Belle Epoque

Belle Epoque
by Elizabeth Ross
336 pages
High School+

When Maude Pichon leaves her small town to come to Paris, she expects a more glamorous life, one full of love, freedom, and new possibilities.  What she finds is reality: life is hard and rent is expensive.  Sick of doing laundry, Maude responds to an add in the paper.  Instead of the menial work that she was expecting, she instead becomes a repoussior, an ugly girl set next to a normal girl to make her look more beautiful.

Slightly repulsed by herself, the job and the other girls that work there, but out of other options, she throws herself into the work.  She becomes the companion of a nobleman daughter, going to everything to tea to fancy balls as a good friend's distant relative.  The unsuspecting girl is at first mean to her, but gradually thaws and they start actually talking.  After seeing her camera and study room, Maude is impressed by this girl, her dreams and capabilities.  Not wanting to deceive her new friend, Maude is being trapped in a lie of her own making...

So, this is one of the nominees for the YALSA Morris award.  For more info on that please go here:  http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2013/12/04/yalsa-announces-2014-morris-award-finalists/

First issue I have with this book: THE COVER!  This book is about ugly girls.  Not pretty girls: UGLY girls.  WHY did they choose this cover?  Get a new cover!

Next issue: why is this a romance?  While Maude is escaping her awful life in her small town, and comes to Paris because it is supposed to be full of possibilities.  I get that she is looking for a better life, she does run into boys, she does long for something more than what she has.  But to me, I think a lot more could have been done with the idea of the repoussior.  Intriguing idea, but this story just felt so flat and blah.  Even the elements that I (and most teens) would consider the "romantic" parts, were very minimal and under emphasized.  You don't need to hit me over the head with it, but a little more would have been nice.

One thing I did like was the use of the setting to make intriguing parallels.  This book takes place during the building of the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, and Maude often sees it or makes reference to it.  That was one thing that was nicely woven into the story.

So, if you couldn't tell, I was not impressed with this book. While I read this book fairly quickly (took me less than 4 hours), I really wasn't that into it.  I kept feeling like more should happen, like there had to be more to the story, but that was it.  I will not really recommend this to anyone, unless they just want a bland, historical novel.  Maybe I've read too much adventure and fantasy books, but this did not leave a favorable impression at all.

Quick note: some french is helpful, but not necessary, while reading this.  Most of it is explained, or could be understood contextually, so not essential to understanding the book.

After The Snow

After the Snow
by S. D. Crockett
304 pages
Middle School+

One of the YALSA 2013 Best of Best Challenge!

Long before Willo was born, the snow began.  And every winter grew longer. And the seas stopped working.  His world is all about surviving the cold, and using what is left of the summer to prepare for the cold to come. He and his family trap animals, sell the fur and make due with what they got.

Then one day his family is taken from him.  As he is out checking his snares, he hears screaming and shouting from his home.  He cautiously come back to see what is happening.  By the time he gets there, every one is gone.  But as he is gathering some things from his home, a shadow passes by- scavengers coming back to get what the others left.  Willo hides for the night, cold in the attic, until he knows it is safe to come out once more.

With limited supplies, Willo sets out to find a new place to survive.  As he is climbing the mountain, he passes a home with one little girl and one little boy left in it.  He says hi, then leaves them.  That night, in his little safe haven, he thinks about them all through the night.  He can't get them out of his mind.  But how is he supposed to take care of them, when he can barely survive by himself?

Just to get it out in the open- not one I will recommend (except to maybe a very limited audience).  It took me about 60 pages to get to the point where I even slightly wanted to read more.  It starts that slowly.  That first part is all in his head about his dog spirit, and how it's telling him to do this or that.  Not very fun, entertaining, or even building up tension for a story.  Just took me forever to get into this book.

Second, the narration style is stream of conscious, or Willo's thought process, and it is spelled like he says it- "cos" instead of because, lots of "ain't" and missing of proper grammar.  Not that I'm a grammar perfectionist, but it annoyed me to no end.  Because of the stream of conscious story telling, the story can jump around a little, and felt very choppy. One moment he would be thinking about one thing, and then all of a sudden, you would be remembering something, or changing the topic.  While that is how some people (including myself, often) think, this is not the best story telling method.  I have read other stories that use this style, and work, but this one did not draw me into it.

In addition to the strange story telling method, the story itself seemed to jump at times.  It would give us lots of detail in one area, and then weeks or months would go by in a sentence.  The flow was very inconsistent, and that inconsistency seemed to flow over to the characters as well.  One minute Willo can't wait to get out of the town, and then the next, he's settling in for the winter.  You lose an important character for chapters, only to have them come back later. I did not like the flow of the story, just as much as I did not like the flow of the narrative.

I will have to say the concept of the book is interesting.  I ended up liking Willo by the end, despite the weird narrative.  He grew considerably, just not necessarily at the times I thought he would have.

Overall, not one I will recommend tons.  Maybe to a boy, who loves the outdoors, who talks/thinks in that manner.  But not to most people.  Alright storyline, but the telling and the narrative completely distracted me from it.  Some people might like it, but not me.

Dark Life

Dark Life

By Kat Falls

297 pages

Late Elementary and up.

Ty is a pioneer, but instead of going west, like the old days, his family went deep!  As the water levels rise and space on land grows more and more precious, people have started going under the sea.  Ty knows nothing but living underwater. He is much more familiar with the life that thrives in the darkness of the deep sea than he is with sunshine and stars. 

One day, Gemma shows up from the world above and changes everything in his life.  She seems so vulnerable alone, searching for her brother that Ty can't just leave her on her own.  As they try to learn her brother's fate, they start finding more than either of them bargained for.

So, this book was okay, but not totally enthralling.  The premise of living underwater is really cool, and the technology is suitably present.  But I just had a hard time finishing this book!  I might recommend it, but it would be pretty far down my list of things to recommend.  A sequel has come out, but I have no interest in it.  To me, the characters were flat, the relationships cliche, and the story line was not engaging.  While the setting was fun, the story never fully explored its full potential.