Sanctum

Sanctum

Madeline Roux

(Trigger Warnings: Pretty much everything. I'm not kidding, I tried to keep track of all of them, but this book hit almost all of the triggers I know. If you have any triggers, stay clear.)

Dan, Abby, and Jordan return to Brookline following a trail left by their previous enemy. Someone's been sending them photographs of a circus, with threatening notes scribbled on the backs. As they follow the clues, they find themselves deeper and deeper in the history of Brookline.

Haha I decided I had three sentences of patience. That's what happens. Okay, onto the review.

I seriously expected some second book syndrome. Even series I love with all my heart, I kind of roll my eyes (or glare, for the Son of Neptune). Plot twist! This book didn't have SBS! Or, in a mild enough form that I chose to ignore it. Either way, that's pretty good.

The characters stayed consistent. I mean, that's kind of like half of SBS. The characters get a wild makeover and suddenly they're just them by name. This makes it easier on me, because I can just redirect you to the first review for my feelings on the characters.

The main problem I had with this book was just the sheer overpowering Dan-ness. He did a lot, which is okay! Cool! That's the great part of a proactive protagonist! But at the same time, he did a lot. He really overshadowed the other two characters.

I loved all the plots/subplots. Horrific horror. (I'm going to admit- I don't read that much horror. It's up to someone else if it was really that scary. I thought it was.) Secret societies? Rad. They're ignored so often for things that aren't actually that scary, like zombies. I mean, secret societies really mess stuff up. And carnival horror, which have boomed for no apparent reason, since there hasn't been an actual carnival boom, totally worked.

One problem with the plot/subplots, though. I was sort of torn between it being a secret society horror or a carnival horror. Or an asylum horror (see paragraph under this one). They were all connected, yeah, but I felt like the connection to the carnival was kind of weak. Like it might simplify the novel a bit more if [Iiiii don't care if the world knows what my spoilers are] the hypnotist's stone [Goodbye, spoiler] had just been moved to a different setting and the carnival been cut off. Say, the [hello, spoilers, my only friend] hypnotist was passing through, sans carnival, and Daniel Crawford I saw him instead of going to the carnival [please wash hands of all spoilers]. I don't know. I might just be being fussy about plot matters.

Okay, I've grown and learned since I read Asylum, the first book. And I've realized something kind of great about this series. Most books relating to mental asylums portray the patients as 'evil, SCARY mentally ill ppl oh no bby so dangerous :'('. Honestly? Mentally ill people aren't scary. The wardens were terrifying. So, I'm really, really glad that there's an asylum horror that doesn't reduce the mentally ill to props. A book that's honest about the history of asylums.

Thanks

(I might as well just make the date for these things the 16th, huh. Also, short review because tttthhhhbbbbpppthbpppppp.)

~Corinne

In the After

In the After

(image from naomibates.blogspot.com)

Demitria Lunetta

Three years ago, They came. Amy was watching TV while it happened, witnessing what looked like a spacecraft in the city center. Since then, They have attacked every human they find, and they attack to kill. Amy has managed to survive and rescue a toddler she named Baby. They both have to work to survive, staying in Amy's (luckily reinforced) house.

When they are captured and taken to a colony called New Hope, they believe they've reached safety.

But did they?

Sorry if this review is short or just weird, it was a while ago that I read it. By a while I mean like a week. Memory capabilities, amirite?

I'm surprised that I actually liked Baby. Usually small children in YA are used as an 'aww he's so cwute don't you wub dem' factor. Which I hate. They don't have a personality beyond being cute. However, Baby was interesting and individual. She was actually likeable, not just a prop. It's sad that's so exciting, but still.

Amy was very close to your typical YA heroine, but had an original streak enough to keep her interesting. She actually can express concern and do things! Wow! Why is this so hard to grasp in other books? Ms. Lunetta, thank you for allowing emotions and actions to coexist. That is important.

[Please properly dispose of all spoilered goods] Sadly, this is another book demonizing science. I hate this for two reasons- for the love of Athena, science is frickn' beneficial to society, and also the target for a lot of YA is girls. You wanna know what career field girls are being pushed out of? Science. Girls need to learn that science is cool and they can be part of it without being terrible plague-monsters. Girls could cure cancer and get us to Mars if we stopped acting like science was a boys-only club. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME I AM SCREAMING STOP DEMONIZING SCIENCE. [Spoilanger over]

 The pacing was good, though not much seemed immediately important until later in the book. The subtle details from the beginning being huge later was cool, but if the writing style hadn't immediately caught me I might have gotten bored with the lack of plot progression. As I just said, though- the writing style was (waitforitwaitforit) fan. (Okay, if you read the book you'd get it.)

The Florae (just referred to as They in the beginning) were an awesome example of a monster species. The had strengths and weaknesses, and the weaknesses weren't the usual Achilles heel sort of this. They couldn't hunt in the dark, which doesn't seem like it should be big and original, but it is. There's more, I just feel like discussing more would count as spoilers. Anyhow, great monsters.

The format later on with the flashes between the future and the present were cool. It could get a bit confusing with information revealed in the future and not mentioned in the past, but it wasn't what-is-going-on-why-am-I-in-this-dark-room-with-no-windows confusing.

[Spoilered milk] The ending was kind of... eh. I liked the idea of the Florae being alien or plant based. But the zombie thing? Meh. It just felt like a cop-out. No need for more zombie fiction, I swear. [Shh, it's over now... It's alright]

On the romance. It was kind of strange to me, like they weren't really being romantic but they also weren't in the sort-of-friends category? I kind of wish they were either slightly more romantic so it would feel like boyfriend/girlfriend, or slightly less so it was more close friends. 

(Yes, I know it's short)

~Corinne

She is not invisible

She is not invisible

(image from its goodreads page)

Marcus Sedgwick

Laureth's father is the famous author Jack Peak. When on a routine trip, he goes missing. He won't answer his phone. Laureth's mother refuses to question it. Laureth might be the only one who will do anything about it. Her father's notebook appears in New York, the only evidence of him after the disappearance. Laureth books a flight to NYC, but there's another a problem. Laureth is blind. With her seven year old brother and her other senses, she'll have to brave the concrete jungle and find her father.

Okay, first thing, I am so glad the author didn't resort to third person because of "wow. much blind. such hard. no colors. :(". A lot of books are extremely visual and it's kind of nice to read one that isn't. There's plenty more senses than sight.

Laureth, as a character, was fab. Beyond fab. She fit strong female character criteria without equating strength with masculinity or a lack of emotion. She's a bit impulsive (lives in London, books a flight to NYC when it's implied her father's there). She's also clever and a little frustrated, but not cynical. Really refreshing as a heroine.

Benjamin was a little harder to judge as a character. I haven't been seven in a long time. Frankly, I have no idea how seven year olds usually act. He seemed a bit older than most seven year olds, but at least that's addressed. He didn't seem to develop much, or at least I didn't notice it.

There were a few things I wish were explained. For instance, the Benjamin Effect. Is it a coincidence or...? It's plot convenient sometimes and inconvenient at others. I feel like it's mentioned enough to get some vague maybe-it's-this.

In concept, the plot is rather dull. Person disappears. MC must go on a quest over a large distance to find them. Self discovery. Secondary characters appear. Person is found in an odd place/way. Yaaaaaaay. However, the execution is what makes a story sparkle. This was executed fantastically. The details made it feel like it was new and shiny. Very nice. *golf clap*

The occasional interception of normal text with passages from their father's notebook was interesting. I kind of expected just some italicized text for excerpts from other things. I liked how it was set-up, like the pages were scanned in. The notes and smiley/frowny faces made the whole thing feel alive.

The story was kind of a slow build. It wasn't blockbuster movie action-packed or anything. It was okay that way, but it didn't push me to finish it as much as I wanted to be pushed. There were a lot of scenes reflecting on things that happened before he disappeared, which gave it a more philosophical than thriller-y feel. Not sure how I felt about that.

On the romance- HA HA PSYCHE THERE IS NO ROMANCE THANK GOD. THANK THOTH THANK FREYJA THANK ANU. I'M FREE. I DIDN'T HAVE TO PUT UP WITH UNNECESSARY ROMANCE OR GAG ON SAPPY DIALOGUE AND KISSES EVERY TWO PARAGRAPHS. YEEEEEEEEEESSSS. HEY, LET'S THANK MAMLAMBO, TOO, JUST 'CUZ.

(Sorry for the outburst- but I think this is the only book I've reviewed without any hint of romance)

~Corinne