Cover-to-Cover Commuting: Wither review

I decided to give Wither by Lauren DeStefano a try based on a friend's positive review of the audiobook.  Here are my own thoughts on it.

Also, while I did not finish this review in a timely manner, the review itself is timely for the book: It's been nominated for YALSA's Teen's Top Ten 2012 list!  If you're a teen, you can vote.

Statistics
Checkouts: Information not available; obtained through inter-library loan
Typical reader: Teen girls who are into dystopian romance
Source: MelCat inter-library loan

Synopsis: After medical science in the future world goes terribly wrong and invariably kills young adults, teen girls such as protagonist/narrator Rhine are kidnapped and married off to repopulate the world.  Rhine yearns for freedom and to be reunited with her twin brother, but also bonds with her sister-wives, the help, and maybe even her wicked husband.

My Goodreads rating: 4 stars

Wither offers up quite a different world, with fairly adequate world-building.  In Rhine's world, most of the globe was not only devastated by war, it was obliterated; apparently, the rest of the world is covered in ocean thanks to the superior weaponry owned by the North American superpower.  On the medical side of things, cancers and most other diseases have been wiped out.  An engineered generation of perfect humans thrived, and continue to do so as they live healthily into their 70s at present.  Unfortunately, the succeeding generations do not fare so well.  Women die at 20, and men at 25, of some horrific "virus."  Without exception.

Is all of this true?  That is a bit questionable, especially about the ocean-shrouded world.  But that is what Rhine knows, and she's the narrator.  Perhaps the holes will be filled in as the trilogy progresses.

This is definitely a book enhanced by its audio edition.  Angela Lin really won me over to this book.  She's so emotional, and reading the text alone probably wouldn't have captured the feelings as well as her voice did.  The voice acting added so much flavor.  And it got me past issues I might otherwise have with this sort of book, like the love triangle.

Yup.  There's a love triangle.  That blight of YA chick lit.  At least here it's understandable.  Rhine is trapped, forced to marry her captor.  She falls for a manservant, Gabriel.  Gabriel loves her, too.  But so does her captor/husband, Linden.  And as she learns that maybe he isn't so bad after all, she starts to feel a bond with him, too.  I can be generous and attribute it to inevitability through proximity.  She does spend a lot of time with both of them, and gets to know their softer sides.  (Or, I can be cynical and call it Stockholm Syndrome.)

This novel has some mature themes, though the issue of sex is skirted a bit.  Minor spoiler, but Rhine never consummates the marriage with her husband in the course of the book.  The other wives do, though, and the reader can expect the characters to deal with pregnancy, birth, and child-rearing.  There's also the matter of death (though that is a common theme in YA these days), and of medical science gone wrong.

Yay for YA: Once, by Anna Carey

Back in October, I reviewed a book (Eve by Anna Carey) published by HarperCollins in honor of Banned Books Week.  I must admit, I've given up a bit on the boycott of that company, because if we punish every publisher that starts making weird policies about how they handle e-books, we're not going to have anything to circulate.
So, here's a review of the upcoming sequel to Eve, Once.  It's due out next week, on July 3.

Spoilers unavoidable, if you haven't read the first book.

Statistics
Checkouts: Not owned by library
Series checkouts: Not owned by library
Typical reader: Fans of the first book in the series

Synopsis: Eve made it to the safe haven of Califia, but she's unhappy without her beloved Caleb, and one night she overhears how the women running the settlement would hand her over to the King of New America if it guaranteed their own safety.  Between this troubling news and a rumor that Caleb is injured in the wilderness nearby, Eve and her friend Arden leave Califia and are quickly captured by soldiers.  Arden is taken back to school, and Eve is off to the capital and whatever fate the King has in store for her.

My Goodreads rating: 3 stars

This is a hard book to review.  There is a jaw-dropping twist shortly after Eve reaches Sand City, impacting the entire rest of the book, and it's so good I don't want to spoil it for anyone!  Argh.  So, beyond telling you that yes, Eve does meet up with Caleb again, I really can't say much about the plot beyond what I've already put in the synopsis.  The prose is still very good.

I think my biggest disappointment was with the use of the characters.  As I'd explained in my review of Eve, I really liked the supporting cast, namely Arden and Caleb.  If you liked them too, prepare to be disappointed.  Arden doesn't completely disappear after she's returned to the school, but she's barely involved.  Caleb is ... honestly, I think he ends up being a plot device and requisite love interest.  There are some romantic-yet-dangerous scenes, and a really sweet point where they get to have some fun together, pretending to be elsewhere, so it's not a total wash in that regard.

As for Eve herself ... grow a spine, girl!  I can actually forgive her gullibility; it's a product of her upbringing, and she hasn't grown cynical yet in spite of all that's happened since she left the school.  But this is the girl who escaped from all she knew, survived in the wilderness, and defended herself and those she cared about in the first book of this trilogy?  I would have been happier if she'd slapped someone, even once.

In spite of these problems, there's another twist at the end that makes me intrigued enough to wonder what the final book in the trilogy will entail.  We'll see.  I might just be a sucker for a train wreck in this case.

Yay for YA: Catching Fire and Mockingjay

After seeing the movie version of the Hunger Games, I just had to read the sequels!

Statistics
Checkouts:
Catching Fire: 6
Mockingjay: 9
Series checkouts: 27
Source: Catching Fire was from Follett for the school, personally purchased my copy; both the school copy and my own copy of Mockingjay were personally purchased.

Synopsis: Katniss continues her narrative of what happened after the 74th Annual Hunger Games, in which she competed and won.

My Goodreads ratings: 5 stars for Catching Fire, 3 stars for Mockingjay

The following reviews contain spoilers.

Catching Fire is one of the most satisfying middle books of any trilogy I've read.  It was creative, and it distanced the series from comparisons between this and Battle Royale.  The book starts out with the confused relationship between Katniss and Gale, a threat from President Snow, and the need to make peace with the spurned Peeta as he and Katniss must travel the country in the victory tour and convince the populace that they are in love.  Then comes the announcement of the third Quarter Quell, the amped-up Hunger Games that happen every quarter-century.  The contestants this time are chosen from past victors, who had always thought themselves safe from ever again competing or knowing hardships.  Since Katniss is District 12's only female victor, she must again compete.  And when Haymitch's name is drawn, Peeta volunteers to go with her.

Throughout the book are hints at rebellion and what's to come.  The end has a great twist, which left me breathless and reaching for the final book in the trilogy.  Great storytelling!  I didn't even mind the relationship drivel, showing how Gale and Peeta loved Katniss while she didn't feel anything beyond friendship and camaraderie toward either of them.  More on that later.

Unfortunately, after a fabulous start, and more world-building as the plot moved to District 13, Mockingjay got old quickly.  Don't get me wrong, there's still some excellent adventure and twists here.  But Ms. Collins found a dead horse to beat.

War is Hell.  Repeat, War is Hell.  And if you missed it: War is Hell.  Oh, and by the way: War is Hell.

I get that part of what inspired the author was news footage of one of the recent wars, followed by a reality TV show.  And I know that this is young adult literature, where sometimes the audience may not know as much as us wise adults do.  But it seemed like the point was driven so far home that it got preachy and ham-handed.

As I sit here writing this review, I'm realizing that Mockingjay probably had some heavy influences from another final book of a YA series: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Both have characters dying a bit arbitrarily (though if you know Greek mythology, the fact that Castor dies and Pollux lives is nothing new).  Both have tear-jerking, pointless casualties.  (What the heck was a certain character doing in the Capitol, anyway?  Never explained.)  And both have epilogues where it's "babies ever after."

Except I liked Harry Potter's epilogue.  There, the pairings felt natural, and it was cute to see the main characters' progeny heading off for their first year at Hogwarts.

If the last three paragraphs plus the epilogue of Mockingjay did not exist, I would have liked it far better.  Instead, we have a complete change in Katniss' character just to ... what?  Satisfy the audience's need to have an answer to the infernal Team Peeta/Team Gale question?  Enforce society's charge that motherhood is the best role a woman can ever achieve?

I'm not going to give a spoiler as to who Katniss ends up with, though I will say there was no choice, no other option.  More disappointingly her mate, in the epilogue, takes fifteen years to convince her to give up her beliefs that she's held so long throughout three books and have children.  While I did not expect a happy ending, it really did not need to include a broken Katniss worrying about how her children will react to learning about her past.

Epic fail.

Hunger Games movie review

On Saturday afternoon I saw the Hunger Games movie with my boyfriend and some friends.  I was looking forward to seeing the movie for the special effects that I was sure could lend themselves well to this story, such as all the fiery costumes Kitniss wears.  Here's my full review.  With spoilers, if you haven't seen the movie or read the book.

Overall: It's pretty, but the book is better.

Acting: Excellent.  Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen was very good.  As other reviewers have said, she portrays so much with her eyes, while maintaining a poised exterior.  There are plenty of fabulous supporting cast as well.  Some were certainly chosen for their acting abilities rather than matching their literary counterparts' physical descriptions; Woody Harrelson was not the Haymitch I imagined, but was excellent in the role.

Costuming: Everything I could have wanted!  The stark contrast between the miners and the Capitol's denizens was depicted wonderfully.  I was waiting with baited breath for the scenes with Katniss on fire, and I loved the dress at her interview with Caesar.  Absolutely amazing.

Cinematography: Like the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead - when it was good it was very good, and when it was bad it was horrid.  There are amateur movies with less shaky footage than what was used in District 12 and some fight scenes.  What were they thinking?  Seriously.  On the other hand, the disoriented shot when Katniss has been stung by a tracker jacker was very well done.

Accuracy: Reasonably good.  There was some streamlining, of course, which is understandable.  Some of the added scenes, offering explanations, were worthwhile.  Others, such as when they created the creatures for the finale battle, were basically spoilers.  I appreciate how true they were to main events, and to how most deaths were off-screen like they were in the book.
What I did not like, at all, was how they changed the ending.  And here comes the spoiler.  I am extremely unhappy that they left ambiguity in how Katniss feels about Peeta.  In the book, she tells him point blank that the relationship was an act on her part, and she's not interested.  But noooo, we get the potential for a flipping love triangle, thanks also to the footage of Gale watching the Hunger Games and reacting jealously to the kissing and such.  Argh!!!!
The point of this was obvious in the lobby after the movie, when some of our companions were asking a non-reader if she was "Team Gale or Team Peeta."  Poke me with a spork, I'm done.

Best outcome of the movie experience: My boyfriend is now reading my copy of The Hunger Games.

Yay for YA: Article 5 review

Ever read a book that you thought was awesome except for one character?  That sums up my experience with Article 5 by Kristen Simmons.

Statistics
Checkouts: If I'd known this was an awesome book, I'd have bought it at the Scholastic book fair last month.  This shall likely be remedied.
Typical reader: Teen girls - there's a bit too much romance to appeal to boys, IMHO
Source: I found an Advance Reader's Copy (ARC) at Snowbound Books.  The ARC was free and I am not paid for this review.

Synopsis: In a dystopian future of America, the Bill of Rights has been revoked and replaced with the Moral Statutes.  Martial law enforces these statutes.  Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller lives with her rebellious single mother and attends high school, putting up with math because she knows that the girls who follow her in school will likely never have that privilege.  But that all changes when soldiers show up to arrest her mother for being a single mother - breaking Article 5 of the Moral Statutes - and force Ember into a rehabilitation center.  And one of the soldiers breaking up the family is none other than her childhood friend and crush, Chase Jennings.

My Goodreads rating: 4 stars

My synopsis above is a summary of the teaser on the book.  Now, most teasers will give you a bit of the plot through the first couple chapters, or maybe even a good chunk of the book.  Not here!  That happens in the first 20 pages of text.  And the adventure never stops (except for tense breaks for what passes for romantic interests) for the next 300+ pages.  I read about half the book in one evening.  The plot, with all its twists and turns, really engaged me.  Ms. Simmons created a horrific future for America, and her timing with this book really gives some social commentary.

Let me summarize the Moral Statutes for you.

• Article 1 denies individuals the right to practice or display propaganda associated with an alternative religion to Church of America.
• Articles 2 and 3 define the family as one man, one woman, and their children.
• Article 4 makes divorce illegal.
• Article 5, the catalyst for this book, states that only children conceived by a married husband and wife are considered valid citizens.
• Article 6 outlaws abortion.
• Article 7 outlines rules for traditional male and female roles, including the subservience of the woman.

Huh.  Sounds like something out of Rick Santorum's presidential campaign platform.  Not to mention all the states that are making marriage and civil unions unattainable for homosexuals, or clamping down on abortions, or even, in the case of Wisconsin, trying to equate single parenting with child abuse.

But you're here for a book review, not political commentary, right?

I really enjoyed the prose that delivered this well-built world and tantalizing plot.  There are a lot of artistically descriptive passages; one that comes to mind spoke of a peach and raspberry sky.  That sounds beautiful.  I also appreciated the higher reading level this novel offered; it would be good for advanced readers who aren't ready for adult-oriented books.

If there was a flaw in this book, it was Chase.  After arresting Ember's mother and sending his old friend to a rehabilitation center, he shows up and rescues her ... or does he?  In his cross-country trek with Ember, he acts like he's the only person she can trust, the person she must rely on to safely get to their destination where she believes her mother is, and yet he keeps putting her in danger.  She has incredibly mixed emotions about him, being in love with the "old" Chase, while fearing the "new" hardened AWOL soldier that he's become.  He doesn't make anything easier for her in that regard, sending her incredibly mixed signals and acting like such a jerk that I could have thrown the book across the room.  If you're looking for an angst-filled, slap-slap-kiss relationship, you've got it.  And then there's what happens at the climax of the story ... but I don't do spoilers.

Despite Chase, this was a very good book.  I don't know when the sequel is due out, but I'd be interested.

Yay for YA: Legend, by Marie Lu, review

I had the pleasure of finding a first edition, signed, copy of this at my local bookstore.  I debated about getting it so close to Christmas, but it was the last one in stock.  (My boyfriend can attest, I danced around with it in the aisle before buying it.)  So, thanks to this little splurge, I actually read this in a somewhat timely manner and you get a review in the month the book came out.

Statistics
Checkouts: Coming soon to the library
Typical reader: Late elementary/middle school boys and girls alike should be able to pick up this thriller
Source: Personally purchased from Snowbound Books

Synopsis: In Los Angeles, two lives collide after a heinous crime.  Day is at 15 years old the Republic's most wanted criminal, and has been accused of murder.  June is the Republic's groomed prodigy who must track down Day, who allegedly killed her brother.  This is the story of a game of cat and mouse, told from the perspective of both.  And after a shocking turn of events, it is the story of uncovering the truth of what really happened, and what is really going on in the city.

My Goodreads rating: 4 stars

This has a great cover that has appealed to me since I first saw it on other bloggers' reviews.  It's shiny!  It's also very gender-neutral, which is perfect for a book told from the perspectives of a young man and a young woman.  Anyone can pick it up and not be ashamed to be seen with it.

Day and June were destined for their lives by standardized testing, we learn early in the story.  While each has family history that plays into their status in life, the main determinant is the Trial that all children must take on their tenth birthdays.  Day flunked his, and escaped with his life to become a criminal.  June scored a perfect 1500 and is the darling of the Republic, head of her classes in university and destined for greatness.  But Day is certainly smarter and more physically fit than his Trial score indicated.  There's perhaps a bit of social commentary here.

The narrative style is excellent.  Day and June alternate chapters, each with a different font style and color in the physical copy of the book.  It's very easy to always know who you're reading!  I love how the two stories came together.  The scene where they met was great - as was the scene where she finally figures out who, in fact, she's been hanging out with on the streets.  As the story progresses past a certain turning point, the action really heats up, and you get so much more with both narratives than you would from a single point-of-view.

I felt that the first half was paced well, but things got so intense halfway through the book that I could hardly put it down after that.  The first half of the novel sets the characters, setting, and mood, and gives us an interesting game of cat and mouse.  But the second half!  That really is a suspenseful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

This is pretty lightly dystopian, very slightly science fiction.  It's set in the future, but feels like it isn't that far off.  The technology is somewhat advanced but very recognizable.  LA has a lake and a lot of flooding issues, and a lot more slums.  There's also not much in the way of gory violence or adult themes.  If you're not terribly into dystopias, this can still appeal to you.

Most Ambivalent Read of 2011: Unwind

It's time to start winding down the reviews for 2011.  I'll get at least one, hopefully two, more fresh reviews up before the ball drops on Times Square, but I'm also going to share highlights from the year.

First up, my most ambivalent read of 2011: Unwind by Neal Shusterman.

Statistics
Checkouts: Not owned
Typical reader: Fans of dystopian fiction
Source: Checked out from local public library

Synopsis (from Goodreads): The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

My Goodreads rating: Unrated, because I have no idea what to give it.


In the future, the Second Civil War is fought between pro-life and pro-choice. The result is a compromise: The Bill of Life, which protects life from conception to age 13, and from age 18 on. Between 13 and adulthood, parents and guardians can choose to retroactively "abort" or "unwind" their child - but the teen stays alive through a sophisticated form of organ donation. Unwound teens live on in recipients' bodies.

Oh, and if a mother can't wait that long, she can "stork" the child on someone's doorstep. If she's caught in the act, she has to keep it; if the homeowners find the baby, they have to keep it.

The plot focuses on two Unwinds, Connor and Risa, and their unwilling Tithe (parents decided for religious reasons at birth to unwind their child for the greater good) companion, Lev, as they struggle to stay alive in a society that wants 99.44% of their bodies. It's a good plot, with excellent pacing and some outstanding twists. I honestly did not expect the ending.

This book does get recognition for being one of the most disturbing novels I've read. You do get to find out what happens when an Unwind occurs - though it's all the more powerful because of what's left to your imagination. I was nauseous afterward and had to put the book down for a while.

On a meta-reading level, this is one that will make you THINK. Is it pro-life or pro-choice? Is it in favor of organ donations or against? What choices would you make in this society - and would you rather die or be unwound?

That said, I did not like several aspects of the book. The present-tense writing style grated on me. I found the main characters to be somewhat flat and couldn't relate to them; you get more of a feel for the Admiral's personality, background, what makes him tick than you do for the other characters. Connor and Risa are too intent on survival and immediate problems to introduce themselves to the reader very much. The third-person limited narration may be at fault there, and that sort of point-of-view may really irk some, especially since it changes focus with every chapter.

Five stars for being thought-provoking with some incredible twists. Two stars at most for style, characters, and the plot holes regarding the Bill of Life.  This is what makes it my Most Ambivalent Read of 2011.  I'm not going to pick up the next two books in the trilogy when they come out.  This was good for the shock value; what's left for the sequels?

Yay for YA: Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi

Isn't it nice when you read a book that has won awards, and you find it really did deserve those awards?  Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi won the 2011 Michael L. Printz Award, which is one of the American Library Association's highest awards for young adult literature, as well as several other distinctions.  And it's well-earned.

Statistics
Checkouts: Not owned by the school library yet
Typical reader: Teen boys
Book source: Personallly bought at the Scholastic Book Fair

Synopsis: Nailer, a teenage boy, lives along America's Gulf Coast, earning a living in a light crew, scavenging old tankers and other boats for copper wiring and other valuables.  He nearly dies after falling from a collapsing duct into a hidden oil pocket in a ship, but his run of luck begins and he manages to free himself.  The next day, a monstrous hurricane blows through the area.  Afterward, he and a crew mate find a beached clipper ship off a nearby island.  There's a lone survivor, and despite losing the privilege of scavenging the boat, he decides to rescue her.  But at what cost?

My Goodreads rating: 5 stars

If I had to sum up this book in one word, it would be: Intense!  This is a book that just won't quit amazing the reader.  The action is nonstop, the dystopian future is believable and expertly designed, and the characters are awesome.  I want to gush about this novel, but am restraining myself for the sake of a coherent review.

Life is tough in the future.  Climate change has apparently occurred, with the polar ice caps gone, shorelines changed around the world, and "city breaker" F6 hurricanes bombarding the Gulf Coast so much that after Orleans 3, the people gave up on trying to have decent cities in the lowlands of Louisiana.  But there are plenty of old abandoned tankers and other metal ships in the vicinity, ready for crews to scavenge everything useful from them.  Oil is a scarce, precious resource, a relic occasionally found on the old gas-guzzling ships of the past.  The book is never preachy, though.  The characters are struggling to survive too much for that.

The characters are perfectly flawed.  Everyone has a hard life in Nailer's world, from the low-life trash that break their oaths to their crew, to the "swank," the members of the upper class with their internal politics and backstabbing.  There are no flat characters here, no black-and-white heroes and villains, no throw-away character filling a stereotype.  Another thing I liked about the characters was that they could grow and learn.  This was particularly true of the protagonist, Nailer, and the swank he saves from the clipper, Nita.  Nita never came across a plot device, despite being a driving force behind much of the story, and her experiences outside her "white-bread world" really added to her character.

There is a companion book, The Drowned Cities, due out next spring.  It features a secondary character that was quite interesting in my opinion: Tool, a genetically engineered half-man, similar to a werewolf minus the shapeshifting, who has no master.  I'll be looking forward to it.

Dystopias and Dead Things: Crossed, by Ally Condie (Yay for YA)

Back in January, I read Matched by Ally Condie.  I rated it 4 stars on Goodreads; to summarize my thoughts, it's dystopian chick lit with a good story and the ability to put the plot first, ahead of the romance.  I like both love interests of Cassia, the heroine and narrator; Xander is her wonderful best friend and the intended Match for her, while Ky is a brooding rebel who treats her decently and broadens her horizons after appearing as a second Match on the datacard.

So what has Crossed brought us in the second installment of the series?  (Spoilers unavoidable if you haven't read the first book!)

Statistics
Checkouts: 1 (It had a hold on it before I even cataloged it!)
Typical reader: Middle school girls

Synopsis: Cassia has gone to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky, after he was taken by the Society near the end of the first novel.  After a warm surprise meeting with Xander on a Match visit, she is mistakenly taken to a former village with some other girls, and finds that only two days earlier, Ky and two other boys had escaped into the Carving - a desert canyon system beyond the borders.  With another girl, she too runs off into the canyons.  Will she reunite with Ky?  What will they each learn about the Rising, the rebellion against the Society?

My Goodreads rating: 4 stars

First, I would like to compliment the cover art.  The series' covers have been beautiful and fit the stories extremely well.  The first had Cassia in her green Match Banquet dress, trapped in a greenish bubble.  This second book has a blue theme, and she is starting to break out of the bluish bubble.  The third, from the incomplete previews, will have a red theme.  Perfect.  It highlights the colors of the tablets every Citizen of the Society carries, and blue could not be better for the second book, as Cassia and the reader learns what really happens if a blue pill is consumed.

This sequel is rather different from the first novel in several ways.  Cassia is no longer the sole narrator; now the chapters alternate between her narrative and Ky's.   The prose is still very simple from both of them, befitting the culture of the Society, so it's probably good that each chapter is labeled with the storyteller's name.  I didn't have a problem knowing whose story I was reading, though.  Their experiences throughout life make them so different.  Another difference is the scope of the adventure.  It is much less restricted and mental than Matched.  The Carving is incredibly vast, the action is physical, and while there's still plenty of soul-searching, it's less pronounced.

If you've read my blog before, you know I don't read or like romance novels.  Don't expect this series to give you some great love story where the heroine gets swept off her feet by the man of her dreams.  There's some undertones of romance, but Cassia seems far more interested in finding out more about the Rising than finding Ky to be her everlasting love.  For those who prefer Xander, fear not!  I think the third book -has- to go back to him, because while he's mostly absent from this book, he's seriously tied into the plot of this one.  And that boy has some explaining to do when Cassia sees him.

I look forward to reading that explanation.  It's due out in November 2012.

Banned Books Week: Eve, by Anna Carey

Happy Banned Books Week!  The last week of September is the American Library Association's recognition of attempts to inhibit reading and celebration of the First Amendment freedoms of speech and of the press - which backs Americans' right to read.  I spent yesterday, as well as a bit of today, talking to classes at all levels about Banned Books Week and what it means.  This "holiday" is one of my favorites, perhaps second only to Halloween.

For my review this week, I'm taking a bit of a different approach to the celebration.  Rather than reviewing a classic banned/challenged book - and most books considered "classics" have been challenged at some point - or a more recent book that has made the list, I'm reviewing an advanced copy of a book published by HarperCollins.

What's the significance of this?  Earlier this year, HarperCollins decided to change their eBooks from permanent entities to files that disappear after 26 uses.  If a library owns one of their eBooks and it gets checked out every other week, it will no longer be part of the collection after a year.  This is utterly ridiculous in comparison to the shelf-life of the average physical library book.  So, with backing from the digital media service Overdrive - which provides thousands of digital audiobooks and eBooks to libraries around the world - libraries started a boycott against HarperCollins.  "We're not buying your books until this changes," we say.  Sometimes this means only eBooks, sometimes it encompasses all forms of books published by HarperCollins and all of its imprints.  But until HarperCollins changes its policy, many libraries are not buying.

Unfortunately, the company publishes a lot of great teen books.

This week, since I'm banned from buying HarperCollins books, I'm going to be naughty and tell you about a book they have coming out next week.  It's Eve by Anna Carey.  I got an advanced reader's edition for free from Snowbound Books to review.

Statistics
Checkouts: It goes on sale October 4, and it's published by HarperCollins. Unless it's donated, I don't expect this to show up on the shelves.
Typical reader: Teen girls

Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic future where 98% of the world's population has fallen victim to a plague, an orphan named Eve has done well in her all-girls School and will be graduating valedictorian of her class.  But a fellow senior, Arden, has seen what really awaits them in "trade school" after graduation, and escapes.  Eve finds out that Arden was right, and with the help of a teacher, slips away the night before the graduation ceremony.  Eventually she meets a young man, Caleb, who rescues her from danger and shows her that men are not the horrible monsters she has been taught to fear.  But the King's men are looking for her.  Can she and Arden make it to the safety of Califia?

My Goodreads rating: 5 stars (4.5, really)

If the final version of the cover of this gives the book comparisons the galley's cover offers, it's not going to be a surprise to learn (provided you're familiar with The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood) that what awaits the girls in "trade school" is naught but helping to repopulate the world as demanded by the King of the New America.  Eve sneaks over to see the building where she thought she would pursue her dreams of becoming a muralist and sees girls she'd known from older grades strapped to bed with massive, pregnant bellies and sorrowful faces.  Orphan girls sent to the schools end up as "sows," artificially inseminated and destined to suffer multiple births for the next 20 years of their lives in captivity.  No wonder Arden and Eve run away.

The wilds outside the City and the sequestered Schools are fraught with dangers - roving gangs, animals, and horror of all horrors, men.  The Schools teach the girls to fear all men, save for the King, and put spins on classic stories ranging from Romeo and Juliet to Lord of the Flies to show the dangerous, depraved ways of the male of the species.  So it's a bit amazing that Eve actually accepts being saved by a young man on horseback from a mother bear.

Thus begins one of the healthiest, most natural romances I've read in young adult literature in a good while.  Seriously.  If you're tired of bad boys, abusive vampires, fallen angels, and all of it, that's reason enough to pick up the book.  Caleb is one of the nicest, sweetest, most devoted love interests available in teen novels today.  He's completely realistic too, with flaws and insecurities that befit his age.

I also really liked the supporting female character, Arden.  In the course of the story, Eve learns that there's much more to her raven-haired former classmate than just all the gags and pranks she used to play.  Arden is tough, smart, determined.  She's a fascinating character that moves in and out of Eve's story as the plot plays out all of its twists and turns.  I don't want to give anything away, but I sincerely hope she shows up in the second book of the trilogy.

The story is pretty solid and interesting.  There are good times and horrific ones as Eve and Arden try to go west to Califia, where their teacher said refuge could be found.  Can they make it?  Will Caleb stay with them, or only help them get there?  Will they be intercepted by the King's men, who are specifically looking to bring Eve back alive to their leader?  When will the second book be released, so I can find out what happens next?

Will HarperCollins relent their position on limiting eBooks, so I can actually buy this series??  (You can follow and learn more about the boycott at http://boycottharpercollins.com/)