituality is proof that you can take a story that's been done a thousand times and completely transform it with a diverse setting and perspective. If you only pick up one book this year, make it this one. I can't recommend it enough. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>TL;DR:</b> 5/5 stars. The best YA crime novel out there. Period. </div>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-51762575573350540362023-09-07T14:05:00.006-06:002023-09-27T14:21:53.790-06:00Book Review: This Dark Endeavour<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOsMzcaOD-UJuz9pRbHhhMqr43SNCYyw7u0tzC3O-oxzidnYlJHp23IBuSpuJC4BklPkgwnqRjCx1fKUp3hfhBH75HL_L_U0UA5EkGLLAMIcyW-akPu2qwhHr_C1NtRVrCjf94YxazLogK4qJ3wwfz35z4C312wlVjqKZWyAmlqjHjSYaz8V0Cb9N2yg/s376/this%20dark%20endevour.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="250" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOsMzcaOD-UJuz9pRbHhhMqr43SNCYyw7u0tzC3O-oxzidnYlJHp23IBuSpuJC4BklPkgwnqRjCx1fKUp3hfhBH75HL_L_U0UA5EkGLLAMIcyW-akPu2qwhHr_C1NtRVrCjf94YxazLogK4qJ3wwfz35z4C312wlVjqKZWyAmlqjHjSYaz8V0Cb9N2yg/w266-h400/this%20dark%20endevour.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Book Review: This Dark Endevour by Kenneth Oppel </b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description: </b>Victor Frankenstein leads a charmed life. He and his twin brother, Konrad, and their beautiful cousin Elizabeth take lessons at home and spend their spare time fencing and horseback riding. Along with their friend Henry, they have explored all the hidden passageways and secret rooms of the palatial Frankenstein chateau. Except one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The Dark Library contains ancient tomes written in strange languages and filled with forbidden knowledge. Their father makes them promise never to visit the library, but when Konrad becomes deathly ill, Victor knows he must find the book that contains the recipe for the legendary Elixir of Life.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The elixir needs only three ingredients. But impossible odds, dangerous alchemy and a bitter love triangle threaten their quest at every turn.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Victor knows he must not fail. Yet his success depends on how far he is willing to push the boundaries of nature, science and love—and how much he is willing to sacrifice.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>My Review:</b> Kenneth Oppel has had a special place in my heart since I was a kid, when his bat-tastic Silverwing series swooped into my life and made my oddball ass feel less alone. So, years ago, when I spotted a Frankenstein prequel by Kenneth Oppel, I was quick to snatch it up, but the book languished on my TBR shelf the last few years as more pressing titles jumped the queue. I finally found the time to pick it up, and to say I was disappointed would have been an understatement. This Dark Endevour is DULL. It's predictable. It's more than forgettable, it's why-bother-reading-able. The book's greatest weakness is that it's a Frankenstein prequel; its saving grace the target audience, who likely have not read the original Frankenstein and can't compare Oppel's changes to the original text. Yet even then, the book falls flat: the story is uninspired, the romantic and plot twists are contrived, lacking any sense of stakes, and the characters feel ripped out of the wrong time period. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Slapping Frankenstein on this book leads to natural comparisons between the texts, but ironically, knowing the basics of Frankenstein makes the plot and twist ending of This Dark Endevour painfully obvious. Oppel introduces readers to his Frankenstein twins: Victor Frankenstein, the savant scientist that science-fiction knows all too well, and Oppel's creation, Konrad - the virtuous mirror-inversion of Victor, whose flaws have been bent backwards into much a nobler configuration. Konrad is sweet, he's compassionate, he's sensitive and gentle, but also brave, just, and level-headed - often the voice of reason, reigning Victor in when his lofty ideals pull them off the moral path. Yet this inversion of Victor's traits also reveals that Oppel either dislikes or doesn't understand the nuance within Shelley's Victor Frankenstein, as Oppel emphasizes Victor's negative traits - greed, ambition, stubbornness, solipsism - and crafts Konrad as the opposite of that, making both characters feel partly artificial and casting them in 'angel' and 'devil' roles. In the original text, Victor spent much of his time reigning himself back in, and the balance between doing wrong and trying to correct course is what made him so fascinating. Oppel's Victor feels more akin to the mad-scientist representations of Victor Frankenstein that pop-culture is more familiar with. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Early in the book, Konrad falls deathly ill, motivating Victor and his friends Elizabeth and Henry to seek out alchemic knowledge that would lead them to the Elixir of Life to safe Konrad's life. At this point, the fact that this is a Frankenstein tale immediately gave away the ending. This is, after all, Victor Frankenstein, the man known for bringing back the dead, not for saving the living, so before I'd even opened the book (as Konrad's illness is spelled out on the back cover), it was painfully obvious that despite all efforts, Konrad wasn't going to make it. Oppel tries to combat this by drawing out the tension of Konrad's illness and faking out the reader in regards to his recovery, but the efforts fall painfully flat. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The overall plot is organized around a three-point fetch quest that quickly became predictable and dull. Victor and his friends connect with an alchemist who tasks them with collecting the three ingredients needed to save Konrad, and holy crap was this boring. No amount of cool glow-in-the-dark moss, demon fish, or wolf's eye alchemy could distract from the terrifyingly predictable arcs of find thing - attacked by monsters - barely escape with item. This formula repeats again at the finale as trusted characters turn on each other and the actual creation of the Elixir becomes yet another fetch mission. The story could have worked if it was in a video game, where the agency of players could have mitigated some of the boredom from the plot's predictability. Instead, the reader is dragged along, beat by expected beat, without anything to change up the formula.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Finally, the characters. As I already mentioned, Victor and Konrad are two-dimensional representations of the "good" and "bad" twin, although thankfully this becomes less pronounced as Konrad becomes bedridden and less of an active character. Elizabeth was also difficult to stomach through much of the text. Many times, she asserts her equality to the boys by declaring that she's braver, stronger, and more tenacious than others (certainly Henry). The characters often have a "Don't You Know, Bob?" moment where they recount when Elizabeth bested the boys, was braver than them, or, GASP - wore trousers. These conversations feel so contrived, like Elizabeth is arguing against someone that isn't even there, asserting her autonomy and independence when no one was questioning it (other characters, narrative, even audience). I can't help but wonder why Oppel felt the need to assure audiences of Elizabeth's Girl Power! and can only assume it's because of the time period the book is set in. Finally, Oppel establishes an interesting romantic conflict between Victor, Elizabeth, and Konrad, but introduces this too late (so it feels like it comes out of nowhere, when this romantic tension could and should have been underlying their interactions from the beginning). This tension also doesn't lead to much besides some simmering resentment and moments of will-they-won't-they. I wish this romantic tension was better defined, upped the stakes, and actually lead to consequences in their relationship. It would have been nice to see that simmering resentment actually pitch up to a boil. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">All in all, this book isn't worth the read. Even as a fun, dumb pulp read, there's nothing really fun about it. With how predictable the whole plotline was, it would have been smarter to start the plot at book 2, where Konrad is already dead and build to how Victor plans to bring him back, even if that would have had its own complications. That concept at least has some creative possibilities within in, but this book left such a bad taste in my mouth that I don't care to see where Oppel takes this concept. It's dead in the water if you ask me, and not worth the lightning for its resurrection. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>TL;DR:</b> 2/5 stars. Boring and uninspired. </div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-80272573260766324772023-08-27T14:02:00.005-06:002023-09-27T14:22:15.199-06:00Book Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEFnfEBPUMyKidfMQhqIVQEVa1HNU9YP1mA08TuqXqLNgzfJQEUgviYLYwY7hyx3cQUwdjU-GxKmS4tHarHMWzFfXxm7ZFiSxv8To4bXMS0_5mDaR1Kg6p5AIrG6S6t1nOvFNGiE0xHQfXKS0DjN6CCZ6xL2E9tOrJg50DIk1LtMKTRsy5WvfR3IOVA/s475/their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEFnfEBPUMyKidfMQhqIVQEVa1HNU9YP1mA08TuqXqLNgzfJQEUgviYLYwY7hyx3cQUwdjU-GxKmS4tHarHMWzFfXxm7ZFiSxv8To4bXMS0_5mDaR1Kg6p5AIrG6S6t1nOvFNGiE0xHQfXKS0DjN6CCZ6xL2E9tOrJg50DIk1LtMKTRsy5WvfR3IOVA/w265-h400/their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Book Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston </b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description: </b>Fair and long-legged, independent and articulate, Janie Crawford sets out to be her own person—no mean feat for a black woman in the '30s. Janie's quest for identity takes her through three marriages and into a journey back to her roots.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>My Review: </b>When it was originally released in 1937, Their Eyes Were Watching God drew considerable backlash for its depiction of "average" black Americans, especially from other prominent writers of the Harlem Renaissance. The authors of this movement used art to argue for social change by depicting black people as educated, artistic, and activist - bucking against long-held racist beliefs that black people were intellectually or culturally inferior. However, these authors were largely trapped within, and often conformed to, white standards of success in order to gain equality and approval in America. Zora Neale Hurtson's book took a completely different approach. Hurston worked as an anthropologist as well as a writer, and was more interested in examining what made black communities unique. She depicted "average" black Americans without judgement -- reveling in various accents and speaking habits, depicted communal storytelling and humour that some might consider Vaudeville-esque -- and even critiqued the educated black characters within her text for their condescension and arrogance. This drew a fair bit of backlash from other black writers who argued that the book resembled caricaturesque minstrel shows, however, this feels like a grave misunderstanding of the nuance within Hurston's book. When analyzed today, we can see how Hurston's book is a celebration of black culture in America, with its insistence to see these people fully realized, with all their jokes, language, and culture accepted as is. While respectability politics has had its uses throughout civil rights movements, Hurston's book reminds us that if people of colour only measure their success through white standards, it ultimately leaves them isolated from themselves and their community. In that way, Their Eyes feels ahead of its time, pushing for a radical acceptance of people as they are rather than purposing an ideal for what they should be. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As you can tell from the short summary, it's difficult to pin down the exact plot of Their Eyes. This book is a lot of things. It's a love story, a coming-of-age tale, it's a feminist text, a story of self-actualization, it's an anthropologic and linguistic exploration of black culture, with a profoundly optimistic look on race relations. It focuses on Janie Crawford as she grows up through her three marriages, coming to understand the meaning of love, marriage, and agency. As many coming of age stories are, the book is slow paced, focusing on slow-burning character arcs and mundane plot events over dramatic twists. Over the course of the book, Janie subtly moves away from the expectations of white culture and finds self-actualization and agency through embracing "blackness." Janie's first husband unquestioningly follows white culture and heteronormativity, expecting Janie to fall into her "wifely" role. Despite living in a black community, her second husband pushes both himself and Janie towards classist elitism that pits "respectable blackness" against the "common folk," and ends up isolating Janie from her community and culture. Janie resists this influence, and through her third husband, connects with the black community and finds more happiness, passion, equality, and agency, despite living closer to poverty and instability. In this way, Hurston bucks against respectability politics and shows that if black people "behaved like whites wanted them to," it would leave them isolated from each other, their culture, and themselves. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hurston's novel also showcases a profound optimism when it comes to race relations - focusing very little on racism and instead showing black people living their lives, largely unhindered by oppression. She features the town of Eatonville as a major setting, which was a real town and the first self-governing all-black municipality in the United States (incorporated in 1887). Eatonville in the book faces no trouble from white people and exists unremarkably. Hurston doesn't fluff up the town's importance or incite any racist drama, it's just another setting. The book still features racism in pieces, such as when one of Janie's husbands is forced by the Red Cross to do manual labor and he has to run from gunfire to escape, but the book doesn't linger on these moments, giving it a strange sort of optimism and freedom, despite the time period it's set in. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The book features a lot of heavy accents, phonetic spelling, and slang to really capture the "language" these communities spoke, and don't get me wrong, Hurston does an excellent job with these accents. She captures their mannerisms and culture in a way that feels rich, realistic, and nuanced, but every character speaks with a heavy accent. Every. One. Not to mention, this book is very dialogue heavy. There are whole pages where two or more characters are talking, wherein the conversation is lobbed between two speakers without much to break it up. Even white characters, when they appear, speak in their own heavy, difficult-to-read accents. While this dialogue is fascinating from an anthropological/sociological/linguistic point of view, I really hated reading it. Just trying to decode what characters are actually saying, with all the dropped letters, creative spelling, and phonetic sounds was a nightmare. I read this book at a snail's pace and all the decoding left little energy to actually enjoy the story. Many words had to be sounded out aloud, because they were spelled to recreate a sound, rather than a real word. "Ah" is used almost exclusively instead of "I," for example. Despite that, I have a hard time imagining this book without the accents. It feels like something would be lost without them, which reminds me of the saying, "it's not about the destination, it's about the journey." For these characters, it's not so much what they say, but how they say it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Aside from the heavily accented dialogue, the narrative is written in gorgeous prose that's littered with wise insights on the world, love, marriage, and growing up. Hurston especially has a lot to say about the intersection of race and gender (and to a lesser extent, class), commenting often on how oppression affects black men versus black women, while also exploring the power dynamics between married couples. The book culminates in a storm and legal trial that tests Janie's beliefs about love and marriage, both in personal and legal frameworks, and pushes her to establish agency and self-advocacy. The climax feels believable but dramatic. It fits in well with the humdrum normalcy of married life, but also instills the larger-than-life, once-in-a-lifetime type of conflict that elevates the text to the next level - pushing Janie to fully embody what she's learned about love, marriage, and agency in order to survive and thrive going forward. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>TL;DR: </b>3/5 stars. A fascinating text that analyzes the intersection of race, gender, and class from a black feminist perspective.</div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-35871165549639888502023-08-05T18:29:00.000-06:002023-08-05T18:29:17.126-06:00Book Review: The Weary Blues <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifm84ICLcI9W0GalK4BOgtKkbH2xHIBH67npnwxokoxqkVLMOM_kF-obD3JDU70UPfbmCBbwS2_AZ8QG8s52EIczfUuTIChQK4EKATbXmMP22bn8wYsInEUrSMnoG37Dllh5YI3WgINTGPbBmfOySQO9kycd8w-pr6ZRZnk67qFXvo4oWfBGPyczzDhw/s500/the%20weary%20blues.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifm84ICLcI9W0GalK4BOgtKkbH2xHIBH67npnwxokoxqkVLMOM_kF-obD3JDU70UPfbmCBbwS2_AZ8QG8s52EIczfUuTIChQK4EKATbXmMP22bn8wYsInEUrSMnoG37Dllh5YI3WgINTGPbBmfOySQO9kycd8w-pr6ZRZnk67qFXvo4oWfBGPyczzDhw/w250-h400/the%20weary%20blues.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> The Weary Blues is Langston Hughes's first published collection of poems, immediately celebrated as a tour de force upon its release. Over ninety years after its publication, it remains a critically acclaimed literary work and still evokes a fresh, contemporary feeling and offers a powerful reflection of the Black experience. From the title poem "The Weary Blues," echoing the sounds of the blues, to "Dream Variation," ringing with joyfulness, to the "Epilogue" that mimics Walt Whitman in its opening line, "I, too, sing America," Hughes writes clearly and colorfully, and his words remain prophetic and relevant today.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>My Review:</b> Nearly 100 years ago, Langston Hughes published his first poetry collection, The Weary Blues, a modern classic that propelled him to the top of the literary scene in Harlem in the 1930s. The Weary Blues takes us on a wide journey through various aspects of Hughes' life, introducing us to Harlem in its heyday, the impact of the Blues, and the beauty and strength of the black community. Hughes combines familiar contemporary language with classical poetry forms, structures, and allusions to give his poetry a sense of timelessness, which makes it accessible to a wide variety of readers. Hughes' collection constantly brings together opposing dichotomies on the page to demonstrate their ultimate similarity: ugliness and beauty, black and white, joy and suffering. In this way, The Weary Blues draws on multiple aspects of the human experience to create a rich image of life as a black man in 1920s America. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Langston Hughes is known for his involvement with the Harlem Renaissance, a period of cultural revival for black art during the 1920-30s, which laid the groundwork for civil rights movements and the Black Arts Movement of the 1960-70s. Throughout his poems, Hughes plays with major ideas that shaped the Harlem Renaissance - such as art as propaganda to support black civil rights movements, and double consciousness - the idea that black people experience two separate 'consciousnesses': life as a black person and an American. Hughes utilizes his poems as a form of propaganda to fight back against white oppression by showcasing blackness and black people as divinely beautiful, while highlighting the suffering and disconnect that comes from systematic oppression. In that way, many of his works are extremely powerful, and when taking the collection in whole, it's hard not see the outpouring of love that Hughes has for his community, his heritage, his country, and ultimately himself. It's this self-love and self-respect that allows Hughes' art to advocate for his community while refusing to submit to a lesser station in society to earn acceptance. His poetry loudly states: we are beautiful, we are strong, and we are capable of greatness, so why don't we deserve a seat at the table? It's a message that never gets old. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The influence of Blues music remains strong throughout the entire collection. Hughes had a deep understanding of rhythm and infused this into the bones of his poems. The titular poem, "The Weary Blues" does an excellent job at recreating the sound of a Blues song, but it's "The Cat and the Saxophone" that really captures this Blusey feeling for me. The poem feels a bit all over the place, with people talking over a Blues song, but the use of caps, line breaks, rhythms, and stresses expertly recreates the sound of a swinging trumpet and its long soulful notes. The parts of the collection that are less focused on music, such as the sailor arc, utilize different rhythms that emphasize silence (think calming ocean white noise) which sharply contrast with the Blues pieces. This is what makes the Blusey pieces really pop, as readers can hear the difference between the various rhythms. The collection utilizes classical poetry forms throughout, while also mixing in more expressive free verse poems that capture the lack of structure during certain parts of Hughes' life (his sea-faring poems are largely freeverse). This change of form and style gives a refreshing diversity to the pieces in this collection, however, Hughes largely sticks to simple page arrangements while constructing his poems, leaving little for the eye to feast on besides the meat of the stanzas themselves. Many of the poems are short, some even only three lines long, and while his short pieces are meaningful, it feels like a potential is missed out on by not experimenting more with the white space. This may be an unfair criticism, since concrete poetry and experiments in white space didn't really kick off until the 1950s, but I did find myself really missing the aesthetic arrangement, especially for those really short, powerful pieces. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All in all, Langston Hughes' first poetry collection is filled with joy, pain, music, and wisdom, all packed within tight little stanzas. Even after 100 years, his astute observations and use of language resonates with readers of any background and makes The Weary Blues an excellent addition to any poetry collection. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>TL;DR:</b> 3/5 stars. A modern classic that celebrates the beauty and majesty of the black community. </div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-40484941501252076562023-06-16T17:52:00.001-06:002023-06-16T17:52:04.281-06:00Book Review: Peter Darling <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFkCW3NuYJvdoxQx-bpTerw-zWY1raFqXFMsemubOsjcbWghivRPKwJNxLv0ZAzjNoERZy-F9G0Nwx9YM8QJJBTtuZ-wNWcAnlKYDYXOljmjrTgSt0fuCAIK6oeTO1iwO-Cf_DyB2RkdG9YOeC1v5Caqw6tx8qwRi7M5u2__ozNj14XhFDVJP7uhPqg/s3000/peter%20darling.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="1821" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFkCW3NuYJvdoxQx-bpTerw-zWY1raFqXFMsemubOsjcbWghivRPKwJNxLv0ZAzjNoERZy-F9G0Nwx9YM8QJJBTtuZ-wNWcAnlKYDYXOljmjrTgSt0fuCAIK6oeTO1iwO-Cf_DyB2RkdG9YOeC1v5Caqw6tx8qwRi7M5u2__ozNj14XhFDVJP7uhPqg/w242-h400/peter%20darling.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Book Review: Peter Darling by Austin Chant </b></div></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> <span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Lost Boys say that Peter Pan went back to England because of Wendy Darling, but Wendy is just an old life he left behind. Neverland is his real home. So when Peter returns to it after ten years in the real world, he’s surprised to find a Neverland that no longer seems to need him.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The only person who truly missed Peter is Captain James Hook, who is delighted to have his old rival back. But when a new war ignites between the Lost Boys and Hook’s pirates, the ensuing bloodshed becomes all too real – and Peter’s rivalry with Hook starts to blur into something far more complicated, sensual, and deadly.</span><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>My Review: </b>This review contains minor spoilers. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Peter Darling is an interesting blend of contradictions. I first stumbled across the book while killing time on trans subreddits, where fans were raving about its trans and mlm representation. The book has apparently found its online niche-- its Goodreads page has over 8k ratings and 2k reviews, with over 70% of those ratings at either 4 or 5 stars, and fans are singing its praises across online networks. If this book had come to me about 15 years ago, I'd likely be another diehard fan hailing it as a triumph, because the book does have some solid emotionally-resonate moments of representation. Yet on the whole, it fails to achieve a cohesive narrative due to inconsistent character motivations, poor characterization, and enough head-hopping to make someone motion sick. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let's start with the positives. This book won the 2017 Rainbow Award for Best Cover, Best Debut Transgender Book, and Best Transgender Sci-fi/Fantasy, and was a runner up for Best Transgender Book, mainly for its female-to-male trans representation. I can see why this book was on the radar, as it does more than present a trans man's circumstances -- rather it pierces right into the heart of what it feels like to be a trans man. Capturing some of the emotionality of what it means to be trans is what gives this book its power. As well, Chant builds solid tension through the slow reveal of Peter's "secret" by blending it into Neverland lore - why did Peter disappear to for so long? Why did he come back? And who really is Peter 'Pan', anyway? This evolving tension connects well with the setting </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">(Neverland as an escapist fantasy from a transphobic world), the themes of the text (forging identity through story), and Peter and James' struggles to assert themselves against the world.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">Most of the book is the 'trapped together' trope, which may not be to everyone's taste, but for those who do enjoy it, the story fully embraces the trope without edging too far into sappy territory. Chant's writing is also quite beautiful at times. There were many lines that I highlighted for their lyrical composition as well as their wisdom. As demonstrated in the prologue, Chant can set a decent atmosphere that draws in reader interest, but sadly underutilizes atmosphere and scene-setting throughout the rest of the book. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The author is obviously familiar with JM Barrie's original Peter and Wendy novel, as many characters and references from Barrie's text pop up in Peter Darling. While these references were a great addition to fill out Chant's story, they also draw a direct connection to Barrie's work, which made the shortcomings of Peter Darling all the more obvious. Barrie's original text idealized childhood as a time of wonder and wildness, as different but on equal footing with adult experiences. Through Peter Pan, Barrie represents childhood as a Romantic would nature - beautiful, powerful, chaotic, illogical, yet also whole, idyllic, life-giving, unknowable, and awe-inspiring. Barrie represented children as holding a unique perspective and wisdom towards the world that is lost once we transition to adulthood. Chant's text doesn't engage with this conception of childhood and instead reduces Peter's violence and illogical reasoning to something 'childish' that is lesser than the 'adult' treaties and peace negotiations that have taken place across Neverland since his departure. Chant even differentiates adult and child war, implying that people die in adult wars and thus they are far more serious, something Barrie never did. It strikes me as strange for Chant to disregard childhood as somehow lesser when Barrie went out of his way to idealize childhood - warts and all - and put it on equal footing with adult experiences, which is what made the untamable image of Peter Pan so enticing. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Overall, my main struggles with Peter Darling were the inconsistent characterizations and motivations that made it difficult to understand why anyone did anything. Peter begins the book with a vague, ill-defined memory loss that is never explained. He quickly regains his memories, but his morals and perspective are so unclear that his actions often come across as contradictory. It's clear that Peter is supposed to act more like Barrie's iteration in the beginning - irrational, violent, uncaring of people around him - slowly realize his 'childish' ways are selfish and hurting people, and ultimately grow up into a more compassionate individual. However, Peter's motivation before and after the change are not clearly communicated, so it's hard to understand why he makes those changes, or why he was attached to his original perspective in the first place. Even when these changes happen, they're half-assed in a way that makes it unclear if any change has actually occurred. Even after Peter sees the Lost Boys as more than just disposable soldiers, the narrative undermines this by revealing that everyone except himself and Hook are imaginary, and thus not worth caring about as 'real' people. This gives Peter permission to go back to being a compassionless jerk and ignore the found family he was trying to build relationships with so he can focus on his own selfish romantic pursuits. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">This inconsistent motivation translated to other characters - mostly Hook, as he's the only other 'real' character for much of the book. Hook's motivation for pirating and being Captain Hook are largely unexplored outside of his drive for treasure. We could assume he doesn't need motivation for being a pirate outside of treasure and joy for the lifestyle, yet when Peter returns and challenges him to war games (as they had done before his </span><span style="color: #181818;">disappearance</span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">), Hook rejects him and then chides Peter for his childish desire for violence. Because of that, it's hard to understand how this Captain Hook is the same one from Barrie's story, who reveled in violence and piracy, yet we also get no explanation for why he's changed. Chant appears to want his cake and eat it too -- he flip flops between honouring Barrie's characters and criticizing them without any clear statement or conclusion, leading to a jumbled mess of characterization. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's a real shame, because there's a lot to like about this book. If you're looking for a simple mlm romance with great trans representation that builds off long-loved fanfiction tropes, then this is the book for you. However, the inconsistent motivations did disrupt my enjoyment on even that factor, so if you do choose to dive in, make sure to turn your brain all the way off for full enjoyment. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>TL;DR:</b> 2/5 stars. A trans retelling of Peter Pan with great prose but aggravating characterization. </span></span></div>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-57792324884366508312023-05-12T16:09:00.001-06:002023-05-12T16:10:15.473-06:00Book Review: The Hidden Oracle <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJvmd-wFj76aPcAU94npGBARv7c4NnX9dauQc1i6_hxsOeRtPN4-iiD0q4Dw5krIoSGIuTbcFrZBt2nmyB6ntLbj_WFFkgN0UNFaHau3V_MzWzqYyiv4RI4IgaoHPGZlYBr8mUn2U2Vlv0ABEnyZPClby05H6vCvX-f-xAGR_G6-E_QE9OLIRPi7mMLw/s2560/the%20hidden%20oracle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1761" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJvmd-wFj76aPcAU94npGBARv7c4NnX9dauQc1i6_hxsOeRtPN4-iiD0q4Dw5krIoSGIuTbcFrZBt2nmyB6ntLbj_WFFkgN0UNFaHau3V_MzWzqYyiv4RI4IgaoHPGZlYBr8mUn2U2Vlv0ABEnyZPClby05H6vCvX-f-xAGR_G6-E_QE9OLIRPi7mMLw/w275-h400/the%20hidden%20oracle.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Book Review: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan </b></span></div><p></p><div><b>Goodreads Description: </b>How do you punish an immortal?</div><div><br /></div><div>By making him human.</div><div><br /></div><div>After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus's favour.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Apollo has many enemies—gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go... an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Review: </b>Spoilers ahead for the book's main twist. Proceed with caution. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here we are again, back with another Riordan book. I was expecting the usual delightful romp through the Percy Jackson universe, but was surprised to find The Hidden Oracle has a completely different vibe than previous installments, both in good and bad ways. </div><div><br /></div><div>As punishment for indirectly aiding Gaea and the giants in their war against the Gods in the previous series, Apollo is cast down to Earth in mortal form and must reclaim the five Oracles that have gone mysteriously silent. Due to his circumstances, Apollo is not the jovial or wide-eyed protagonist that usually appears in the Riordanverse: he's irritable, arrogant, cowardly, and most importantly, an adult. While his memories are hazy enough that "Lester" is able to embody a somewhat juvenile perspective on the world, Apollo's characterization still feels like a bored adult being forced to endure this magical childlike adventure, and his cynicism at times brought me out of the fun of the story. It's hard to say if it's me, or Riordan, or his choice of protagonist (perhaps all of the above), but this book felt like it was bored of its own formula. It constantly tries to buck against its universe's well-cemented formula with differing levels of effectiveness, with Apollo's characterization being the most difficult change to climatize to. He does transform over the book, as well as the series, and his more grating traits are sanded down as he learns and grows. I have read the third book in this series (you can find my review for it <a href="http://kecarson.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-review-burning-maze.html" target="_blank">here</a>) and Apollo's arrogance, cowardice, and his negative attitude towards the quest are toned down to a much more tolerable degree by that point in the series. In this book, though, it can be a bit much. However, there's still a lot to like about this protagonist. Apollo, as a lover-not-a-fighter God, often tries to avoid solving conflicts with force, like previous demigod protagonists, and is often using music to overwhelm his enemies or advance his quest. As much as Apollo's attitude can be somewhat grating, it was refreshing to follow a pacifist character who will wander off in hilarious directions to avoid a fist fight, and whose creative approach to problem solving breathes new life into a series that has largely solved problems through finding different flavours of how to hit someone. </div><div><br /></div><div>Apollo's characterization is far from the biggest formula shake-up. Historically, Riordanverse villains have been large, mythical beasts and creatures, and while The Trials of Apollo still features the existentialist monsters we know and love from Greek myth, the new series features a host of "god-emperors" to join the cast of baddies - real historical figures that have ascended to legend status due to their stories being told again and again. While previous Riordan books have featured humans or demigods working alongside the primordial baddies, the god-emperors from this series are "bosses" while previous humans and even demigods like Luke were treated and behaved more like disposable "peons" or "soldiers." These god-emperors are not only part of the problem, they are leading the problem, and this creates room to question the goodness of humans, the evil within monsters, and everything in between. </div><div><br /></div><div>The book raises questions about the capacity of good and evil not only in its villains, but also in its protagonists. Meg, daughter of Demeter, is presented like no other demigod up until this point. Her story doesn't follow the typical pipeline of discovering powers-traveling to Camp Half-Blood-being claimed-establish self at camp-define oneself through questing. When Apollo meets her early on in the book, she already knows how to fight of monsters, has some conception of her powers and origin, and is content to survive in the urban jungles on her own than journey to a camp to be trained like a traditional hero. Meg presents as neurodivergent throughout the novel, from her antisocial tendencies, her lack of concern for hygiene, poor social skills, and odd behaviour, including behaviours that could be considered "stimming." Because she isn't a high-functioning charismatic attractive teenager, Apollo clearly doesn't like her and is even grossed out by her, but as time passes he grows to see past her presentation and comes to care for her compassion, tenacity, and resilience. Because she presents so differently than most other characters, Meg gives readers who may be neurodivergent themselves, or who may feel like the 'weird outcast,' a character they can really connect to. Many of Riordan's character, like Percy himself, are larger than life - a little too charismatic, a little too friendly and patient, a little too eloquent, a little too perfect. While these characters can be excellent aspiration models, it can be intimidating to compare your messy human self to a character so perfect. Meg's imperfections felt like a release of tension in comparison. It also creates a bit of mystery, as Meg doesn't always communicate her thoughts with Apollo or the reader, opening space to question her motivations by the time she comes to betray Apollo to Nero, one of the god-emperors. It's revealed that Meg was actually working alongside Nero throughout the entire book and her betrayal leaves the ending uncertain, a sort of cliff hanger that allows readers to wonder in what capacity Meg will return -- as a villain, as someone who needs rescuing, or as someone who need redemption? Only time, and pages, will tell. </div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, I enjoyed The Hidden Oracle for what it was. I enjoyed the change-ups to the formula, and the honest attempt to scratch at good and evil while staying within the bounds of a middle grade formulaic novel, but these change ups both helped and hurt in many ways. Ultimately, it was Apollo's negativity and bitterness that dragged the vibe down and made it hard to enjoy the mythical romp. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>TL;DR:</b> 3/5 stars. A solid Riordan romp that changes up the formula to open up conversations on villains and heroes, good and evil. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-18309536266869014132023-05-08T15:18:00.000-06:002023-05-08T15:18:44.413-06:00Book Review: Book of Rhymes <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnro2UeREZN0z5omdHtELmvZRN_cg7tzXUxgbHnxK-GZylSaCbTJ2Jzdz2G639BO-QHhMCeaNnq03ODKFs2xxzi-lW6FksBwA21JbMLga7YfUcPtMtA9pu-z4fMLh4nlqRzq5iUYjR3JxbbqDu8xjEglhG0LhTinwdSsJz6c3wJhxmYFmMZAeQAGd2iA/s500/book%20of%20rhymes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnro2UeREZN0z5omdHtELmvZRN_cg7tzXUxgbHnxK-GZylSaCbTJ2Jzdz2G639BO-QHhMCeaNnq03ODKFs2xxzi-lW6FksBwA21JbMLga7YfUcPtMtA9pu-z4fMLh4nlqRzq5iUYjR3JxbbqDu8xjEglhG0LhTinwdSsJz6c3wJhxmYFmMZAeQAGd2iA/w266-h400/book%20of%20rhymes.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop by Adam Bradley </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> <span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">If asked to list the greatest innovators of modern American poetry, few of us would think to include Jay-Z or Eminem in their number. And yet hip hop is the source of some of the most exciting developments in verse today. The media uproar in response to its controversial lyrical content has obscured hip hop's revolution of poetic craft and experience: Only in rap music can the beat of a song render poetic meter audible, allowing an MC's wordplay to move a club-full of eager listeners.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Examining rap history's most memorable lyricists and their inimitable techniques, literary scholar Adam Bradley argues that we must understand rap as poetry or miss the vanguard of poetry today. Book of Rhymes explores America's least understood poets, unpacking their surprisingly complex craft, and according rap poetry the respect it deserves. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><p></p><div><b>My Review: </b>This book is Adam Bradley's love letter to rap, and what a letter it is. Despite being a nonfiction book set on teaching readers about the fundamentals of rap poetry, Bradley writes this book more like a memoir, centering his real-life experiences of studying and loving hip-hop. In this way, the book feels intimate and personal, while making solid arguments for the recognition of an art form that promotes community pride, encourages activism, and rebels against a system that has actively oppressed minorities since its inception. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bradley breaks down rap into six major elements and spends a chunk of the book looking into each element: rhythm, rhyme, wordplay, style, signifying, and storytelling. Bradley begins the book by digging into rap's influence on the world, its historical roots, role in black communities, and what separates it from other forms of poetry or music. He directly tackles difficult questions that have plagued rap for years and seeks to "explain without apologizing" when it comes to the genre's homophobic, misogynistic, or violent lyrics that appears antithesis to political activism. He does this by framing hip-hop within the socio-economic environment from which it grows, its lyrics therefore a reflection of the intergenerational trauma of black communities and their desire to be heard, to have a voice. As any troubled kid looking for attention will tell you, sometimes being unapologetically offensive is the best way to make society pay attention to what you have to say. Rap's authenticity resonates because it doesn't censor its expression; it just spits feeling onto the page and lets the dominos fall where they may. Unfortunately, that leads to some problematic lyrics now and again. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bradley splices in bits of history, interviews, and quotes from famous rappers, industry professionals, poets, English scholars, as well as plenty of rap lyrics, to illustrate hip-hop's place in the wider linguistic, poetic, and musical world. Bradley's writing is easy to read and engaging, and by centering his own passion for the subject in first person reflections, readers are able to easily connect to the subject matter through Bradley's enthusiasm. At times, his wordplay rivals the lyricists he is praising, ultimately leading to a delightful read obviously imbued with substantial passion for the art form. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>TL;DR:</b> 3/5 stars. A well-written and passionate analysis of rap poetics. </div>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-79891360196234745312023-05-03T15:32:00.004-06:002023-05-03T15:32:44.858-06:00Book Review: Far From You <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ELdY6n9dDENM04zSZzWtnmZ_nMhqb2iTG0aaKfYmlXMo4hFZ61RUzbxkpRgT8__L5hE4glWonjpSwgtubJ4RZNUL4HP-4XmUQT60dOT_k7VxknpJYsOi3snv_M6j_EoY3c-INwRXsKZaD8S-FdelZasvu32Fgu4UxIx-NFcNa_p-oko0a4kk0NkLaA/s500/far%20from%20you.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="349" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ELdY6n9dDENM04zSZzWtnmZ_nMhqb2iTG0aaKfYmlXMo4hFZ61RUzbxkpRgT8__L5hE4glWonjpSwgtubJ4RZNUL4HP-4XmUQT60dOT_k7VxknpJYsOi3snv_M6j_EoY3c-INwRXsKZaD8S-FdelZasvu32Fgu4UxIx-NFcNa_p-oko0a4kk0NkLaA/w279-h400/far%20from%20you.jpg" width="279" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: Far From You by Tess Sharpe </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> Sophie Winters nearly died. Twice. The first time, she's fourteen, and escapes a near-fatal car accident with scars, a bum leg, and an addiction to Oxy that'll take years to kick. <br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The second time, she's seventeen, and it's no accident. Sophie and her best friend, Mina, are confronted by a masked man in the woods. Sophie survives, but Mina is not so lucky. When the cops deem Mina's murder a drug deal gone wrong, casting partial blame on Sophie, no one will believe the truth: Sophie has been clean for months, and it was Mina who led her into the woods that night. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After a forced stint in rehab, Sophie returns home to find a chilly new reality. Mina's brother won't speak to her, her parents fear she'll relapse, old friends have become enemies, and Sophie has to learn how to live without her other half. To make matters worse, no one is looking in the right places, so Sophie must search for Mina's murderer on her own. But with every step, Sophie comes closer to revealing all: about herself, about Mina, and about the secret they shared. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>My Review: </b>Sharpe's Far From You exists in a nebulous space for me. Even after several months, I still can't decide how I feel about it. It's a mixed bag; while the positives are on point, the negatives make me so frustrated that I wanted to throw the whole book out, good parts be damned. For one, it's an excellent read, full of twists, turns, red herrings and scattered clues that make it a satisfying mystery to unravel. It also has a deep emotional core that sits atop a romance that meshes together so many confusing adolescent feelings and experiences: love, jealousy, anxiety, social stigma, interpersonal drama, grief, and loss. The romance captures a realistic look at teenage social dynamics that spiked a wave of nostalgia for my own adolescence, where the interpersonal drama and intense emotional reactions were all claustrophobically bottled up within our tight-knit teenage cliques. Yet despite the realism, the book falls into the YA publishing trap when it comes to depicting teenage drug use: wanting to borrow the drama of addiction while failing to actually represent people with addiction. YA publishing errs on the side of caution when tackling these stories, preferring to depict addicts as victims rather than as having an active hand in their own addiction. While this is the safer approach when appealing to parent pocketbooks, it purposefully skews the perception of addiction and differentiates between "deserving" and "undeserving" addicts. When the point of writing a story like this is to encourage empathy towards people living in different circumstances, creating this distinction in fiction that isn't reflective of reality is more problematic than not publishing fiction on addiction in the first place. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before I elaborate on its problematic elements-- we'll start with the basics. The book features a first person POV with a writing style focused primarily on action, with little introspection or lyricism to its style. This helps to keep the pacing swift as the mystery builds upon itself layer by layer. The text also features heavy flashbacks that jump all over the timeline, and this scattered sense of events shows the reader how Sophie's trauma and addiction have rattled her memory and ultimately the story of her life. The book is gritty, managing a noir detective-like tone, but not as much as one would expect -- Sophie largely hangs out with non-drug users, which significantly reduces opportunities for sketchier scenes. The book's focus on the romance subplot also detracts from its 'edginess.' The depictions of drug use are minimal and purposefully vague, which ultimately prevents glamorization and copycat behaviours. There are just enough signal words, like 'snorted,' to give hints to the methods, but no overt descriptions of her use. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As far as queer representation goes, this book is wonderful. It features a relationship between a bisexual woman and a lesbian, and explores the nuances of how labels affect them - Sophie's ability to love men as well as women allows her to blend in with heteronormative society, while Mina doesn't have that option. The book also beautifully conflates the stigmas of addiction with WLW attraction - showcasing how both addicts and LGBTQ2S+ people live dual or shadowed lives that prevent them from self-actualization. The text also digs into how homophobia manifests differently for bisexual vs lesbian women, which is just... *chef's kiss* Books that dig into the nuances of identity and interpersonal relationships really get my motor running, because expanding empathetic understanding for those different from you is what writing is all about. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Which is why the depiction of drug addiction left me seriously disappointed. Firstly, I want to be clear: Far From You is not completely unrealistic. There are a lot of very real elements to Sophie's addiction that do speak truth to the experience, but the narrative still falls into the same victimization pits that claim many other YA books dealing with the topic. The origin of Sophie's addiction is revealed within the first few pages: a car accident left her with chronic pain and a near--unlimited access to prescription painkillers. The addiction that develops almost feels inevitable. The 'car accident' narrative is extremely popular in YA when tackling drug addiction, because it removes a character's personal responsibility for their addiction. This unfortunately creates a distinction between "deserving" and "undeserving" addicts -- those who are victims of treatment mismanagement are therefore worthy of our attention, support, and treatment, while characters who instigate their own addiction through the use of street drugs are ultimately "monsters" who deserve to be vilified and forgotten. Unfortunately, Far From You highlights who is "deserving" and "undeserving" very clearly when Sophie encounters a teenage meth addict later in the book who is trying to get clean -- she is incredibly rude to him, condescending, and treats him as the liar 'addict' stereotype - a stereotype she vehemently fought against when parents and adults pinned it on her. This lack of empathy for someone going through nearly the exact same situation as her feels strange - I could write it off as a character flaw, if the narrative itself didn't treat Sophie and Matt so differently. Matt is in recovery, yet spoken about like garbage, the worst is assumed about him, he goes to NA meetings, and he is heavily watched by his entire family. He's treated as dangerous, as a bomb that's about to blow, while Sophie, on the other hand, gets incredible freedom, and people act like they're just disappointed in her -- when Sophie is the one who has supposedly gotten someone murdered. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This unbalanced treatment left a bad taste in my mouth, especially because in my experience working in a youth detox/rehab facility, teenagers don't follow Sophie's trajectory of car accident, pain killers, addiction. They usually look more like Matt, and have chosen to use substances to cope with trauma, or because their parents did it, or because of abusive peer pressure, and now find themselves powerless against their addiction. The Matts of the world are just as deserving as the Sophies, and I'm tired of fiction that draws a line between types of addicts, because this distinction influences our politics, our laws, and how we treat the most vulnerable in our society. Frankly, I think understanding what makes someone reach for a pipe is far more fascinating than borrowing the drama of drug addiction through a victimization narrative that allows characters to "play bad" without being "one of them." </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>TL;DR: </b>All in all, 4/5 stars. A story about love and loss that enmeshes the stigmas of homophobia and drug addiction, while ultimately failing the addicts it hopes to represent. </div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-27642485512542275982023-01-05T12:55:00.005-07:002023-01-05T12:55:37.745-07:00Book Review: The Last Unicorn <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjar9oJx80_ZV9YPB8MZv17EIhl1qDgRiDYEgl42ZA5Q552yb-50jV1ZmB4T2cQPbaNtHRZGTVyRSmOGWpNmuqXPSMGbKf2d3OK8dKMr_KhJNIZNuZ1f47OKLiVdHlcVggDfzEjFcmfU0eh3FSBkkXy4hnvY6hf9SvwzsQ_ZPbUZPSRdxwLwREXyohw/s2400/the%20last%20unicorn.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1593" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjar9oJx80_ZV9YPB8MZv17EIhl1qDgRiDYEgl42ZA5Q552yb-50jV1ZmB4T2cQPbaNtHRZGTVyRSmOGWpNmuqXPSMGbKf2d3OK8dKMr_KhJNIZNuZ1f47OKLiVdHlcVggDfzEjFcmfU0eh3FSBkkXy4hnvY6hf9SvwzsQ_ZPbUZPSRdxwLwREXyohw/w265-h400/the%20last%20unicorn.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description: </b>The unicorn discovers that she is the last unicorn in the world, and sets off to find the others. She meets Schmendrick the Magician—whose magic seldom works, and never as he intended—when he rescues her from Mommy Fortuna's Midnight Carnival, where only some of the mythical beasts displayed are illusions. They are joined by Molly Grue, who believes in legends despite her experiences with a Robin Hood wannabe and his unmerry men. Ahead wait King Haggard and his Red Bull, who banished unicorns from the land.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>My Review:</b> When it comes to classics, The Last Unicorn is the quintessential fairy tale. Beagle is thrown up there with other classic heavyweights like Tolkien, Lewis Carrol, or EB White, and it's clear why. Beagle crafted a world rich with wisdom, where fact and fiction twist until they call into question the objectivity of perception. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Last Unicorn features a typical fantasy setting modelled after medieval Europe - full of kings and knights, peasant villages, and royal courts. Yet the familiar mythical beasts of classic fantasy are oddly lacking - the colour feels zapped out of the world, much like the unicorn's coat fading from sea-green to a snow white. Magic has been drawn to the edges of the map, leaving some to question its existence at all, yet the unicorn, the harpy of the Midnight Carnival, even Schmendrick's magic, as underwhelming as it may be at times, points to the existence of something greater. The text makes a convincing argument for the existence of magic in our own world, as some characters, even when faced with magic and myth, are unable to see it. Sometimes this is due to magical interference, but usually it's the characters' closed-mindedness that prevents them from seeing outside of their own perception, leading them to see only what they expect to. The entire book plays with themes of reality and illusions, myth and fact, all funneled through an individual's ultimately malleable perception. Since this book was published in 1968, it's highly likely that Beagle shaped modern fantasy with this concept of magic existing just outside our periphery, and it's exciting to see this concept executed so well and thoughtfully. The Last Unicorn doesn't just throw in some cheap "veil" explanation, but dives deep into concepts of seeing and recognition that will make you re-evaluate what might be lurking in the corner of your own vision.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The book is written as a fable, like the ones Molly Grue is so enamored with, and while this approach allows for an easy dispense of wisdom, it keeps the reader at a distance and doesn't allow for easy self-insertion. Many times while reading, I wondered what was really going on with Schmendrick and if his intentions were actually what they seemed. Beagle achieves this through an omniscient narrator that gives us glimpses into each character's head before pulling back out again. The audience therefore never fully knows each character, making it difficult for readers to identify with them. This likely led to my lower rating, as I love identifying with characters while reading as a form of escapism, though I acknowledge this would have dealt a blow to the fable atmosphere and prevented the characters from reaching a more 'legend-esque' status. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The writing throughout the book is breathtaking and creates many quotable lines heavy with meaning. While Beagle's world stands on its own, there are many allusions to real life plays, poetry, books, and more that connects The Last Unicorn to a sense of 'real' life and history. This connection to our world, combined with the way the text harmonizes various ideas of what a 'traditional fantasy fable' constitutes, creates a seamless mythical story that feels far older than it is, since it resonates with so many intangible cultural conceptions of medieval fantasy. It's filled with whimsy that feels directionless at first, but hums with thematic meaning. The lyrical language alone carries readers into a world of wonder and draws together the fable-like aspects, soft magic system, and distant characters to create a fairy tale truly deserving of the name. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You can't go wrong with this classic. It feels like the wellspring from which much of modern fantasy has erupted from. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>TL;DR:</b> 3/5 stars. A classic modern fairy tale employing all the wit and whimsy language has to offer. </div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-61080095637122381122022-11-15T08:47:00.000-07:002022-11-15T08:47:03.080-07:00Book Review: Binti <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjnQoBBxgJ6hogHlYmwTMgRKpHQ1wmiwNpMI1i5rUUIYczZb-5gNcyYJBGTNCagPtnfP203d2RZBuT4W5euof9jPDpUnL-lBGXI1uukB3yqT2RkTUtgXGPU8Y5RCBwuQWRlAV7VloLwwgSA88eoPXUTtH1Tdq23SODA0xJoc3x7OrHH2I0mZh8C4S60Q/s475/binti.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjnQoBBxgJ6hogHlYmwTMgRKpHQ1wmiwNpMI1i5rUUIYczZb-5gNcyYJBGTNCagPtnfP203d2RZBuT4W5euof9jPDpUnL-lBGXI1uukB3yqT2RkTUtgXGPU8Y5RCBwuQWRlAV7VloLwwgSA88eoPXUTtH1Tdq23SODA0xJoc3x7OrHH2I0mZh8C4S60Q/w268-h400/binti.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Book Review: Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor </b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> In her Hugo- and Nebula-winning novella, Nnedi Okorafor introduced us to Binti, a young Himba girl with the chance of a lifetime: to attend the prestigious Oomza University. Despite her family's concerns, Binti's talent for mathematics and her aptitude with astrolabes make her a prime candidate to undertake this interstellar journey.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But everything changes when the jellyfish-like Medusae attack Binti's spaceship, leaving her the only survivor. Now, Binti must fend for herself, alone on a ship full of the beings who murdered her crew, with five days until she reaches her destination.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">There is more to the history of the Medusae--and their war with the Khoush--than first meets the eye. If Binti is to survive this voyage and save the inhabitants of the unsuspecting planet that houses Oomza Uni, it will take all of her knowledge and talents to broker the peace.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Review:</b> Okay, I'll be the one to say it. You know what's wrong with sci-fi? Not enough magic in it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Okorafor took on the challenge to blend the two genres in her space opera novellas about a human woman accepted into an intergalactic university - the first of her tribe to leave her humble Himba home and sharpen her skills alongside multiple races in an intergalactic university. For Binti, her math skills aren't just about numbers, they're a type of magic that allows her to understand other life forms and influence the universe. The novellas employ a soft magic system that's purposefully vague on its limitations, but appears to mainly facilitate communication between Binti and the wider universe. Math, as they say, is the universal language. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the west, science fiction and fantasy genres seem to inhabit opposite ends of the spectrum - mimicking the divide between religion and science outside of fiction. Religion and science are seen as dissonant forces, like oil and water, fascists and freedom, or the gays and a monochrome color scheme. Okorafor, however, takes a very different approach. The Binti novellas showcase a more African perspective by representing science and magic as two heads of the same coin. These novellas don't seek to separate and categorize, but to harmonize the various pieces of our world into one complete image. Math is a language. Science is only a technical definition of magic. The currents that run through machines also run through humans. We are made of stardust. This fusion of ideas unleashes a torrent of new opportunities for a genre that, like science itself, isolates pieces from the whole -- making itself smaller in an attempt to isolate truth. The Binti novellas are antithesis to that, and therefore a breath of fresh air for the genre. These novellas tackle the whole of human experience, yet lean on soft magic and vague technological explanations to enhance the mysticism of life -- that not everything can be known or seen, even when taking in the whole picture. </div><div><br /></div><div>Okorafor has stated that the Binti novellas are not young adult, but the novellas very much read like YA works -- coming of age narratives, leaving home/parents to exert independence, a school setting, the focus on action over introspection, the flavour of 'chosen one' that follows Binti throughout her adventures, etc. There's an innocence to these books that is incredibly heart-warming and makes these works accessible to both the young and young at heart. The way conflict is resolved over the works also adds to a more innocent/YA style, as each problem is resolved with relatively few complications. This is likely due to the novella format, as if these stories were combined into a single novel, it would prompt more escalation before resolution. This trend breaks by the end, as the conflict from Home and The Night Masquerade bleed into one another to make for a more triumphant climax. </div><div><br /></div><div>These stories tackle a variety of very human topics while taking us beyond the stars - racism, xenophobia, diaspora, transhumanism, trauma, etc. Binti spends most of the text reeling from the traumatic massacre that takes place in the first novella, which forces her to dig deep into her identity to create an internal stability and find resiliency. Several characters remark on Binti's unstoppable tenacity, yet Binti's healing remains at the forefront of the story, creating a balance between strength and pain that felt true to the human experience. The interactions between human and alien cultures also felt true to human psychology, as opposed to sci-fi's tendency to view culture clashing only through a militaristic lens. The first novella leans in that direction, as the Meduse at first appear quite militaristic in their willingness to complete a suicide mission for honor, their formidable war history, hive-mind structure, etc., yet the Meduse culture is rounded out as the novellas progress, creating a more nuanced picture of their reactions to other cultures. The university offers the perfect setting to explore xenophobia, as characters from very different races and backgrounds have to co-operate with each other, creating a setting that closely mirrors our own western society. Instead of the savage environment that sci-fi loves, where racism and xenophobia are expressed in kill-or-be-killed scenarios, a setting where different creatures have to co-operate and learn from one another or risk expulsion or jail, opens opportunities to show the nuances of our own experience reflected back under a fantastical metaphor. It's easy to see why these stories collected their share of Hugo and Nebulas. </div><div><br /></div><div>The only reason why I couldn't give the book full stars was I found a weird number of plot holes or confusing choices throughout, but particularly in the first novella. Some things are lightly contradicted later, and some moments felt weak without a proper explanation. Binti is used as a translator for the Meduse, yet when they arrive at the University, it's discovered Meduse is commonly-spoken. She knows what forests smell like, despite only reading about them. Okwu begins the story happy to die for a mission it knows it cannot win, yet in subsequent novellas, says it wouldn't fight a war it couldn't win. Little inconsistencies like this that may be due to the novellas being written at different times and them compiled into this book at a later date. </div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, what an amazing story. The only other complaint I have is there isn't more, and I hope Okorafor will write more novellas in Binti's world, should the ideas be there. I highly suggest picking up a copy, especially if you're a fan of science fiction, young adult, or just a damn good story. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>TL;DR:</b> 4/5 stars. A beautifully human space opera that carries readers to the stars and then back home again. </div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-14287658499220013952022-09-28T15:26:00.000-06:002022-09-28T15:26:01.484-06:00Book Review: Magical Boy <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimtgAcOCM1y2T5PlBcFkMtE9Phyw9DxQlzx8CoJ0hEMaRqpcfc5kIp2rJ39nCUaq-Nh2mljDOe5Ib-85UuRbw7NwY0jLs-GTBiug16K24AObcN2zFBMWE7E8_ilQvVJbF5Gd9Q2W3gS4oSXNO4ID9BRvpnKV13TQgqgzygoPZ_qwdxEKirUGNZuPbCNQ/s499/magical%20boy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="342" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimtgAcOCM1y2T5PlBcFkMtE9Phyw9DxQlzx8CoJ0hEMaRqpcfc5kIp2rJ39nCUaq-Nh2mljDOe5Ib-85UuRbw7NwY0jLs-GTBiug16K24AObcN2zFBMWE7E8_ilQvVJbF5Gd9Q2W3gS4oSXNO4ID9BRvpnKV13TQgqgzygoPZ_qwdxEKirUGNZuPbCNQ/w274-h400/magical%20boy.jpg" width="274" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: Magical Boy by The Kao</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description: </b>Although he was assigned female at birth, Max is your average trans man trying to get through high school as himself. But on top of classes, crushes, and coming out, Max's life is turned upside down when his mom reveals an eons old family secret: he's descended from a long line of Magical Girls tasked with defending humanity from a dark, ancient evil! With a sassy feline sidekick and loyal gang of friends by his side, can Max take on his destiny, save the world, and become the next Magical Boy? A hilarious and heartfelt riff on the magical girl genre made popular by teen manga series, Magical Boy is a one-of-a-kind fantasy series that comic readers of all ages will love.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>My Review: </b>This will be another review in my series of, "I don't usually review this genre, but..." Magical Boy is a beautifully drawn, full colour graphic novel with an anime inspired art style. The story originally debuted on the comic website Tapas, which is where I first stumbled upon it. I was thrilled to see it was picked up for print publication by Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic. This story holds a special place in my heart, so I'm thrilled for the opportunity to share my thoughts and help connect it to more readers. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To begin, the art! This book is drop-dead gorgeous. The cover gives you a glimpse of what's in store, but the art inside takes it a step further, from small intimate panels to gorgeously detailed fight scenes that convey a tremendous sense of movement and action. The colours pop, backgrounds are detailed, the linework is clean, and the art blends an eastern and western comic style that is refreshingly original. Traditional anime/manga facial expressions and expressive reactions are mixed with a western action style of large, detailed panels and classic comic sound effects, like 'whoosh, pow, smack.' Unfortunately, the panels were originally drawn for a vertical setup on a webpage, where readers could scroll infinitely, so at times, the panel spacing on the page is cramped and the flow is disjointed. While the panels and speech bubbles are usually arranged in a way that takes your eye smoothly through the scene, some pages failed to achieve a flow and became messy and confusing. Even though I had already read the comic, I struggled on some pages to figure out in what order some panels and speech bubbles were supposed to be read. This confusion was overall minor and didn't take away from the story. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As for the story, have you ever been bouncing around the internet and stumbled across a story prompt idea that you would die to see happen? Magical Boy is one of those. The world we live in is incredibly gendered, though many cis people fail to realize how deep the gendered expectations go, as many have never resisted or took issue with them. Magical girl stories are often hyper-feminine, and when you toss a transman into the mix, who is trying to assert his own masculinity through stereotypically masculine behaviours, you've got an excellent environment to play with and parody gendered expectations in western society. The magic that gives Max his feminine battle outfit also works as an excellent metaphor for cisnormative expectations - as he attempts to transition, the magic pushes Max towards a femme presentation, until he's able to assert his will and the magic adapts to an outfit that matches his identity. One major change I noticed from the online version was Max's deadname has been censored in dialogue, but left untouched if it's part of the background/scene. This sort of bothered me, as I felt it was silly to censor the name when the book tackles some of the realities of transitioning, which includes misgendering and deadnaming. I understand that the target audience, however, is younger and probably far more sensitive about seeing beloved characters misgendered than my old, jaded soul, so I can understand why the change was made. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At times, the story can be a bit cheesy, but more in a wholesome way than overtly cringy. Then again, I do enjoy a nice helping of cheese now again, it keeps my soul from becoming too black and crispy. The story is mostly focused on Max, his transition, and trying to get his mom to accept and understand him, so some part of the narrative can fall a little flat. The villains were very one-dimensional, as if they were trying to hit every square on the Classic and Stereotypical Villain Bingo card, but as the fantasy is mere metaphorical dressing for the interpersonal drama, it didn't take away from the story that much. However, if the antagonists and magic system had more depth put into them, it could have reinforced the interpersonal themes and scaffolded this story up into something really cool. Max's friends also come across as a little one-dimensional, as they don't seem to have lives outside of Max and focus entirely on him and his issues. While this turns them into a wholesome cheerleading squad, it constricts the story into something small and simple, which has its own set of pros and cons. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All in all, Magical Boy is an adorable, heartwarming, gorgeously drawn trans story that makes a great addition to any child's library. I can't wait to get my hands on volume 2, the finale, if only so I can flip through and admire all the beautiful artwork. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>TL;DR: </b>4/5 stars. A hyperbolic trans metaphor using the magical girl trope to highlight the absurdities of gender. </div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-33989200091253817952022-09-06T09:31:00.001-06:002022-09-07T12:07:46.484-06:00Book Review: The Book Thief <p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoiP_6Ri1Q_r4lS_D9Q0-FR8D7nGW99YlVrIChuqm-vAqwWn8JAxtcXlwXUwGXmRq6F1-R3LSaMJY0k5qfP7X8QayF9HwENWpNbnusknjq1ftJVeQXuSqQiEUrSp4GWN_uJ58BZWX32ChrnvtohftXA8piRQLq34E00B3-ymdq6zjAwz9eDlcRJ_MwmQ=s1295" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1295" data-original-width="840" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoiP_6Ri1Q_r4lS_D9Q0-FR8D7nGW99YlVrIChuqm-vAqwWn8JAxtcXlwXUwGXmRq6F1-R3LSaMJY0k5qfP7X8QayF9HwENWpNbnusknjq1ftJVeQXuSqQiEUrSp4GWN_uJ58BZWX32ChrnvtohftXA8piRQLq34E00B3-ymdq6zjAwz9eDlcRJ_MwmQ=w260-h400" width="260" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description:</b> It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>My Review:</b> There will be mild spoilers for Max's arc in this review. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I have... many conflicting feelings about this book. The one I can't shake is this work is problematic AS HELL. It reminds me of the politically correct mentality that was in its relative infancy in the mid 2000s, when our understanding of feminism was 'girl power' marketed by men, when allyship was enveloped by white saviour mentalities, when minorities were fetishized for their pain and their stories commodified by privileged folk. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I mean, we still have all that going on, but at least we're somewhat more aware of it happening these days.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Before we dig our digits in the dirt, let's take a walk on the brighter side and focus on the book's positives. The Book Thief's use of language is gorgeous and evocative, its diction thick with richness and flavour that oozes off the page. Death's preoccupation with colour lends an extra edge to emotional scenes as colour is used as metaphor for individuals and feelings, as well as pathetic fallacy. Because of this, the colour descriptions infuse deep emotionality into the mundane, which reinforces the hollowness of experiencing an apocalyptic moment in history while you still have to buy milk and go to work. Zusak also uses creative verbs and descriptors to imbue life into his scenes, from "the sound of the turning page carved them in half" to "the conversation of bullets." While some of his descriptions could be considered flowery, it's kept to a minimum so it doesn't drag down the pacing. A lot of careful thought was placed into the use of words throughout, both as a theme and a practical application. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I wish the book's beautiful language could carry it alone, yet some of that early 00s thinking held it back from what it could have been. As my creative writing teacher would say, death is a source of instant drama that immediately cranks up the tension and intensity of the story, and when your novel is narrated by Death himself, taking place in one of the most genocidal periods in modern history, you're responsible for depicting the nuance of all that drama. Zusak juggles a boatload of suffering, death, grief, hope, and resiliency in The Book Thief, but centers the narrative around the day-to-day life of the Germans. By focusing on the German perspective, Zusak inserts a lot of domestic normalcy that readers can relate to, and contrasts it against the most dramatic and harrowing events in modern memory. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I understand that focusing specifically on the Jewish experience -- hiding, life in the ghettos, or surviving concentration camps-- would make it harder for average readers to relate. I also understand the appeal to feature a story about the Germans who resisted, as that's a narrative with a lot of potential that isn't usually addressed when talking about WW2. The problem comes in when understanding that the story of the Holocaust, which this and most WW2 stories center back on, is a Jewish story to tell. Jews were dehumanized and their stories were de-emphasized so much that it took decades to re-center the narrative back onto the Jewish experience. At the time this book was written, white saviour mentality was still ripe in mainstream culture i.e., white people pleading the case for what black Africans needed, Indigenous history taught by and through the perspective of white people, etc. The Book Thief manages the major missteps of any white saviour narrative: focusing the story away from the marginalized minority and onto the privileged majority, while also objectifying the minority characters and fetishizing their pain in order to prop up the virtues of the privileged group. While I think a story that looks at the Germans who resisted Nazi ideology can be good, that's not what this book is about. It's about Max's suffering and how good Lisel's family is for caring about his well-being, instead of focusing on what a life of resistance would really look like. Where are the narratives about Sophie Scholl and her resistance efforts? Books that seek to tell the stories of Germans who resisted should focus on that experience, and not the suffering of Jews. The closest the Book Thief gets to depicting what it would be like living two lives was the scene where Hans smacks Liesel for speaking out against the Nazis, and yet this scene is undermined by the threat that Max may be discovered if they do not behave like proper Nazis, bringing the focus again back onto Jewish suffering. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Before starting the book, I knew that Max, a Jewish man, comes to live in Liesel's basement, as it's part of the back cover blurb, but I was surprised how little the story featured his perspective or gave him any opportunities to demonstrate autonomy. While there are some scenes from his perspective when he lives with Lisel's family, they focus on his suffering with brief moments of joy thrown in to enhance the drama of his pain later. He has dreams about boxing Hitler and laments about being a burden, but again these only highlight his helplessness and misery. Even when he eventually leaves Liesel's house, we don't see how he survives on his own - instead we are left in the dark until it's revealed he was picked up by the Nazis and taken to a concentration camp. He becomes a lamp in the narrative after he leaves the house, as once Liesel sees him marching with Jewish prisoners through the city to the concentration camp, he's merely an object for her to demonstrate her virtue around. There were plenty of opportunities to give him some autonomy over his circumstance - show his wit, resilience, and ingenuity as he's surviving on his own - and it might have mitigated some of the narrative's exploitative feel. I understand this may have taken away from the day-to-day mundane perspective that Zusak was going for, to which I will argue: then Max should have been removed from the story. At the very least, it may have lessened the blow since seeing Max the Sympathy Lamp up close only highlighted how the narrative sidelined Jewish voices in a story about a major event in Jewish history. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It's been a couple weeks between finishing the book and writing this review, and in that time my feelings on the book have only soured. Despite its critical acclaim, the book's attempts at allyship have aged considerably in the 17 years since it was published. Instead of diving into the psychology and real experience of Germans resisting Nazi rule, Zusak took the lazy way and focused on the suffering of a marginalized group to squeeze out easy drama for his narrative. <br /><br /><b>TL;DR:</b> 3/5 stars. Sideling Jewish voices in a Holocaust narrative? Bold move, Captain. </div>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-73389191129761411182022-09-04T04:00:00.005-06:002022-09-04T04:00:00.179-06:00Sneak Peak: The Man or the Monster <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rockstarbooktours.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="615" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2STT8A05e429OajmkIHGdKy1b7T6pI812h1Z6jcmLjfsIlsiTK8qIHf-CcHHEwWAPZX0XEEXRfpkOcCtZ5yaIiSUUVhfHWzmdsvQpt2QJn1G-5UY3wXKgxU_nkrkMrlzEuKf7LhfIm2RS_aXOPPUJqZb-rhjr8wb_oRwW18_SYbr0HHTqiPzzgWdkhA/w640-h250/THE%20MAN%20OR%20THE%20MONSTER.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Today, I've got a sneak peak at Aamna Qureshi's THE MAN OR THE MONSTER, provided by </span><a href="http://www.rockstarbooktours.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Rockstar Book Tours</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">. This is the sequel to Qureshi's THE LADY OR THE LION, and features the continuation of Durkhanai's epic fantasy tale. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">About The Book:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a name="_Hlk111887583"></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3Clomhm" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="971" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPuGtm07qPBe_gypEAemIKtewl7uThugi8ZMtomaWsknbB-nJGNURb7h8tzFSo4VxJQz5QuWAVRNMnyyL8uyc1w7nDvhAHHX2jolfh6tYO9ixUUT-twCbpk0OaAB3KBxBapGQdkoD_NnjoQ6wT_s8rWBTY-Mwv0Woxj-NLJNE1mfPBqzc-WxRpgwk2g/w259-h400/Qureshi_THE-MAN-OR-THE-MONSTER_FC-IPG.jpg" width="259" /></a></span></b></span></div><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Title:</span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> <a name="_Hlk111887418">THE MAN OR THE MONSTER </a>(The Marghazar Trials #2)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Author: </span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Aamna Qureshi<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Pub. Date:</span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> August 30, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Publisher: </span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">CamCat Books<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Formats:</span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Pages:</span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> 320<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Find it:</span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59659952-the-man-or-the-monster"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Goodreads</span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3Clomhm"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3T3ceHY"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Kindle</span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3QXdgTT"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Audible</span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span> </span></span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-man-or-the-monster-aamna-qureshi/1140546919?ean=9780744305579"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">B&N</span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span><a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-man-or-the-monster/id1608097976?itsct=books_box_link&itscg=30200&ls=1&at=10l32yD"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">iBooks</span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span><a href="https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=5LPtjgetns4&mid=37217&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fus%2Fen%2Febook%2Fthe-man-or-the-monster-1"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Kobo</span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span><a href="https://tidd.ly/3QYXnwh"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">TBD</span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">, </span></span></span></span><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1250/9781368070829"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Bookshop.org</span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"></span></span><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_R2XzpFKs35YZ9v8y2cFVu_INr86_mjkKM2cOvDuRqk/viewform?edit_requested=true"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Order a signed
copy directly from Aamna!</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">She made her decision. Now she has to
live with it.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Durkhanai Miangul sealed her lover’s
fate when she sent him through a door where either a lady or a lion awaited
him. But her decision was only the beginning of her troubles. Durkhanai worries
that she might not be the queen her people need or deserve when conflict
threatens her kingdom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Her presumed-dead father comes back with a vengeance and wishes she join him in
his cause. But her family’s denial of his revenge forces Durkhanai to take
matters into her own hands and she must decide whether to follow the traditions
of her forefathers or forge a new path on her own.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3CgCc4N" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2550" data-original-width="1650" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRNOIC4Ud24Rm65ZfxQIYqRDzTJwnlSU3ERDXfYTYYsLQU6vYm-a55Raev_xYgzqtVjhahGJpn8u4uiA47MGErWC_i_6CqVNzWUXvVLrSQ1H21hI3YBtgcqe1TBlK6pxodp480cPpkw9Qy3CejfVyobKnwHtMm7jemBcBqk_WuxWYI1DXl5-dn9RoZA/w259-h400/Qureshi_THE-LADY-OR-THE-LION_FC%20(1).png" width="259" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3CgCc4N"></a><a href="https://amzn.to/3CgCc4N"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;">Buy
Book 1, THE LADY OR THE LION now!</span></a></span></div><p></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk111887583;"></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Excerpt from THE MAN OR THE MONSTER: </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Weeks passed. No one came to visit her, and she stopped waiting. As the weather around her chilled, she felt her heart frosting over. Faintly, she felt she had rid her system of him. Perhaps she would never feel a thing again.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">But then, he came to her, while she was curled up in bed, crying. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">She didn’t know how he came to be there, just that one moment she was pushing tears back into her eyes, and the next there was a body beside hers. She didn’t need to open her eyes to know that it was him.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Come, sit up,” he coaxed, and she did as she was told. He kneaded the tension from her shoulders with the hard curves of his palms.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">“What worries you?” he asked. She sighed in response.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">“I can’t bear it anymore.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">“You can,” he told her. “And you will.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">She turned to look at him and instantly fell into a hug against his chest. She was safe.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">They stayed like that for some time. She strained her ear in search of his heartbeat. But he was calm. Sure. Solid.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">She pulled back, looked up at him. Gently, his fingers cupped her face like wine—he tipped her chin forward to drink, but paused at the last whisper before skin met skin.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">He waited.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">And so, soft as sin, she pressed her warm lips against his. He tasted like a thousand stars bursting in her mouth. His fingers murmured across her skin, cold as ice, but everywhere he touched her felt like fire.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">She kissed his cold cheek. He tasted like winter: pine-needle and frost, everything that freezes your nose but warms your soul. She was inexplicably warm and closed her eyes in comfort.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Instinctively, she reached for his lips once more—only to find they were not there. He was gone.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">When she awoke from the dream, she felt unaligned. As though her soul had been roughly shoved back into her body. She was paralyzed, as she was when she awoke from nightmares, her body frozen with fear—yet this was the opposite, for when she awoke, her reality was the nightmare.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Slowly, the ice burned away. The pain was sudden and swift, knocking the breath from her lungs. Durkhanai began to cry. She loved him. The realization struck her.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">She loved him. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">And there was nothing to be done.</span></p><div><br /></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">About Aamna Qureshi</span>:</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://www.aamnaqureshi.com/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlVcFZ9f-BjoUBH52NiB_JmvDKMo-o0rjwq-h_yg30gTVw6hEF1QhqO7jOl2D2CdnOqXiMAN7-0zvJoo0wl1n1ga4XIw8h4X7QZDAQ32PGJIFOOSrl6hMz70zaxUg8ySYZgmhs7pAnR9MQuJhvedvL1y5Zearey_UCAmEcudEf_10OcPR9WN3mTXxkw/s320/Aamna%20Qureshi.jpeg" width="240" /></a></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Aamna
Qureshi is a Pakistani, Muslim American who adores words. She grew up in a very
loud household, surrounded by English (for school), Urdu (for conversation),
and Punjabi (for emotion). Through her writing, she wishes to inspire a love
for the beautiful country and rich culture that informed much of her identity.
When she's not writing, she loves to travel to new places where she can explore
different cultures or to Pakistan where she can revitalize her roots. She also
loves baking complicated desserts, drinking fancy teas and coffees, watching
sappy rom-coms, and going for walks about the estate (her backyard). She
currently lives in New York. Look for her on IG @aamna_qureshi and Twitter
@aamnaqureshi_ and at her website <a href="http://www.aamnaqureshi.com/">aamnaqureshi.com</a>. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.aamnaqureshi.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Website</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://twitter.com/aamnaqureshi_"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/aamna_qureshi/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20654201.Aamna_Qureshi"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Goodreads</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> | </span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3QCKE2I"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Amazon</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> | </span></span><a href="https://www.bookbub.com/authors/aamna-qureshi"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">BookBub</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Giveaway Details: <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">1 winner
will receive a finished copy of THE MAN OR THE MONSTER, US Only.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Ends
September 20<sup>th</sup>, midnight EST.</span></p><p></p>
<a class="rcptr" data-raflid="e2389ba21516" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba21516/" id="rcwidget_hxu0baqj" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>
<div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Tour Schedule:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Week One:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/22/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.bookhoundsya.net/">BookHounds YA </a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Guest Post/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/23/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://adreamwithindream.blogspot.com/">A Dream
Within A Dream</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">GuestPost <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/24/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://sadiesspotlight.com/">Sadie's Spotlight</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/25/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.lisas2900.blogspot.com/">Lisa-Queen of
Random</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/26/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://yabookscentral.com/">Ya Books Central</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Guest Post/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/27/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://authorzknight.com/blog/">Author Z.
Knight’s Guild</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Week Two:</span></u></b></p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/28/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://theeruditelabyrinth.wordpress.com/">The
Erudite Labyrinth </a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/29/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.epicbooksociety.com/">Epic Book Society</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/30/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://katticusbookreviews.blogspot.com/">Books
and Kats</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/31/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://fireandicereads.com/">Fire and Ice</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">9/1/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/allyluvsbooksalatte/">@allyluvsbooksalatte
</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">IG Spotlight<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">9/2/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://madamewriterofwrongs.com/">Writer of
Wrongs</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">9/3/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://thereadinglifeblog.com/">The Reading Life</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Week Three:</span></u></b></p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
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K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-55281463327280694942022-08-14T04:00:00.002-06:002022-08-14T04:00:00.177-06:00Book Review and Giveaway: The Rush <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rockstarbooktours.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="615" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrBLe4ELrK89t5q3OazaWy95FVAwnnUT3wbyFpWgs3ANXpmhhx-Ej-1ntBYQtJhwUZGCehz3B6Aq0Tp1FJXfcZSwqC79MmpoVw9jMsS8ioMb-qJbte9DaKs6qBz1HQNop99unQGnKnNObfMZtjKmUv6eeBiaHcutfvFJdaELrdRIONEOJ7EgT4st1Ig/w640-h250/THE%20RUSH.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Today on the blog, a review and giveaway for THE RUSH by <a name="_Hlk109207717">Si Spurrier & Nathan C. Gooden. </a>Blog
Tour hosted by </span><a href="http://www.rockstarbooktours.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Rockstar
Book Tours</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">. Check out my review below and then enter to win a copy of this beautifully horrific graphic novel. (Sorry, internat(ional) friends, it's US only.) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">About The Book:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3zuyrXP" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="3057" data-original-width="1988" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDG_xOxAsbP4hbzjkALF7zzspu3pPEIERmb6-iKR430yTpy2Qu_BGelp_AYtODuwKzZFNTzQ6ZuNRh7-Jcq3v86ffOr74PTfIo6T3TMH1br58hxsBGRE0ZqJGFSp3XvCdAax1ovKx2zYideMnnTzn_Aj56gJ5lS-Q-x1byipPIA6bIzNoyR_8KZPe9A/w260-h400/THE%20RUSH%20Trade%20Paperback%20Cover.jpg" width="260" /></a></span></b></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Author: </span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Si Spurrier, Addison Duke (Colorist), Nathan C.
Gooden (Illustrations), Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (Letterer), Adrian F. Wassel
(Editor)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Pub. Date:</span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> August 9, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Publisher: </span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Vault Comics</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Find it:</span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59365396-the-rush"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Goodreads</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3zuyrXP"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3Prlvr2"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Kindle</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span> </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rush-si-spurrier/1140377041?ean=9781638490968"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">B&N</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span><a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-rush/id1599378432?itsct=books_box_link&itscg=30200&ls=1&at=10l32yD"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">iBooks</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span><a href="https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=5LPtjgetns4&mid=37217&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fus%2Fen%2Febook%2Fthe-rush-8"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Kobo</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span><a href="https://tidd.ly/3IWizQH"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">TBD</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">, </span></span></span><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1250/9781638490968"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Bookshop.org</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk102122569;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Historical
horror that chills to the bone, <i>The RUSH.</i> is for fans of Dan
Simmons’, <i>The Terror</i> mined with a Northwestern Yukon gold rush
edge. Answer the call of the wild north and stampede to the Klondike…</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 12pt;">ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD. ALL THAT HUNGERS IS NOT HOLY. ALL THAT LIVE
ARE NOT ALIVE.</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This Hungry Earth Reddens Under Snowclad Hills.<br />
<br />
1899, Yukon Territory. A frozen frontier, bloodied and bruised by the last
great Gold Rush. But in the lawless wastes to the North, something whispers in
the hindbrains of men, drawing them to a blighted valley, where giant
spidertracks mark the snow and impossible guns roar in the night.<br />
<br />
To Brokehoof, where gold and blood are mined alike. Now, stumbling towards its
haunted forests comes a woman gripped not by greed -- but the snarling rage of
a mother in search of her child...<br />
<br />
From Si Spurrier (Way of X, Hellblazer) and Nathan C. Gooden (Barbaric, Dark
One) comes THE <span style="font-size: 12pt;">RUSH, a dark, lyrical delve into the horror and madness of the
wild Yukon. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-1NRjiKmVM5CxO4meWx3LA0jdNJZu4Fv_M5-SRHm3aFR7NjpDVWS-ZVaW9DX6AQXp5ut5VZQxUrJy87Hxff1gzjqwBXuk6rucQyvN48_4RC3fvdY_WQiReVIprJtXB6wbGPP8n0rmT_SPQy2KYpOvEadk9_JeSYTIeykK-7MGc8uD_h-63mGfOj9JQ/s1538/Illustration4.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1538" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-1NRjiKmVM5CxO4meWx3LA0jdNJZu4Fv_M5-SRHm3aFR7NjpDVWS-ZVaW9DX6AQXp5ut5VZQxUrJy87Hxff1gzjqwBXuk6rucQyvN48_4RC3fvdY_WQiReVIprJtXB6wbGPP8n0rmT_SPQy2KYpOvEadk9_JeSYTIeykK-7MGc8uD_h-63mGfOj9JQ/w260-h400/Illustration4.jpg" width="260" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br />
Collects the entire series. For fans of <i>The Terror</i>, <i>Fortitude</i>, <i>Coda</i>,
and <i>Moonshine</i>.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Reviews:</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"The
book strikes a wealthy mixed vein of sophisticated psychological chills and
monstrous horror."― <b><i>Publishers Weekly</i></b><br />
<br />
"Gritty historical drama meets supernatural horror in this sumptuously
drawn tale set during the Yukon Gold Rush." ― <b><i>PUBLISHERS WEEKLY</i></b><br />
<br />
"<b><i>The Rush</i></b> is a chilling bit of historical horror.
Rugged and raw and thoroughly researched. It's got such a wonderfully creepy
sense of menace but most of all it's the moving story of a mother searching for
her child, that's its beating heart. Wonderful work." -- <b>Victor
Lavalle</b> (best-selling and award-winning author of <i>he anthology</i>, <i>Slapboxing
with Jesus</i> and four novels, <i>The Ecstatic</i>, <i>Big Machine</i>, <i>The
Devil in Silver</i>, and <i>The Changeling</i>, the fantasy-horror novella <i>The
Ballad of Black Tom</i>, and the comics series <i>Destroyer and Eve</i>)<br />
<br />
"<b><i>The Rush</i></b> is a splendidly savage tale of frontier scum
and the doom they’ve brought down upon themselves, and the innocents cursed to
suffer alongside them. I for one can’t wait to see more." -- <b>Garth
Ennis</b> (best-selling and award-winning writer, <i>Preacher</i>, and
writer/co-creator of <i>The Boys</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p><b>My Review:</b> For men seeking fortune, there lies a town called Brokehoof deep in the wilds of the Yukon, where blood and gold run like rivers beneath the snowclad hills. For Nettie Bridger, the town's gold is worthless, merely a means to track down her missing son, who may have been carried through Brokehoof by the same greedy impulse that drove so many men up through the frozen frontier. Along with her hired bodyguard M.P., Nettie dives straight into the town's convoluted history and finds herself facing the devils that lurk both outside and within the town's borders. But Hell's fury ain't got nothing on a mother's rage...</p><p>The Rush compiles Spurrier and Gooden's six issue graphic novel series into a single book that tackles the horrors within -- from obsession to madness -- against the isolationist backdrop of the Yukon during one of the last gold rushes. The book captures a mysterious and gripping atmosphere that helps propel readers through its slow opening. The beginning's slower pacing helps set the stage for the town of Brokehoof and its mysterious curse, the culture and fanaticism of the gold rush, as well as introduce and build terror towards the monsters that metaphorically represent the darker parts of the human soul. Nettie's emotional turmoil as she struggles to gather any information on her son steadily raises the tension over the first several chapters. This not only hooks readers into the story's stakes before the mystery surrounding the town's monsters is really set in motion, but also ties into the overall themes of the story -- that true monsters are born from human emotion, whether rage or greed or passion. </p><p>The story is very plot-driven. The first pages set us within Brokehoof, where readers get a glimpse of the madness and magic that haunts the isolated town. From there, we meet Nettie, and join her on the trail of her son, Caleb, that leads her away from civilization and into the frigid north. The mystery twists and turns, building in a roundabout way that doesn't give its secrets away until the finale, where the bigger picture is finally revealed. This roundabout way of adding pieces to the puzzle may frustrate readers who want a more linear progression to the mystery, but Nettie's character, full of flaws and an in-your-face attitude, gives the narrative a foundation that readers can hold onto until the bigger plot elements are revealed. And what a satisfying payoff! The final chapter pulls all the pieces together into an intricate web that flips reader expectations on their head and pushes them to question what's truly monstrous. The thematic and plot elements also very closely mirror Nettie's own internal struggle as a mother, tying everything into a satisfying bow that pleases my analytical brain. </p><p>The characters are all distinct, with their own set of flaws that influence the story's progression. I particularly loved how clear Nettie's opinion of other characters was based on her dialogue and behaviour. Her personality popped off the page and she made some dumb choices based on her flaws that ultimately made the story more interesting. The villain is presented with a fascinating balance of evil and principles, which brought some freshness to the overdone archetype. It would just have been nice if he got a bit more page space in order to flush out his characterization further. </p><p>Finally, the art. I'm not a skilled art critic by any means, but the beautiful intricacies of the pages are eye catching and draws readers into the horror atmosphere. The style is reminiscent of western superhero comics that don't flinch away from depicting the uglier sides of human expression. The sepia-toned colouring with emphasis on reds is not just a subtle nod to the time period, but the reds and browns subtly reinforce the thematic connections between blood and dirt, or internal and external corruption. The panels are thoughtfully used -- wavy borders to signify dreams or fantasies, larger than life characters popping out of panels, birds or landscapes seeping beyond borders to give scale to the natural world, etc. These elements bait re-reads as they add significance to every page and panel. </p><p>All in all, a deliciously dark psychological horror comic that utilizes its northern setting to its full advantage. Full of vivid art that thematically reinforces the narrative, The Rush balances both an internal and external horror as the darker parts of the human soul take monstrous form to seek vengeance. The art will will leave you jumping at leggy shadows and the narrative will leave readers pondering for many nights to come. </p><p><b>TL;DR:</b> 4/5 stars. Within the greed and vice of a goldrush town, The Rush provides a deliciously dark glimpse into what makes a monster. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">About Si Spurrier</span>:</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://www.simonspurrier.com/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUPeLsqnOxoYEmKcmAxZHhdNNyFq54cvB3nbBrW8PBEHif7Jeq-cu_qZpjDh1Uo4Pb4AeU6nkWCwscRODrYeZ2F7n5iQQOkG14wj-Y0ElUyxJjMsKOJ0i2igO3NcnAaC1Lu8vps6DxAGZVqqJpM88VAtrZGRxz0zhuXkMiLoXCeIH3AbC0Dj0FhYdZQ/s320/Si.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">His work in the latter field stretches from award winning
creator-owned books such as <b><i>Numbercruncher</i></b>, <b><i>Six-Gun
Gorilla</i></b> and <b><i>The Spire</i></b> to projects in the
U.S. mainstream like <b><i>Hellblazer</i></b>, <b><i>The
Dreaming, </i></b>and <b><i>X-Men</i></b>. It all began with a series
of twist-in-the-tail stories for the UK’s beloved <i>2000AD</i>, which
ignited an enduring love for genre fiction. His latest book, <b><i>Coda</i></b>,
is being published by Boom! Studios at present.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">His prose
works range from the beatnik neurosis-noir of </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Contract</i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> to
the occult whodunnit </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>A Serpent Uncoiled</i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> via
various franchise and genre-transgressing titles. In 2016 he took a foray into
experimental fiction with the e-novella </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Unusual Concentrations</i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">:
a tale of coffee, crime and overhead conversations.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">He lives in Margate, regards sushi as part of the plotting process, and
has the fluffiest of cats.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.simonspurrier.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Website</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://twitter.com/sispurrier"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> |
</span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/sispurrier/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14155472.Simon_Spurrier"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Goodreads</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://ashleyawoods.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="167" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHV8CzeZsxUBvzpFlz5tF-o4m5zfRWaKFoyT6vjBvhRrQRdvQvrTLvzCF5et-Y16HOOjME1CGBK-8dGDax7aWPj1bptkANLFSzjkqoyM0qdQTKY0sP3V3HXm8g3t7OIOdAkqBVxuABYSjmVFk6YJ-zNRWGYteSSJpjwcMaUa9OhlWqhHUysvLyDvFNA/s1600/Nathan.jpg" width="167" /></a></span></b></div><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">About Nathan C. Gooden:</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">An
award-winning illustrator and sequential artist, Nathan C. Gooden is
Art Director at Vault Comics. Nathan studied animation at the Pratt Institute
in Brooklyn, and worked in film production, before co-founding Vault Comics.
Nathan’s previous works include Brandon Sanderson’s Dark One (Vault), Barbaric
(Vault), Zojaqan (Vault), and <i>Killbox</i> (from
American Gothic Press). He lives in Southern California, where he plays a lot
of basketball and hikes constantly with his wife. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://ashleyawoods.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Website</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nathan.gooden/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8919979.Nathan_C_Gooden">Goodreads</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Giveaway Details: <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">2 winners
will receive a finished copy of THE RUSH, US Only.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Ends August
23<sup>rd</sup>, midnight EST.</span></p><p></p>
<a class="rcptr" data-raflid="e2389ba21503" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba21503/" id="rcwidget_lw6qwc4x" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>
<div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Tour Schedule:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Week One:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/25/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://madamewriterofwrongs.com/">Writer of
Wrongs</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Guest Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/26/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.bookhounds.net/">BookHounds</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Guest Post/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/27/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://bookreviewvirginialee.com/">#BRVL Book
Review Virginia Lee Blog</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/28/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.twochicksonbooks.com/">Two Chicks on
Books</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Guest Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/29/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/jaimerockstarbooktours/">@jaimerockstarbooktours</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/30/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.mallorybooks.blogspot.com/">Bookdreamr</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post/TikTok Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Week Two:</span></u></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/31/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://sadiesspotlight.com/">Sadie's Spotlight</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Guest Post/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/1/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://rajivsreviews.com/">Rajiv's Reviews</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/2/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://thegirlwhoreadsdotcom.wordpress.com/">The
Girl Who Reads</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/3/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/4/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/5/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/6/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Week Three:</span></u></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">IG Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">IG Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-46576501826888202872022-07-30T04:00:00.002-06:002022-07-30T12:51:01.982-06:00Book Review and Giveaway: Coming Up Cuban <p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rockstarbooktours.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="615" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2akWWQD9MAK5BXX4NkbSoAbNx8DHpxnV9karrLnIi_dW2YFZuOtZLNwO63nivw7aFKE062MCeh_bGQWFatoZmvEdu5LUJj7rCb4vkxKGkyF3mTkoH9Z_DTQbBnA2SD84CSEWD1GrrzVmZlTxa4LjKr8a8wp7HXdE4IYVfoERbiufvO3HwEnbEEWXZ5A/w640-h250/COMING%20UP%20CUBAN.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I've got a good one for you today, folks. I'm thrilled to be a part of the the COMING UP CUBAN by Sonia Manzano Blog Tour hosted by </span><a href="http://www.rockstarbooktours.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Rockstar Book Tours</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">. Check out
my review below and make sure to enter the giveaway! <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">About The Book:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3ObPwtp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="785" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9HyGU8bybn9-8kiggYK6gTp5O8QJVUM7FzzImgdF8wbO2C4jNKVGZ6BA80h1tS2FsPeMMGoh2yTNS-0WGXlvIWduk9WvwvysfpelQj2H8RFTk5W3kaR_hzDlbX5vouctZOTMAxECYu-H13FWX72P4ifyVRNrzsfznucTQAQTxRqCg2DjeAAQ52EZmQ/w261-h400/Coming%20Up%20Cuban%20-%20Cover.jpg" width="261" /></a></span></b></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Title:</span></b><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> COMING UP CUBAN: Rising Past Castro’s
Shadow<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Author: </span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Sonia Manzano<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Pub. Date:</span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> August 2, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Publisher: </span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Scholastic Press<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Formats:</span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Pages:</span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> 320<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Find it:</span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57835897-coming-up-cuban"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Goodreads</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3ObPwtp"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3uOx57u"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Kindle</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3aKLFpF"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Audible</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span> </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/coming-up-cuban-sonia-manzano/1139324625?ean=9781338065152"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">B&N</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span><a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/coming-up-cuban/id1565462636?itsct=books_box_link&itscg=30200&ls=1&at=10l32yD"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">iBooks</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span><a href="https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=5LPtjgetns4&mid=37217&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fus%2Fen%2Febook%2Fcoming-up-cuban"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Kobo</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span><a href="https://tidd.ly/3RAkbDN"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">TBD</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">, </span></span></span><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1250/9781338065152"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Bookshop.org</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">From Pura
Belpré Honoree and Emmy-award winning actor Sonia Manzano--best known as
"Maria" from Sesame Street--comes the expansive and timeless story of
four children who must carve out a path for themselves in the wake of Fidel
Castro's rise to power.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Fifteen-time
Emmy Award winner and Pura Belpre honoree Sonia Manzano examines the impact of
the 1959 Cuban Revolution on four children from very different walks of life.
In the wake of a new regime in Cuba, Ana, Miguel, Zulema, and Juan learn to
find a place for themselves in a world forever changed. In a tumultuous moment
of history, we see the lasting effects of a revolution in Havana, the
countryside, Miami, and New York. Through these snapshot stories, we are
reminded that regardless of any tumultuous times, we are all forever connected
in our humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3ObPwtp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="970" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimqsU7lXzymZk2gBuR1KmqnODe8m6xjCNHRRGEa0UINKyAWzF_rJgZB5aEfZa2C7WAoppH3WIjGseXvRNIgb1xE4dBTCnydB_Z0isQTbGbYpJ7MiGGRgwDxIIr_0uiKK-yy6WoWOZqHUuS6JGRPGvI68u17r_aZr7vhIE939nUqxbU95o7PqcmDvzmSg/w640-h198/1b37bf18-e39e-466a-bc46-1f802874877b.__CR0,0,970,300_PT0_SX970_V1___.jpg" width="560" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>My Review:</b> Coming Up Cuban takes a look at Fidel Castro's rise to power through the eyes of four young Cubans and their families. Through multiple novellas, each centering on a different protagonist, Sonia Manzano offers various perspectives on a turbulent political uprising, allowing her to highlight the nuances of the situation while also breaking down complex ideas for middle grade readers. Filled with love, both for Cuba as well as its resilient peoples, Coming Up Cuban is a story full of joy and heartache that celebrates the vibrancy of Caribbean culture while educating readers on a crucial historical moment.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Coming Up Cuban keeps its politics centered on its target audience -- 9-12 year olds. Through their eyes, we see Cuba's transformation, demonstrating how political upheavals can effect every corner of a country. In this way, the book doesn't focus on fighting and war, but the aftereffects -- refugees scrambling to leave the country, schools closing, forced surrendering of property, new government initiatives, etc. The book also features a cast of characters from differing backgrounds -- poor to upper middle class -- that offer various perspectives on Castro's takeover -- from those who hate Castro and his changes (which seems to be the dominant opinion), to people who praise him, to people that agree with parts of his revolution but not all, etc. In this way, most perspectives are held on equal ground, with few "right" or "wrong" perspectives pushed to the forefront, allowing readers to form their own opinions on Castro's rule. This equalization of perspectives did have a limit. Every character seemed to hold America in high regard, as a land to escape to, full of compassionate people who were alluded to be outright saviors a few times. The only 'negative' opinion of the US came from older characters who did not want to immigrate, mostly due to a love of Cuba and an unwillingness to change. This felt a little propagandist to me, as the US was a long-term colonizer of Cuba after Spain and largely controlled the country until the revolution, so it feels disingenuous to paint the US only as saviour, when their involvement was just as nuanced as Fidel's. Considering the book has no problem showing multiple perspectives on the politics within Cuba, it would have been easy to add some diversity on the perspective toward America as well.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The book features four novellas, each focusing on a different character at different points during Fidel's early reign. The characters all know each other and so their stories overlap, thus building an overarching narrative while also allowing the story to branch in very different directions. Each novella focuses on a different aspect of Fidel's reign to educate readers while entertaining - Ana's section focuses on the revolution and sets the story, Migeul's section focuses on refugee and immigration struggles, Zulema's section focuses on literacy, and Juan's section focuses on radicalization. The novellas use simple but striking interpersonal conflicts to hook readers in and keep them emotionally invested in each novella. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Manzano's writing style is simple but elegant; no word is wasted. Everything given page space enhances the themes, plot, or characterization very deliberately, creating a satisfying read for those who wish to analyze the text on a deeper level. Yet the writing style is also incredibly accessible for its target audience. Manzano carefully utilizes simple language without simplifying the concepts explored, which shows her mastery of communication. The book balances darkness with some levity by injecting childlike silliness into the mix of uncertainty, giving the book an endearing quality at its core. The silliness also helps hooks young readers into the larger political story by promising some fun along the way. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All in all, 5/5 stars. Coming Up Cuban is a silly and heartfelt story filled with hope that pushes young readers to think, learn and empathize. Definitely worth adding to your shelves and sharing with your young ones. I chuckled, teared up, and enjoyed every moment of this Caribbean adventure intended for readers a third my age. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">About Sonia Manzano</span>:</span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://soniamanzano.com/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3264" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit1NYqtRTu3_nQUzlb_vlsRRi7aFe7vfE7TzNA2Ub5B4QoGGQ_79ITW1XFeJ0ccWXeR3i5XRbtIDfAvTPIc960iJUOqFEA9orrzE64IxUuKRyLlbmxf0NDMtjxDvObr6XPVUq-ZhHghRei0urY-FYxihnsZBVCOyWjYEtS19p3M_FpyY5MzegQxolPgg/s320/Sonia%20Manzano%20(by%20Edwin%20Pag%C3%A1n).JPG" width="213" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">SONIA
MANZANO </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">is a
groundbreaking Latina educator, executive television producer, and
award-winning children's book author. A first-generation mainland Puerto Rican,
she has affected the lives of millions of parents and children since she
was offered the opportunity to play “Maria” on Sesame Street (which she
continued to do for 44 years, from 1971-2015). Manzano has received 15
Emmys for writing television scripts, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Award, the Hispanic Heritage Award for Education, and a Lifetime
Achievement Award from the Academy of Arts and Sciences. <i>People </i>magazine
named Sonia one of America's most influential Hispanics. Her critically
acclaimed children's books include <i>The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano</i>,
which won a Pura Belpré Honor Award, and the stunning young adult memoir <i>Becoming
Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx. </i>Currently she is working on
<i>Alma's Way</i>, an animated series with Fred Rogers Productions that
will air on PBS. Manzano resides in New York City with her husband
Richard Reagan, whom she married in 1986, and their daughter Gabriela.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://soniamanzano.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Website</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://twitter.com/soniammanzano"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SoniaMManzano"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Facebook</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/soniammanzano/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/344571.Sonia_Manzano"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Goodreads</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> | </span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3aGsddH"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Amazon</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Giveaway Details: <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">1 winner
will receive a finished copy of COMING UP CUBAN, US Only.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Ends August
9<sup>th</sup> midnight EST.</span></p><p></p>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="e2389ba21499" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba21499/" id="rcwidget_c58gq1ak" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>
</span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Tour Schedule:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Week One:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/18/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://thecleverreader.wordpress.com/">The Clever
Reader </a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/19/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://whatanerdgirlsays.org/">What A Nerd Girl
Says</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/20/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/brittreadsalattebooks/">brittreadsalattebooks
</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/21/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://kaitgoodwin.com/books">Kait Plus Books</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/22/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://yabookscentral.com/">Ya Books Central</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/23/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.bookhoundsya.net/">BookHounds YA </a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Week Two:</span></u></b></p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/24/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://authorzknight.com/blog/">Author Z. Knight’s
Guild</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/25/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.ladyhawkeye.com/">Lady Hawkeye</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/26/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/hodophile_z/">hodophile_z</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">IG Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/27/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/">Lisa
Loves Literature</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/28/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://instagram.com/fictionalfey">FictionalFey </a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">IG Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/29/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/midnightbooklover/">Midnightbooklover</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/30/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://kecarson.blogspot.com/">The Underground </a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Week Three:</span></u></b></p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/31/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.onemoreexclamation.com/">One More
Exclamation </a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/1/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://am2cents.blogspot.com/">Two Points of
Interest</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/2/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://themommaspot.home.blog/">The Momma Spot</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/3/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://rajivsreviews.com/">Rajiv's Reviews</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/4/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/jypsylynn">Books and
Zebras </a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/5/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://blessedmommysc.blogspot.com/">Lifestyle of
Me</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><br /></div>
K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-69158573413326588552022-07-26T04:00:00.001-06:002022-07-26T04:00:00.203-06:00Spotlight and Giveaway: Scarecrow Has a Gun <p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rockstarbooktours.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="615" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu6AK7cahemGMzsjVQ4wUaXXQIUCWl8QxJ24bIDjSo8J59TvMoaT0hiLp21fJSqA9xd_Tgo5Y2vMaIOuXqKapEc-iW3yhaFM8YqLOnMZWIiIXyODQ84RDRItaUYybz165-QnSZlXmXQe44QRzXwyNyUzigrV4AMOaRcg33gMfoyVUKbQF2l7FrfICY0Q/w640-h250/SCARECROW%20HAS%20A%20GUN.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Today, I'm stoked to be hosting a spotlight for the SCARECROW HAS A GUN by Michael Paul Kozlowsky Blog Tour hosted by </span><a href="http://www.rockstarbooktours.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Rockstar Book Tours</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">. This one looks mighty tense, so check it out and make sure to enter the giveaway for your chance to read it for free. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">About The Book:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a name="_Hlk109204932"></a><a name="_Hlk101957556"></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3RQoJWM" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="1800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxjMDzbtlGL92vDDuhGwOnDDERT8NyHxEN9kLKFuK89bPssLiXkd669tVDPIObT-pE8WZmr1fKnKLJniGLLSPmTv2SvvUckRp5QnARqAx-0YyrpI9EcR7JVbFQ_RhMtCuKGEoCP973-fUKHVtUHi7G-7Ki8g8i61-j0LNZE20i7hfSUfgtjfe_mKsgQ/w266-h400/9781945501784_FC.jpg" width="266" /></a></span></b></span></span></div><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Title:</span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> SCARECROW HAS A GUN<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Author: </span></b></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Michael Paul Kozlowsky<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Pub. Date:</span></b></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> August 2, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Publisher: </span></b></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Imbrifex Books<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Formats:</span></b></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Pages:</span></b></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> 266<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Find it:</span></b></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59507885-scarecrow-has-a-gun"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Goodreads</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3RQoJWM"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3Pr9l1m"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Kindle</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/3aW1mdJ"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Audible</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span> </span></span></span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scarecrow-has-a-gun-m-p-kozlowsky/1114269481?ean=9781945501814"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">B&N</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span></span><a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/scarecrow-has-a-gun/id1594072944?itsct=books_box_link&itscg=30200&ls=1&at=10l32yD"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">iBooks</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span></span><a href="https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=5LPtjgetns4&mid=37217&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fus%2Fen%2Febook%2Fscarecrow-has-a-gun-2"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Kobo</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span></span><a href="https://tidd.ly/3Orm5Um"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">TBD</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">, </span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1250/9781945501814"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Bookshop.org</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk108356622;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk101957556;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Never trust other people's memories,
and watch out for your own</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Sean Whittlesea was there when his wife was murdered. He saw the light leave
her eyes. He held her dead body in his arms. He knows he wept, but he
cannot recollect a single other detail. Tormented by the tragedy, Sean relives
the horror over and over again. As he struggles to recall what really happened,
his imagination serves up an endless chain of scenarios. The truth, however,
remains hidden in the vault of his memory, and the key is nowhere to be
found. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Nearly two decades later, Sean, now
remarried and a father of two, wins a bizarre contest hosted by his eccentric
boss. The prize is the Memory Palace, a state-of-the-art black box that
purportedly allows its possessor to relive every moment he has ever
experienced, playing out all the memories on a screen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">While the small machine at first
appears to be the answer to the mystery surrounding the death of his wife, it
instead upends Sean’s life. He pushes his family further and further away as
the Memory Palace forces him to confront harsh realities and difficult
questions that he lacks the strength to face or answer. Spiraling downward,
Sean encounters increasingly harrowing challenges that force him to realize
that his memory is not the only thing at stake. To recover the truth about his
past, Sean must fight for his very life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk109204932;"></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Reviews:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"Suffused
with an atmosphere that suggests J.G. Ballard and Paolo Coelho chained together
in a basement while a carbon monoxide alarm goes off, <i>Scarecrow Has a
Gun</i> is at once disquieting and illuminating, eerie and sincere.”<b>—Martin
Seay, award-winning author of <i>The Mirror Thief</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Michael
Paul Kozlowsky’s brutally eccentric <i>Scarecrow Has a Gun</i> is a
masterclass in Cartesian storytelling—simultaneously evoking Christopher
Nolan’s clockwork precision and JG Ballard’s ultra-modern sense of irony.”<b>—
Jeff Chon, author of <i>Hashtag Good Guy With a Gun<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--></i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Scarecrow
Has a Gun is a propulsive read that spirals deep into the intersections of
memory, technology, and the shifting boundaries between the real and the
unreal."<b>— Nicholas Rombes, author of <i>The Absolution of Roberto
Acestes Laing</i> and T<i>he Ramones’ Ramones</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"A
whodunit wrapped inside sci-fi story and blended with a compelling and
clear-eyed examination of how memory works."<b>— Brett Riley, author
of <i>Comanche, Lord of Order,</i> and <i>Freaks<br />
</i></b><br />
"With writing that's both sharp and dense, Michael Paul Kozlowsky's <i>Scarecrow
Has A Gun</i> is a labyrinthine mystery that feels as if David Cronenberg
and Don DeLillo had collaborated on a Philip K. Dick adaptation. It's a
gut-punch meditation on the way our brains process mediation, memory, trauma,
and grief."<b>—Tex Gresham, author of <i>Sunflower, Heck, Texas,</i> and <i>This
Is Strange June</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"This
engrossing and inventive novel entertains on multiple levels. It’s a
mind-bending mystery, in which the pursuit of the truth about his wife’s murder
threatens the main character’s trust in his powers of perception and his very
sense of self. It’s a horror-show-worthy take on corporate ambition, overreach,
and villainy."<b>—Beth Castrodale, author of <i>I Mean You No Harm,
Marion Hatley</i> and <i>In This Ground</i><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“What an
original and captivating sci-fi read! I totally loved the real life references
and often found myself so intrigued I had to then go search for confirmation
and further information. Things really ramped up towards the end and I was
glued to the text. I enjoyed the dark undercurrent and found the ending deeply
satisfying as well as super clever.”<b>—Caroline Lewis, Librarian at St.
Jospeh’s College Mildura</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 107%;">About </span><b>Michael Paul Kozlowsky:</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://mpkozlowsky.com/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="290" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3pEpg4N6NAARKPpampAiz7egcCD-hiBj_CZ3DDByI1IMfTT4h6C3WEIr3qYbZU_b9-wqW4599x0Urlw_i7MIYYIFw5A4UW3abxN9pAarE1Fs6ezRnVfUlpOKFc7I-lsd7Qvl9p_ZKDGxa5Xpu1RUJj4b1CtoaA4GKqqxG5T83ZGqA-7nb_hEB6AthBw/s1600/Michael.jpg" width="290" /></a></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Michael Paul Kozlowsky is a former high school English &
film teacher, and, writing as M.P. Kozlowsky, the author of four children’s
books —<i> Frost, Juniper Berry, Rose Coffin, and The Dyerville Tales. </i>He
lives in New York with his wife, two daughters, and a rescue beagle named
Huxley. When he’s not reading or playing chess, he continues to write
everything from poetry and screenplays to short stories, articles,
philosophical essays, and books for readers of all ages. </span><i><span lang="IT" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: IT;">SCARECROW
HAS A GUN</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> is his
first novel for adults.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://mpkozlowsky.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Website</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://twitter.com/mpkozlowsky"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mpkozlowsky/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21968099.Michael_Paul_Kozlowsky"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Goodreads</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> | </span></span><a href="https://www.bookbub.com/authors/michael-paul-kozlowsky"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">BookBub</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Giveaway Details: <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">1 winner
will receive a finished copy of SCARECROW HAS A GUN, US Only.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Ends August
9<sup>th</sup>, midnight EST.</span></p><p></p>
<a class="rcptr" data-raflid="e2389ba21502" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba21502/" id="rcwidget_x8o1otie" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>
<div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Tour Schedule:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Week One:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/25/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://rajivsreviews.com/">Rajiv's Reviews</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/26/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://kecarson.blogspot.com/">The Underground </a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Spotlight<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/27/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.jazzybookreviews.com/">Jazzy Book
Reviews</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/28/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.instagram.com/just_another_mother_with_books">@just_another_mother_with_books</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">IG Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">7/29/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.onemoreexclamation.com/">One More
Exclamation </a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Week Two:</span></u></b></p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/1/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://blessedmommysc.blogspot.com/">Lifestyle of
Me</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/2/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://themommaspot.home.blog/">The Momma Spot</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/3/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.bookhounds.net/">BookHounds</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/4/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/GryffindorBookishNerd">GryffindorBookishNerd
</a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">IG Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">8/5/2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/brandidanielledavis/">Brandi
Danielle Davis </a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="bottom">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Review/IG Post<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><br /></div>
K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443901803553575238.post-38052444741131857982022-07-13T11:53:00.003-06:002023-08-05T13:51:11.050-06:00Book Review: Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoXY1MfrLR8FC194YIG9pJAugVl3MhqZM9QddpgF0X2wBG-p9CDx3iN28bBe5hwMENE24_bG3gtgTxpFL3bTIaDrJeIxPPay49bXynxeNqJg25U5REDxvcIp7-AfmZQ3aSsQLABJfdJ4woXjNpxU_GXoisZ1gZUuW4Xz-nLnC0ynps6vRHhJ0nXPwuVg=s648" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="425" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoXY1MfrLR8FC194YIG9pJAugVl3MhqZM9QddpgF0X2wBG-p9CDx3iN28bBe5hwMENE24_bG3gtgTxpFL3bTIaDrJeIxPPay49bXynxeNqJg25U5REDxvcIp7-AfmZQ3aSsQLABJfdJ4woXjNpxU_GXoisZ1gZUuW4Xz-nLnC0ynps6vRHhJ0nXPwuVg=w263-h400" width="263" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Book Review: Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall by Suzette Mayr </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Goodreads Description: </b>Dr. Edith Vane, scholar of English literature, is contentedly ensconced at the University of Inivea. Her dissertation on pioneer housewife memoirist Beulah Crump-Withers is about to be published, and she's on track for tenure, if only she can fill out her AAO properly. She's a little anxious, but a new floral blouse and her therapist's repeated assurance that she is the architect of her own life should fix that. All should be well, really. Except for her broken washing machine, her fickle new girlfriend, her missing friend Coral, her backstabbing fellow professors, a cutthroat new dean—and the fact that the sentient and malevolent Crawley Hall has decided it wants them all out, and the hall and its hellish hares will stop at nothing to get rid of them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>My Review: </b>Horror as a genre tends to lean towards the cartoonish -- madmen with axes, supernatural predators-- because the mundane horrors that fill an adult's everyday life are mostly intangible. Suzette Mayr leapt at that challenge like a cracked-up jackrabbit, using magical realism to bring the horrors of academia to life through a delightfully satirical perspective. As an academic herself, Mayr draws on her own experiences as an English professor when criticizing the institutional failings of universities that care more about profit and prestige than the well-being of their staff and students. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The book follows Edith, an introverted English professor facing increasing pressure from her department heads to hurry up and publish her dissertation. Edith struggles to find balance between her professional and personal life, and as stress mounts, she throws herself further into her work, hoping to find salvation through external validation. Health struggles compound under the poor building maintenance, and soon Edith begins seeing strange things within the university - fellow professors going missing, a sinkhole opening up, and the devilish hares that are more than they appear. But is any of it actually real? Or is she hallucinating due to a budding stress disorder? Mayr's use of magical realism within the book treads the fine line between real and imaginary, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions. Is Crawley Hall really alive, or is Edith spiraling into mental illness? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Throughout the book, Edith refuses to acknowledge how systematic oppression/failures have harmed her and assumes personal responsibility for failing to keep up with impossible standards, driving her to figurative madness. The text almost feels Shakespearian at times due to Edith's inability to see how the system and environment she's in has pushed her to act against her best interest, while the audience can see the connection between her emotionally abusive upbringing, to her lack of a support system, to the predatory nature of the university. It feels like a modern iteration of a classic 'driven mad' Shakespeare narrative, but with a greater understanding of how various intersectionalities of identity (class, race, gender, upbringing, etc.) influence someone towards 'madness.' The magical elements really highlight and enhance this downwards spiral, as well as create a hauntingly creepy atmosphere to set the drama within. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This novel is both a character study as well as a critique of academia. As such, the plot is slow and mostly focuses on Edith's daily ruminations and routines, which takes time to build into a solid mystery. Tension does build right from the start around the school, but as Edith's focus is on her work, little of the narrative is spent actually trying to 'solve' the mystery. While this approach felt fresh when compared with other narratives where characters drive straight towards the plot, it also gave the book a literary feel, complete with the stereotypical pros and cons that come with the genre. To support readers through the slower plot points, Mayr filled the book with gorgeous, lyrical language that is heavily layered with symbols, metaphors, and satirical commentary on all facets of life. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The book's satire is deliciously absurd and yet freakishly real. The oppressive atmosphere mounts until it threatens to suffocate Edith by the finale, which beautifully illustrates how overwhelming stress and mental illness can become. Ultimately, my favourite part of the book is its finale, which (no spoilers) capitalizes on all the building horror and manages a twist that gave me chills in all the best ways. The ending satisfies by balancing Edith's wins and loses to create a catharsis for readers who enjoy it when both the hero and the villain get a few solid jabs in. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>TL;DR:</b> 4/5 stars. A chilling and satirical perspective on the horrors of academia. </div><p></p>K. H. Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04290298922405434762noreply@blogger.com0