The Living (2013)

The Living. Matt de la Pena. 2013. Random House. 320 pages. [Source: Review copy]

The Living is a fast read. It's an interesting blend of genres: survival fiction (natural disaster), romance, mystery, horror, AND medical thriller (conspiracies, evil corporations, oh my!).

Shy, the book's hero, is working a summer job on a cruise ship. He's gotten close to a couple of guys and one girl in particular, Carmen. He's fallen hard for her. She's engaged to another guy, a law student. Shy is a mostly good guy who is not out to steal someone else's girlfriend. He's not out to get her to cheat on this guy. He just likes talking to her about anything and everything, no topics are off limits, really. She just really understands him in a way like no one else. On his latest trip, he has the feeling that someone is watching him, in a creepy not-normal way. He's right: someone wants to know EVERYTHING about a certain suicide that Shy witnessed on the last voyage.

Survival on the open sea. Something BIG and catastrophic happens. (A chain of somethings.) Shy is on board a small boat (life boat? raft? one of the two.) with only a very injured business man and a very young, very attractive young woman. Their days on the sea, their fight for survival, creates a bond, despite the fact that these two have zero in common with each other--and outside of this specific situation they'd never speak to one another. Will they survive? Will they reach land? Is help on the way? When does life return to normal again?

The Living is bleak, in a way. The novel is very up front about death. The first death (by suicide) opening in the prologue. The body count just increases from there. It's also extremely action-packed with just a few meaning-of-life conversations thrown in.

It is the first book in a series. I would say it doesn't have a proper end, and that it might best be saved for late summer (or early fall) 2014 so that you only have a few weeks to wait for the next book.

© 2014 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Unthinkable (2013)

Unthinkable. Nancy Werlin. 2013. Penguin. 400 pages. [Source: Review Copy]

Fenella Scarborough is consumed with one desire: she wants to die. She has been trapped--tormented--for hundreds of years in the faerie realm. And now after Lucy has finally overcome the Scarborough curse, Fenella wants nothing more to die. She had been unaware that she'd been placed under a second curse by Padraig, one of immortality. Now the Queen--the new queen--has told her there is hope. If Fenella is up to the challenge that is. She'll be sent to the human realm, given three tasks of destruction, the destruction must be against her very own family. If she fails, she'll be Padraig's forever. Fenella is so desperate that she's eager to consent, not counting the cost. She's not on her own in her quest, Ryland, the queen's own brother, will go with her--as a cat.

Unthinkable is the sequel to Nancy Werlin's Impossible. (My review of Impossible.) Readers get to spend time with Lucy, Zach, their daughter, Dawn, Miranda, Soledad and Leo. Readers also get to meet a young man, Walker. Fenella has not been of the world for hundreds of years, she finds everything so strange; she has a lot of adapting to do!

I enjoyed Unthinkable. I liked how it is both a prequel and a sequel to Impossible. I enjoyed learning about how the first curse came about. 

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

All The Truth That's In Me (2013)

All The Truth That's In Me. Julie Berry. 2013. Penguin. 288 pages. [Source: Review Copy]

Love historical mysteries? Consider reading Julie Berry's latest YA novel. All The Truth That's In Me has a very colonial feel to it. Told in the first person, it tells a bittersweet story of a young woman, Judith Finch, who has endured much in her teen years. Though not as much as is at first feared. Days after a young girl's disappearance, Judith herself goes missing. One body is found, naked, in the river. The other remains a mystery--at least for two years. A tongueless Judith wanders back into the community after being gone for two years. She can't tell her story--or won't tell her story. So people make up their own stories about her. You might think Judith would be welcomed back, pitied; but the opposite is true. She's an outcast. No one knows for sure how tainted she may be from her experiences. But who would want to marry her now, not knowing? Who would want her to be friends with their daughters?

No one calls me by my name. No one calls me anything, save Darrel, who calls me Worm. Mother never really tried to stop him. When she calls me, it's "You, shuck these," "You, card that sack," "You grease this down," "You, watch the tallow pot." "You keep still." The warmth I remember in her eyes is gone, replaced with iron. Father is long-since dead, and the daughter she remembers is dead to her. She buries the name with the memory. No one calls me by my name. Younger children do not know it. I remind myself each day at sunrise, lest one day I forget. Judith is my name. (24-5)

Her story is revealed, slowly. And it is told so beautifully, so compellingly. All The Truth That's In Me is a great mystery, a great coming-of-age story, a great story of friendship. I loved seeing Judith find her voice and tell her story. From start to finish, Judith's story is full of Lucas, the boy she's spent her whole life loving. In fact, the whole story belongs to him, in a way; he is the "you" she's addressing.

She told no one of my return for days, bound even Darrel to secrecy. When at last the secret could no more be hidden, she led me to the shed and said, "You've come back maimed. I leave it to God to judge what brought this upon you. But the village will fear you. They'll call you cursed. Some men may try to take advantage of you. I know my duty to my own flesh and blood, and I will protect you. But you'll mind me and behave as a maiden should. Utter one sound to our shame and you'll sleep here among the rakes and shovels." (48)

Then you appear, through the trees, guiding your mule as he pulls a tree limb. Like a soldier back from battle you fill my vision. You're a flood, a baptism I'd forgotten, and the force of you leaves me breathless. (120)

I loved this one. I thought the narrative was beautiful, haunting, memorable. The book was not what I expected at all, based on the cover. It was so much better. This book deserves a cover that matches its genre.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Al Capone Does My Homework (2013)

Al Capone Does My Homework. Gennifer Choldenko. 2013. Penguin. 224 pages.

I just LOVED this third book in the series. I really do love Moose Flanagan and his family. I think Moose is one of the best narrators! In Al Capone Does My Homework, Moose has a few mysteries to solve. First, he needs to find out WHO set fire to their apartment, and why! There are certain busybodies on Alcatraz who are telling everyone that Natalie, Moose's older sister, set the fire! In fact, this hateful woman calls Natalie's special boarding school and has her put on probation! All without proof. Moose may struggle with his sister, with his relationship to his sister, how he really feels about "being responsible" for her, but he knows that he HAS to defend his sister and protect her from people like that. There are a few clues to follow in this one, and I won't share any more details, but, this book is so great!!!

I loved spending time with Moose, Jimmy, Annie, Piper, and Janet.
© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Catherine (2013)

Catherine. April Lindner. 2013. Little, Brown. 320 pages.

I enjoyed April Lindner's retelling of Jane Eyre entitled Jane. But I really, really LOVED her retelling of Wuthering Heights. I was surprised because I really do not like Wuthering Heights. I just do not see it as romantic or giddy-making. I don't see the appeal. But Catherine worked for me. I loved reading the dual narratives. Readers meet Chelsea, the daughter of Catherine, who has run away from her father to go in search of her mother who was listed as a missing person so many years before. She heads to New York City, to The Underground. She finds her mom's ex-boyfriend, Hence, the current owner of The Underground. He allows her to stay and he gives her bits and pieces of information. She also meets Cooper who takes an interest in helping her get the information she needs on her mom. Readers also get Catherine's story as it unfolds in her diary. Chelsea gets to know exactly what her mom was like when she was her age. Chelsea's search isn't easy, and it will be trying in many ways. Catherine's story is intense and passionate and it fits perfectly. Hence is a talented, misunderstood punk rocker who comes to work at the Underground. Catherine's father, the original owner, even lets Hence stay in his basement. Hence and Catherine just belong together, but, both are spirited. Catherine wants to go to college. She cannot content herself to watching Hence perform and following him around making much of him. She loves him, but she needs her dreams too. Hence, well, he's selfish and his ego is getting bigger and as he's getting more successful...

I really LOVED this one. It has mystery, drama, and romance. The storytelling was great!


© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The Grimm Legacy (2010)

The Grimm Legacy. Polly Shulman. 2010. Penguin. 325 pages.

 The Grimm Legacy has an intriguing premise. Wouldn't it be fun if fairy tales were true and there were magical artifacts gathered together in a library collection in New York? Wouldn't it be fun to work in such a library, such a collection? To be able to 'try' some of these artifacts yourself. But it isn't all fun as our heroine, Elizabeth Rew, and her fellow pages (Marc Merrit, Anjali Rao, Aaron Rosendom) learn. For someone is attempting to steal the real magical objects and replace them with fakes. And the attempt is succeeding. These four teens (Elizabeth, Marc, Anjali, and Aaron) must learn to work together--despite great personality conflict--to solve the mystery of WHO is stealing from the Grimm Collection. This fantasy novel has mystery and drama for it's a dangerous task before them.

While I liked the book well enough to keep reading, I didn't love it. I just didn't make a good connection with the characters. Some of the characters were interesting; for example, Anjali has a very spirited sister that plays an important role in the novel. But I wasn't satisfied with their development; the characters just didn't feel believable enough.

Read The Grimm Legacy

• If you enjoy YA fantasy
• If you enjoy fantasy 
• If you are interested in the second novel in the series which involves time travel! It's called The Wells Bequest!

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews