The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender - Leslye Walton

Summary

Goodreads:  Magical realism, lyrical prose, and the pain and passion of human love haunt this hypnotic generational saga.

Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny,Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.

In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen

year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.

That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.

First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human.

Quotes

"The Roux children were so accustomed to their neighbors' voices permeating the thin walls that each child could eventually speak several languages - all four in French and English, Emilienne in Italian, René in Dutch and German, and Margaux in Spanish.  The Youngest, Pierette, only spoke in what was later identified as Greek until her seventh birthday, when in perfect French she declared, "Mon dieu! Oú est mon gâteau? My God, where is my cake?" Which made them all suspect that Pierette had many tricks up her sleeves."

"But it was the cake their guests remembered - the vanilla custard filling, the buttercream finish, the slight taste of raspberries that had surely been added to the batter. No one brought home any slices of leftover cake to place under their pillow, hoping to dream of their future mate; instead, the guests of Ignatius Lux and Estella Margolis ate the whole cake and then had dreams of eating it again.  After this wedding unmarried women woke in the night with tears in their eyes, not because they were alone, but because there wasn't any cake left."

Thoughts

Wow. How do I even begin to describe why I loved this book?  I honestly don't know.  It's just got...it.  You know what I mean?  I think it's a problem I often come across when trying to describe a book that's magic realism...and surprise, surprise this one is too.  There's something about the way authors write in this genre that's just...AGH.   I don't know how to describe it!  I mean it was beautiful.   It's absurd and horribly morbid...and you know, it kind of reminds me of the humour you find in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events at times.  This is my favourite genre, and I have just had the BEST luck with magic realism.  I honestly can't think of a single book in this genre that I didn't like. (Which is probably why it's my favourite genre, it's all been good so far).

I love this writing style. This isn't going to be for people who need more of an action based plot. There is a plot, but it is uncovered more through a meandering character growth that adds suspense and makes it a plot. I happen to love stories like this.  I think I also loved that it was so female-centric.  You've got three generations of women whose stories are told within this book, and they're all kind of tragic in that funny morbid way.  Which sounds completely nonsensical I know, but if you read the book you will TOTALLY get what I mean.  There's just so much in here - yes, there's a plot and plenty of suspense that's ratcheted up even as we learn about things that are generations removed from THE EVENT everything leads up to.  You get musings on loss and love and...man.  I really have the hardest time trying to describe books that aren't all actiony and flaily because I can't seem to find the right words.  It was a beautiful story, it was written so well (and you know how swoony I get over prose).  I'm going to stop trying to describe it.  Instead, I wholly recommend both Nafiza's and Christina's reviews, who has captured my feelings on the book more clearly than I have been able to (hence my giving up and searching their reviews haha).  Not everything was great about this book, but I can't mention anything because of spoilers, and honestly in the whole context of this book I just don't care.  I am absolutely going to buy Leslye Walton's next book, and you should too.  After you buy this one of course.  And since I loved this so much and have been unable to describe how I feel...read these reviews too.  I feel like a lazy not-reviewer for referencing every one else's reviews, but I just...I can't even name half the emotions running through me right now just THINKING about this book

Shelby
Reynje

Sara

And in the interest of what I thought while reading this...because I seriously want to reread it to process everything. And it's definitely good enough for a reread.  Serious spoilers below!! Also if you're a terrible person like me who usually reads the last couple pages before I finish the book (HUSH DON'T JUDGE ME)....really don't.  Don't do it.  Luckily this was an ebook which stops this habit in it's tracks for me so I didn't but...yeah.  Don't do that. (Actually I am probably the only person who does that haha)

Nathaniel Sorrows creeps me out. Is he going to rape her? And that pillow bit? GROSS.  

Oh God. I knew it was going to be bad, but not that bad...I can't...I feel a bit sick. And horrified. 

Ugh I wanted that situation to be less terrible.  And I'm irritated by the rape for some reason - I knew it was going to happen, so it's not like it was a surprise.  I think this is like the third book in a row that I've read with rape in it though, so I'm just seriously not in the mood.  And Nathaniel Sorrows is really...well everyone's tragedies somehow have a sort of distance to them, so I guess the distance here is in his character development?  Because this was seriously one of the most brutal things I've ever read.  AND I read it on an airplane. (WHY?! I KNOW better than to do that!)

Holy...what?! Why?! Why do this to me in the last few pages?? God. I didn't see that coming. I CAN'T HANDLE LIFE ANYMORE.  Am I wrong? Did I misunderstand?  Ava was going to be happy! She had someone she loved, and he loved her back! She wasn't going to deny herself for decades. I wanted just ONE HEA!  No one else mentioned this in their reviews (then again, it's also like literally the last two pages.)  I am seriously going to troll Goodreads now.  I'm wrong right?  I MUST BE WRONG.  I mean it's narrated by an older Ava, right? RIGHT?

END SPOILERS

TL;DR

If you like magical realism, you NEED to read this.  If you love beautiful prose, you need to read this.  If you love character development (and some seriously odd characters) read this.  If you need action packed plots, this probably isn't for you.

The Color Master - Aimee Bender

 

Summary

Goodreads:  The bestselling author of "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" returns with a wondrous collection of dreamy, strange, and magical stories. 

Truly beloved by readers and critics alike, Aimee Bender has become known as something of an enchantress whose lush prose is "moving, fanciful, and gorgeously strange" ("People"), "richly imagined and bittersweet" ("Vanity Fair"), and "full of provocative ideas" ("The Boston Globe"). In her deft hands, "relationships and mundane activities take on mythic qualities" ("The Wall Street Journal"). 

In this collection, Bender's unique talents sparkle brilliantly in stories about people searching for connection through love, sex, and family--while navigating the often painful realities of their lives. A traumatic event unfolds when a girl with flowing hair of golden wheat appears in an apple orchard, where a group of people await her. A woman plays out a prostitution fantasy with her husband and finds she cannot go back to her old sex life. An ugly woman marries an ogre and struggles to decide if she should stay with him after he mistakenly eats their children. Two sisters travel deep into Malaysia, where one learns the art of mending tigers who have been ripped to shreds. 

In these deeply resonant stories--evocative, funny, beautiful, and sad--we see ourselves reflected as if in a funhouse mirror. Aimee Bender has once again proven herself to be among the most imaginative, exciting, and intelligent writers of our time.

Notable quote:   

"He could feel it, just feel it, the glimmer of something that he did not understand. But he would never call it God. He would not call it prayer. But just beyond his sandwich, and the four TV shows he watched back to back, and his teeth brushing, and his face washing, and his nighttime reading of a magazine, and his light switching off, just the faint realization that there were many ways to live a life and that some people were living a life that was very different than his, and the way they lived was beyond him and also didn't interest him and yet he could sense it. Comfort and fear rose together inside him. Like standing in the middle of a meadow, where no one had his back." 

"The Doctor and the Rabbi" (probably my second favourite story in the lot after "The Devourings")


Thoughts

It's always hard for me to think of a way to review short stories (which is why I haven't so far), but I thought now would be as good as a time as any to start trying.  The Color Master is divided into three parts that all seem to be centered around a sort of theme.

  The very first story in the entire book titled "Appless" featured from what I can tell *spoilers* a gang rape.*spoilers*   I thought it was offensive, unnecessary, and it made it hard for me to have much patience for the other stories in Part I, which featured women who explore power/equality/other things like that with their sexuality.  I thought most of them were interesting, but none really stood out and captured me the way I had been expecting them to. 

Fortunately, Aimee Bender worked her magic and there were plenty of other stories to enjoy!  I thought "Bad Return" which featured a college student who wanders into a stranger's home pretty enjoyable, and "Origin Class" was thought provoking in a different way than many of Bender's other stories were.  "Wordkeepers" was more realistic than her usual works (no hint of magic realism or even just strange things).  In fact it describes me in pretty much every conversation.  What does it mean for us that we can't remember words?  That we're constantly replacing names with "stuff" or "thingie"?  It wasn't something I'd thought of before, but it struck a chord with me.  Because it is a new thing that we're forgetting words, and it affects all generations.  It might come off as a bit pedantic to some, but I enjoyed the questions it posed.

As someone who is madly in love with faerie tale retellings, I obviously loved "The Color Master" - a retelling of Donkeyskin which is one of my all time favourite fairy tales, as well as "The Devourings".  "The Devourings" is the very last story in the book and it follows the perspective of the troll's wife (or giant if you're thinking Jack in the Beanstalk) whose husband accidentally eats his own children.  It follows her past her death and the death of all civilization when all that is left is a magical self-replenishing cake.  If I hated the opening to this collection of stories, "The Devourings" couldn't have been a more perfect ending to it.  Easily my favourite short story of the lot, the writing is just magical in a way I've come to love and appreciate from Aimee Bender.  Even when I don't necessarily understand everything at play, there's this feeling of rightness to a lot of her writing.

If you're looking for a little more background on the individual stories, this review does a really great job of giving a brief summary of each story and how the reviewer felt about them.  I don't necessarily agree with all the ratings, but I've spotlighted the stories that I enjoyed the most here.


Overall

The collection was a bit of a mixed bag.  Part I didn't do much for me, whereas I enjoyed almost all the stories in Part II  and III immensely, and "The Devourings" is one now one of my favourite short stories of all time.  I definitely recommend looking into this if you are a fan of Aimee Bender at all (or even Neil Gaiman - there's some resemblances there even if I can't articulate exactly what they are) or enjoy short stories.  This isn't usually my scene as I rarely read short story collections, but I don't regret it for a minute.  Aimee Bender's stories are always refreshing and often take a turn for the completely unexpected.



Bechdel Test

I was silly enough to return this to the library without marking any quotes at all which is a shame.  It's no surprise to me that Aimee Bender's work passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors.  Off the top of my head, I can think of at least two of the short stories that pass the test - Lemonade and Tiger Mending - simply because they only have women in the stories.  Other works like Americca, The Color Master, Bad Return, and The Red Ribbon pass the test in some form or another (I think, I can't guarantee as I don't have the book to check against).  It's amazing that in a book full of short stories, about half pass the test, whereas most full length novels can't manage it.  Something to ponder over...

Conjured - Sarah Beth Durst

I received this from Bloomsbury USA Children's Books in exchange for an honest review.

Summary

Goodreads:  Eve has a new home, a new face, and a new name—but no memories of her past. She’s been told that she's in a witness protection program. That she escaped a dangerous magic-wielding serial killer who still hunts her. The only thing she knows for sure is that there is something horrifying in her memories the people hiding her want to access—and there is nothing they won’t say—or do—to her to get her to remember.

At night she dreams of a tattered carnival tent and buttons being sewn into her skin. But during the day, she shelves books at the local library, trying to not let anyone know that she can do things—things like change the color of her eyes or walk through walls. When she does use her strange powers, she blacks out and is drawn into terrifying visions, returning to find that days or weeks have passed—and she’s lost all short-term memories. Eve must find out who and what she really is before the killer finds her—but the truth may be more dangerous than anyone could have ever imagined.


First sentence:  "Your name is Eve.  Remember that."
 

Thoughts

I'm still a bit daydreamy after reading this (I often get this way after good books, but it's been an hour or so and it hasn't worn off quite yet), so I'm still a bit...spacey.

This story has cemented an opinion in my mind.  I've decided I have a new favourite genre (actually I've never really had a genre I would call my favourite before, so I suppose it is my only favourite genre haha)- one that I didn't even know existed until a couple weeks ago: magic realism.  It is the reason why I am a huge fan of David Almond (most notably known for Skellig and Kit's Wilderness) and Alice Hoffman.  I think I've found the some of the best writing I've ever read...poignant isn't really the right word for it.  Delicate and fantastical and...real.  I don't really have a word for that, so whatever that word is, that's what I've found in this genre.   

First, let me say that this book was so, so beautifully written.  The prose was never overly flowery (although, admittedly I do tend to like very flowery prose), but it wasn't sparse like a Hemingway novel either.  It was just...perfect.  There are all these descriptions..of people with diamonds in their dreads, or women with antlers growing out of their heads...and I could see them.  I'm a pretty imaginative person, so I usually see when I read, if that makes sense (I've heard that it doesn't work that way for everyone, but I know some of you will know what I mean).  Usually it's just sort of a vague sense of things, but everything I saw in this book was so...vivid.  And it's not even that Durst spent hours describing the way things looked - she really didn't.  Honestly, it was just perfectly done.  And this story was so dark, so beautiful and fantastical - everything I would want from a carnival story.

There is so little I can write about this novel without giving away anything!  And you really need to know nothing more than what is written in the summary, or it spoils things.  I want to reread the book when I have time so I can read through it knowing everything that happens - so much makes sense when you know the ending!  But, of course I should stop teasing you, since I know the ending and you don't.  Just know that I never would have guessed it, not even a bit, but it's not one of those solutions that seems contrived, like you couldn't have known because you weren't given the information. 

I have decided that I need to stop looking at people's reviews of books on Goodreads, because more often than not I am wordless with shock and just can not possibly understand why people feel a certain way about a book.  I just looked over some of the reviews for this book on Goodreads, and I was shocked.  How could you NOT like this book??  I mean if you are looking for a wham bam romance or gun toting action packed book, you're not likely to enjoy this book.  I suppose it is slow paced, in the sense that it takes you quite a while to even get an inkling of what's going on, but it certainly didn't lose momentum with the time it took to get there.  If anything it built it!  At a first glance, it doesn't appear to be a character driven novel (and I tend to prefer character building over anything else).  But at a closer look it's because Durst has done a very impressive thing:  not once are you told a character is a certain way.  You are always shown.  Sometimes it's Eve's instincts, which is sort of telling, but it's always backed up with a character's actions.  That's quite impressive, actually.  And in the same sense, it's not really plot driven either, since things aren't actually happening.  So much is told in flash backs, but, again it doesn't get boring.  It really hikes up the tension as this goes on.  Maybe part of it is that it doesn't read like a typical YA novel.  The writing is more isn't scattered with slang, and in fact there's little dialogue now that I think about it.  I'd say my only complaint is that I wasn't hugely connected to Eve's love interest.  But it's not really a big complaint, and he wasn't really the point of story for me.

Another big selling point of this book for me?  I love that this isn't part of a series!!! Alleluiah, thank the lord! All in all, I really loved this book...but it's a quiet sort of love, not a shout from the rooftops sort of love.   I'm sorry I can't list all the reasons why this is a wonderful story, but it's not all because I don't want to ruin it for you, it's many ways it's simply indescribable.
 

Would I recommend this? 

Absolutely.  But if you are looking for heavy romance or a fast-paced plot, this isn't the book for you.  It's got great mystery, great suspense, twists you'll never see coming, and  such beautiful writing you'll imagine you're in an entirely different world!

Top Ten Books Partially Set in Reality

 Hosted by The Broke and Bookish

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is our favourite books in "x" setting.  I chose to do books that are set in our world, but are also set in another world - whether it is a magical kingdom, another planet, or even a parallel universe.  I also didn't pick only 10 because....come on only ten?!?  I even tried to make my setting oddly specific so I could do it!  So as always, in no particular order, here goes!

 1.  Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak

Come on, wasn't this every kid's favourite book?  (Except Chicka Chicka Boom Boom of course)

Our setting:  Max's bedroom, assumed to be somewhere on Earth

Other world: Where the wild things are, duh!

  

2.  A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray

 

Oh man this series.  Can I just say that everything Libba Bray writes is amazing?

Our setting: India and England

Other world: I actually had to look this up.  Apparently it's just called "the realms" which isn't  a very exciting name.

3.  Elsewhere - Gabrielle Zevin

I completely fell in love with the whole concept of this book.  And all of Gabrielle Zevin's books are amazing as well.

Our setting:  Somewhere on Earth

Other world:  The afterlife

4.  Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

I love that this series deals with fairies, but it's so technologically savvy and there's so many cool gadgets and yay science!

Our setting: Various places on Earth

Other world: Haven City, a fairy metropolis (and various other places throughout the series)

 

5. xxxHolic - CLAMP

Just look at that artwork.  I shouldn't even have to give an explanation.  But it holds a special place in my heart as one of the first animes I watched as well as one of the first mangas I read.  And it's SO GOOD, easily in my top 5 mangas.

Our setting:  Japan

Other world:  This is sort of cheating since it's mostly supernatural events within our world, but it does crossover with Tsubasa which is in another universe.

 

  

6. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

If you have eyes and have seen my blog, clearly I'm a huge Hitchhiker's fan. 'Nuff said.

Our setting: Earth (for some reason I always thought it was in England, but I can't confirm that is true.  It doesn't seem to be specified at all)

Other world:  Clearly, the galaxy.  And also the universe.

7. The Dark Mirror - Juliet Marillier

I thought I'd put a different Marillier book up instead of using the same one over and over like a damned radio station.  This one is the first book in the Bridei Chronicles about the Pict king in the mid 6th century.

Ours setting: UK (where the Picts are, specifically)

Other world:  This deals with druids, so it's very connected to the fae and their gods.  You know the more I think about this the more I'm not actually sure they travel to the fairy land or have as many dealings as the Sevenwaters series.  Whatever.  I'm still picking this book, it's worthy!

 

8. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L'Engle

There is something so overwhelmingly right about L'Engle's writing.  She is one of a kind and you always get something new out of her writing.  I just reread A Ring of Endless Light so I'll blather on about my eternal love for Madeline L'Engle when I post my review on that.

Our setting: Somewhere on Earth.  Funny how I never pay attention to exactly where on Earth all these books are taking place

Other world:  Other planets, namely Camazotz

 

9. The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman

This series completely blew my 12 year old mind apart.  I'm not sure I've had an experience quite like it since then.  And the ending of the last book..I'm not sure I'll ever recover from it.  This is the second book in the series as the first book doesn't meet the setting requirements

Our setting: Oxford - I'm assuming it's our Oxford, it seems very similar to our world anyway

Other world:  Various other parallel universes, including at some point Lyra's Oxford (might not be in this book I can't quite remember).  Most of this involves travel through the world of Ci'gazze.

 

10. Abarat - Clive Barker

HA!  As if I could make a list without Abarat.  In fact I'm pretty sure Abarat is why I chose this setting in the first place.  I've talked about it more than enough, just read the series!

Our setting: Chickentown, Minnesota (ok not ACTUALLY a real place, but it's in our world.  It counts!)

Other world: The islands of Abarat

 

11.  Through the Looking Glass (and what Alice found there) - Lewis Carroll

I've always loved both books, but for reasons I can't remember this one was always my favourite of the two.

Our setting: Earth..England?  I really need to pay attention more

Other world: Through the looking glass

12.  Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone - JK Rowling

It would be blasphemy to have this setting and not include Harry Potter.  Although the magical world is set inside of our own one, it is still very clearly set apart.  (Technically Artemis Fowl is set in our world but underground, so same rules apply)

Our setting:  England

Other world: Primarily Hogwarts

 

13.  The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis

There is nothing more magical or real than walking through your closet into a magical kingdom.

Our setting: England

Other world: Narnia

Honorable mention:

Skellig - David Almond 

 

Skellig doesn't really fit the rules I set for myself, but I wanted to mention it because it is such a lovely book, and I'm the boss and I say I can.  I feel that despite the fact that David Almond is an award winning author, he's never really mentioned much, even in favourite author lists.  He writes really fantastic middle school ageish books that are just...well they're categorized as magical realism and that's a good way to describe them in every sense of the words.

Just a reminder that if you follow me on Google + and wish to continue following me, I'd recommend following me through another source as I am deleting my Google + account, at least for a while.

And that's it for this week's TTT!  What was on your list?