A pair of May releases

Marilla Before Anne

By Louise Michalos

Publisher: ‎Vagrant Press (May 25, 2021)

Paperback: ‎272 pages

ISBN-10: ‎1771089288

ISBN-13: ‎978-1771089289

Publisher’s Blurb:

Marilla Cuthbert was fifty-two years old when the plucky red-headed Anne Shirley came to live with her and her brother, Matthew, at Green Gables farm on Prince Edward Island. A seemingly cold and dour spinster, her heart eventually softens to the loveable orphan girl. But for over a century readers have wondered, who was Marilla before Anne?

 

In Louise Michalos's remarkable debut novel, readers are introduced to a spirited eighteen-year-old Marilla Cuthbert―a girl not unlike Anne herself―who is desperately in love, and whose whole life is spread before her. But when a moment of defiance brings life-changing consequences, a new Marilla begins to take shape, one who would learn to bear tragedy like a birthright, and loss as an inevitability, and who would hold steadfast to the secrets that could shatter the lives of everyone around her.

 

Weaving its way from Marilla's early life in Avonlea to her coming-of-age in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and back, Marilla Before Anne is the story readers of Anne of Green Gables have longed for. Told with a refreshingly original East Coast voice, this exquisite, heartbreaking work of historical fiction takes readers on a journey back in time, to the Green Gables where Marilla Cuthbert lived, loved, and learned, long before Anne.

 

My thoughts:

Well, of course I was intrigued at the idea of a prequel for Anne of Green Gables!

 

Sadly, this wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. Mind, my Marilla is the one portrayed by Colleen Dewhurst in the beloved miniseries. It was rather difficult to see a connection between the two.

 

We first meet Marilla as a flighty young woman sneaking out of her strict parents’ home for a night of dancing with the beau that her parents strongly disapprove of. A dock worker at the port, he is only in town for a short while. He is determined to marry her, but her parents have someone else in mind.

 

Long story short, he has to leave town; she discovers she’s pregnant. After a tragic accident, Marilla believes him to be dead and goes to another town to bear her baby, whom she gives up for adoption.

 

A series of rather unbelievable coincidences happen after this. By the end, when Anne is introduced, it’s really too much to believe.

 

A lot of things happen in between, of course, and we see many beloved characters. But the overall premise of the book just doesn’t do it for me.

 

Possible Objectionable Material:

Unmarried sex, drinking, disobedience. And if you’re like me, it just doesn’t feel like Marilla.

 

Who Might Like This Book:

People who love the source material, love stories, young women who fight expectations.

 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC for my honest reaction.

 

The Prodigal Daughter (Linda Wallheim #5)

By Mette Ivie Harrison

Publisher:‎ Soho Crime (May 25, 2021)

Hardcover:‎ 264 pages

ISBN-10: ‎1641292458

ISBN-13: ‎978-1641292450

Publisher’s Blurb:

Linda Wallheim, increasingly disillusioned with her religion, has begun marriage counseling with her husband, Kurt, a bishop in the Mormon Church. On other days, Linda occupies herself with happier things, like visiting her five grown sons and their families.

When Linda’s eldest son, Joseph, tells her his infant daughter’s babysitter, a local teenager named Sabrina Jensen, has vanished, Linda can’t help but ask questions. Her casual inquiries form the portrait of a girl under extreme pressure from her parents to be the perfect Mormon daughter, and it eventually emerges that Sabrina is the victim of a terrible crime at the hands of her own classmates—including the high school’s golden boys and future church leaders.

Linda’s search for Sabrina will lead her to the darker streets of Utah and cause her to question whether the Mormon community’s most privileged and powerful will be called to task for past sins.

My Thoughts:

I have enjoyed this series and its warts-and-all look of life as a Latter-day Saint. Her protagonist, Linda Wallheim, echoes Harrison’s own struggle with her faith in the LDS Church as she has documented on Twitter. This continues to be present in this fifth installment.

This story of a girl who is running away from expectations and from the aftermath of what happened to her is gritty and real. There are no neat and tidy endings. Linda sometimes makes things worse and sometimes makes things better.

I struggled with her relationship with her husband. It’s almost as if she’s looking for everything he does wrong. She does acknowledge when he is sensitive to her needs, but it seems like mostly she’s given up on her marriage.

Possible Objectionable Material:

A girl recounts being raped. Lots of people get off without the punishment they deserve. Patriarchal attitudes. A marriage in trouble. Crisis of faith.

Who Might Like This Book:

Mystery lovers. People who like moral ambivalence and ambiguity “shades of gray”, not just black and white.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Holy Cake, This Trilogy Is Good!

The Aurora Cycle

By Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Holy cake, I loved this series.

 And I’m so, so, so glad I got an ARC of the final book, because, let me tell you, the second one literally ended with a potentially earth-shattering explosion. In preparation to review the third book, naturally I had to reread the first two. After all, it’s been over a year.

Aurora Rising

Publisher‏: ‎ Knopf Books for Young Readers (May 7, 2019)
Hardcover‏: ‎ 480 pages
ISBN-10‏: ‎ 1524720968
ISBN-13‏: ‎ 978-1524720964
Reading age‏: ‎ 12 - 17 years
Lexile measure‏: ‎ 800L
Grade level‏: ‎ 7 and up

Publisher’s Blurb:

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the academy would touch . . .

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass tech whiz with the galaxy's biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger-management issues
A tomboy pilot who's totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty's squad isn't even his biggest problem--that'd be Aurora Jie-Lin O'Malley, the girl he's just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler's squad of losers, discipline cases, and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

NOBODY PANIC.

My thoughts:

This first installment set up the conflict and the characters masterfully. The world-building was great, with multiple cultures and lots of history of how the galaxy has come to the point it is at.

 Each member of Squad 312 is a fully realized character, with strengths and flaws. Backstory is carefully and cleverly revealed. The same goes for Auri. Even the AI, Magellan, is a complete personality.

One thing I especially appreciate is that there is even a place for religion 250 years in the future. So many science fiction settings do away with it, as if we have all outgrown or become too smart for faith.

And faith is a key element in this series—faith in oneself, faith in one’s friends, and faith to persevere.

There is plenty of humor. The authors also do a great job with sensory imagery and other references. I totally visualized Kal as looking like Orlando Bloom in Fellowship of the Rings, because Auri calls him “Legolas.” And when the next book comes out with him on the cover, that’s pretty much the image. Same with descriptions of Fin compared to his image on the cover of the third book.

The narrative sets up mysteries to solve and roadblocks to overcome. It is clearly planned to be more than one book—if it all ended here, it would leave the reader unsatisfied. Instead, it left me on the library waiting list for the next book.

Aurora Burning

          Publisher‏: ‎ Knopf Books for Young Readers (May 5, 2020)

          Hardcover‏: ‎ 512 pages 

          ISBN-10‏: ‎ 1524720925

          ISBN-13‏: ‎ 978-1524720926

          Reading age‏: ‎ 12 - 17 years

          Lexile measure‏: ‎ 800L

          Grade level‏: ‎ 7 - 9

          Publisher’s Blurb:

First, the bad news: an ancient evil--you know, your standard consume-all-life-in-the-galaxy deal--is about to be unleashed. The good news? Squad 312 is standing by to save the day. They've just got to take care of a few small distractions first.

Like the clan of gremps who'd like to rearrange their favorite faces.

And the cadre of illegit GIA agents with creepy flowers where their eyes used to be, who'll stop at nothing to get their hands on Auri.

Then there's Kal's long-lost sister, who's not exactly happy to see her baby brother, and has a Syldrathi army at her back. With half the known galaxy on their tails, Squad 312 has never felt so wanted.

When they learn the Hadfield has been found, it's time to come out of hiding. Two centuries ago, the colony ship vanished, leaving Auri as its sole survivor. Now, its black box might be what saves them. But time is short, and if Auri can't learn to master her powers as a Trigger, the squad and all their admirers are going to be deader than the Great Ultrasaur of Abraaxis IV.

Shocking revelations, bank heists, mysterious gifts, inappropriately tight bodysuits, and an epic firefight will determine the fate of the Aurora Legion's most unforgettable heroes--and maybe the rest of the galaxy as well.

My thoughts:

So often, the middle work in a planned trilogy is just a vehicle to get us from the beginning to the conclusion. Not so with this one.

You’re going to wish there were seatbelts installed on your favorite reading chair, because this is a wild ride, as the characters mourn losses, gather tools and knowledge and allies, and generally get into trouble everywhere they go.

There is a long section of Aurora learning to use her powers that could maybe be tightened up some. It’s kind of like the loooong camping scenes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: things happen, but they could happen faster.

Each of our primary characters continues to develop, to gain understanding of their squadmates and of their own strengths and weaknesses. We learn more about each of them. There are some surprises and betrayals…and more surprises.

Eventually, they are separated into three groups, although each group continues to work toward their common goal: beating a galactic enemy. 

Aurora’s End

Publisher‏: ‎ Knopf Books for Young Readers (November 9, 2021)
Hardcover‏: ‎ 512 pages
ISBN-10‏: ‎ 1524720887
ISBN-13‏: ‎ 978-1524720889
Reading age‏: ‎ 12 - 17 years
Grade level‏: ‎ 7 - 9

Publisher’s Blurb:

What happens when you ask a bunch of losers, discipline cases, and misfits to save the galaxy from an ancient evil? The ancient evil wins, of course.

Wait. . . . Not. So. Fast.

When we last saw Squad 312, they were working together seamlessly (aka, freaking out) as an intergalactic battle raged and an ancient superweapon threatened to obliterate Earth. Everything went horribly wrong, naturally.

But as it turns out, not all endings are endings, and the team has one last chance to rewrite theirs. Maybe two. It's complicated. 

Cue Zila, Fin, and Scarlett (and MAGELLAN!): making friends, making enemies, and making history? Sure, no problem.

Cue Tyler, Kal, and Auri: uniting with two of the galaxy’s most hated villains? Um, okay. That, too.

Actually saving the galaxy, though? 

Now that will take a miracle.

My thoughts:

This book picks up immediately after the previous one ended. But boy, does it pack some surprises. One of our groups has traveled forward in time, another backward. Throw in a disintegrating time loop and having to cooperate with pretty much the worst person in the galaxy, and you can see that there are plenty of problems to solve.

The time loop is handled well—just enough repetition to establish the problem, without beating you over the head with it.

Once again, our characters continue to evolve. Loyalties—and plans—are tested. They are pushed to their absolute limits, and some have to make life-altering decisions. No one comes out truly unscathed; some of the wounds are visible and some are not. And good people die.

One of my YA lit pet peeves is a factor here, however. Remember, our characters—except Saedii and probably Kal—are all about 17 years old. Yet every one of the surviving characters has found their life partner by the end of the book. Yes, I know I am old and that this book was not written for me. I remember being 17 and longing to find that one person to love and be loved by. However, I think the prevalence of teenaged characters finding their lifelong love is setting up unrealistic expectations. This is something I’m not going to stop talking about, even while I’m rooting for the characters.

As our mysteries are explained (Why were the strange gifts in the second book left for them? Why did their superior offices give them coded messages?), it makes sense.

Some things, though, still seemed to come a little too easy. Aurora’s ultimate solution…I don’t know. It just didn’t quite satisfy me. I don’t want to be spoiler-y, though I think you will probably expect Our Heroes to win, since that’s what happens in books, but I do think the Ra’haam went along a little too easily.

The final chapter…was okay. It was cute. Did it add much to the resolution? Not really.

I will miss these characters—their humor, their fortitude, and their relationships.

Possible objectionable content:

While Auri uses substitute swears (“holy cake” and “mothercustard”), other characters do swear, including increased use of the f-word as time passes. Sexual innuendo and sexual activity, none of it graphic. Lots of violence—we’re saving the galaxy, after all. All of Squad 312 has lost parents in one way or another.

Who might like these books:

Science fiction fans. Those who love books about people who shouldn’t fit together, yet become a team and a family despite their differences. Those who like romance to go along with kick-butt fighting.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in return for my unbiased opinion.