Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping Than you can understand. -William Butler Yeats Vampires stalk the night, hungry for blood. Werewolves lose their morality and turn into beasts. Zombies have an insatiable need for living flesh. Still, no creature of lore terrifies me quite like the Fair Folk and their secret world nestled right beside our own. My fear of the Fair Folk went from "Best mind that which I don't understand," to "These creatures stalk my nightmares" courtesy of two works of young adult fiction. The idea of a creature who cannot lie, but is so beguiling and clever that they can trick humankind into becoming toys, servants, entertainment, and even delicacies with twisted riddles and a knack for double-speech—who wouldn’t be afraid? It’s no wonder that people still respect the Fae with due caution to this day. The first of the two books is THE CALL by Peadar O’Guilin. I listened to the audiobook read by the phenomenal Amy Shiels. The creeping tension made by the looming threat of the Sidhe as depicted by O’Guilin, combined with Shiels’ narrative skills, wove a story that had me itching for any moment I had to listen.
Following Nessa’s journey as she watches each of her classmates be Called, coming back as disfigured, mangled, corpses is enrapturing. Beyond that, I was captivated by the brutal ways of the Sidhe that O’Guilin depicted. Merciless, bloodthirsty, and dreadfully creative with how they toy with each mortal Called to their world, the Sidhe are perfect monsters driven by a furious need for revenge. The Faeries in Holly Black’s THE CRUEL PRINCE are an entirely different manner of monsters, but they follow the same rules that the legends dictate. Where THE CALL has a distinct ‘horror’ vibe to it, THE CRUEL PRINCE focuses more on the danger of courtly intrigue in the vein of GAME OF THRONES.
Unlike THE CALL, THE CRUEL PRINCE takes place primarily in Faerie and focuses more on intrigue and courtly politics. There is also a primarily faerie cast of characters that drew my affection quickly, but not because they were kind. As the title suggests, the faeries that Jude must navigate as a mortal in an immortal world are cruel and malicious. Some prefer outright violence. Still others prefer to toy with mortal emotions. There is one thing that unites all of the faeries in THE CRUEL PRINCE: cross them, and they will not hesitate to inflict punishment. Both THE CALL and THE CRUEL PRINCE were captivating reads, and I look forward to reading both sequels: THE INVASION and THE WICKED KING respectively. I’ve always regarded the Fae as mysterious and dangerous, but thanks to Peadar O’Guilin and Holly Black, I’ll be thinking twice before I make any promises to strangers offering to grant wishes. Title quote by William Butler Yeats.
0 Comments
Do you need new books to read? Is your TBR over-flowing, but you're still looking to add more? Is there a book you want, but money is tight so you can't afford it?
I CAN HELP WITH THAT!!
To celebrate reaching (and surpassing!!) 350 followers on my Facebook page, I'm doing a giveaway! One lucky winner will receive a book of their choice off of a list of a huge variety of LGBTQ+ YA books, and entering is easy. What kind of extensive list of LGBTQ+ books, you ask? Click the button below to take a look!
For those of you who don't want to click the button, the list is an organized collection of LGBTQ+ YA literature broken down by identity. Not only that, but the list breaks down how the representation is shown, as well as if it was written by and/or features a character of color. Yeah. It's a good list. So how do you enter? Good old Rafflecopter is here to help! Below is an interactive window with a variety of ways to enter to win. The more you do, the more chances you have at getting your hands on your very own new book! One thing I ask--if you win, please take the time to review the book of your choice after you read it on Amazon/Goodreads/etc. It may seem like nothing, but rating and reviewing on sites like that help show that there is a demand for this kind of content, and makes it easier for creators to get a foot in the door. Thank you! The contest will run from 12AM EST on 4/21/18 to 12AM EST on 4/28/18. If you have any issue with rafflecopter, please comment below so I can get it fixed ASAP! Without further ado...ENTER ENTER ENTER!
Where to begin? The beginning, I suppose, but my heart is so full that it's difficult to organize my thoughts. What else is new?
A few weeks back I was given an opportunity by a longtime friend, Maria, to speak at an LGBTQ+ youth organization called Pride for Youth (PFY). PFY is a branch off of the Long Island Crisis Center (LICC). LICC opened PFY in 1992 when a large percentage of their calls were from LGBTQ+ community in need of help and services. Today PFY is going strong and servicing countless members of the LGBTQ+ community. Of the several groups and services that PFY offers, the most populated one is centered around kids between the ages of thirteen to twenty called Coffeehouse. Last night I made a presentation in front of around eighty of the clients that attend Coffeehouse, and I'd like to unpack this whirlwind of a night.
Having social anxiety and preparing to make a presentation in front of a group of people mixes about as well as oil and water. The two weeks leading up to last night were a whirlwind of talking to myself in the car, planning the direction I was going to take, and imagining every possible worst-case-scenario. What if the kids are bored? What if no one raises their hand when I ask a question? What if my nerves hit the kind of peak that I get sick right there on the floor. I'm happy to report that every single one of those 'what if' scenarios failed to occur.
My presentation began with a quick overview of how I started writing. I reflected on the first book I ever wrote, and how it fueled my passion for writing. I talked about the seven years it took me to write my next book and the endless lessons I learned from it. I finished expressing how proud of myself I was for completing my third book, and all of the heart I put into it. Quick side note--if I've learned anything from Maria, it's that it's important to vocalize things you're proud of yourself for doing. It's hard to do in practice, but the feeling it releases is powerful and important.
Try it right now. I'll wait. I moved on to discuss that I might have discovered my identity much earlier in life if I had access to more LGBTQ+ literature in my school and the library. From there, I delved into the importance of fanfiction--and you can bet there will be a blog post solely about that in the future, so get ready--and how that translates into a need for more representation in young adult literature where it can reach kids who are trying to discover their own identities. Minority groups need to see themselves reflected in the media they consume, and as I've said many times, I am determined to do whatever I can to help with that.
And that's what lead to the point of this entire presentation. I want to give LGBTQ+ and otherwise marginalized people representation in the stories I write, but the world is entirely different and they have access to more than I could have ever dreamed of. This is evidenced in the fact that there were eighty kids between the ages of thirteen and twenty sitting in a room who had begun a journey of self-exploration that I didn't dip a toe into until I was in college. I say this as a twenty-five year old. This goes even more for writers who are older than me.
So if us YA authors are writing for these kids, why don't we listen more to what they have to say? I posed that exact question at Coffeehouse last night. "What identities do you want to see?" I asked. "What kinds of stories would inspire you to grab a book of the shelf in a heartbeat?" I was humbled by the number and variety of responses.
Originally, I was going to fill this post with the ideas I was given, but I've since changed my mind, because I think to give only one blog post to this would be a disservice to what these kids were calling out for. So, I've decided going forward I will write blog posts on here using the tag #LearnFromThem devoted to exploring the potential behind their ideas. These ideas are free to use and draw inspiration from because I don't want to horde what I learned last night. I don't care who puts these stories out in the world so long as these stories get out there and into the hands of the kids they're written for.
What came after my presentation was what touched me the most. I told the kids that I was going to be around after the presentation if they had any questions, and that I had business cards readily available with my contact information if they ever wanted to talk about anything in the world. I spent the next several hours having different kids come up to me to talk about their passions or their ideas. They were talking over each other and building on each other's ideas, and I saw into this beautiful well of creativity that is going untapped.
It wasn't just ideas, though, but gratitude. My heart is full as I type this. The number of kids who thanked me for listening to their ideas, and for making an effort to tell their stories, leaves me humbled. There are so many writers out there who are already doing what these kids are asking for, and they deserve recognition. Those words of gratitude go out to them as well. I have always said that I write for myself, of course, but I write even more for those that might see themselves in the stories I put on the page. I got a glimpse into what a future as a published author could be like for me. I saw the kind of impact my words, and the words of the writing community, have on the kids who need us most. It makes every single rejection and doubt that comes with being an author worth it.
If any of you who watched my presentation last night are reading this, please know that you inspire me. You give me the courage to put my work out there. You give me the drive to never stop writing. You are all powerful, and brave, and amazing, and whether we spoke or not, this experience will live in my heart forever.
Going forward, I will be using the tag #LearnFromThem to talk about the ideas these amazing kids came up with. If you have something you want to share, or you want to join in this little movement, please use the tag and help spread the word.
These kids are who we write for, so let's raise their voices. Hello family, friends, and followers! With the end of the year neigh upon us, it's time to set some New Year’s resolutions for reading and writing in 2018. My goals are as follows:
Some of these are lofty, but if I can even come close to completing half of these, it will be an incredibly successful year. That said, I also had a lot of accomplishments this year. I re-wrote my first book and had a whopping 10 full agent requests on it which is more than I had ever dreamed of. 7 of those full requests are still open and pending, so maybe I’ll be lucky enough to knock off one of those resolutions early. I went to my first writing conference, my first in-person-pitch, and learned a tremendous amount about the craft. I won my first ARC, participated in #Pitchwars #PitMad, #DVPit, and #SFFPit. I met some really incredible friends on twitter who have been both a tremendous support and incredible teachers of the craft. And finally, I won my very first #Nanowrimo! 57,000 words in the month of November on a new book was a huge achievement for me and I couldn’t be more proud of myself. 2017 was a year of ups and downs, but the good far outweighs the bad. Here’s to making 2018 even better and pushing myself harder to reach my dreams of seeing my name share a shelf with all of the authors I admire so much. Happy New Year, everyone! See you on the other side!
Here’s my honest review from Goodreads. I stumbled upon this book by accident. I was scrolling through Twitter and saw a tweet offering an ARC of Mask of Shadows to the first NB/Genderfluid reader that replied. I was intrigued, having known nothing about this book beforehand, so I replied just for fun, and by some strange stroke of luck, I won! Fast-forward and it’s in my mailbox. I didn’t intend to read it right away. I was getting married in a few weeks, and Pitchwars was looming—I needed to prioritize. That ‘prioritizing’ nonsense shot straight out the window when I read the back cover. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the book, here’s all you need to know:
Needless to say, seeing that Sal was a genderfluid character jumped me into overdrive. I’ve never read a book with a genderfluid character, let alone one that wasn’t centered around them coming out. Nope. Couldn’t wait. This demanded to be read, and I would happily obey. I went in wary, and came out overjoyed. It’s cliché to say that it made me laugh out loud and then cry a page later, but it did. I can’t even lie. Sal was endearing and flawed. They were spunky, full of fight, but had moments of vulnerability that anyone could connect with. And while I started reading for Sal, I kept reading for all of the other characters. I came to care deeply for all of them, which is a bad move in a book about assassins killing each other, if you were wondering. I’m all for a good book that kills characters, but I hate when they’re killed just for shock value. There was none of that to be had in Miller’s story. I could curse the moon over why she killed the characters she did, but it was right—necessary, and poignant, and right. And the romance of it. I knew who the love interest would be from the start, but not because it was a cliché meet-cute—anything but. I knew because of the instant chemistry between the characters, especially given their unorthodox meeting. It develops naturally without hindering the plot, and ultimately raises the stakes of the conflict. And it’s really damn cute. Like, I-need-to-put-this-down-for-a-second-and-roll-around-on-the-bed cute. Finally, the most important part of this review: how Sal’s gender was handled. While genderfluid comes in many forms, Sal’s identity and pronouns shift with how they choose to present that day. If they dress masculine, use he/him. If they dress feminine, use she/her. If they’re presenting androgynous, they/them. Sal’s apprehension about being misgendered feels real and relatable. They defend themselves against those who choose to misgender them, but still show how difficult that can be to do. On top of that, the characters who choose to misgender Sal do it as an act of aggression and disrespect. You know the people who do it are assholes, for lack of a better word, and even when Sal isn’t in a position to defend their identity, you can be sure that one of the other characters won’t tolerate it. Despite it being a fantasy setting, the difficulties Sal faces because of their gender identity are realistic and handled tactfully. It comes down to this: Linsey Miller’s Mask of Shadows is fun, poignant, exciting, and important. I came out of reading that inspired. I connected with a character in a way I’ve never done before. Sal’s gender was never a joke or a punchline. It was never something that held them back, or something they needed to overcome. It was just another facet of exploring the beautiful complexity of a character driven by revenge, and the desire for something more than life has yet to offer. I would scream about this book from the mountain tops if I had easy access to a mountain.
Put this book on your TBR shelf on Goodreads. Pre-order it. Spread the word, especially to people in the trans and non-binary communities. Show the publishing world that there needs to be more books like this by supporting the crap out of this. Have more specific questions about how the book handled gender? Read it and want to talk about how you felt about it? Comment below, or message me on Twitter/Facebook! |
Madsthey/them Archives
July 2018
Categories
All
|