Way to Go by Tom Ryan

It’s the summer of 1994, and Danny’s friends have a mission: he is going to get laid before he starts grade twelve in the fall. Danny however, is just not-that-into girls. Determined to prove once and for all that he is not gay, Danny decides to find a girl to set him straight, and when he suddenly finds himself working at the town’s new restaurant with Lisa, who is visiting from New York City for the summer, Danny thinks his problems might be over.

Maybe Lisa had appeared out of nowhere for a reason. I was kind of like a frog in a fairy tale who needed a kiss from a princess so he could turn into a prince. Only, instead of a frog, I was a might-be-gay kid who needed straightening out, and instead of a princess, she was a cigarette-smoking tattooed city girl with a bag full of mix tapes. I figured that was close enough.

But of course it is not that simple. Lisa is awesome and they have a great time together, but Danny just doesn’t see her that way. And his friends, especially Kierce, with all his rules about life and partying and girls, do not let up. Life-long friendships are strained, some will not fully recover.

Set in small town Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Way to Go is a serious look at the loneliness and isolation encountered growing up gay, but manages to stay light-hearted, with characters who make mistakes yet refuse to wallow in their troubles.

I found myself wanting to know more about Danny and Lisa when the book ended. Does Danny go to cooking school, or is it perhaps a passing inspiration, but not the end goal? Does he see Lisa again, perhaps years down the road? How does his friendship with Jay change after he admits he’s gay (or does it)? How will he tell his father, and will his father ever accept it? I am not saying these are things that Ryan ought to have addressed, but rather I think a good book should leave you wondering and wanting more. This one did. I look forward to more from Tom Ryan – and hear he has a new one coming in Spring of 2013!

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers (April 1 2012)
ISBN-10: 145980077X
ISBN-13: 978-1459800779

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Twin brothers Marion and Shiva Stone are born at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to a British surgeon and an Indian nun who does not survive their birth. When their father flees the country in shame shortly after their birth they are raised by two of Missing’s other doctors – and adored by all staff.

The two come of age against the backdrop the Ethiopian revolution, and its effects change their lives forever. While inseparable as children, Marion and Shiva have a falling out as teenagers (naturally, over a girl) and become estranged for most of their adult lives.

Written by a surgeon who lived for many years in Ethiopia, the novel is filled with breathtaking images of the country and heart-stopping, detailed descriptions of the medicine as practised there and the diseases encountered. While far from ‘light reading’ it is still very readable, bringing life to the surgical practices and the doctors involved.

Cutting for Stone is a book that is rich in detail, and in back story. To fully appreciate it you must devote some time to it. I did not do this for the first half of the novel. I was busy with work and other commitments, and read haphazardly, a chapter one night, two the next. The book deserves better. When I was finally able to devote some good reading time to it, I read 2.5 hours straight, only moving to refill my tea-cup, and finished the final third of the book in one sitting, as breathlessly as if I’d just run a race.

Marion’s exile from his own country, his journey to the United States and eventually back again to Ethiopia allow him to unravel the mystery of his parents’ love, his mother’s death and his father’s regrets. It seems wrong to describe a tale of such heartbreak, shame and separation as beautiful, yet that is what it is.

My only criticism would be that the female characters – with the exception of Hema, the twins’ adoptive mother – are seriously underdeveloped.  Given the crucial role the women play in the overall plot, this was often frustrating. I often felt they were used as filler characters more than real people. Genet was especially lacking, as there was no set up at all for her ongoing changes in loyalty and personality, and her final few scenes with Marion were seriously disturbing.

That said, having read a series of disappointing books in the past month, Cutting for Stone had the depth of plot and (mostly) of character that I needed. A fantastic novel, I will surely be looking for more from Abraham Verghese.

Hardcover: 560 pages
Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (February 3, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0375414495
ISBN-13: 978-0375414497

Women and girls in dystopian fiction

I am so excited to be participating in Dystopian Survival Week. I have been enjoying dystopian fiction since long before I knew it was a genre. I remember watching the TV movie based on Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale when I was too young to really get it – and yet I was enthralled and terrified by the idea of these women being entrapped not in some historical society, but in some possible future.

When I had to choose a theme for my blog post and challenge this week, there was no question. It had to be related to the role of women and girls in dystopian fiction.

A look at dystopian novels throughout the years shows they were dominated by men(written by and about) for the most part until approximately 10 years ago. (This is nowhere near a complete list, but arguably representative). But all of a sudden, women are writing dystopia about women and for women. And not even for women as much as for girls. And it is working. Why?

Personally, I am constantly amazed by the strong female characters I see in dystopian novels. Does the setting allow authors to create a strong and independent character easier than other contemporary settings? Is it more acceptable to readers that a woman/girl would shun romantic ideals and fight for herself only if the world has been turned upside-down? And if so… what does that really say about our society?

So my challenge to you is twofold:

1. Tell me why you think dystopian fiction features so many kick-ass female characters.

2. Tell me who your favourite female dystopian hero is, and why she is awesome.

oh and …

3. Do it all in 100 words or less.

Leave your answer in the comments below Contest is open to residents of the US and Canada, and runs until midnight (AST) on Monday, April 30.

The randomly selected winner gets a copy of Blood Red Road by Moira Young – which features my favourite female dystopian star: Saba.

Saba amazed me. Strong, stubborn and proud. Selfish, and even cruel. But in her struggle to save her twin brother Lugh, she learns valuable lessons, including how to open herself up to others and how to ask for and accept help.

After you’ve entered here, be sure to check out the other participants in Dystopian Survival Week, and enter their contests as well.

Seeing Night Reviews - Will host the Dystopian Image Scramble Challenge (Giving away: Insurgent)

It’s Dystopian Survival Week

Seeing Night Reviews and Ali’s Bookshelf and are hosting the Dystopian Survival Week Hop in honor of all the fantastic dystopian novels in the market right now. As a huge fan of the genre, I had to sign up.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Beatrice ‘Tris’ Prior has a big decision to make: will she stay with her family and friends in Abegnation, leading a life of selflessness and devotion to the greater good, or follow her dreams and desires into a life with the Dauntless, performing brave feats and protecting the city from harm?

Tris lives in a near-future dystopian Chicago, where after a long war that destroyed much of the city, residents decided the best way to ensure peace was to divide the society into five factions, each aiming to be a living embodiment of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Each faction serves a specific purpose in keeping the society going.

At the age of sixteen, on an appointed day each year, residents undergo an aptitude test to determine which faction they belong in – but regardless of the results, they may choose the faction they wish to live with. The choice is for life. Most test for and stay with the faction in which they were raised. Others choose to leave. A rare few – the Divergent – don’t test for any particular faction. The Divergent are feared as a dangerous threat to society and must hide their results.

So, I had mixed feelings about this book really. It started well. Then there was a whole lot of ‘so what’ and then it picked up again in the last 100 pages or so. I’m having a hard time figuring out why I liked it, but didn’t love it. There is no particular reason, but overall the package just wasn’t quite right. The characterization was inconsistent, making it hard to bond with a character when they were constantly acting in ways you did not expect. And generally, while I found the world Roth created to be interesting, I couldn’t really buy into it. Would people ever divide themselves up according to virtues – and would they choose these five virtues out of all possibilities?

Would I recommend it? Hard to say. I already have recommended it to a few people who I know love YA dystopia, but outside that group, I don’t think I would. But then, as mentioned, the book got much more interesting near the end, and I do intend to read the sequel Insurgent when it is released next month.

Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: Katherine Tegen (May 2 2011)
ISBN-10: 0062024027
ISBN-13: 978-0062024022

The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern

Celia and Marco have been training all their lives for a competition that only one can survive, though neither of them know the rules to the contest, when it begins or how it might end.

Celia and Marco are magicians – and not theslight-of-hand, fancy tricks kind. Not even the Harry Potter wizarding-school-alternate-society kind. They practice real magic in the real world (OK, in a book that wants us to think it is the real, Victorian era world) and they must compete their entire lives to prove who is most skilled. The prize is life.

Their battleground is the Cirque des Rêves. The Night Circus. And the competition to the death becomes far more complicated when they fall in love.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

The Night Circus is one of the more unique of the last decade’s deluge of books about magic. Based on a dark premise, it still manages to be light and hopeful. None of the circus talent or management really know what kind of magic is holding the circus together, only that they have something no one has had before. The Cirque des Rêves changes people, changes lives.

While Celia and Marco are the central characters, the story is told alternately from the point of view of many of the circuses performers, financiers and fans. In no particular order – jumping forward and backward through time quick enough to give you whiplash. A list of main characters is nearly impossible. Everyone qualifies, yet no one qualifies. And while this is one of the aspects of the book I enjoyed most while reading, it may also have been the aspect that kept the book from being truly great.

With so many characters and so many stories to tell, as a reader I bonded with no one. I found the central love story weak and cliché, and the conclusion too easy. I would just get wrapped up in a storyline, and we would jump back 20 years in time into something completely new. By the time we returned to a story again, I forgot the details or sometimes stopped caring at all.

I also felt like a minimum of five more chapters were necessary to justify the huge leaps taken to secure the future of the circus in the end.

With that caveat, I would recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of magic, fantasy and fun. Just be prepared for the jumpiness of the narrative.

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Doubleday; 1ST edition (September 13, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0385534639
ISBN-13: 978-0385534635