Review: Shadows on the Moon by Zoë Marriot

  Title: Shadows on the Moon [Amazon|GoodReads]
  Author: Zoë Marriot [Website|Twitter]
  Standing: Stand alone novel.
  Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling, PoC
  Published: April 24th, 2012 by Candlewick Press (first published July 7th, 2011).
  Format: Kindle edition; 465 pages.
  Source: ARC copy received from publisher via NetGalley.
  Challenge: YA/MG Fantasy Challenge

Love comes like storm clouds
Fleeing from the wind,
and casts Shadows on the moon.

On Suzume’s fourteenth birthday, the men come for her and her family.  Accusing her father of treason, he and her cousin who is as a sister to her, are struck down.  Suzume escapes, revealing a power she did not know she had—the power to shadow weave.  She cultivates her talent, learning to bend the world around her, create mantles of light and shadow that hide her from sight.  She is able to manipulate her features so that others see only what she wants them to see.  For it is only this mask, showing her as meek, that saves her life.  Taken in by a family friend, Suzume’s mother remarries a man her daughter suspects of being cruel and desirous, the type who always wants that which he cannot have.  Suzume treads lightly, finding solace and friendship in those who can see beyond her mask, namely, the strange foreigner Otieno.  When presented with the only possible opportunity to exact revenge on those who destroyed her family, Suzume knows she must take it, regardless of what it means she will lose.

Shadows on the Moon by Zoë Marriot is a beautifully constructed fantasy retelling of Cinderella, which takes place in a realm called the Moonlit Land. The Moonlit Land is heavily influenced by feudal Japan, with many cultural aspect and terms from this time and country (along with some from China as well) creating the scaffolding of Suzume’s tale. I was fascinated by Zoë Marriot’s choices for her Cinderella story, and seeing her put her iterations of the evil stepmother and horrid stepsisters, the handsome prince, and various incarnations of the fairy god mother, was one of the most engrossing parts of the story. I will say though, that I would have loved Shadows on the Moon just as much if it hadn’t been such a clear nod at the classic tale. It was unique, lyrically written, and culturally rich. The world Zoë Marriot built with shadow weaving was foreign, and yet familiar, and I found it beautiful.

Suzume is a wonderfully heartbreaking lead. One of those characters you learn to love and respect, despite the fact that they themselves are certain they are unworthy of such regard. The book is split into three parts, each a reiteration of Suzume as a person, each an important part of her story in which she breaks free from a former life. The only consistency she has from one identity to another is Otieno, and only Otieno sees through the masks she wears, even the ones she shows herself.

I knew going in that Shadows on the Moon would deal with some subjects you don’t see in your usual Cinderella story. I knew it dealt with self-mutilation (warning to those readers who have a difficult time with the subject of cutting), and that it focused on revenge. I was hoping for something a little Kill Bill meets fairy tale, but that wasn’t what Shadows on the Moon ended up being. Shadows on the Moon was a much more subtle, character driven book than I had expected, and I ended up liking it as much as I had anticipated, but for different reasons. The all PoC cast was wonderful to see, especially when Zoë Marriot weaves in the Japanese terms and customs effortlessly; the language is delicate, and extremely fitting to the point that it almost feels translated. If I hadn’t known the author to be a little blonde woman before reading, I might have supposed she was Asian herself.

The restricting culture of feudal Japan is prevalent in Shadows on the Moon. Honor is of the utmost importance, and one knows their place, and does not show extreme emotion openly. This cultural impact is one of the reasons Suzume’s relationship with Otieno is so wonderful, but potentially heartbreaking. Suzume feels restricted by her lot in life, knowing she could be happy doing a variety of things, unconstrained by her gender role in her culture. She admires Otieno’s country and people for their open and easy ways, and lack of reserve. She longs for the ability to show her feelings openly, particularly those of the happiness that she feels with Otieno and the mourning that she feels for her family. Suzume’s plight is so troubling because she feels that for honor’s sake that she must exact revenge. To do so, she is willing to deprive herself of any modicum of happiness to the point that fury and sorrow and the desire for justice consume her beyond anything in her present situation.

Because Shadows on the Moon has such a unique spin on Cinderella, and because it is split into three distinctly important portions, I hesitate to talk any more about the story, plot, or characters involved lest I spoil anything. Suffice it to say that this story was rich and cold and desperate with longing in the most recommended and beautiful way possible.

Likelihood that I'll be back for more:  Oh goodness yes!  I’ve wanted to read Daughter of the Flames and Frostfire ever since I saw their beautiful covers (yeah, I’m easily won over by pretties), and will hopefully be doing so soon (well, the former at least, not sure when I’ll be able to get my hands on a copy of the latter).

Recommended for: Readers who enjoyed Chime, Cinder, or Memoirs of a Geisha.  Anyone who likes fairy tale retellings, good multicultural books, and historical fantasy.

Get a second opinion:
Anna Reads
The Book Smugglers
Bibliophilic Monologues

Review: Starters by Lissa Price

Title: Starters[Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Lissa Price [Website|Twitter|Facebook]
Standing: First in what I believe will be a duology.
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalyptic
Published: March 13th, 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Format: Kindle edition.
Source: ARC from publisher via NetGalley.
Challenge: Debut Author Challenge

Callie and her younger brother have been living as squatters on the street since losing their parents to a genocide virus.  Unlike the lucky kids, they have no grandparents to take care of them.  When her brother is sick, and they are evicted from a building holding all of their meager belongings, Callie feels she’s reached the end of her rope.  She decides to sign on at Prime Destinations.  Three rentals, and she’ll be free, with an astronomical paycheck.  The thought of an Ender renting her body for fun disgusts Callie, but not as much as letting her brother die.  Callie is in for more than the contract, however, when she realizes that the woman renting her body has more in mind than being young and having fun.  Who is she supposed to turn to, and what is she supposed to do with so little control?

So here’s where I get sheepish, because just last week I faulted Partials for being too similar to Battlestar Gallactica.  Well, if that bothered me, I only loved Starters all the more for basically being the novelized YA version of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse.  I’ll just go ahead and pin that “Hypocrite” badge to my chest now, thank you!

I was sold on Starters from the moment I picked it up.  Not only does the cover give you that totally eerie feeling of being watched, but the story grabs you and doesn’t let you go till the closing page.  Imagine a future where the United States has been ripped apart in a war.  The country has suffered the release of a virus engineered for destruction, but luckily they had a vaccination...just not enough for everyone.  I could totally buy this circumstance--the elderly and children being the most vulnerable were the ones to receive the cure, unfortunately, the adults weren’t immune either and perished.  This left countless children, “Starters” because they’re at the start of their lives, at the mercy of the “Enders”, who are at the end of theirs.  The Starters can’t vote, work, or fend for themselves in any way that isn’t scraping and surviving on the streets.  Only Starters with surviving grandparents to claim them have any semblance of ‘normalcy’, though even those kids have struggled with the situation of a country torn and parents lost.  I was shocked at the implication that the elderly of this nation would just abandon so many of the young, but as the story unfolded, the situation became more believable.  There weren’t enough Enders with grandchildren or benevolent hearts to provide for the mass numbers of Starters, but that doesn’t mean that all Enders were bad, or that the government didn’t attempt to provide solutions (however terrible).  

I would like to get a bit more of the back story of the Spore Wars, and the circumstances leading up to Starters.  I appreciate that there were no info-dumps, but it would be nice to uncover more.  After all, who doesn’t want to learn more about our country becoming such a mess that Mexico would build a wall to keep us out?  I have high hopes that my questions will be answered in Enders.  Also, there is a prequel short, Portrait of a Starter, but I haven’t read it.  The tragedy of Starters was the children--they became the greatest victims of a war they had no part in.  Isn’t this always the case with war?  Certainly, but in Starters, it is in your face and more apparent than ever.

I loved that Callie’s experience slightly paralleled Cinderella’s.  This girl from the streets, no better than trash, is given the opportunity to glam up and turn it all around.  For a time.  Like every Cinderella story, there’s a deadline, and there’s more to the story than can be seen on the surface.  Oh!  And there’s even a total Newsies scene!  Love it!  

Starters was action-packed in a way that had my heart pumping and my brain locked in.  The last time I can pin-point this exact sensation while reading would be during James Dashner’s The Maze Runner.  Both post-apocalyptic books will have you on the edge of your seat, and literally nauseated with the twists and turns that humanity takes.  That, for me, was the best and most powerful thing about Starters.  Despite its similarities to Dollhouse, I had no freaking idea where this book was going.  I don’t dare reveal much of the plot lest it be ruined for others, but as someone who appreciates the unpredictable greatly, I will say that Starters had my jaw dropping and my head exploding by the end.

Likelihood that I'll be back for more:  Absofreakinlutely.  Starters earned a place on my favorites of 2012 shelf, and I can’t wait to get my hands on Enders towards the end of this year.  

Recommended for:  Dollhouse fans, those who enjoy post-apocolyptic/sci-fi YA ala The Maze Runner, body snatchers.

Real life repercussions of reading this book:  Well duh.  If you haven’t seen Dollhouse, you really ought to go watch it.  It’s only 2 seasons, and so effed up the entire time you’ll be thinking ‘how the heck did this ever get on tv?’.  Plus, it’s Joss Whedon!

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Marissa Meyer [Website|Twitter|Facebook]
Standing: First in the new Lunar Chronicles quartet.
Genre: Young Adult, Sci Fi, Retelling
Published: January 3rd, 2012 by Feiwel and Friends
Format: Hardcover; 390 pages.  
Source: Borrowed from my local library.
Challenge: Debut author challenge.

Cinder has spent her years since becoming a cyborg (and an orphan, and a second-rate citizen) laboring to provide for her overbearing stepmother and stepsisters.  Her stepmother never wanted to accept Cinder into their home; she feels Cinder is to blame for her husband’s exposure to the plague that caused his death, and only keeps her around as a source of income.  Cinder is, after all, the most talented mechanic in all of New Beijing.  While working, Cinder finds herself approached by an ‘inconspicuous’ Prince Kai, asking her to fix an outdated android that holds some important information.  She’s happy to be of assistance, but helping the Prince becomes increasingly difficult when her younger stepsister, Peony, is infected with the plague and her stepmother opts to volunteer Cinder for treatment research.   

The cyborg draft had been started by some royal research team a year ago.  Every morning, a new ID number was drawn from the pool of so many thousand cyborgs who resided in the Eastern Commonwealth.  Subjects had been carted in from provinces as far-reaching as Mumbai and Singapore to act as guinea pigs for the antidote testing.  It was made out to be some sort of honor, giving your life for the good of humanity, but it was really just a reminder that cyborgs were not like everyone else.  Many of them had been given a second chance at life by the generous hand of scientists and therefore owed their very existence to those who had created them.  They were lucky to have lived this long, many thought.  It’s only right that they should be the first to give up their lives in search for the cure.

I have to admit that Cinder was so much more than I was expecting.  I feel books rarely live up to their hype, and to me, Cinder was one of the most hyped up YA titles of the new year.  So I lowered my expectations, but I have to say, for me this one totally lived up to the hype.  Cinder had all of the elements of a great retelling.  It was true to the structure of the well-known Cinderella, but managed to completely reimagine the details flowing into that structure to support it, and to do so in a way that was completely unique.  

Cinder lives in a future after WWIV, where the world has divided into large territories whose leaders work together regularly.  The moon, colonized hundreds of years previously, has become Earth’s biggest threat where Queen Levana sits the throne as a powerful and manipulative dictator hungering for more.  Prince Kai must deal with dangerous negotiations to maintain peace, while at the same time desperately searching for a cure for the plague, lumotosis, that has ravaged the Earth for around fifteen years.

Cinder made an excellent example of the issue of prejudice.  Cinder finds herself the victim of being considered less than human because of her cyborg status.  She struggles to be accepted into society, insistent on her humanity, while at the same time harboring incredible prejudice against Lunars (those people who inhabit the moon).

I also very much enjoyed the treatment of emotions in Cinder.  This was not an overly emotional book.  There’s no pining, no insta-love, but still the characters come across as very real.  I wish more books out there would realize you don't have to be melodramatic to be genuine! Prince Kai is very kind and down to earth, yet very aware of his duties and sense of responsibility to his people even (or especially) with the trying reality of plague in his own family.  Cinder is, quite frankly, the coolest mechanic since Kaylee of Firefly.  She’s a tough chick who has to wade through pools of crap, but doesn’t sit around moping or even sharing her hardships with those around her.  This definitely can be a fault when it comes to her friendship with Kai, but I still respect the girl for it. And the bad guys? Man...they are evil! You get not only your evil stepmother but also your evil queen, and both have my all encompassing hate in the best way possible.

Cinder's ‘major twist’ was predictable, but in a way that I appreciated.  I don’t feel as if readers were written down to in this case, we’re supposed to get it, and for once I wasn’t banging my head against the wall wondering when the characters were going to figure it out already.  I did have a slight problem with some of the dialog.  It occasionally felt a little off-kilter given the setting, but this was fairly minor.  Finally, some of the sci-fi aspects of the book seemed to be dipping over into fantasy a bit. As the story states, it is not magic, but the explanation still seemed a bit fanciful to me. This aspect didn't reduce my enjoyment though. Overall, I loved this book, and it’s certainly one of my favorites of 2012 thus far.

You can read the first 5 chapters of Cinder free!

Likelihood that I'll be back for more:  Absofreakinlutely!  This is the first book I’ve read this year that I closed and immediately starting bouncing my legs in ancy anticipation for the next installment.  

Recommended for:  Firefly fans. It's not just the Kaylee thing either, with its mixture of Chinese and English influences, Cinder could take place in a similar environment. Anyone who loves a good fairy tale retelling, and chicks that aren’t delicate and won’t apologize for it dammit!

Real life repercussions of reading this book: Omg I can’t decide which of Cinder’s awesome abilities I want most, can you?  I do really like the whole lie detector bit...At any rate, who didn't have this song in their head with all the Iko love?

Shorts: Glitches by Marissa Meyer

Glitches by Marissa Meyer is available for FREE here.

If you’re debating whether or not the extremely hyped, Cinder, is for you, I suggest checking out Glitches!  Glitches is a short story that takes place approximately 5 years before Cinder.  It tells the tale of Cinder, and 11 year old orphan traveling to New Beijing to meet the family that has agreed to take her in.  Cinder’s parents have recently perished in a hover crash, and she herself is lucky to be alive.  After substantive surgeries, Cinder now exists as a cyborg, her most notable features being a new metal hand and leg.  Cinder must learn to adjust to her new ‘features’, like what does that orange light indicate, why can she no longer seem to cry, and what use might she be to the world?  Are the physical traits that alter her humanity glitches?  Knowing she is unwelcome, particularly by her new stepmother, Cinder works to find her place of belonging so far away from everything she has known.

You don’t need to read Glitches to enjoy Cinder, but it will give you a bit more information about Cinder’s backstory, and understanding of how she came to end up where we find her at the beginning of the novel.  Cinder definitely grows up a lot in five years!  My only complaint about Glitches is that while the art is awesomely beautiful (is that a cybornetic cherry tree?!), Cinder’s lost her left limbs, not her right.  But that’s just me being OCD.

Review: Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love by Chris Roberson

Title: Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Chris Roberson (Writer) [Website|Twitter] and Shawn McManus (Artist)
Additional Credits: Lee Loughridge (Colorist), Todd Klein (Letterer), Bill Willingham (Consultant), and Chrissie Zullo (Original Series Covers)
Standing: 1st installment of a Fables (created by Bill Willingham) spin-off.
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fairy Tale, Spy
Published: August 10th, 2010 by Vertigo
Format: Paperback; 144 pages.  
Source: Borrowed from my local library.
Spoilers!:  This review contains some minor spoilers for the Fables series, as does the book itself.  Chronologically, this story takes place after Fables: War and Pieces (#11).  So go read those first!

I know what you’re thinking people...This is all very From Russia With Love. And you’re right! Cinderella has come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass...and she’s all out of bubble gum.

Cinderella is Fabletown’s #1 bad ass spy.  She’s so skilled in skulduggery she makes Bond look like an amateur.  Recruited by then sheriff, Bigby Wolf, shortly after escaping the Homelands with Prince Charming, Cinderella has had mundy (that is mundane--aka us boring humans) lifetime’s to perfect her skills.  She operates under Bigby’s number one rule of combat:  Being the unarmed opponent in a fight isn’t necessarily a disadvantage...and if you really need a weapon, the other guy’s got one you can have.

To the average Fabletown citizen, Cinderella is the jet-setting owner of “The Glass Slipper”, the local shoe shop.  She spends far too little time there working, and far too much gallivanting across the globe spending money she doesn’t seem to have.  To a select few, she is Fabletown’s top off the books spy, called in when situations are too big or too delicate to be handled by the Tourists (the on the books spies).  

After hundreds of years, the good Fables residing in the mundy world have defeated the evil adversary and are no longer at war with the Homelands, but the resulting upheaval has brought up its own share of problems for Fabletown.  Unregistered magical goods have been popping up around the globe, and are falling into mundy hands.  Astoundingly dangerous, one magical cookpot used wrong, and the whole world could drown in oatmeal (um...yuck!).  Cinderella is sent to investigate; she sets off with some magical goods of her own, and along the way teams up with another rags-to-riches Fable-turned-spy looking out for the interests of his own city (can you guess who?).  Meanwhile, back at The Glass Slipper, there’s something very “Red Shoes” going on if you know what I mean.

If you enjoyed Cindy’s previous Fables exploits in “Cinderella Libertine” (issue 22), “Big and Small” (issue 51) and “Skulduggery” (issue 71-72), then you’ll love Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love.  I’m so happy to say this spin-off was a success!  I’m always wary of spin-offs, and have avoided Jack of the Fables like the plague since Jack is by far my least favorite Fables character.  Roberson manages to give Cindy (and others) a tone so similar to Willingham’s treatment, you hardly realize it’s a different author.  McManus’s art is his own, but in a way that easily evokes the images off all the characters we know and love.  Cinderella doesn’t have the depth of the original Fables, but for the full-on addict that I have become, it was just the thing!  Wrapped up in a neat little package, Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love is an excellent read for Fables fans.  Plus there’s hotness.  Did I mention the hotness?

I don’t believe in Happily Ever After.  Not anymore.  

But if the best I can do is Happily For the Moment, then it’ll have to do.

Hey, it beats sitting in cinders and ashes, right?

I’ll say.  

Finally, every Fables fan I know has a total crush on the cover art of James Jean.  Well hold onto your pants kids, because Cinderella comes complete with a new cover artist, Chrissie Zullo, ready to fight for a place in your heart.  Considering Zullo lists Jean among her influences, I’m feeling a steamy love triangle coming on!

Are these not gorgeous?!  I love the complete lack of strait lines and the largely monochromatic schemes.  I would buy the next trade to see more of Zullo’s covers alone!

Likelihood that I'll be back for more: Cinderella: Fables are Forever, the follow up in this series is set to come out in April, and I’ll be at the front of the line.  

Recommended for: Fans of Fables, Bond, and bas ass chicks.  Those who don’t believe in Happily Ever After, but do believe in themselves.

Real life repercussions of reading this book:  I need to start working out now if I’m going to perfect that kick move in this short mundy lifetime.  Also--anyone know who you need to contact to get a hang gliding skirt?