Month: June 2017

Gilded Cage by Vic James

First Line: She heard the motorbike first, then the galloping horse—two distant points of noise in the darkness, converging on her as she ran.

Summary: England is being ruled by the Equals, people with powers called Skill.  They overthrew King Charles and have ruled ever since.  When the Equals took power they invoked new laws including the 10-year period of slavery for all the commoners.  When the Hadley family decides to start their slave days they are hoping to all be sent to the manor house of Kyneston to work for one of the leading Skilled families.  However, Luke, the teenage son, is sent to a slave town instead.  As each member of the family works their slave days, they each begin to learn about the Skilled and the world that they live in.

Highlights: Good dystopian storyline.  I still cannot figure out what to make of the Jardine brothers.  The Hadley family is the straightforward characters of dystopian fiction but the brothers are a little more complex.  Are they good?  Are they bad?  I cannot wait to find out.

Lowlights: Nothing to complain about except that it ended at a cliffhanger.  What is going to happen?  How are they going to continue?

FYI: Great for readers of Hunger Games and Harry Potter!

If you like classic Gothic novels/ghost stories and haven’t read anything by Wendy Webb, you should! Here is a review of her latest novel, “The End of Temperance Dare.”

First line: They gave her the bed by the window, the one closest to the toy box.

Summary: Former reporter Eleanor Harper becomes the director of a famous artists’ retreat near Lake Superior, Cliffside Manor. Not long after Eleanor’s arrival, she finds the kindly old woman who is the daughter of the founder and who has been director of the retreat dead in her room. Lots of wonderful spookiness ensues. Strange things happen to the artists in residence, and Eleanor herself finds that she has experiences that she can’t explain. Not all those who live at the retreat are as they seem as this story unfolds.

Highlights: Wendy Webb is a master at setting a scene, and creating a wonderful Gothic atmosphere, and she is as good at doing so for Cliffside Manor as in any of her other novels. I love the way she develops her characters in this book, making it difficult to discern a person’s true character. As I was reading I thought I knew exactly what was happening, then she would reveal some small nugget of information and I would begins to second-guess myself. A few or a few dozen pages later the story would take a new twist that would leave me guessing again. I really enjoyed the suspense and the mystery of the characters in this book.

Lowlights (or what could have been better): To be honest, I pretty much never read a book looking for holes, problems or other weaknesses, and I didn’t find any in this book. My greatest critique would be in the setting in the actual building. I could clearly see in my mind the grounds around the building, and the outside of the building, but I had a difficult time imagining what the interior of the building looked like.

FYI: I don’t think there’s anything significant to be aware of about this book. It’s a slightly different feel than Webb’s other books, but I found it satisfying. It has a classic Gothic ghost story feel, but doesn’t cross the line to horror (at least by my definition).

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict

First Line: The end is near.

Summary: We all know who Albert Einstein is.  But do you know the other Einstein?  Mileva Maric is a young Serbian woman with a lame leg and a mind for math and science.  She always expected to live a life alone in the pursuit of a degree and job in physics.  While attending the university in Zurich she meets a young man, Albert Einstein, and her plans for her life change.

Highlights: I had never heard of Mileva Maric until I read a YA novel by Margaret Peterson Haddix.  She sounds like a fascinating woman that has been forgotten by history.  Married to one of the greatest minds in history and working alongside him there is great controversy about if she was a contributor to the theories and breakthroughs of her husband.  I like that the author has fleshed out and brought this woman to life.  I understood her plight with herself about giving up her dream to marry.  As a reader I could feel her pain and struggle as I read.

Lowlights: Unfortunately when reading historical fiction and learning about a person there are elaborations or stretches.  But there are also truths.  It is always hard to see a well-known figure made human and see the faults that lie within them.  Benedict presents Albert’s faults and it tarnishes him a little.

FYI: Very informative about the early life of Albert Einstein.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

This review was written by our new Youth Services Assistant, Kayley Ramsey! Kayley has been living in the Wichita/Derby area for about eight years and teaches photography classes at Wichita City Arts. She’s a lover of historical fiction, fantasy, and anything with a great adventure. Feel free to come back to the Youth Services desk to meet her and get some great book recommendations!

Salt to the Sea Book Review by Kayley Ramsey

First Line: Guilt is a hunter.

Summary: On January 30th, 1945, three Russian torpedoes sunk the Wilhelm Gustolff, a German ship carrying 10,582 passengers, the majority being refugees hailing from all parts of Europe escaping war torn territory. Over 9,000 of those passengers died that night in the Baltic Sea, a tragic 5,000 at least of those were children. It is by far, the most deadly maritime disaster to have ever occurred dwarfing the infamous Titanic and yet it is often overlooked by history books and World War II accounts. Salt to the Sea tells the fictional account of a traveling group of refugees, each with their own secrets and goals braving war-torn Europe to make their way to the fateful Wilhelm Gustolff and toward freedom.

Highlights: Salt to the Sea is beautifully written from multiple perspectives, illuminating a charming, brave, and lovable band of characters that you really don’t want to drown in the Baltic Sea. Sepetys makes a point of shedding light on the suffering on all sides of a war. She seeks to tell the history of people groups that suffered during World War II, yet aren’t often talked about or remembered. In this, Salt to the Sea is an eye opener, reminding us all of the totality and the span of war and hatred. The book is as educational as it is moving.

Lowlights: This book is not for the faint of heart. It speaks realistically of the horrors people faced in wartime, both at the hands of human hatred and by the forces of nature. Several times, I had to slam my book shut and rant to my husband about the horrible injustice of it all but then of course, I quickly picked it back up because Salt to the Sea is a page turner and against your better judgment, you are going to get attached and want everyone to live happily ever after.

FYI: I am already biased toward Ruta Sepetys’ work. Her other two novels, Between Shades of Gray and Out of the Easy are riveting reads. Between Shades of Gray also takes place during World War II and has some overlapping characters from Salt to the Sea.