Between the Covers Season 4

 If like me you missed any trailers for this - Between the Covers Season 4 has started. Wednesday night BBC2. I think the first episode  - which had some brilliant discussion - is available on IPlayer, as are episodes from previous series.

A great series if you like book discussion and finding out about new titles which may be out of your genre comfort zone. I just wished they publicised it better.

A link below to the main books for this series:-

Between the Covers Series 4 Books

But I get as much inspiration from the BYOB's (Bring your own books) that the guests bring every week. 

Uma and the Answer to Absolutely Everything - Sam Copeland

(A complete change of pace and style from the previous review.)

 

"Uma Gnudersonn has a head full of questions - then she finds a genius artificial intelligence called Athena who knows everything. Suddenly Uma has the answer to any question she can imagine but Athena's sinister inventor wants her back and Athena will find out that all questions have answers."

This is narrated in the first person by the character of Uma Gnudersonn - she's an engaging narrator - occasionally a little bit snarky, especially about her best friend Alan Alan (yes his first name and middle name are the same) - but you are pulled into her story and see the world through her eyes. She has a great voice - 

"...my English teacher told me that tragedy is very useful in a story,'to get empathy from the reader'. Well, I hope you're full of empathy."

Before I go any further I have to say - there are FOOTNOTES! - which I love. Just little comments on what is happening in the story. Like Easter Eggs for books. There are a lot of alpacas in the book - also awesome - and my favourite footnote is on page 7 - 

"...if you don't like alpacas, then this book probably isn't for you. And if you don't like alpacas, you should probably take a long, hard look at yourself because alpacas are awesome." 

There is even an alpaca fact file at the end!

Back to the review.

We find out early on in the story that Uma's mother has died and that her dad is still grieving. Uma desperately wants to help her dad but doesn't know how. This is an ongoing thread throughout the story. The main story is her finding Athena and discovering that Minerva Industries (who created Athena) have nefarious intentions. So Uma has to save her village, stop Minerva Industries and try and reach her dad in his grief. It's a tall order but with help from Athena, Alan Alan and a pack of alpacas, Uma is going to try.

There is a scene towards the end of the book where we find out more details of what happened to Uma's mother and it did make me cry.

There is some absolutely brilliant description - 

"She had the face of a woman who would eat pizza with a knife and fork." 

And somehow you know exactly what she means.

It is a fantastical story - so if you prefer realism this probably isn't for you. The bad guys are very bad, there's a mineral called bogeymite, there are drunk (and sometimes talking alpacas), though they only ever talk in alpaca. But it's a rollicking read that goes along with it's heart front and centre. It does deal with grief and loss but I think in a sensitive way that feels organic to the story.

(I received a free copy of this book to review)

This Can Never Not Be Real - Sera Milano

 

This Can Never Not Be Real shares the fictional experiences of initially four - Joe, Ellie, Violet, Peaches (then five) teenagers following a terrorist attack on a local festival. What follows is a series of "testimonies" from each of the teenagers as they recall the events of the night and what followed. 

Although Chapter One begins with each recollection headed in the following style -  Testimony of Joseph (Joe) Mead, 17 - and then a brief statement from the character. The following recollections for that character are just headed Joe - which I took to mean it came from a more personal experience of the character hence the emotions and detail rather than legal testimony. There are also a couple of places where there are testimonies from Police Officers - I think just to give you an idea of what is happening on the outside. 

Each chapter has multiple points of view - Chapter 1 has 35 different sections, as the POV changes. You always know which character is "speaking" as the sections are headed with their name. I wish the voices had been a little more distinct but this style certainly helps immerse you in the chaos and confusion of the situation.

It is a harrowing read, there is a trigger warning in the front of the book which tells you "...this story involves  descriptions of violence and the aftermath of violence including serious injury and death. The book also deals with suicide, some discussion of racial and faith based micro-aggressions and negative body image."

I make notes as I'm reading and for page 20 I made the note - "incredibly upsetting, intense and powerful" And I'm not going to lie there was a moment early on where I had to turn to the back of the book to find out what was going to happen to a particular character - otherwise I don't think I'd have been able to carry on. 

I expected to cry when reading this book - which I did on several occasions. I also felt an incredible amount of tension in certain sections and just had to keep turning the pages to find out what was going to happen. I didn't expect to laugh but I did in a couple of places - mainly because of Peaches self-depracating humour.

The story captures a feeling of claustrophobia and fear. The quickly switching point of views mean that you need to concentrate on what's happening because as the reader you get more of a whole picture of what's happening - you realise what happened with the phone on page 89 which might be something that the characters never do.

I didn't think this would be a book that I would want to read again. I know I won't want to read it for a while. But I think it is a book that I will read again because knowing how it ends will add a new depth to the re-read and I found it's themes of listening to the survivors, remembering the victims and not letting fear stop you living powerful and inspiring. 

(I received a free copy of this book to review).

Update

Back to posting again.

Currently reading Uma and the Answer to Absolutely Everything.

I did read in January - but it was a re-read of Ilona Andrew's Sweep Series - books 1 through to 4.5. Just in case anyone was wondering why my book total of the year was so high.

The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh - Helen Rutter

 "Billy Plimpton has a dream to be a famous stand-up comedian when he's older. He already knows lots of jokes but thinks he has one big problem - his stammer."

I'm always a little bit wary when you read high praise on the cover and the inside pages about how fantastic a book is going to be - maybe because I've been let down in the past.

But...

We absolutely loved this - such a brilliant debut. The author perfectly captures the difficulties of starting secondary school, feeling/being different, having to deal with bullying and changing family situations, whilst also trying to figure out how to pursue your dreams and what you want those dreams to be.

The characters are all well written and feel like real people. If you are reading it to or with your child I think this is a book you will enjoy reading. I empathised with the character of the mother - a lot - and there was one scene between her and her son which had me in floods. I had to put the book down for a moment.

Each chapter begins with a joke and they are funny (there should be at least one chapter joke that makes you smile). My favourite is the onion joke at the start of Chapter 21. But Chapter 1 starts with:-

The past, the present and the future walked into a bar.

It was tense.

 - there's also lots of funny moments throughout the book, but also some sad ones too - there were a couple of places where I cried (one of them being the mother moment above). I love when a book connects with your emotions in that way.

I thought the depiction of bullying was well done. The author made it clear that there were reasons but didn't excuse the behaviour. I think this can be quite tricky to get across. 

I really like that Billy isn't perfect. He makes mistakes, he gets frustrated, makes choices - not always good ones - and has to deal with the consequences.

 I could see this as a book that you would come back to again and again. Recommended and I think  it would be especially good for children who are going to start secondary school and are a little worried.

(I received a free copy of this book to review)

Between the Covers Series 3

 Why did I not know this had started? Stumbled upon it by accident when changing channels and have not read any of the books!

Have only just finished Amari and the Night Brothers which is why I haven't posted. Yes it has taken me since August to finish that book. Review coming soon.

All twelve main books from the series have a short description here.

Episodes (and previous series) are currently available on Iplayer.

The Lost Soul Atlas - Zana Fraillon

From the back cover - " For as long as Twig can remember, it's been him and Da - family over everything. So when Twig finds himself alone on the streets, he feels totally lost. That is until he meets Flea, a cheerful pickpocket, who feels like the best friend he never had.

But then Twig wakes up in the Afterlife with just a handful of memories from Earth and one big question...how did he get there?"

I am conflicted about this story. On the one hand some of the writing is beautiful, so well written and eventually I was pulled into the story but on the other hand I feel slightly mis-sold on the fantasy aspect of the book and it's based around the Oliver Twist trope which I don't like.

Firstly, the writing. I think Zana Fraillon has a wonderful knack for choosing phrases that will live with you after you've finished the story. "Fight the forgetting." which is a constant throughout the book. "Impossible is what they say when they don't want you to try." "With a map, anything is possible." It's worth reading the book for the beauty of the language.

I liked how it could have been set anywhere - the reality of children living on the streets didn't require the city to be named - which is horrifying that this is a universal reality. It could have been in any city. Some details do narrow the choices - for example the police have guns and a hotel is referred to as the Highett (Hyatt?) But those details feel incidental to the setting.

It took a long time for me to get pulled into the story - too long really - it was page 252 of a 320 page novel. If I hadn't been reading it for review I would probably have given up before then. But I think that's the point at which I was completely pulled in, all the disparate threads are coming together. The characters felt more alive and it also felt more hopeful, and that things are possible. I wanted to know how it was going to end.

I don't like the Oliver Twist trope (I really can't stress how much I dislike Oliver Twist) which is essentially what you have here in the reality based sections of the book. Twig (the Oliver character) causes things to happen and has things happen to them, but it doesn't feel like he has any agency of his own. You could say that that is because of the circumstances he is in - a child on the streets - but Flea (Artful Dodger) is a much more dynamic and engaging character. I felt for most of the book Twig was a passive character who I wasn't that interested in reading about. 

A lot of the early chapters have a downbeat hook ending. For example - "But neither the boy nor his Guardian would notice. Not until it was too late."And - "I should know by now, that if I really cared for Flea, I should never have wished at all." Basically, something is going to happen and it's going to be something bad. This is perhaps the main reason I found the first part of the book so difficult to get through.

 

I also think if you are buying this for the fantasy aspect of the book, you should be aware that the majority of the story takes place in the real world. Twig is tasked with opening up the Crossings between the Afterlife and our reality, so that when people die they don't forget who they are, as part of this he falls back into his memories of being alive - hence why so much of the book takes place in the real world. This allows the reader to slowly understand what happened to Twig and how he ended up in the Afterlife and combines it with a quest element of opening up the crossings.

As a fantasy reader I was looking forward to seeing more of the dynamics and creatures of the Afterlife, because what we did see was fascinating and unique. As the story is called The Lost Soul Atlas I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that the fantasy elements would play a major part. Instead they are more stepping stones between memories. This is the other reason I found the first part of the book so disappointing. We'd fall into a memory and be there for several chapters, then return to the Afterlife for one chapter before falling into another memory.

Up to page 252 I would give this book a D, and the last 60 or so pages a B because they brought everything together. So I've given it a C which I think is a fair rating.

Overall - it ended up as an okay read from me. Part of me would like to read it again to appreciate how all the story threads fit together, as I said it is cleverly written, but I don't think I could face reading the first 200 pages again. Maybe in a couple of years.

I received a free copy of this book for review.