Category: Review

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Punching the Air

by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

Cover of Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi

Dead to the world 
but somewhere in our souls 
we are both scratching at the walls 
yelling to the sky 
punching the air 
to let everyone and everything know 
that we are in here 
still alive

Amal is sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. Not that anyone is listening to him. He’s black and the victim is white. And in a coma. No one else can clear his name. Now he is in prison and angry. 

On a scale of one to ten
how angry are you?

Eleven, I say

Amal is a reader, an artist, and a poet. He wants to join a poetry class but is too broken to care. The white prisoners are making his life a hell. He doesn’t want to join a black gang. It is only when his crush sends him a letter out of the blue that he grabs onto a tiny bit of hope and of life.

Zoboi make us feel Amal, inside and out. Past, present, and future. Her writing is phenomenal. Give this book to everyone.

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Tears of Frost

By Bree Barton

Spoiler Alert for book one!

At the end of the first book, Heart of Thorns, Mia kills herself in order to spare her sister. In this book, she rises from the dead. Only she is not herself. She has some memories but no emotions including the love she once felt for Quin. Quin has discovered that he has been manipulated by Angelyne and can no longer trust his own feelings, even about Mia. Pilar feels everything, but primarily feels gutted by her mother’s betrayal. The three characters are headed separately to the Snow Queendom of Luumia for answers and assistance. They cannot count on each other but they can trust that no one is telling the whole truth.

The author provides a note at the beginning of the book to warn readers of a potential trigger as one of the characters is carrying the weight of a rape that she thinks is her own fault. This burden threatens to destroy her with guilt and shame.

Published copy provided to WASHYARG for review.

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Into the Crooked Place

by Alexandra Christo

Since the end of the war, Magic Crafters in Creije have gone into hiding. With no crafters, all of the city’s magic has to be recycled. When a new, dangerous magic appears, it is newly crafted; Somewhere there are crafters who still exist. And they are under the control of the Kingpin, the drug lord who plans to rewrite the world’s hierarchy no matter who gets hurt. Wesley is one of the Kingpin’s underlords and Tavia is one of his buskers/sellers. Saxony is an illegal immigrant and former lover of Karam, Wesley’s warrior bodyguard. These four flawed heroes reluctantly join together to defeat the Kingpin and make the realm safe for all. But they each harbor secrets and regrets that may put everything at risk.

Published copy provided to WASHYARG for review

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Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova

King Ferdinand of Puerto Leones has consolidated power over all neighboring countries until almost all are bowing to his might. Except the rebels from the abolished kingdom of Memoria; those who wield forbidden magic. Ren is part of the rebels in the Lynx Unit under the command of Dez, her lover and defender. Her magic is the kind that allows her to take away memories; she spent her early days as a pawn for King Ferdinand turning rebels into husks of themselves with no memory or will of their own. Though she escaped she cannot shake her past.

When Dez is captured by the cruel Bloodied Prince Castian, heir to the crown, Ren infiltrates the castle to finish his task of locating the powerful mind-altering weapon about to be unleashed on them all. She falls back into her former life feigning illness to avoid the inevitable task of clearing the minds of innocent victims while she desperately tries to find the weapon. While searching for clues, she finds support in the most unexpected places and preconceived judgements shattered.

Plenty of twists make this book hard to put down. The characters are multi-dimensional with various motivations and personalities. This epic political fantasy will appeal to fans of Sarah Maas, Marie Rutkoski, and Renee Ahdieh. Looking forward to the sequel.

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Dragon Hoops by Gene Yang

“I’m a story kind of guy”

Gene has writer’s block. He can’t think of anything to write about; nothing is inspiring. And then he overhears chatter about the school basketball team and its chance at competing in the state competition. Gene has no interest in basketball but decides to learn. He works it out with the coach to follow the team on their journey. As the season goes on he becomes much more involved with the boys than he ever expected.

Each chapter looks at a different player and showcases the diversity of the team. Not every black kid has the same backstory, skills, or ambition or are even African-American. Gene shows each boy with all his warts and his glories. He also intertwines his reluctance to feature the disgraced former coach until he realizes that the man deserves to have his story told.

This graphic novel is autobiographical and shines a light on Yang’s creative process as well as his family. The tale is followed by an Epilogue to set facts straight from creative license. His fans, sports-oriented readers, and emerging writers will enjoy the book.

I waited too long to write this review and so did not have access to the preview copy for more details to include. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

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The Iron Will of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee

Genie Lo is finding that being the Divine Guardian of the Kingdom of California is more work than expected, especially since she doesn’t even want the job. So is being the captain of the volleyball team, making time for her best friend Yunie, and spending time with her boyfriend, Quentin, the Monkey King. Genie is overwhelmed and when her mother gets sick, she reaches the end of her rope. She doesn’t know who she is, what she wants, or where she wants to go. 

She goes on a previously planned weekend trip to Yunie’s cousin at a local university. It is not at all what she expected.

If I had to say what the biggest difference was between the high school scene and college, it would have been the amount of facial hair on the guys. I mean, this was like a lumberjack meetup being held on a crab fishing boat.

And…

By the time I reached the end of the hall I was fairly convinced that the only way college students could communicate was by taking turns explaining reality to each other.

Genie leaves the party and is outside when Ao Guang, Guardian of the Eastern Sea shows up in the swimming pool next to the dorm. Now it appears that she has no other options but to travel interdimensionally to another plane and face the invisible monster, Yin Mo who has just defeated the great general and his army. On the way, she has to travel with a former enemy and to prove that her friend, the goddess Guanyin is worthy to take the place of the Jade King and rule the Divine Heaven.

This sequel has some great lines and scene-stealing minor characters. Genie and Quentin are going through some relationship adjustments as they mature. Genie is growing as a person and realizing that there is not one path and that her limits might be self-imposed. Recommended for readers who enjoy humor with their fractured-mythology stories.