fiction – Page 4 – Readcommendations

by Cindy L. Rodriguez

Reviewed by SA

I am always nervous when I pick up YA novels (I say pretty much the same thing every time I start a review of a YA), as it is so hard to find a book that defies formula, breaks into new territory, and rips your heart out. Guess what? When Reason Breaks (Cindy L. Rodriguez) is most definitely a great novel. Plus, it’s a diverse book!

Two sophomore girls come from different worlds. Emily is the sweet, smart daughter of a lawyer/politician father who controls most aspects of her life; she loves her friends Sarah and Abby, and her boyfriend, Kevin. Elizabeth is a dark goth girl whose father has recently run out on, making her the ‘basket case’ of the school, with anger issues and a tendency to draw dark pictures. When their English teacher, Ms. Diaz, places them together in class, they grow together over a love of Emily Dickinson, whose poetry will push them to reconsider many aspects of their lives.

The novel deals with the harsh topics of mental illness and suicide, while drawing parallels between the lives of the two young protagonists and Emily Dickinson herself. It will have your heart racing, your hands stuck to the cover, unable to put the book down.

Full disclosure; for the first half of the novel, I wasn’t convinced about if I liked it or not. I found the protagonists slightly pretentious, slightly predictable, and I felt as if I had seen them before. But as the plot progressed, I realized that the feeling of familiarity came from the fact that I did know people just like them. I recognized their thoughts and feelings as those I had myself felt, or had experienced second hand as I stood alongside a friend through a tough time.

It was honestly the end of the third act (if you would want to call it that – you’ll know what I mean when you read it yourself) when the book grabbed me. The book begins with a dark chapter, after which the novel then takes you back eight months, to show what series of events has brought them to this point. Just like Ms. Diaz, I made assumptions about this moment; when I saw that I was wrong, my entire perception of the book shifted. My heart raced as I realized… “I am part of the problem,” a scary thought. I suddenly saw the novel in a different light; when I finally finished it, I had to put it down, stare at the ceiling, and think everything over in my head. Just… wow.

But what made it so much more interesting was the introduction of Emily Dickinson as the inspiration for the women. During the course of the book, the protagonist offer different interpretations to some of the most famous poems, making them their own. And after the novel ends, the author offers insight into the life of our favorite lady poet, showing us just how every character reflects part of her past. It’s fantastic how she is able to do this without making the book feel like a perfect replica of Dickinson’s life, or preachy in any way: it’s subtle.

It was an actual emotional roller coaster; it reminded me of Thirteen Reasons Why (Jay Asher), crossed over with The Breakfast Club. I recommend tissues!

When Reason Breaks comes out February 10th.

Oh look, a book trailer!

By Reif Larsen Reviewed by SA Stop everything and pre-order I Am Radar (Reif Larsen), because you can’t spend another second without having read this book. This novel is fantastic, and just might be my new favorite book – ever. I would like to say that it was as if Kurt Vonnegut wrote “Cloud Atlas”, but at the same time, it’s practically impossible to put the feeling I had reading this book into words.

Brief, spoiler free summary: In 1975, during a blackout, a boy is born coal black to a white couple, and the child is named Radar; during the second world war, a group of Norwegian teachers create a society of artists and scientists that puts on radical performances in wartime; a man creates small puppet shows in black boxes in Serbia, so incredible you may think they are alive; and a child is found on a rubber plantation in Cambodia, his adoptive father deciding to raise him to be the greatest physicist the country has ever seen. Spanning decades and crossing the globe, I Am Radar takes you on an unforgettable journey, bridging art and science in an epic novel you will be unable to put down.

It’s a difficult plot to explain, because of how character driven this novel is. Just like Miro with his small black boxes, Larsen seems able to breathe life into his creations, giving every character incredible depth and dimension. I felt deeply connected to everyone I was introduced to, even minor characters, which made switching from one part (or perspective) to the next almost painful. Remarkably, the characters grow and change, a reminder that we are never the same person through our lives, and that life is unexpected, and will throw anything at us. Never before have a read a book where I was so aware of what made the characters tick.

To add to the realism, the author often ‘sources’ his facts, using photos, newspaper clippings, and other physical ‘evidence’ to support what his story. It blurred the line between fact and fiction, making me wonder where the truth ended and the story began. It makes the reader want to research for themselves, to see if any of these people really existed, or if the events ever happened.

But the best part of this novel for me was the melding or science and art. The artists use puppetry – think less muppet, more Royal de Luxe – to create both installation and performance pieces, using incredibly skilled techniques, pushing the limits of science to create beauty. These performances are told to us in such detail that we ourselves can imagine being there, and we can interpret these fictitious events for ourselves as true works of art, transcending the page. I wish I would have seen the ‘Conference of the Birds’ act for myself. I guess that’s why I came our of reading this book feeling the awe that I did: it was an incredible read, and I want to share it with everyone. I want to talk to my friends about the performances, as if they had actually happened, and what they would mean. I want to meet the author and say… Wow.

I Am Radar comes out on February 25th.