Rouge by Leigh Talbert Moore

From Goodreads:

Hale Ferrer is the rising star of the hottest cabaret in New Orleans. And her one goal is escape. Escape from the lies, from the crime, and from her growing fear that one day she'll have to earn her living in the secret back rooms, where the dancers do more than dance.

But she won't leave behind Teeny, the orphan-girl she promised to protect.

Freddie Lovel is rich, handsome, and in love with Hale, and he's ready to sweep her away with him to Paris. But her heart is captured by Beau, the poor stagehand with eyes as blue as Louisiana iris flowers.

Denying her fears, Hale is ready to choose love and a life with Beau, until a predator hidden in the wings launches a chain of events that could cost her everything--Teeny, their one hope of escape, and possibly even her life.

I must say, I went into this book with some unfair expectations. I mean, Leigh is a friend of mine, and I know she's a talented writer, but let's just say a historical romance about a cabaret singer is not the type of novel I generally pick up, or would want to be seen reading by my co-workers.

But I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, there's plenty of kissing and deep sighing, but there is also intrigue, violence, corruption, and even murder.

Moore's portrayal of Reconstruction Era New Orleans is vibrant and detailed, and you can feel the city teeming with life and culture, even as Rouge's characters flee from it. Then there's the theater, the actors, the dancers, the singers, and yes - the stagehands. I've never lived in a theater the way Hale and her companions do, but I did used to be a stagehand in a former life, and the way Leigh portrays the camaraderie of life in the theater, and how well she understands the magic of the show must go on is clearly evident in this tale.

Anyway, I don't want to give too much away, but I will just briefly add that what really sold me on this novel was the ending. It was bittersweet, certainly, but it was honest, and I loved that the author had the courage not to take the easy way out.

I look forward to reading more from Leigh Talbert Moore, and would recommend this book to anyone, but especially any reader interested in the nefarious ways of the denizens of a historical Big Easy.

Code Name Verity

Before I begin, I’d like to clarify that this is my first *ever* official review. (Not sure if there are particulars to doing this, but I’m going to go with my reaction and opinions, as the whole title of Afterglow Book Reviews is the afterglow when finishing a book, and I just finished CODE NAME VERITY.)

I’d like to be upfront by saying that I don’t usually purchase books based solely on reviews (as in, most books are purchased because I’ve seen them around online--trending in my Twitter feed, blowing up the blogs, things like that); but I hardly ever up and order a book because of reviews alone. In fact, the last time I ordered a book based on shock and emotional and surprised reactions only via reviews was THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH. (I tend to find some of the best books this way, I’ve noticed--and they’re usually not books I’d normally buy for myself.)

I almost don’t even know where to start, there’s so much in this book. Here’s the blurb from Goodreads:

I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.

This is the premise of Code Name Verity. To be honest, I did not expect it to open with the MC already captured and writing her confession. But her voice--oh her voice! Wein does a memorable job of creating a character who is speaking like someone at her wit’s end, being tortured and forced to confess, while having more strength than most of us would ever have in the same situation. I was enthralled and loving it by the end of page one. Here’s an example (from my book’s page 6): 

...I am a prisoner in the Ormaie Gestapo HG because I have no sense of direction whatsoever. Bearing in mind that the people who trained me encouraged my blissful ignorance of airfields just so I couldn’t tell you such a thing if you did catch me, and not forgetting that I wasn’t even told the name of the airfield we took off from when I came here: let me remind you that I had been in France less that 48 hours before that obliging agent of yours had to stop me being run over by a French van full of French chickens because I’d looked the wrong way before crossing the street. Which shows how cunning the Gestapo are. "This person I’ve pulled from beneath the wheels of certain death was expecting traffic to travel on the left side of the road. Therefore she must be British, and is likely to have parachuted into Nazi-occupied France out of an Allied plane. I shall now arrest her as a spy. ”

This is how the first bit of the book goes. Her banter. Her defiance. Her fear of being tortured. And then, just as you think you know what’s going on, things change. And then, they change again. And again. And... again. Until things build up to a point where you love these two girls and you feel what they feel and you get why they’re doing what they’re doing and yet surprised at the same time that half of what you thought was going on was actually something else entirely, and then the scene--THE SCENE--and the emotional part I had read about on the reviews and was anticipating just hit me and I was so emotional about it I actually had to set the book down and walk away. (This has never happened to me before.)

As I type this, I am still affected by it. And yet, the story continues. (I went back to reading a couple of hours later.) I can’t imagine anyone not liking Code Name Verity, but as I was impatiently awaiting its arrival, I read a few reviews and was shocked to see that some people flat-out hated the plane/flight elements of the book (it’s quite a bit of info, yes, but I did what I always do when I don’t “get” something I read about... I took the character for what they said, or glazed over it when I couldn’t perfectly picture it). One reviewer said they couldn’t even bear to finish it--I understand how subjective reading is (and here’s a quick shout-out to writers everywhere--this is life, it is never going to change, some will love us and some will hate us, but for the ones who don’t like what we’ve written, there are ten who do, and for the ones who didn’t like it, they’ll find ten books that they do) but all I could think as I read that one part, the part that tore me apart was DID THEY GET THIS FAR? WHEN THEY QUIT, HAD THEY READ TO THIS POINT?????

So bottom line, I loved Code Name Verity. I loved the characters, I loved the setting (World War II--Europe), I loved Wein’s voice. (Quick side note since this is YA: there is a bit of profanity in it, but in my opinion, it's all in context. Considering what was going on, however, it was used quite rarely.)

Please Ignore Vera Dietz, by A.S. King

When we first meet Vera, she's lost her best friend, Charlie - twice. Once, to the tragic drama that is high school, and the sad politics of social status. Then, again, to death.

Vera's story jumps back and forth through time, sometimes including POVs that you would never expect, like her dad's, Charlie's, and even the wise old Pagoda that sits on the hill above the town where she lives.

It is a lonely, sad, but ultimately uplifting tale of one girl's struggle to find herself, and to stand up for truth in the face of grief. This is the last of A.S. King's books I read, and so far, my favorite.

Let me explain what I mean. I do not mean that it is somehow better than the others. If you read the un-reviews I wrote for Everybody Sees the Ants, and The Dust of 100 Dogs, you know I really loved those books, but this one, and Vera's tale, touched me in a way that only great books can. Having experienced loss in my life similar to Vera's, and also really being able to relate to Vera's father's situation, this book moved me deeply. It really was a unique reading experience for me, because normally in YA novels, parents and children are at odds, and Vera and her dad certainly have their disagreements, but being able to relate to, and sympathize with, them both, made for quite a powerful read.

Anyway, I could go on, but here is the blurb:

Michael L. Printz Honor Book 2011, A Junior Library Guild selection for Fall 2010, An Edgar Allen Poe Award nominee, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, Indie Next List Pick for Teens, Kirkus Reviews Best Books for Teens 2010, Cooperative Children's Book Center's CCBC Choices 2011. . .

Eighteen-year-old Vera's spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she's kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.

So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, or even the police. But will she emerge and clear his name? Does she even want to?

An edgy, gripping story, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.

So that's it. If you're like me, and you like extremely human characters whose lives are not perfect, you will really enjoy this book. I highly recommend you give it a shot.

The Dust of 100 Dogs, by A.S. King

This book is so awesome! So much fun. There are some hard moments, but mostly it's very smart, very clever, and lots of fun to read.

The trouble is, it's almost impossible to describe, without giving everything away. Here's the blurb:

In the late seventeenth century, famed teenage pirate Emer Morrisey was on the cusp of escaping the pirate life with her one true love and unfathomable riches when she was slain and cursed with "the dust of one hundred dogs," dooming her to one hundred lives as a dog before returning to a human body-with her memories intact.

Now she's a contemporary American teenager and all she needs is a shovel and a ride to Jamaica.

However, that really doesn't do it justice. Reincarnation, piracy, jewels, escape, defiance, canine psychology, true love, devotion, patois, roots, rock, reggae ... I could go on. There are a hundred amazing things that make this book great, but with the interwoven plot lines, and the vast stretch of history that is covered, it's difficult to talk about what happens, or why you should love it.

I suppose I can only say this: sometimes it's a bit tough to keep track of where our character, Emer/Saffron/100 Dogs is at, but never once does she leave you bored, or uninspired. She endures such harsh cruelty, and such apathy, that you can easily imagine her giving up countless times, but she has this determination, this knowledge of self, and the greatness of courage, that she simply cannot give up, and does whatever it takes, throughout the centuries, to achieve her goals. I rooted for our multifaceted protagonist every step of the way, even when she was being slightly, albeit gloriously, evil.

OPEN WOUNDS by Joe Lunievicz

(click to enlarge)

I just finished reading Open Wounds the other day. I've been aching to talk about it ever since, but with the holiday and other blogging things scheduled, I had to bite my tongue and wait. Before I get to my thoughts let me give you the jacket copy:

Cid Wymann, a scrappy kid fighting to survive a harsh upbringing in Queens, NY, is a almost a prisoner in his own home. His only escape is sneaking to Times Square to see Errol Flynn movies full of swordplay and duels. He s determined to become a great fencer, but after his family disintegrates, Cid spends five years at an orphanage until his injured war-veteran cousin Lefty arrives from England to claim him. Lefty teaches Cid about acting and stage combat, especially fencing, and introduces him to Nikolai Varvarinski, a brilliant drunken Russian fencing master who trains Cid. By 16, Cid learns to channel his aggression through the harsh discipline of the blade, eventually taking on enemies old and new as he perfects his skills. Evocative of The Book Thief with a dash of Gangs of New York, Open Wounds is the page-turning story of a lost boy's quest to become a man.

So, if that doesn't get you excited ...

Anyway, I found out about Joe and Open Wounds when I interviewed Andrew Smith a few months ago. I asked him something like "who is the best writer you've discovered in just the past year?" He answered, without hesitation, Joe Lunievicz. Andrew said:

Joe Lunievicz. Seriously. Joe contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in reading his forthcoming debut, Open Wounds. I totally love that book. It’s heroic, moving, and exciting. I can’t wait to see it in print.

Now that time has come (Open Wounds was released on May 25th) and I have to say I couldn't agree more. If you know me well, you know that I have a sort of long-standing inside joke that I sometimes leave in blog comments, for no one's amusement but my own. If one of my lovely female friends reviews a book that sounds a little too girly for me, I'll ask in the comments whether it has any sword fights. I'm sure no one gets it, or they just think I'm being a dick, but the point I'm trying to make is: I'm a man, I love reading great books full of beautiful writing, but I also need a little action from time to time (when I'm reading, sheesh).

It's a stupid joke, I know, but I'm a stupid guy, and the point is that I care about YA books that will appeal to boys, young men, and grown men who are still teenagers, mentally and emotionally. Anyway, before I go on about myself for any longer, my point is that this book is just that.

Yes, I realize the obvious thing is that much of the plot is based around fencing, which obviously means the book is FULL of sword fights. And that's great, it certainly appealed to me when I first heard about the book, because even though I use the comment as a joke/metaphor for what I care about in books, I DO actually love swords, and I even was in the fencing club for two years in high school. I know, nerd alert, but I'm not ashamed.

Yet, after reading Open Wounds, I discovered that it is so much more than a great manly action book full of duels, honor, and great sword fights. It is a devastatingly human tale of suffering, loss, doubt, pain, fear, and ultimately: redemption.

I could go on for a long time about what makes this book so incredible, but this is only a blog post, so I'll just point out the two biggest things for me.

First was the setting. This is a historical YA novel, that takes place in NYC (specifically Queens, in the 1930s, and then Manhattan, in the 1940s) and the way that Joe portrayed this place absolutely made it come alive. I've read some articles about how much work Joe did researching the little things (like the New York Subway system as it existed at the time), and it probably helps that Joe lives in NYC, but even that doesn't explain the vibrancy with which he breathes life into this setting. You'll notice what I mean immediately if you decide to read this book.

The seconds was the characters. There are several beautifully flawed characters in this novel, and what makes them great is that not a single one of them is perfect. They all make mistakes and they all pay for them, but there is one character in particular whose story is so heart-rendingly poignant that it will leave you gasping. I'm not going to go into who or why, because to do so would be to ruin it for you all, but I will say that there was something so realistic, so authentic and so disturbingly believable about this character that I don't know if I've ever read a more compelling portrayal of a human being.

And now we come to the point where I've gone on for far too long. Before I let you go, though, let me point you to a few excellent resources regarding Joe and his debut novel:

Joe's blog section of his website, where he talks about and shows photos of the book production/manufacturing process (I wanted to discuss the amazing design of this book and its cover, but I ran out of room).

Joe's website, with a few quotes of what people are saying about Open Wounds.

A guest post by Joe, for Cheryl Rainfield, author of Scars, where he talks a bit about Open Wounds and great first lines.

Open Wounds Facebook Fan Page.

And here are some places you can get Open Wounds:

IndieBound
GoodReads
Powells
Amazon