BroodyBFF Challenge #4: Let’s Talk Sequels!

Today’s blog post is going to be a discussion. The topic is thanks to the #BroodyBFF's Challenge #4- Let's Talk Sequels!

The “trilogy curse” has been talked about a lot on Addicted to YA recently and honestly I agree. The author seems to use book two primarily to set up book three, instead of making them a bit more separate. Trilogies feel more rushed because they’re just trying to get the product out there. I’m kinda glad duologies are becoming a thing! That being said, there are some great sequels out there and some worlds I would love to know more about!

Great Sequels

Helm Abomination (Haven Awakening #2) by Gryffyn J. Phoenix

Gathering Blue (The Giver #2) by Lowry Lois

The Ring of Solomon (Bartimaeus #0.5) by Jonathan Stroud

The Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa (every book got consecutively better)

Script Kiddie (Assured Destruction #2) by Michael F. Stewart

Champion (Legend #3) by Marie Lu

Anticipated Sequels

Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) by Rick Riordan

The Winds of Winter (A Song of Ice and Fire #6) by George R. R. Martin

Phasma (Disney Star Wars Canon) by Delilah S. Dawson

Smoke in the Sun (Flame in the Mist #2) by Renée Ahdieh

Worlds I Need More Of

Harry Potter

Now hear me out! I would absolutely love an anthology book containing short stories/lore of the various other wizarding schools! How did they all get their start? What is is like going to school there now? I NEED day to day wizard student experiences and the histories behind their schools.

Inheritance Cycle

I could use an Angela spin off, a lore book, the golden age of the dragon riders, what Eragon is up to now… I need so much from Chrisopher Paolini!!!

Angela: Queen of Hel

She is such a cool character, with a great queer relationship. Thor's sister Angela is so witty and relatable- I love her comics so much. Queen of Hel shouldn’t have gotten cancelled and I need more.

What are your favorite sequels?

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Review: Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh

Flame in the Mist

by Renée Ahdieh

Publication Date: May 16^th 2017

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Source: Library

Find This Book: Flame in the Mist

Rating: 4.5/5

**Something I need to get out of my system before I review**

It’s kinda upsetting that this is being called a Mulan retelling. I’m not sure if the author has addressed this or not, but this isn’t a Mulan retelling. ‘Girl dressing as a guy’ is such a trope in YA books but nobody calls those other books Mulan retellings... it feels like the only reason people are saying that is because a ‘girl dresses like a guy in east asia' while totally ignoring that fact that the plot is nothing like Mulan and also ignoring the cultural differences of China (folklore of Fa Mu Lan) and Japan (setting of Flame in the Mist). Ahdieh did such a fantastic job of recreating Feudal Japan and it just feels so disrespectful to blanket her work like others have been doing. Fa Mu Lan is a woman warrior of Chinese Legend/Folklore. She was known for practicing martial arts such as kung fu, for being skilled with the sword, and for mastering archery before joining the Chinese army to fight invading nomads. She fought in the army for 12 years and returned home after it was over- all without ever being discovered to be a woman. Even if you want to compare the better know Disney film “Mulan” to this novel, the similarities stop at “woman disguised as man” which, again, is a pretty common trope in Fantasy and YA to begin with. This novel is so entrenched in beautiful Japanese culture that it’s genuinely upsetting for it to be called a ‘Mulan retelling’ seemingly only because they are both from East Asian settings.

Review Time

I don’t know why, but for some reason I thought this book was a standalone? So watching the pages dwindle down made me super anxious considering that there was still so much unanswered. Thank goodness there will be a second book! With hopefully a cover just as gorgeous as the first. Seriously- I adore this book cover!!!

I liked how blurred the lines between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ were for most of the book. It felt like the grey in-between was finally being acknowledged and that the protagonists and antagonists were that way because of circumstance and misunderstandings. A stand-off between the Black Clan and Mariko’s betrothed was honestly a bit of a let down because a clear ‘bad guy’ was defined. I liked the idea that each individual thought that what they were doing was best and that they all just happened to be on opposing sides and that was offset at the near end.

I also really  really liked Mariko as a main character (though the POV occasionally switched). Frequently in YA Fantasy the female main character acts like an idiot and is downright annoying to read for me. Take Meg from the Iron Fey trilogy or Clary from the Mortal Instruments as examples. This was not the case for Flame in the Mist! Mariko isn’t perfect but she generally did smart things and made decisions that I think I would have made if put in a similar situation. She fought and lied to protect herself, she didn’t get boy-crazy, there was no “insta-love”, and she even kept her budding feelings in check for the most part. She was curious and asked the right questions and knew the right time to ask them. Additionally, she made use of her odd and inventive mind and had great discourse about the place of women in society. She even had a healthy amount of doubt for everyone. She never trusted anyone on blind faith- even her family- which was enjoyable to read.

The other characters were cool and mysterious, and rightly so considering Mariko was meeting them along with us. Did I get as much detail and background information as I would have liked? No. But I’m sure we’ll be given more information in the next book! The book had some awkward pacing a points, and a bit of romance but very lightly romantic. This book also has some complex and a bit confusing political dynamics underlying the obvious political dynamics, so I hope that gets fleshed out later. With assassinations, tea and good food, magic, and samurai warriors- this book pretty much has it all!

Furthermore, it was so fantastic to see a book including a Feudal Japan lifestyle, weaponry, and culture. Bushido (the way of the warrior), Samurai and Ronin, honorifics, politics, mythology, Shoguns and Daimyos- these were all things I learned about and came to appreciate and respect through academics and my own research. I haven’t read a single other YA book like this and it was so rewarding to read and just know that this book now exists. Diversity is so important, *looks up at paragraph above where I had to distinguish between China and Japan*, especially in children’s books. The glossary at the end defining Japanese words and ideas is a great learning tool for this book as well. Kids need to be able to see themselves, their cultures, their pasts, and learn about other cultures in literature in order to create understanding and acceptance at their age. As an East Asian minor, I hope to discover more novels like this because it was fantastic and so rewarding to experience all I had learned now outside of the academic setting. Honestly, this book was so hyped up and I think it lived up to the hype. Excited for the next book!!!

Review: Grit by Gillian French

Grit

by Gillian French

Publication Date: May 9^th 2017

Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher

Find This Book: Grit

Rating: 2.5/5

*****CW: RAPE, SEXUAL MANIPULATION BY TEACHER, SLUT-SHAMMING, SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, KIDNAPPING/DISAPPEARANCE*****

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for honest review.

This book was a disappointment to me. It feels like it barely scratched the surface. I don’t read a lot of contemporary, so it was refreshing in that regard, and I enjoyed Darcy and reading from her perspective. Darcy is slut-shamed throughout the book which isn’t really warranted and was upsetting the whole way through. Even her aunt trash-talks Darcy in her own home. It was disgusting to read those scenes to be honest. I hate her aunt so much. The ‘tragic’ backstory of her aunt does not excuse her present behavior. Though apparently it does to the characters within the novel. All of the characters were flawed in their own way but there was so much going on it was hard to find a main plot or point. Darcy’s ex-best friend is missing, Darcy’s dad is dead, Nell’s father left her family before she was born, there’s rape, and sexual manipulation of a teacher to a student… there’s a pageant thrown in there, it’s a lot going on at once.

I think the slut shaming was done in semi-good taste. Slut-shaming by the main character is so prevalent in books these days that it was fantastic to read about the damage the rest of YA protagonists inflict. Darcy gets so much crap from everyone around her based off of rumors. Nobody ever listens to her truths and she takes the brunt of it to protect those she cares about from getting similar harassment. Hopefully a learning lesson for young readers to just keep an open mind about their peers.

What really disappointed me was that the rest of these issues aren’t actually addressed. Most of the events happen before the start of the novel, and the novel is Darcy living her life harvesting blueberries in Maine as secrets slowly spill out. It felt weird not knowing what all the horrible secrets were until the end of the novel. It didn’t leave any room for doing something about all of the secrets, or moving forward, or opening the discussion up for readers. It mostly felt like these serious issues were just quick plot points- aka my disappointment. The secrets-revealed-the-end sort of thing doesn’t work with stuff this huge.

The author says one of the characters may have been depressed and suicidal in one sentence and then never brings it up again. It needed to be addressed. Similarly, the rape happens and then it’s never brought up again with any sort of resolution. They even have to encounter their rapist multiple times throughout the book pretending like nothing happened. And the rapist is so casual and oblivious about how encountering him makes her feel. This was the biggest issue in the book for me, primarily because the other problems got more ‘screen-time,’ the whole town knew about them, and felt more resolved. This rapist is walking around and nobody knows and it’s implied that nobody will know. It was very uncomfortable to read. The victim doesn’t really take the time to address her situation either because they’re dealing with so many other people’s problems too. Suicide, kidnapping, sex, alcohol, rape, and teacher manipulation are deep and important issues. It felt like the least the author could’ve done is go in a bit more, hash out the problematic stuff, and leave the reader more fulfilled. Not closure per-say, but with more doors opened for discussion about these issues instead of just making them feel like plot points.

The author had the opportunity here to really do some good and bring light and understanding to tough situations, and I was really let down by how it turned out. Sure the book was more complicated and in-depth than I’m making it sound, pretty much all the characters are realistically flawed and have reasons for being problematic. I also don’t think I could really expect the author to do much more while still being under 300 pages, but I’m dismayed that the author created this platform… and then just did nothing with it.

Review: Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy

Ramona Blue

by Julie Murphy

Publication Date: May 9^th 2017

Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher

Find This Book: Ramona Blue

Rating: 3.5/5

This book's review is a bit scary for me, as I feel a bit vulnerable when I compare it to my own experiences. I think it's so important that conversations like this have been allowed by the doors this book has opened, but it's sensitive to all. Be aware and be kind.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for honest review.

The first half of this book was absolutely great for me. The spaghetti-o’s were cute, Grace was cute, the summer fling was cute. Ramona’s problems with Grace’s confusion and reservations was emotional and powerful. Ramona’s mother was disheartening, but real. Even Hattie’s struggle, which is not relatable to me in the slightest, still felt relatable. It was when the self-declared lesbian kissed a guy that I became super scared about the rest of the novel. I’d heard so many good things about this book, I was really looking forward to it. How could people not warn me about a lesbian finding the guy to “turn her straight”?

As a confused sexuality-fluid female myself, I was super worried about where this twist was going. Is the author going to make this one boy invalidate all of Ramona’s past relationships with girls? I didn’t think I’d make it through a book about that. Maybe Ramona was Bi? Fortunately for me, Julie Murphy emphasized Ramona’s love for this person because of the person and everything they mean to her, not really taking gender into account. This then left me wondering if Ramona was Pansexual or Demisexual. What was super powerful for me was Ramona’s internal struggle with sexuality. Did her love for this guy mean that she liked guys? Or was it just this specific guy? And every time she kissed him, she said she felt like she was betraying her old identity. Death by a thousand cuts to the Ramona who thought she had it all figured out in high school being a lesbian in Mississippi. I can’t count how many times the same thoughts have gone through my head. I’m a cis female, dating a cis male, that is probably seen as a heterosexual relationship to everyone. If it’s not visible does it even count? Does this mean I am queer enough for LGBTQ+ clubs, safe spaces, pride marches etc.? It can feel like people feel like I’m an intruder, which of course makes everything even more confusing. This is what saved the book for me. Ramona doesn’t label her sexuality by the end of the book. She hasn’t figured herself out yet and maybe she never will, but the point is that the pressure to have a label has been removed. And maybe it will help fellow confused queers not feel pressured to label themselves as well.

What brought this book down the stars is how long it took Ramona to be her own person. The whole book is spent following her sister Hattie around, picking up the pieces and trying to keep things together. While I can respect that, every single person in her life tells her that that’s not the destiny that’s set in stone for her. The future is still up to her and she could go to college after graduation if she really worked for it. While money is obviously an issue, it saddened me to watch Ramona counter everyone supporting her, and shut down any possible future that wasn’t staying in Eulogy, working 3 jobs, and living with her sister in the trailer park. In life, you really only need one person supporting you: yourself. Ramona didn’t even have that which made the book really hard to get through for me. I could only end up reading a couple chapters at a time because of this mental block Ramona has.

I thought this book was going to disappoint me, but it ended up pulling through. The ending was comfortingly bittersweet. I can appreciate how Ramona is going to figure out her sexuality, her career, her relationships etc. as she goes along. She’s finally come to accept that the future isn’t set in stone and that she has a life to live- a super important message. Honestly, if Ramona wasn’t her own worst enemy, and if the writing didn’t originally indicate that this guy was going to ‘turn Ramona straight’ as her mother had hoped, it definitely would’ve gotten a better rating. While the payoff was worth it, the author put me through a lot to get there.