Books, books, and more books! (Review #43, 3 abandoned books, and a sale)

[thistlechaser]

Before the reviews: This weekend booksellers are selling more than 100 scifi/fantasy books for only 99 cents each. Visit this link to see a list of them all. There are so many that caught my eye, but my To Read pile is so big, I had to close the page so I won't be tempted.

Now on to the long overdue review post... One book I finished and three I didn't.

Anton and Cecil, Book 2: Cats on Track by Lisa Martin and Valerie Martin
Rating: Liked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)



"But Thistle, this is book two! I don't remember you reviewing book one!" Yeah, me neither. Since I read in ebook format, the cover is less than an inch tall and in black and white -- hard to read text on it. I missed that this was the second book in the series, and was too far into it to stop reading and switch to the other one once I realized it. Oh well, it worked perfectly fine as a stand-alone book.

This author wrote the best 'talking animal' characters I've ever read. That being said, unfortunately the story never hooked me. In it two cats brothers, Anton and Cecil, ride across the country on a train to rescue a mouse friend. I loved how each animal type in the book (horses, dogs, buffalo) all had their own way of speaking and sounded different than other animal species.

I don't think I'm going to go back and read the first book. If I had loved this one, I would, but I have too many others waiting for me.

Field One by Simon Winstanley
Rating: Disliked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)



Wow. I was going to write "I read this one over a month ago, and don't remember why I stopped reading it" but it seemed like a month couldn't be right, so I checked the date of my last book review post. August 26th. I guess when you're moving, a week feels like a month... This will be the worst book review ever, because even after skimming the excerpt on Amazon, I can't remember a single reaction I had to this book. My kindle tells me I gave up at 4% in, which is faster than usual, but I just don't remember why.

Worst. Book. Review. Ever.

Immortal Guardians (Spirit Animals: Fall of the Beasts, Book 1) by Eliot Schrefer
Rating: Disliked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)



This book started with an interesting idea: Set on some fantasy world, some children randomly summon spirit animals to them, and they remain their companions for their whole lives. (Like daemons, but only some kids got one instead of everyone.) The book followed some kids who not just ended up with spirit animals, but were the rare cases of getting a legendary spirit animal.

That was all well and good, until the story's villain showed up. I just have no patience anymore for black/white characters. The bad guy was EVIL EVIL McEVIL and went around stealing all the legendary spirits and turning them into tattoos on himself.

I gave up at the 15% point, which was further than I should have gone.

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Rating: Disliked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)



This was the oddest, most messed-up book I ever read. And the fact that it's being sold as a children's book... (Or so I assume, the publisher is listed as Random House Children's Book.)

The story opened with a young teenage girl living alone in a cabin with her father. While it didn't go into graphic detail, the father was sexually abusing her, having sex with her nightly (except when she was having her period, then he abused her about that). Hell, he just abused her all the time, no matter what she said or did.

Twice she got pregnant with her father's kid, and both times the father went off to buy herbs from the "mudwife" (what the world called midwives, for no reason that was explained in the first part of the book) so the teenage daughter would abort the baby. While the sex wasn't ever described in graphic detail, her passing both babies was all too detailed.

Though this girl was a young teenager, apparently she had never lived with anyone but the father, never knew anyone, so at first she didn't realize the connection between sex/her period/getting pregnant.

I stopped reading after the second forced miscarriage (the father punched her in the stomach instead of buying herbs to try to save money...). According to Amazon reviews, I stopped reading right before a big gang rape of the teenage daughter.

Again, this was published by Random House Children's Book. I don't think I've ever been so WTF? over a book before. I cannot imagine letting a child read this (except maybe they wouldn't understand what was going on? But still, why let them read it at all if they won't understand it? What would be the point?).

Amazon reviews say the story gets much, much better after this first dark part, but I had zero interest in continuing.

Currently reading: Waer, which I'm enjoying. It's a sort-of werewolf story with an awful cover.

Current To Read Pile book count: 152

Comments

[bacchuslives.livejournal.com]

Tender Morsels sounds truly disturbing... It also sounds like a new brand of cat food.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I was thinking cat treats.

And it really was. If it had been an adult book, I'd just say it wasn't to my tastes and move on. But if it's really a kid/YA book...

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the warnings.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I remember when 'Tender Morsels' came out and everyone was like WTF WHY IS THIS PUBLISHED BY A CHILDREN'S PUBLISHING HOUSE?? I haven't read it, but my friend has read other books by Lanagan and she is apparently always freakin' weird and strange and disturbing. I feel like her books end up in YA, but really they are adult books with teen protagonists.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

That's just how I'd categorize it: A book for adults, with a teen protagonist. It really shouldn't be in YA. And, while I'm generally against warnings for things, I feel like this one really should have one. If a woman had suffered miscarriage and read the description of them in this book, I can only imagine how much it would bother her.

[hamsterwoman]

I hope te Lanagan isn't being sold as a children's book... I've not read this one, but I've read some of her short stories, and, yeah, no. I admire how well she does what she's doing, but I definitely wouldn't market it to kids.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

If it were some other publisher, I'd just think it was named "Publisher Children's Books" as a holdover to what they used to do, or something like that. But Random House Children's Book? I know there's a plain Random House publishing as well, so this has to be being sold as a kid's book...

Agreed, she writes 'disturbing' very well, but NOT stories for kids.

[jeane nevarez (from livejournal.com)]

I remember when Tender Morsels was just out. I saw it on several other book blogs- and never once did I think that was a children's book. I didn't even think it was YA. Supposedly it's another take on the Donkeyskin fairy tale? which yeah is very disturbing- young girl repeated raped by her father, runs away... in this one doesn't she end up living with a bear. I still have it on my TBR but am in no real hurry to read it.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

If not for the publisher, I wouldn't have thought it was YA either. But the imprint of it was on the cover, so once I opened the book and saw the bigger image of it, I was able to see that. But even without the subject matter, the writing-style didn't seem YA-ish at all. I'm just really confused by the publisher...

Amazon did say it was a take on some fairy tale, you're right. I don't recall which one though.

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

There is really nothing I hate more when a book has a rider on the front or back describing it as a "dark" retelling of a fairy tale (most of which are already dark), and what it means is "a lot of rape."

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeeeep, that's exactly what this one was. Nighty rape followed by gang rape, with a heaping helping of forced abortions on the side.