At the end of the school year, I got the list of the 50 books up for the Truman nominees for the 2020-2021 school year. Over the summer a few people will narrow this list down to 20 ish books, but I decided to go ahead and start reading some of the big list even though over half of the books will not make it to the final round.
I don’t have any radical reason for choosing this book as one of my firsts. The list was sent out in alphabetical order by author’s last name. I went to the bottom of the list to pick my first audio book, and this was it. My plan was to listen while I was on the cardio equipment at the gym. When I first started the book, I saw that the audio was over NINE HOURS. This is longer than the Philosopher’s Stone! I hoped it would be good since I’d be spending a good chunk of time with it.
In all honesty, I struggled through the first part of the book. Young is a truly gifted writer and her story-telling was fantastic, but I always have a hard time when the names of people and places are completely made up. It takes my mind a little time to make sense of it all.
After I got used to all the strange names, I enjoyed the book. I loved how the women in the book were all equals with the men in fighting and in leadership. It also showed how when we stop and really see people, our differences are so small compared to all the things we have in common. I enjoyed seeing the characters change and grow.
A little warning. The book has quite a bit of violence in it, and I feel like it was a little graphic. If I was on the committee narrowing down the books, I think I’d recommend this for the Gateways (high school level) instead simply because of the way Young describes some of the battle scenes and injuries. I audibly said, “EW!” while on the elliptical listening to one of the scenes. I really hope no one thought I was talking about them.
So, I tried to hold it in since I listened to most of the book while at the gym, but…
How much did it make me cry?
Not at allA little sniffle- A couple of tears
A steady streamUgly Cry
Michelle Reads & Writes 