Waiting on Wednesday: Bone Gap

Bone Gap
Laura Ruby
Releasing March 3 2015

Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own. Just a few years before, their mother had high-tailed it to Oregon for a brand new guy, a brand new life. That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame?

Finn knows that’s not what happened with Roza. He knows she was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. But the searches turned up nothing, and no one believes him anymore. Not even Sean, who has more reason to find Roza than anyone, and every reason to blame Finn for letting her go.

As we follow the stories of Finn, Roza, and the people of Bone Gap—their melancholy pasts, their terrifying presents, their uncertain futures—acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a heartbreaking tale of love and loss, magic and mystery, regret and forgiveness—a story about how the face the world sees is never the sum of who we are.

One of the deepest, well-kept secrets of my very pocketed literary heart: I adore magical realism.

(Well, here at least it is a well-kept secret, simply because I haven't been reviewing as I should or chronicling my stop-and-start obsession with devouring ALL the magical realism titles YA has to offer.)

I covet stories like this because they feel like they can literally sink down into my marrow: very rich, thick with potential for magic and well-spun words...The kind of story you can dwell in.

It also helps when you've been fortunate to have had wonderful conversations with the author herself and know that you'll regret it if you don't read more words produced from that creative mind.

I do not have the best luck with requesting titles from this particular publisher online, though, so I suppose I'll have to sit on my hands and wait for the release date. Which is so very, very far away. Ah, the joys of being a reader.

ETA: On reviewing the GoodReads page for Bone Gap, I note that it's shelved as a contemporary and not a magical realism per se? Perhaps I'm applying my own hopes to it and the fact that the wonderful Nova Ren Suma recommended it to me a few months ago (and just a general note that you never, ever doubt Nova's recommendations - ever).

So we'll see.

add on goodreads | visit laura ruby's website

Road Trip Wednesday! - From YA to Movie

This week's topic: Which YA novel would you most like to see turned into a movie?

Oh, boy, oh, boy. So usually I just message back in response to Road Trip Wednesday (hosted, of course, by the lovely ladies at YA Highway, if you are not in the know) but this was a question that set up such a spark in me that I had to write a blog post.

So. The prompt says movie, but why stop at just one? This seems to be the start of a Golden Era of movies based on YA books - why not make the most of it?

And of course, with all the buzz right now around #WeNeedDiverseBooks - and always, diverse and well-done film - I couldn't help but put my own twist on this: the diverse YA novels I'd love to see turned into movies!

The caveat: I went for a few titles that aren't out yet. Who knows, maybe this might get some minds going on possibly optioning them, yes? 

 

Dualed by Elsie Chapman

The scoop:

In the city of Kersh, everyone must eliminate their genetic Alternate twin, raised by another family, before their twentieth birthday. West Grayer, 15, has trained as a fighter, and has one month to hunt and kill her Alt. A tragic misstep shakes her confidence. Guilty, grieving, she feels unworthy, and runs from her Alt and from love - both can destroy her.

Why take this to Hollywood?

Elsie is no stranger to this blog by now. You guys must know much I adore her and her writing, and if you haven't read Dualed - just look at that summary. The book itself is heart-pounding, tense and with plenty of moments where you want to throw it across the room, screaming, "If West dies, I'll never forgive you!"

...Ahem. Not that I have experience with tossing books or anything.

In any case, with the buzz still holding strong around dystopians - The Hunger Games, Divergent and now The Maze Runner coming up in theaters soon - this would fit in perfectly and have a good deal of hooked fans. 

Origin by Jessica Khoury

The scoop:

Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home―and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia's origin―a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

Why take this to Hollywood?

You probably remember my review on Origin from the last time I went to BEA. If not, my three buzz words for it were as follows:

Overpowering.

Lush.

Green.

With a heroine who has her own agency and a muddled past, and such a gorgeous backdrop to explore, what more could viewers want? And there's a jaguar, okay?

A jaguar.

(Not the car.)

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

The scoop:

Laia, 17, is a coward and so far, it’s kept her alive. As a Scholar living under the brutal rule of the Martial Empire, Laia knows that courage will only get her killed. Then the Martials imprison Laia’s brother for treason. To save him from execution, Laia must step out of the shadows and embark on a quest that will take her from the haunted catacombs of her city to the halls of Blackcliff Academy, where the Empire trains its most feared soldiers. She must find the courage to defy everything the Martials stand for in a place where defiance has one outcome: death.

Elias, 20, is Blackcliff’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Sickened by the prospect of hunting and killing Scholars who oppose the Empire, Elias decides to desert the military. But before he can run, he’s ordered to participate in the Trials, a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor. Elias must wage war in the Trials with skill and ferocity while struggling with a deep inner ambivalence. For while losing the Trials might cost him his life, winning them could cost him his soul.

When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at Blackcliff, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the Empire itself.

Why take this to Hollywood?

Okay, so I'm cheating slightly with this one, because it's not coming out until 2015 and it's been optioned, but maybe this will be incentive to get both the book AND the film out and in my grabby little hands sooner than later, right?

(Sabaa, when you have ARCs, you know where to find me. I'm just saying.)

Anyway, haunted catacombs? Scholars? Trials? A brilliant Muslim author?

Does any of that sound like you can't toss it together and get an epic, Oscar-winning movie?

Nope. Nope, it doesn't.

Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee

The scoop:

In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her.

Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power.

Why take this to Hollywood?

Yet another one that isn't out and isn't in my life yet. But just take a gander at that cover. Just look at it.

Okay. My longing aside.

There's time travel involved. There's a labyrinth involved. There's TIME TRAVEL involved.

(Note that as I get more excited, I get less coherent. Take this as a warning that if gorgeous, exciting titles are dangled before my nose months ahead of the release date, I can unravel fast. And it's not pretty.)


Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine

The scoop:

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

Why take this to Hollywood?

It's a Phantom of the Opera retelling, with a diverse cast and an actual ghost that isn't afraid of getting its hands dirty. I fail to see how this wouldn't be a good thing to play out on the big screen.

Legend by Marie Lu

The scoop:

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Why take this to Hollywood?

Do you like Les Mis? Good. This is the loosely based, dystopian version. With a lot of high-paced action. And a girl prodigy who doesn't pretend she isn't an awesome genius. 

 

The Fire Wish by Amber Lough

The scoop:

A jinni. A princess. And the wish that changes everything. . . .

Najwa is a jinni, training to be a spy in the war against the humans. Zayele is a human on her way to marry a prince of Baghdad—which she’ll do anything to avoid. So she captures Najwa and makes a wish. With a rush of smoke and fire, they fall apart and re-form—as each other. A jinni and a human, trading lives. Both girls must play their parts among enemies who would kill them if the deception were ever discovered—enemies including the young men Najwa and Zayele are just discovering they might love.

Why take this to Hollywood?

It's so well-researched. I know Amber is going to get tired of me telling her this (and I haven't even gotten around to my review yet!), but I am proud of her efforts for Muslim representation and the beautiful, evocative world she created. We need good Muslim fantasies, and those good Muslim fantasies should become good Muslim movies, right? 

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

The scoop: 

Nimira is a music-hall performer forced to dance for pennies. When wealthy sorcerer Hollin Parry hires her to do a special act - singing accompaniment to an exquisite piano-playing automaton, Nimira believes it is the start of a new life. In Parry's world, however, buried secrets stir. 

Unsettling below-stairs rumours abound about ghosts, a mad woman roaming the halls, and of Parry's involvement in a gang of ruthless sorcerers who torture fairies for sport. When Nimira discovers the spirit of a dashing young fairy gentleman is trapped inside the automaton's stiff limbs, waiting for someone to break the curse and set him free, the two fall in love. But it is a love set against a dreadful race against time to save the entire fairy realm, which is in mortal peril.

Why take this to Hollywood?

As I've stated before, I'm very fond of Jackie and her stories that always feel reminiscent of the classic fantasies I loved as a kid. Nimira is a wonderful, brave heroine, and our fairy gentleman inside the automaton is charming and heartwarming in his own way. This would be gorgeous as an animated film, I think. 

The Walled City by Ryan Graudin

The scoop: 

There are three rules in the Walled City: Run fast. Trust no one. Always carry your knife. Right now, my life depends completely on the first. Run, run, run.

Jin, Mei Yee, and Dai all live in the Walled City, a lawless labyrinth run by crime lords and overrun by street gangs. Teens there run drugs or work —or, like Jin, hide under the radar. But when Dai offers Jin a chance to find her lost sister, Mei Yee, she begins a breathtaking race against the clock to escape the Walled City itself.

Why take this to Hollywood?

This is topping many people's BEA grab lists (including mine, but more on that in another post).  Take a gander at that summary - and that cover! - and you can probably see why.

Labyrinths seem to be back in the game this year, and this is a particularly enticing rendition that sounds like it would be awesome rendered in CGI - all the sudden, heart-pounding turns, the street gang fights...

What YA novels do you think would make epic movies?

{the house blend.} Rutkoski, Marie: The Winner's Curse (Winner's Curse #1)

March 4, 2014
Farrar Straus Giroux 
YA Fantasy, 355 pages

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

If you ever want me to read anything post-haste, just mention “female-led” or “fantasy” – or better yet, both in the same breath.

My speed will amaze you.

Case in point: The Winner’s Curse. Last month, I was laid low with my annual bout of the flu and had nothing to do but languish with Kleenex and blankets on the couch, and turn to my Kindle for solace.

(Good old Kindle. It doesn’t judge if I’m bleary-eyed and wrapped up like a burrito.)

The previous day, I’d been fortunate enough to slip in as one of the 100 people automatically approved for The Winner’s Curse on NetGalley. The day before that, I’d been privy to an online conversation with Rachel Stark of Simon and Schuster, where she assured me that The Winner’s Curse would be the female-led fantasy of 2014.

See what she did there? My two favorite words, and a bug making sure that homework wasn’t an excuse. There was no way I wasn’t cracking that open when I had the chance.

So, The Winner’s Curse. It hinges on a world deeply inspired by Greek and Roman civilization. There were a few details that I found off-putting and slightly anachronistic:  character names here and there that felt too modern (for instance, our heroine’s best friend is named Jess), and ruffled dresses that didn’t seem in the mode of the togas and gowns we associate with those time periods.

However, for the most part, this is Marie Rutoski at her finest. The language remains simple and uncomplicated, and the imagery is overpowering and engrossing.

The plot itself is just as intriguing. Our heroine is Kestrel, daughter of a great general, who is expected on her next birthday to either enroll in the Army herself, or marry and start her own household. She isn’t really on pins and needles for any of it, which is why you can’t really be surprised when she breaks completely out of the mold and buys a slave – Arin – as an impulse purchase.

Let’s be honest: we all have those impulse purchases that we regret. And Arin isn’t just some docile guy who’s going to shoe Kestrel’s horses and kow-tow to her whims without a fight. He has his own dark secrets – not the least being the fact that his people, the people that Kestrel’s ilk now use as their servants and footstools, were once the ruling class, and he himself was nobility.

Kestrel knows she’s in over her head with him, particularly as rumors start to spread and those who are jealous of her standing start to scheme – but she can’t help where her heart draws her to.

And this, my friends, was my only problem with this storyline. As a person of color – particularly, a woman of color – I am more than aware of the historical and cultural flaws with a master-slave relationship. Even thinking of the top of my head, it is hard to picture a romance that was wanted by both parties, and would not end in heartbreak or beatings…or death.

Of course, Marie Rutoski does everything in her power to make it clear that this relationship is not easy for Kestrel as well: her reputation is at stake and Arin himself has his own agenda and potential for betrayal.

The fact that these obstacles are tossed in, as well as several moments where Kestrel has to step back and realize her privileges over Arin – and the other way around – are refreshing, and slightly relieved the uncomfortable feeling I had when Kestrel started making eyes at Arin.

Beyond the love story, though, I was really taken in by the strategy. I’m not the only one who plays video games and loves it when you really have to think about the angles you take, right? Well, the plots and trickery within The Winner’s Curse reminds me both of a really good RPG, and The Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner (which I totally love, and which I will press upon anyone who loves a good fantasy with a hint of mythology).
 
There is no knot that seems as though it could be unraveled. There were no moments when I set my Kindle down and went, “Hmm. Well, that was a deux ex machina if I saw one.”

And the ending. Guys, you know I don’t like to spoil, but is it spoiling if I just go –

!

?!

?!!!

!!!

Okay. I’m calm now. But really, the ending was what cinched the whole thing for me. I think that, even as I was gasping at the plot twists and clicking my page buttons as fast as they could go, I was still waiting for it to all come loose and end in this ridiculous, sappy “love conquers all” sort of moment.

But the ending, though. It was all I’ve been wanting in YA for like years.

The Winner’s Curse is this year’s Graceling. It’s this year’s Throne of Glass. If you guys are the types who need a gazillion comparative titles before you can be convinced to dig in, I could draw out a few more. But be sure to judge it on its own merit as well. Personally, I am hooked, and I look forward to seeing what else Ms. Rutoski has in store for us…in the sequel.

Which comes out next year.

This is why I both love and hate ARCs, guys.


Of note: Slavery. I mean, I don’t know what particularly triggers people or won’t, so if this is something that bothers you, or brings up personal unhappy memories, please be warned. There is also some violent scenes, poisons, conspiracies, discussion of infidelity, dinner parties (hey, some people don’t like those social scenes, right?) and deaths.

Batteries not included. That would be an anachronism.

Add The Winner's Curse on GoodReads  

{blog tour} LIV, FOREVER: An Interview With Amy Talkington

It has been a while...but I am excited to announce Watercolor Moods' first blog tour stop for the year, for the much-buzzed about Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington. Disclaimer: I still haven't gotten the chance to properly delve into my review copy, but the promise of a spooky, atmospheric mystery is one that I probably won't be able to resist for much longer!

Thanks to the lovely Meredith Barnes at Soho Teen, I was able to have Amy answer a few questions for the blog. In addition, if you click on that little banner up there, you'll be able to see the USA Today reveal of Amy's trailer!

Enjoy!
  

How were you inspired for the idea of Liv, Forever?

The idea came from a bunch of things piling up in my brain at once. 

First, I just had this character I wanted to write: Liv. 

Secondly, I’ve been interested in ghosts for a long time so... I started to think about what kind of a ghost story Liv might be a part of. I got really excited about the metaphors a ghost story affords—the idea that she had to die in order to fully learn to live (and love). 

And, finally, when I was thinking about all this, the Occupy movement was happening and I was really struck by the great divide in our country—between the 99% and the 1%. I wanted to tap into that. I don’t want to give it away but I can say that divide—and the feeling so many people have that the 1% would do almost anything to stay on top—comes to play in the school’s mythology and conspiracy. 
  
Which character, if any, do you feel closest to?

Liv. Like Liv, I had some attitude and bravado when I was in high school but when it came down to it I was pretty terrified to be emotionally vulnerable. So, I wrote from a really honest emotional place. And, I was also an artist and just pretty obsessed with art like she is. 

Were there any bizarre areas of research or strange occurrences that you experienced while writing this story?

Well, there were some crazy coincidences that helped me piece the final mystery together but it’s hard to talk about them without giving things away. So, let’s see if I can handle this in a cryptic way. Basically, I’d never even heard of the Celtic Samhain tradition when I started writing the book. I stumbled upon it as I was trying to flesh out Elijah’s interests and it was just so insanely perfect in every way right down to the time of year it was practiced.

On a completely different note, I found an interesting document AFTER I finished the book. When I was looking for old photos from Choate (for a visual presentation), I came across a chart I’d made early in college called “How I Think.” The chart detailed my interests and obsessions and attempted to show how they are all connected. I was shocked to discover how much I was into the stuff Liv is into… Keats, Duchamp, Pollock, Warhol, etc… They’re all there. Of course I knew I was into art but I’d completely forgotten how into Keats I was. But, of course. That’s why I gravitated back to him.

Is there another idea you will be pursuing after Liv, Forever releases?


Oh, boy. I’m pursuing so many ideas all the time. By day I’m a screenwriter so I have a bunch of projects in various phases of development. I’m currently developing Liv, Forever into a feature screenplay. I’m also working on one other feature script and two television projects. Book-wise, I’m trying to figure out what’s next. I have a very clear idea of a next book for Liv but I’m just waiting to see if there’s an appetite for it. 

Were there any particular places or background that inspired Liv, Forever?

I did go to boarding school. I went to Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut. Choate is nothing like Wickham Hall. The only similarity is the Art Center. I definitely had Choate’s amazing Art Center in mind as I wrote those scenes. 

That was a very important place to me—I created so much there, I had my first solo show there, I sold my first paintings there—and so I loved giving Liv a similar setting to make her art. But, otherwise, it’s all completely fabricated. There are no secret societies at Choate (as far as I know!).
 
What do you want to particularly linger with readers? What do you think about Liv's story will particularly resonate - in spite of the paranormal elements that teenagers (rarely, if ever) will experience?

To me, the story is about learning to love. That’s really Liv’s journey—learning to love herself, her art, and others.  

Amy Talkington is an award-winning screenwriter and director living in Los Angeles. Before all that she wrote about music for magazines like Spin, Ray Gun, Interview, and Seventeen (mostly just as a way to get to hang out with rock stars). As a teenager in Dallas, Texas, Amy painted lots of angsty self-portraits, listened to The Velvet Underground and was difficult enough that her parents finally let her go to boarding school on the East Coast. Liv, Forever is her first novel. 

  Amy's Tumblr | Amy on Twitter | Add Liv, Forever on GoodReads | Liv, Forever at Soho Teen

{the house blend.} Hagen, Bethany: Landry Park (Landry Park #1)

February 4, 2014
Dial Books
YA Dystopian, 384 pages

In a fragmented future United States ruled by the lavish gentry, seventeen-year-old Madeline Landry dreams of going to the university. 

Unfortunately, gentry decorum and her domineering father won't allow that. Madeline must marry, like a good Landry woman, and run the family estate. 

But her world is turned upside down when she discovers the devastating consequences her lifestyle is having on those less fortunate. 

As Madeline begins to question everything she has ever learned, she finds herself increasingly drawn to handsome, beguiling David Dana. 

Soon, rumors of war and rebellion start to spread, and Madeline finds herself and David at the center of it all. Ultimately, she must make a choice between duty - her family and the estate she loves dearly - and desire.

By now, you should probably get the idea that I’m not really the go-to girl for dystopians.

That doesn’t mean I don’t like some of them. I even wrote one, back in the day (read: back when the idea of querying a dystopian didn’t mean facing a saturated market of some pretty awesome titles). 

In any case, though, I can be swayed for some rare exceptions. I happened to place a hold on Landry Park – without looking at the genre – and when it came, I read it anyway and put my usual expectations about the genre on hold.

First off, I must give kudos where it is definitely due. One of the reasons why I steered clear of dystopians in recent years is because many seem to come from the same mode – complicated world-building, and a lot of talk and little going. 

Bethany Hagen does an awesome balance act between high society and government rebellion. The writing is very crisp, concise and descriptive. She switches between a debutante scene and a tense crowd with ease.

This is a woman who knows how to wield her pen. Bravo, Ms. Hagen! 

(I just wanted to get that out there, because if you know me, you know that words matter. A lot. I can be won over, even if the story isn’t usually what I’d read, if I’m getting some good voice and mechanics in the bargain.)

If you’ve read the summary for Landry Park, you probably saw the most confusing, and yet enticing, comparative titles ever: Downton Abbey meets The Selection.

I have personal reasons for not ever having picked up The Selection (and most of those reasons go hand-in-hand with me not being the type of girl for dystopians), and, surprisingly, though I’m a period drama fan, I haven’t seen any of Downton Abbey.

But, unlike The Selection, I do have a gist of some of the scandals and sob scenes that do go on in good old D.A. (*cough cough* Lady Mary Crawley *cough*), so I can tell you that this title – as odd as it sounds – is legit.

Let’s get down to the meat of Landry Park. Our heroine, Madeline Landry, is a heiress in a futuristic world where the gentry flourishes. Madeline wants her chance to flourish, too, through a stint in university, but her father would rather her settle down ASAP, and have some grandkids to inherit their wonderful lineage. 

(I did wonder how Daddy Dearest expected Madeline to know how to manage the estate without proper schooling. It wasn’t as though she was asking for a million-dollar yacht or anything that required money going down the tube for good.)

Anyway, through a twist of fate, Madeline gets tossed into a scandalous situation which involves her being taken out of her comfort zone and seeing that there are other people involved in her glorious world – the Rootless, or the poor class. 

This is the main part that stuck in my gullet. I know that this is something that happens in real life – rich girl suddenly realizes a compassion for the ‘little people’ and goes all savior and visits Africa and talks at Oscar speeches about how ‘helpless’ the people are – but it doesn’t make Madeline’s “I am a hero of the poor” savior mode less offensive, or easy to swallow.

I know there are people who genuinely give their lives for others, and I appreciate every one of them. But the fact is, Madeline doesn’t come off that way. She feels like she’s forcing it, and, compared to the romantic subplot that I’ll be pointing my (figurative) laser pointer at in a few sentences, it’s more of a hobby than an actual burning aspect of her motivations.

It didn’t make me hate her – but my like-o-meter did go a teeny bit down.

So I mentioned that we do have a Matthew Crawley for our somewhat Lady Mary (a.k.a. Madeline), who is referred to as David Dana within Landry Park’s parameters of fiction.

David seems pretty into Madeline when they meet, but then he makes a point of debuting – a.k.a. pretty much stating his intention to court and eventually marry – Cara, Madeline’s sort of childhood friend, who also has brought Madeline into the Rootless drama by accusing a Rootless man of attacking her and bruising her.

Well, fine. That would make a girl look elsewhere, right? Except that Madeline cannot let it go. David makes an overture. Madeline sways toward him. Enter Cara, giving them suspicious looks. David switches his affectionate overtures to her.

To me (even though it all ends in the requisite ‘I do have feelings for you’ and dumping of the other girl, who thankfully was glad to be dumped, and I don’t blame her), David was a right cad. I couldn’t find it in me at all to see him as the dashing hero, and, like Madeline’s involvement with the Rootless, his enthusiasm for helping them just really rubbed me the wrong way.

Beyond these aspects, though, I can definitely give Landry Park its fair amount of recognition for an engaging and desperate climax. The bad guys get theirs, a shocking family secret comes to light in true period drama tradition, and – yes – there are the appropriate confessions of love and not really being in love after all and coupling off.

Like I said, I’m very rarely swayed by dystopians. Landry Park was an entertaining read, but overall, not the weight needed for my personal scale to lower to the right side – but, my appetite was whetted by Bethany Hagen’s writing and her creativity, and I look forward to whatever else she will have to offer.

Of note: Attempted assault, child abuse on the part of a parent, some tense action scenes and one awful attempt of violence and coerced poisoning on a child that did bother me a little bit. Nothing dirty to stain your pretty gown, though.

Add Landry Park on GoodReads