Wilder Girls by Rory Power

I don't think I've had a book grab me like this one did for a long while. It's not my usual cup of tea, but it hit the spot and then some. Wilder Girls brings together the coming-of-age school girl story with some X-Men-ish-ness thrown in with Government conspiracy with dystopian plague in such an intriguing way. I had a hard time putting it down, to be honest. I also went on a bit of a rant about something Hetty finds out to my Boyfriend earlier today which my perspective on turned out to be wrong about, given what's revealed later in the book. It was one of those "well that definitely changes things" moments. Almost a blink-and-you'll-miss-it thing. Definitely safe to say I was not expecting what eventually went down.

The last time I read a school-based post-apocalyptic type story, it just ended up being really bleak. Wilder Girls initially had the same kind of vibe, but I think I'm overall hopeful for Hetty and her friends at the end. Probably misplaced, knowing the circumstances they're technically heading into, but I don't feel like it was all for nothing. Hope really runs through the entire novel. Hope for a cure, ultimately, but other bits of hope, too. Reese, hoping her father is still alive; Hetty hoping to find Byatt after she disappears; even Byatt hoping somewhere along the line to get back to her friends...

Of course, there's also the through-line of the Government conspiracy aspect. I twigged fairly early on the Government was using the girls of Raxter as an experiment. For what, I wasn't super sure about, but you don't just quarantine an island and slowly cut that island off completely while still feeding the inhabitants for a reason. And of course it was a bunch of girls they decided to experiment on. Part of that was the bad luck of proximity, but still... innocent, disposable girls shouldering the terrible things the Tox did to them without any explanation whatsoever. I couldn't figure out why the food and general supply situation was so fucked, though. That didn't make any sense. Couldn't even be bothered to send more than the bare minimum and apparently can't be bothered to make sure the girls are kept in some modicum of comfort while actively suffering... but that's also explained later, so I feel vaguely better about it.

There's a quote from Jeff VanderMeer on the front of my copy of the book talking about the emotion packed into the book. There is, at that, though it's not overwrought. It's very tightly controlled and doesn't at any point feel forced. If anything, it feels as though the characters are just burnt out while being in shock at the same time. They've seen too much death and dealt with too much pain while at the same time being so isolated, even among their peers. None of it feels like too much, while at the same time feeling like a lot. I honestly don't know how else to describe it.

I won't say I had fun, exactly, but Wilder Girls definitely gripped me. It's been a hot minute since I finished a book in under 24hrs. Definitely a fantastic read. 

Glimmering by Elizabeth Hand

Glimmering was honestly not my cup of tea. It was engrossing enough and kept me reading, but I feel more put off by it than anything else. It felt chaotic, in all honesty, and not entirely cohesive. Sure, Leonard Thorpe was there, threaded through everything, but... and then it just trailed off suddenly at the end... I'm left with this really unsatisfied feeling. I don't even have anything else to say about Glimmering. I'm not sure it really did what Elizabeth Hand says it does or did in her Author's Note in the beginning. Just felt like it was going somewhere and then... didn't.

In Other News

I finished my Upamon project! Part of my Village of Beginnings Project Line.

The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy

I found The City, Not Long After quite chill for a post-apocalyptic novel. I honestly haven’t read many, but what I have read tend to focus more on the violent, uneasy parts than this did. Not that there isn’t any violence here, but the hopefulness and artistry of San Francisco’s population supersedes it.

The surreal elements were neat. I kind of like the idea of the city’s soul basically coming back once there isn’t such a heavy population and helping to defend itself and its citizens. The magical moments it brings, too, are fun.

I found the characters quite vivid. Each important, named one got their own little backstory section, which was nice. My favorite was probably Snake. I like how he found his art and what he ended up doing with it.

I also really loved all the art installations the San Franciscans did across the city. The descriptions were definitely vivid enough, I could see them briefly and feel their impacts on Jax. The art itself made just as much impact as the characters who made it.

I found Fourstar rather flat, though I figure he’s meant to be. Just the kind of antagonist who everyone can envision and make as intimidating, or not, as they want. He reminds me of the Commanders of Gilead, to be honest. There, but not a super direct threat to Jax et al. until he is. I think he just can’t be seen to give up, even if he wanted to, but I also don’t think he really thought he was going to make it out of San Francisco alive… I’m not entirely sure, but also don’t care enough to keep speculating on his motives. He wanted to bring the US back together for whatever reason and that honestly just makes me roll my eyes in his direction.

I can’t help wondering if the rest of the US outside of San Francisco got themselves back together or ended up less US and more like Europe is, just given the breadth of the states. That’s honestly someone else’s story to tell and not really important here at all, I just wonder.

The City, Not Long After really sticks in the brain. It’s thought provoking and surreal and just the right amount of melancholy while still managing to be hopeful, I think. 

The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige

I did like The Wicked Will Rise more than Dorothy Must Die. However, it was still pretty middling.

I liked Polychrome and Bright, they were interesting. Wish we’d gotten more with them. Polychrome has a mad-scientist bent that I liked a lot. Heathcliff and his whole schtick made me smile.

Lulu and the monkeys were just kind of “meh.” Lulu kind of reminded me of King Louie from The Jungle Book. She had the same kind of manic energy… well, it’s a manic energy apparently shared by most everyone in Oz.

I think the Pete/Ozma dilemma was the most compelling part. Of course Amy’s the only one in the camp of “Pete’s a person,” which sucks for Pete.

The fight scenes honestly had my eye glazing over. They weren’t hard to follow or boring, exactly, just… things were happening quite quickly, even too quickly for Amy to have a good handle on, I think. Not to mention the whole “the Darkness is taking you over Amy” thing. Bleh.

The ending of The Wicked Will Rise was satisfying enough for me to feel comfy calling it quits here. I was rolling my eyes at the Wizard’s revelations but otherwise, I felt it was just whatever. A hook for the next book, like the ending of Dorothy Must Die. It honestly feels like this story would have been served better by being one long book as opposed to stretched out over the three. That said… I won’t be reading the last one. Not for me.

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

I feel like this book started off quite strong. It fairly quickly evolved (or devolved, depending on your mileage) into a run-of-the-mill “train the Chosen One to be an assassin/warrior/magic-user” story-line. I would have really liked if Amy and Nox were kept strictly platonic, but us Ace-people can’t have nice things… even if the romantic relationship is barely there.

I was not a fan of the ending. I really dislike last-minute major plot points that are designed to hook you into the next book and the rest of the series. I think there were enough dangling plot-threads to just coast into the next book without throwing an entire quest-line into the ending. I personally think it would have been enough to have the monkeys take or be taking Amy to the Wizard and just end it there. Find out the Wizard’s whys afterward.

I do largely feel like the original Oz characters were used well. It makes sense for them to have become twisted the ways they did. If you read or know anything about the original Oz books past the first one, the Pete reveal was fairly obvious with just enough misdirect to keep the mystery intact.

Amy herself feels realistic to me… mostly. I feel like she would have actually flailed more upon being shoved into her undercover role after what was only a matter of weeks. Especially given she was barely given any direction as to how to get to the position she was supposed to be in. She didn’t even know who her Handler was supposed to be, which I feel was a deal misstep on the part of the Order. It’s no wonder Amy jumped at the chance to actually do something as opposed to just continue to hold her pattern.

I would also like to know more about how magic actually works. Like, I get that it’s apparently tied to emotions, but there are also spells and incantations… it’s all very nebulous and I’m not sure I like it.

So yeah… I think I’m going to give the Dorothy Must Die series one more book… this one was entertaining enough, if frustrating at times.