These Winds and Tides

For my third book of the 2010 YA Lit Reading Challenge, I chose Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. I was pretty excited about reading it, because a lot of my friends (whose taste in books is usually right in line with mine) really enjoyed it.

To sum up, this book is about 16 year old Nora Grey, who is unexpectedly seated next to the mysterious Patch Cipriano during Biology one day. The more Nora gets to know Patch, the less sure she is that she even wants to know him. He’s cocky, he’s got a dark side, and he’s got a very strange way of showing up everywhere Nora happens to be (including the ladies’ room). Nora soon deduces the true nature of who (and what) Patch is, and finds herself thrown in the middle of a battle between good and evil that she is not sure she is capable of handling.

This is a review that I’ve written and re-written over and over again in my head. It’s hard to write because I did not love this book. I am attempting to be diplomatic in my dislike of it because, again, several people whose opinion I trust, literary-wise, enjoyed it.

However, I had multiple issues with it. First and foremost, although I know a lot of people would find Patch to be mysterious and sexy, I found him to be creepy and stalkerish. Finding out the truth of what he was didn’t do much to help his case in my eyes, either (SPOILER: he’s a fallen angel – he fell to earth because of the lust he felt for a human girl). He comes across as very predatory towards Nora, and it generally did not make me comfortable with the relationship that developed between the two.

Secondly, Nora’s BFF, Vee, was infuriating to me. Sure, she’s a typical boy-crazy teenage girl. However, she’s also got an impulsive streak that seems to put boys and excitement far above her own (or Nora’s) safety. I spent a good portion of the book hoping Nora would sit her down and have a good heart-to-heart with her about some of her more self-destructive behaviors, but that never happened.

I also got an uncomfortable feeling that the book placed a higher priority on lust and sex over more important things. Fitzpatrick is never what I would call explicit in her discussion of sex, but it is a pervasive theme throughout the book. It’s the subject the Biology class is studying when Nora and Patch first encounter each other, Patch makes it a point to make sexual innuendoes whenever Nora is around, and there is even one (highly laughable, to me) scene towards the end of the book where Nora manages to get trapped in a seedy hotel room with Patch wearing nothing but her camisole and panties. I’m not what I would call a prude, but I just think that, for a YA book, there was a bit too much emphasis on the carnal aspects of life.

One thing I did enjoy about the book was that Nora seemed to have a real relationship with her mother. Her mom wasn’t really presented as being out-of-touch or “uncool,” as I’ve noticed seems to be a trend lately in YA lit. Her mom does leave Nora on her own quite a bit, but it’s presented as something that is a necessity (she works out of town so she can afford the payments on the house Nora grew up in after Nora’s father is mysteriously murdered), and they have very believable interactions when her mother *is* around.

In the end, I cannot say I would recommend this book. Again (yes, I am repeating myself, I know), I know a lot of my friends enjoyed it, but I personally did not find it enjoyable. I know there is a sequel in the works, but I do not plan on reading it.

I read the description of this book and immediately decided that it sounded like what would’ve happened in Twilight if Jacob had won. Boy, was I wrong. And that’s not a bad thing.

Shiver is the story of Grace and Sam, a girl and her wolf. Sam spends every summer human, but, due to being attacked by a werewolf as a child, changes forms into a wolf at the first hint of winter. He lives in a forest that backs up to Grace’s house, and has kept watch over her for several years while in his wolf form. Sam and Grace never really manage to connect during his human moments, but are finally introduced when he is injured during a wolf hunt following an attack on a local boy. They fall in love (of course) and spend the waning days he has left in his human form trying to solve his wolfy problem before he changes into a wolf for good.

First of all, this was a very beautifully written book. As I mentioned earlier, I originally thought I’d see a lot of parallels between it and Twilight (normal girl falls in love with a supernatural creature, etc.), but the book it more reminded me of was The Time Traveler’s Wife. Without all of the explicit sex and stuff. I’m not normally one to tear up during a book (JK Rowling is, to this day, the only person to make me bawl during a book), but I did sniff once or twice at the end, so it’s safe to say that Stiefvater is very good at evoking an emotional response. So, I enjoyed it for that reason.

The only real issue I had with the book was how adults are portrayed in it. Grace’s parents are emotionally absent, and often physically absent as well (hence Grace’s ease in hiding a boy in her room in an attempt to keep him warm so he doesn’t turn into a wolf and all). There’s really only one strong parent character in the book, and that’s Beck, Sam’s father figure in his pack. In general, adults are portrayed as flighty, weak-minded, superstitious, or just plain absent. But, in the end, that’s really the only glaring problem I had with the book.

I would recommend this book for the older YA reader (15 and up). There are some fairly intense moments between Grace and Sam that probably would not be appropriate for the younger reader. There is also some disturbing imagery regarding Sam’s parents and his past that would probably frighten younger readers. Otherwise, it is a beautiful story, and I am looking forward to its sequel, Linger, when it comes out later this year.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve entered a YA Lit Reading Challenge for 2010. My goal is to read 25 YA Lit books over the course of the year. I’m hoping I surpass that goal, but we’ll see.

In any case, my first selection this year was Fire, by Kristin Cashore. It’s a companion book to her earlier book, Graceling. Since I loved Graceling, I thought this would be a good choice.

The events in Fire take place (by my best guess) approximately 25-30 years prior to the events in Graceling. It is set in a place called the Dells, which is an area that is shrouded in mystery to the people living in the Seven Kingdoms (where Graceling took place). There is one common character in the two books (the nefarious Graceling Leck), but otherwise, we get a whole new slate of characters.

Fire, the main character, is considered a “monster” by the people of the Dells. Known by their ostentatious coloring (Fire’s name came from how her hair is colored – I kept imagining Hayley Williams’ hair when reading), monsters are variants of normal humans and animals that have a taste for human flesh and telepathic abilities that help them lure in their prey. Naturally, most of the people she encounters are terrified of her. However, Fire is somewhat repulsed by what she is and is determined not to give in to her more natural (and slightly evil) inclinations.

Eventually, Fire is summoned to the court of King Nash in order to use her abilities to help thwart a coming war between those loyal to him and those loyal to two opposing lords in the Dells. This leads to an internal struggle on her part, since she has vowed never to use her abilities, because the only other human monster she knew (her father) never used his abilities for good. I won’t give away what happens, but let’s just say lots of action, lots of intrigue, and lots of romance follow.

In the end, it was a very enjoyable read. I like Cashore’s writing style, because although these books are written for those from the 14-16 year old range, it never seems like she’s “writing down” to that reading level. I do think I liked Graceling more, but that’s because I think I liked the characters better in that book. Katsa was such a strong female lead character that I think she’s a hard act to follow. Fire is strong in her own right, but she just seemed to need rescuing a bit too often for my taste (I call it the Bella Swan Syndrome).

I would recommend Fire for those who are looking for a good modern fantasy novel in the 15-17 year old range.