Questland, By Carrie Vaughn ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Humor, Mystery, School Shootings, Science Fiction, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and John Joseph Adams/Mariner Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 22nd, 2021

304 Pages

Synopsis: YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A MAZE FULL OF TWISTY PASSAGES…

Literature professor Dr. Addie Cox is living a happy, if sheltered life, in her ivory tower when Harris Lang, the famously eccentric billionaire tech genius, offers her an unusual  job. He wants her to guide a military strike team sent to infiltrate his island retreat off the northwest coast of the United States. Addie is puzzled by her role on the mission until she understands what Lang has built: Insula Mirabilis, an isolated resort where tourists will pay big bucks for a high-tech-powered, fantasy-world experience, complete with dragons, unicorns, and yes, magic.

Unfortunately, one of the island’s employees has gone rogue and activated an invisible force shield that has cut off all outside communications. A Coast Guard cutter attempting to pass through the shield has been destroyed. Suspicion falls on Dominic Brand, the project’s head designer—and Addie Cox’s ex-boyfriend. Lang has tasked Addie and the mercenary team with taking back control of the island at any cost.

But Addie is wrestling with demons of her own—and not the fantastical kind. Now she must navigate the deadly traps of Insula Mirabilis as well as her own past trauma. And no d20, however lucky, can help Addie make this saving throw. (Goodreads)

Questland is one of those books that’s a little off-the-wall, and imperfect, but is an entertaining escape from the real world. I’m not into Literary Role Playing Games or LitRPGs as they’re known, but I do LOVE fantasy, especially Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, and Harry Potter, and Carrie Vaughn includes plenty of references to those. Plus, this has dragons AND unicorns in it! Need I say more?

There are a couple of things that prevent this from being a perfect read. In my opinion, the majority of characters are not well written and come across as stereotypical and in some cases, not very believable. The only two to deviate from this one-dimensional mold are a secondary character named Rucker who I disliked in the beginning, before he sneakily changed my mind, and the protagonist of the story, literature professor, Dr. Addie Cox, who fifteen years previously survived a school shooting, but helplessly watched two of her friends die. I absolutely loved her, both for her strength and vulnerability, and also for her humorous reactions to what she sees on the island. Throughout much of the book, she gets herself into situations where she has to be saved, but given that she’s suffering from PTSD, I was willing to cut her some slack. And during the second half of the book, she starts gaining more confidence in herself which was nice to watch. The story itself with its magic-mimicking technology is fascinating, and I found myself wistfully wishing to be able to go visit Insula Mirabilis. Thanks to the fast pace that leads to an ending which wraps everything up nice and neatly, I finished this in one sitting.

I’ll be honest and say that I don’t think Questland is one of Vaughn’s best books, but it’s fun nonetheless and I’m happy I read it. I think my fellow fantasy geeks would enjoy this as well. As for me, now I really, REALLY want a dragon!

Give a Boy a Gun: 20th Anniversary Edition, by Todd Strasser ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Bullying, Mental Health, School Shootings, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Schuster Books for Young Children for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: May 12th, 2020

176 Pages

Synopsis: In this 20th anniversary edition of Todd Strasser’s gut-wrenching and critically acclaimed Give a Boy a Gun, two boys bring guns to school in search of revenge against their classmates.

For as long as they can remember, Brendan and Gary have been mercilessly teased and harassed by the jocks that rule Middletown High. But not anymore. Stealing a small arsenal of guns from a neighbor, they take their classmates hostage at a school dance. In the panic of this desperate situation, it soon becomes clear that only one thing matters to Brendan and Gary: revenge.

This special 20th anniversary edition includes updated back matter and statistics on school shootings—a topic that is now more relevant than ever.

Give a Boy a Gun was written twenty years ago, yet tragically retains all of its relevance today. The first book about a school shooting written in the aftermath of the Columbine mass shooting on April 20, 1999, it shares a few similarities to the events that unfolded there, although Todd Strasser actually began researching the subject earlier.

The novel is in epistolary format and the majority of it is told through transcribed interviews with parents, teachers, and students that Gary’s stepsister Denise compiles three years after Brendan’s and Gary’s attack on their tormentors and the adults who failed to protect them. Through the eyes of several characters, the reader sees what precipitates their violent rampage, as well as the bloody night of revenge itself. Included are the two 10th graders’ suicide notes which added an additional chilling and disturbing layer.

There are a few things that prevents this from being a perfect read. First, while seeing the viewpoints of so many characters in a book thats under 200 pages long, is informative, it doesn’t allow you to really connect with anyone. The characters are also extremely stereotypical, with the football players being the one-dimensional bullies. I also would have somehow liked to have delved more deeply into the psyches of Brendan and Gary, but there just wasn’t time. What I found the most interesting were the various teachers’ attitudes toward the bullying going on right in front of them. The football coach who tacitly encourages it, the teacher who sees it as typical “boys will be boys,” and another who sees it as a problem but doesn’t know what to do to end it. And finally, I read the Kindle version of this which shares updated gun violence examples and statistics all the way up to 2019. While these are enlightening, inserting them at intervals throughout the story, rather than at the end is jarring and disruptive.

If You Give a Boy a Gun is a flawed yet earnest and well-meaning look at gun violence in America, as well as the social and psychological effects of daily bullying on vulnerable teens. It’s raw, unflinching, and brutally graphic, so I’d recommend this for ages 15+. I believe it’s a worthy addition to any discussion regarding this ongoing problem.

Parkland Shooting ~ One Year Later

Tags

Activism, Emma González, Never Again MSD, Parkland Shooting, School Shootings

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. Sadly, here in the U.S., today is also the first anniversary of the mass shooting at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida, that resulted in the deaths of fourteen high school students and three school faculty members.

While an initial sense of hopelessness descended upon our nation, for those of us who believe in common sense gun reform, that’s slowly given way to cautious optimism. The students who survived that horrifying massacre have created a movement for change that for the first time has outlasted the initial news cycle. In 2018, at least 67 new gun laws were enacted in in Florida and 26 other states, as well as the District of Columbia. In Washington, 17 newly elected House members are supporters of stricter gun laws and more than two dozen House members who were backed by the National Rifle Association were defeated. Polls show the NRA is increasingly losing public support due to bad press from mass shootings and investigations of its links to Russians attempting to influence the 2016 elections.

Much of this change has been brought about by the young survivors. Teens that shouldn’t have had to worry about anything besides school work, going to prom, and getting into the colleges they wanted, were suddenly, the faces of the Never Again MSD movement, and they’ve refused to quietly go away despite being threatened, bullied, and denigrated not only online but also on conservative outlets including Fox News. In the year since the Parkland shooting there have been almost 1,200 shooting deaths of victims under the age of 18. Obviously, there is so much more that needs to be done, but for the first time there’s hope, thanks to this younger generation. They have ushered in a new era of activism and this anniversary should be, no, MUST be marked every year by the continuing fight against gun violence.

I’m going to end this post by sharing a quote from one of the co-founders of the Never Again MSD movement, nineteen-year-old Emma González.

So we are speaking up for those who don’t have anyone listening to them, for those who can’t talk about it just yet, and for those who will never speak again. We are grieving, we are furious, and we are using our words fiercely and desperately because that’s the only thing standing between us and this happening again.

Just Another Day in America.

Tags

Parkland Florida, School Shootings

I have no doubt that many of you have already heard about the horrific massacre at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Ironically the city was named as Florida’s safest, just last year. Right now the death toll stands at seventeen. The 19-year-old suspect is a former student who had been expelled for “disciplinary reasons.” Naturally there’s not much else known except for the fact that he used an AR-15 -style rifle with multiple magazines, to gun down his victims. He was also known to be “troubled” according to some teachers and students. I’m not going to rant and rave about our inability to enact common sense gun control legislation, because honestly, what’s the point? You know and I know that this latest atrocity will change nothing. Condolences, thoughts, and prayers are already being sent and for the next week or two politicians from both sides of the aisle will pontificate about their views, and then everything will go back to business as usual. To be fair, this isn’t just a gun issue, although I maintain that’s a big part of it. What is happening also involves a breakdown in our mental health system as well. And I’m going to go one step farther and say there’s also a breakdown in our society. I know this is complicated and there aren’t any easy, quick fixes, but it seems to me that we’ve become so tribal that we can’t agree on even the simplest things. And meanwhile, children are dying. Today’s shooting is the 25th fatal shooting event at an elementary, middle or high school including Columbine in 1999. There have been 98 fatalities as a result. It’s 43 days into 2018 and there’s already been 18 school shootings. That’s right. EIGHTEEN! We need to do better. Students shouldn’t have to be afraid to go to school and parents, as they send them off, shouldn’t have to harbor the fear that they may not see their children again. How many more images like the ones below, can we watch before we stop wringing our hands and say in one voice “Enough!” Make no mistake, the countdown clock has already reset and begun ticking down to the next massacre.

 

Lockdown, by Laurie R. King ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Child Abuse, Diversity, Dysfunctional Families, Gang Violence, Mystery, School Shootings, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

336 Pages

Synopsis: Career Day at Guadalupe Middle School: a day given to innocent hopes and youthful dreams. A day no one in attendance will ever forget.

A year ago, Principal Linda McDonald arrived at Guadalupe determined to overturn the school’s reputation for truancy, gang violence, and neglect. One of her initiatives is Career Day–bringing together children, teachers, and community presenters in a celebration of the future. But there are some in attendance who reject McDonald’s bright vision. 

A principal with a secret. A husband with a murky past. A cop with too many questions. A kid under pressure to prove himself. A girl struggling to escape a mother’s history. A young basketball player with an affection for guns.

Even the school janitor has a story he dare not reveal.

But no one at the gathering anticipates the shocking turn of events that will transform a day of possibilities into an explosive confrontation.

Laurie R. King is best known for her Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series, of which I’m a devoted fan. She’s also written the contemporary mystery Kate Martinelli series, which I haven’t tried yet, but after reading Lockdown, I definitely will be. I thought going into this, that it would be a thriller about a school shooting, and I was eagerly anticipating how the author would handle this topic. While it started off a little slow and a bit chaotic, in the end I was completely captivated by the character-driven story. It took me a little while though to get used to the way the story unfolds. It’s told from several different viewpoints including: the Principal’s, her husband, a police officer, and a few students. It also jumps between different time periods and adds in the mysterious disappearance of a young student, and because of these things I felt as though I was getting whiplash at first. But the characters are so well written, that within the first fifty pages I settled in and couldn’t tear myself away. Their lives and backstories are integral to what unfolds on Career Day, and they add to the slow- building suspense. Because each of them has something going on that could result in the violent act that happens at this small California town’s middle school, I really had no idea who the shooter was going to be. When the story arrives at its climax, what happens makes sense and leads to a satisfying conclusion. Overall I found Lockdown to be a creative standalone from Laurie R. King that solidifies her respected reputation. I highly recommend it to fans of hers, as well as readers who enjoy a good character-driven mystery.

The Light Fantastic ~ By Sarah Combs – 4.5 Stars

Tags

Contemporary Fiction, School Shootings, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 13th, 2016

320 Pages

Synopsis:

Seven tightly woven narratives. Three harrowing hours. One fateful day that changes everything.

Delaware, the morning of April 19. Senior Skip Day, and April Donovan’s eighteenth birthday. Four days after the Boston Marathon bombing, the country is still reeling, and April’s rare memory condition has her recounting all the tragedies that have cursed her birth month. And just what was that mysterious gathering under the bleachers about? Meanwhile, in Nebraska, Lincoln Evans struggles to pay attention in Honors English, distracted by the enigmatic presence of Laura Echols, capturer of his heart. His teacher tries to hold her class’s interest, but she can’t keep her mind off what Adrian George told her earlier. Over in Idaho, Phoebe is having second thoughts about the Plan mere hours before the start of a cross-country ploy led by an Internet savant known as the Mastermind. Is all her heartache worth the cost of the Assassins’ machinations?

While The Light Fantastic tackles the subject of school shootings, There’s no bloodshed and very little violence depicted. Instead, it looks at the lives of these teens in a mostly 2 1/2 hour period and what leads up to individual moments of decision, or “light fantastic”. Two of the characters have nothing to do with Mastermind’s deadly plot, yet they cross the paths of two of the Assassins, and because of this, changes their course. Also included is the perspective of a teacher which winds up having a profound effect. Because there are so many different perspectives, it was difficult at times to keep track of everyone at times. But I have to say that Sarah Combs is positively brilliant at creating her characters personalities. Each has their own distinct voice, and I found myself caring about all of them, even the Assassins. Reading this reminded me of some of my own unpleasant experiences in high school and I understood how certain events could lead these teens to even contemplate something so horrible. Of course today’s world is even more dangerous then when I was in high school (1979-1983). Now there’s the Internet where teens can join online communities with complete anonymity which in turn gives them a sense of power over their situations. All of this and more is thoughtfully explored in a manner of writing that is almost a stream of consciousness from each character. The story isn’t action packed but that doesn’t make it any less compelling. The Light Fantastic lets its readers peek into the minds of teens that are teetering on the edge of a precipice.The kids in this book aren’t evil. They’re not sociopaths, or psychopaths. Each has undergone something that has made them hate themselves and are unable to see a way to change their desperately unhappy lives. It also looks at how love and compassion can truly make a difference. This is a great book for teen book discussion groups, as well as anyone who works with this age group.

 

This Is Where It Ends ~ By Marieke Nijkamp – 1.5 Stars

Tags

Abuse, Bigotry, Bullying, Homophobia, School Shootings, YA Fiction

 

I received this e-Arc from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: January 5th, 2016

Synopsis: 

10:00 a.m.

The principal of Opportunity, Alabama’s high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new series semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m.

The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03 a.m.

The auditorium doors won’t open.

10:05 a.m.

Someone starts shooting.

Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

This Is Where It Ends has been a much hyped book since last fall, so when I actually was approved for a coveted e-ARC from the publisher I was thrilled. I’ve been sitting on my hands to stop myself from reading it until closer to the publishing date. After all that, it wound up being one of my biggest disappointments of the past year.

So, where did it go wrong? Well, let’s start with the general layout of the book. Although it’s only 292 pages, I found myself forcing my way through the pages at times and more than once I completely lost focus. The chapters are short, but in addition to alternating between four characters, they also flash back and forth between the horrific events that are unfolding and the past. This made things confusing and disjointed.

And this leads me to what really annoyed me about this novel–the characters. Because of the way the chapters are written it is impossible to get any kind of real sense of these kids, let alone emphasize with them. It also seemed as though the author tried too hard to make the characters diverse, especially for a small southern town. Perhaps this is because Marieke Nijkamp is a member of We Need Diverse Books. While I think I can appreciate what she was attempting, instead this comes off as cynically manipulative. It was almost as if she had a list she went through:

Muslim-American -check

Hispanic-Americans – check

African-American -check

Disabled boy – check

Two gay teens in love – check

Ironically, the person you most want to hear from–the shooter, you don’t except through wooden dialogue. Tyler Browne is an evil, one-dimensional character from beginning to end. Honestly, I kept expecting him to break out in a “Mowahaha!” every five seconds as he strutted in front of his victims. In real life, we’ve unfortunately heard all too many stories of school shooters who were bullied either at school, home or in some cases both. These are not instances of children being teased. No, oftentimes these kids are tormented beyond endurance until they snap. In this story I never came to understand what turned Tyler into the monster he became.There’s a few vague explanations, but nothing I could buy into. The only thing I came away with is that he’s a homophobe and a rapist, who while is physically abused by his alcoholic father, and bullied a little by a few classmates, gives as good as he gets. He even turns on his twin sister Autumn, going as far as to report on her to their father when he knows full well she’ll receive a beating. This is someone who has absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

This Is Where It Ends could have been a groundbreaking novel that lent itself to some much needed discussion between teens and adults, but instead it’s an exploitative tale that takes real issues such as: physical abuse, bigotry, rape, etc., and reduces them to the kind of cheap thrills you find in some awful Lifetime movie of the week. For those of you who don’t live in the U.S. Lifetime is a cable channel which specializes in “issue oriented” movies. There are so many deaths here that after the first few, I found myself for the most part, not caring anymore. There’s one secondary character who I did become emotionally invested in which is why I’m giving this even 1.5 stars. There are already many reviews on Goodreads and if you are a parent or teacher, I encourage you to read some of them before sharing this with your teens. Because I wanted to make sure I was being fair to this much publicized book, I read it twice, but from my perspective I cannot find anything at all to recommend about it and I can’t tell you how this saddens me.

Damage Done ~ by Amanda Panitch – 4.0 Stars

Tags

Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense, School Shootings, Thriller, Twins, YA Fiction

 I received this ebook from NetGalley and Random House Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: 22 minutes separate Julia Venn’s before and after.

Before: Julia had a twin brother, a boyfriend, and a best friend.

After: She has a new identity, a new hometown, and memories of those twenty-two minutes that refuse to come into focus. At least, that’s what she tells the police.

Now that she’s Lucy Black, she’s able to begin again. And her fresh start has attracted one of the most popular guys in school, a boy who will do anything to protect her. But when someone much more dangerous also takes notice, Lucy’s forced to confront the dark secrets she thought were safely behind. 

One thing is clear: The damage done can never be erased. It’s only just beginning…

To call this debut novel creepy and disturbing doesn’t even begin to cover it. It’s insanely twisted and shoved me completely outside my comfort zone. 

The story begins as Julia, now known as Lucy, is trying to fit in at a new school. She and her parents have moved to get away from the negative publicity and harassment following the conviction of her twin brother Ryan who committed a horrific act of school violence, leaving a teacher and several classmates, including her boyfriend and her best friend, dead. Lucy is the sole survivor but has large gaps in her memory regarding the events of that day. While what truly happened is foreshadowed, how the truth is eventually revealed is completely shocking. 

Lucy/Julia isn’t a likeable character right from the start. She has no problem lying and manipulating people and events to suit her needs. The terrible crime of her brother follows Lucy no matter where she goes, but you don’t discover her exact role in it until the end of the book. Through her eyes you see the development of a sociopath, which is truly frightening. Because the narrative is mostly told from her perspective, it adds another layer of suspense since she’s not exactly trustworthy.

While Lucy is unforgettable, the secondary characters could have used some more development, particularly the parents. I found myself wanting to know so much more about them, but unfortunately they’re fairly two-dimensional and don’t really add anything to the story. This is a shame, because in a thriller such as this, I would have liked to have seen more of how their parenting effected the twins development. 

The pacing never slows down, and while the ending wasn’t a complete surprise, there’s an incredible twist to it that left me shaken and disconcerted which doesn’t happen too often. 

Damage Done is not a book I’d recommend to anyone under the age of fourteen due to the mature themes as well as some pretty graphic and disturbing scenes. In a world where school shootings have unfortunately become commonplace, Amanda Panitch tells a fascinating and thrilling tale of one of these senseless tragedies and the repercussions on the shooter’s family. 

Memory Man ~ By David Baldacci – 3.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mysteries, Police Detectives, School Shootings

 I received this ebook from NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Amos Decker has not had an easy life. In his very first pro football game, he’s catastrophically injured and is left with a curious side effect. He never forgets anything. He uses this to his advantage and now, twenty years later, is a highly respected police detective, and happily married with a beautiful little girl. Tragically, his life falls apart when, after returning home from a stakeout, he discovers the bodies of his wife, daughter, and brother-in-law. With his family gone, the mysterious killer elusive, and the memories of that horrible night forever imprinted upon him, Decker loses everything. After being temporarily homeless, he now calls a Residence Inn his home, and scrapes out a meager living as a private investigator. Suddenly, fourteen months after the murders, a man confesses, and at the same time another horrific act rocks the community of Burlington. As Decker becomes involved in the investigation, only one thing is clear. If he’s to uncover the truth, he’ll have to use his unique talents, which could cost him what little he has left.

Memory Man is the first book in what looks to be a new series by this prolific author. Overall, I found it to be a pretty solid start with an intriguing and very sympathetic main character. Amos Decker is the type of person that your heart just aches for. His very first game with the Cleveland Browns, he’s injured so badly that he almost dies. He’s left with hyperthymesia, which basically means he remembers every single second, of every single day. And because that isn’t enough, he also has synesthesia, which makes him see colors around people and objects. While these abilities make him an excellent detective, when he comes home to find his family murdered, the gruesome scenes replay continuously in his head. It’s no wonder why he quits the force, loses his house and gains fifty pounds. He’s just somewhat getting his life back together when there’s a mass school shooting that somehow winds up being linked to the murders. At the same time, someone turns themself in and claims he killed Decker’s family. Despite this new opportunity to discover what really happened that night, Decker is initially reluctant to join the investigation mainly because he’s forced to revisit the traumatic memories he’s been trying so desperately to forget. Once it’s clear that everything is tied to Decker himself though, he stops at nothing to get to the truth. The secondary characters, in the form of an FBI agent, a tenacious reporter (is there any other kind?), and Decker’s former partner are okay, but they’re basically there as support, and not really interesting in their own right. The plot was a bit far-fetched, but mesmerizing and I couldn’t wait to see the unmasking of the villain. There is a lot of repetition in this book, which given Decker’s abilities, wasn’t a big surprise. Some of it though was unnecessary however, and somewhat annoying. For example: how many times do you have to call attention to someone’s weight? Decker was obviously a big guy as a football player and gained even more weight when he lost everything. For some reason though, David Baldacci felt like he had to keep reminding his readers of how his character’s appearance had taken a downward turn. Because I found Decker so intriguing though, I’ll definitely be picking up the next book.