"The Sin Eater's Daughter" a Strong Contribution to YA Fantasy Lit

The Sin Eater's Daughter

by Melinda Salisbury

Gr. 7 and up:  17-year-old Twylla has both a gift and a curse as the embodiment of a goddess on earth: she is worshipped and she can kill men in seconds with the briefest of touches.  Twylla’s mother is a Sin Eater, one who eats symbolic foods of the deceased person’s sins at their gravesite; Twylla is set to pursue this path until the Queen of Lormere took her from her home to become the goddess Daunen Embodied.  Every month Twylla ingests a poisonous substance that reinforces her position as both the goddess’s personification and the kingdom’s executioner, and every month Twylla becomes more isolated.  Her only hope lies with her future marriage to Lormere’s prince, Merek.

Until a new guard joins her service--Lief is different from the others.  He does not shrink away as Twylla draws near; he engages in conversation with her and asks questions.  As Twylla grows closer to both Merek and Lief, she becomes more aware of how truly trapped she is in her role with the Queen – and how much she will have to sacrifice to break free.

Salisbury’s concept is not new – Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me and Kristin Cashore’s Graceling both have similar protagonists with tactile killing powers – but her luscious world-building and mythology make The Sin Eater’s Daughter a worthy read.  Twylla is strong and sensible, making Melinda Salisbury’s novel an easy recommendation for middle grade fantasy readers.

A Mystery Wrapped in an Enigma Wrapped in a Riddle -- "The Shogun's Daughter"

The Shogun's Daughter

by Laura Joh Rowland

Listen, I appreciate an ARC as much as any person; a beautifully-appointed hardcover ARC is relatively unseen, so I eagerly cracked open Rowland’s The Shogun’s Daughter.  Some background: I have a B.A. in English literature and I also began my Masters in English Literature with an emphasis on the Japanese short story; I was and still am fascinated with the mystic realism inherent in Japanese literature.

Rowland writes well, in the sense that her syntax flows naturally, her imagery is rich, and she wraps up all of her plots points.  However, this novel of feudal Japan left much to be desired.  It is, essentially, a murder mystery, but given Japan’s loose definition of the word “justice,” many will be frustrated by the so-called “plot twists.”  Also, there really is no “mystery”—it’s quite easy to discover who is responsible for what in this story.

Probably the most frustrating plot line is that of Hirata; everything about the mystic warrior is just so ridiculous and contrived, I found myself eventually skipping over anything having to do with him and his “ghost.”

Pass on this unless you feel like getting yourself frustrated.

“Hate looks like everybody else until it smiles” -- Shatter Me

Shatter Me

by Tahereh Mafi

I just could not stand this overwrought, teenage-angsty, trying-to-hard style of writing.  This is an English 101 fail on Mafi's behalf, as it is utterly distracting from the premise (which is in itself unbelievable...no one can touch Juliette, blah blah blah, her parents despise her, blah blah).  If you can stomach pages of this drivel:

"His eyes pin me in place.  His urgency ignites my bones.  Rivulets of water snake their way down the polished planes of his face and his fingers press me up against the wall.
His lips his lips his lips his lips his lips
My eyes are fighting not to flutter
My legs have won the right to tremble
My skin is scorched everywhere he's not touching me..." then you might like this series.

Otherwise...blech.  It's like reading a badly-written 13-year-old's diary.  Pass, unless you are a teenager full of angst!

It's not all bad -- the warped-eye cover art is aesthetically quite appealing.

"In the Kingdom of Ice" Compels and Intrigues

In the Kingdom of Ice

by Hampton Sides

At turns compelling, suspenseful, factual, and humanizing, Hampton Sides’s latest historical masterpiece is sure to enthrall both fans of Arctic exploration and newcomers. 

Granted, the Jeanette does not leave her San Francisco dock until page 137, which means Sides does plenty of background-building.  Why Arctic exploration was so important and who these men were, at heart, take up the first quarter of the book.  Never monotonous, Sides nevertheless occasionally gets too bogged down in the minutia.

Once the boat gets underway, an exciting and daring expedition begins.  Instead of focusing merely on the commander De Long, Sides ensures that we know the rest of the crew, some of whom sacrificed their lives in this attempted Arctic venture.  Interspersed throughout are letters from De Long’s wife, Emma; she is, in turns, depressed, optimistic, and numb throughout this three-year ordeal.

Suffice it to say that the ending is almost incomprehensible to a mere reader – slogging through ice packs with the wind howling, temps twenty below zero, what’s left of your boots soaking wet, gnawing on pieces of your leather jacket.  The sheer bravery and fortitude of these men reads like a fiction story, but it is all too real.

Throughout, Sides’s lyrical prose flows naturally.  One of my favorite examples:  “He passed through the Thuringian Forest, the ancient land dipping and heaving like a dark green sea. The train dropped into a fertile basin, a patchwork of cow pastures and mustard fields, and then chuffed into the prim village of Gotha” (75).

Even if you do not have any interest in historical exploration, you will enjoy this as a story of unparalleled determination.

Can We Do Some Voodoo? Sweet Unrest by Lisa Maxwell

Sweet Unrest

by Lisa Maxwell

Gr. 9 & Up: A romantic ghost story, Voodoo spells, and the humid-drenched southern locale of historical New Orleans all combine for a satisfying mix of contemporary and historical fiction from Maxwell’s first, Sweet Unrest.  When Lucy Aimes’s family moves to an old plantation near New Orleans for her history professor father’s work, she becomes plagued with vivid dreams featuring a handsome Alex and surprisingly familiar Armantine.

Lucy soon learns that the dreams are much more than they seem with the assistance of a local mystical woman; intertwining a bit of history of Voodoo with an enjoyable mystery, Maxwell produces a well-written, spell-binding, enthralling, and informative story that young readers (and adults) are sure to snap up.  Read it for the heady descriptions of New Orleans and mysticism if nothing else.

I'm Dead, But Will You Marry Me?

The Ghost Bride

by Yangsze Choo

Yangsze Choo’s The Ghost Bride deeply delves into the underbelly of Malayan afterlife; after the son of a rich household dies without a wife, Li Lan’s family is approached with an offer for her to become a “ghost bride” to the deceased.  Naturally, Li Lan balks, but not before forming what can only be described as a crush on the nephew of the household, Tian Bai.

When a medicinal treatment goes awry, Li Lan learns firsthand what the spirits in the Malayan afterlife experience; she is not yet a ghost but she is not fully in the land of the living.  A rich mythology of beliefs combine to form a fascinating portrayal of the afterlife: will Li Lan be able to find her mother, long since deceased, in the Plains of the Dead? Can the mysterious Er Lang assist her in breaking the bonds with her near-ghost-husband?

I found this to be a very dream-like novel, one in which Malayan notions of the afterlife were so contrary to my own that it was difficult for me to relate.  However, it is truly fascinating, and Choo does a commendable job in melding together multiple religious viewpoints (as is the case with such territories as Malaya).  Perhaps the ending tied up too neatly and quickly, yes.  And perhaps I finished the book and found the notes, and thought, “How handy this would have been beforehand!”  So, if you haven’t read this yet, definitely be aware there are nifty notes in the back that explain quite a bit.

I Don't SEE the Point: China Dolls

China Dolls

by Lisa See

This novel was definitely a miss for me--I guess nothing will live up to Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.  The premise of the novel was promising (hence why I requested it for LibraryThing's Early Reviewers) and I love the historical time period...BUT...these girls seem to despise each other.

The early chapters are filled with rude remarks to each other (and snarky thoughts about each other); and then, to help the plot-line along, since they have to be friends, the girls just think/say, "Well, we have to stick together anyway, so it is what it is" <--paraphrase, obviously.  Because these girls are so derogatory about each other, it made me unsympathetic to their plights and I did not care what happened to them.