Book Review: Nomansland

Title: Nomansland

Author: Lesley Hauge

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company LLC

Genre: Dystopian/Speculative Fiction

Page Count: 243

Rating: 4 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4.5 out of 5. I really like this cover--the horse, girl, and bow/arrow all fit the book.

Inside flap:

Sometime in the future, after wars and fires have devastated the earth, a lonely, windswept island is populated solely by women. The women have survived against all odds by working hard in the fields. Their lives are tough.

   Among these women is a group of teenage Trackers--expert equestrians and archers--who are in training to protect their shores from the enemy. The enemy, they've been told, is men.

   When these girls come upon a partially buried home from the distant past, they are fascinated by the strange objects--high-heeled shoes, teen magazines, makeup--found there. What are they to make of these mysterious things, which introduce a world they have never known? And what does it mean for their strict society where friendship is forbidden and the rules must be obeyed--at all costs?

My expectations: I'm all for strong women and independence with regards to the female gender--so I was intrigued by the blurb, although I wasn't sure what to make of the "high-heeled shoes, teen magazines, makeup" part of it.


I found this an interesting book, meeting my expectations.

About the book: This book is a view of feminism taken to the extremes--with no men in the society at all, and the women are isolated and worked hard to support the community. They all have their different areas--the main character, Keller, is a Tracker trained to protect the borders of Foundland.


It wasn't really a book about women being strong/independent--it was dark and occasionally disturbing, and some the thoughts presented surprised me. For example, Ms. Windsor ***Minor spoilers here, nothing really serious*** believes that the Bible is all about subduing and presenting women as evil and seducing men--and that women were abused and treated badly when they tried to please men by dressing up/using makeup/etc.


To keep the society going, "Committee" members force the girls and women into artificial insemination. The "Seed" is described as being a painful and gruesome experience. The male children are taken away; it never explains what happens to them.


As for the the writing, it was strong. I liked the narrative, and I could picture the bleak world they lived in well.

• Plot:

I could predict some things that happened, but that doesn't mean it was weak. The plot was very good overall, and there were some surprises. The ending was satisfying enough, and lived up to the rest of the novel.

• Characters:

I didn't know what to make of Keller. Sometimes she seemed like a determined person, and other times she was dragged along with the rest of the crowd, not really thinking for herself--I did not like her generally, but she was an interesting character to read about.

Laing wasn't sensible. She was desperate for attention, and popularity, and I much preferred Keller over her--however, she was an interesting representation of a kind of person from modern society.

Ms. Windsor was a scary person, and complex. She wasn't evil, precisely, just blinded by her opinions. And her opinions were extreme, going to the farthest end of feminism and women that you can go. I didn't like her, either, but she was a terrifying person to read about.

There are no characters that I really enjoyed--they all have their sides, some ugly, some dark, some noble, some twisted. But despite that I couldn't really like any of them, each has their own personality, which I appreciated.

• Setting/Elements:

There are aspects to it that are thought-provoking (I know, overused phrase, but it's true) and it brought some interesting ideas on society and women.

The world was intriguing--I wanted to know more about it. It seemed like a rough environment, and I wonder where it was corresponding to current locations/countries; there were remnants of a "Time Before" that was clearly like the modern era.

Other: The descriptions of the "Seed" were disturbing; there's also violence, some language, cruelty, and references. It's not a very light read.

Do I recommend this book? Yes, if you want an interesting read on another perspective of women, and what it might be like in an all-female society.

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: She Thief

Title: She Thief (called Two Good Thieves originally--I like this title much better)

Author: Daniel Finn

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Genre: Speculative/Dystopian Fiction

Page Count: 297

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Perfect for the book, and I love the collage-style format. The images they used for it match the book really well, too. Also, the color theme matches the feel of the novel. (I don't know why, but my copy has a few different images on it--maybe it's just a UK vs. US thing, but I can't find the right one anywhere . . .)

Inside flap: 

The girl, Baz, and the boy, Demi, are master pickpockets. They weave through rich neighborhoods to slip bags off shoulders and wallets out of pockets before disappearing into the crowd. Their loot goes to Fay, who runs a gang of child thieves from her den in the Barrio. This sweltering slum--in a city that is imagined but all too real--is what passes for home to the kids, and Fay is what passes for family.

That all changes the day Demi steals a magnificent blue ring. Soon, the police chief and the Barrio's crime lords close in on Fay, and she begins to break under their pressure.

Baz has never doubted Fay beore. She's never been apart from Demi, either. But soon, Baz is left alone to find her way through a world more corrupt than she's ever realized. Here, the lives of children are thrown away without a moment's hesitation. Here, the rich and powerful are just thieves on a larger scale. And somewhere in this wreck of a city, Baz must find the scraps of hope, the small acts of kindness, and the steely strength that will take her back to Demi and wash them away from the Barrio for good.

My expectations: Mixed. I thought Baz and Demi would have some sort of romance going on, which I wasn't expecting to be too good, but I liked the idea of pickpocketing and trying to make a living in such a place as the Barrio.

It exceeded my expectations by far.

About the book: There is not, in fact, any romance going on between Baz and Demi; they're more like very close siblings (although they aren't actually brother and sister) who can understand each other very well and get along as a team. They were perfect for each other, and the friendship, despite its ups and downs, was strong and dependable. This part of the story was well-written.

In fact, the entire book was well-written. The world that Finn creates is amazing, the characters are diverse, and the atmosphere of the Barrio and the city really puts you there racing along with Baz and her fellow thieves.

I love the way her wrote it, too. The language flows differently from a lot of novels; for example:

"What!" He pulls a face like she's just told him he's got to jump to the moon. Demi can't say anything or think anything unless he can double its size.

It's a wonderful change. You'd have to actually read the book to really get the feel of the writing, but it's excellent.

• Plot:

Very good. It wasn't too fast, or too slow, like some books are. The stakes of failing to steal successfully always loomed, the threat of going to "The Mountain", basically a slave-labor place for criminals (including children) kept the tension, and the ending was very fulfilling.

• Characters:

I loved Baz. She was strong, quiet, determined, and smart. I was cheering for her the whole time.

Demi was a good counterpart to Baz; less cautious, but also smart and a very good thief, I loved him as a character as well.

Fay. I didn't particularly like Fay, but she was a good character. She had diversity, dimensions, and personality.

The other characters were also good characters.

• Setting/Elements:

The Barrio has a lot of parallels to our world; poverty, thievery, crime, abuse. It's the darker side of humanity, and also the hope that keeps people alive.

Other: There is what they call on movies "thematic elements", or, in this case, what I mentioned above. There is little or no language (I can't remember that there was anything) and some violence.

Do I recommend this book? Yes. Absolutely. Go for it. Search it. March forth demand it from your librarian.

*Note: I made the cover image bigger than I usually do; do you like the cover big, or do you prefer it smaller?*

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: Going Bovine

Title: Going Bovine

Author: Libba Bray

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Genre: ?? I've seen it called Fantasy, YA Speculative, Adventure, Surrealdark Comedy, it could probably be called Paranormal, the NYT said she smashes the genre and grinds the tiny pieces into the sidewalk. So. You decide.

Page Count: 480

Rating: 5 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4 out of 5. Cow+gnome=perfect. I like the black too. The font's a little big, but they did get the author's name right. Bold, small, and at the top. It's visible, but it's not dominating the picture.

Inside flap:

All sixteen-year-old Cameron wants is to get though high school--and life in general--with a minimum of effort. It's not a lot to ask. But that's before h's given some bad news: he's sick and he's going to die. Which totally sucks.

    Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure--if he's willing to do in search of it. With the help of Gonzo, a death-obsessed video-gaming dwarf, and a yard gnome who just might be the Viking god Balder, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America of smoothie-drinking happiness cults, parallel-universe hopping physicists, mythic New Orleans jazz musicians, whacked-out television game shows, snow-globe vigilantes, and disenfranchised, fame-hungry teens into the heart of what matters more.

My expectations: High. I really, really liked The Gemma Doyle Trilogy, and Going Bovine did win the Michael L. Printz Award.

Despite that, it still managed to exceed my expectations.

About the book: It is EPIC. Everything is covered Going Bovine, it seems like. Death, life, love. How to live, why we're here, what's actually real. Plus, this book is funny and the characters are some of the best in a single book. It's very, very satisfying overall and I'm struggling here to think of a really weak spot.

The reason for the title? Cameron Smith has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, also known as mad cow disease, only it's the human version. It's incurable. He starts hallucinating--or so he thinks. Fire giants, angels, flames, all caused by what the doctor tells him are prions.

When I finished this book I had to meditate on it for a while. I do that for books that have really, strongly struck a chord with me, and believe me, this book did that. It was excellent.

• Plot:

Hallucinations allow for some pretty amazing events to happen. This is one wild ride, from start to finish, and the situations they get themselves into are crazy. In the good way. It's a bit like The Hitchhiker's Quartet, only this time, Cam's set to die from the disease.

The ending is great. For a second I was thrown, and then the book just ended. It was abrupt, but I loved it.

• Characters:

Cameron Smith is a jerk. But he's a lovable, dying jerk who's trying to figure out the insane situation around him and gets a little less-jerky as time goes on (I said a little). He wasn't one of my favorite characters, but he was perfect for the story. Stubborn, fiesty, and just willing to believe the crazy things Dulcie tells him.

I loved Dulcie. Go, punk rock angels! Her spunk, her attitude, her attire. Fabulous. She's strong, too.

Gonzo is, as it says in the synopsis, death-obsessed. If not death, health-obsessed. Fish? Poisons! Hotel room? Germs! Spot on his lung? Tumor! He takes everything to the extremes, but he was a good character.

Balder. Poor Balder, forced into clothes as a garden gnome and made to pose with passing tourists. He was a funny little gnome; I liked him.

There are plenty of other characters thrown in, and at a variety of places; they were all well-written.

• Setting/Elements:

I LOVED the science aspect. 'Cause how many YA fiction books have physics in them? The Copenhagen Interpretation? Shrodinger's Cat? Parallel universes? Accelerators? Awesomeness, people. The scientists were depicted as being a little weird and maybe just a tad insane, but it wasn't a total stereotype.

The whole Cretzfeldt-Jakob disease thing is interesting; I hadn't known there was such a thing before, but I guess there is. I liked the way she put it into the story; is just the disease, a hallucination, or is it real?

Other: Language, drugs. There are a lot of drug references, and it mentions several times that Cameron has been "stoned" in the past. With the language, it's put in like it would be in a teenager's mind; seekers of really clean literature beware. There's also drinking/smoking, and some sex.

Do I recommend this book? Yes! Absolutely, and to people who read a wide range of genres.

(You have GOT to check out the site for the book, watch the interview, read about Putopia, and all that other good stuff: Going Bovine Website)

-----The Golden Eagle