YA Weekend: Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (May 13, 2014)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy's Rating: 4 of 5 stars

So I don't usually read contemporary Young Adult, but when I saw the description for Second Star I was instantly intrigued. My tastes typically run towards speculative fiction, but I figured a reimagining of Peter Pan, one of my favorite fairy tales, is still close enough to be in my comfort zone. Then I heard there was also going to be a Peter, Wendy and Hook love triangle in it and ... well, okay, my curiosity just got the better of me.

I'm so glad I read this one, though. Speaking as someone who can count on one hand the number of contemporary YA books I read in the past year, I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would. But keep in mind, if you're looking for a story that stays true somewhat faithful to the Peter Pan mythos, you might not find it here. Second Star isn't so much a retelling but a complete reinterpretation, with a lot of elements that are only loosely based on the original classic.

Firstly, the characters are all surfers. Wendy Darling, newly graduated from high school, takes off on a search for her missing brothers John and Michael, twins who disappeared months ago, suspected to have drowned in a surfing accident off the coast of California. But Wendy believes they are still out there, and follows a series of clues to their whereabouts. Her search leads her to meet Pete, a mysterious boy who takes her to a secret cove called Kensington (presumably a reference to Kensington Gardens, where Lost Boys who fall out of prams when their nannies aren't looking are swept off to Neverland to live with Peter Pan) where he lives in an abandoned house with his gang of surfers, all young runaways and squatters who have no place else to go. One of Pete's constant companions is a quick, small and blond girl named Belle, who immediately dislikes Wendy out of jealousy, and is always trying to turn the other boys against her. On the other side of the beach lives Jas (a short form of James, as in James Hook) a surfer dude and drug dealer. Jas' peddling of a new drug called "fairy dust" had led to a falling out between him and Pete, and now the two are bitter enemies. Oh, and there's also a dive bar in this book called The Jolly Roger, described as "a bad scene".

There are tons of other little references like this, which are really fun to spot and to see the author spin the various elements of the fairy tale to make them fit in the story. The title Second Star and how that term was used in context is in itself one of the best examples. Of course, the only downside to a book like this is that the characters themselves are limited to an extent by their roles and archetypes in the original story. After all, you can try adding depth but only go so far before they become totally unrecognizable from the characters that inspired them, but I think for what she had to work with Sheinmel did a really good job putting her own flair and originality while staying as close as possible to the spirit of Peter Pan.

I also don't know much about the author, but I would not be surprised at all if she surfs. I thought the idea of using surfing as a metaphor for flying in this book was simply brilliant. Surf culture fits this story so well, and the way the author describes the feeling of being on the waves is so realistic and passionate, I can practically smell the salt water, suntan lotion and surfboard wax. The exhilaration that comes from riding a huge wave is so palpable I can see why Sheinmel chose to compare it to flight.

As always, there will be no spoilers in my reviews, but I just have to say the ending kept me awake for two hours even after I finished the book. I just couldn't get it out of my mind. I thought about the many ways one can analyze the story of Peter Pan and how J.M. Barrie himself had explained in the novel the nature of Neverland, a boundary-free and adventurous place in the minds of children that are never the same from one child to the next. In the end, I can't say the conclusion in Second Star was really what I wanted, but I suppose it was also very fitting.

This book was fun, but also poignant, which I did not expect. I don't regret picking it up.

A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)!

Review Bites: Fairy Tales

Disney and the hit series, Once Upon A Time, keep fairy tales at the forefront of current pop culture, yet these stories have been around since forever and many other storytellers have had their fun with them along the way.

Fearie Tales returns fairy tales to their roots, reminding us that these stories were originally not intended for children - unless you want to scare the crap out of them and make sure they don't do as their told lest the monster in the closet eat their toes. Like the Brothers Grimm, this anthology collects fairy tales, specifically focusing on the darker aspects. The original stories are juxtaposed with variations by some of favourite authors including Garth Nix, Neil Gaiman, Michael Marshal Smith and more. I wouldn't necessarily say the stories are as gruesome as the cover suggests. "Haunting" is a more effective word that describes some of my favourite tales, such as Open Your Window, Golden Hair by Tanith Lee, a disturbing take on the story of Rapunzel. When paired with the absolutely creepy illustrations by Alan Lee, I may have found myself checking under the bed once or twice while reading this...

With thanks to Jo Fletcher Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am a fan of Once Upon A Time, which inspired me to finally get on with reading Fables. For those who still believe that Once is a rip off of Fables, be sure to check out Bill Willingham's interview with Bill Willingham to learn the error of your ways. There certainly are similarities, considering they are both pulling from the same source materials, but both stand quite well on their own.

Fables Volume 1: Legends in Exile takes place in New York, centuries after the fairy tale characters we know and love or hate have been run out of town by the Adversary. Those who look human remain within the city, while the others live in the more rural areas. There is an amnesty in place that has absolved everyone of past sins. Snow White more or less runs things, but when her sister, Rose Red, goes missing under violent circumstances, she is forced to team up with Bigby Wolf, resident detective, to find her sister and the culprit.

As an introductory story, the mystery allows the reader to meet many of the characters and discover how author Bill Willingham has made each of them adjust to this new life. The result is some really interesting characters and relationships and yes, I am already shipping Wolf and Snow. Whut? The mystery itself plays out like a good old fashioned '80s murder mystery, complete with Wolf indulging in a big reveal at the end. It's wonky, but I'll give it a pass because I'm already impressed with the concept and the characters. And oh look, The Wolf Among Us game is available on Steam...

Grimm Fairy Tales is a great example of "don't judge a book by its cover" even when the covers of these graphic novels make such an effort to ensure that you judge them. Scantily clad fairy tale ladies adorn each cover, posed provocatively, trapped in precarious situations, tormented by evils. How good could this comic really be? Based on these covers alone, I figured I was in for a laugh in reading this. I was pleasantly surprised to find just how deceptive the covers are.

Each story starts in the real world with a young woman facing a serious problem in her life, such as a boyfriend who shuns her for not putting out, a partner who wants her to abort a baby when she doesn't. It even surprised me by focusing on a male protagonist who is smitten by a girl who is obviously using him. Each protagonist stumbles across a mysterious woman and or her mysterious book of fairy tales and turns to a page with a relevant story to help them come to a decision about their future. The tales follow the standard story, but then offer some intriguing twists that offer a moral punch.

Despite the covers, there are no buxom babes prancing around in corsets and fishnets in the stories. Other than the occasional cleavage, everyone is appropriately dressed and none of the women are taken advantage of beyond the constraints of their respective fairy tales.

I'd originally decided to read this along side Fables thinking it would prove to be an amusingly poor comparison, but I ended up discovering something surprisingly interesting that wasn't as bad as it appeared to be.

Waiting On Wednesday 9/25/13

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that lets us feature upcoming releases that we can't wait to get our hands on!

Mogsy's Pick 

Something More Than Night by Ian Tregillis: December 3, 2013 (Tor Books)

Ian Tregillis first caught my attention with his masterful storytelling in the Milkweed Triptych, so now he's got me interested in checking out everything else he does. This book's description drew me in right away, it sounds so amazing!

"Something More Than Night is a Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler-inspired murder mystery set in Thomas Aquinas’s vision of Heaven. It’s a noir detective story starring fallen angels, the heavenly choir, nightclub stigmatics, a priest with a dirty secret, a femme fatale, and the Voice of God.

Somebody has murdered the angel Gabriel. Worse, the Jericho Trumpet has gone missing, putting Heaven on the brink of a truly cosmic crisis. But the twisty plot that unfolds from the murder investigation leads to something much bigger: a con job one billion years in the making.

Because this is no mere murder. A small band of angels has decided to break out of heaven, but they need a human patsy to make their plan work.

Much of the story is told from the point of view of Bayliss, a cynical fallen angel who has modeled himself on Philip Marlowe. The yarn he spins follows the progression of a Marlowe novel — the mysterious dame who needs his help, getting grilled by the bulls, finding a stiff, getting slipped a mickey

Angels and gunsels, dames with eyes like fire, and a grand maguffin, Something More Than Night is a murder mystery for the cosmos."

Wendy's Pick

Fearie Tales by various authors: October 24, 2013 (Jo Fletcher Books)

A beautiful cover by Alan Lee and fairy tales re-imagined by some of my favourite authors...

In 1884 Margaret Hunt’s translation of the Brothers Grimm’s Kinder- und Hausmärchen was published as Grimm’s Household Tales – and since that day those stories have inspired writers, artists, poets, songwriters, playwrights and movie-makers the world over.

Now, following in the grand tradition of the Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm, some of today’s finest fantasy and horror writers have created their own brand-new fairy tales – but with a decidedly darker twist.

Fearie Tales is a fantastical mix of spellbinding retellings of classic stories such as ‘Cinderella’, ‘Rapunzel’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and ‘Rumpelstiltskin’, amongst others, along with unsettling tales inspired by other childhood classics, all interspersed with the sources of their inspiration: the timeless stories first collected by the Brothers Grimm.

These modern masterpieces of the macabre by Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, Ramsey Campbell, Joanne Harris, Markus Heitz, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Angela Slatter, Michael Marshall Smith and many others, are illuminated by Oscar-winning artist Alan Lee, who has also provided the magnificent cover painting.

But be warned: this stunning volume of frightening fables is definitely not suitable for children!

Review Bites

Water Witches by Chris Bohjalian

Scottie Winston's wife, sister-in-law, and daughter are all dowsers or "water witches," meaning they can divine the location of water sources. He finds himself at odds with his family when he lobbies for a ski resort that wants to move into the drought stricken town and use the river to make snow for the resort.

This was an okay book. I was expecting a little more magical realism, but what I got was more of a conservative versus liberals, environmentalist versus non-environmentalist stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I thought I would learn more about dowsing. Now there are some real juicy tidbits in this story like Patience's belief that a man can't be a dowser because only women are connected to fluid and to the earth. But mostly it was just a book about differing political/environmental stances.

Final Verdict:

2 of 5 stars

Blood and Snow by RaShelle Workman

The vampire queen choses a new host body every thousand years. She's chosen Snow White, a girl who's spent most of her life being teased about her fairytale name, to be that girl. Snow White is bitten by The Hunter and becomes a being that's neither human nor vampire.

Ugh, from the seven close male, rich friends living nearby to just EVERYTHING, I was annoyed by this. I know many people enjoyed this, but I'm not sure this story is for me. I think I've just moved beyond the phase where I would've really appreciated something like this. It managed to do every single thing I hate about some YA novels, but the premise was interesting, which is about its only saving grace right now with me. I'm putting the rest of these books (novellas really) on the bottom of my TBR pile where I will wait for the day I feel compelled to continue this story. Hopefully, later parts will make me forgive this part because it has potential, but this was not it for me.

Final Verdict:

1.5 of 5 stars

The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

Jake is the world's last werewolf, and he just turned 201-years-old. Don't let the years fool you, though. Jake has aged well over the years. Sex and a good diet will do that for a werewolf. However, after finding that he's the last werewolf after hunters killed the only other remaining wolf, Jake begins to think about how lonely life is and maybe the time of the wolf is over. He decides that he'll choose his own death. However, there are people who are intent on keeping Jake alive for differing reasons.

I thought the book was well written. But it was a real struggle to get through for me. I had pretty much had to force myself to finish this because I hate quitting books, especially when they're not technically terrible. The language and style was exceptional, but I found myself spending so much of the book saying, "Can we get to the point, Jake?" which is so rare for because I tend to love rambling and wordiness in books. Jake is like that guy who gets caught up in his own romantic ruminations and obviously likes the sound of his own voice, and you just groan, roll your eyes, and start tapping your watch. I was just tired of him, literally worn out from reading all his thoughts, by the 8th chapter, and after that, the story would get good, but then pull back. I don't know what this book was trying to do to me. With that being said, I don't know if I'll be reading the second book or not right now.

Final Verdict:

2.5 of 5 stars

Tigerheart by Peter David

This is a retelling of Peter Pan, called The Boy in this story. Actually, this is the story of Paul Dear, a young boy who desperately wants to go to Anyplace (Neverland) to find something to help his mother who is miserable after the death of his one week old sister. However, his story is strongly tied to The Boy and Anyplace since he needs both to achieve his goals, and in some part of himself, Paul believes that he may actually be The Boy or some manifestation of him.

This was an audiobook listen narrated by Simon Vance. Yeah, you know I love the guy. Even though I'd listened to one book he narrated before this. This book made me realize how consistent and talented he was with his reading, and it helps that he was reading an imaginative retelling, which I love. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I was a little apprehensive at first that I might find it too juvenile for my tastes, but that wasn't the case at all. Peter David managed to make this book feel like a child who is on the cusp of adulthood. It was both naïve and worldy, innocent and experienced. It was truly an amazing, whimsical story with tones of darkness.

Mom Note: I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for younger children even if the tone, wording, and pacing "feels right" for younger children. This book is about children and told in that genial tone reserved for children's books. It's not necessarily a story that's "bad" for younger audiences, but they wouldn't understand the nuances in the story that require some level of maturity to already have been achieved. Examples of this include when the narrator mentions that Paul, being a child, would not understand a woman's figure or why they might not have wanted to be as "round in the hips" as Fiddlefix (Tinkerbell) or when the narrator notes that The Boy shares with grown men the inability to decide if he wants the significant non-mother female figure in his life, Gwennie (Wendy), to be his mother or his lifemate or when the narrator refers to maturity as "the destruction." So, for any parent/guardian/adult figure thinking this might be great for a younger audience, it's not. It's a book about children, but it's not necessarily a book for children. I'd say early teens, maybe even kids as young as 11-12, would better handle a book like this one.

Final Verdict:

4 of 5 stars

Comic Review: Jim Henson's The Storyteller by Dennis Calero

Jim Henson's The Storyteller by Dennis Callero

Despite my love of Jim Henson, I never did watch his Storyteller series. I've made up a bit for that now with this collection of retold myths and legends by various artists and writers. Some of the stories are familiar, with new twists, while some might be a little more off the wall or new, depending on your background and upbringing. No matter the source material all of the stories are uniquely pieced together in this collection.

My favourite is the Puss in Boots retelling which firmly captures my inner hopeless romantic with both art and story. I'm a fan of not so happy endings or inconclusive ones, but I admit to really liking the stories like this that are just really, really beautiful. 

I love the interaction between the Storyteller and his witty dog, who even gets a chance to tell a story himself. Each story has a moral - some more obvious than others, but all of them are just the right blend of story and characters, action and adventure to keep kids (and grown ups) interested.

4 of 5 stars

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

First, I should say if you want a sweet, innocent Peter Pan story, this story isn't for you. This is nowhere near as dark as Brom's The Child Thief, but while Brom's book focuses on presenting Neverland as a very gray place where all sides do their evil in the name of some "greater good," this is a story about first loves, betrayal, yearning, and heartache mixed in with a bit of action. I think this book and The Child Thief are the only two Peter Pan retellings that have elicited such a strong emotional response from me. I wouldn't even try to write this review before I could stop tearing up about this story.

This story toes the thin line between magic and magic realism. While there are magical things in the stories like mermaids and fairies, many other "magical elements" have more practical reasoning behind them. One example being the belief that the lost boys fly being attributed to an elaborate rope system they've made in the treetops.

Neverland turns out to be an island nestled away in the Atlantic, protected by a treacherous sea that sinks many of the ships that dare to tread too close to Neverland, reminding me a little of the Tristanian Islanders. However, a few stragglers make it to shore from time to time. Most of them die of exposure or by some terror that lives in the forest. Other Englishmen that make it to shore are often cut down by Captain Hook and his ragtag group of pirates who hate their fellow countrymen. But even though most of the inhabitants there have a peaceful existence together on that island (however, peace between the pirates and natives is tenuous at best), they all fear the lost boys who most people never see. They only whisper about their evil deeds, but Tiger Lily learns better.

It is true that people on Neverland didn't age, but it seems that it seems mostly something that happens to the native people and beings on Neverland. It was never fully explained why it happened, but the people on the island aged until a monumental event happened in their life and caused their bodies to stop aging beyond that point and they never moved beyond that physically and perhaps even a bit mentally if we're to judge by Tiger Lily's actions even some 80 years after the events that changed her. And sometimes that meant children out-aged their parents and grandparents. It seemed like the island granted this "gift" to the natives, but not to the outsiders such as Captain Hook. The natives fear catching the "aging disease" from them. However, this could be indicative that nothing of extreme importance has happened to them or if it has, it happened in their lives before Neverland.

I'll be honest, while I did like the idea of a life changing event causing people to stop aging in response, as if this exact moment was the moment they were to remember forever, I don't know if I think it was well executed in the story. It came off a little dubious at best to me. Fortunately, it wasn't something that was talked about much in the story after the initial explanation. There was also bits of the storytelling that seemed a little out of place, and there were a few other places where something should've been explored a little more or explained a little better. But that didn't detract from the story for me.

The story is told through Tink's eyes. Fairies have evolved to be mute, but they learn to observe and listen to the feelings of others, giving them the uncanny ability to be able to look inside others and see all their innermost workings. Unlike her incarntations in other works, Tink is seldom acknowledged by humans, but still she clings to Tiger Lily, hitching rides in her hair or on her clothes as she watches a bittersweet love story unfold between Peter and Tiger Lily, a story that is set into motion when Tiger Lily begins to care for a shipwrecked Englishman who made it to their shores, an event that not only changes her, but her whole village. Tink falls in love with Peter herself, but knowing he can never be hers, she roots for Tiger Lily's love to flourish with Peter because she cares about them both.

Their love does and it doesn't flourish like most first loves. Lack of understanding what the other needs, the newness of a new love, works for and against Tiger Lily and Peter. Tiger Lily, who is an outsider in her own tribe rather than a princess (but still someone of status since the shaman is her adoptive father), has a hard time showing strong emotion even if she feels it intensely. She feels that she has to be as good as Peter, as fast as Peter, as strong as Peter, or he'll outrun her grasp and leave her because she's not his equal. Peter is a swell of emotions and inconsistencies who needs reassurance, who needs to know that she can love all of him, assurances Tiger Lily is unable to give due to not understanding the new feelings she's having, assurances that are given easily by Wendy when she arrives on the island.

As the story wears on it seems as if some of the magic begins to fade. More and more, wondrous creatures and things begin to retreat to safety. The mermaids swim deep within the ocean where they can't be found. Tink's own people move deep in the swamps where men fear to tread. Even people's perception of Tink, and even her perception of herself starts to relegate her to nothing more than a mere bug. All these things are responses to a changing world that magic no longer plays a part in. The world has been conquered, all except Neverland.

Tink warns in the beginning that the tale would not end happily ever after, so I expected something completely heartbreaking. However, I think the story ended in a way that was best for both Peter and Tiger Lily. What happened between Peter and Tiger Lily is painful yes, but what their lives become after that shows they both needed something different as much as they needed each other. Peter's decision also seemed to be a mix of sacrifice as well. He loved the lost boys. He worried about them, even though Tiger Lily was the only person to ever know that. He made a point earlier in the story that he wasn't a good role model, but that he tried to shield them by being carefree. So, I do believe part of his decision was for them to have something better as well. Despite it all, it doesn't mean that Tiger Lily and Peter stopped loving each other. They see each other in everything and will love each other forever, but every love is different. Every love fulfills a person in different ways. Love makes you do things you'd never expect.

Final Verdict:

4 of 5 stars

Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham

Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham

I've had friends who have been trying to get me into Fables for years, and I was very receptive to the idea because as a comic book lover I want to be introduced to new comics. However, the problem with being a bibliophile is that my "to be read" list is like a living, breathing, amorphous thing that is constantly changing and expanding. It's very easy for me to have the best intentions of reading something I'm very interested in sooner rather than later, but many times I end up being distracted by some other book and not picking up a planned read until much later. And I was very interested in Fables. I'm a big fan of imaginative retellings of stories whether it's about history, the gods or, as in this case, classic fairytales.

The inhabitants of fairytale land have been driven from their homes by a powerful force named Adversary. For centuries, these inhabitants have lived in New York City where they lead double lives. To the outside world, to mundanes (a word used for ordinary citizens in the same vein as the X-Men's term "flatscan"), they appear to be regular human beings. However, beneath the facade, they follow their own rules as handed down by the "permanent" mayor, Old King Cole, and his second-in-command, Snow White, who is often left to handle messes. King Cole is quite the merry old soul and prone to empathy while seemingly not having the stomach to handle the true pressures of being a leader. He leaves difficult decisions to Snow's discretion.

They try to rule the folk fairly and in ways that will keep them safe, adhering to very strict laws about what is and isn't tolerated. One of the first rules we learn is: to live in the city, they must look normal. Glamours are available that will make a creature look human. The creatures who can't afford a glamour are shipped off to a place called "The Farm" because there is no way to hide them from the mundanes, and many of the folk have lost their fortunes due to having to flee their homes. So, many of them don't have the resources to help.

I enjoyed the story. I wasn't bowled over by it, but that's often the case with many introductory comics. There's a little bit of build up that has to go into getting a story like this one running. However, while introducing readers to some key players and elements in the comic, Willingham does incorporate a story that showcases the personality of the characters by having Snow's rebellious sister, Rose Red, disappear with the presumption that she may be dead. Bigby Wolf (the Big Bad Wolf glamoured and I already have a soft heart for the redemption angle that's been alluded at with him) is the acting sheriff for the folks and investigate's Rose's death.

I enjoyed what Willingham did with some of the characters I met. Jack of the Jack and the Beanstalk fame is a con artist. I can't help but like him, though. He's that petty con that always gets into a scheme when it's too late to be profitable. He's more bumbling than dangerous, and it seems that him and Rose Red, who loves to party, often get into trouble together if I have to go by Snow's exasperation.

I really loved what Willingham did with Prince Charming. So many princesses in fairytales marry a Prince Charming. In this story, he's the same person and has been married multiple times and could charm the venom from a snake if you left him at it long enough. One of the three little pigs, the one with the straw house, regularly crashes at Bigby's place when he escapes The Farm as a "reminder" of Bigby's strive toward redemption. Snow is just all around great. Smart as a whip and willing to make the hard decisions as fairly as she can even if she has to tread some vague lines.

There's something dated about the art to me, though. I keep having 80's comics flashbacks. It's not bad, but it just sometime made me feel like I was reading a story that's much older than this really is. Anyhow, I'm intrigued at this point, and I will continue to read the series and see if it becomes a "must read" for me.

Final Verdict: 

3 of 5 stars

The Child Thief by Brom

The Child Thief by Brom

While I think from just reading the summary, most people know they are not walking into a completely black and white, good vs evil, story. You know that it will be somewhere in between, that there is a lot of gray area in this story. And boy was it ever.

Brom took this fairytale and crafted such a complex, dark story of two sides who essentially want the same thing, but both going about their own misguided way of doing it, doing what they feel they need to do to survive and win. And while Peter's side is arguably the right side, the other side led by The Captain (and "led" is used loosely here because the Captain actually came to be a likable, competent character who is helpless against greater forces at work) isn't as simple and as evil as you'd think they'd be.

Wonderful book. I expected a very dark tale, but I didn't expect to get so emotionally invested in the story of Peter, his Devils (the Lost Boys), Avalon (Neverland), or the flesh-eaters (the Captain and his crew). I shed more than a few tears and laughs with this book. Brom weaved such a wonderful world to explore. I wished the story would've gone and followed them more after their big battle, but then again, I'm glad Brom allowed my imagination to decide what happens next.

Easily a favorite. And Brom's illustrations were breathtaking. I loved his Sekeu the best and that's definitely how she appeared in my mind.

Final Verdict:

5 of 5 stars