Taste the Books: Review Morsels #37 Sim Kern, Susan Vaught, Seanan McGuire

Intro

Hello beauties!

Welcome again to my own brand of mini reviews! I never thought I'd do minis, until I recapped a few of my long reviews in some digest post in 2014, and then guest-posted some shorties for a blogging event in 2015. And Karen from For What It's Worth started praising my short recs/recaps 😊. Just to be clear,  I'm NOT taking a break from writing long reviews - no such luck LOL (though for anthologies, shorter books or books that I didn't enjoy/I don't have enough to say about, I decided to stick to minis). But while I'm making up my mind about a new book I've read, I might as well give you the short version 😉. Just be warned - this feature will be VERY random!

Note: all the mini blurbs (in italics) are of my own creation.

Seeds for the Swarm by Sim Kern (ARC Review)

(Trilogy TBA #1)

★★

In a future of water wars between the rich and the poor, an 18 y.o. girl from the latter group who became internet-famous after a protest speech gains acceptance to a prestigious institute, befriends a handful of brilliant students and sets to uncover the school's secrets.

***

First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Stelliform Press for providing an ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

Alas, I had to give up midway through. The premise was a stretch, I wasn't feeling the characters (except Magenta, the gender-bending roommate), everything was happening so fast, especially the romance(s)...the protagonist was pining after a school friend, and suddenly she was in love with someone else she had only known for a month (and ready to give up her world for his), and suddenly..."stuff" ensued, etc. The environmental message and the diversity are the driving force of the story, and I commend the author for that; but it wasn't enough to grab and sustain my attention, especially with the story itself being all over the place/feeling cliché more often than not/needing more suspension of disbelief than I can provide (and I mean the contemporary bits, not the sci-fi ones...).

Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later, and of course I don't plan to reread this book).

Further note: I had already posted my review on Goodreads and scheduled this post when I learned that the release date had been postponed from Nov. 2022 to Mar. 2023, otherwise I wouldn't have been so early - but I suppose it doesn't matter anyway, since mine isn't a favourable review...I guess the further removed from pub date, the better... 

Freaks Like Us by Susan Vaught

★★★

When 17 y.o., selectively mute Sunshine goes missing, her best friends (Jason, schizofrenic, and Derrick, suffering from ADHD) set to find her while struggling with their respective issues, social stigma and relentless bullies.

***

Rated 3.5 really.

Don't mind my rating - this was actually pretty good, only a little too sugar-coated for my tastes (despite the issues the protagonists face, some disturbing themes and a brutal bulling episode - and yep, those things can coexist). I can't really comment on the mental health rep, but it sounded honest enough to me, and Vaught did a great job with having readers putting themselves in Jason's shoes (Derrick's too). I really liked the friendship aspect, especially the M/F one - though of course, as in most YA books, there's an amorous angle to it...but if it serves the purpose of reminding us that mentally ill people are love-worthy and romanceable, I have no complaints. In conclusion, Freaks Like Us was less adventurous than I expected (plus the only "adventure" covered the same ground twice) and required more suspension of disbelief that I like in my contemporary novels, but it made up for it with a big heart and an even bigger, compassionate and at the same time uplifting focus on teens with personality disorders.

Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later).

Boneyard by Seanan McGuire

(Deadlands  #3)

★★★

A circus freakmaster who's been on the run for years with her mute daughter finds herself face to face with unspeakable horrors - until the very human one she fled catches up with her, and she has to fight it with all her strength and cunning, plus the help of a few of (sometimes unlikely) allies.

(Please note: this novel is based on Weird West RPG franchise Deadlands. All the books in the series are set in the same universe, but they are completely independent from one another. Also, please note: the 3.5 star rating reflects my personal genre bias, but this was actually pretty good - it could have been a 4 if not for that).

***

Rated 3.5 really.

Honestly? If this wasn't a Seanan McGuire novel, I would have bailed after a handful of chapters. Not only I'm not a fan of Wild West - or Weird West - narratives (though I really liked the Incryptid prequel stories): I flat out don't like historical fiction...or alternate history set in the long-gone past...or steampunk. Also, the beginning of this book was a bit tedious. But once I hit Ch.8, things started to get juicy, and my interest was piqued.

McGuire does monsters like no other, especially those who can't help what they are and ultimately prove to be, if anything, more honest and wholesome than their human counterparts. And Boneyard indeed offers plenty of monsters of all kinds - from the "oddities" the main character takes care of, to the two different types of creatures who inhabit the woods near which the circus pitched its tents, to a McGuire favourite...the mad scientist. She also does strong female characters like few authors do, and again, there are many kinds of them in Boneyard - mothers, daughters, lovers, even gunslingers, each and every one of them sporting such strength, if in different ways and doses, and breaking stereotypes while being children of their age. Mixing fierce motherhood, mad science offspring, creature lore, reluctant allies, circus mythology and a pinch of romance in ways both familiar and unexpected, Boneyard starts off a little slow but ultimately delivers a nice punch.

(My only real complaint...what can the pumpkin-head creature on the cover DO, really? I expected it to be a major player, and it's barely there for the monster headcount...I feel cheated, dammit).

Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later).

So, have you read/are you planning to read any of the above? And if you have, what do you think of them? Do you post mini reviews? Do you like to read them?