Guest Post: Blood and Sand's C.V. Wyk

Title: Blood and Sand
Author: C.V. Wyk
Genre: historical fiction
Series: Untitled #1
Pages: 320
Published: expected January 16 2018
Source: review copy from publisher

FORGED IN BATTLE...
FROM THE DUST OF THE ARENA...
A LEGEND WILL RISE

The action-packed tale of a 17-year-old warrior princess and a handsome gladiator who dared take on the Roman Republic―and gave rise to the legend of Spartacus...

For teens who love strong female protagonists in their fantasy and historical fiction, Blood and Sand is a stirring, yet poignant tale of two slaves who dared take on an empire by talented debut author C. V. Wyk.

Roma Victrix. The Republic of Rome is on a relentless march to create an empire―an empire built on the backs of the conquered, brought back to Rome as slaves.

Attia was once destined to rule as the queen and swordmaiden of Thrace, the greatest warrior kingdom the world had seen since Sparta. Now she is a slave, given to Xanthus, the Champion of Rome, as a sign of his master’s favor. Enslaved as a child, Xanthus is the preeminent gladiator of his generation.

Against all odds, Attia and Xanthus form a tentative bond. A bond that will spark a rebellion. A rebellion that threatens to bring the Roman Republic to its end―and gives rise to the legend of Spartacus...

Today I am happy to have C.V. Wyk here talking about favorite Romans and how they influenced the story in Blood and Sand.

Most of my favorite Roman figures didn’t make it directly into the book by name, but rather exerted their influence on the characters, plot, and events in BLOOD AND SAND in a subtler way. For instance, the general Gaius Marius was a brilliant tactician who was responsible for making the Roman army the infamous fighting force it was as early as 100BC. The concepts of a standing army and soldiers by trade were introduced under Marius and allowed for non-Romans to earn citizenship and acclaim. Without giving away spoilers, this is…important haha.

Other men like Marcus Aurelias and Tiberius Gracchus inspired the character of Lucius and how a young Roman patrician might have viewed the flagrant inequality and brutality of ancient Rome. Gracchus was well-known for his disdain of social inequality and spent his life trying to fight the tyranny of economic and political oppression. The death of Marcus Aurelias, who is often referred to as the Philosopher Emperor, signaled the end of the Pax Romana and ushered in the decline of the Roman empire.

A few of historical figures who are mentioned in BLOOD AND SAND by name are rather villainous inmy adaptation, specifically the members of the House of Flavius. Crassus was not a Flavian (his real name was Marcus Licinius Crassus), but he was a true Roman general whose greatest accomplishment was defeating Spartacus during the Third Servile War, or The Gladiator War, in 73BC. Titus Flavius was a real emperor after his father Vespasian, but according to historical documents, he was benevolent and well-loved. In the book however, much of his story arc is influenced by two figures: Lucius Aurelius Commodus (the dictatorial son of Marcus Aurelius), and the first true Roman Emperor, Augustus, who ruled as early as 27BC. Augustus was also the adopted son of Julius Caesar and later worked with Mark Antony to bring Caesar’s assassins to justice. Moreover, these men later influenced the Shakespeare quotes that appear at the beginning of BLOOD AND SAND. One line of that quote, in particular, shaped the narrative of this book: O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth! I imagine it was Attia’s lament as she cursed herself for not saving her father or her people.

My last few favorites include Boudicca and Livy. Boudicca was actually Celtic queen who fought against the Roman invasion of Britain. She was a fiery character with a tragic past who really helped shape the histories and personalities of Xanthus, Attia, and Lucretia. Livy, whose full name was Titus Livius, was a well-renowned Roman historian who died in approximately 12AD. His massive history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condite Libri (Books from the Foundation of the City), were incredibly useful during my research for BLOOD AND SAND.

And, of course, there is Spartacus, perhaps one of the most famous Romans of all time. Even here, in his list of my Roman historical figures who influenced the book, there are nearly no women save for the queen of a distant kingdom. But more than any other figure, Spartacus—who had no verifiable or recorded history—was someone open to interpretation, to borrowing and twisting and reconfiguring the facts as we know them. Spartacus not only found a way into this book, but completely took over. But what else would you expect from the slave who defied an empire?

Thank you so much for stopping by and talking ancient Romans with me, C.V.!

Guest Review: Feedback by Mira Grant

OK muffins, gather around. On your best behavior, please. Stand up straight. Are your hands clean? Good. We have a very special guest today on APR, our dear friend Ysabet MacFarlane. Ysa and I go way back on twitter where she is one of the monsters that keeps making me read Mira Grant books. You know how much I love Mira and her Newsflesh world, so when Ysa got an advanced copy and asked if anyone would like her to guest post it? You'd better believe I fell at her feet. So be good, leave comments, and don't scare her off. Without further ado: 

Title: Feedback
Author: Mira Grant
Genre: sci-fi
Series: Newsflesh #4/standalone
Pages: 489 (printed ARC)
Published: October 4, 2016
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

A new beginning for Mira Grant's New York Times bestselling NEWSFLESH series!

There are two sides to every story...

We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we unleashed something horrifying and unstoppable. The infection spread leaving those afflicted with a single uncontrollable impulse: FEED.

Now, twenty years after the Rising, a team of scrappy underdog reporters relentlessly pursue the facts while competing against the brother-and-sister blog superstars, the Masons.

Surrounded by the infected, and facing more insidious forces working in the shadows, they must hit the presidential campaign trail and uncover dangerous truths. Or die trying.

Feedback is a full-length Newsflesh novel that overlaps the events of the acclaimed first novel in the series, Feed, and offers a new entry point to this thrilling and treacherous world.

I am, to put it mildly, a hardcore fan of Mira Grant's original Newsflesh trilogy, and a fan of her work overall, so I was 100% prepped and ready to love Feedback; on the flip side, I was scared of it not living up to my hopes, which is always a risk no matter how much you love an author's work. But I came away from it delighted, and I hope other readers will too.

Let me say up front that, despite the cover copy's description of Feedback offering "a new entry point" to the series, it should be approached with a bit of caution by anyone who hasn't read the original books. Does it stand on its own? Yes, I would say so. And if you haven't delved into the Newsflesh world before and want to check it out without committing to a trilogy, then go for it, because this is a great book. My qualm is that Feedback, for good reason, gives away a major plot development from near the end of Feed (the first book in the original trilogy). If you're totally blase about spoilers, by all means, proceed.* (And there are tons of things in the trilogy that Feedback doesn't touch on, so it certainly won't spoil the whole plot for you!) But if not, my strong advice is to pick up both Feedback and the trilogy (which is available in a convenient box set) and read the original books first.

The main cast of Feedback is an entirely new group of characters. Our narrator, Aislinn "Ash" North, is an Irish expatriate and new American citizen working as an action news reporter--an Irwin--in a close-knit team of four internet journalists. Like plenty of other blogging teams, Ash's team applied for a job as the official reporters for one of the potential Republican candidates in an upcoming presidential election, and they came close to getting it, but lost out to Georgia and Shaun Mason, siblings whose family is already a household name thanks to their parents' fame in the first wave of post-Rising reporters. Another chance comes knocking when one of the aspiring Democrat candidates decides to hire a reporting team of her own and offers the job to Ash and her coworkers, who seize the opportunity.

Feedback spends less time focusing on the details of the political campaign than you might expect, even before the plot thickens and the team starts to realize what they're up against. As an Irwin, Ash's job has little to do with writing exposes and in-depth articles; instead, her role involves going looking for trouble with zombies and broadcasting her thrilling escapes. But in this post-zombie apocalypse world, an eye for danger and a gift for getting out alive are priceless when anyone can become a threat once the virus in their system wakes up...and equally valuable in the face of other types of danger.

The writing in Feedback is engaging and the book flows by quickly despite clocking in at nearly 500 pages. The plot is solid and offers a fresh take on a situation we saw through a very different lens in Feed, as well as on a few characters who readers of the trilogy and novellas have met in other circumstances. (To those who've read Feed: as Grant indicated when Feedback was announced, no, the Masons are not involved in this novel at all. We do get some insight into how they're seen by other members of the blogging community, though, which I'd been hoping for and was glad to see.) The basic starting premise of "bloggers get hired to report on a political campaign/candidate" is fairly similar to Feed's, but Feedback's twists and turns make this a very different story.

But while all of that is great, it's the characters who make Feedback shine. I loved getting to know Ash and spending some time in her head. She's smart, quick-witted, and practical, and has complex relationships with her team--and not just because the team includes both her husband (a dear friend who married Ash to get her into the United States, rather than because they were in love) and her girlfriend. The friendship and camaraderie are intense and real, down to the strains and frustrations that come with any long-term personal or professional relationship. The main cast is also very diverse, with nary a straight-white-cisgender dude in sight.

There are some small but significant ways in which Feedback is in conversation with its predecessors, especially Feed. After Feed, the impression given of a minor character was a source of some criticism from readers, which Grant seems to have born in mind here--in Feedback, that individual is given added nuance and a bit of explicit (but not jarring) commentary on how she's often perceived. And some of the assumptions the Masons make in their trilogy about how the world works are influenced by an upper middle class upbringing, and those views aren't necessarily challenged; Ash, as an immigrant with fewer resources and a very different living situation (and the benefit of being in her late 20s compared to the Masons at age 22-23), has different insights into how ordinary people go about their lives after the Rising.

All in all, I'm thrilled with this full-length return to the Newsflesh world, and I hope everyone else will be too.

And finally, thanks to Danielle for letting me borrow a corner of Ageless Pages. ^_^ ( Anytime! - D)

*I'd be quite interested to know what reading Feedback is like for someone with no prior knowledge of the series, and if such a person were to then go read the original trilogy, I'd also be very interested to know how experiencing Feedback first affected their take on Feed and its characters.

Discussion Review: Nightstruck by Jenna Black

Title: Nightstruck
Author: Jenna Black
Genre: horror, paranormal
Series: Untitled #1
Pages: 304
Published: expected April 5 2016
Source: publishers for review

The night is the enemy, and the city of Philadelphia is its deadliest weapon.

Becket is an ordinary teenage girl, wrestling with the upheaval of her parents' divorce. Her biggest problems to date have been choosing which colleges to apply to, living up to her parents' ambitious expectations of her, and fighting her secret crush on her best friend's boyfriend. That all changes the night she tries to save an innocent life and everything goes horribly wrong.

Becket has been tricked into opening a door between worlds. As dark magic trickles into Philadelphia, strange creatures roam the streets and inanimate objects come to life, all of them bloodthirsty and terrifying. The city returns to normal when the sun rises each morning. The moment the sun sets, most citizens shut themselves in their houses and stay there no matter what they hear.

The magic is openly hostile to most mortals, but there are some it seems to covet, trying to lure them out into the night. While Becket struggles to protect her friends and family from predatory creatures of the night, she is constantly tempted to shrug off her responsibilities and join them.

Joining me for this discussion review is my usual bookish discussion partner Lyn of Great Imaginations and also today we have one of her cobloggers, Kara!  

Kara: I feel like this is going to be a really interesting discussion. After days of pondering, I still don’t know how I feel about Nightstruck. There were many things I liked, but I also don’t really care for how the book made me feel. So I am sitting here unsure of my rating still, and I am hoping this discussion really helps clarify it for me.

Lyn: I agree, I almost liked it, but then there were things that I just didn’t care for. So I’m really struggling with my own feelings towards this novel. In the end, I didn’t care for it, but I appreciated that it wasn’t the same old YA novel with the same premise. It WAS at least different.

Jessie: Look at us, all hanging out in the same boat, the SS We Just Don’t Know About This One. Obviously I find myself of the same mind as the two of you ladies when it comes to Jenna Black’s newest book. I wanted to like it, and some parts of it did work, but on the whole it felt chaotic, and left me vaguely disappointed.

Kara: I think my expectations were not met, for a start. I expected a paranormal YA but instead I got a really dark, gory horror YA. Which is fine, but I wasn’t in the right mood for this, and it just really depressed me, all the death and destruction. The book was just so saddddd. IDK. I do have depression, so it may have affected me differently than you guys, but it is what it is.

And then, the story was just...I don’t know. It did feel a bit repetitive and I hated that the only female character other than the protagonist became the antagonist, and I just didn’t care for the message it was sending? Okay, wait. There was a female parent, but she was hardly in it. I am just left shrugging my shoulders. The writing was fine, the characters were okay, but that’s all I can really say.

Jessie: It was a really gloomy book. I don’t mind darker novels, but yeah, this was definitely described as a more supernatural/paranormal story than a gory and horror-y one. I wasn’t emotionally affected by it very much -- probably because I cared so little about any of the characters -- with one exception being the dad. It’s hard to do more than just react to the characters when they are so underdeveloped.

Lyn: I felt that this was a smashnovel - two separate novels shoved together to make one. I think the first part, about a girl struggling with a friendship that is almost great, but is overall unhealthy, would have made for a wonderful novel. There were some real issues that I would have loved to seen resolved, but then then ‘paranormal’ part came in, and it all felt so disjointed. Like, if you want to write a contemporary novel, then go for it! I think the friendship between Becket and Piper and finding a way to resolve the issues would have been a great novel on its own, but it is like the author had two underdeveloped ideas and just stuck them together. The magic part was never explained, it was just like “dunno” and shrugged off, and with the conflict with the girls, well, before anything can really be resolved, THE END OF THE WORLD HAPPENS. It left me really frustrated.

Jessie: I loooove this point. I agree 100% but couldn’t put the words together. This does feel like two different books that were conjoined FOR REASONS.

Kara: Frustrated is a GREAT word for how this book left me feeling. The ending was frustrating, the death of a certain character was frustrating, the lack of character development was frustrating, not getting any answers was fucking frustrating. I just wasn’t left feeling satisfied at all. As for the rest of what Lyn said, I think that’s a really great point. I could have been two novels. I was definitely upset by turn that the female friendship took and I would have liked to see that developed as well, but it wasn’t. I am just irritated thinking about this book all over again.

Jessie: The more I think back and look at how the book was developed and executed -- it just doesn’t quiiite feel like a cohesive story, which Lyn so ably described due to the smashnovel nature.  But also, in addition to the haphazard mashed up genres, the book starts out on a strong note, but it’s a fast race downhill once the supernatural element is introduced. It’s like the author thought that “oh hey it’s ~~magic” and that was a good of a reason as any for all this to happen. She didn’t think to explain beyond her basic premise about how the supernatural angle functioned.

Lyn: And as Kara pointed out, the ending was just a huge letdown. Coupled with a novel that was all over the place, it didn’t feel complete. And then the lack of action on anyone’s part. Did no one think to shoot these people, the Nightstruck? I understand not able to fight the actual magical creatures, but the regular people? Why can no one take them down? It just seems so odd that they run amok and everyone is helpless.  Also, why did we get this glimpse of something awesome happening soon (the king and queen of the night?) and then we never get to see it? I feel that we never have the whole story, and the more I think about all of this, the madder I become. There was so much that the story was lacking. And the worldbuilding was not there at ALL.

Kara: I loved how parts of the setting were developed, and I loved that it was set in Philly, and I am betting we are going to get world-building answers in the next book, but I won’t be sticking around to find out. I just don’t like when an author leaves me hanging like this. And now I have a lack of trust. I used to handle books with most cliffhangers, but I can’t really do it anymore. I don’t mind reading series, but don’t leave me fucking hanging with no answers. Nuh-uh.

Jessie: I wasn’t a huge fan, or even a fan at all really,  but I did like some of this -- that her mom left and her dad stayed aka not a typical home situation, that it wasn’t set in the same places as most YAs tend to be, there were a few moments of genuine creepiness -- but overall, I wasn’t enthusiastic about Nightstruck. It’s the first of a series but this was a one-book stop for me, personally. I won’t be back for answers, if there are ever any. I agree with Kara -- no answers at all feels cheap and like a waste of my time.

Lyn: I can’t say I care to come back for the answers. Bye bye Nightstruck.

2.5 stars from me. It gave it a good shot, and it was almost interesting, but I’m left with too many questions and not enough push to see if the rest of the series answers them.

Kara: It’s a two from me. That second star is for the writing, which I really liked, but that’s all this book gets.

Jessie: 2 out of 5 for me, as well. Black can write and is a decent storyteller at times, but this was a miss for me. 

Don't miss any of our other bookish discussions!

• Underwater by Marisa Reichardt
• Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley
• The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett
• A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston
• The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
• Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George
• Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen
• Black Iris by Leah Raeder (with Kara, also of Great Imaginations)
• Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst
• Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma (also with Kara of Great Imaginations and Bekka of Pretty Deadly Reviews)
• Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfeld (also with Pixie of Great Imaginations)

Book Connection + Giveaway with Ella Martin

Today we have author Ella Martin talking about some of her favorite YA love stories. Also included are a giveaway for The Stepsister's Tale, as well as some additional. information about Ella's own novel/series.

 ~                                                   `   

There is something magical about retellings of familiar, well-loved stories told from an alternate point of view. Every character has her own backstory, and every character has her own dreams and desires. Though stories typically focus on one or two characters, in order for the entire cast to come to life, the supporting characters need to have something at stake, too. So my favorite alternate-viewpoint retellings not only change the focus but also introduce new characters to expand the universe.

When I first heard of THE STEPSISTER’S TALE by Tracy Barrett, all I knew was that it was the story of Cinderella as told by one of the stepsisters. Jane Montjoy and her sister Maude are from an aristocratic family, albeit one that has lost its fortune over the years, and we meet a very spoiled Isabella after their mother returns from a trip to town with a new husband. Right away, we realize Cinderella as we know it is marred by perspective. Perhaps the stepmother isn’t the evil stepparent, after all.

But what I love about this book isn’t the fairytale retelling. The way it borrows from Cinderella only serves to establish the story’s setting. What I loved was how Jane struggles with her identity. On one hand, she’s from one of the oldest, most noble families in the kingdom. But she’s also aware that her family is poor, that her grand mansion is in a severe state of decay. It takes all of Jane’s cleverness and ingenuity to keep her mother and sisters warm and fed, and you get a sense of pride from her when she shows Will, one of the boys in the woods, that her life in the huge house isn’t nearly what he or the rest of the country folk think it is.

There’s still a ball, and events leading up to it are intriguing. The prince isn’t nearly what he seems. The fairy tale as we know it ends very differently. And as Jane begins to recognize people for what they really are, she stops struggling with class distinctions and allows herself to be the person she needs to be.

The love story in THE STEPSISTER’S TALE is secondary. It’s really more of a story of survival. But the ending is more than satisfying, complete with a HEA that lingered with me long after I turned the last page.

“Annie calls it being stiff and shy. It’s just plain old rudeness. He’s not uncomfortable—he’s proud. Proud and conceited.”

― Tracy Bennet, The Stepsister’s Tale

Talia Nicoletti’s life has been turned upside down–and that’s probably an understatement. Her mother goes off on a business trip… and comes back married!

Her estranged father wants to be less estranged. And her best friend Jake DeSantos suddenly has a new confidante who Talia doesn’t want to like but kind of does anyway.

Talia has to unravel her tangled up emotions to figure out what she really wants. Does she want to accept her father back in her life? Can she trust her new-stepfather? There’s too much

hitting Talia at once, and she’s not ready to deal with any of it. The one person she can always turn to is Jake, and he’s being secretive and isn’t exactly available. And that hurts her more than she thought possible.

Talia hates that she’s jealous of the new girl in Jake’s life, especially since she can’t decide if she loves him … or if she loves him not.

Buy links for I Love Him, I Love Him Not:

Amazon |  Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords | Indiebound

You can also win a copy of Will the Real Prince Charming Please Stand Up? and I Love Him, I Love Him Not on Goodreads!

Tour schedule:

o February 8: Read. Sleep. Repeat. - Getting Over Garrett Delaney

o February 9: Cuddlebuggery - Better Off Friends

o February 10: Ageless Pages Review - The Stepsister's Tale

o February 11: YA Book Nerd - Guitar Notes

o February 12: On Starships & Dragonwings - These Broken Stars

o February 13: Read Love Write – Reaper

o February 14: The YA Club – Rebel Mechanics

About the Author:


Ella Martin is an award-winning young adult author and self-described “prep school survivor” from Southern California. With a keen sense for combining relatable teen characters with engrossing stories, her books blend aspects of romance, angst, and intrigue. Her Westgate Prep series of books tackles female friendships, quirky characters, and sensitive topics with equal tact.


Social media links:

Website | Goodreads | Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Giveaway! 

Ella has graciously offered a copy of The Stepsister's Tale for a giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Discussion Review: The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett

Title: The Anatomical Shape of a Heart
Author: Jenn Bennett
Genre: contemporary, YA
Series: N/A
Pages: 304
Published: expected Nov 3 2015
Source: publishers via NetGalley

Artist Beatrix Adams knows exactly how she's spending the summer before her senior year. Determined to follow in Leonardo da Vinci’s footsteps, she's ready to tackle the one thing that will give her an advantage in a museum-sponsored scholarship contest: drawing actual cadavers. But when she tries to sneak her way into the hospital’s Willed Body program and misses the last metro train home, she meets a boy who turns her summer plans upside down.

Jack is charming, wildly attractive . . . and possibly one of San Francisco’s most notorious graffiti artists. On midnight buses and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who Jack really is—and tries to uncover what he’s hiding that leaves him so wounded. But will these secrets come back to haunt him? Or will the skeletons in Beatrix’s own family’s closet tear them apart?

Today, 

I'm hosting a discussion  of The Anatomical Shape of a Heart with 

Lyn from Great Imaginations!

Jessie: 

So this review is going to be a bit different. I don’t think that you and I have ever disagreed so noticeably about a readalong novel before The Anatomical Shape of a Heart or TASoaH as it will be henceforth be referenced because daaaaamn that is a long title.

Lyn: 

I do like the title that they gave it for the American release. Night Owls seems so overdone, you know? And I did love the hell out of the cover. It was pretty cute.

And I very much agree - usually we are on the same page, but on this one, it is going to be so contrasting! Okay, so, what made this a Jessie book?

Jessie: 

Not that I base all my ratings or reviews on this, but the ship. I loved the ship. I also liked Bex a lot -- I liked that she was imperfect, that she made mistakes (I did wish for a little more recognition of those issues, though) -- on her own, and Jack for his own merits. I liked that it wasn’t a typical YA love story. Bex isn’t bookish, or extraordinarily pretty, or an athlete or even that friendly. She likes drawing medical illustrations. She likes the dark, the macabre. She’s different, and memorable.

I also liked the way mental illness played into the central plot. It wasn’t handled perfectly (I know there’s at least one instance you’re going to touch on) but I loved the inclusion of that to the main storyline. I want to avoid spoilers but it was central to the novel and had a big impact on both characters.

Lyn: 

I will say the romance was handled well. I thought that Jack and Bex fit well together. But Bex was a huge turn off for me. I wouldn’t have liked her if I had known her in real life. I can’t stand that she just had this air of superiority and it wore on my nerves. I wanted to read more about Jack’s family or her brother’s story - a gay death metal fanatic?? SO awesome! So much better than a girl with a chip on her shoulder who thought she was better than every person she came in contact with.

As for the mental illness, they should have spent more time on that. I wanted to see more “bad days” instead of all “good days”. At least they gave the patient something more than just her illness. I wanted to see more of THAT side of the story. Hell, this should have been told from Jack’s POV.

Jessie: 

That is a fair point. Showcasing a wider range of mental illness and its effects would have been better and more honest. I also think you’re right that perhaps Jack had the better story here. Bex’s family issues are far more prevalent/seen and Jack’s is the more compelling. I also have to point out how sex-positive this book is. I loved that aspect. I love when a YA book isn’t afraid to go there, or be honest about how teens act and feel. TASoaH isn’t a perfect read, but it did a lot of things I liked: diversity, moderately healthy family lives, sex positivity, mental illness, etc. It may have missed the bullseye, but it’s on the target.

Lyn: 

This book was sex-positive, which I would love to see more of today, so it shocked me when there were some other issues in the book. For example, Bex said that soldiers only suffer from PTSD, not every day people. And when she was meeting with a mentally ill person, she said they didn’t have “crazy eyes”. Also, I’m very pissed that the author wrote about “fake boobs” on a woman that was hated and then had the “competition girl” in the novel fall into the typical “bad girl” role. It was so conflicting, and I’m really torn up that this book had so much potential just for it to have a positive message and then such a negative emotion regarding sexuality. Also, I’m not thrilled about the graffiti. The “reasoning” was weak, and I still didn’t give Jack a pass on that. It is irresponsible, and someone has to clean that up. It was the conflict of the messages that caused me to rage and rate the book a low rating.

Jessie: 

The PTSD comment was one I knew you would address because it also stuck out to me as so far off the mark. It’s incredibly inaccurate and harmful to victims to read things like that. It’s one of the main reasons I could not rate TASoaH higher. Maybe it won’t make it to the final version?

As for the other issues, I took those comments in the poor taste that Bex made them but saw them as example of her immaturity and need for growth. The Bex at the end of the novel is not the same one we met at the beginning; I remember her thinking about that “competition girl” in far more empathetic and understanding terms than she had previously. It wasn’t a perfect resolution, but life is imperfect and so are people. It was sadly realistic at first, with a natural and believable change at the end. I wasn’t the feminist at 17 that I am now, for example.

Lyn: 

I wasn’t either. That is the issue I run into at times: when YA has characters that act immature. Because it is realistic. I really couldn’t see Bex changing for the better, but people do surprise you.

I was incredibly disappointed that the anatomy angle wasn’t discussed more. I also struggled with the fact that Bex couldn’t face a dead body when she wanted to be a medical artist. There is such a thing as learning as you go, but it seemed like an excuse to push it to the side to make more room for the romance. She just mentions the cadaver drawings in passing each night, but then we have pages upon pages of the romance. I wanted to see Bex slowly get accustomed to her meetings in the lab, and I would have loved more about the actual drawing or just the bonding, but it all fell to the wayside, and it just frustrated me.

Jessie: 

Yes, this really was a YA romance novel more than anything else. I was surprised when the art blog was mentioned in passing a few times, or the award, but never a real focal point of Bex’s narration. I mean, I was there for the shippy feels so I am 100% not complaining, just surprised that’s the focus the novel took so heavily. I also now kinda want a book that just features Heath and Noah off doing random things?

Lyn: 

I would read the HELL out of Noah and Heath! Bex was the most nonfascinating character in a sea of some freaking AWESOME people!! I wanted SO MUCH MORE of Noah! Like, that book would be 5 stars right off the shelf! This book was a smash up of some awesome stuff and some very-not-awesome stuff. You might have just convinced me to give it 2 stars instead of 1. Because Noah and Heath = <3.

Jessie: 

I think anyone reading this can agree that yes Bex and Jack is a great ship but that Noah and Heath are OTP status.

Lyn: 

Okay, I don’t feel SO angry towards this book any longer. Just strong annoyance. The ship was cute, but Jack could do better.

Jessie: 

And you’ve made me reconsider a few of my easy passes for TASoaH. Yes, it’s good to see all kinds of diversity in lit, but accurate, honest portrayals of mental illness are paramount. They are necessary and a simplified, sanitized version isn’t cutting it. I went into this discussion with 4-stars in mind, but I don’t think TASoaH will keep all of them.

So, shall we call it? Final ratings?

Lyn: 

I give it 2 stars.

Jessie: 

I give it 3.

Lyn: 

I’m thrilled that we were able to address some of the things and see the book through a new pair of eyes.

Jessie: 

I will always love a good book discussion. People might not always agree on a novel or a character but it's so fascinating to see how someone else can interpret words and analyze them. It’s why the blogging community is so passionate, I think. Anyway.

Check out some of our other discussion reviews:

•  Madapple by Christina Meldrum
• A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston
• Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George
• Beastkeeper by Cat Hellise
• Black Iris by by Leah Raeder (with Kara, also of Great Imaginations) 
• Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst
• Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma (also with Kara of Great Imaginations and Bekka of Pretty Deadly Reviews) 
• Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfeld (also with Pixie of Great Imaginations)

Backlist Book Discussion/Review: Madapple by Christina Meldrum

Title: Madapple
Author: Christina Meldrum
Genre: contemporary, surrealism
Series: N/A
Pages: 410
Published: May 2008
Source: purchased
Rating: 3/5

The secrets of the past meet the shocks of the present.

Aslaug is an unusual young woman. Her mother has brought her up in near isolation, teaching her about plants and nature and language—but not about life. Especially not how she came to have her own life, and who her father might be.

When Aslaug’s mother dies unexpectedly, everything changes. For Aslaug is a suspect in her mother’s death. And the more her story unravels, the more questions unfold. About the nature of Aslaug’s birth. About what she should do next.

About whether divine miracles have truly happened. And whether, when all other explanations are impossible, they might still happen this very day.

Addictive, thought-provoking, and shocking, Madapple is a page-turning exploration of human nature and divine intervention—and of the darkest corners of the human soul.

For their latest Forgotten Fridays pick, the ladies at Great Imaginations selcted Madapple by Christina Meldrum. Pixie and Kara were not able to finish the book, unfortunately, but Lyn and I read the book this month, and got together for the discussion post! Thank you, Jessie!

Lyn: So! Madapple! Was it mad enough for you?

Jessie: Mad is a good word for it. I think there’s a lot of madness to be found in Madapple. Both as in “what the hell is going on with this girl and also with her mom” and also the emotion from the main character of Aslaug.

Lyn: I was expecting something a bit crazy from this one, since I have seen a few reviews talking about the level of intensity. And no one was exaggerating. This one was a total trip, and it was different and set up a character who was honestly sheltered and slightly on the lower end of the intelligence scale, which was wonderful. I’m sure that there was a lot working against her, and it does take a toll on young people when they do not get the proper amount of nutrients or medical care.

Jessie: I liked the unusuality of the POV used here. It’s honestly not one seen much in contemporary YA; in fact the whole feel, tone, and voice of this book is just very ~different from the norm. Add in the religious elements, the horticulture, and the unreliable narrator, it adds up to a really memorable experience. I can see why it’s not a book for everyone (there were admittedly parts where my eyes glazed over and I had to reread sections) but I liked that the author took some risks. Some aspects played out better than others, but I can say that Aslaug and Madapple weren’t ever predictable.

Lyn: I like how you pointed out that there was no predictability – I couldn’t stop reading this one because I kept thinking, “What the hell is going to happen now?” And then, the unreliable narrator. Have I ever mentioned before how much I love them? Because I do. I feel like the reader has to flesh out some of the other aspects while trying to decode what is really happening. This was one book where I didn’t have all of the answers, but I was okay with it, because in this story, I think that Aslaug was not the only confused, mislead person.

On the religion, I thought that it was going to be a big turn off for me, but I liked how the author was dissecting and exposing the center of manic religion in her texts. She all but admitted that most popular religions are recycled material, and how people use religion as a weapon, and not a tool. Most people are honestly in it for their own gains, and not for the goodwill of others. It was brilliant how the author was open ended yet very transparent in her own take on the inside world of fanatic religion. I thought it really added that extra tension and insanity to the plot.

Jessie: The religion angle was handled better than I expected but it also was pretty dry and lifeless. I liked that Madapple and its characters explored various angles and influences on Christianity and the effect of religion on people, but those were the sections that dragged the most for me. I found myself way way more invested in the cutaway chapters set during the child. Watching that second storyline develop as your understanding of the main plot continues was a really cool reading experience. It reminded me of The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, and that is a good thing.

I was pretty hands-off about the romance, though. It definitely was my second least favorite part to both the story and to Aslaug’s characterization.

Lyn: Oh, the “romance”. That was really difficult, and I thought that it almost worked. I can see the fresh angle that the author was working: Here we have a girl that was shut away from people her own age, so it was natural that a teenager who develop a strong crush on the first boy that paid her any mind, even though they were related. She used the crutch of “virgin birth” to justify her feelings, and even though she knew deep down that it was wrong, she had never dealt with proper socialization with people of the opposite gender. It was quite easy to exploit Aslaug due to her shut-away life. It creeped me out, but I understood that it could happen, and how everyone was using a lie to hide away from the ugly truth.

However, I lost a lot of, um, artistic respect for the “romance” because the author pushed so hard that it was never rape. If a girl is drugged, even if she shows interest in a guy, it is still rape, and it severely pissed me off that the author just brushed it off. I had to grapple with a lot of anger over this.

Jessie: See, my interpretation of the romance was different but I didn’t like it any better, hahaha. I didn’t think “virgin birth” was a crutch to Aslaug. I think she was so upset and confused, she genuinely believed it was an authentic possibility. I don’t think she had a motive or intentionally wanted to deceive but that her subconscious latched onto the easiest answer; the one her own mother had used herself to shield her own shame and anger and guilt over the circumstances of Aslaug’s conception. That part I didn’t mind so much. What I minded where the other three points you brought up: that Rune was the first man of her own age she had ever met, that they were related/raised together for a time, and that Aslaug could not give consent in the state she was in when the baby was conceived.

Those issues are massive, to me. I cannot support any of the romance for those reasons. It’s icky and gross and the fact that none of it is addressed by the author lowered my rating majorly.

Lyn: I hope I didn’t give the impression that I was condoning the romance, because, yes, it wasn’t there to “ship” characters, but as a prop for the “virgin birth”. But I have to totally agree with you. I would have given this book 5 whole stars if the rape was addressed. Aslaug called the right shot, and she was talked out of it, and when Rune still later denies that it was consensual, and a FREAKING LAW OF COURT DOESN’T ARGUE, then we have a problem. Even if she was not drugged, then I still would have called it rape – this girl had some real issues and could have easily been pushed or convinced that it was okay. The fact that she was drugged and it was never rightfully called “rape” shocked me. I was hoping to read in the last chapter that Rune’s ass was serving time for kidnapping and rape, but it was just glossed over, and I truly believe that a book aimed towards a young female audience needs to take more responsibility with issues of consent and rape.

Jessie: I also thought the finale was a bit cheesy and simple. The declarations of love! The reuniting! The happy ending! Well maybe it was not 100% happy; Aslaug will still have issues and their family is not a healthy one, but it wasn’t exactly fitting for the story that preceded it.

Lyn: That ending upset me as well. You can’t tell me that she was balanced and okay. I don’t like to tell people how to write their stories. But I can say I think in this situation, the child taken by social services and given up for adoption, and Aslaug slowly building a relationship would have been more realistic. I am also fairly certain that a person who went to court to testify that you murdered your mother, fully believing that it was true, would just turn the other cheek and accept the outcome. That isn’t rational or realistic. The ending didn’t fit with the overall darker, grittier tone of the novel. For the love of all things unholy, this girl was tied to a bed, raped, and forced into birthing a child, and then wasn’t even really allowed to be a mother. That isn’t just going to be cured with love or happy thoughts. That is years of therapy right there. That isn’t right to rig the ending for something sappy and light when the rest of the book was cold, cruel and shocking.

Jessie: Final rating? For me: 3 out of 5 stars. The mythology and the storytelling were top notch (and different! Norse!); I also liked the writing and the originality of this book and its off-the-walls plot. Just not enough to completely overcome the issues I otherwise had with Madapple. Meldrum has talent and imagination, that much is clear. I don’t know that I would rec this to every contemporary fan, but those who like darker edges to their YA would probably enjoy it.

Lyn: I think I am going to stick with 4. I loved the Norse mythology, the Danish, and the utter horrifying setting of the novel. But there were some HUGE ISSUES with this book.

Okay, I lied. I think 3.5. The more I think about the ending, the angrier I am becoming.

Check out some of our other discussion reviews:

• A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston
• Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George
• Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen
• Black Iris by Leah Raeder (with Kara, also of Great Imaginations) 
• Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst
• Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma (also with Kara of Great Imaginations and Bekka of Pretty Deadly Reviews) 
• Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfeld (also with Pixie of Great Imaginations)