The Ravenous by Amy Lukavics

Reviewed by: Sylvia Shults, Circulation

Genre: Horror

Suggested Age: Adults, Teens

What is the book about?: Mona and her four sisters are army brats. Their father, a colonel, is away serving the country most of the time. Their mother is distant emotionally rather than physically, as she battles depression. A tragedy pulls the family together for a split second, then sets the survivors spinning on a trajectory that quickly spirals out of control.

My Review: I don’t care much for brooding, angsty teen vampires. But a cannibal? Well, now, that’s a change of pace! This book was a deliciously gruesome horror story. With several characters to keep track of, the author did a great job of delineating each sister’s personality in the very first chapter. She kept up that attention to character all through the book, while ratcheting up the tension to piano-wire-garrote-tightness through the entire story. At first, the tension was interpersonal, as the sisters squabbled amongst each other and tried to survive their mother’s mental illness and their father’s perennial absence. But after the youngest sister, Rose, died in a completely random accident — and was resurrected by their mother — the stakes became much, much higher. Sisters were pitted against each other in a vicious fight for mental stability, and later, bare survival. I hesitated to give this book five stars at first, simply because the denouement was a bit simple. The ending was GREAT, but the wrap-up was a bit tidy. I’d have liked a bit more soul-searching on the survivors’ part. But yeah, I’m giving it four and a half stars, because the nail-biting tension in the book was JUST what I needed to take my mind off my own issues for an evening.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Gory, Tense, Riveting.

Give This a Try if You Like… the stand-alone episodes of Supernatural.

Rating: 4.5/5

Find it at the library!

About FDL Reads

Welcome to FDL Reads, weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.  Librarians (and possibly some other guest reviewers) review all types of books, from children’s picture books, young adult favorites, to the latest adult thriller, and share their thoughts each week at fondulaclibrary.org. If the book is owned by Fondulac District Library (or another local library), you’ll see a direct link to the catalog entry and whether or not it is available.  If it is checked out or at another local library, you will be able to place a hold as long as you have your library card and PIN numbers. As with any book review, these are our opinions…we disagree amongst ourselves about books frequently.  We all have different likes and dislikes, which is what makes the world an interesting place. Please enjoy, and keep on reading!

Shade the Changing Girl vol. 1: Earth Girls Made Easy by Cecil Castellucci, illustrated by Marley Zarcone

Reviewed by: Dave Gibbons, Library Volunteer

Genre: Graphic Novel, Science Fiction

Suggested Age: Adults, Teens

What is the book about?: Sometimes, life is easier when you can just be someone else. Bored dropout Loma Shade certainly thought so when she stole the infamous Madness Coat and astral projected away from her home planet of Meta to inhabit the brain-dead body of Megan Boyer. Before her injuries Megan was popular, beautiful, and a horrible bully to everyone she knew. How can Loma hope to navigate Megan’s social minefield, and can she do it before forces back on Meta find her original body? Or before the madness coat erodes her very soul?

My Review: In an attempt to return to the heyday of the popular Vertigo era of DC comics, several titles have been “reimagined” under the new Young Animal imprint: Shade the Changing Girl is the latest incarnation of “Shade the Changing Man” (originally created by Steve Ditko, and revamped in the 80s by Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo). Somewhere between a sequel and a reboot, this Shade is truly its own comic. Less esoteric then the previous version, the story has a very down to earth relatable feel as Loma struggles to deal with her own alienation (she is actually alien after all) and the consequences of Megan’s actions. This is not for a moment to say the comic is overly dour – it has several moments of lighthearted fun. I hope that future volumes will continue this tone rather then sinking into trite darkness in an attempt at complexity.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Modern, Fun, Metaphysical

Give This a Try if You Like… Steven Universe, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle,  Star vs. the Forces of Evil

Rating: 4/5

Find it at the library!

About FDL Reads

Welcome to FDL Reads, weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.  Librarians (and possibly some other guest reviewers) review all types of books, from children’s picture books, young adult favorites, to the latest adult thriller, and share their thoughts each week at fondulaclibrary.org. If the book is owned by Fondulac District Library (or another local library), you’ll see a direct link to the catalog entry and whether or not it is available.  If it is checked out or at another local library, you will be able to place a hold as long as you have your library card and PIN numbers. As with any book review, these are our opinions…we disagree amongst ourselves about books frequently.  We all have different likes and dislikes, which is what makes the world an interesting place. Please enjoy, and keep on reading!

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

Reviewed by: Jessica Reeves, Reference Specialist

Genre: Fantasy

Suggested Age: Adults, Teens

What is the book about?: This is the third book in Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series. In each book, Sanderson focuses on one character’s past through flashbacks while also furthering the plot in the present. This book focuses on Dalinar Kholin’s past, one of the current political leaders. Throughout the first two books we see Dalinar as a man of honor who follows The Codes set forth in the titular book The Way of Kings (also the name of the first book in this series). Throughout this book’s flashbacks, we see a very different man: harsh, rash, unconcerned with decorum and the lives of others. We see his absolute lowest points and the devastating catalyst for the change into the better man he strives to be in the present.

As far as the current plot (without giving spoilers for the first two books), it focuses on the ongoing war between the Alethi, the human inhabitants of Roshar, and the Parshendi, humanoid inhabitants of Roshar with marbled skin and thick shell growing out of their bodies. There’s a bit of everything in this book: murder mystery, politics, love triangles, battling inner demons, and the multiple layers of war.

My Review: I read almost exclusively through audiobooks these days. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to start over and listen again. At 55 hours long, however, I decided to maybe give myself a breather. Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are amazing narrators, and the few inconsistent pronunciations/accents from the first couple of books were corrected in this book. I’m sure it’s hard to keep it all straight between two narrators in an epic level fantasy series dealing with made up cultures and names. The pacing in this book was good, though I did find myself drifting in a few places waiting for people to make decisions. After the epic climax of the last book, we needed some down time to recuperate before the next epic climax of this book, and it did not disappoint.

I will say I was disappointed by some reactions from characters that I felt were, well, out of character and unrealistic. I can’t really go into that without spoilers, but it involved the fact that Sanderson changed the ending of the second book post-production, and that was not updated in the audio version. Even with the change, though, I felt certain reactions were still unrealistic on some characters’ parts. You’ll have to tell me if you agree or not!

Three Words That Describe This Book: Epic, Exhilarating, Fantastical

Give This a Try if You Like… Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, Skyrim, Lord of the Rings.

Rating: 4/5

Find it at the library!

About FDL Reads

Welcome to FDL Reads, weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.  Librarians (and possibly some other guest reviewers) review all types of books, from children’s picture books, young adult favorites, to the latest adult thriller, and share their thoughts each week at fondulaclibrary.org. If the book is owned by Fondulac District Library (or another local library), you’ll see a direct link to the catalog entry and whether or not it is available.  If it is checked out or at another local library, you will be able to place a hold as long as you have your library card and PIN numbers. As with any book review, these are our opinions…we disagree amongst ourselves about books frequently.  We all have different likes and dislikes, which is what makes the world an interesting place. Please enjoy, and keep on reading!