November Review

Hello, hello, beautiful readers! November was a month for books about families and participating in Nation Novel Writing Month until it felt like my fingers were going to fall off. I'm honestly not sure how I'm writing this after finishing 50,000 words in thirty days, so you'll have to forgive me if anything feels a little unpolished.

Alright, warnings provided, let's get started!

What If It's Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli

I'll be honest, I was a little disappointed by this book. It's a collaboration between two authors whose individual works I've enjoyed, and who seem to work well as both friends and co writers.

But, unfortunately, the overall story didn't do it for me. I love the premise and the beginning, with the two characters searching for one another and trying to determine if the universe is rooting for them or not. But after they got together it felt a little...forced. Everything was So Dramatic and Arthur cried and was upset more than he needed to. Like, every little thing that happened caused Arthur to yell or cry and it felt very immature, and yeah, they're seventeen, but still. Have a little decorum and consideration.

I liked all the musical references, and the fact that the book and its sections broke down to sections named after The Dear Evan Hansen song Only Us. Arthur was delightfully dorky, even if a lot of his actions made my eternally second-hand embarrassed heart want to put the book down for a minute.

Ben felt a little more fully formed than Arthur, and I don't know that I could pinpoint why, except maybe it was a writer kinship? Like, Arthur was the awkward theater kid and Ben was the writer and while I am decidedly both of those things, I'm more of the latter. So maybe that was why I liked Ben a little more. He felt more rooted, though, less caricature and more character.

Arthur and Ben figuring their shit out was realistic to a certain extent, but at some point it just felt like they were both moving too fast and not doing enough. Their [spoiler alert] ending 'break up' of sorts was just depressing, and I know it was meant to be ambiguous and hopeful and a way of growing without strain, but come on. If I wanted to be depressed by love I'd go on a date. I read to escape the shitty stuff happening in reality, and this book just kind of felt like I was driving back towards it.

My favorite character was probably Dylan, Ben's best friend, and I kind of thought (as hilarious as the interaction afterwards was) using his heart condition as a way to skip past awkward apologies felt like a cheap shot and he deserved better.

Far From the Tree by Robin Benway

This book is brilliant. The characters, the paths they follow, the way each of their struggles aren't lost amidst those of the others. Amazing. I cried reading this book.

Far From The Tree is about realizing that family is more than who you're related to. It's the people you choose and the people you find, and sometimes they're blood and sometimes they aren't, but the important factor is who stays.

A book about three biological siblings growing up in different homes, Far From The Tree takes a look at nature vs nurture from a very personal standpoint. Each of the three siblings complimented each other both in their communal search for a good relationship with each other, and in their desire to have one with the people who adopted them as well.

Grace's situation hit me the hardest, I think. She found herself in a mirrored situation to what her birth mother faced, and in her quest to find her birth mother, Grace was really searching for validation, proof that she'd done right by her daughter just as her mother had done right by her. Joaquin and Maya were self-destructive, but so was I at fifteen, and probably at seventeen too. They all shared features but not history, and rectifying those things started as difficult but soon became the easiest thing in the world. Watching their relationships progress was incredible, and while each character faced different struggles, the book never felt divided, only unified by the three characters telling their story.

The book looks at adoption in such a candid light, from Joaquin in the foster system to Grace the only child to Maya the only brunette in a family of redheads. Each of these three siblings find themselves blending in and standing out and learning to stand when their foundations are built on mystery. They come into each other's lives at imperfect times, but it turns out to be exactly what each of them needs. The understanding that there are people like them out there, people with habits and curly hair and things that set them apart from everyone else, really allows each character to grow.

Benway's writing style is brilliant too, so she not only gets points for plot, but for composition as well. Each sibling had their own unique voice, but you could trace the common thread between them, the way they fell apart, the way Benway captured each ruptured moment in their lives and presented it to us with grace and depth that not a lot of authors reach.

This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

I felt such a kinship with this book, it was almost unreal.

Sloane goes through life feeling unattached, even when it comes to the things she loves, like singing and her family. She often makes fun of things, even if she likes them, simply because the distance from all things makes her feel more in control of her loneliness. She's so funny, though, So Funny. I laughed out loud at several of her lines, and I found myself wondering why she was so lonely, why she didn't have more friends.

The main adventure is painted as how Sloane attempts to return Gabe and Vera's dead mother's painting to them, after it's accidentally given away. And while that it certainly the longest running active storyline in the book, it doesn't feel like the most important. Instead, it feels like the main plot line is Sloane's slow understanding of herself in relation to other people, finding a community in which she feels she can allow herself to belong.

Her father, the writer, is an incredible character. I loved his fascination with teen fandom, the way he talked to Sloane and her friends, the dedication and concern a writer holds close to their heart, "what does a writer have if they don't write?" He was quite possibly my favorite character, but the group of friends that Sloane finds herself unwittingly pulled into is so wonderfully intriguing that I'd have trouble choosing just one favorite character.

The group of friends is enigmatic and ridiculous, diverse and beguiling: Vera, the social media queen, Gabe, her stoic twin brother, Remy, a deeply spiritual boy questioning his place in the universe, and Aubrey, a quiet soul afraid of a future she can't plan. Of course, there's also the ever fabulous Frank Singer, who remains completely indescribable.

Mills writes fantastically, and I know I say that a lot, but there was something about this book and these characters. Something about this story, where the words melted off the page and onto my face and I was more than okay with that. Not every sentence contained something big, but every sentence felt like it had the potential to. It was a book about the mundane, life in high school, making friends, witnessing parental discourse, but the characters in it were so incredible and larger than life that the mundane and the fantastical balanced each other out.

Sloane felt like a passive participant in her own life, using humor and wit as a way to connect with others in a way that protects her from a feared eventual fallout. The book is a revelation, an acknowledgment of fault and desire, a look at teenage years that aren't Terribly Dramatic but hold enough life to tell a story.

This isn't a story to make you cry or to make you question your place in the universe. But it is one that acknowledges the intricate nature of relationships and how the one we have with ourselves can sometimes be the most destructive.

The Extraordinary Adventures of April, May, And June by Robin Benway

I had a lot of fun expectations going into this book, and I have to admit, I was very disappointed. A book about three sisters who discover they have super powers? Amazing! Exciting!

Well, the premise was. The actual story was not great. And I was super disappointed because I read another book by Robin Benway (Far From The Tree) earlier this month and adored it. So this book was Very Disappointing.

All of the characters were just kind of constantly yelling at each other. Evey scene felt like an argument, and it got really old after the second time. I guess the short age gap between the sisters could have something to do with it, but they antagonized each other constantly without any hint of affection. It was exhausting and honestly kind of sad. I understand that siblings fight and not everybody gets along, but this was portrayed as the three of them saying they wanted to be closer to one another but not really actively trying to do so. I just wanted to shout at them, "Maybe try being nice for three seconds?" but that would just add to the yelling.

None of the sisters were particularly nice to anyone, even beyond their siblings, and it was kind of ridiculous that two of them managed to find love interests, especially with how terribly they treated them. Julian seemed like a decent enough guy, and maybe it's because I grudgingly accepted that April was the best of the three sisters, but their relationship was at least slightly cute. Henry, however, seemed a bit misogynistic and his supposed love story with May was completely ridiculous, as their entire conversation history was belittling and antagonizing one another. Not a healthy start to a relationship. And even when they opened up to each other, it felt forced.

So much was left unexplained. The grandma thing, the powers showing up after being dormant for so long, what was causing all of this. I thought the Avery thing had so much potential to become something actually related to the broader story, maybe even a villain or a reason for their latent superhero abilities. But, instead, it turned out to be a huge let. The whole book was kind of a big let down. The villain of the story was the sisters themselves and their misunderstanding one another, which was frustrating for a book about girls with super powers

Their powers matched their personalities, though, I'll give Benway that. She thought something through, even if she did name her characters after months of the year.

Honestly, this felt like the month to read books with parents getting/possibly getting a divorce, which was not my intention for this month, nor did I realize it was such a common theme in YA novels. The book felt like it could've been a metaphor for dealing with change and how siblings experience events differently, but they never really processed their parents' divorce or looked at events through each other's eyes, so that attempt fell pretty flat. They came together in the end, I guess, since trauma can be very unifying, but even that felt a little forced. The build up for this big accident had been too much, and maybe that was the point, to see how their powers could drive them to desperate measures, but it really just felt like a lesson in paranoia and exaggeration.

All that being said, April was right like 80% of the time and that's just older sister solidarity.

Brightstorm by Vashti Hardy

This book is one of those children's stories that I think has the potential to reshape how we tell steampunk adventures.

I was fortunate enough to be given this book by a friend in the UK, so I'm not sure how available in America it is yet, but I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's hard for me to find a children's book that I truly enjoy, but I prescribe to the same philosophy as C. S. Lewis: "A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest."

Kids pick up a lot of stuff. They're little sponges, and books written for them need to express that. We can't preach at kids (which is unfortunately what so many children's books do) and the "lesson learned" has to be gradually revealed over time, not beaten into them page by page.

And Brightstorm managed to tell an adventure story with a lesson in never giving up, without whacking kids over the head with it. Plus, the book includes a flying house and a journey over three continents in the London age of exploration. What's not to love?

The novel tells the story of Brightstorm twins, Maudie and Arty, who's father goes missing during an attempt to be the first person in history to reach the South Polaris, an attempt that leaves his name and reputation ruined. Now without a family or any money to their name, Maudie and Arty set out to finish what their father started, and maybe bring a different kind of recognition to the Brightstorm name.

I adored the cast of characters. Maudie and Arty are twins without being too dependant on one another, learning to thrive with different interests but understanding the importance of siblings. Arthur only has one arm, and it was fascinating to see how he handled (haha, arm puns) the world around him, using his creativity--and a little bit of his sister's engineering skill--to overcome any obstacles.

The only complaint I have is that the pace in the second half of the book was a little fast, especially the action on the third continent. But the overall story was marvelous. It reminded me a lot of Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan, a steampunk retelling of World War 1 that I Adore. And while Brightstorm was much more about the age of exploration than any wartime action, it was still packed to the brim was heart pounding excitement.

Now, keep in mind, that this is a book for kids, so don't go in expecting too much violence and maturity. There is definitely violence and mature stuff, though, so maybe go in expecting anything anyway.

EDIT: I can't believe I did this whole review without mentioning my girl Harriet. Unforgivable. She's the best character in this book and I can't believe I forgot to mention her. Worth the read for just her.

Overall, there was only really one book I really didn't like this month, and considering I spent more time writing than doing anything else, I would call it a good month.

Keep writing, friends!

Sam

Literary recommendation: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Movie recommendation: Literally any cheesy movie on the Hallmark channel right now--live the holiday dream!

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