The Lost Sister by Andrea Gunraj
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Don't pick-up The Lost Sister if you are looking for a light fluffy read. This is an intense, honest and emotional reflection on losing a family member, racism, child abuse, and residential schools. For those not familiar, residential schools were situations in the past where the Canadian government forced parents (often of colour, native descent, or Russian ancestry) to give up their children to government run facilities (called schools but they were more like jails). Where children were taught to forget their culture, language and traditions; and encouraged to adhere to more 'Western' conventions.
Plot
The overall plot of The Lost Sister isn't anything new in the mystery genre. A little girl goes missing and we follow the story via the eyes of her sister. Lucky for our lead girl she has an influence in her life that is helpful. A woman who, attended a residential school as a child, and is estranged from her own sister. Thus we are provided with a connection between two histories and taken on a journey of healing.
I foolishly didn't make the connection between our two stories until about 35% into the book. Knowing there is an eventual connection won't spoil anything for you as the book is more focused on the trauma and emotions of the characters than the actual plot events themselves.
Women
At its core The Lost Sister is really about women. Be it young girls, teens, adults or elderly women. There is a constant cultural attitude (at least in North America) that pits women against one another. As though we are supposed to be constantly competing with our own gender to be bigger and better. I'm not sure why this exists exactly (maybe men thought it would be a good way to distract women if they fought amoungst themselves?) but it's clear to me in my life in Canada that this socialized behaviour for competition between girls is inherent. Andrea Gunraj does an excellent job of bringing this competitive culture forward and discussing it in an open and honest way. She gives us genuine emotions, comments and events that women encounter and tries to offer alternatives to fighting one another. If nothing else this book does try to breakdown the silos of racism, culture, religion, ethnicity and gender; in an attempt to remind us all that we are essentially the same inside. We all have physiology and biology that are comparable and so it makes no sense to pick on one another's subtle differences. Especially in a world already so full of hate.
Sisterhood vs Motherhood
Gunraj spends a lot of time during the residential school timeline looking at the difference between a sister and a mother. So often older siblings become parental like figures (especially in the absence of parents). I myself am the oldest of three and can confess that there were many days as a child/teen where I felt like I needed to step up and be more of a parent than a sibling to my own sister and brother. This complex relationship often turns sour as the siblings get older. The Lost Sister demonstrates this very effectively and Gunraj focuses on the decisions made by the sibling and how they affected the younger sister. Consider how different things had been if your sibling had only done XYZ instead of ABC... this is the core question The Lost Sister asks the reader and it brings up many challenging emotions and ideas/questions of blame. Of course ultimately blame doesn't change the past and while not a 'satisfying' ending, The Lost Sister does wrap things up in a way that allow the reader to have grown in their consideration towards why others may make the decisions they do.
Overall
This is not a pleasant read. But it's an important one. If you want to understand a little more about residential schools in Maritime Canada, or the challenges women have faced (from a very young age) in certain historical circumstances The Lost Sister is a good place to start. By no means will any of us ever be able to comprehend the extent of the injury done by residential schools; but at least by knowing it's history we have a chance of not repeating the same mistake. Instead, let us recognize that one another are both the same and different in our own unique and special way. If nothing else Gunraj has set a stage for further discussion amoungst readers about this embarrassing but important piece of Canada's history.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Bérubé
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
There are well executed and poorly under taken concepts in Here There Are Monsters. Overall it was a let down for me (and many others if you peruse the other reviews). While the plot is okay and the thoughts of our lead gal are very genuine; all along there is something missing. It's lacking that spark or attraction that makes a book great (or even just 4-star good).
Internal Thoughts
The best part of Amelinda Berube's novel is the first person writing of her lead character. As the oldest of three kids, and 4 years separately me and my next sibling in age, I really connected with what our lead teen felt and expressed inside her head. From comments about how annoying her siblings are to how she is tired of feeling responsible for them given she's not the parent. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Berube is the oldest child in her family with a gap between siblings as all the thoughts our lead gal thinks are also ones I've thought over the years.
Plot
The actual plot itself is very interesting. A sister that is missing, weird happenings in the forest, and odd sculptures showing up all contribute to an overall creepy ambience in Here There Are Monsters. However the entire time the story is missing that something. I never really felt fear for our lead or her missing sister. I also never really felt like the strings of the story were linked together. It was as though one thing happened, and then another; but actually feeling like they were related and building towards something was missing. It's too bad because there is a great story to be told here if only I felt more invested. The ending is the bad icing on a crumbling cupcake as it falls apart very quickly and feels like it was written in about ten minutes on a bus just to get it done. It's unfortunate as a good ending, in some ways, might have saved this novel from it's mediocre status.
The Missing Sister
Take note newer writers, if you want your reader to feel something for a character they barely meet in the present day narrative then you MUST make them relatable and create an environment where the reader can have sympathy for them. We read flashbacks of the missing sister throughout the current day story and yet I still felt like I never knew her, and never cared. Now this may be because the story is told from the point of view of the older sister? Our lead gal has become a bit ambivalent towards her sister and her odd behaviour. I wonder if the flashbacks had been from the missing younger sisters perspective would that have created the bond needed for me to care?
Overall
There's opportunity here unfortunately Berube doesn't quite create a polished book that stands out. Here There Are Monsters feels like it should be better than it ultimately is. That's not to say it's a bad read. It's fine. Maybe a half step above your average free book. But it's certainly not going to stand out amoungst all the YA books of today; and doesn't live up to it's hyped pre-release. All-in-all you won't be missing much if you pass on it.
That said it is a stand-alone which is attractive to many. Although I can't help but feel thankful that it's one and done; and this world won't be revisited because there is barely enough to care about in this one book; let along if another was to be written in to make a series.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The introduction to Shatter the Sky is absolutely adorable. We meet two girls, clearly in love, who are kissing in the woods. How cute right?! Sadly these two girls are almost immediately separated. Although that is the plot of Rebecca Kim Wells story; so I suppose it's hard to critic (lol). Unfortunately the remainder of the story isn't written as smoothly as the opening chapter. Many times Wells goes from stilted plot points to convenient happenings to confusing the heroine's goals throughout the 300 pages. And while there are dragons present they are perhaps not as prominently featured as many would like. Although I expect that will change into book 2 of the series.
Dragons
Yes, there are dragons. Yes, people ride them. No, I do not know anything more about dragon riding than you can assume in advance of reading this novel. At best we learn about dragon eggs and bonding humans to dragons. That is essentially it. I craved a lot more context and content about how they rode dragons, our lead gals plan to steal one (she has no plan ever which was annoying), and/or if dragons were inherently friendly or not. We get tidbits of the personality of some dragons (and some possible reasons why) throughout; but I never felt like I really understood the culture of dragon riding or the historical reasons for dragons being used the way they are (other than the usual boring reason of war).
Plot
The overall plot is cliche but works. Girl looses girlfriend to an enemy group, girl leaves home to venture to save girlfriend, girl determines she needs a dragon to win, girl meets boy on the way and girl does a bunch of things because conveniently events fall into place for her. Oh wait, that last one is perhaps not in well written books.
One of my top 3 pet peeves in any plot is convenience. If a lead character just 'happens' to find a trap door, secret entrance, stumble upon a conversation, or is in the perfect spot every time they turn around; then probably your story is too convenient. I'm okay with these things happening once in awhile; but not every time the lead leaves her room. I got excited at one point during the novel that maybe our lead gal had some bad luck... except that bad luck 'drops' her into the hands of the boy who leads her on her journey. *sigh* Convenience is very boring and takes away from the excitement and drama that unexpected happenings bring to a story.
Relationships
One nice thing about setting up our gal as a lesbian from the get-go is that the attractive boy she meets along her quest isn't a romantic factor. Instead he's just a friend. It mildly annoys me that he's still clearly gorgeous, special and affluent as though he was going to be a romantic interest; but then again I suppose that is just the formula of YA novels so I'll allow it.
I do like that Wells keeps the devotion and love of the lead gal for her girlfriend throughout. We often see our lead gal drawing strength from remembering why she is doing things and persevering because of the loving bond she has with her girlfriend. The devotion towards a lover is a wonderful change from many others YA books. It also (so far) ensures there is no love triangle! Always a plus in my books.
The Ending
Shatter the Sky is oddly written in that the beginning (minus chapter 1) is weaker than the end. Usually debut authors end up putting too much time into the beginning of a book and their endings suffer because of it. However Wells has a great ending. The writing style, pace and action all make the closure to this book really positive. However be aware, it is a series and there is a major cliffhanger.
Overall
I wouldn't be opposed to reading book 2 in Shatter the Sky series; but I doubt I'll go out of my way to get it. I'm interested to see what happens; but not dying to know. I'm also concerned that the convenient plot points will continue and the lack of dragon lore both items which are sure to annoy me if carried forward. But if Wells can capture the success of the ending of book 1 and build from it then book 2 would definitely be worth adding to the 'to be read' shelf.
All that said, for a debut YA novel, this is a decent read. I wouldn't discourage anyone whose interested in the premise from reading it; but it doesn't make my recommendations list either. Wells may be an author to watch in the future however as she is signed to Simon Schuster. There could be some great potential for her if she matures her plots and can replicate the narration pace of the end of the story throughout her future stories.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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