Jane, Unlimited

I'm sorry, but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't finish it. Don't you hate when that happens? I hate when that happens. First, I feel like I'm missing something when I don't finish a book. And I am,  because obviously I don't know the resolution. Second, because I'm not getting what everyone else seems to get. I start thinking, am I reading it wrong?

But there are too many good books out there for me to spend time reading books I don't enjoy. I tried for almost 100 pages of this 443 page book. I really did. What gets me is that this book was inspired by (and pays homage to) Rebecca and Jane Eyre. I LOVE THOSE BOOKS! HOW DID I NOT LOVE THIS ONE?

I really think that was actually part of the problem--it felt like the characters were behaving as if they were in the 1800s/1900s but also as if they were contemporary, and I couldn't tell what the time period was supposed to be.

Jane's an orphan who has been living with her adventurous aunt for most of her childhood. But she's grown up now, and her aunt has died. Before she died, she extracted a promise from Jane: if she was ever invited to Tu Reviens, she was to accept. Jane doesn't understand why, but she agrees. And then her high school tutor, Kiran, invites Jane to Tu Reviens.

Well, the weird thing is that as you learn about them, you can tell they're not even friends. They barely know anything about each other. Kiran is distant and cold. So why did she even extend the invite? Then they arrive at the house and there's an odd assortment of other characters with weird relationships to each other also there, and I never could really figure out why. The relationships between characters felt very abrupt. Not in their development--most of them have known each other for a long time. It just feels hard to understand why they're there. They don't seem to like each other. It also feels like the Clue movie--a bunch of people assembled together for a reason and they all have their own agendas. I expected the butler to come out and say, "There was a murder!" Never happened, but there was a priceless piece of art stolen.

So this was originally supposed to be a choose your own adventure story. It was revised, but what you have is a kind of introduction to the characters and setting, and then 5 different choices (for Jane) that end five different ways. I didn't get that far, so I don't know what actually happened. I finished the intro, but couldn't bring nyself to read the rest. I didn't like the main character--she was rude. When I don't like a main character, I have trouble with the book as a whole. I mean, it seems silly because there are legit bad (not badly written, but bad) characters out there. I don't like them, but they're at least riveting and that makes the story better. I didn't feel the same about Jane. So this was a bust for me. It makes me sad.

But! On to bigger and better things! Well, at least better...

The Program

Wow, The Program was unique. And infuriating. And terrifying. This is a whole new type of Dystopia, people.

In this world (one not too far distant from our own), depression and suicide are an epidemic. Something like one in four teens commit suicide. Sloane knows this fact intimately after her older brother committed suicide, and there was nothing she could do to stop him.

To battle this epidemic, an organization called The Program arose. The Program has the cure, or so it advertises. But the teens who walk out its doors are shells of the people they used to be.

No teen wants to be taken into the program. When teens come out, they don't remember their friends. They don't recognize them. They're kept separated. They have handlers who stay with them for weeks. But, every day at school, teens have to fill out an assessment that asks how they feel. And if there's a wrong answer-or god forbid a tear leaks from your eye at any point--you could get flagged and taken to the Program. 

Obviously, Sloane gets taken into the Program. And she's pissed about it. And I was pissed too! Sometimes when you're reading, you get such a sense of frustration by what is happening to the character. Sometimes, I cry because I'm so frustrated that a character has no way out of a situation. I cried for Sloane.

For weeks, these "psychiatrists" are sucking her memories away--everything that is important to her aand that makes her HER--and she knows it's going to happen but doesn't realize it's happening. Does that make sense? It will if you read it. And it's infuriating! Because if she doesn't take the pills that keep her complacent, they'll just inject her with the meds. So there's no way out.

I didn't love it. It wasn't the best Teen book I've ever read. But I'm glad I read it. It's kind of a classic. I might finish the series if it comes up. I did feel a lot of emotions throughout it. A lot of anger. Sadness. Irritation (come on Sloane, can't you tell you're being duped here?). There's a classic love triangle, but it doesn't really feel like one for most of the book.

All that was pretty jumbled. Sorry-I haven't  blogged in a while and just wanted to get it all out so I wouldn't keep procrastinating. 👍 Happy reading!

Wonder Woman: Warbringer

First of all, guys, Leigh Bardugo is my queen. I love everything she writes. I'm going to a signing of hers later this month and let's all hope I'm not PMSing at the time because there will be happy tears. I'm stupid excited.

Second of all, I don't even care about DC all that much because all of their movies have been trainwrecks. But Wonder Woman was amazing. AMAZING!

So to have my favorite author write such an amazing story in my favorite genre: heaven, ya'll.

In Warbringer, Diana knows that she has a powerful legacy to live up to, and she feels wholly inadequate to it. She's the only one on the island of Themyscira who hasn't earned her place there. All of the other women have died and cried out to a goddess at their death. Diana was born there. So she has a lot to prove, but few chances in which to do it. Her mother won't let her leave the island on a quest, so she tries to prove it by winning a foot race. Because you don't enter a competition to lose.

But the path she takes leads her by the sea,  where she sees a ship sinking and hears a girl cry out. It is punishable by banishment to bring someone onto the island, but Diana cannot just stand by and let someone die. Obvs.

So she brings her to the island, only to find out from the oracle that this is no ordinary human: she's the Warbringer. A being around whom tensions run high and fights break out. Helen of Troy was the first Warbringer, and she passed the gene to women in her line as generations passed. And we all know what happened with Helen...

Alia has no idea she is the Warbringer. She's just a Greek/African American girl from a wealthy family that is beset by threats. So she is protected by security continuously, especially after her parents died and her older brother took over care of her. So Alia was not supposed to be on this ship in the Mediterranean (where I assume Themyscira is). She did it to be free for once. And see how that turned out? Rebellious teenagers get into all kinds of scrapes.

Diana learns that the ony way to prevent Alia from starting World War 3 just by being alive is to find the resting place of Helen of Troy. So begins a journey to Greece, on which they are joined by Alia's brother, Jason, his best friend Theo (also Alia's lifelong crush) and Alia's best friend Nim. And the whole way, different factions are chasing them to kill Alia because no one wants World War 3 and obviously the only way to prevent it is by killing an innocent 17 year old girl. Y'know, for the greater good and all.

What's the most amazing about this book is how epically diverse Bardugo made this cast, despite this story being a primarily Western (caucasian) one. Alia and Jason are biracial, Theo is Brazilian, and Nim is Indian and unabashedly gay.

What's not to love about this?

You get to see Diana in the modern world. The island has tons of books (even modern ones) and women from all time periods, so she's not totally behind the times, but it's different seeing something than reading about it. Hilarity ensues. And Diana is, of course, inhumanly strong, so her first meeting with Jason is pretty fantastic.

There's just so much winning with this book. If you love YA, strong female heroines, clever dialogue, and/or superheroes, you will love this book.

I feel like I want to read it again...

Like, tomorrow...

Should I do it?

Warcross

Typically I'm pretty lukewarm with Marie Lu. I read the Legend series and it was good. Well written, good story, great characters--but I just didn't get into it the way I do with some YA books. I listened to The Young Elites, her other series, and same thing. I'm going to finish it for sure, but I just don't feel the same way when I read it as I do when I read Victoria Aveyard or Leigh Bardugo.

I totally got into Warcross. All the way. It was fantastic! Anyone who loves computers, gaming, virtual reality, and bounty hunters will love this.

Yes, I said bounty hunters.

That's what Emika Chen is. An 18 year old bounty hunter. When her father died two years before, she didn't jave many options for survival (prostitution was one). Not that the bounty hunting gig is necessarily lucrative. She's going to be kicked out of her apartment by the end of the week if she doesn't figure out a way to pay the last three month's rent. And she's figure out a way to do it.

She's going to hack into Warcross, an international virtual reality game where teams compete against each other to attain higher levels so they can compete in the annual international competition. The power ups players earn can be sold in the real world, and the one Emika has her eye on is worth a good $50,000. But she has to hack into the most viewed competition in history to get it at the exact moment one of the players tries to hand it over. And she does! But she glitches herself into the game and EVERYONE EVERYWHERE SEES HER!

I mean, how do you get out of that?

Apparently by getting hired to play Warcross as an undercover bounty hunter. The creator of the game, Hideo Tanaka, needs someome to hunt down the person who's been breaking into his game and and changing it, leaving behind little messed up pieces of code. And he's offering $10 million to the person who does it. He thinks Emika has a good chance.

Seriously, I care nothing about gaming (as my husband can attest), virtual reality, hacking or any of that, and I still devoured this book. It was spectacularly written. Emika is so badass. Her teammates are awesome and know how to give a hard dose of the truth. Hideo is brilliant and standoffish, and thus immensely attractive. The villain is well-developed and sympathetic and multi-layered as all villains should be. The book also gives a scary glimpse into some potential dangers of technology, which is made all the scarier by how possible it is.

I was lucky enough to get this as an ARC, but it comes out this Tuesday, so you don't have to wait long for it.