Monthly Archives: April 2018

Review of Hullmetal Girls, by Emily Skrutskie

Leave a reply

I won a signed copy of Hullmetal Girls, by Emily Skrutskie though Goodreads.

Description:
Aisha Un-Haad would do anything for her family. When her brother contracts a plague, she knows her janitor’s salary isn’t enough to fund his treatment. So she volunteers to become a Scela, a mechanically enhanced soldier sworn to protect and serve the governing body of the Fleet, the collective of starships they call home. If Aisha can survive the harrowing modifications and earn an elite place in the Scela ranks, she may be able to save her brother.

Key Tanaka awakens in a Scela body with only hazy memories of her life before. She knows she’s from the privileged end of the Fleet, but she has no recollection of why she chose to give up a life of luxury to become a hulking cyborg soldier. If she can make it through the training, she might have a shot at recovering her missing past.

In a unit of new recruits vying for top placement, Aisha’s and Key’s paths collide, and the two must learn to work together–a tall order for girls from opposite ends of the Fleet. But a rebellion is stirring, pitting those who yearn for independence from the Fleet against a government struggling to maintain unity.

With violence brewing and dark secrets surfacing, Aisha and Key find themselves questioning their loyalties. They will have to put aside their differences, though, if they want to keep humanity from tearing itself apart.

Review:
This was so much better than I expected. I’m just so jaded on YA lit, but this gave me hope for the genre. These girls face some real challenges and succeed through perseverance and determination, every times. Plus, the book is full of diversity and calmly breaks patriarchal norms all over the place. There are people who look different from one another and economic/class distinctions. There’s an aroace character, a pansexual character, someone who isn’t sure, a heterosexual character (they have a conversation, sexuality isn’t a big thing in the book). A gay couple adopts a child because a woman loves her child but isn’t maternal or want to be a mother and that’s ok. One of the main characters is religious and wears a head scarf. All the people in positions of power are female (even God) and no one tries to explain it away or excuse it. Romance or being slighted by a man isn’t a motivating force for anyone. Of the only significant male characters, one is inept and clumsy and one is a support worker. There is just so much to love about it.

I did think the story was dependent on the characters being given leeway that didn’t make sense and I wasn’t entirely sure what actually happened with Key at the end. It didn’t seem to fit the science of the eco rigs, as explained. But these are small complaints on the whole, I really enjoyed the book and look forward to more of Skrutskie’s writing.

shatterproof

Book Review of Shatterproof, by Xen Sanders

Leave a reply

I purchased a copy of Xen Sanders‘ Shatterproof.

Description from Goodreads:
Saint’s afraid to die. Grey can’t stand to live.

Grey Jean-Marcelin wants to die. He thought painting his passion—vivid portrayals of Haitian life and vodou faith—would be enough to anchor him to this world. But it isn’t. And when the mysterious man known only as Saint saves Grey from a suicide attempt, it’s more curse than blessing—until Grey discovers that Saint isn’t just an EMT. He’s a banished fae, and can only survive by draining the lives of those he loves.

All Saint needed was a simple bargain: one life willingly given for another. But as Saint’s feelings for Grey grow deeper, centuries of guilt leave him desperate to save a man who doesn’t want salvation, even if Grey’s life means Saint’s death.

When Grey’s depression consumes him, only he can decide if living is worth the struggle. Yet his choice may come too late to save his life . . . or Saint’s soul. And whatever choice he makes, it may shatter them both.

Review:
I read this as part of a Buddy Read and, of the ten or so of us, I think I’m the only one who didn’t love it. Now, I didn’t dislike it. But it ended and I was just sort of like, “Well, that’s a thing I’ve read now.”

I actually have a pretty high tolerance for Purple Prose, and I’ll 100% admit the writing in this book is beautiful. But with dozens of passages like this:

Saint’s lips parted. To question, to protest—he would never know when he never had the chance. Not when Grey’s lips stole his, stole him, and carried him away with a kiss made up of sighs on silk and the taste of amber. He kissed like sugar, sweet and gritty, and Saint clutched at his arms…

I eventually lost patience with it. Plus, the book is very angsty. I actually would say it’s overwrought. I can handle flowery language or I can handle constant push and pull between characters. But personally, I just can’t seem to handle both.

Then then there was the just too conveniently discovered solution to the problem of the book. It struck me as, well, too convenient and non-specific enough. By this I mean that I feel like Saint would have made the same choice for any of his past lost lovers, not just Grey. Out of guilt if nothing else. So, I found it profoundly dissatisfying.

My point is that this wasn’t a great book for me. The style just isn’t one I like. But it’s pretty and I really appreciate so many other aspects of it. When did you last see a suicidally depressed hero? There’s diversity in the cast (even on the cover). Creole religion is presented positively. There’s a lot to like in this book, if the writing style is one you can tolerate. I think I’m an outlier on this one.