Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

    Briana, or Bree for short, is our heroine. Her mother recently passed and Bree is deeply in grief but trying to put on a brave face and a tough exterior. One night she sees something she shouldn't, something magical and dangerous near her school's campus. After another incident Bree begins to wonder if what she saw is connected to her mother's death. What she finds is more than she, and certainly I, ever imagined.

Legendborn may be my favorite book of 2020. It is definitely the best young adult fantasy novel I have read in a very long time. It’s Black girl magic plus the King Arthur legend, with the complex history of the south and its legacy of slavery woven it. It all works beautifully. I loved this so much!

What I loved

Author Tracy Deonn has built a world that is complex, intricate, fun, and interesting. I went down multiple wormholes to learn more about the things referenced in the story.

It is effortlessly, realistically, and refreshingly diverse in terms of race, sexual identity, and sexuality. Better yet – it isn’t a big deal that there are different kinds of people in the story. They just exist, like they do in the real world, like they have throughout time.

“Growing up Black in the South, it's pretty common to find yourself in old places that just...weren't made for you. Maybe it's a building, a historic district, or a street. Some space that was originally built for white people and white people only, and you just have to hold that knowledge while going about your business.” (page 75)

A young Black woman is at the center of the story but there is no pretense that racism, sexism, or any other kind of -ism doesn’t exist. When Bree and her best-friend/roommate Alice get called in to a dean’s office, it doesn’t escape Bree’s attention when the dean calls Alice passive (Alice is Taiwanese American) and says that Bree has an attitude. Nor does it escape her (or the reader’s attention) that Bree gets involved with a secret society where people who look like her aren’t usually part of the membership.

“…there is an invisible energy all around us, everywhere in the world, that only some people know about. Some of those people call it magic, some call it aether, some call it spirit, and we call it root. There is no single school of thought about this energy? Is it an element? A natural resource? I think it is both, but a practitioner in India or Nigeria or Ireland may not agree.” (page 223)

Different traditions are respected. Rootcraft, (a fictional magic system modeled after rootwork, a living folk tradition and spiritual practice developed by enslaved Africans and their descendants under American chattel slavery, according to the Author’s Note) is on equal footing with the Arthurian legend.

Bree is a fully realized character. While fighting demons she also deals with grief and intergenerational trauma. Her parents are loving and intelligent, but not perfect. Bree is smart, but certainly not perfect.

I couldn't put this book down. It was fun and deeply emotional. Every time I picked up the book I got lost in the story. This book kept me up late reading, and got me up early to read more. There will sure be a sequel and I want it now!

Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith

   This was a cute, quick, okay-written read. Lou, a Native American teenager, breaks up with her White boyfriend when he makes one too many insulting comments about Native American people. Luckily this wasn't drawn out. The boyfriend pops up now and again but for the most part, his story ends pretty quickly. The main conflict in the story arises when the high school drama teacher decides to hold "color blind" auditions, but the broader conflict is being brown in a society that is often hostile to brown people. Not surprisingly, some of the people in Lou's Kansas hometown aren't too happy when the auditions result in a Black Dorothy, a Native American tin man, and a Mexican American lion.

I can't say that I loved this book. The writing style didn't work for me. I can't pinpoint exactly what the problem was other than to say it didn't flow well. Also, there are several interesting ideas and story lines that start off well and then sort of peter out. For instance, Lou joins the high school newspaper. Inspired by a friend who is constantly working to help her dad and save money for college, Lou decides to do a series of interviews with students who work. It's a great idea but I'm not sure what the point is. We never learn how it all turned out. Nevertheless, I'm glad I read this. I am interested in the experiences of other people of color and this book did a good job pointing out some of the subtle and not so subtle crap Lou has do deal with as a Native American.

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

  Huh? That was my reaction upon turning the last page of Catherine House. That and, "What was this even about?" I love a good what-really-happens-behind-closed-doors mystery thriller set at a boarding school or college but this wasn't that. There is a college and strange things happen at the college but no one, including the main character, appears to be that interested in finding out what happens behind closed doors.

Inez is a girl with a troubled past who gets accepted at a prestigious school that counts many rich and powerful among it alumni. The deal is that students agree to spend 3 years (classes are year round) immersed at Catherine House and cut off from the rest of the world. No phone calls, no internet, no TV. No contact with family or friends. The school provides for all their essential needs - food, toiletries, clothes, and lots of wine.

So the school is special but why I don't know. The curriculum sounds like BS. No one is pre-med or trying to write the next great novel. There is a major called new materials which is the main thing the school cares about. Mostly the school sounded like a weird pseudo-science religious cult. It is clear students are being experimented on but it is all very low key. None of the students seem to mind or care that much, except for perhaps the new materials majors.

Inez, the main character, spends much of her time drinking and sleeping with other students but none of it seems to matter to her. Everything about Inez felt shallow. She is completely uninterested in questioning anything around her and her lack of interest made it difficult for me to be interested.

This story felt incomplete. If I could edit this book I would condense the 300+ pages here to half the size and then add a second part where either Inez digs deep into the mystery of Catherine House or figures out her life and makes a radical change that leads to her becoming more invested in her own life and the world around her.

Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink

  I have wanted to read this story for a long time, even more so after visiting New Orleans for the first time earlier this year. It is the story of what happened at Memorial Hospital during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans and the levees broke, and the resulting aftermath. Long story short, after Katrina hit medical personnel (mostly doctors & nurses), 100+ patients, as well as family members and pets of personnel and patients found themselves stranded at the hospital. They made it through the hurricane but then as everyone knows, the levees broke. The floodwaters rose, power in the building failed, the heat rose, and running water became a thing of the past. Help was slow in coming and was sporadic. Medical personnel made a decision about who should be evacuated first - the healthiest. As the days passed, another decision was made to administer what turned out to be lethal doses of medications to some of the patients. Later, after the waters receded and the city began to grapple with what happened criminal charges were brought against one doctor and two nurses for the second-degree murders of several patients.

For prosecutors the question in the case was did Dr. Anna Maria Pou and nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry administer morphine and other medications with the intent to hasten the death of certain patients or was their intent simply to ease patients pain? According to a grand jury, the answer was no. I would break this down into two questions: One, did they inject patients with drugs to hasten their death? Two, was that the right thing to do, or if not excatly right, at least justifiable and understandable given the circumstances? After reading Sheri Fink's account of what happened, my answer to the first question is an unequivocal yes. I don't at all believe Pou, Budo, and Landry were simply easing pain. In one case, a patient was given something like nine times the amount of morphine in a single doze that he normally received and he hadn't been complaining of pain. As to the second question, I don't know.

When something like this happens the people involved are either portrayed as heroes and villains, but in reality people are often a little both or maybe neither. One of the problems with portraying a story in black and white is that it leaves little room for nuance or for talking about what could be done better. Dr. Pou, Budo, and Landry are not villains as I see it, but nor are they unsullied heroes either. Perhaps better choices could have been made, but they did the best they could under the circumstances. That being said, it is bothersome that in the end there seemed to be no accountability for what happened. Dr. Pou and nurses Budo and Landry were not entirely forthcoming about what they did after the fact. (And, there was a fourth doctor that was never charged even though he also administered the lethal doses.) For legal reasons I get why those involved would be wary of telling the full truth of what happened. Still, I wish there could be a truth and reconciliation commission to discuss what they did, why they did it, and why the other doctors and nurses didn't intervene or speak up if they thought what was happening was wrong (or help if they thought it was right). Further, I wish the company that owned the hospital, especially the executives in charge, as well as state and local officials were held accountable for what they did and didn't do. One of the things that struck me in this story was how the possibility that New Orleans might be flooded was not a surprise to anyone. For decades that had been concern but few precautionary measures were ever taken.

"Forensic Expert Cyril Wecht did not care if Pou was punished. What he cared about was the truth and what could be learned from it. For heaven's sake, he thought, Memorial wasn't on a goddamn battlefield with enemy shells coming in. This was New Orleans, and there were helicopters and boats. And really, were they saying they couldn't get patients off the seventh floor? Given a choice, would someone rather die a painless death or live after being lowered, however uncomfortably, from a window? A great disservice was being done to the field of medicine, because the events were covered up and medical leaders reacted emotionally, without knowledge about what had happened. For now the lessons seemed to be that in a disaster if you're a doctor, you're in charge. If you feel giving large doses of morphine and Versed are appropriate, go ahead. It's your call. 'Is this what we want young doctors to learn?' he asked. It's a goddamn precedent, a very dangerous, bad precedent." [page 454]

Although I don't want to condemn the doctors and nurses involved in what happened in Katrina, I have to admit this book undermined my faith and trust in the American medical system just a little bit. So many decisions were made without talking to patients or their families even when it was possible. There didn't even seem to be consensus or a discussion among all the medical personnel present at the hospital. Rather a few people made a decision that effected many. But of course when there was a threat of criminal prosecution then all the doctors and nurses rallied together, leaving little room for a real discussion of how to make life and death decisions during a disaster. My biggest takeaway from Five Days at Memorial, and I mean this is all seriousness, is that if there is a major disaster, do not go to the hospital. The doctors and nurses might help you. They might not. Or they might take active measures to hasten the process of helping you "let go" (a euphemism used often in the book) because they have decided that your quality of life is poor enough to justify ending it, all without consulting you or your family. And the doctors and nurses will never have to justify their decisions, because unless one can prove they acted with actual malice it seems to be considered "unfair" to question the decisions of a doctor or nurse during a disaster.

Network Effect by Martha Wells

 

I’m so glad Liberty Hardy talk about the Murderbot Diaries on one of the Book Riot’s podcasts or else I might have missed this series that has become one of my very favorite things to read.

My favorite rogue SecUnit is back, the sentient AI with organic parts and its dry, sardonic humor. Murderbot is living and working with his chosen human family when another ship attacks and kidnaps him and Amena, one of the humans he is protecting. Once aboard Murderbot realizes he knows the ship. It’s ART’s ship and ART need’s Murderbot’s help.

The plot is great but what I love about this series are the characters. For a non-human, Murderbot has a lot of human feelings, mostly annoyance and anger with humans and their stupid decisions and messy feelings. Despite its best efforts Murderbot seems to be forming relationships attachments with humans and other AI. (Murderbot would of course have a sarcastic thought at the idea that it was in a relationship.)

I love this series so much an when I truly love something it is that much harder to explain why. So instead, here are some of favorite passages from Network Effect.

Quotes

Humans have a bad tendency to use weapons unnecessarily and indiscriminately. Of the many times I had been shot, a depressingly large percentage of hits had come from clients who were trying to “help” me. [page 20-21]

Since the festival had started, I had been taking note of a potential hostile that Amena had been associating with. Evidence was mounting up and my threat assessment was nearing critical like. Things like: (1) he had informed her that his age was comparable to hers, which was just below the local standard for legal adult, but my physical scan and public record search indicated that he was approximately twelve Preservation standard client years older, (2) he never approached her when any family members or verified friends were with her, (3) he stared at her secondary sexual characteristics when her attention was elsewhere, (4) he encouraged her to take intoxicants that he wasn’t ingesting himself, (5) her parental and other related humans all assumed she was with her friends when she was seeing him and her friends all assumed she was with family and she hadn’t told either group about him, (6) I just had a bad feeling about the little shit. [page 29]

If a bunch of desperate colonists came up in the drop box, the ship could just do a quick detach from the dock’s airlock and it would be unreachable. It wasn’t a foolproof method but it was 90 percent effective. (Foolproof is another weird word. Shouldn’t it be smartproof? It’s not like you’re going to breach and seize control of a ship attached to a space dock by tripping or forgetting to bring your weapon or something.) [page 228]

Overse added, “Just remember you’re not alone here. I never know what to say to that. I am actually alone in my head, and that’s where 90 plus percent of my problems are. [page 242]

Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs

  Silence Fallen is the tenth novel in the Mercy Thompson series and might be my favorite. It opens with the werewolf pack family enjoying a game night. Needing eggs to bake her delectable cookies, Mercy heads to the store. It's a perfect evening until a semi-truck slams into Mercy's car. Next thing she knows Mercy is waking up in a foreign country as a prisoner of a very powerful vampire. It seems someone told him that Mercy was the most dangerous and the most powerful person in the Tri-Cities and he wants to know why.

Silence Fallen presents and interesting discussion about power. Mercy isn't the strongest being in the Tri-Cities area - werewolves and vampires have her easily beat there. She's fast, but not necessarily the fastest. Aside from being able to turn into a coyote and talk to ghosts, she doesn't have much in the way of magical powers. Instead of physical strength and magic, Mercy's power comes from her relationships. The world of Mercy Thompson is populated by a variety of types of beings - humans, werewolves, vampires, witches, fae, goblins, and a bunch of other things I'm not sure how to classify. Most of the non-humans interact with other supernatural beings as little as possible. Circumstances may sometimes compel them to work together, but they aren't really friends. Yet Mercy has somehow forged friendships or at least earned the respect of members of all the different communities. That's what makes her so powerful, and to some, so dangerous. 

One of the best parts of this series is the relationship between Mercy and Adam. Sadly, they are separated for 95% of the story. Even worse, Mercy's kidnapping temporarily severs the mate bond connection between Mercy and Adam and that loss is deeply felt by both of them. She's trying to survive in surroundings that are foreign to her. He is desperately trying to find her without losing control and letting his wolf go on a rampage. Even apart their relationship is strong.

I loved this book! It was action packed and emotional. Plus Mercy, and by extension I as a reader, got to explore new territory as Mercy made her way from Milan to Prague. I can't imagine how Briggs is going to top this one, but I am eager to find out.

The Lady's Guide to Petticoates and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

  Felicity Montague wants to be a doctor more than anything in the world. Medicine is her one true love. Alas, Felicity is a woman in 1700s (I'm not completely sure of the time period) England and Scotland. It is a time when many men don't think medicine, outside of herbal practices and midwifery, is a suitable job for a woman. Felicity tries to plead her case to numerous doctors and hospitals. She's read all the medical texts could get her hands on. She has reattached a man's finger and mended broken men in the field of battle. Despite her passion and obvious intellect, none of the doctors or hospitals will take her on as a student.

Felicity hopes that she has finally found a way in. Johanna, a childhood friend is engaged to marry Dr. Platt, Felicity's idol. Felicity decides to crash the wedding and plead her case to Platt. Unfortunately, Platt is a let down. Not just because he, like so many of the other men in the story, can't conceive of a woman being a doctor, but because he has nefarious motives of his own in marrying Johanna. Felicity pushes forward and finds her tribe of sorts in the form of two other smart, ambitious women, Johanna and Sim. Together the three of them go on a wild adventure that takes them to Germany and the Barbary Coast.

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy is the second in the Montague Siblings series. I enjoyed the first book, The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue but this one was even better. It was full of adventure, sometimes involving petticoats and dragons! It was messy and gross they way I imagine life actually was during this time period. (The streets are literally filed with mud and decomposing animal parts. Very few baths seem to have been taken during this time period.) There is never an easy path for Felicity, at least not any that she wants, and I appreciated that because that's real. No man comes and saves her and says, yes, I'll let you be a doctor. There's also a bit of interesting comments about race. At one point Felicity finds herself in the minority - she's the only one (or very few) white woman in a group of Africans and she feels very alone. Felicity  realizes how Sim (who hails from the Barbary Coast) must feel most of the time. Another time Felicity catches herself when they meet another African woman and Felicity assumes that the woman and Sim must be related simply because they are both African.

I enjoyed the reading the author's notes almost as much as I enjoyed the story itself. Mackenzi Lee's story isn't just wishful thinking. Turns out there were women who pioneered in medicine, naturalism, and piracy. Some of these women were inspirations for the characters in the story. I'm excited for the next book in the series, though I can't imagine it will match up to this one.

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

   This was a long and arduous read. It’s not that I didn’t like it. It is quite good. The writing is beautifully, truly beautiful. There’s an honesty about the brutality of slavery and all those involved (included abolitionists) that I haven’t seen in many books on the subject. Still, it is about slavery and right now I could do with fewer reminders of Black people being terrorized and murdered.

A few passages that I liked:

Bored whites were barbarian whites. While they played at aristocrats, we were their well-appointed and stoic attendants. But when they tired of dignity, the bottom fell out. New games were anointed and we were but pieces on the board. It was terrifying. (page 27)

The Underground would give me no chance to reconsider, for though we all dreamed of going north, all sorts of fears might overrun a man when the dream descended into the real. There is always a part of us that does not want to win, wants to stay down in the low and familiar. (page 185)

Corrine Quinn was among the most fanatical agents I ever encountered on the Underground. All of these fanatics were white. They took slavery as a personal insult or affront, a stain upon their name. They had seen women carried off to fancy, or watched as a father was stripped and beaten in front of his child, or seen whole families pinned like hogs into rail-cars, steam-boats, and jails. Slavery humiliated them, because it offended a basic sense of goodness that they believed themselves to possess. And when their cousins perpetrated the base practice, it served to remind them how easily they might to de the same. They scorned their barbaric brethren, but they were brethren all the same. So their opposition was a kind of vanity, a hatred of slavery that far outranked any love of the slave. (pages 370-371)