Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

I bought my copy of Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston on the advice of my friend Alyce using the last of the Amazon card she sent me (thanks, Alyce!) It's the story of an American president's son, Alex, and a British prince named Henry who fall in love. But, it's election season and the president's campaign could be thrown into disarray if their romance becomes public knowledge.

One thing I loved about Red, White and Royal Blue was that Alex doesn't actually realize he's bisexual. Is this plausible? I think so. Societal expectations can convince us we're something we're not. At any rate, Alex has dated women. One of his best friends is a former flame and the two of them will occasionally pretend to be an item just to toy with the press. He had one brief, gay interaction in the past that he thought nothing of. Now, it's become apparent to him that he is not just a fan of the prince but massively attracted to him.

Another thing I loved was the fact that the president is a divorced woman. Now, there we seriously sink into fantasy territory because America does not forgive women for having any flaws at all. Husband had an affair? It's the woman's fault. Stay with him? What's wrong with you, woman? Leave him? You made vows before God and you're breaking them. And, we know any flaw at all is enough to keep a woman from the presidency. The author admitted that she chose to create a fantasy world that fit her own political desires.

There were a few things I didn't like, as well. The first half of Red, White and Royal Blue bored me a bit, I confess. It was cute. I liked the plotting around the romance itself, but there were too many sex scenes for my taste and not enough relationship building, in my humble opinion. I liked both the main and side characters a lot, though, and the dialogue is wonderful. And, the second half is meatier, about facing one's truth, how a family scandal can rock an election, whether or not being in an LGBTQ relationship should even be a scandal, the importance of family, the meaning of love, finding your place in the world (even if it means plans change), and how crucial it is to have people in your life who believe in you. Lots to think about.

Recommended - There was obviously plenty to love about Red, White and Royal Blue and in the end I was really quite moved. There's an impressive complexity to the story that isn't always something you see in romance, since it has that political side, and so many interconnecting themes about love and family and life. Plus, I enjoyed the humor.

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

More minis: Well Wished by Billingsley (reread), Orphan Train by Kline (reread), I Love It When You Talk Retro by Ralph Keyes

She eased onto the ice and cast her words in front of her, threading the air with her voice and tugging it taut with a bright invisible line. And the ice flowed into her legs -- or maybe it was that her legs flowed into the ice -- and even when she took the air in a jump there was some secret that whispered between the ice and her feet. 

[p. 62]

Well Wished by Franny Billingsley is a reread but I'll go ahead and write a bit about it, just for grins and because I happen to love Franny Billingsley's writing.

Nuria lives with her grandfather, whom she calls "the Avy", in tiny Bishop Mayne, a village with a magical Wishing Well. One can only make a single wish in a lifetime and that wish must be worded very carefully or things can go very, very wrong. One such wish caused all the children in town to disappear -- all but 11-year-old Nuria, who lives up on the mountain.

When a single child returns, Nuria becomes friends with her. Catty Winter is unable to walk after illness took away the use of her legs. She and Nuria spend time together in a cabinet under the stairs, which they have decorated. They're very imaginative children. When Catty convinces Nuria to make a wish with her and the wish goes horribly wrong, Nuria wants to rescind the wish. But, Catty does not. How will she convince Catty to speak up so things can return to normal but without making Catty's life as bad as it was, before?

Highly Recommended - There are a lot of things I love about Well Wished: its complexity, the relationship between Nuria and her grandfather, the creativity of the children, the word game ("Bring me a description") Nuria plays with the Avy, the way the story is resolved. It's a lovely story. I read a few reviews while I was reading the book because I noticed it didn't have a very high rating at Goodreads and found that some people considered Nuria a bit snarky. She's a wit, definitely, but I don't think of her as negative. Rather, it seemed to me that she's a good person who wants to do the right thing. And, the writing is lovely.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is also a reread. This time, I read it for discussion with my local book group. I suggested it when our group leader asked me if I knew of any discussion-worthy books that weren't downers, as we'd read a series of truly dreary books and everyone was in need of an upper. I recommended Orphan Train, which she quickly read and added to the schedule for discussion.

I'm not going to write a full description since I've reviewed Orphan Train in the past (that's a link, at left, to my old review) but it's a story that flits between the story of a teenager in foster care in the present day and a historical story about a young orphaned Irish girl who was sent on a train to the West. Their lives, as it turns out, bear some uncanny parallels. The story ends on a very happy note.

We discussed Orphan Train, last month, and used some of the questions in the paperback version for discussion (but it was also a partly organic conversation). I don't recall anyone at all saying they disliked the story and it was definitely a good choice. Everyone was relieved to have a break from sadder reading material and there was plenty to talk about.

Still highly recommended - Loved it the first time; appreciated Orphan Train even more upon rereading.

I Love It When You Talk Retro by Ralph Keyes is about the crazy things we say, the origins of some of the words and phrases that we use, and how some of them have been altered by time, shifting their meaning -- sometimes to its opposite.

I bought I Love It When You Talk Retro as a remainder and had set it on the end table with the thought that I planned to read it soon. If you're a regular here, you know I decided to go ahead and read the book after my husband spilled coffee all over my copy. It's not in great shape.

Although I can't recall what rating I gave the book, I liked it a lot but didn't love it. The history of words and phrases is, of course, fascinating to me because I'm a lover of words (I'll bet most of you share that with me). There were only a couple problems with the book. One is that sometimes the author was wrong. It didn't happen often, as far as I know, but I did catch a few mistakes. The second problem is that the author seemed to grow tired of his subject matter toward the end of the book. Within the last 50 pages, the depth of history seems to narrow, the passion wanes and the reader is left with questions that were answered earlier in the book when describing other retro terminology. The final problem is kind of shocking for the type of book: the author inserts his opinion where it is absolutely not appropriate. He may, for  example, say the origin of a phrase came from a particularly bad movie, for example -- his opinion, not necessarily the opinion of the reader or even the popular viewpoint.

Recommended with slight hesitation - Because of the three problems mentioned, I can't give I Love It When You Talk Retro an enthusiastic recommendation but it was fascinating enough that I occasionally read passages to my husband and he enjoyed them as much as I did. So, it's worth reading, even though it may not be a perfect book.


©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Copyright 2012

St. Martin's Griffin - Young Adult/Sci-fi

2nd in the Sky Chasers series - 1st book is Glow

309 pp.

To be released in July, 2012. ARC sent by my friend, Tammy. Thanks, Tammy!

Warning: This review contain spoilers from the first in the series, Glow. Please skip this review if you don't want to know how Glow ends.

In Glow, the first in the Sky Chasers series, Waverly and Kieran were in love and considering marriage when the Empyrean was attacked by its sister ship, the New Horizon. Most of the adults were killed and the young females were all kidnapped, including Waverly. On the New Horizon, Waverly fought to find the remaining parents and release them, unsuccessfully. She did, however, manage to save most of the females from captivity and escape to the Empyrean.

Spark picks up where Glow left off. Waverly and the other girls have returned to the Empyrean without any of the missing parents. Upon her return, Waverly finds Kieran in command of the ship and former leader Seth imprisoned in the brig. Kieran has become a strict captain but there's a hint of megalomaniac in the way he runs the ship; and, his "services" hint at the religious leadership of the New Horizon's Anne Mather. Waverly has become a pariah because most of the girls are angry with her for not succeeding at rescuing their parents.

When the ship is rocked by an explosion and Seth finds the door of his cell unlocked, everyone assumes Seth caused the explosion. But, Seth knows better and is determined to figure out who is sabotaging the Empyrean. Waverly is the only person who understands Seth enough to help him instead of blaming him, not realizing that a dangerous stowaway will threaten their lives.

Meanwhile, Kieran must make a crucial decision. Parents from the Empyrean are still being held captive on the New Horizon. Should he make a deal with the dangerous Anne Mather or attack the New Horizon and attempt a rescue? Can Anne be trusted to return the captives or is the saboteur working under her orders? Will anyone survive the next round of deadly explosions?

What I loved about Spark:

I was very, very impressed with this sophomore entry in the Sky Chasers trilogy. In my review of Glow, I declared the writing a little awkward but mentioned that it didn't matter because the story was so well-plotted that the writer's flaws faded into the background. It really kind of shocked me to find the writing in Spark dramatically more mature than that of Glow. Way to go, Amy Ryan!

As to the storyline, it was every bit as adventurous and dramatic as that of Glow. The characters changed, grew, and hardened a bit. The plot thickened. There was really no romance at all, which is very refreshing. Spark is simply a marvelous, escapist read and one of the best "second in a series" books I've read, far from the typical plotless place-holder that is often found in the middle of a trilogy.

What I disliked about Spark:

Occasionally, I had to wonder why Waverly didn't have more admirers (some of the girls supported her, but not many). She did rescue the young females from the New Horizon, after all, even if she did not manage to bring their parents back to the Empyrean. But, that was the only thing that pulled me out of the book even slightly.

Recommendation:

Highly recommended to fans of YA and sci-fi. Excellent characterization, fantastic plotting and even better writing than the first book in the series make Spark a winner. Spark is not a stand-alone novel. Readers will definitely need to read Glow before Spark. I was completely swept away by both and the wait for the third book is going to be completely miserable. I've heard it will not be released until 2013.

Cover thoughts:

The cover is eye-catching but I'm a little offended by the perfect model with bee-stung lips whose face shows in the letter "k". Glow's cover made Waverly look more like a teenager and she is only 15, so that's a good thing. Is the model supposed to be Waverly? I'm guessing the answer is "yes" but she certainly does not fit my image of Waverly at all. In Spark, Waverly is working as a combine repairman. She is usually dirty and casually dressed; she certainly would never look perfectly made-up and I find the model looks more like a 20-something than a 15-year-old. My copy is an ARC, so I can't say the cover will necessarily stay the same, although the cover image at Amazon does currently match the ARC image shown above.

Best recent conversation:

While purchasing something at a local drugstore, I somehow ended up chatting with the clerk about e-books versus paper copies. She told me she's been given a Nook and said, "But, ask me where it is." She said she can't bear to do without the feel of a book in hand and that e-books are killing bookstores, so she won't buy them. What an unexpected and fun little chat that was!

Just a few of the thousands of books I'm going to have to pack up and move 35 miles:

If I'd known we were going to make an offer on a house, I would definitely not have moved those shelves from one room to the other, two weeks ago. But, they look really tidy, don't they?

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan and week-off chatter

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan is the first in a young adult series of books about two ships launched from a dying Earth to create a new settlement on another planet. The New Horizon was launched before the Empyrean and should be far ahead of the Empyrean. But, when the New Horizon draws near to the Empyrean, a fierce battle takes place and all the young females from the Empyrean are taken to the New Horizon. Many of the adults are killed but some pursue the New Horizon and the rest must risk their lives to restart the Empyrean's damaged engines.

Waverly and Kieran, at a mere 15 and 16 years old, were already considering marriage. Fertility is reduced in outer space and the sooner they have children, the better. Now separated, Waverly has been told the Empyrean was destroyed, Kieran, her mother and all but the "rescued" girls dead. But she suspects the captain of the New Horizon is not telling the truth. How will Waverly find the adults, if they're still living? What do the people of the New Horizon want from them? Will they be able to escape or is there even a ship to run home to?

While Waverly is unraveling the puzzle of her imprisonment on the New Horizon, Kieran must deal with the horrors of being left behind. With all the remaining adults risking their lives, the job of running the ship falls to the eldest of the boys. But, Seth (who also has a thing for Waverly) wants to be in charge and will do anything he can to sabotage Kieran. When Seth's games become dangerous, will Kieran survive?

Wow. What a fun book. While Ryan's writing is a bit rough around the edges, Glow is such an exciting, plot-heavy adventure that imperfection doesn't matter. The story is so massively entertaining that writing flaws fade into the background. I'm looking forward to reading the second book, Spark, which Tammy just reviewed.

Andi recently wrote about story versus writing and I think Glow is an excellent example of why I personally feel that the story tends to win. I love a book that's well-written, but if the story isn't there, beautiful writing is not enough.

Alyce didn't like Glow at all. Her review is excellent. I have to agree that there were some oddities to the casting (read her description of Seth - he and Kieran are definitely odd characters in their contrasts) but I enjoyed the adventurous aspect of the story so I tried to ignore those character flaws and just enjoy myself.

Tammy sent me her ARC of Glow. Many thanks, Tammy! My recent reading rut was threatening to drag me into a slump but Glow saved me. I highly recommend this book. The writing isn't brilliant, but the plotting is excellent. Definitely a grabber.

Week-off report:

I had a lot of busy-busy things that I had to do, last week, none of which were all that thrilling so I guess the excitement of the week involved moving furniture. In my continued quest to bring more light into our living area (which is dark thanks to the shade of our humongous old oak trees), I decided to move some bookshelves from the living/dining room to the office. Isabel and Fiona both had fun playing on the shelves before I refilled them.

Unfortunately, we managed to scratch the hardwood flooring in the office, in spite of using sliders, so we had a few delays. First, the run to the hardware store to get sliders to protect the flooring. Then, another run to get markers to repair the scratches. And, then we decided it wouldn't hurt to get a little carpet runner to protect the flooring from future damage.

After all that, I reorganized the books and set aside about 20 to donate. Most of what I keep on those particular shelves is nonfiction: reference books, gardening, photography, design, history, writing, etc. I was surprised to find that the biggest category is design. I have loads of books on interior and exterior design (including a book on historical fabrics and wallpaper, Jamie Durie's The Outdoor Room, etc.), architecture, painting, stained glass. You wouldn't know it from looking at the interior of my house; apparently I'm a bit of a dreamer.

In the evenings, we indulged in a Superhero Movie Weekend. After seeing The Avengers in the theater, we were all in the mood to watch a few more superhero movies. We watched Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America. Of the three, Thor was the surprise favorite, Iron Man 2 the biggest disappointment. Captain America was fun but more in the classic comic book vein (which isn't really my thing) with a nasty villain and a sci-fi bent. We watched one movie each night. It was nice to relax together after working on the house, something we really don't do often, anymore.

Kiddo needed a "professional grade" photo to send to the university for his ID and that turned out to be a barrel of laughs, too. Out of about 30 photos I snapped, his eyes were only open in 2 or 3. He has such a quick blink reflex that I eventually had to quit using flash. It was honestly hilarious. We laughed so hard we all had tears streaming down our faces. My favorite photo is one I snapped as Kiddo was laughing and wiping an eye. So cute. I have been forbidden to share his photo on the blog or I would.

Only two books have arrived in the past two weeks. I'm reading one of them: Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson. The other book is A Genius for Deception by Nicholas Rankin, subtitled "How Cunning Helped the British Win Two World Wars." I got it from Paperback Swap.

One wahoo for the day: Fiona just reached up and batted my indoor wind chimes. Isabel gives them a whack, occasionally, but this is the first time I've seen Fiona swipe at them. She was a little more tentative than Izzy. It's terribly cute to see a cat swat wind chimes, but it happens so fast that I still have not managed to photograph that moment.

Gotta go. Wishing you many wahoos!

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.