Review: In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

Title: In Other Lands Written by: Sarah Rees Brennan Published: April 15, 2017 by Big Mouth House (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: “What’s your name?”   “Serene.”  “Serena?” Elliot asked.  “Serene,” said Serene. “My full name is Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle.”   Elliot’s mouth fell open. “That is badass.”  The Borderlands aren’t like anywhere else. Don’t try to smuggle a phone or any other piece of technology over the wall that marks the Border—unless you enjoy a fireworks display in your backpack. (Ballpoint pens are okay.) There are elves, harpies, and—best of all as far as Elliot is concerned—mermaids.  Elliot? Who’s Elliot? Elliot is thirteen years old. He’s smart and just a tiny bit obnoxious. Sometimes more than a tiny bit. When his class goes on a field trip and he can see a wall that no one else can see, he is given the chance to go to school in the Borderlands.  It turns out that on the other side of the wall, classes involve a lot more weaponry and fitness training and fewer mermaids than he expected. On the other hand, there’s Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, an elven warrior who is more beautiful than anyone Elliot has ever seen, and then there’s her human friend Luke: sunny, blond, and annoyingly likeable. There are lots of interesting books. There’s even the chance Elliot might be able to change the world.

Amazing! Seriously, this book was so good and I am glad that I saw someone mention it on Twitter recently because I picked up the audiobook and devoured it.

This book is a creative love letter to portal fantasies that plays with the tropes and turns them in their head. I am a huge fan of fantasies that take the tropes and play with them in a way that feels like a parody and that’s exactly what In Other Lands does. It makes for a book that feels both familiar and unique at the same time. This is a world It’s a world full of supernatural creatures like elves, trolls, unicorns, and mermaids but they are unlike the creatures that they are used to mostly because a lot of them are murderous including the unicorns. I am always looking for a unique magical setting and this book got that bill by simply just breaking with convention in a way that you can tell comes from a place of total affection for the genre.

The biggest shift I think this book makes is it’s hero, or should I say antihero. Because Eliot Schaffer is the farthest thing from a Chosen One as I think is humanly possible. He’s the bookish, sarcastic, and rude secondary character who often gets relegated to comic relief and Sarah makes him the narrator. And I gotta say, I loved that! The voice on Elliot was absolutely amazing and is without a doubt the highlight of this novel. He’s kind of an asshole but he had me laughing out loud so often that I had to make sure I didn’t look like a total weirdo on my train ride home. And Elliot is a great main character in that he’s not very heroic and yet you still root for him. Sarah does a great job with his development throughout the book and by the end he really is very likable. He makes for an amazing antihero and a great main character.

Part of what I think makes Elliot so likable is that the plot of this book is really a coming of age story. It’s got plenty of action and adventure but it’s not a plot-friend narrative. It’s about war, yes, but also how diplomacy and getting to know people who are different from you can solve conflicts. But the real heart of this story is about found family and first love. The love triangle is another trope that Sarah plays with here and she does it in such a brilliant way and with a bisexual main character. Seriously though, it was such a great hate to love slow burn that I found myself wanting to smoosh the characters faces together so my ship would sail. She actually had me rooting for the romance which is huge for me with my cold dead romancephobic heart. But Elliot was enough of a hopeless romantic for the both of us.

Finally, this book was amazingly feminist in the perfect parody of classic fantasy tropes. Usually when you hear people talking about feminist fantasies it’s because there is a kickass female character who shows the men who’s boss. But that’s not what In Other Lands does. Yes, it has a kickass girl but she comes from a matriarchal society that thinks men are the sensitive fairer sex. By flipping our societies treatment of women on its head she is not only drawing attention to the absurdity of it while developing a fantasy culture wholly unique and amazing.

I seriously cannot rave about this book enough. It is without a doubt one of my favorite books I’ve read in 2018. I absolutely loved it and I couldn’t put it down. It’s the perfect fantasy and parody at the same time. It creates a unique and interesting world, populates it with likable and hilarious characters, and takes you on a coming of age story that is disguised as a portal fantasy adventure.

I give In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan 9.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy. This book is definitely worth it. Especially if you, like me, are fans of irreverent fantasies that don't take themselves too seriously and play with the tropes. It's a fun romp of an adventure and I think everyone should read it.

Have you read In Other Lands? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

DNF Mini Review: Tell The Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan

Well, I have had to mark another book as Did Not Finish. I don't often DNF books. I will power through because I can find something redeeming about the book, or I am just pretty good about picking books I like. But every once in a while a book comes along that I just can't power through and am surprised I didn't like. I probably DNF one book every couple months but it's been awhile, since Decemeber, since I DNF'd something.

So as I am on a bit of a weird cycle with my reading and didn't have much time to read this weekend, I decided to to a quick posts to explain my thoughts on the book I shelved as "DNF" this month. Writing DNF reviews is a tricky subject. I don't want to do full reviews on the book because I don't really have a well-rounded enough view on it. But I also wanted to explain why I didn't quite like the books because I try to be really honest here. So I based this post on Nikki at There Were Books Involved's DNF Q+As. This allows me to explain why the book didn't quite work for me without giving a full review. So here you go, my DNF Reviews

Title: Tell the Wind and Fire Author: Sarah Rees Brennan Published: April 5, 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Source: Netgalley (Amazon / Goodreads)                                                                                           Synopsis: In a city divided between opulent luxury in the Light and fierce privations in the Dark, a determined young woman survives by guarding her secrets.  Lucie Manette was born in the Dark half of the city, but careful manipulations won her a home in the Light, celebrity status, and a rich, loving boyfriend. Now she just wants to keep her head down, but her boyfriend has a dark secret of his own—one involving an apparent stranger who is destitute and despised.  Lucie alone knows of the deadly connection the young men share, and even as the knowledge leads her to make a grave mistake, she can trust no one with the truth.  Blood and secrets alike spill out when revolution erupts. With both halves of the city burning, and mercy nowhere to be found, can Lucie save either boy—or herself?   Celebrated author Sarah Rees Brennan tells a magical tale of romance and revolution, love and loss.

How Much I Read:
24% of the e-ARC

Why it Didn't Work For Me:
*exasperated sigh* I don't know. A lot of really small things. I was really excited to read this book when I first heard about. It's a science fiction retelling of A Tale of Two Cities and involves doppelgangers and dark magic. How cool does that sound? And then when I started reading it, I was into it. The world was fascinating, there was a great opening scene with a lot of mystery, intriguing characters. It was going well. But then I just lost interest. For one thing, the world-building became confusing and over-wrought. There was so much exposition and explanation in the first quarter of the book and I was waiting for some semblance of a plot that was coming very slowly.

But I think the big kicker for me was the characters. I just couldn't connect with them. The main character just felt flat and the secondary characters felt grating. I know that one was meant to be funny and sarcastic but he just felt mean. I didn't want to be around them and that's what may have done it for me. I put it down for the weekend and when it came time to go back I just wasn't interested.

Will I Go Back to It:
Maybe. I am kind of curious about the plot. There was some mystery I have theories about and I find of want the know if I'm right but I'm not really sure. I may try the audiobook. There have been multiple instances where I DNF'd something only to love the audio. And this may work in this format because there is a lot of world-building that can help create the setting in a more interesting way. Maybe if I give it a little more time, the plot will kick in and I will be more interested.

Have you read Tell the Wind and Fire? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!