Books, again!
Gonna try something new with spoilers today... Highlight the large boxes of white in between the *'s, if you so desire. :)
5. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (YA)
Wait, why did I read this book again? I actually have no clue. I didn't actually like it that much. It's a depressing story about a teen with an eating disorder whose friend died from her eating disorder and is now kinda haunting the main character. It was kinda distressing and in retrospect, I kind of wish I hadn't finished reading it. Er, I'm sure plenty of people out there may very well like it! But not me.
6. Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce (YA)
I had no clue this was out - but apparently, it's been out for like two years! Anyway, it's the most recent book in her Circle of Magic series, which I adore. They are seriously some of my favorite books ever.
It's the first one that doesn't focus on one of the main four characters, but instead on one of their students. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but I did have a small issue with the very end. **I thought Evvy deciding to join the temple was a bit strange - throughout the whole book she talked about her own gods, not the Winding Circle ones. It just seemed weird to me, that she'd join an organization that wasn't her own religion. Still, I really liked her slowly learning to control her temper and powers and try to become someone who protects, not destroys - though I thought that was a very simplistic way for Rosethorn to put it, especially given her own ability to break down walls and kill people with her magic, *and* her ability to heal.**
Anyway, that lead me to reread the rest of the books, of course. ;)
7, 8, 9, 10. Sandry's Book, Tris's Book, Daja's Book, and Briar's Book by Tamora Pierce (YA)
These are the start of the Circle of Magic series. So the thing that really stood out to me - how often do YA books really have this much death? I seriously don't remember there being that much when I was growing up, but then I went straight from the Babysitter's Club books to adult fantasy books, with nothing (that I remember, at least) in between. But in both Tris's Book and Briar's Book, there's a very large amount of death, including **family members in Tris's book and someone Briar's trying to save in his book**.
Oh, another thing that's awesome about this series - first, three of the four main characters are girls. Of the four secondary characters (their teachers), two of them are women, two men, and in a later book it's flat out revealed the two women are in a relationship together (which I TOTALLY called, hehe). Second, two of the main characters are non-white - Daja is black, and Briar is what sounds like it might be supposed to be Hispanic-ish. It's just really nice to see non-whites in a YA book.
11, 12, 13, 14. Magic Steps, Street Magic, Cold Fire, and Shatterglass by Tamora Pierce (YA)
The second series of four books focused on those characters, I was again surprised by the dark stories in these four. **Not only are there brutal murders in Magic Steps, but Sandry has to actually kill three people right in front of her - including one person who's a boy only 12 years old. Cold Fire had Daja trusting someone who then killed hundreds of people - it was very dark, and touched on some issues of abuse, too. And Shatterglass had a creepy-ass serial killer. Street Magic, which ALSO had murders, was actually the least violent and disturbing of the bunch!** I am just once again surprised at how dark Ms. Pierce went.
15. The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce (YA)
And the last one in this series (set at the same time as Melting Stones, though it came out first), and probably my favorite. It's so nice to see the main characters grow up and renew their bonds after years apart, and I'm a total sucker for awesome family-by-choice stories.
Anyway, so that's what I've been reading in the past week or so. I love this series. <3
And I'm really curious - does anyone else remember reading really dark young adult books as an actual young adult?
I still remember the first time I read a story that a main character died - it was Black Beauty, and I was somewhere between 6 and 8 when I read it (because that's when I was in that bedroom). Ginger died and I started crying, because I didn't realize that characters in books could die. I almost didn't finish the book because of it.
5. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (YA)
Wait, why did I read this book again? I actually have no clue. I didn't actually like it that much. It's a depressing story about a teen with an eating disorder whose friend died from her eating disorder and is now kinda haunting the main character. It was kinda distressing and in retrospect, I kind of wish I hadn't finished reading it. Er, I'm sure plenty of people out there may very well like it! But not me.
6. Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce (YA)
I had no clue this was out - but apparently, it's been out for like two years! Anyway, it's the most recent book in her Circle of Magic series, which I adore. They are seriously some of my favorite books ever.
It's the first one that doesn't focus on one of the main four characters, but instead on one of their students. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but I did have a small issue with the very end. **I thought Evvy deciding to join the temple was a bit strange - throughout the whole book she talked about her own gods, not the Winding Circle ones. It just seemed weird to me, that she'd join an organization that wasn't her own religion. Still, I really liked her slowly learning to control her temper and powers and try to become someone who protects, not destroys - though I thought that was a very simplistic way for Rosethorn to put it, especially given her own ability to break down walls and kill people with her magic, *and* her ability to heal.**
Anyway, that lead me to reread the rest of the books, of course. ;)
7, 8, 9, 10. Sandry's Book, Tris's Book, Daja's Book, and Briar's Book by Tamora Pierce (YA)
These are the start of the Circle of Magic series. So the thing that really stood out to me - how often do YA books really have this much death? I seriously don't remember there being that much when I was growing up, but then I went straight from the Babysitter's Club books to adult fantasy books, with nothing (that I remember, at least) in between. But in both Tris's Book and Briar's Book, there's a very large amount of death, including **family members in Tris's book and someone Briar's trying to save in his book**.
Oh, another thing that's awesome about this series - first, three of the four main characters are girls. Of the four secondary characters (their teachers), two of them are women, two men, and in a later book it's flat out revealed the two women are in a relationship together (which I TOTALLY called, hehe). Second, two of the main characters are non-white - Daja is black, and Briar is what sounds like it might be supposed to be Hispanic-ish. It's just really nice to see non-whites in a YA book.
11, 12, 13, 14. Magic Steps, Street Magic, Cold Fire, and Shatterglass by Tamora Pierce (YA)
The second series of four books focused on those characters, I was again surprised by the dark stories in these four. **Not only are there brutal murders in Magic Steps, but Sandry has to actually kill three people right in front of her - including one person who's a boy only 12 years old. Cold Fire had Daja trusting someone who then killed hundreds of people - it was very dark, and touched on some issues of abuse, too. And Shatterglass had a creepy-ass serial killer. Street Magic, which ALSO had murders, was actually the least violent and disturbing of the bunch!** I am just once again surprised at how dark Ms. Pierce went.
15. The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce (YA)
And the last one in this series (set at the same time as Melting Stones, though it came out first), and probably my favorite. It's so nice to see the main characters grow up and renew their bonds after years apart, and I'm a total sucker for awesome family-by-choice stories.
Anyway, so that's what I've been reading in the past week or so. I love this series. <3
And I'm really curious - does anyone else remember reading really dark young adult books as an actual young adult?
I still remember the first time I read a story that a main character died - it was Black Beauty, and I was somewhere between 6 and 8 when I read it (because that's when I was in that bedroom). Ginger died and I started crying, because I didn't realize that characters in books could die. I almost didn't finish the book because of it.