Book Review: The XY

Book Review:
The XY by Virginia Bergin
Publication Date: 01 Nov 2018
read courtesy of netgalley.com

I wanted to like this more than I did, and one of my hold-outs was that it felt more cavewoman-ish than future-society-ish. I presume that the dialog and use of language was intended to show that society's catastrophe had caused a setback to 'progress,' but it made the characters sound less sophisticated instead of people who learned from past mistakes. This is especially true since they still had electronic communication and tablets. [On the other hand, if the author used this dumbed-down language because the readers are young adults, that's even worse.]

The XY also didn't tackle the stereotypes and preconceived notions of gender. Though it did dismantle and deconstruct them, the gender-assigned traits as our current society identifies them still played a dominant role in the characters' motivations. I felt as though the traits were magnified rather than neutralized. While I don't mind that Bergin used the genders in this way, it felt like a disingenuous way to show that society had improved - or even just developed - if the story was intended as a thought experiment.

I was especially surprised that Bergin skirted (pun intended!) the issue of sexual pleasure (not merely procreation) within an all-female society, except when it referenced males. It felt like the elephant in the room. For example, though River said she loved Plat, the love was undefined and stated with no more explanation than Plat was River's best friend.  (Plat, by the way, was a weak character and seemed to exist only to be River's society-based moral compass.)

Regardless, as far as storytelling, Bergin did do some things rather well. Mumma Zoe-River, as the middle, transitional generation of the story, flipflopped her character's personality and actions to match the split situations in which she found herself. And though the ending came a little abruptly, Bergin provided a satisfying conclusion that matched the protagonist's, River's, personality.

In spite of its flaws, this book would make a good reference point for a book group on which to start a discussion on gender.

Book Review: Body Swap

Book Review
Body Swap by Sylvia McNicoll
Read courtesy of netgalley.com
Publication date: 09 Oct 2018

I think that Sylvia McNicoll and Dundurn are selling themselves short: This is not just a YA Middle School novel. While it's appropriate for middle schoolers (i.e., no cursing), I'm sure it would be appealing to high schoolers and adults, too. It reminded me of a seamless mash-up of the stories behind Cocoon, Big, and Lovely Bones (the book, not the movie 😝). Magical realism at its best.

At first I was confused by both the swapping of bodies and the alternating chapters. It took me a while to make the mental switches back-and-forth while I read. I do wonder if some readers will find the double switching confusing. I thought that might detract from my enjoyment of the story, but I got used to the seesawing.  I'm glad I did.

The characters were believable and played both of their parts really well. Their duality offered the introspection we often can only assume occurs within characters; McNicoll allowed the reader inside of the characters' heads, which allowed the readers to contemplate what their own reactions might have been under similar circumstances. This provided a very powerful way to get absorbed into a story.

McNicoll provided a means of exploring one's own preconceived notions (in this case about ageism) without being preachy, which is hugely important for our YA readers. I'm looking forward to getting Body Swap for my high school library and will recommend it for my middle school library, as well. 

Book Review: Words We Don't Say

Book Review: Words We Don't Say by K.J. Reilly
Pub Date: 02 Oct 2018
Read courtesy of netgalley.com

Guilty admission... I skipped the "rambling monologues." I know, I know. They were part of and points of the story, but I guess I 'got it' by just skimming them. Otherwise, I enjoyed the characters and the 'message' of the book. It's a good message: Learn from your mistakes... or start your life from here 'cause you can't go back... or look for the good as well as the bad, and you'll find it. The characters all had a place in the story; I didn't feel any of them were just-because. And there was true growth in the characters over time.

I suppose my hesitancy to love the book comes from the author including both humor and rambling monologues. I found it distracting to pick through the monologues, especially when two different characters used the technique.  (Yes, one could argue that it was exactly that quality that brought the two characters together, and I'd agree with you.)

Another hesitancy is that the front end storytelling took up 85% of the book, and then the last 15% of the story snowballed quickly and had all of the depth, action, and meaning. So, yeh, the pace of the book threw me off. I almost stopped reading 60% through the book because nothing was happening. But since I liked the characters, I pushed through.

While this isn't a 'humorous' book, I might categorize it as such because I think it's written 85% too lighthearted to be in my 'realistic fiction' section. I'm sorry to say that humorous books don't get enough circulation off of my high school library shelves, so I don't know how well this would circulate, either. It's also not quite fodder for my 'death, drugs, and disease' section; not dark enough and too much of a happy ending.

I will say that it is a well crafted story - hints and innuendos are neatly entwined and tied up, behaviors and actions are connected and followed through.