Category: young adult

Review Chess Not Checkers by Tony Lindsay

Chess Not Checkers by Tony Lindsay is a young adult novel that follows Thaddeus Adams, a 15-year-old mixed-race boy who fears for his life after he and his friends James and Jesus jump Earl Jacobson, their bully and a member of a local gang.

Thaddeus was likeable, but at times infuriatingly dumb, and I had to keep reminding myself he was only 15. I also liked James and Jesus; they rang authentic and reminded me of people I knew growing up in Northwest Detroit. However, most of the other characters weren’t that fleshed out, such as Thaddeus’s father and his brother Daniel. And I found his self-hating mother to be completely unlikeable and her 180 at the end of the book unbelievable and hollow.

And speaking of endings, toward the end of the book, it devolved into melodrama worthy of a soap opera and the ending was anticlimactic as hell. As for the writing itself, this book could have used tons more editing as it was full of typos and clunky, redundant sentences.

I wanted to give this book a higher score as I liked Thaddeus’s journey, but the faults I mentioned above dragged it down. I give Chess Not Checkers 3 out of 5 stars and suggest you request it from your library.

View all my reviews

Review: Skin of the Sea

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Introduction
Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen is a YA West African-inspired novel about Simidele “Simi”, a Mami Wata ( a West African mermaid), who is charged with ushering the souls of those who die in the sea to the land of the dead. Mami Wata have two rules they must follow: never save anyone and never fall in love or they will turn to sea foam. Simi breaks both rules when she saves Adekola “Kola”, the son of the chief of Oko, who was captured and thrown overboard by slavers.

In saving Kola, Simi upsets the cosmic balance and must go on a quest to find two rings to summon Olodumare, the supreme god of the orishas, and beg his forgiveness. If she fails, it’ll be the end of her and the other Mami Wata.

The Good
I loved the world building, the lush imagery and prose, and learning about the various orishas, the yumboes (fairies), and other creatures of West African cultures. I also liked that the romance between Simi and Kola wasn’t the focus, like in so many YA novels. It was also a joy to see Black characters in a fantasy setting, as it’s a genre not known for being diverse.

The Bad
That said, this book just wasn’t for me. Bowen spends so much time world building that the plot is an afterthought. It isn’t until sixty pages in that inciting incident takes places, then the plot lurches along at a glacial pace until the last fifty or so pages, when everything kicks into high gear.

The problem with this is two-fold. First readers are forced to slough through chapters were little to nothing happens, aside from all of Simi’s flashbacks. Second, by trying to cram half a book’s worth of plot into the last fifty pages, the writing is rushed, and the plot threads are resolved with Deus ex machina after Deus ex machina. This made me feel like the book wasted my time, when it didn’t bore me.

Moreover, all the characters lacked any depth. Simi spends most of the book being the cliché amnesiac, trying to recall her past life, that I never got a sense of her personality, if she had one. And the other characters don’t fare better. Kola is the stereotypical hot-headed young warrior, Bem is the strong silent type, Ayinka is the try-hard girl power warrior often seen in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, and Issa is the annoying little brother type who wants to prove his manhood.
I felt nothing for theses characters, so when the bodies piled up at the end of the book, I just shrugged.

Another thing I took issue with was the inclusion of the African slave trade in this book. You mean to tell me Bowen created this fantasy world whole cloth, but couldn’t imagine a world in which Black people weren’t enslaved by Europeans?

Come on!

The Verdict
Overall, I give Skin of the Sea a 2.0 out of 5. Check this out if you’re into West African-inspired YA, but rent it from your library instead of buying it. I might read the next book in the series when it comes out, but I’ll rent it from my local library.

View all my reviews

Review: Beneath the Citadel

Introduction

Beneath the Citadel,” by Destiny Soria is a fantasy YA novel set in the city of Eldra, where everything is dictated by prophecies that always favor the council that rules the land.

The book opens with the main characters being sentenced to death for trying to sneak into the citadel, and picks up with their escape.

Characters

The main issue I had with the characters was a lack of development because you’re never in one character’s point of view long enough to get to know them. And this combined with a lack of distinctive voices for each character left me confused as to who was who most of the time.

Mostly my impression of them were–Newt is the contortionist with an abusive childhood, Alys is the brains of the operation, Evander is the joker/moral support, Cassa is the hot-head impulsive one, and Vesper is just a plot device so that the ending works out the way it did.

This wouldn’t have been so bad if we stuck with one character throughout the story, but no less than six characters get point of view chapters, and in each of them few if any new information or details are revealed, while the same information gets covered ad nauseum.

If the events being covered were more interesting, this wouldn’t have been an issue.

Overall, this would have been a far more enjoying book had Ms. Soria either limited the point of view characters or told the story from an omniscient point of view so there was no need to retread the same information.

Plot

The story itself sounded interesting, but it lacked in the execution. Because of the issues with point of view characters that I mentioned above, any momentum the story builds is wasted by the often-pointless shifts in the point of view character. That is, when we’re not forced to slog through chapter-long flashbacks of details that should have been incorporated within the story proper.

Moreover, for a story that bills itself as a fantasy, the world building was threadbare with concepts and terms thrown at you with few explanations until later in the book.

Moreover, it is yet another book set in pseudo medieval Europe. Seriously, give this a rest. There are so many other places you could set a fantasy.

The other issue I had with the plot was that it started on such a bang and then was uneven as hell. Things would happen and then because of the flashback chapters everything slowed to a crawl and didn’t pick up for several more chapters.

By the end of the book, I just didn’t care about the characters.

Conclusion

Overall, I give “Beneath the citadel” three out of five stars. It’s not the best book, but I’ve read worse. Check this out at your library if you insist on reading it.

Beneath the Citadel Destiny Soria

Kidults: YA, Arrested Development, and A way Forward

Introduction

Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Mortal Instruments, and Twilight, these young adult series have topped the Best Sellers’ list and generated billions at the box office.

Not bad for kids’ books, huh?

But what is young adult?

What YA is and isn’t

Depending upon who you ask, young adult (YA) is an age range for books, a genre unto itself, or both.

Generally, YA is targeted at readers between twelve and eighteen, ( though as you will see, the readership skews older in many cases), and focuses on teenage characters as they begin exploring their world, deciding for themselves who they are, what they want to be, and how they fit in or don’t as the case often is.

However, merely having teenage characters in a work doesn’t make it YA. Unless the growth and emotional experiences of the teen characters is the primary focus, then it’s just an adult story with teen characters.

Not Just for Kids

One of the staples of YA novels is the coming of age tale, and as such, readers of all ages can relate to them.

This is partially why, according to a 2012 study, over 55% of YA readers are over the age of eighteen, and some estimates have put that figure as high as 70%.

This raises the question why adults would want to read books for kids.

Why YA?

You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.
― Madeleine L’Engle

An overlooked answer is YA novels are well-written books that pull on the heartstrings of readers of all ages.

I admit to being a recovering Potter Head, and I’m sure many of you out there can say the same.

The truth is just because a book is for kids, doesn’t mean it must be simplistic.

Many times YA books have been at the forefront of addressing social issues like sexual assault, bullying, teen suicide, and police brutality against people of color, while adult novels have lagged on these issues.

Moreover, because the pressure to write a “grownup” book has been taken off them, YA writers can and have produced works that are genuine and heartfelt.

Isle of Misfit Toys

Another reason YA is so appealing to older adult readers, is that they are adrift in a world they don’t understand, much like the teen protagonists in these books.

Parents told us Millennials if we worked hard, got decent grades, and went to college, we could be whatever we wanted and have a good life. Except in many cases what happened is we did all that and now have a mountain of student loan debt and jobs that have little to nothing to do with our majors because capitalism doesn’t care about your dreams if they aren’t marketable.

Add on to this the economic collapse of 2008 and depressed wages, and is it any wonder many of us would rather spend time in a fantasy world where we don’t have to deal with “adulting”?

The Greatest Generation Ever

As I alluded to above, many millennials grew up with their parents telling them that they could be whatever they wanted, and in many cases that they were special and great at whatever they did.

So, once they got out into the real world and discovered that not only weren’t they the greatest things ever, but that they were barely above average, there were much butt-hurt to be had.

It’s only natural they’d turn to stories were the average kid turns out to be the chosen one or special in some way, because the truth of our mediocrity is too much for many of us to bear. So, we grab the latest YA novel and forget we’re adults for a while.

But there comes a point when we must put away childish things and be adults.

The Family that Reads Together

I would be remised if I didn’t point out that many adults read YA so they know what their kids or grandkids are reading, and in some cases, they will read YA books and then pass them on to their younger relatives.

There’s nothing wrong with this, and this can spark conversations between older and younger readers about how they see the world.

However, the problem lies in adults who use YA novels as a crutch to avoid real life.

So how can this change?

A Way Forward

New Adult (NA) is an emerging genre that focuses on college-aged and post-college-aged protagonists that are dealing with the growing pains of entering the adult work force, having their first serious relationship, and finding their place in the world.

This genre shares many of the same characteristics as YA, except the problems the characters face are more complex than which boy or girl will go with them to prom.

If more publishers published YA, then more writers would write it and this would go a long way to giving adult readers healthy books to read.

And when I say healthy books, I’m referring to unhealthy things such as how during the height of the Twilight craze, women in their thirties and over proudly flaunted their crushes on Edward and Jacob. Teenage characters.

Moreover, by not moving past these teenage protagonists and their immature problems, adult readers of YA stay stuck in a juvenile mindset.

Conclusion

I’m not throwing shade at all adult readers of YA. Read what you like.

I’m merely pointing out that these books are supposed to be for teens, and by reading them, some adults are choosing to reject reality in live in a state of arrested development.

This isn’t good for anyone.

Yes, read about Harry, Catniss, Clary, and Bella, but then go outside and be a part of the real world. Because the only way the world will change, is if we participate in it.

Call to Action

Do you agree or disagree? Tell me why below.

If you liked this post, share it on social media and click here to join my mailing list.

kidult millennials YA

Why Dystopian

Introduction From the Hunger Games, to The Divergent Series and shows like The Walking Dead, dystopian fiction

is riding a wave of popularity, but what is it about this genre that draws people to it?

Uncertainty

Given the times we live in it’s easy to picture how things could go wrong. While the US economy has recovered from the crash in ’08 many people still struggle to make ends meet, and fears abound about the implications of the Chinese economy slowing down, as well as the possible exit of the UK from the EU.

Moreover, the cost of going to college continues to rise, saddling students with thousands of dollars in debt that must repaid after graduating into a ever fierce job market. It’s gotten so bad some people forego college all together and instead go into the skilled trades. And it seems everyone is fed up with the state of American politics and the direction the country is going in to becoming a plutocracy.

Where There is Life There is Hope Given all these issues it’s no wonder people turn to stories about how bleak the future will, but at their core dystopian stories are about the strength of the human will to endure the darkest time and fight for a better future. Even in the most crap sack world there is hope for the future otherwise there would be no point to the story. It’s this hope for a better tomorrow that people find comfort in and gives them a renewed outlook on life.

Viva La Revolucion Often times in these stories it falls on the protagonist and his/her cohorts to take on the powers that be and reform the society. And we root for these underdogs because secretly we wish we could too take on the status quo and shake things up, but we’re afraid of the consequences. History has shown revolutionaries have short lives. But still we wish to have the power to change the world, which is another reason we turn to dystopian stories.

Conclusion While dystopian stories appeal to readers for different reasons, at their core they celebrate the endurance of the human spirit and the will to find hope in the darkest of times, and fight for what you believe is right.

dystopian The Divergent Series The Hunger Games The Walking Dead

Phoenix Diaries Update

Good morning,

I hope all is well with you this Friday as you’re gearing up for labor day weekend. I’m going to my parents house and I’m a bit scared because I’m going to show them my writing for the first time.

I’ve been sharing more my writing with the critique group I’m part of and figured it was about time my family read some of my work. It’s part of what Jeff Goins calls performing in public.

Anyone can write but the only way to get better is by showing it to other people. This is why I’ve set a goal to finish the first draft of Paligenesis, book one of the Phoenix Diaries by my birthday which is in a bit over two weeks’ time.

After this I plan to switch over and rewrite/edit my first book Pinky&The Brain and then begin work on Phoenix Diaries Book Two: Ouroboros. Also I have two pieces which I plan to submit to Writer’s Digest Magazine for their column Five Minute Memoir.

For those of you who have been keeping up with the story thus far expect chapter 15 and 16 to be posted to silentbutcudly.com this weekend. Instead of making you guys wait so long between chapters I’ve decided to break each chapter into smaller parts and post those every other day or so at nifty.org so as to build a following and get my name out there more.

Well later and again enjoy the weekend.

No Man’s Land : The Case for More Male Protagonists in YA

When you look out at the Young Adult market you see an over saturation of books about females. As a male reader I have no problems with female protagonists, as long as they’re likable, independent and the story is enjoyable. However the majority of Young Adult novel I’ve seen have all been about contrived relationships, as if that’s all the matters.

Sorry but I can’t stomach another paranormal romance, or a girl who moves to a new town and meets the hottest guy ever. Maybe it’s because I’m approaching my thirties and am too jaded by this point. But would it kill you to have stories without trite tropes like the ubiquitous love triangle, or the girl who falls for the bad boy or the deep, mysterious guy?

The reason I like stories with male protagonists is because they don’t get bogged down in pointless soap opera dramatics over who likes who, unless its a male/male romance which I have tons of issues with for the same reasons, but that’s another post for another time.

If female readers crave these types of stories, OK more power to you, but don’t expect me to like them. I have zero patience for characters whose only obstacle is which hot guy to go out with. Give me a rock solid, humorous, and enjoyable story that’s well written and I couldn’t care less if the main character were a gelatinous blob from Uranus.

What I do take issue with is this notion that males don’t read as much as females thus why the YA market is dominated by books about females. Has it ever occurred, that this is only true of a segment of males and not the group as a whole. And that the reason could because there are so few YA books for them?

It’s not just the romance angle or books about cancer and dying that turn many guys off. It’s the lack of stories about what it means to be a male in our modern society.

This isn’t a call for women to “Get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich.” It’s a call to all those out there who want to criminalize male behavior as inherently sexist. Just as women needed and have created their own spaces, so to do males. The problem is any space designated male only is now labeled misogynist.

When guys get together it’s not the He-man women hating club that many make it out to be. By and large we just want a place we can be ourselves without worrying about saying or doing something wrong and being branded the worst person in the world, ever. Yeah we can be rude, crude, and idiots at times, but at our core we just want to have fun.

I’m all for equality which is why I think female authors should be more inclusive of male readers. After all male authors are expected to do the same with female readers. Sure keep the romance, but make it a subplot to an interesting story if you expect us to read it.