Review: Felix Yz

Felix Yz by Lisa Bunker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm not sure what to make of this book; it had an interesting premise that was cluttered by too many distracting, unrelated details.

I was intrigued by the main story of 13-year old Felix being fused with Zyx, a being from the 4th dimension, ever since a horrible lab accident when he was 3 that also killed his father. I liked seeing Felix's relationships with his family and with Zyx, and empathized with dealing with a bully, first crush, and his increasing anxiety over the impending Procedure to attempt to separate him and Zyx. However, I felt like there was just too much extraneous stuff going on that took away from the story.

Not only does Felix have an alien inside his head and have a crush on another boy, but his mom is bisexual, his grandparent is gender-fluid (or perhaps non-binary?), and is befriended by a transgender boy. I have no issue with LGTBQ themes when they are done well and feel like a natural part of the characters and story, but there was just too much going on here. Rather than focusing on Felix's same-sex crush and continuing uncertainty of the relationship, it seems the author felt compelled to include as many LGTBQ representations as possible. I personally found it distracting, annoying, and smacked of tokenism to me. Then there was the whole side bit about playing chess that really added nothing to the story other than to introduce a new love interest and romantic conflict for Felix's mother, and the completely irrelevant "family secret" which were just more distractions.

I really wish the author had just focused on the the main story and developed the relationships between Felix and Zyx and between Felix and Hector further, rather than wasting time going off on all these tangents. It was just way too much crammed into a short middle-grade novel. I'd give the main story a 3.5, but all the distractions drag the book down to a 2.5 for me, and if I had a kid looking for a sci-fi book with LGTBQ characters I would try to find a better one before suggesting this one.

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Review: Warcross

Warcross by Marie Lu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Emika Chen unexpectedly finds herself in the middle of the world's biggest gaming event, working undercover for the game's developer to stop a hacker, which proves to be bigger and more dangerous than she ever imagined.

When I first read the summary for this book it sounded a little like Earnest Cline's Ready Player One, but without the cool '80s pop-culture references, and I suppose it is. They both take place within the context of a worldwide game everyone plays and feature lone teenagers just trying to survive eventually learning to trust and work with others, and involve intrigue, danger, and romance. But there are two key differences: in Warcross the emphasis is on hacking rather than gaming, and there is no great quest for a huge reward at the end, but rather a worldwide team championship and a reward for catching a hacker. And no cool pop-culture references.

The pacing seemed just a little bit off, as the beginning of the story seemed to go on and on, and then the middle ans the "end" seemed a bit rushed. While Emika's character was fairly well developed, I would have preferred more development of some of the other characters and more depth in her relationships with her Warcross teammates. I was also frustrated by the lack of an ending and wish I had known this was going to be a duology before I started reading it. I did not find this book as good or enjoyable as the aforementioned Ready Player One, but RPO was written for my demographic while Warcross was not.

However, I do think many teens and tweens would enjoy this book, particularly fans of Lu's previous books and those interested in gaming, hacking, adventure, and intrigue. An understanding of coding or hacking is not needed to follow the story as no details are given, only vague references, which makes the story more readily accessible to a wider audience, but may be frustrating or annoying to those who do have an advanced understanding of coding. Those who would prefer more details relating to the hacks and code should check out Cory Doctorow's books.

The release date and title of the sequel are currently uncertain, but possibly by the end of 2018 and a speculative title of "Darkcross" has been mentioned on Goodreads.

Marie Lu has written several other YA sci-fi and speculative fiction books, including the very popular Legend series.

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Review: In Over Their Heads

In Over Their Heads by Margaret Peterson Haddix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't quite like this as much as the first book, but I think that's because I'm an adult, not the age it was intended for. I would probably give it a 3, but rated it 4 stars in looking at it from the perspective of its intended audience. And also because it takes place in Mammoth Cave, which is in my home state.

This continues the story of Under Their Skin, in which Eryn and Nick made the shocking discovery that all the adults and older children in the world are really sophisticated robots, including their parents. Not only that, but their step-siblings, Jackson and Ava, are robots as well, but built illegally by their parents and passed off as human. At the end of the first book, the extended family has taken refuge in Mammoth cave, where Nick makes a startling discovery. As the drama continues in the second book, the family is discovered by a local girl name Lida Mae who says her family has lived in and around the caves for generations. As the story continues, the children are constantly having to re-evaluate what the truth is and who they can trust, even within their own family.

I felt like this book dragged a little compared to the first and I got a little tired of the back-and-forth "robots are bad-robots are good" rhetoric, but overall I think there is enough action and suspense to hold a child's interest, especially someone who has a particular interest in robots. I would recommend this for ages 8-12, and for readers who like sci-fi, particularly those who are fans of Haddix's previous Shadow Children and Missing series.

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Summary & Review of Under Their Skin by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Under Their Skin by Margaret Peterson Haddix.  January 5, 2016.  Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.  320 pages.  Ages 8-12.

Summary
Twelve-year old twins Nick and Eryn have had a pretty uneventful childhood.  Though their parents divorced when they were young, it was very amicable and they have been able to remain friends and continue to co-parent together. 

Then one morning their mother announces she is getting married.  Though the twins are only a little surprised; after all their mother and Michael have been dating for a couple of years.  They like Michael, so at first they are okay with the idea, until their mom tells them they are going to move into a new house.  Then she drops a real bombshell:  Michael has two children of his own, Ava and Jackson, that they have never even heard about, much less met, before now.  Even stranger, their mom tells them that they will never meet their new step-siblings, even though they will share a house, just not at the same time.

Nick and Eryn and very perplexed by this strange arrangement, and become intensely curious about Ava and Jackson.  How old are they?  What do they look like?  What kind of things do they like to do?  Why are their parents so determined that they should not meet?  None of it makes any sense.  The twins take advantage of an unexpected snow day resulting in them being home alone to break into their step-siblings locked bedrooms, finding them almost eerily similar to their own.  In one, they find the address to Ava and Jackson's home with their mother. 

Nick and Eryn sneak over to the house in hopes of seeing and possibly meeting Ava and Jackson.  What they end up seeing leaves them shocked and feeling frightened and betrayed.  As they search for answers, what they find turns their world upside down. 

My Thoughts
This is the first of a 2-part sci-fi mystery that is very fast-paced and starts with what seems to be a typical family, but the mystery develops quickly, with some very surprising discoveries.  This book is written in similar style to the author's previous works, and will not disappoint fans of her other books.  I would recommend this for ages 10-12 primarily, though some younger and older readers might enjoy it as well, and those who are fans of science fiction or mystery fans who are open to trying sci-fi.

On thing I found interesting about the story was that an important scene was set in Mammoth Cave National Park, which is in my home state.  What was even more interesting to me was the story behind how the author chose that particular setting.  As it turns out, the author had been invited to visit two elementary schools in the nearby city of Bowling Green (where my daughter's college happens to be), and her visit coincided with a sinkhole opening up under the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green and swallowing up eight classic Corvettes.  This drew her attention to the abundance of caves and sinkholes in the area, including Mammoth cave, and led to her using it in her book. 

Other Books by This Author
Margaret Peterson Haddix has written many popular books for middle grade and young adult readers, both stand alone stories as well as the well-known Missing and Shadow Children series. 

The story of Under Their Skin is concluded in the sequel, In Over Their Heads.

Review of Armada by Ernest Cline

Armada by Ernest Cline, July 14, 2015. Crown Publishers, 368 pages.  Ages teen - adult.

Summary
Zack Lightman has spent much of his eighteen years wishing his life was different.  Not that he has it bad; he has a mom who loves him, a couple of good friends, an easy part-time job where he gets paid to talk about his favorite past-time, gaming.  But despite having a close relationship with his mom, he can't help but wish he had been able to know his dad, who was tragically killed shortly after he was born, and he has always felt his life was dull and mundane and he was destined for something greater.   

As Zack himself puts it, "... ever since the first day of kindergarten, I had been hoping and waiting for some mind-blowingly fantastic, world-altering event to finally shatter the endless monotony of my public education."  An avid sci-fi and gaming fan, he daydreamed about zombie outbreaks, super power-inducing accidents, and most of all, the arrival of little green men.  Then one day, in the middle of math class, he looks out the window and sees a flying saucer!  At first he thinks his eyes are playing tricks on him, but not only does it persist, as he gets a better view he sees that it looks exactly like the enemy fighter ship from his favorite videogame, Armada.  Now he begins to seriously doubt his sanity and fears that he is truly loosing his mind.

Then events quickly unfold that prove the situation to be even more dire, and somehow connected to his father.  Will Zack be able to uncover the whole truth? 

My Thoughts
I do not typically enjoy most science fiction, nor do I expect a lot of it, but I did like Armada.  As someone who came of age in the 1980's, I enjoyed all the references to 80's pop culture, and some of the older sci-fi movies and shows (I confess to being a bit of a Trekkie by marriage).  While it was an enjoyable enough read, I did find much of the story pretty predictable and not really all that original, though fairly well written.  I did feel the long, detailed descriptions of videogame play were boring and found myself quickly skimming past them; maybe gamers would appreciate them more, but they weren't necessary to the story.  I can see this being made into a movie, and it seems it was written with that in mind, as though there are numerous references to pop-culture, the plot does not depend on actual images and clips of many of them, thus making it more feasible to produce without out the licensing entanglements that Ready Player One will involve.

Cline's debut novel was such a hit, very original, well-written and fun, I was afraid Armada would be a huge disappointment.  While I don't think it was as good as his first novel or will have quite as wide an appeal since the first was not typical sci-fi and more of a quest or adventure, I still think it is a decent read.  I would recommend it for anyone who liked Ready Player One, Ender's Game, or movies such as Independence Day, The Day The Earth Stood Still, or the Star Trek franchise.  Also someone into gaming, especially the classics, or other children of the 80's like myself would probably enjoy it well enough.  I wouldn't buy it, but it's worth checking out from the library if you're looking for something to read on vacation.

Other Works by This Author
Ready Player One, a quest for a hidden "Easter egg" in a virtual universe soon has real-life consequences.