Chosen Ones: A Review

Ten years ago a prophecy predicted that one of five teenagers would become the Chosen One–the only person capable of defeating the Dark One and ending his reign of death and destruction.

Sloane was one of the five and together with Matt, Albie, Ines, and Esther they defeated the Dark One near Chicago.

Now everyone is supposed to move on and mourn and watch life return to normal.

Sloane can’t do that.

Haunted by memories and traumas from fighting the Dark One, Sloane feels adrift even with her friends to anchor her. When one of them turns up dead the day before the Ten Years Celebration of Peace, Sloane begins to realize she may not be the only one who hasn’t moved on in Chosen Ones (2020) by Veronica Roth.

Find it on Bookshop.

Chosen Ones is Roth’s adult debut and the start of a new duology.

While marketed as a story about young adults trying to move past their teenaged destinies, Chosen Ones is actually familiar dystopian fare for a slightly older audience. The scene is set for a story of acceptance and moving on only to shift rather abruptly to a new fight with a villain where the Earth’s fate is at stake.

Readers keen on high action and drama will appreciate this shift while others may be left wanting a book with a bit more focus on characters and a little less in the way of fantasy elements.

Chosen Ones is familiar fare aged up with sexier writing and edgier villainy. Recommended for readers looking to branch out beyond the familiar YA suspects in the genre, but not too far.

Possible Pairings: All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst, Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman, The Magicians by Lev Grossman, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemison, Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness, Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

Virtuosity: A Chick Lit Wednesday Review

Carmen Bianchi should have one thing and only one thing on her mind right now: winning the Guarneri competition. Technically, the Guarneri violin competition has already been on Carmen’s mind for years. She has fame, she has a Grammy. But victory at the Guarneri has always been the final target–the last step to confirm her ascent from talented prodigy to a true virtuoso, a real talent.

Except Carmen is losing focus.

Carmen’s mother channels all of her own career aspirations into managing Carmen’s professional life while micro-managing her personal life. That used to be fine. But now Carmen isn’t so sure why she is playing. Struck with painfully acute stage fright isn’t even sure she’s good enough.

Not after she hears Jeremy King play.

With the Guarneri finals fast approaching, both Carmen and Jeremy know the real competition is between two violinists: them. Carmen has every reason to hate Jeremy, every reason to stay away from him. She knows that. She also knows she can’t stay away when Jeremy is the one person who might really understand her.

As what should be her finest hour approaches, Carmen has to decide if a win playing the violin is worth more than finding her own voice in Virtuosity (2011) by Jessica Martinez.

Virtuosity is Martinez’s first novel. Martinez began playing the violin herself at the age of three. She has worked both as a symphony violinist and as a violin teacher.

With a book so grounded in the main character’s passion there is always the risk of getting lost in technical jargon or simply atmosphere, particularly when the author is already an expert in the field. One of the biggest strengths of Virtuosity is that the story remains centered around Carmen as a character instead of Carmen as a violinist.

With snappy prose and competitive passion, Virtuosity is an interesting story about the difference between fostering a talent and quashing it. There are no easy answers for Carmen and the choices she faces throughout the novel which is part of what makes this book such a gripping read. Martinez’s characters are well-drawn and authentic from their talents and wants right down to their flaws. Virtuosity is as complex as it is engrossing.

Possible Pairings: Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson, Tumbling by Caela Carter, Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg, Bunheads by Sophie Flack, Where She Went by Gayle Forman, An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach, Virtuosity by Hilary T. Smith, Rx by Tracy Lynn

You can also read my exclusive interview with Jessica Martinez starting April 2, 2012!

An Abundance of Katherines: a review

Picture this: You used to be a childhood prodigy. Member of an academic game team. You excelled in school. You were special. You met a girl named Katherine and the two of you started dating.

Then she dumps you.

Then eighteen more girls named Katherine dump you.

Suddenly, you’re a teenager with no claim to fame except for your former status as a prodigy. No new ideas. No girl. No plans for the summer excepting wasting away in your room and moping.

This is not your life. But it is Colin Singleton’s life immediately after his graduation from high school.

Given Colin’s history with girls, you might not be surprised that John Green chose to name his second novel An Abundance of Katherines (2006)–a title that proves itself even more apt as the novel progresses.

After sulking for several days after being dumped (again), Colin is dragged out of his room by Hasan, his best friend. Hassan is confident that the only cure for Colin’s depression is a road trip. So Colin and his Judge-Judy-loving, overweight, Muslim pal head off for the great beyond that is the United States between the coasts. Their road trip stops in Gutshot, Tennessee. But the adventures don’t. Hired by a local bigwig to compile an oral history of Gutshot, Colin and Hassan find themselves staying with Hollis and her daughter, Lindsey. It is in Gutshot that Colin finally has what he has always wanted, a truly original idea. Thus, Colin begins to create a theorem of love in his attempt to understand his own rocky love life.

Most of my friends who have read this book and Green’s first novel Looking for Alaska agree that his second novel is not as compelling a read. Having only read “Katherines,” I cannot make a judgment one way or the other. What I can say is that I loved the style of this book. There has been a growing trend to use footnotes in novels–notable examples include The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Johnathan Stroud, Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next novels, and Ibid A Life by Mark Dunn which is a novel written entirely of endnotes. Green continues that tradition here to good effect.

The tone throughout is quirky, nerdy, and generally fun. I don’t know that reading this novel will change any lives, but it will certainly get a lot of laughs. The best parts are, undoubtedly, the dialogues between Hassan and Colin. The guys are just so likable! In addition, Green’s writing is snappy–all the better to keep the laughs coming.

Some readers might find the name John Green familiar although they cannot say why. This year John and his brother Hank have earned a good amount of notoriety on the internet for their Brotherhood 2.0 vlog project (available on YouTube) in which the brothers send videos back and forth each weekday in lieu of text conversation (if you’re curious be sure to check out the Feb. 14, 2007 post because it’s my favorite). They are really funny and seeing John Green and his brother in these vlogs makes it easy to see how Green came up with the idea for Colin Singleton.

Like Nothing but the Truth by Justina Chen Headley, this book includes a bit of math. The “real” math behind Colin’s theorem appears in the back of the book in an appendix and Green even has a website where you can use the theorem for your own relationships (if it doesn’t crash your computer). Despite all of that, Green is a self-proclaimed lost cause when it comes to math. (The theorem was drafted by friend (and “resident mathematician” for Brotherhood 2.0), Daniel Biss.) I wanted to share this for a couple of reasons. First, because I think it’s great that Green is writing outside of what some might call his “comfort zone” and, second, because it should illustrate that you don’t have to like math to enjoy a book that features a lot of math.

Anyway, if you need a cheerful book with some fun, lovable characters I don’t think you can do better than this book which was recently nominated for the LA Times Book Award in addition to being selected as a Printz Award honor book.

Possible Pairings: Ibid A Life by Mark Dunn, Boys Don’t Knit by T. S. Easton, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, Nothing But the Truth (and a Few White Lies) by Justina Chen Headley, The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson, Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan, The Miles Between by Mary E. Pearson, This Time Will Be Different by Misa Sugiura, Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee, Frankly in Love by David Yoon