Review: Stung

Stung by Bethany Wiggins

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



I read some other Goodreads reviews of this book before I started on mine, and it seems there are only two camps regarding this story: you either really like it or you absolutely hate it.

I don't quite fall into the "absolutely hate it" faction; my feeling about this book is that it's mediocre at best, and that's only if you don't think about it too much. Once you do, the severe flaws in worldbuilding, plot and characterization become blindingly apparent.

The most glaring flaw, for me, is the worldbuilding and backstory. There is a lot of handwaving regarding the science (such as it is); I'm sure even a halfway competent beekeeper could take this story apart without much effort. To wit, as much as I understand it--which probably isn't very well at all, as the backstory of this book does not make sense--bees were in danger of going extinct, so there was genetic manipulation, which resulted in the genetically enhanced bees killing the old bees off, and the gengineered bees' sting spread the bee flu (and with that, the severe suspension of disbelief already required to this point absolutely snaps), and the vaccine created for the flu sent some people into comas and turned others into drooling, Incredible-Hulk style monsters. (Really. I kept waiting for the author to describe the lovely green shade of said monsters' skin.) Oh, yeah, this scenario causes mass starvation and the breakdown of society (which is actually the most believable part of the entire book), and the bee flu apparently kills SEVEN TIMES more females than males, as the ratio of f/m is now 1 to 7.

Seriously, Ms. Wiggins? I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous. It also serves as a gateway to some of the more nasty parts of the book, namely that the surviving women are reduced to sexual objects and breeders, and the men are all turned into sex-starved rapists. (And apparently there are also no gay men and women left in the world.)

There are considerably more problems with the plot and characters (mainly because Fiona Tarsis, the protagonist, veers perilously close to Too Stupid To Live territory), but I don't feel like going on, to tell you the truth. This book is a mess, and it's not even an interesting mess. Some people might like it; there are a number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads, which I don't understand at all. To me, it reads more like a trunk novel, and the author should have left it there.

(Yes, I did change my rating from 2 stars to 1. I thought about the book too much, I guess.)



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Review: Cruel Beauty

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



At another review site I visited recently (and I'll be hanged if I can remember which one), this book was briefly mentioned as one of several retellings of the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast."

I haven't run across another such book as yet, but it would have to be damned good to top this one.

This is a lovely reinterpretation of the fairy tale, with an imaginative setting, great characterizations, and lush prose. It's also a sort of alternate-world fantasy, with a pantheon of Greek gods and myths that are one step removed from our own--see this book's retelling of the Pandora tale as an example. But there are layers here, as you discover throughout the book: layers slowly peeled back to show that neither the setting nor the characters are as they seem. It's a wonderful testament to the author's skill and control of her story.

The book starts out with a humdinger of an opening: "I was raised to marry a monster." Nyx Triskelion was indeed brought up to do just that, and this marriage is (ostensibly) the only hope of saving her kingdom and her people. This fate, which she has known about since the age of nine, obviously engenders a great deal of resentment, both towards the father who bargained with a demon and consigned one of his twin daughters to marry said demon (with the incongruous name of the Gentle Lord), and towards Nyx's sister Astraia, who will live the normal life Nyx will be denied. This plays into the book's title (Cruel Beauty). Nyx has, as she says, "poison in her heart," and this turns into a major plot point.

For a young-adult book, there are some very grown-up themes here. One is realizing there is good and bad in us all, and this doesn't make us monsters; it makes us human. Another is fighting for love and against one's fate. It all adds up to a lovely story, and you should read it.



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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Translators (HBO)

John Oliver knocks this out of the park. Give this man his frakking Emmy now.

Sailing the Ocean Blue Two

A perfect capper to the previous post, via John Oliver.

"Trafficked and robbed and triumphed home again"

This is what we should be celebrating today.

And this is the reason.

There's also this to think about.

That would be rude, to say the least. 

Fortunately, some cities and states are changing their thinking on this holiday, and for good reason. 

And then there are always asshats who are dragging their feet and missing the point. (I usually don't link to Townhall, but I couldn't resist sharing this columnist's colossal stupidity. There isn't enough cheese in Wisconsin to go along with this whine.)

This poem, found here, sums it up very well. 

"You Say, Columbus With His Argosies"

You say, Columbus with his argosies

Who rash and greedy took the screaming main

And vanished out before the hurricane

Into the sunset after merchandise,

Then under western palms with simple eyes

Trafficked and robbed and triumphed home again:

You say this is the glory of the brain

And human life no other use than this?

I then do answering say to you: The line

Of wizards and of saviours, keeping trust

In that which made them pensive and divine,

Passes before us like a cloud of dust.

What were they? Actors, ill and mad with wine,

And all their language babble and disgust.

~Trumbull Stickney

So: Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day! 

They All Fall Down

This is the Ninth Circuit Court's decision striking down Idaho and Nevada's gay marriage bans, issued today.

Judge Reinhardt, who wrote the decision, evidently has something of a sense of humor; one of his footnotes, on page 21, reads:

He also states, in conclusory fashion, that allowing same-sex marriage will lead opposite-sex couples to abuse alcohol and drugs, engage in extramarital affairs, take on demanding work schedules, and participate in time-consuming hobbies. We seriously doubt that allowing committed same-sex couples to settle down in legally recognized marriages will drive opposite-sex couples to sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll. 

Which made me both laugh out loud and shake my head at the stupidity of such an argument. As if many opposite-sex couples weren't already doing all those things.

There's also a very interesting concurring opinion, written by Judge Berzon, starting on page 50 of the 95-page document. He argues that not only do "these same-sex marriage prohibitions fail because they discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation," but because of "impermissible gender classifications," based on "the baggage of sexual stereotypes."

The opinion is quite long, but well worth your time. Hopefully, this will apply to all the other states in the Ninth Circuit....which means that my home state of Arizona will have to wave its discriminatory little amendment bye-bye.

About damn time.