Book Review Round-Up: Southern Gothic and Swedish Crime

In the summer I am, hopefully, teaching a class on Supernatural Fiction. I was short a book, so while looking around I came across Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. The supernatural element here is witches, or Casters as they are known in the book, and they will pair nicely with the vampires, werewolves, wizards, and ghosts that feature in my other books. There is a movie version coming out soon, which was part of what drew me to the book because I like the added avenue of discussion that an adaptation brings to the class.

The plot was interesting and should appeal to college students. I liked that the besotted human is a boy instead of a girl–that is a nice change from the usual YA paranormal romance. While Lena, the young Caster, needs Ethan, her Mortal boyfriend, she is powerful on her own. Ethan grounds her and gives her hope for a positive future. That makes for a more positive relationship. Not that it is perfect, but there isn’t that sense of one being totally dependent on the other.

This is also a good introduction to the genre of Southern Gothic for readers. There’s a creepy old house that everyone avoids, plots within plots, and plenty of conniving people. While Gothic often just implies the supernatural and here it is a very real part of the plot, I read a lot of this type of story when I was in high school, and the book invoked a lot of the same feelings–and may lead modern readers to discover that not really knowing what’s going bump in the night can be a lot more unsettling.

My main issue with the book is that it is long–and I am not someone who shies away from complex and lengthy stories. But this could have been tighter. Some editing would have made the story tenser and more exciting. I should have been on the edge of my seat more than I was.

Before this, I read The Stranger, by Camilla Lackberg. It was previously published as The Gallows Bird, and I am not quite sure why they changed the title. I just know there were a lot of cranky people who bought a book they already read!

This is the fourth book in Lackberg’s Patrick Hedstrom series, which is set in a small Swedish town plagued with big city crime. The mystery plot was interesting, about a string of killings that may be the result of a serial killer, but no one is really sure, and the companion “at home” story line of Patrick and Erica preparing for their wedding and dealing with other family issues was also good.

I don’t know if it was the story or just that this is the fourth book I have read by this author, but I was able to figure out the twist really soon. It didn’t spoil the story–it was fun seeing everyone else figure it out–but I wasn’t as shocked by how things turned out as I have been with her previous volumes. I am looking forward to reading the next book, The Hidden Child, which was set up by the end of this one, so time will tell!

Dystopias, Human Sacrifice, and Witches

Not all at once! Though that might make for quite the book. I realized I was way behind in my book posts with all my cooking lately–and I was promised a new cake challenge from Wales! anyway, I figured I should be literary for a little while–if nothing else, it is an effective way to avoid grading papers!

So, for my class on Dystopian Fiction that I am teaching this summer, I read Brave New Love, an anthology of short stories edited by Paula Guran. There are thirteen stories in the collection, and all are set in different dystopian worlds. The common element, as the title indicates, is romance, and it comes in all shapes and sizes here. Apparently there were some issues with this book being published because some of the relationships are same sex, and the book is for teens, but I didn’t see anything I would label inappropriate. I suppose even when the world is falling apart, people still won’t be able to love who they want to.

For dystopian fiction, the short story format is a bit of a drawback. There’s not enough space for world building, but some of the snapshots provided are compelling enough to make the reader want more. Some of the best stories were “Berserker Eyes,” by Maria V. Snyder, “Now Purple with Love’s Wound,” by Carrie Vaughn, and “In the Clearing,” by Kiera Cass.

The final book I had to read for class was Article 5, by Kristen Simmons. This future America is ruled by an ultra-conservative government which controls gender roles, literature, schooling–pretty much everything. Kind of a worst case scenario if the Tea Party got more control. Ember, the heroine, is sent to reform school because she is illegitimate. Her mother is arrested for having a child out of wedlock, even though this happened before the new rules were put into place. Of course, Ember escapes an gets a clearer picture of what the world is really like, but this one of the more realistic of the dystopias I’ve read about for this class. I could see this happening, and that is scary.

Anyway, now that I’ve finished my books for class, I can spend the rest of the summer reading pretty much whatever I want. Changes, by Jim Butcher, was next on my list–the twelfth book in The Dresden Files series. It was a rush, I have to say, and the first time I finished a book from this series and wanted to start the next one right away–unlike previous volumes, this one ends with a definite cliff-hanger. I didn’t go grab Ghost Story off the shelf, but I did read, “Aftermath,” a novella in Side Jobs that takes place shortly after Changes ends. And the story is narrated by Murphy, which is cool.

In Changes, not only does Harry find out that he has a daughter that he never knew about, but he also finds out that she’s about to be used as a human sacrifice.  And the main action takes place in Mexico, not Chicago. Pretty much every significant character Harry has encountered throughout the series makes an appearance, but those relationships don’t necessarily remain the way we’d expect. With Ghost Story, I will be caught up with that series, so I’m drawing it out a little. But I won’t be able to wait for long!

I’ve been watching The Secret Circle on TV–when my DVR doesn’t boot in favor of another show anyway–too many things on at the same time! The show is entertaining, so I figured I would check out the books. Unfortunately, I didn’t love them. I got an omnibus edition containing The Initiation and the first part of The Captive. They were fast, and it was interesting to see how the TV show evolved from them, but I’m not jumping up and down to read more. I know I’m not the target audience either, but I have read plenty of Young Adult fiction lately that was far more interesting. Even the fact that I’ve only read half the second book isn’t enough to make me go get the next one.

The Hunger Games

Finally went to see The Hunger Games yesterday. Since I am teaching the book this summer, I was sort of obligated. I thought the movie was a pretty faithful adaptation–yes there were changes, but the changes made sense given how movies need to flow. I have to say that the scene where Katniss and Peeta roll into the stadium on fire gave me goosebumps. The movie did raise issues for me, however, that I had not expected.

First off, as a recent Entertainment Weekly article noted, the current ratings system needs some serious overhaul, and this movie is a good example of that. No one under thirteen should be seeing it–or reading the book for that matter–but even a PG-13 is not strong enough. Not that it needs an R–there needs to be something else. This is for mature teen audiences–fifteen or sixteen at minimum–and then only at parental discretion. This is definitely a movie, and a book, for parents to see/read with their teens and discuss afterwards. In depth and at length. Not enough of the violence was off-camera for my tastes, and even what was on camera was not tween-friendly. My daughter has friends at school in fourth grade reading the series–no way. As advanced a reader as my daughter is, she will not be reading this any time soon. How younger viewers respond to the violence–both what is shown and what is implied–is critical, and that is part of what needs to be discussed.

The other thing is the message. I get the metaphor, but I am 43 and do this for a living. Dystopian fiction is all about where we can end up if we don’t get our act together. This has messages about violence, government control, and reality TV. But are teen/tween readers getting that? Do they see that Survivor is only a couple of small hops away from this? That we can only see people humiliate themselves and psychologically abuse others for so long before the masses get bored and want to step it up a few notches? And that people will sign up for it? The real world probably won’t need a Reaping. If the intended audience isn’t getting the intention, that is also a problem–and another reason for this story to be taught and discussed.

Sorry this isn’t as fluffy or foody as previous posts, but sometimes I have to talk about serious things too.