Review - The Lightning Dreamer

The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba's Greatest Abolitionist
by Margarita Engle
Date: 2013
Publisher: Harcourt Brace and Company
Reading level: YA
Book type: verse novel
Pages: 192
Format: e-book
Source: Kobo

"I find it so easy to forget / that I'm just a girl who is expected / to live / without thoughts." Opposing slavery in Cuba in the nineteenth century was dangerous. The most daring abolitionists were poets who veiled their work in metaphor. Of these, the boldest was Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, nicknamed Tula. In passionate, accessible verses of her own, Engle evokes the voice of this book-loving feminist and abolitionist who bravely resisted an arranged marriage at the age of fourteen, and was ultimately courageous enough to fight against injustice. Historical notes, excerpts, and source notes round out this exceptional tribute.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Verse novels are one of my favourite discoveries of the past few years.  Historical fiction seems to lend itself well to this style of writing, which is probably why so many of the verse novels I've read have been set in the past.  This book is no exception.  It's about a real girl, an early feminist and abolitionist, who lived in Cuba and helped change attitudes about slavery and marriage.

This book was beautifully written.  I kept highlighting passages as I read, ones that struck me as particularly beautiful or meaningful.  Tula's voice really comes across on the page, illuminating a life in 1820s Cuba that may be unfamiliar to most readers of YA fiction.  I bristled against the 19th-century attitudes that drove her mother and grandfather to want to sell her off like a piece of property, rather than letting her choose her own husband.  Her mother, in particular, was infuriating.  She'd married for love, and then seemed to think that it was up to her daughter to bring wealth back into the family with an arranged marriage!

My only real complaint with this book was the changing points of view.  While most of the "chapters" are told from Tula's point of view, there are a few throughout the book from various other characters.  While I don't have a problem with that in theory, in practice it seemed a little bit odd because there was no difference between the characters' voices.  For example, Caridad (the family's housekeeper) spoke just as eloquently in flowery language as Tula did... and Caridad was supposed to be an illiterate former slave.  But this is a minor quibble and doesn't detract that much from the story.

The historical notes at the end of the book are just as fascinating as the main story itself.  Tula had a very interesting life, one that was probably quite different from many women's lives at that time.  All in all, this is a beautifully written verse novel that should appeal to fans of historical fiction.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4.14 out of 5

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn't

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn't.  There's a mix here; some books I liked, some I didn't:

Basajaun by Rosemary Van Deuren - Oh, how I wish I had put this one down!  I knew it was going to be bad almost from the first page when I saw that the author didn't know how to write grammatically correct dialogue.  But then the plot ended up being so weird (and not in a good way) that I just couldn't find anything to like about this one -- aside from the cover.  I think it was one of the first self-published books I'd ever read... and it made me extremely wary of all others.

Every Day by David Levithan - When the teenagers had an outburst of yelling in a public place, I was immediately reminded of why I hated Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (which I never finished).  I was worried that Every Day's characters were going to turn into shrill, annoying brats... but (luckily) that one incident wasn't representative of the whole book.  I did end up finishing this one, and while I'm not sorry I did, I wasn't that impressed.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling - I'm not the biggest Harry Potter fan.  I really enjoyed the first three books, but after that I didn't enjoy them quite as much.  They got long and bloated, and I felt like there was a distinct lack of editing.  By the time I got to the final book in the series, my rating for each subsequent book had dropped.  It actually took me quite a while to get through HP7... but after reading all the other books in the series, it seemed a shame to leave it unfinished, so I pushed through.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman - This book almost got put down at the very beginning.  I'd been wanting to read it for so long, since the story sounded amazing.  But the incredibly disturbing and gory accident scene almost made me stop.  If I hadn't bought the hardcover, I might've just let this one go.  But I felt like I had to keep reading.  In the end, I was pretty disappointed.

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai - I didn't realize this was a novel written in verse until after I'd downloaded it from the library.  I vaguely remember trying (and failing) to get through a verse novel years earlier.  But, to my surprise, I really enjoyed this one.  Verse novels are now a new favourite of mine.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - In my first year of university, I was assigned this book in English class.  We'd just been forced to read Henry Fielding's Joseph Andrews, quite possibly the most boring book of all time.  I didn't actually read it; I wrote the required essays using Coles Notes.  When we were next assigned Jane Eyre, I'd lost all confidence in the teacher and her book recommendations.  I wasn't sure I even wanted to read this one.  But I picked it up and gave it a try, and was sucked in immediately.  It's now one of my favourite classics.

More Than This by Patrick Ness - The main reason I kept going with this book was because I kept hearing about how great the author was.  I assumed there would be some sort of twist or awesome payoff, and the author would be redeemed.  Unfortunately, that's not the way it turned out.  I very nearly gave up on this one when it took the main character a couple of pages (on my e-book app, anyway) to decide whether or not to go through a doorway.  Sometimes books are just too slow for my taste; this was one of them.  But since I'd gotten a good way into the book before I started having my misgivings, I figured I might as well finish.

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder - I actually quite enjoyed this book when all was said and done.  However, I did get bogged down at one point in the story and lost interest for a while.  I eventually picked it back up again and made it through the ending... and I'm glad I did!

A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine - Usually, I can depend on Gail Carson Levine for a good fairytale-esque story.  However, I think this book is one of her weaker ones.  While the beginning was good, there was a point in the story where everything really lagged and I almost gave up.  I'm glad I didn't, because the story got going again at a good pace and had a decent ending.  While it's not my favourite book by this author, it was still quite enjoyable and I'm glad I finished it.

The Unwritten Girl by James Bow - I read almost the whole book and then took a break of over a month before finishing the last chapter.  I ended up really disliking this one; I'm kind of sorry I spent as much time on it as I did.

In My Mailbox (66)

Bought from Amazon.ca:

Pushing the Limits
by Katie McGarry

"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.

So wrong for each other... and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?  Let me know in the comments!


In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Weekly Recap - May 4-10, 2014

Here's what I blogged about over the last seven days:

Sunday - I posted the contents of my "mailbox".  I got one new book this week.

Thursday - I participated in the Booking Through Thursday meme, where we discussed whether plot or characters are more important.

Booking Through Thursday (27)

Booking Through Thursday asks:

Which is more important when you read — the actual story or the characters? I’ve read books with great plots, but two-dimensional characters, and I’ve read multi-layered characters stuck in clunky stories, and I’m sure you have, too. So which would you rather focus on, if you couldn’t have both?

I think I go back and forth.  At times, a really good character (or group of characters) is enough to hold my interest.  At other times, I just want a really interesting plot.  Right now, I'm going through a "must have plot!" phase.  The last few books that I've read and liked have had fairly strong characterization.  I guess I'm just looking for something with a really good plot right now.

In My Mailbox (65)

Bought from Amazon.ca:

Timebound
by Rysa Walker

When Kate Pierce-Keller’s grandmother gives her a strange blue medallion and speaks of time travel, sixteen-year-old Kate assumes the old woman is delusional. But it all becomes horrifyingly real when a murder in the past destroys the foundation of Kate’s present-day life. Suddenly, that medallion is the only thing protecting Kate from blinking out of existence.

Kate learns that the 1893 killing is part of something much more sinister, and Kate’s genetic ability to time-travel makes her the only one who can stop him. Risking everything, she travels to the Chicago World’s Fair to try to prevent the killing and the chain of events that follows.

Changing the timeline comes with a personal cost, however—if Kate succeeds, the boy she loves will have no memory of her existence. And regardless of her motives, does she have the right to manipulate the fate of the entire world?

What was in your "mailbox" this week?  Let me know in the comments!


In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Weekly Recap - April 27-May 3, 2014

Here's what I blogged about over the last seven days:

Sunday - I posted the contents of my "mailbox".  I got two books this week: one from the library and a freebie from Amazon.

Monday - I reviewed Dream Boy by Mary Crockett & Madelyn Rosenberg and gave it three ladybugs.

Tuesday - I participated in Top Ten Tuesday.  This week, the goal was to suggest books to fans of other forms of media (TV shows, movies, video games, etc.).