The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson

The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson

Date Started: June 24,2009 Date Finished: June 24, 2009

Summary: May is a shy girl who is used to being tormented by her neighbor and lifetime friend, Peter Camp. She is overshadowed by her older and younger sister, Brooks, and Palmer who are softball superstars. May or her given name, Mayzie, is trying to deal with the death of her father. Her mother is busy working, her older sister is getting caught up into the wrong crowd and her younger sister acting like a zombie and throwing herself into the television and her softball.

Likes: In the end, it is a cute and heartwarming story about a girl who is searching for some closure in her father's death. Each of her sisters and her mother deal with this in their own ways. May turns to her studies and tries to keep up her grades. She has a part time job at the Presto Expresso (like bootleg starbucks), but the only thing she doesn't have is her driver's liscense. Her father's golden Pontiac Firebird sits waiting for someone to drive it and waiting for the closure. What the girls do to honor their father is so cute, beautiful, and sweet. I found myself rooting for them to honor their father the best way they could and I am glad that they figured that out.

Dislikes: One of things that I notice, the same thing that happened with the last Maureen Johnson story is that we never get a sense of who the father, Mike Gold, is or was. All we get is the after effects and how his death affected the girls. I just wished that we got one specific memory that emcompasses Mike which would allow us to see just exactly why his death was so tragic and how the girls became closer and gained some closure.

Overall: I enjoyed this story a lot. One of the great things about Johnson's writing is the vividness of her locations and settings. I can't wait to read the next few of her books, hopefully ones that are not so depressing.

Better Days by Jay Naylor

Better Days by Jay Naylor

Date Started: April 18, 2003 Date Finished:May 29, 2009

Summary: The story chronicles the life of two cat furries, Fisk and Lucy Black, who are fraternal twins. The story starts when they are around middle school aged when love just starts and life lessons are being learned. The story ends when they are adults preparing to take on new responsibilities such as going to college, joining the military, getting married, getting divorced, finding new love, and preparing to start a family. 

 

Likes: There is a wonderful cast of characters that surround Fisk and Lucy. From their shy but loveable mouse neighbor to the different cast of characters that both characters meet as they grow up, the cast is mostly all likeable and if they aren't well liked, it's mostly because they are an antagonist to Lucy and Fisk and prevent them from getting what they want. Even so, the antagonist isn't a character that is just set to play a role, but most often get side stories that center around them. The story has dark themes such as child abuse, date rape, racism, and more -isms and is presented, for the most part, in a tasteful way. The story is well drawn and the furry aspect is actually works for the story. If the characters were humans, I'm not sure I'd find it at as interesting. I suppose the story would just be a little average if they were humans, but the furry aspect (at least for me) always gives something a little more than just an average story. The characters were never really defined as belonging to a specific race (or species for that matter), and that was one thing that I actually enjoyed. Their behavior didn't follow a set pattern of stereotypes and race or species was never an issue, so I never wondered what race they were meant to be, only that they were characters that lived in this world that is like our own, but different.

Dislikes: I kind of don't like the fact that hyenas are the only ones assigned a race. It's not that I was offended by the use of the "n" word, but given that the characters weren't defined by any predetermined race (i.e. Cats are equivalent to White people), it was a little awkward that they would be used as the stereotype. There were also a few storylines that were started, but never completed. If you read the story, you'll see what I mean. It's an awkward storyline that was completed, but never really fully realized or given any sense of closure.

Overall: I've been reading this story since Sophomore year of high school and now I am going to be a Senior in college. Despite its flaws, I enjoyed reading this comic on Mondays and Fridays. I am sad to see it go. The author has stated that he is continuing these characters stories through their children. The new story is called Original Life and I can't wait to read it.

The Far Sweet Thing by Libba Bray

The Far Sweet Thing by Libba Bray

Date Started: May 6, 2009 Date Finished:May 24, 2009

Summary: The story picks up right where Rebel Angels left off. The girls are back from their vacation to London and ready to go into the realms. They meet Pippa and a small group of factory girls who died in a fire. The Tree of All Souls is a mysterious place in the Winterlands, a place that may hold the key to restoring the magic and maintaining the balance within the realms. As Gemma learns to control the magic, she must pay a price for her power.

Likes: I also like the ambiguity of who is on the good side and who is on the side of evil. There are a lot of twists and turns in this book and every scene needs patience and scrutiny to figure out what small clues or minor details are important to the overall plot of the book. Bray carefully weaves in clues, and because we are reading from Gemma's point of view, we might not pick up on them until she does. Gemma's point of view is a refreshing read, it is snarky at times, romantic, and every emotion inbetween. Bray knows how to authentically (in my opinion) represent the many aspects of a girl without making her overly feminine and wispy like some stereotypical female characters or making her an anti-sue that no one can relate to at any level. I liked the relationship between Kartik and Gemma even more in this book. Things start to get pretty deep between them, even if there is a betrayal. Gemma's descent into madness is trippy and insane, but well written and heart pounding. The ending was sad, but bittersweet. It was a little predictable (aside from me reading wikipedia...), but it was well written and enjoyable.

Dislikes: There was a string of coincidences that just seemed entirely too convenient. There were some scenes that could have been cut out, though I'm not entirely sure which scenes those would be, but it would make the book a bit shorter. There are just some points where I wish I could start skimming because some of it is kind of boring to read about. I couldn't tell you which parts where unnecessary because I suppose they fit into the novel as a whole. If you were to dissect the novel apart, it might be easier to tell what parts need to be cut out. Obviously, this is just my personal tastes since I like more action than some of the fluff. During the part with the war between the Borderlands and the Winterlands, there's almost a bit too much going on to focus on just one thing and all the chaos that is going on. I suppose that's what the author wanted, but there are too many characters and too many events going on that it's hard to keep track of.

Overall: This was a fitting end to such a nice and wonderful series. It's sort of hard to end a series that has been going on for so long in a proper manner. It is sort of like Harry Potter, The Ironside Series (or whatever it's called), where it has to end on a pleasant note. You know these characters don't have a "happily ever after", but they are content. Very few people have a fairytale ending due to the choices that we make, the things that are thrust upon us. As they say in the book, you can only move forward.