Okay, so the title of this post implies that I'll give you the good stuff first, but it makes more sense to me to do it the other way - you know, saving the best for last. (The title just sounded better the way it is.) So, first let me tell you about a book that was a HUGE disappointment: Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine.
There are whispers of a ghost in the slaughterhouse where sixteen-year-old Wen assists her father in his medical clinic—a ghost who grants wishes to those who need them most. When one of the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor, humiliates Wen, she makes an impulsive wish of her own, and the Ghost grants it. Brutally.
Guilt-ridden, Wen befriends the Noor, including their outspoken leader, a young man named Melik. At the same time, she is lured by the mystery of the Ghost and learns he has been watching her... for a very long time.
As deadly accidents fuel tensions within the factory, Wen must confront her growing feelings for Melik, who is enraged at the sadistic factory bosses and the prejudice faced by his people at the hand of Wen’s, and her need to appease the Ghost, who is determined to protect her against any threat—real or imagined. She must decide whom she can trust, because as her heart is torn, the factory is exploding around her... and she might go down with it. -excerpt from book jacket
I found this book while browsing the library shelves. I thought it looked interesting. I like historical fiction, and the picture on the front made me think it was a period novel. I thought it looked mysterious. Mysterious is always good. Well, let me tell you, you can't judge a book by its cover! Apparently you can't always judge it by the blurb inside the book jacket, either, because I thought this was going to be a ghost story. Maybe I didn't read it closely enough. I was looking in the Supernatural section of the YA fiction, though, so isn't that what I was supposed to assume, especially since the blurb mentions a ghost like, FIVE times? So you can't judge a book by its cover or its blurb, but maybe I should have judged it by its title. That title there should have been a tip off that the book wasn't going to live up to my expectations.
The story is about a girl in some unnamed Asian locale, whose father is the doctor at a meat-packing plant. She has come to live with him at the plant and be his sort-of assistant because her mother has died and I guess she can't look after herself, even though her house is just a walk away and she is like seventeen years old or something. (I don't remember exactly, but I got the impression that she could certainly take care of herself in this time and place.) At the beginning of the story, a train arrives with a whole lot of new workers, who just so happen to be outcasts (kind of like the way Native Americans were treated in America for a very long time) who everyone at the plant hates. The heroine comes to see them as real people, who are actually even better than her own people, and even falls in love with one of them. But the "Ghost" wants her for himself and causes all kinds of trouble.
This book was more of a love story (albeit not a very romantic one!) than anything else. It was definitely not a horror story, or a ghost story, and it certainly wasn't scary. It was actually kind of a Steam-Punk novel to tell the truth, which made me kind of mad because that is not how it was sold to me! Unfortunately, it wasn't anywhere near as exciting as most steam-punk novels I have read. Although it had a few good action scenes and a great climax (you know, finding people murdered, buildings blowing up, and killer machines chasing people down dark underground hallways - that kind of thing), the majority of the story just seemed to plod along, and was quite boring a lot of the time. I actually thought about giving up several times along the way.
I did like the way the author addressed the concept of the oppressed outcast minority group, and the way the heroine realized that her society's prejudice against them was unfounded. If that was the central idea of the book, that would have been great. But then she goes and tangles the story up with the "ghost" nonsense and it just becomes kind of a mess. She would have been better off just writing two separate stories.
(By the way, the ending was terrible. It came to a conclusion, but it isn't what the reader would want at all. Turns out that there is supposed to be a sequel, which sort of explains it, but I can't even begin to imagine where the author would take a second book from here.)
I strongly recommend that, if you happen to come across this book, just leave it on the shelf. Life is too short and there are too many good books to read to waste your time on this one.
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Reading Level: 5.5
Age Appropriate: Upper Grades
Page Count/Word Count: 321/85660
Genre: Not really sure about this one - Romance maybe?
Keywords: fathers and daughters, mystery, discrimination
(I went ahead and included all of the stats for the book, even though I told you that you shouldn't read it, just in case you are a glutton for punishment or just don't value my opinion and decide to check it out anyway.)
And Now . . . the moment you have all been waiting for . . . the Big Reveal of the scary book THAT WAS ACTUALLY SCARY . . .
(Drum roll, please . . . ) . . . . . . Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan.
I think the fire changed us – me and Dom. I think that’s how the boy was able to see us. Though he’d been there for every summer of our childhood, we’d only been stupid boys until then. Stupid, happy, ignorant boys. And what in h*** would he have had in common with two stupid boys? But after the fire we were different. We were maybe a little bit like him. And so he saw us, at last, and he thought he’d found a home… -from Goodreads.com
Where do I even begin? I loved this book. In fact, it is on my list of books that I am actually going to BUY (you know, because I won't waste my money on a book that I don't already know is going to be good). The funny thing is, after I checked it out, I kept avoiding reading it, because I was having second thoughts about whether it would be any good at all. Boy, was I in for a surprise.
This book is not exactly a horror novel, but it IS pretty darn scary in parts. This is the first book I've come across that would make a great scary movie and is actually a great scary book as well.
So, what is the book about, you ask. It is about twin teenage brothers who are living in Ireland sometime during the 1970's. Their house burns down and their family has to move into the rental property that they usually go to for vacation each year. Shortly after arriving, the main character, Patrick, begins having strange dreams and seeing strange things at night, and even stranger things begin to happen to his brother. But nobody else can see that something is wrong, except for his sister - his toddler sister - so of course nobody but Patrick understands what she is complaining about. Most of the story is devoted to him trying to figure out exactly what has happened to his twin, and how to save him before he is gone forever (as in dead).
I really can't explain any more without giving too much away. I will say, however, that there is a strong mystery element to the story, and a history tie in (WWI) which I absolutely loved because I am a HUGE fan of history. Because of these aspects to the story, I would have to say that it doesn't exactly fall into the Horror genre - you wouldn't make a slasher type movie out of it. It would be more of a scary thriller movie. Yeah, that's a pretty good way to explain it.
The author dials up the scare factor through suspenseful, creepy scenes. Her vivid descriptions and sentence structure work together to keep you on the edge of your seat. Here is an example:
More creaking. But not above my head! No. Not where Dom was sitting. This creaking was at the foot of Dom's bed. Something was sitting at the end of Dom's bed! . . . . a small pale hand grabbed the edge of Dom's bunk. Little fingers curled around the mattress. I could see the indents in the fabric where they gripped tight. There was a pause, as though it was frightened to look, and then a small, pale, dark-eyed face cleared the edge.
This is just a small part of a three-page scene that you wouldn't want to read in the dark late at night. And there are many more just like it.
But what if scary stories aren't really your thing? Well, you should definitely still read this novel anyway, because it is so much more than a ghost story. This is a story about loss - loss of personal possessions, of friends, of loved ones, of memory, of a homeland and identity, and even of life - and about being lost. But it is also a story about hope, specifically about maintaining hope and carrying on when faced with loss. The author does a masterful job of developing this theme.
The mystery element is also well developed; it runs throughout the story, with bits and pieces revealed along the way in just the right amounts and at just the right moments to keep you intrigued but not frustrated.
And then there is the symbolism. Take a look at the cover art. I didn't like it. Then, I read the story and realized what the picture actually meant. Brilliant.
Oh, and did I mention the writing? I believe I praised Keirnan's use of vivid descriptions and sentence structure. But how about this description of how Patrick feels when he realizes that he is losing his twin brother:
It felt like a hundred years . . . a million years. A lifetime. But it had been yesterday. Yesterday morning, I'd had a brother. I'd had a best friend. He'd been fun. He'd been interesting; my slow-burn, articulate counterweight. Now I was lopsided, a boat with one paddle, rowing frantically and spinning in a slow, maddening circle around the space that should have been him.Wow. I think I have found a new author to follow and check up on and wait impatiently for her next book to come out. But you shouldn't wait - you should go to the library right now and check out a copy of this book. Trust me - you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 5 Stars
Reading Level:
Age Appropriate: Middle Grades
Page Count/Word Count: 290
Genre: Horror/Ghost Stories, Mystery, Thrillers/Suspense
Keywords: twins, brothers, WWI, mystery, family relationships, ghosts
No comments:
Post a Comment