Falling into Fantasy: Reviews of Graceling by Kristen Cashore and Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug. When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.

Graceling had me from the first line: “In these dungeons the darkness was complete, but Katsa has a map in her mind.” Cashore writes elegantly and seemingly effortlessly. I couldn’t put it down once I started, I was so completely absorbed in this fantasy world. As someone who has studied political science, I appreciated the dynamic between the seven kingdoms and the different types of rulers. The concept of “graces” and the way they are revealed (a person who has been bestowed with one will have two different color eyes) was original. I love how the gifts that people are “graced” with evolve over time and are not always quite what they seem. The mix of the mundane with the fantastical (you could be gifted with a talent for swimming or telepathy) was intriguing.

Katsa is an amazing character and full of depth. Though the story is written in third person, it was a very close third (limited completely to Katsa) and I felt like I really knew and understood her desires, her motivations, and ultimately, her actions. Contrary to a typical YA heroine, she isn’t interested in pretty dresses or romance. Her views on marriage and relationships are admittedly extreme and I have read many reviews that take issue with that and even go so far as to claim that Cashore is pushing her feminist man-hating agenda on young readers, but I didn’t find this to be the case. While I disagree with a lot of Katsa’s logic about how marriage and children would limit her power and agency, I understood that was just Katsa’s view, and it was evident in the text why she held such beliefs. Others have criticized Katsa for her abrasive attitude, but it is easy to see how someone who has been conditioned that her gift to the world is her deadliness would push even those she loves the most away.

Oh, and don’t get me started on Po because it will be difficult to stop gushing. I am not prone to fall in love with fictional heroes. I want to slap Mr. Darcy and would present Edward with a protection from stalking order. But Po, oh Po. Who wouldn’t fall for a guy who has one gold and one silver eye and is covered with intricate tattoos? But it isn’t just his physical description that made me fall in love with him. He has honor and patience. I dare you to try and resist his charm.

The plot was exciting and gripping, and while not quite as action-packed as The Hunger Games, the quality of the prose more than made up for it. I’m eagerly awaiting my chance to check out Fire and Bitterblue, also set in this world.

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself.

The tag line for Daughter of Smoke and Bone is “Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well.” This is almost a misrepresentation of the book, because these creatures aren’t exactly angels and devils. I did decide to read this book because I am fascinated by angels—Angelology by Danielle Trussoni is a favorite of mine—but had been disappointed by the first YA “angel” book I read. The hugely popular bestselling Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick seduced me with its gorgeous cover, but the book is perhaps the most terrible one I have ever finished with a milquetoast heroine and a nonsensical (nonexistent?) plot.

So how pleased was I discovered Karou and her world? Very.

Laini Taylor’s imagination is wonderful, glorious, and many other superlatives. I want to crawl inside and spend a day looking at the world through her eyes. Which I guess I got to do when I read this book!

Her prose is lush. Her words don’t just describe–they let us feel and taste and hear and smell the world she’s created. I’d normally be rolling my eyes at the purple prose, slashing through similes and metaphors and adverbs and adjectives with a red pen. But Laini Taylor’s words are magic–strung together like Brimstone strings together teeth.

Karou is a fantastic character. I wanted to have goulash with her at Poison Kitchen. I want to sit in life drawing class with her. I wanted to go on errands around the globe with her, opening doors that are portals into other worlds.

And as much as I loved this story and reveled in the language used to tell it, a few things held it back from being a 5 star book for me.

The structure of the story bothered me. The first half is all present day, forward motion, from Karou’s perspective, with short blips from Akiva’s. It didn’t feel balanced for me. Then, a large portion of the second half is a flashback, a story within a story. While I loved the magic and fairy tale quality of the story, it didn’t “flow” for me, if that makes any sense.

I am usually not a fan of insta-love, and Laini Taylor has the only believable or (justifiable) excuse for it, but I still wish I knew more about why Karou and Akiva fall in love, what they see in each other. I wished Karou had retained her spunk after meeting the love of her life. She seemed much more fun at the beginning.

I thought this was a great take on star-crossed lovers and loved the inventive mythology and gorgeous prose. I have high hopes for the sequel, Days of Blood and Starlight.

Both Graceling and Daughter of Smoke and Bone are fantasy worlds I loved falling into—are even worlds I would want to live in (or maybe just wish I had created). I recommend them for any readers of fantasy, even if you don’t typically read YA, and I do feel they are both suited for a more mature teen audience.

Writing Prompt: Light Up the Sky

Feel of Fact

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“The imagination is in love with the feel of fact.” – John Bayley

In high school, I had an eccentric English teacher who often spoke in contradictory terms and used circular logic. She had this analogy for explaining paradox that goes like this. Pretend two ideas are socks. When you role them up, the pair is something else, no longer individual socks. The phrase “pair-of-socks” was somehow supposed to help us remember the meaning of the term. In the end, she confused the hell out of me, and, paradoxically, limited my understanding of the term. Really, explaining a paradox is simple: it’s the contradiction that reveals a larger truth.

If only my HS English teacher had used this video to explain paradox, then even my slower classmates might have gotten it.

Fiction is a paradox; it is the lie that must feel like a truth. Whether we write contemporary, realistic fiction, high fantasy, science fiction, or historical romance, we are all inviting readers into a world we create, hoping they believe in the truth of the story. The moment a character behaves illogically, the moment our world doesn’t make sense, belief starts to crumble and readers lose interest. As much as we want to be swept up in a story, we also demand that it feel real.

Characters

For our characters to feel real, they must have quirks and habits, but be more than just the sum of their idiosyncrasies. Readers need to understand the motivation for their actions. They must have a believable backstory. This doesn’t mean you have to spell it all out. Less is more (another paradox!) It’s okay to use stereotypes sometimes—they exist for a reason— but often they are most effect if they include a reversal of expectations. If as we get to know a character, they are revealed to be layered and multidimensional, that they were first introduced as a stereotype can actually increase their power.

Plot

In the news, it’s the bizarre and inexplicable that grabs headlines (or something that is so self-evident as to seem un-newsworthy, but some people love having their expectations confirmed). In fiction, we expect things to make sense. Nothing throws me out of a story more quickly than a easy-out plot trick. Characters need to work for their goal. The conflict must be logical, not contrived. And this is my biggest pet peeve, particularly in a certain kind of YA novel—characters should have a reason for falling in love.

Sometimes I find it absurd that I offer writing advice—me, an unpublished aspiring author with no formal creative writing training. Perhaps this is the paradox that we must all start from: “I know that I know nothing at all.” Socrates had a point there, and once we acknowledge that, real discovery can begin. This is the only knowledge I have of fiction: that it must feel true.

* (I’ve seen this quote attributed to John Bayley two places. The New Yorker and The Guardian.

Beautifully Broken: A Review of Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

Allie lost everything the night her boyfriend, Trip, died in a horrible car accident—including her memory of the event. As their small town mourns his death, Allie is afraid to remember because doing so means delving into what she’s kept hidden for so long: the horrible reality of their abusive relationship.

When the police reopen the investigation, it casts suspicion on Allie and her best friend, Blake, especially as their budding romance raises eyebrows around town. Allie knows she must tell the truth. Can she reach deep enough to remember that night so she can finally break free? Debut writer Jennifer Shaw Wolf takes readers on an emotional ride through the murky waters of love, shame, and, ultimately, forgiveness.

I volunteer as an advocate for survivors of domestic violence. Our agency’s new initiative this year was to raise awareness on teen dating violence, so I am well versed in the dynamics of these kind of relationships. Jennifer Shaw Wolf has done a fantastic job portraying an abusive teen relationship in a very realistic manner in Breaking Beautiful.

Trip is the boy who could do no wrong. Handsome, athletic, popular, and his parents are the powerful players in their small seaside town. When Allie movies permanently to the town her mother grew up in and that where she spent summers with her grandmother, she’s flattered to be his boyfriend.

But as the story unfolds, we realize that they are not the perfect couple, and now that Trip has died in a car accident that Allie can’t remember, she can’t tell anyone about the abuse she experienced. The town, and particularly Trip’s father, begin to suspect Allie of foul play.

Not only is this story an accurate portrayal of an abusive relationship, it’s a well-plotted (if not exactly surprising, in the end) mystery.

Trip slowly isolates Allie away from her friends and family and seeks to gain control over her. He hits her, but not where people can see and always apologizes afterward, showering her with cards and gifts. He doesn’t see his treatment as wrong because he has a sense of masculine entitlement. Classic abuse.

Not only has Wolf done a great job at portraying abuse, I’m also happy to see a character who has a challenging disability but is still well-rounded and not a caricature. Allie’s twin brother Andrew has cerebral palsy. He’s an integral part of the story and not relegated to the sidelines.

It’s hard to be in the head of an abuse victim, but I thought Wolf captures Allie perfectly and though it’s rough for a while, we see her grow and change. I sympathized with her very much. It’s easy to wonder about abuse victims “why do they stay?” but Allie’s internal thoughts give us a glimpse into the mind of someone who has been continually knocked down by an abusive partner.

While I’m sure this happens all the time, I was particularly saddened by how distant Allie was from her parents and how blind they were to her obvious symptoms of emotional and physical abuse. Parents (and others who have a lot of interaction with young adults), pay attention to what they aren’t saying, not just what they reveal!

Though in the end, I had the plot lined figured out half way through and wasn’t that surprised by the ending, it was still an enjoyable and emotional read. We are all beautifully broken, and despite the trauma that Allie has endured, in the end, I feel hopeful for her. I recommend this book to fans of contemporary young adult literature with a hint of mystery and romance and to anyone wanting to gain insight into survivors of teen dating violence (and particularly those who work with teens).

The Dusty Bookshelf

I work at the library, so I spend a lot of my time surrounded by books. On my day off I still often find myself downtown browsing my local used book store. (It happens to be right next door to my favorite pizza shop).

It is so full of books they are stacked haphazardly on the floor, so it’s quite possible to dig through and find hidden treasures.  Mister BS collects vintage paperbacks with absurd titles or intriguing cover art, so I always check out the spinning rack of old mass markets. They sell postcards and t-shirts from Out of Print, a company that prints classic book covers on t-shirts and donates a book to Africa for each one sold.There is a vintage Royal typewriter that works, and you can type out on a note if you’re so inclined.

Oh, and don’t forget, they have a cat. I understand people have allergies or just don’t like cats so we can’t have a cat in the library, but it still disappoints me. One of the things I love about downtown is the number of shops with cats. There’s an annual competition for the best shop cat, and it’s generally neck and neck between Stanley from Sunflower Bike Shop and Alice from The Dusty Bookshelf.

My favorite way to spend an afternoon is browsing this book shop. Even when I’m on vacation, I like to check out different booksellers. Some favorites include Russian Hill Bookstore in San Francisco and Harvard Book Store in Cambridge and Tattered Cover in Denver.

Where’s your favorite bookstore?