Review: Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

Stop measuring yourself against us. It’s not the right scale. You have your own gifts, your own talents. Show the world everything you’re capable of, Marguerite. You don’t even see how amazing you are. - Claudia Gray, Ten Thousand Skies Above You

Look, another sequel! Read ahead at your own risk!

Guys. THIS BOOK. Do you remember my review for the first one? Do you remember how much I loved that one? This one was just as amazing, if not moreso. CLAUDIA. GIRL. YOU KNOW YOUR WAY AROUND A SEQUEL.

Literally everything I loved about the first book was present within these glorious pages. The well-placed flashbacks, the pacing, the Russiaverse. GUYS. I almost wanted to cry from the sheer joy and surprise of returning to the setting of my favourite arc from the first book. And, unlike the first book, the climax and ending caught me completely off guard. That's hard to do, guys, trust me. I ask a lot of "what if" questions.

Ten Thousand Skies Above You came out back in November. I bought it almost the day it came out, but for some reason that I can't even comprehend, I waited until just last month to read it. In retrospect, this was probably a good idea, because the idea of waiting until NEXT NOVEMBER for the conclusion seems absurd, and at this point, it's less than six months away. I JUST CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG, OKAY. I JUST CAN'T.

Probably my favourite part about this book--and about 75% of the reason I say my girl Claudia knows her way around a sequel--is how she took the themes of the first book and expanded on them so freaking well in this one. In A Thousand Pieces of You, Marguerite explored the concept of destiny, of being meant to be with someone over and over again in a hundred thousand lifetimes. She saw how similar she and her family and friends were across dimensions--how her parents were always drawn to science, her sister to adventure, herself to the visual arts. At the beginning of this book, she believed that a fundamental part of a person's soul remained the same over dimensions, that each Paul or Theo or Marguerite is the same person. Then she discovered that that's not really the case--each version of someone is their own person, with their own life, their own memories, their own feelings. They can't be held to par with a different version of them, because they're just not the same person.

Marguerite had her beliefs going into this new adventure, and with each dimension she visited, she found herself at odds with them. Things weren't as simple or as black-and-white as she thought or wanted them to be. And I just loved how Gray took this concept that seemed so obvious and crystal clear and showed that it really wasn't. It was extremely well done.

I also loved how she started to dive into the ethics of inter-dimensional travel. It's a fun thought, the idea of being able to jump into another dimension and live another life. But revisiting the Russiaverse allowed Marguerite to see the real consequences of her visits, of what these other versions of her go through both while she's borrowing their body and after she leaves. Is it really fair to use the body of another for your own purposes, even if they live a dimension away?

ANYWAY. Y'all can bet that I'll be buying the finale the second it comes out. (The title alone makes me want to cry because EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SERIES IS WONDERFUL.) Finales are often hard to execute, especially when the rest of the series is as well done as this, but I have the utmost faith that Gray can pull it off. (CLAUDIA, YOU'RE MY GIRL. I BELIEVE.)

Five stars to you, Claudia Gray. Five hundred million stars, one for every world that a Marguerite lives on in.

Until later,

- Justyne

Micro Fiction Monday: Crazy

This summer is for catching fireflies. Every summer is different. Last summer, I spent every day the pool, until my finger tips were permanently wrinkled and the chlorine turned my blonde hair green. The summer before, I boycotted shoes. No sandals, no flats, no sneakers. I went barefoot or I didn’t go at all.

This summer, I want to catch fireflies. I want to run in the field behind my house with a net in one hand and a jar in the other. I want to fill a dozen jars with their light, for my entire bedroom to be illuminated with their glow.

It’s weird, maybe a little crazy. I haven’t caught a firefly since I was a kid. Everyone else I know is working, going to the beach, having bonfires in their backyards. Normal summer things.

But I keep the jar in my hand anyway. Because summer is meant for crazy.

FREEDOM

Let me tell you, folks, I have taken summer for granted for FAR TOO LONG.

My blog posts have been, clearly, off track as of late. This happens a lot. I'm not proud. But every now and then, I have a valid excuse. Like four exams, one student film, two different website codes, one paper, and a weekend in which I proudly did nothing but scroll through Tumblr and play Wind Waker. (Followed by a couple weeks in which I didn't update because, really, what else is new?)

Now that exams have passed and the academic year has ended, I feel a foreign sense of freedom that I have not felt in years. It's strange, because I now find myself in the same life situation I held for two years--no classes, no homework, just a part time job and all my time to devote to writing. (Or playing Sims. Mostly playing Sims.) I have the exact same amount of freedom now as I had before I restarted my academic career back in September.

Now, though, it feels more...liberating. After months of cramming homework into every spare moment, of studying at work and writing notes on the bus, I now have NOTHING TO DO. I have all the time in the world to work on as many personal projects as I want--or to just sit on my butt and watch Netflix until my brains ooze out of my ears. (Which I've done. A lot.)

I find myself making plans, massive to-do litsts with more items than I probably have time for. And I did the same thing even before I went back to school--although my free time never actually increased, it still felt like it did during the summer. I don't think this feeling will go away after I graduate, either. This is something that has long been engraved into my brain, and will stick around for probably an enternity. There's just something about summer that has this almost magical feel to it.

I guess that's why it's my favourite season.

Until later,

- Justyne

Review: Lady Renegades by Rachel Hawkins

WEDNESDAY REVIEWS ARE BACK! Didja miss me? 'Course you did.

This week's book is the THIRD AND FINAL BOOK in the Rebel Belle series, so if you haven't read the first two...well, this is your final chance to leave. (Alternatively, I also reviewed the first two here and here, so you can check those out if you've read either of those.)

Like the previous instalment, I read this book promptly. In five hours. (I may not have started with that intention, and yet, here we are.) Hawkins' writing was on point, as per usual. Her writing is smooth and simple, which makes for a quick and satisfying read. She doesn't overcomplicate anything, plot or otherwise, which I think benefits the reach of her audience.

Overall, the ending--while predictable--was decent. I feel like it wrapped up the story quite well, bringing it full circle in a way that I always appreciate, because it can often be hard to do without coming off as super hella cheesy. So A+, Hawkins. You did good.

What I didn't like, however, was the climax. I felt like the book (and the series as a whole) was building up to something much bigger than what we got. I mean, yes, it was devastating, and it killed me emotionally (and maybe physically), but it wasn't as big as I was hoping. It wasn't as epic. I know I just finished praising the book for its simplicity, and while that is one of its strong suits, but I feel like the series as a whole was trying to build up to something bigger, and it ended up just falling short.

Also: did I miss something? What was that "extra something" that Ryan included in Harper's magic tattoo? I feel like they introduced it and referenced it several times, but nothing ever really came of it. (If it did, clearly it was vague / inconsequential enough for me to overlook.)

AND FINALLY. We have spent the whole series dancing around Harper's refusal to use swear words, which I praised in the first book, and started to find repetitive in the second. It all lead up to that one moment, that one scene in the woods, where she broke down and used the f-bomb several times in the span of a minute and a half. I loved that scene, I live for that scene; I feel like it was a great way to show just how fed up and tired she was of the whole situation. But it would have been a hundred million times better if Hawkins had JUST. USED. THE ACTUAL. WORD. Your audience can handle it, girl, I'm sure of it.


ANYWAY. All in all, it was a great read, and a solid 4 from me.

Until later,

- Justyne

Micro Fiction Monday: Eye Contact

Brown eyes.

Green eyes.

I never thought about how beautiful brown eyes could be.

I always thought green eyes were overrated.

But somehow, it was the first thing I noticed about her.

On him, though....I didn’t mind.

Her hair was purple and bright, it’s a wonder why I didn’t notice it first.

His hair was a natural, unassuming brown. Not a speck of dye to be found; not a frizzy, damaged mess like mine.

She was beautiful.

He was gorgeous.

I lost her in the crowd a moment later.

The room was packed, the air sticky with sweat and beer.

I pushed my way through other party goers, looking for a glimpse of her bright hair.

He blended in really well. I lost him as quickly as I saw him.

She was surprisingly easy to lose track of.

I kept my eyes open for the rest of the night. I stayed way longer than I meant to.

I asked the host of the party if he knew her. He didn’t.

I didn’t know anyone. Eventually, I left.

I gave up the search and pushed my way outside.

I stopped the cab when he came outside.

A flash of purple, glimmering in the streetlights.

Found you.

    

Found her.

Micro Fiction Monday: Runaway

I ran away from home.

Was it really my home anymore? For sixteen years, I was lied to. The people I thought loved me, the women who I thought were my family, they were nothing but imposters. They lied to me about who I was, where I came from….even my damn name.

Some birthday present.

But Phillip…he’d help me. We met in town, one of the few times my aunts allowed me on the trip—I know why now. They were scared someone would recognize me, or them. That someone would realize what happened, that word would get back to…to that witch.

I didn’t care about the witch. I wasn’t scared. She wouldn’t come for me if I never went back to the palace.

The palace…for so long, it had been the image of dreams and hope. I could always see the tips of it above the trees, so close but so far. It used to be my favourite sight, and now I couldn’t even stand to think about it.

But Phillip could help me. We would run away, never turn back. It was our only chance. He said he had a birthday present for me, but I would sell whatever it was. Our life together would be my present. It’s all I wanted.

But getting lost in the woods is easy, even if you’ve spent your whole life navigating them. The trees begin to look the same, green blending with green until nothing looks familiar anymore.

The only thing leading me on was a black crow, always two feet ahead of me--my only hint that I wasn’t running totally blind.