Review: Undertow (Michael Buckley)

Title: Undertow
Series: Undertow, Book 1
Author: Michael Buckley (site)
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 5, 2015
Genre: Young Adult Speculative Urban Fantasy
Told: First Person (Lyric), Present Tense
Content Rating: Older Teen (intense situations, violence, sensuality, death, child abuse, a few words of language)
Format Read: ARC (trade)
Find On: Goodreads
Purchase On: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Lyric Walker’s life is forever changed when she witnesses the arrival of 30,000 Alpha, a five-nation race of ocean-dwelling warriors, on her beach in Coney Island. The world’s initial wonder and awe over the Alpha quickly turns ugly and paranoid and violent, and Lyric’s small town transforms into a military zone with humans on one side and Alpha on the other. When Lyric is recruited to help the crown prince, a boy named Fathom, assimilate, she begins to fall for him. But their love is a dangerous one, and there are forces on both sides working to keep them apart. Only, what if the Alpha are not actually the enemy? What if they are in fact humanity’s only hope of survival? Because the real enemy is coming. And it’s more terrifying than anything the world has ever seen.

Action, suspense, and romance whirlpool dangerously in this cinematic saga, a blend of District 9 and The Outsiders.

*          *          *

In a Sentence: An intense speculative urban fantasy about racism and the importance of family and identity.

I was initially attracted to this book because I thought it was about aliens, so imagine my surprise when the aliens instead turned out to be a nation of underwater beings who emerge from the ocean. While I was a little disappointed (I'm on an alien kick right now), I was impressed with the imagination behind the unique and unusual race, and once I started reading all disappointment about aliens was forgotten.

This was a seriously intense story that like its namesake sucked me in and would not let go. Written in an edgier style that brought the grittier setting to stark life, the all too realistic story was a pressure-cooker of tense situations and frayed nerves as two square miles of walled and guarded Coney Island became ground zero for an implosive case of racism. But despite revolving around heavier subjects of fear, child abuse, death, government control, racial segregation, violence and war, among others, the story was remarkably not as oppressive as it could've easily been and the book was a rush of a read with a surprising twist of "magical" powers near the end. After so much heavy realism the powers were a bit fantastical, but the explosive climax had good movement and description and was thoroughly entertaining - I could definitely see this book being made into an epic movie.

Lyric was a wild thing suffocated by her situation. Due to her father's overbearing nature to protect his family, and Lyric's own fearful self-preservation, she had to rein in who she really was to slide under the radar. But what she was at heart could not be contained, and when it mattered she was fierce about fighting for her friends and family and what she felt was right. Fathom, driven by family and tradition, made for an intriguing character and even more intriguing love interest. He and Lyric had really great chemistry so their scenes together were the highlights of the book for me, although sadly there were few and Fathom got disappointingly little screen time. Bex was a good if wild friend for Lyric that, while her life mainly fed the heavier subject matter, also added some essential "everyday" diversion from the broader conflict. The Alpha were a diverse species of unique and imaginative beings with intriguing features and powers, and although I'm not usually one for creature-like people they were too interesting not to be fascinating and I enjoyed getting to know them (even the creepy ones).

Conclusion: While not quite what I was expecting, this book proved an extremely intense and engrossing read I did not want to put down. Highly recommend for spec fic, dystopian, post-apoc and sci-fi readers. The first in a trilogy, I look forward to reading Book 2: Raging Sea (releasing February 2, 2016), soon!

For Fans Of: Speculative Fiction, The Twixt series by Dawn Metcalf

Scribble Rating: 

4.5 of 5 Scribbles

Review: The Leveller (Julia Durango)

Title: The Leveller
Series: The Leveller, Book 1
Author: Julia Durango
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: June 23, 2015
Genre: Young Adult Action-Adventure
Told: First Person Singular (Nixy), Present Tense
Content Rating: Older Teen (some language, violence, scary situations, phobias, innuendo)
Format Read: ARC (won - thank you, Brittany!)
Find On: Goodreads
Purchase On: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
Summary:

Nixy Bauer is a self-made Leveller. Her job? Dragging kids out of virtual reality and back to their parents in the real world. It’s normally easy cash, but Nixy’s latest mission is fraught with real danger, intrigue, and romance.

Nixy Bauer is used to her classmates being very, very unhappy to see her. After all, she’s a bounty hunter in a virtual reality gaming world. Kids in the MEEP, as they call it, play entirely with their minds, while their bodies languish in a sleeplike state on the couch. Irritated parents, looking to wrench their kids back to reality, hire Nixy to jump into the game and retrieve them. 

But when the game’s billionaire developer loses track of his own son in the MEEP, Nixy is in for the biggest challenge of her bounty-hunting career. Wyn Salvador isn’t some lazy kid looking to escape his homework: Wyn does not want to be found. And he’s left behind a suicide note. Nixy takes the job but quickly discovers that Wyn’s not hiding—he’s being held inside the game against his will. But who is holding him captive, and why?

Nixy and Wyn attempt to fight their way out of a mind game unlike any they’ve encountered, and the battle brings them closer than either could have imagined. But when the whole world is virtual, how can Nixy possibly know if her feelings are real?

*          *          *

In a Sentence: A short and stellar action-adventure for gamer and non-gamer alike!

Confession Time: I've never played a video game. My parents encouraged reading instead, and by the time I was old enough to purchase them myself I decided I'd rather spend my money and time on books (parental brainwashing = complete). The closest I can claim to ever playing one is an old Mother Goose computer game at daycare (which I rocked at), and maybe a few deaths on a friend's Super Mario Bros once. All that said though, the concept of video games fascinates me, so when I found out about this story I was super-excited to read it!

Writing/Story: Coming in at just over 250 pages, part of The Leveller's charm is how short it is. Because of it, the plot gets straight to the point so we can enjoy the thrills (and chills) of the virtual reality gaming world, the MEEP. The action was short and sweet, powering through levels and obstacles without a word wasted while the description effortlessly painted its pictures with just a few vivid sentences, the world easily visualized in my head.

Setting: Set mainly in virtual reality and centered around gamers, I was a little worried about not understanding all the lingo, but Julia made this book completely accessible to gamer and non-gamer alike. I may have missed out on a few inside jokes but didn't notice, and I really enjoyed learning more about gaming and the culture.

I did have a slight problem with the real world, however. As far as I'm aware, we are still far from the ease of virtual reality that is shown in The Leveller. Never a worry with futuristic fiction, but while the MEEP resided leaps and bounds from current technology, the rest of Leveller's world did not. I noted no other advances - to the tech or anything else - and in fact the general vibe of the story (while really fun) seemed more retro than the few decades into the future that I assumed this was set in. I wasn't expecting drastic changes, but a few more other than the MEEP would've been completely plausible. We spent little time in the real world though, so I was able to overlook it for the most part.

Characters/Romantic Relationship: Nixy was sassy and snarky and I adored her. She showed great initiative and courage, going where grown men feared to tread to feed her college tuition. When she stumbled she picked herself back up, and it was simply a lucky break that she ended up with a cute boy in the end. Said cute boy Wyn was charming and easygoing and I liked him, and although I'm not quite sure I fully bought into Nixy and Wyn together I'm willing to roll with it and reserve judgment for the next book since their relationship really had very little time and opportunity to grow into much of anything.

Favorite Bit: The language cheat. In tense and seemingly unfair situations, swearing is bound to happen, but instead of subjecting readers to the usual words the author gave Nixy a proclivity for foreign swear words. She didn't abuse them though, which made me enjoy them even more.

Conclusion: A thrilling and chilling read that I recommend for anyone who enjoys a quick action-adventure virtual reality story! Really looking forward to the sequel!

For Fans Of: video games

Scribble Rating: 

4.5 of 5 Scribbles

Review: Relax, I'm a Ninja (Natalie Whipple)

Title: Relax, I'm a Ninja
Series: I'm a Ninja trilogy, Book 1
Author: Natalie Whipple (site)
Publisher: Whipple House (self-published)
Release Date: June 3, 2014
Genre: Young Adult Supernatural Action
Told: First Person Singular (Tosh), Past Tense
Content Rating: Teen (sensuality, violence, fighting, a few words of language)
Format Read: Paperback (purchased)
Find On: Goodreads
Purchase On: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
Summary:

A Clan of ninjas in San Francisco may sound improbable-but as the son of a ninja Master, Tosh Ito knows what lurks in the shadows of his city. Or at least he thought he did. When a killer with a poisoned blade starts cutting down teens, Tosh enlists Amy Sato-newest ninja recruit, and his best friend's crush-and sets out to uncover the killer's identity. What they find is ninjutsu more evil than they could have ever imagined. As Amy and Tosh grow closer, they discover their connection unleashes a legendary power that could stop the murders. Problem is, that power may be exactly what the killer is looking for, and wielding it could cost them their souls.

*          *          *

Why I Read It: It's by Natalie. And about ninjas. Why would I not read it??

Three Words: Action. Romance. Ninjas.

Series: This is the first in the I'm A Ninja trilogy. While it concludes on a "this fight is definitely not over" note, it has a complete story arc and a tidy ending.

Writing: Natalie's signature easy writing and therefore easy reading style, which worked even better with the laid back male voice of Tosh. Well choreographed action, engaging description, smooth dialogue.

Setting: San Fran! I personally know nothing of the city other than it's ridiculously hilly, but it read very realistic and there was just enough of the setting weaved in to give a good atmosphere but not bog the story down in description.

Story: Fun and light despite all the fighting and stabbing and killing. It had a very manga flavor to it, which as a mangaholic I personally loved. There was a little bit of everything - action, romance, humor, school drama, friend drama, secret societies, high stakes, mad ninja skillz. It read like a breeze, even for a slow reader like me. The plot unfolded nicely and the mystery of the spy kept me guessing.

Characters: Tosh was the perfect balance of strength and insecurity - and a nerd to boot! He was a gentleman and a sweetie, and while he could be a bit of a clueless jerk at times it wasn't intentional and he always regretted it and tried to make amends. Nobody's perfect and he certainly wasn't and that made him realistic. Amy was a similar balance of strength and insecurity, but feminine. She was seriously strong and skilled, which made her damsel in distress moments feel a little odd - I would've preferred her to be more the curious than squeamish type. Still, she was certainly not squeamish when it counted, and made for a relatable character.  

Romantic Relationship: I really enjoyed that Tosh and Amy had problems even though they were soul mates. They were insecure about each other's feelings, they fought, but when they were together it was sweet and magical.

Conclusion: With its easy writing, adorable romance, and Japanese elements, Natalie might as well have written this book just for me. Highly recommend this and all of Natalie's books, and cannot wait for the sequel, Trust Me, I'm a Ninja!

For Fans Of: Manga/Anime, and Ninjas (of course)

Scribble Rating: 

5 of 5 Scribbles