Book Review: Internment by Samira Ahmed

Book Review: Internment by Samira Ahmed
Publish date: March 19, 2019
Read courtesy of netgalley.com


This is an important, timely, well-written story - However, I will NOT be purchasing it for my high school library because in spite of the poorly veiled (i.e., blatant) innuendos to Trump as a bad Nazi-type president and Obama as the underdog who persevered. Regardless of which political persuasion our author and readers are in, direct allusions to our President in this manner in a YA book is in poor taste and, I'll go as far as saying, morally irresponsible. Granted, the book is current historical fiction, but I honestly cannot condone overlook the Presidential characterization in this book when the President has been identified and crudely fictionalized to match the author's political intentions. Which is a shame, really... this book deserves to be read.

I'm not the only one who identified the conspicuous negation of our government. Another NetGalley reviewer expressed similar sentiments while still giving the book high praise: "...scathing critique of our current civil environment. ...Internment will make you think twice about how the hatred and rhetoric of our current federal administration can cause real harm to people. I'm glad this one is fictional, and I hope it stays that way." One reviewer wrote, "The lack of awareness of society is what drives this story." YES! And THAT'S what the focus of the story could have been without Trump-bashing.

Damn. I'm doubting myself. I don't believe in censorship, and two of my favorite books were "scathing critique[s]" of their own times, 1984 and The Jungle. So, yes, I'll be getting this for my high school library, but I sincerely hope that my YA readers are willing to discuss how much "fake news" or "biased reporting" is in this book. I don't intend to ruin the story by making it a research assignment; I would rather use the story as a way to discuss our differences and our mutual morals and ethics, not our conflicting politics. This is, after all, an important, timely, well-written story.

Book Review: The Similars by Rebecca Hanover

Book Review: The Similars by Rebecca Hanover
Publishing date: January 1, 2019
read courtesy of netgalley.com

I'm going to start at the end... there's a sequel in waiting. That gives you an idea about the ending: it's a cliffhanger. Unfortunately, I'll never find out how it all ends; I won't be purchasing the sequel for my high school library. I'm not sure how much my students recognize cliched writing, but since it interfered with my enjoyment of the book, I'm not going to expose them to the triteness.

As a mystery, Hanover did what she was supposed to do, provide clues or throw out distractions as to the "real" perpetrator. However, I found these clues too obvious -- they were spelled out instead of implied or alluded to -- which took some of the guesswork out of reading a mystery. Hanover also heavily depended on the readers' willingness to suspend disbelief that a 16-year-old girl would be able to save her best friend from the evil mad scientist when the friend'as own father couldn't or wouldn't -- in the guise of having to wait for his wife to die -- so it HAD to be the teenager to come to the rescue.

One of the Similars, who are all brilliant geniuses, couldn't estimate how large the place from which he came was, claiming that it was hard to "have a sense of scale" when you're inside the place. Really? That felt out of character. (If it sounds like a nitpick, it is; but it irked me to have such a blatant character misrepresentation.)

Basically, the story was a little too schizophrenic for me. the majority of the story was about cloning and clones, and then the last part suddenly became about virtual reality and two mad scientist brothers. Then at the end... I mean near the cliffhanger... a character who had been declared dead via suicide was found alive and returns to the boarding school. Clunk... the cliffhanger was only a 2-foot drop for me. In spite of those who knew cloning was involved, the rest of the world didn't (wouldn't the suicide have made the news?) How could a teenager reappear, and no one called the FBI?  No one did because then it wouldn't be a cliffhanger. But like I said, it wasn't a cliffhanger for me. I stepped back up the 2-foot drop and walked away. It was my suspension of disbelief that was the only thing left hanging.


⭐⭐☆☆☆

Book review: XL by Scott Brown

Book review of
XL by Scott Brown
Pub Date: 26 Mar 2019
Read courtesy of netgalley.com


I love Scott Brown's writing style: interesting vocabulary, descriptive metaphors, a glimmer of breaking the fourth wall, and a bit of dry, subtle humor. It works. If you don't like being given one of the funniest lines of a movie during a trailer, don't read the next part of this sentence since I'm going to ruin a chuckle for you: car mitzvah, when you turn 16 and get your driver's licence and your parents buy you a car. OK- you can resume reading.  I also like that Brown gave me things to ponder, like if are there only two kinds of quests (end of chapter 2).

I do beg to differ with one factoid that seemed to play a large (pun intended) part in the plot; Will says, "Fact. Small things don't live as long." But that's not true; small dogs live longer than big dogs. Just sayin'.

Brown did a nice job of consistently characterizing each of his secondary characters; they had unique personalities. He also did well with his extended metaphor of the gorillas in the zoo at which his father worked with the three-way relationship of Will, Drew, and Monica - the three main characters. In chapter 6 Will's impending experiences are even foreshadowed by the gorilla's behavior.  Some symbolism was just a little too obvious, though, like the placement of the necklace given to him by one girl when he was in the presence of another (chapter 12).

I stayed interested in how the conflicts were going to resolve themselves, but I was, unfortunately, slightly disappointed with the unfinished, happy ending. So, they all stay friends, but... What happens to Will and his XL situation? Does Monica, who is a strong character throughout the story, end up compromising her Plan? Now that Drew abandoned his Plan, where does that leave his future? I know... "the best-laid plans of mice and men..."; that's the message in itself. But I'm not sure I've been given enough information about the characters to strongly speculate about their futures. In spite of this, I enjoyed the underlying premise of, "Be careful what you wish for; you might get it."

⭐⭐⭐⭐/☆☆☆☆☆