Adventure – Nonfiction and Nonsense

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Ever since reading the scene in Catching Fire where Katniss and Peeta watch the 50th Hunger Games, I wanted to know more about what happened in the arena that year. Haymitch not only won, he won while competing against twice as many tributes. I knew that there had to have been something special about Haymitch for him to have beaten those odds.

Every twenty five years there is a special games, called the Quarter Quell. Before the tributes are selected, the Capital announces an additional condition for the games that year. For the first Quell the condition was that the male and female tributes had to be chosen by the people of the districts rather than pulled from a lottery by a Capital representative, making the punishment even more cruel. The additional bit of barbarism for the second Quell was that there would be twice as many tributes, two males and two females from each district. Haymitch was in the clear once the second male name was called, but due to a series of events that made a bad situation even worse, Haymitch was punished by becoming the second male for district twelve.

Although there have been some improvements in the way tributes are treated since the 10th Hunger Games, the girls and boys are still viewed as uncivilized animals. They are carted around in handcuffs in windowless vans, and not much is done to ensure that they arrive to the games unblemished and unharmed. The games back then were not the well oiled machine that we see in the original trilogy. I do believe that some of the events that occurred paired with the rebellious actions of Haymitch influenced the way in which the games were run from then on. In the original trilogy there are several mentions of unfortunate incidents that have befallen victors after the games, punishments doled out by President Snow to those that were not shy about showing their disdain for the Capital. We get to experience the very worst of what Snow can do to someone who rebels, and Haymitch suffers greatly for the multiple acts he commits both before the games and during his time in the arena.

I love that we are getting multiple prequels from the author years after she wrote one of the most recognizable young adult series of this moment in time. This book made me want even more. I didn’t even care that this book was incredibly sad, I loved finding out more about the history of the games and getting to know more about characters that we are already familiar with. There are other victors I would love to have get an entire book dedicated to their story. I think Johanna Masons would be equally as tragic as Haymitchs, but it would be interesting to see how she turned her loss and sorrow into anger rather than depression. I can only hope we are so lucky as to get another prequel out of Suzanne.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Banned, Fiction

I don’t read the classics very often, but this novel is part of a collection that I am slowly gathering. I decided, for reasons I won’t get into here, that I should start buying physical copies of banned books as well as books that have a possibility of being banned in the near future. This novel was on one of those banned books lists.

I didn’t know much about this book going in, I think the only thing I knew was that it was going to be outdoorsy. I was intrigued when I saw that the story started off written from the point of view of a dog. I was skeptical when I started to realize that the entire story was going to be told from his perspective. But by the end of the story I realized that this story, a piece of historical fiction, needed to be written from the perspective of a dog to really get across what a terrible time it was to be a dog in that part of the world. So while this is a piece of fiction, a lot of what occurs could be events that actually happened. During the gold rush of the 1890s, when man realized that traveling in the harsh, cold winters in Canada couldn’t be done by horse, they turned to dogs. Dogs were bought, sold, traded, and stolen, and they were all worked to the bone pulling sleds while living on meager rations and forced to sleep outdoors in the snow at night. I understand now why this book was on a banned list as I could see why public schools might not want their students to read this. There are many passages in this novel that would upset animal lovers.

I don’t think this is a book I will read again, once was enough in my opinion. Even though my new philosophy is to donate books that I know I won’t read again, I think I am going to make an exception for books that I bought as part of the banned collection. Chances are slim that this book, as well as many of the others on my list, won’t be destroyed completely, but I think it is important to preserve literature and I will do my part.

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

Uncategorized

I can’t believe there aren’t any more books in the Grishaverse after this one. I’ve been reading this series for about two months, and I’m really going to miss it.

I originally started reading this series because I saw the trailer for the show on Netflix, and I knew it was something I would get a lot of enjoyment out of watching. But because I knew it was a series of books, I couldn’t watch it while possessing that knowledge. I bought all the books and planned to watch the first season after I had finished the first book. But when I started watching the first episode and realized that there were characters being introduced that were not in the first book, I knew that I would have to read a lot more before I could begin. For anyone who likes to read before they watch, I will say that you need to read the trilogy and then Six of Crows before you start the show. I won’t divulge any more spoilers than that.

Now for the book itself. If you read my last review you will know that I found Nina’s chapters to be incredibly dull in King of Scars, probably because she was deadly depressing for most of them. Whereas in Rule of Wolves, I couldn’t wait to see what she was up to. We get back the original vibrant and clever Nina we met in Six of Crows. She has infiltrated the Fjerdan Ice Court once again, performing some very deep undercover work for Ravka. She is also trying to figure out where her future stands with Hanne. Will Hanne choose to remain loyal to her nation and her family, even though she has always been miserable living under the strict rules placed upon Fjerdan females? Or will she leave with Nina when her time as a spy comes to an end, to live in Ravka where she can have freedom and live without fear of using her powers? Will Nina ever be able to show Hanne her real face, the one she has been wearing since before she met Hanne many months ago, or will Hanne only ever know the face of Mila? I don’t know if I could live forever with a false face, Nina certainly misses the one she was born with. But I guess it’s different if you don’t feel comfortable in your own body, which we see a lot where Hanne is concerned. There are a lot of allusions to transgender issues at play here, and I think it was very well written and fit into the story perfectly.

We finally learn a lot more about Zoya’s upbringing and training as a young Grisha. We get to see why she often comes off as cold, sometimes even nasty. She has her reasons, I don’t think they entirely justify her overall personality, but now we at least know why she keeps her distance from people and refuses to form close relationships of any kind. However, her sensibilities are put to the test as the pull between her and Nikolai becomes even stronger in this final book. I tried to imagine them as a couple, and I found it difficult. I can’t remember hoping for them to get together at any point during the story. I just don’t know if I find them suitable for each other.

There was one character death that absolutely broke my heart. I exclaimed, “No!” very loudly when it happened. I was hoping it would turn out to be a mistake or they would find a way to bring this person back but it didn’t happen and I am still very upset about it. There was also one plot twist that I also screamed out loud in reaction to that I really did not see coming. It was a really excellent surprise. I am kind of bummed that unless there are more books in the future we won’t see any sort of redemption or character growth from this individual and I think that they had a lot of potential to become someone great. There was also the potential for a lot of conflicts of interest, questions of morality, and the breaking of promises to oneself that would have made for great writing. Maybe some bold fanfiction writer will see the potential I saw and write a piece about those characters one day. I won’t say who these characters were, but I will say that they are currently in Fjerda.

I’m trying to figure out if the author brought back old characters because she wanted us to be with them one more time before she puts this series to rest. Or, if the ending of this book hints at, she has more planned for this universe in the future. It has only been about four years since Rule of Wolves came out, which is a short period of time when you consider how many years we have been waiting for Winds of Winter or The Doors of Stone. I don’t believe there are any rumors floating around, but I would love to hear anything regarding a continuation of the series. I would love to go back to Ketterdam and see what the Dregs are up to, especially Inej, since we barely got a glimpse of her in Rule of Wolves. Kaz is young and I know he will have more money making schemes in his future. I could probably do without Alina and Mal, who are enjoying their relatively peaceful life running the orphanage. Unless there is another matter in the future that would require them to be brought back into the fold. I will just have to look for the next adventure series that will have me raving about it in my future reviews.

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

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It has now been several years since Nikolai has taken his place as the king of Ravka. His ascension was fraught with many challenges, exiling the old king and queen, fighting a war against the Darkling, and trying to convince Alina to marry him, those just being the biggest of his many struggles. His struggles have not gotten smaller in any way. The kingdom was, and still remains, incredibly poor, any money that Ravka may have had that wasn’t being funneled towards the centuries old war was spent frivolously by the royal family. And although the Darkling is gone and there seems to be a tenuous peace within Ravka itself, there are other dangers looming.

On a slightly bright note, one thing that seems to be going particularly well is the advancement of weapons and transport. The air ships Nikolai has been working on for years are now at the peak of their functionality and his underwater ships are promising as well. The one thing he needs is more of them, as a means of protection now instead of a means of adventuring, because the threat of war from either Fjerda or Shu Han still lingers. The ships would be an immense help, due to the many soldier and Grisha deaths that occurred during the civil war, which greatly depleted their army. Nikolai is trying to put an end to his country’s debts and find a way to make allies, and even though he is reluctant to say so, he and those closest to him know that the best way to get both money and allies is through marriage.

While I am always excited to continue reading a book that is part of a larger series, I was disinterested in a lot of the plot in this one. It took me much longer to finish this than I would have liked because it kind of lost me in the middle. I think a lot of it had to do with Nina’s chapters. She was so terribly depressed and it did not make for great reading. I also was not into the new sect of religious fanatics led by Yuri, as well as not being into the character of Yuri himself. I am thankful that there were no chapters from his point of view. I also didn’t really care for all the chapters that detailed Nikolai, Zoya, and Yuri’s trials during their disappearance, even though what occurred is important for what it leads up to in the next book.

Some might consider this strange, but when Isaak started to become a main character; that is when I got drawn back in. I really liked him, even though he was a pretty minor character up until that point. I liked how he started off kind of ordinary but he became something kind of extraordinary. I loved his devotion to his family and to Ravka, and the way he fully committed himself into doing what was asked of him. My other well liked moments in this book were any scenes in which Genya and David spoke to each other. They are by far my favorite romance in this series.

To wrap things up, I will say sorry if you have been reading my reviews and have been waiting to see what I would have to say about the King of Scars duology. I have one more book to go and then my time with the Grishaverse will be at an end. If you have come this far, I will have some spoilers in my next review. They won’t necessarily be about the book, Rule of Wolves, I have not decided how that review is going to be written yet. But I will be writing what I thought about the Netflix adaptation of the books, and that will contain many spoilers. But hopefully they won’t be terrible spoilers, especially if you have read the original trilogy and the Six of Crows duology. Although this is primarily a book review blog I really feel the need to talk about the show because I have a lot to say about it.

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Fiction

If you read Six of Crows, you will know that at the end of the novel things were looking very bleak for Kaz and his crew. They didn’t get their big payout, Inej was taken captive, and they were faced with a small army of Grisha on parem. While it didn’t seem possible for there to be a way for the Dregs to come out on top, I knew just by looking at the size of Crooked Kingdom, and being aware of how clever Kaz can be, that the Dregs were going to get what they worked so hard for. The deal is the deal, Van Eck going back on his word doesn’t mean a thing to Kaz.

This book was non-stop excitement with even more plans upon plans than its predecessor. You realized that you didn’t even have a glimpse of just how strategic Kaz could be, some of the intricacies of his plans being laid down years in advance. We know that Kaz and his brother were wronged when they first arrived in Ketterdam as young boys, and we know that he has been planning his revenge ever since. It works out really well for Kaz that his years of waiting for the perfect moment to finally destroy Pekka pairs perfectly well with his more recent need to right the wrongs that Van Eck has dealt him and his gang. Kaz masterminds a grand heist which he is able to pull off through the combined skills of the Ice Court crew and additional members of the Dregs which he has roped into the fold. I enjoyed this book just as much as Six of Crows, and it would be impossible for me to say which one I enjoyed more. I will say that there is only one thing that occurred in this story that made me favor the first in this duology, and that thing is a major character death. I won’t say who, but it upset me greatly. There were a few plot points that left me with some lingering questions, mostly about what the future might hold between Kaz and the Council of Tides.

That being said, I could read endless books about Kaz and his gang. I would read a novel about Kaz and Inej and what might happen between them. I would read about Inej learning to sail and working towards her dream of ending slavery. I’d love to see how Wylan and Jesper work together as business partners and how that may hinder or help their budding romance. Kuwei was on his way to Ravka, along with a few others, and I have a feeling we are going to see what happens to those few characters in the next book, Kings of Scars. These characters all have so much potential, I am desperate for more. I unfortunately don’t think that I will ever find out what happens in the future in Ketterdam, but maybe once I get to see what has been going on in Ravka in the years following the war I will be satiated. Come back next week if you have been interested in me talking about this series. I have two books to go, and I am potentially going to read a prequel book detailing the origins of the Darkling when I am finished.