Are you not entertained by Court of Fives?: Court of Fives, by Kate Elliot

Court of Fives

Kate Elliot

Little Brown: New York, 2015

ARC provided by publisher

Jessamy dreams of the Court of Fives, an American Gladiator-esque competition in her Roman-esque world.  The masked game offers her a chance to shed the dual identity she bears in anonymity and receive accolades based on skill alone.  Jess is the daughter of an aristocratic general and a commoner; her dark skin marks her as different, and few in the aristocratic Patron class accept her family.  When Jes lets Kalliarkos, the Patron nephew of a scheming lord, beat her on the Court to avoid being unmasked, he finds her and they strike up an unlikely and societally unappreciated friendship.  However, Jes’ world is upended and her family torn apart when Kal’s powerful uncle turns her father into a pawn in his game. Jess must choose whether or not to risk her own dreams to save her family as the game becomes her reality.

I was handed this book last fall by the lovely Jenny Choy at Little Brown, who game me a tour of their beautiful (then) new space and handed me this book with a knowing “I think you’ll like this one.”  Well guess what, Jenny?  You were right.  I didn’t get the chance to pick it up for a while (and even longer to write this), but when the snows finally rolled in I had at, and yep - totally dug this book!  

The world Kate Elliot created feels historical, perhaps Greek or Roman, with the gladiator fightclubdeathmatch part replaced with the American Gladiatoresque challenge/race in an arena/coliseum.  The racial and class issues are as historic as they are timely. Moreover, they are given due diligence without becoming righteously preachy or superseding the other aspects of character development and allow for good parallels to be drawn.  Teachers, this could be an easy way to crack open a conversation about diversity in this world and our own with 7-9th graders.  Jes isn’t just biracial, she’s stuck between two social classes, a young woman discovering herself, a sister, a daughter, a friend, an athlete, and she is capable of love and struggles with forgiveness and hard decisions.   She’s a multifaceted character in a complex world. She’s wholly human and one I think many young people of many colors and social classes might find appealing. Maybe they’ll have themselves an adventure and a think while reading Court of Fives (until you trick them into #hardtalks and ruin it you teachers, gawd)!

I recommend this for fans of the Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, or like...Lindsey Davis books (I haven’t read any, but they’re classical, right?!).  This is probably best for ages 12 and up.  

Divergent, by Veronica Roth: Five factions diverge in a future Chi-city, and sorry Tris could not travel all...

Divergent, by Veronica Roth
Katherine Tegen Books: New York, 2011.
Nook copy reviewed.

In an alternative future Chicago, people live as part of five disparate social factions that highly value specific qualities.  As a 16-year-old, Beatrice must now choose her own faction.  Raised in Abnegation, she receives an inconclusive test result on the government administered aptitude test, and must choose to stay in Abnegation with her family, or break ranks, abandon her family, and join another faction.   Her surprising choice to join Dauntless spins her life in an entirely new direction; soon she is jumping off buildings, onto and off of moving trains, learning to shoot guns, making new friends and enemies, developing feelings for her distant instructor, and fighting to survive her initiation training.   But the newly nicknamed Tris’ test result is what really sets her apart, even from her new faction members, and what will awake her to the realization that her utopia is anything but.  It may be the very thing to save her…Divergent is strongly recommended to all libraries serving older teens.  It even has a bonus slow burning romance (delightfully not a love triangle!), and is an easy sell to Hunger Games fans of both genders craving more, this is an action packed, high intensity, highly addictive, and fun book to read.

YOU GUYS.  I LOVED THIS BOOK.  Not because it’s the most super books in all the lands, not because it blew my mind, not because it made me want to be a better person – in fact, it did none of these things.  No, my friends.  It was straight up FUN to read.   So, so, so much fun!  It’s firmly in the mind-crack category.  Y’all know how much I love a slow-burning romance (swoon), so Veronica Roth had me at Four.  I loved the description of messed up future Chicago (the Bean in particular), the differences in the factions, and witnessing Tris and her fellow faction switchers adjust to what really amounts to as a new culture.  Super bonus points for a kind of badass game of capture the flag!  Sure, there are minor things that if I hadn’t raced through it I might have a quibble with (largely, hey TRIS, have a thought about what is beyond that giant fence!? OR where do the factionless go?!? OR less importantly, who drives those trains? what happens in winter? - but methinks this will factor in later in these books), but I don’t care!  I couldn’t put it down, and when I did, I got that twitchy finger feeling that encouraged me to go back and pick it up.  I even stayed up past teacher o’clock to finish reading it, and then couldn’t sleep because I was so excited.  I’m so glad I finally resigned myself to get at it, after having heard tell of it for a while.  It received a strong rating of awesome from the wonderful teens on my trip to Chile this past summer, and it had been on my to do list since.  Thankfully, my procrastination paid off; I have to wait way less time for the May 1^st sequel, Insurgent.  I won’t say much more about how much I enjoyed this, because I’ll be gushing here all afternoon and you’d rather use your time to be reading this, right?  Lucky for you, there is a 100 page preview available.  Say goodbye to your afternoon plans!

Uncommon Criminals, by Ally Carter: My Uncommon Goal of Art Theivery

Uncommon Criminals
by Ally Carter
Disney Hyperion Books: New York, 2011.
ISBN: 978-142314795-4

     Kat Bishop is back again in the second book in Ally Carter's Heist Society series.  This time though, our favorite con-artist with a heart has herself been conned after being led to believe she was returning the allegedly stolen Cleopatra Emerald to its rightful owner.   Embarrassed that she's fallen victim to an old school con artist who seems to think Kat is just like her, Kat reluctantly accepts the help of her crew in retrieving the emerald and reuniting it with it's rightful owner, making things slightly awkward with her possible (if she would only admit it to herself) crush, Hale.  To get the stone back, the crew must work together in a high stakes gamble in the casino's of Monaco, all while trying to avoid the attention of Uncle Eddie, who has specifically instructed them to have nothing to do with the Cleopatra.  This newest edition in the series is an exciting, quickly paced, occasionally romantic read; it may even be stronger than the freshman effort!  It is recommended for libraries serving (probably female) patrons aged 11 to 15, and cool adults who like to pretend like they can be an art thief if their day job doesn't work out.  Ahem...

You guys, this book is really fun.  I encourage you to read it over a vacation or lazy Saturday morning.  It's quick.  It's exciting.  It's white-glove sexy (chaste kissing, not the white doctors office gloves you're thinking of you perv).  It's about art theft!  It's like a girls' version of Ocean's Eleven, before they blew it by making too many (whatever, it's the truth).  Just do it.  You're welcome.

Perhaps you don't remember the promise I made to you several months ago when the first two chapters of this book were up online.  It is likely, because I barely remembered.  You know, the one where I promised to tell you which paintings I'd steal if ever my soul became a blackened coal lump and I turned to a life of art theivery of specific paintings for my own, and only my viewing pleasure? But rejoice, because remember, I did.  And here they are.  There are probably more that I've forgotten, like some Winslow Homer watercolors (how did I miss his watercolors until the age of what I am now?),  Dutch Renaissance Masters, or the crown jewels (which I'll get anyways, when I marry Harry, obvi).

 Paintings I'd Steal
(if ever my soul became blackened coal lump and I turned to a life of art theivery of specific paintings for my own, and only my viewing pleasure)

Black Hole Sun, by David Macinnis Gill: Baby Browncoats?

Black Hole Sun
by David Macinnis Gill
Greenwillow Books: New York, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-167304-7
 

     In a distant future, humans are living on and occupying a Mars that is a perfect mashup of Star Wars and Firefly (with shades of and shout outs to other sci-fi that I’m sure I’m just not picking up on).  Our young hero, Durango (sidebar: how great is this name? I’m not sure if it’s better for a child or dog. OR BOTH.  Ima go George Foreman my future pets and children!), is a mercenary soldier in a world where soldiers pledge themselves for life to one individual, and where you’re ostracized if you’re a lone wolf.  Durango also has a bit of a secret; he had artificial intelligence implanted in his brain by his currently deposed and imprisoned father, the former governor of Mars.   Durango, and his second in command, Vienne, who he thinks is totally a babe btw, often work rescue missions in kidnapping cases, often hiring a band of unruly and hilarious misfits to flesh out their team.  Their latest underpaying offer is for protection services for a remote mining post, under attack by the Draeu (I have no idea how to pronounce this, and or how to access the correct letters for it, deal), who kind of like the Reapers of Firefly, eat people (thank gawd they don’t rape them to death, thanks for those nightmares Firefly writers), which is generally pretty gross in my opinion.  But I digress!  The Draeu want something aside from manflesh, and the miners are hesitant to disclose what it is.  What is it, and why is it wanted?  What will happen when a hot miner-girl develops a not-so-secret crush on Durango (hint: girl drama!)?  Will they all survive the Draeu? How cool are the soldiers uniforms (hint: pretty cool)? What makes the Draeu so greepy (gross+creepy) and hard to get rid of? Is this underpaying mission even worth it?   This action packed, sci-fi adventure is filled with explosions, humor, snarky banter, fun, and drama.  Black Hole Sun is strongly recommended for Browncoats of all ages, and other people of all ages (12 and up) who like to read fun, not-too-heady sci-fi.  Not sure if there will be a sequel, but it was fun and quick enough to read that I’d for sure pick up another!