Dancing In The Dark by Robyn Bavati

*Made Possible by NetGalley.com! Thank you very much!
Published: 2010 (Australia) Feb 8^th 2013 (NA Release Date-I have a NetGalley ARC)
Publisher: Flux Books
Website: Author Website 

Introduction

Yehudit (Ditty) Cohen and her friend Sara see a ballet on TV. It is the first time Ditty has ever seen the beautiful and graceful art form, and she is beyond smitten. She is twelve-years-old and she asks her parents to have lessons. Her request is hit with a firm rejection, and she cannot ask again, ever. This is all because she is part of a haredi community of ultra-orthodox Jews. Dancing is strictly forbidden. Yet she cannot simply forget. At first she practices in secret, then it escalates, and she goes to great lengths to lie to her parents to continue dancing. She fights with her religion, her morals, and her family, and in the end, is it worth it?    

Cover

            NetGalley only gave me this tiny PNG for a cover, so making it bigger just makes it blurrier, but...it says “Dancing In The Dark.” Really. For your cover, that’s a serious typo. There should not be typos on your cover, ever.

Dancing and Religion

            It is evident that genres like the paranormal get a lot of attention from me because, well, I like them a lot. I decided that I needed to keep up with other genres too. After all, I love being able to personally recommend books when teens ask for different subjects.

            So, I know nothing about ballet beyond the year I took when I was six-years-old. I also know very little about ultra-orthodox Judaism. The ballet parts were easy enough to read without knowing the meaning of every specific term the author throws at the reader. The Jewish terms, not so much. I had to look up many words (like “sheitel”), despite it being explained somewhat (they wear the wig because no one except her husband may see her natural hair after she is married). You know what I didn’t know? There is a glossary in the back. Because I read this book as an eBook, I had no idea, though it is possible that I would not have found the glossary in a print book either, unless it was pointed out.

Age
           The protagonist is twelve at the beginning of the book, but on the page, she doesn’t read like a twelve-year-old. To me, she came off as being at least fifteen, but it might be that her ultra-orthodox upbringing is unfamiliar to me. It was not terribly apparent that she was steadily becoming older. The book ends when she’s seventeen (minus the epilogue). I only felt her really aging when she begins to question her upbringing and morals, but before this she didn’t act her age. Maybe she’s just so...good?   

Later in the book, Ditty and her cousin Linda begin to debate the validity of religion. I would never tell anyone that having religious faith is a bad thing, I advocate questioning the world as a whole, and I thoroughly admire the author for presenting the dilemmas that everyone, young and old, might have. If she didn’t have these religious quandaries the book would have been boring.

I found it infuriating that parents would not allow their children to express themselves in harmless ways, and I’m all for the arts. I think this kind of emotional response is what the author was going for. My inner monologue kept going “but it’s not fair!” and “if my daughter ever wanted this, I’d totally let her because I’m awesome.” But because I am a rational human being, I had to acknowledge that every day we accept the truths that are given to us in blind faith because...we just do. I don’t go outside in my bikini and make snow angels because I’ve been told all my life that I would get sick after such an act. Sure, I might not, but I have been led to believe that I will, so I won’t even bother to try. I don’t really even question it.

Community Themes

            Community is so conflicting in this book. The haredi community is for the ultra-orthodox Jews. They help each other, visit, arrange marriages with each other, etc. Ditty gets babysitting jobs with her community ties. They gather for religious holidays together. Very special bonds are formed.

            But the community is such a double-edged sword. They constantly watch each other and report on the younger members. When Ditty is caught doing something against the rules of their religion, her mother is told immediately. As a minor, it is difficult to be part of a community and not follow every single one of their rules. What if one member didn’t want to be kosher anymore? What about an adult? As a minor, the parents would punish their child to change the behaviour. As an adult, they would be gossiped about and ostracized.

            This gossiping is easily seen with Sara’s family situation. What does it matter to the community about what her father, who no longer lives in the community, does? Why would it reflect badly on his daughter? And I do have to say, if anyone is going to judge you based on your family, they are not worth your time. It happens every day, but it’s by people who cannot adequately value themselves, those who have to tally their self worth by adding other people into their lives.       

Adults As Authority Figures

            This book definitely reminded me how I felt about adults when I was a teen. In Dancing In The Dark, the parents control their kids and lie to them. Yes, these things are done in a “loving” way. Yes, they will choose who you marry, though you can say no...but you’ve been raised never to say no. They give you the illusion of choice. Then you grow up fearing people in authority. And when you’re an adult who has feared authority all your life, you continue to let other people make the choices for you. A perfect example is Sara’s mother and the Rabi. When the adults are like this...you feel powerless to make your own choices. To have your own life.

Adults As Allies 
             Not all adults will hold the exact same position of authority in life. Some, like Miss Mitchell, will encourage you, protect you, and give you opportunities. We need more adults like these. Unfortunately, sometimes these kinds of adults can be few and far between. I did not have many until I hit high school, and then I only had two teachers who actually encouraged me to read, write, and go to university. Considering that absolutely no one encouraged me before this to make something of myself, that I had talent, that I was anything but stupid, those two people made an immeasurable difference to me. There are so many teachers and administrators and librarians who seriously shouldn’t be in their profession. Young people need more positive experiences with adults, or else they are going to grow up expecting to be treated like dirt their whole life. In turn, they will probably become a bitter adult too.

Verdict
            I highly recommend this as a possible teen book club pick. It can be read by people who are not Jewish or dancers, and I have the feeling that boys would enjoy it too, if they are open to female protagonists. Teens who are interested in stories about religion, rebellion, and freedom will probably enjoy this immensely. This story is about ballet, but I did not find that it has the “sports genre” feel. It was more of a drama. It was a little slow at the beginning, but it grabbed me when she finds her love of dance, and it had moments when I genuinely ached for Ditty to have the freedom to dance without hiding it.  

Lullaby by Amanda Hocking

The Watersong Tetralogy Reviews

Wake and Lullaby

Published: December 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Series: #2 Watersong (sequel, Tidal coming “Spring 2013”, as per the back of the Lullaby)
Website: Author Blog 

Introduction

             Gemma, the newest member of the siren quartet, has left Capri with the sirens to protect her loved ones. She learns about what it means to live as a siren, and what happens when you refuse the pull of the watersong. The hunger is swelling inside of her and her resistance will only last so long. Meanwhile in Capri, Harper, Daniel, and Alex search for Gemma and a way to break the curse, going on very little. Gemma desperately wants to return home, but there is no way the sirens will, or can, allow her to go back to her old life. Unless they want to replace her.  

Cover

            The cover of the book is nice, but it isn’t like the first book. With Wake you have the girl underwater, and while she doesn’t have a tail, you know something’s up. Lullaby has a girl standing on the rocks and she’s holding feathers. The feathers are obviously from the “bird-monster” form, though I don’t recall that form having yellow feathers. I know the cover is trying to convey the water and the air components, but it would have been better if the girl was interacting in some way with the water. While the “bird-monster” form is featured more in this book, it’s still really a book about mermaids. 

Mermaids

            In this installment we get to see more about what mermaids do-how they nourish themselves and how the live in general. We also get to see more of what is described as their “bird-monster” form, what is probably similar to a harpy. I enjoyed those moments a lot, though most of the book is them chilling out/arguing in human form. My favourite part of this book was when Gemma was living with the sirens. It was more interesting than when she goes back home. 

Pacing

            This book has much better pacing throughout the story. The last book had a boring and slow beginning and this one is pretty consistent in delivering action or interesting dialogue. I did like the second book, and I could not bear to put it down...most of the time.  

Gemma

            I still think the protagonist has a startling lack of personality. I think the author is trying to use a wide brush to make her “typical”, without actually describing what she thinks a typical teen is. And if you knew anything about teens *coughcough you’d know that there is no such thing as a typical teen. What do we know of Gemma? She thinks houses that have white painted/themed interiors are boring, and that she likes her blue room. And she swims. She likes the boy next door, though they do not share interests, at least none that I can remember. Alex is interested in what we would probably call geek culture (yay!) and he is a nice/helpful guy in general. Gemma does work hard at swimming, until she becomes a siren. So she’s dedicated, until she has to stop. And...nothing else.   

Harper and Daniel

            As I said in my Wake post, I liked these two characters a great deal. Both characters have personalities-unlike the protagonist-and they like each other. What I couldn’t stand is the constant back-and-forth between the two that happens in this book. Yes, she has to find her sister, so love would complicate the mix slightly, though he is already involved. What, are you going to tell him to forget the climax of the last book and go away? Returning Daniel’s calls doesn’t take much time or make things more complicated. You know if you call a boy you don’t have to get married, right? It makes me feel like Harper is being a jerk. And Daniel tries to take it in and accept that nothing will happen and Harper...gets upset? Well, what the hell did you just tell him?    

 Ending

            I spoke with a teen who had read Lullaby with me, and she was also disappointed with the ending. Everyone ends up where they were in the beginning with very few variances, and a lame excuse for arriving at the conclusion is given. It left me asking, that with everything that had happened, that’s it? There is an amazing climax where you’re wondering how this will all turn out and...it ends in disappointment.

For her, the ending upset her feeling about the book as a whole. For me, it’s a great book that has a sucky ending. It happens. 

Verdict

            I highly recommend this book, and I would even go so far as to say that it is better than the first. If your teen book club has read the first book and enjoyed it, this book is sure to please (except maybe for the ending). I do not recommend reading this book before Wake, as I feel that authors establish stories right from the first book (though there are a few exceptions). It might be weird to jump in, wondering what/who these sirens/other characters are, and how they got where they are.

Entangled by Nikki Jefford

*Made Possible by NetGalley.com! Thank you very much! 

Publisher: Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA)
Series: Spellbound Trilogy #1
Website: Author website 
Published: Feb 19 2012 

Introduction

               Graylee and Charlene are twins with polar opposite personalities. Charlene is more aggressive and snotty, and Graylee is the kinder one. And they’re witches, so life is ever so slightly more complicated for them. One day Graylee goes to sleep…and wakes up as her sister. Months before she went to sleep and apparently died. A resurrection spell gone wrong has put her soul into Charlene’s body. Now the two share the same body in twenty-four hour shifts. Now Grey has to pretend to be her preppy sister and take all the drama she never knew her sister was involved in. But there is more to her sister Charlene, and it makes Graylee fear for her existence. With the help of the bad-boy warlock and a few other magically inclined friends, Graylee struggles to figure out her love life, how she died, and how to get out of her sister’s body.

#2

#3

Cover(s)

                The cover is wonderful and it immediately drew me in. As I said before, everyone judges books by their covers before they read the back blurb. It’s what we do. And Entangled has a beautiful cover. The next two books have similar covers, and it looks like it is the same girl. I might be wrong-the models might be different, I don’t know. But I like the continuity. If you’re going to put a face to a character on a cover, make sure when the sequels come out that the faces at least look alike. All three covers are awesome.   

Characters

My favourite character has to be Raj. He comes off as a devilish little bad boy that you can’t help but crush on. Yet he is kind of a jerk with his overly cool demeanor and his occasional spell casting for less-than-good intentions. The truth to Raj’s incident in the past is explained in less than a page. With all the build-up, I was expecting a dramatic retelling of the incident that has caused him to be labeled as a trouble maker.

Adrian is a character that I warmed up to eventually. At first, he seems like the typical con artist that takes advantage of Raj. As the story unfurled I began to like him. He totally changes and he becomes a loyal member of the group that I did not expect. He really pulled through. His mentioning in the second book intrigues me as well.

The twins come to be interesting with time. Charlene is clearly the evil twin, and Graylee is supposed to be the good one. My complaint is that Graylee isn’t entirely good either. And it’s more than she has a more realistic and complex personality. There is an incident early on in the book where she retaliates against Raj. Homicidal much? She has the same violent tendencies as Charlene. I am sure we are supposed to believe that she would never ever hurt him or anyone else, that she was just trying to scare him. Graylee is a bit on the boring side. I feel like we did not get to know her personally. Or she really just doesn’t have a personality. At least Charlene does. While she’s the evil, snotty girl you hate in high school, she is not boring.

Maturity Rating

                There are lots of sexual moments in this book. They are not so bad, like Gray (as Charlene) speaking with her friends about which boys are “doable” and which boys they have already slept with. I say it’s not so bad because it is hallway banter that actually does occur in real-life. There are no actual sex scenes, though at one harrowing point it is implied.   

               

Gripes

                The ending was just way too abrupt. Everything goes back to normal, la la la. No. Shouldn’t the antagonist be actually punished? Like, sent away, punished? And Gray gets a new life and just…adapts? What about Raj? We finally see his character development and nothing more is said. Does he go back to live with his dad after the big reveal? I found out after I finished the book that it is a trilogy, so there should be more about life after the ending of the first book that should tie up my complaints.  

The way the author writes is particularly uninspired. I feel like this author is growing into her personal writing voice still, as the first book has very little personality to it at all. At times the author tries to give it some girlish flare that is popular now and when it happens it is almost cringe worthy. However, I have to stress that it isn’t bad writing. There just isn’t a way to define her voice out of the sea of authors already published. I would love to see her writing in the future to see if she has improved.

My biggest gripe happens in the beginning of the novel. Charlene has threatened to commit suicide by jumping off the roof of the school. Gray reminds her sister that the fall wouldn’t kill her, but it would cripple her. Gray then proceeds to “walk around like a gimp” to make Charlene laugh. I know a lot of people with physical disabilities, and this left a terribly sour taste in my mouth and mind. If someone did this in front of me, I’d probably make them cry by reminding them how bloody offensive they are being. It’s not funny. I read the passage and seriously questioned if I wanted to read the rest of the book.

Verdict

                Overall, it is an alright book. The characters of Raj and Adrian were what kept me reading. The writing itself does not stand out to me, though I am interested in seeing the author develop her own style in the series/other future books. And I will be reading (eventually) the next two books in the series because of Raj and Adrian. I would recommend this to the older YA range for the (implied) sexual content/themes.   

Pantomime by Laura Lam

Published: February 2013 (I have an ARC)
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Series: Micah Grey Series #1
Website: Laura Lam’s Blog

*My first NetGalley ARC! Many thanks!

Introduction

Iphigenia Laurus, also known as Gene, is the daughter of a wealthy family, being raised in the typical fashion. She learns to dance, sing, sew...but her real purpose as a woman is to marry. And she hates this life. She feels that she does not belong and that life as a pampered woman is ill-suited for her. On the other hand, we have Micah. He has run away from his parents with the police on his trail. While he did not intend on it when he entered R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic, he joins them as an aerialist. He has to hide who he is from his fellow performers and try to live in the complex social world of the circus. If he can’t cut it, he will be swallowed up by street life in no time at all.   

Genre

YA fantasy, but the fantasy elements are very faint. The atmosphere is more of an alternate Victorian England, and could arguably be considered a light steampunk. The rich are prim and proper and they play their roles in society. The poor scrape by or are destitute. The world of Ellada is filled with pieces of ancient technology, called Vestige, and Penglass. Not really a book full of magic. Even when the Penglass begins to react, the subject is dropped until the end of the book. It is more of a story about identity, gender issues, the gender binary, and independence. More of a character drama because in the end, not much happens. Micah goes to the circus and joins. He has to keep his identity secret. We get flashbacks of Gene's life. Micah questions his identity some more. He starts to like a girl. The big reveal to his friends about who he is...and it’s over. The pacing is slow, but still interesting to read.  

At the beginning of the chapters are blurbs from books in Ellada that explain their religion (the Lord of the Sun and the Lady of the Moon), myths, and circus information. By the end of the book, I still do not fully comprehend the world. I sense that it is a rich world that was not adequately presented to the reader.

The Circus

            The passages describing the circus are intriguing. The description of the acts were not particularly gripping for me; rather I enjoyed the dynamic character interactions. You would imagine that a circus is one big family of performers, but it is not. Poor Micah is hazed because he is the newcomer. The others are particularly cruel to him, and he must bear it to stay. He finds companions in Drystan and Aenea, though he still cannot reveal himself to them.

            Yet we come to realize that Micah is not the only one who has run away from life and joined the circus. Everyone has their secrets. My favourite character is the white clown, Drystan. He is much more detailed than Aenea, and I felt that I “knew” him more than her. The circus is full of colourful characters, though I thought the author could have done more with the characters she introduced us to.

Love Story

            I didn’t particularly...like or dislike Aenea. She was just a bit flat. And Micah is still trying to figure out his gender/sexual identity, so the romance was a bit tainted. Yes, there is a love story, but I did not quite buy into it. Honestly, I was more interested in Drystan.

Ending

            It ended on one of the most crushing cliff hangers ever. I still have no idea what Penglass is supposed to be and I was expecting most of the mysteries to be explained by the end of the book. Not a whole lot was explained. I still have 99% of the questions that I asked while reading the book. Micah is...magical? Or not? What about his origins? The book teased us all the way through and leaves us in the dark.

Gripe

Aside from the ending, the only gripe I have with the book is a fairly obvious one: the whole “Gene and Micah” element that you see in the blurbs did not fool me at all, and I find the blurb misleading. The reality of the book is much more interesting. The big reveal of the two “characters” was not a surprise. It’s terribly obvious. The blurb should be different.

Verdict

            If you want a book that certainly is different from the vast majority of YA lit, Pantomime is a great choice. The cover definitely brought me in-look at it! It’s gorgeous! I am not a fan of the official blurb it gets, but it more than makes up for it with the themes of sexual and gender identity and independence. With that said, I think it would make for a great YA book club pick, if the teens are a tad bit on the older side. Currently, the teens I’m involved with are probably too young to really get the issues present, and I am not particularly trying to get uptight parents angry with me. If you don’t mind slower, character driven stories, I recommend this.