Saturday, February 1, 2014

THE SELECTION and THE ELITE



Author: Kiera Cass

Age: Teen

Like so many other current teen sci fi novels, this is a less well done knockoff of The Hunger Games, but with the unique twist of Hunger Games meets The Bachelor. (Come on, you know you’re intrigued now.) In a post-American dystopian society with a strict caste structure, the heir to the throne always chooses his bride through a televised contest open to women from any caste.

Far removed from the glamour of palace life, ball gowns, and TV cameras, the only fantasy America Singer (yes, that’s really her name) has ever harbored is to marry her beloved best friend, Aspen (again, really his name), and share life’s trials with him. And there will definitely be trials—if she marries Aspen she will be forced from her already low caste (musicians and artisans) into his even lower one (servants). However, when the nation of Illea’s current prince comes of age and a new Selection is announced, Aspen does the honorable thing and breaks up with America, urging her to fill out an application for the Selection. America is cute enough but doesn’t think of herself as anything special so it is a shock when she is one of 35 young women chosen to live in the palace while Prince Maxon (also, yes, his name) narrows down his choices.

America just wants to get through the contest, hopefully use it to improve her family’s life a little, and then get back to Aspen. But of course, her disdain for the whole process captures Maxon’s attention, and, of course, she finds herself falling for him too. Her feelings become even more conflicted when Aspen (the one who pushed her away!) gets himself a job as a palace guard.  

These are not fantastically well-written books (I have to fight the urge to take a red pen to much of the dialogue—I check them out of the library or else I might actually do it) but they make for good, quick, guilty pleasure reads. AND if you hang on to about halfway through the second book, The Elite, the plot actually thickens a bit, which is a pleasant surprise! As America grows closer to Maxon, she learns secrets about his family and about his ancestor, the founder of Illea who instituted the caste system. Maxon gains some depth as well, which was also a nice shock—the more we learn about him, the more he starts to look like he might be the villain, and America begins to trust him less even as she begins to fall for him (and for the power she might hold to enact change as queen) more.

The final book in the trilogy comes out in May and I can’t wait.

THE LUXE



Author: Anna Godbersen

Age: Teen

I have seen this in bookstores a million times but only just got around to reading it, so I apologize if I’m very much late to the party with this one. If you are the type to spend much time in the YA section, I am sure you’ve seen it too—the striking cover features a young woman in an enormous pink ballgown, and it is supposed to be the turn-of-the-century (the nineteenth century) answer to Gossip Girl. I have tried multiple times to get into Gossip Girl (is it embarrassing to admit that?), always without success, so maybe that’s why I was slow to read this. However, I found it to be a quick, enjoyable, and reasonably clever read.

The Luxe is set among the high society of 1899, a strict culture of rules to be followed and appearances to be maintained. Our story opens with the funeral of 18-year-old society belle Elizabeth Holland, who was last seen falling into the Hudson River (body never found). Following the prologue, we rewind to one month prior to the accident and are introduced to each of five protagonists: Elizabeth herself; her younger sister, Diana; her best friend/frenemy, Penelope Hayes; Elizabeth’s fiancĂ©, Henry Schoonmaker; and her lady’s maid, Lina Broud. As the story of the next month unfolds, the chapters alternate among the point of view of each of these five teens. (The narration remains in the third person throughout, which is a relief, because unless well-done—e.g. The Poisonwood Bible—switching first-person narration can quickly become confusing.)

What I found most intriguing about the format was that when we are introduced to Diana, Penelope, Henry, and Lina, each has a clear motive for Elizabeth’s murder. (What a group of friends!) Diana feels stifled by her family’s expectations and irritated by her sister’s “perfection.” The nouveau riche Penelope resents the fact that old money Elizabeth moves more easily through old society. Henry’s thoroughly enjoyable playboy existence is threatened by his father’s insistence that he settle down with a respectable bride. And Lina is growing increasingly bitter about the limited life of a servant and the fact that the man she loves seems infatuated with their mistress. As the plot progresses, none of them can be ruled out as suspects—in fact, each character’s motive is only strengthened by the passage of time and further interaction with Elizabeth. Not only that, but Elizabeth’s own potential motive for suicide is developed as well. I am a sucker for a good whodunit, and the addition of historical atmosphere, illicit romance, family secrets, and money troubles only made this book more fun.

The Luxe does have multiple sequels, which I am excited to read, but it was also fairly self-contained. This sort of thing is important to me, since my primary reading time is between about 11 pm and 2 am, and I hate hate HATE to stay up that late to finish a book only to have it end on a cliffhanger.

You may also enjoy: Downton Abbey, the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray (A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, The Sweet Far Thing), the Time Travelers quartet by Caroline B. Cooney (Both Sides of Time, Out of Time, Prisoner of Time, For All Time), Agatha Christie

ME BEFORE YOU


Author: Jojo Moyes

Age: Adult

The plot, in brief—a love story about a quadriplegic and his caregiver—seems like it would be either terribly sappy or horribly depressing. In fact, it is emphatically neither. There are parts that might make you cry, yes—but on the whole it is more funny and real than anything else. The main characters are drawn in such a way that you feel empathy for them instead of pity. And the supporting characters, mostly family members, are multidimensional and real as well—each flawed in their own ways but also loving and lovable. This was a difficult book to put down.

Before the accident that left him unable to perform even the simplest tasks without assistance, Will Traynor was a powerful young businessman with a penchant for risk taking, world travel, and beautiful women. Louisa Clark, on the other hand, has always preferred to stay within the narrow comfort zone of her tiny village and her plodding routine, going nowhere and interacting with no one beyond the circle of her family; her long-time, rather dull boyfriend; and the regular customers at the tea shop where she has worked for years. When the tea shop unexpectedly closes, she is left without the small income that her family (mother, father, aging grandfather, annoying sister-who-was-supposed-to-be-the-brainy-one-but-got-pregnant-and-had-to-drop-out-of-college, and young nephew) depend on to help make ends meet. Job opportunities in her village are slim. In theory she is lucky to find a position as caregiver/housekeeper/babysitter for Will—it’s that or the chicken factory!—but he is cranky and verbally abusive and she can’t really stand him.

Of course, over time the two warm to each other. As Louisa begins to understand how Will has struggled to come to terms with the loss of his former life and independence, she transforms into a woman on a mission—to help Will find the joy in life again. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that as each brings a fullness to the other’s life that was lacking before they met, they each also come to fear that the other’s lasting happiness cannot be achieved without sacrificing their own feelings.

  
What to read after this: If you find yourself in need of a more “conventional” British romance, I suggest the works of Sophie Kinsella…guaranteed to make you laugh but NOT cry. :)