School of Deaths by Christopher Mannino

*Honest Review Requested by Author in Exchange for Free eBook
Published: 2014
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing 
Website: Author’s website

“To a world of boys and men,” said Frank, “you’re the biggest mystery they ever dreamt of.”

Introduction

Susan has been chosen to go into another world and become a Death, while attending the College of Deaths. However, like most of the other students, she did not have a choice in coming to the World of Deaths. If she can pass the Final Test of her first year, she can return to the World of the Living. If she fails, she must stay forever. To complicate her education, she is the first female Death in a million years, and she is the target of misguided hatred.

Suzie

I hate to say it, but Suzie is bland. She has a motivation (going home), but she lacks a personality. By the end of the novel, I knew nothing about her. The novel would have been richer if the author had her retelling events about her home life before she left it  (Like If I Stay). Because I knew nothing about her, I didn’t really care what happened to her either way.

She is the only female present, and the only female that has been a Death for a million years. This is a grand opportunity to give her contrasting points against the males around her, even if you are using just stereotypical clichés to build upon. She could have been nurturing, clean/organized, emotionally sensitive, intelligent, athletic….anything. She did show a protective side when she rushed in to help someone, but it was rash and confusing. She expressed herself artistically in art class, but she doesn’t continue with this outside of the class.

Plot and Setting

Honestly, when I read the email for this request, I was skeptical about a YA novel with a 13-year-old protagonist. When I encounter 13-year-old protagonists, the book is middle grade fiction masquerading as young adult, and I hate middle grade fiction. The story intrigued me, and when I began reading, I was glad that I accepted the request. School of Deaths is an excellent fantasy for people who like the imaginative and the familiar blended together. The In-Between is my favourite place, followed closely by a place I’ll just call the Gate. The author has a map of the world on his website, in case anyone is interested.

Theplot is there and Suzie and friends react to it for most of the novel instead of having their own agency. The book lacks an overarching sense of urgency, though I wouldn’t call the plot slow. I think the next book (if there should be another) would definitely have Suzie and friends roaming around the world more on their own to create their own adventure.

I do have to say that Suzie questions a hot topic of very important Death history and figures out something monumental. I knew something was up because I was paying attention to the world’s lore, and it didn’t add up. Book, are you trying to tell me that no other Death figured out the big secret before Suzie?

Similarities and Differences

The book is like Harry Potter, because bad things always happen on feast days, and friendship is rammed down your throat every five minutes.

The book is like Harry Potter, except she doesn’t want to be at the school, and when they need to find something, they don’t go ask the expert at the school.

The book is also like My Little Pony, where you are reminded every thirty seconds about how awesome it is to have friends.

The book is also like Dead Like Me, but instead of being thrust into reaperhood, you have to go to school first.

Gripe

Spoilers Ahead!

There were a few spelling mistakes (“rode” instead of “robe”) but they were few and far between. My problem is when the obligatory friend dies and the MC has to seek vengeance. She only saw him once in the whole novel and she gets way too involved with “[they] were my friend!” Once. You saw him once. If they really were that attached to him, you would have visited him more. 

Final Verdict

This is a definite purchase for a library looking for more fantasy, and it is a good choice for a reading club with members that are on the younger side of YA (and I say this because of the protagonist’s age, not the reading level). Unless you adore the concept of Deaths going to school to learn how to Reap, I think some readers might have a difficult time keeping interest. I adored the concept. While there is room for improvement, I believe that people who liked the early Harry Potter books will enjoy School of Deaths as well.

*Note: The author also have a prequel on his website entitled Shadow of the Scythe that you can read for free.

 

The Gilmore Girls Reading List

Sometime ago I decided that I would read everything that was mentioned from the T.V show The Gilmore Girls. When I finally decided to get down to it, I discovered that many other people had the same idea and there are “Gilmore Girl Reading Challenges” all over the internet. My original idea was blown to smithereens, but it means that I don’t have to compile the list myself. Plus, I am calling it the Rory Gilmore Reading List, because “Challenge” implies failure and competition (and a winner). Neither of these concepts appeal to me, so I am doing this as a personal task and as a librarian.  

Now, I hear that teens shouldn’t be reading what I read as a teen because “it isn’t for them.” I also hear that some teens are worried about making that “jump” from YA to “literature”. Some feel like literature is so sinister that it wants to make the reader fail in life and feel pathetic with its complexity.   

I am going to relate what kind of teens would be interested in the books, and if I can, compare them to YA fiction. I hope to create bridges that are easily accessible.

The Gilmore Girls Reading List has its own tab at the top, and it will be updated as I read. Some I have already read, some I will put off as long as possible (*Cough*The Art of War*Cough*). Everything will get a blog post, even a short one.

Ink By Amanda Sun

Published: June 25th 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen 

Website: Author's Blog 

Series: The Paper Gods

Introduction

            Katie, a Canadian who once lived in Toronto, has moved to Japan after her mother died of cancer. Now living in Japan, she doesn’t want to stay and is eager to return to Canada. One day, she stumbles upon a strange event with the kendo star Tomohiro Yuu. Tomohiro has a secret that Katie has uncovered: his drawings can move. Despite Katie knowing this he does not confess to it, and Katie sets off to discover more about him.

Story

In high school, this would have been the coolest book ever. In my wildest dreams, I would have cause to go to Japan and really live there, sans parents, and take in everything Japan has to offer. I’d eat up the culture and say goodbye to my Western-ness, and revel in the place I thought I was meant to be born in.

Too bad I had no idea about YA lit, and I always had teachers instructing me to read high-brow literary masterpieces. The books I read (A Handmaid’s Tale, Farhenheight 451, The Golden Compass, Frankenstein, Great Expectations) were wonderful, but I missed out on everything YA has to offer with protagonists my own age with relatable feelings and (fantasy elements aside) stories I can personally relate to. I would have loved this book when I was 14-17 (not that I don’t love it now!). 

Plus, I am a fan of ink and brush art, and art done in simple pen. This book would have consumed me. Also, it has Shinto lore, and I love mythology. Too bad this book didn’t exist 10 years ago!  

Characters

            In the beginning, I disliked the characters, and it is sad to admit, I disliked them by various degrees throughout the novel. They both posses overbearing personalities. No one is perfect in real life, but the two main characters are difficult to process page-by-page.

Katie

            Blonde haired and blue eyed, Katie stands out as an Amerika-jin, a foreigner, in Japan. She is not intent on staying in Japan; she eagerly awaits news that she can join her grandparents in Deep River, Ontario. When she becomes interested in Tomohiro’s secret, she begins stalking him. Yes, really. His secret certainly is absolutely amazing, but secret aside, this is weird.  

            She also has a lot of legitimate questions that she should be getting out of Tomohiro, but she takes her sweet time, probably because she’s too busy making out with him to dwell on it. But this guy is rumoured to have a violent past and she lets it be for far too long.

Tomohiro

            Copper haired kendo star, Yuu Tomohiro has a mysterious secret. But he comes off as a terrible jerk. Katie first encounters him while he is breaking up with his girlfriend, and a different pregnant girl is included in the argument. What a catch! He can be nice, but it is inconsistent. Aside from his drawings that move, I don’t see many redeeming qualities.

            *End Game Spoiler Here! Read at your own risk!

            Towards the end of the book, Tomohiro tries to make her want to leave Japan by making her hate him. He does this by attempting to rape her. Alright, he probably had no intention of actually raping her, but this is not ok! I’m not sure what the author could have been thinking. On Katie’s end, she’d probably be emotionally scarred for life. Is she? Nope. This whole rape thing bumps my rating down. To me, this was a 5-star book until this happened. I can get past the unlikable character traits, but this? Nope, can’t do it. I’ll re-write it here: he brought her to the love motel and said that he expected it, called her a promiscuous American, and Katie got mad and left. This wouldn’t upset me so much, but I didn’t write the book.  

Jun

            Obligatory love triangle addition that has no chance because he is obviously not involved in the book enough. I hate these, especially because I like Jun much more than Tomohiro (which is weird, I know, being 25-years-old and everything). At least he was nice to her! Why bother to stalk Tomohiro when you could…stalk this guy? (Alternatively, he can call me in about nine years.)

Presentation

            The cover is what immediately attracted me. My copy is bound in what feels like watercolour paper, and the art is a watercolour painting of a blonde woman with flowers. Inside, there are ink sketches on each of the pages, and full illustrations too. I sincerely wish more books included illustrations when the characters are artists. It is a very beautiful addition to my shelf. The only gripe I had was that you can tell that the full page illustrations were drawn by different people. It would have been more believable to have them done by a single hand to make them look uniform.

            Someone else had to tell me that there was a glossary in the back. As a fan of Japanese cinema (live-action horror and anime) I’ve amassed a vocabulary of words and phrases, but every now and then I had to check. It was useful and I had no idea it was there because nothing informs the reader about the glossary.

Yakuza

            There is a connection to the yakuza in the book, but since I don’t want to spoil it, I won’t explain. However, it felt forced. Plus, their real-life nature is glossed over. This group is responsible for violent crimes, including kidnapping European women and selling them into prostitution.

Anime Conventions

            These conventions run past anime, but these lazy writing sins are some of the reasons I don’t watch much anime anymore, and they are in the book:

1.      New kid in town

2.      Fall in love with the mysterious boy

3.      Elusive hot guy doesn’t want to hurt her with his magical powers

4.      Girl makes hot guy’s powers go crazy

5.       Dead/absent parents

6.      Tsundere (mean girls who are secretly in love with the main male – I call stalking mean behaviour) 

Final Verdict

            Even if you don’t know anything about Japanese culture or language, you can enjoy this book. It is about learning the culture from a Western perspective, from a reluctant source, and there is a glossary in the back. I am hoping the next book will have more Shinto lore and explanations, and I hope Tomohiro is consistently likable in the next book. For some reason, I thought there were already more books in this series out. So when I finished it, I went to the bookstore right away only to come back empty-handed and cursing myself for not Googling this first. More than a month later, the next book, Rain, came out in July, and I just have to make it to the bookstore to get it. I recommend this book for a teen book club, even with a questionable scene, because it can create valuable discussion.

You can get the prequel novella, Shadow, for free on Wattpad, or you can read it on Harliquin (you just have to sign up for free, but I prefer Wattpad).