Book: Fruits Basket, Volume 15 by Natsuki Takaya

Publishing: Published by TokyoPop; 194 Pages; Paperback

Goodreads Summary: Yuki’s past finally is revealed! But is it all too much to bear? His sickness takes a turn for the worse, and after Akito reminds Yuki how loathed he is, his will to live might finally be drained… Meanwhile, as Tohru is getting ready to perform in Cinderella, the class decides that they have to rewrite the play. But no amount of revision will prevent Tohru from improvising her loving feelings for a certain someone. Just who is the mystery man?

I think this may be one of my favorite volumes of Fruits Basket.  We learn more about Yuki’s childhood and his connection to Tohru.  You really do understand why Yuki acts the way he does.  I really liked seeing the class play they put on, and some of the trouble they had with it.  Tohru’s really changing: she’s still herself, and in a lot of ways, she’s still the same Tohru we met at the beginning of the series.  But she’s also speaking up for herself a little more, which is great to see.

I, of course, loved the artwork.  And the fan art is amazing too.  I really do like seeing what the fans come up with.

I give it a 5 out of 5.

Book: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Publishing Info: Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing; 335; Paperback

Goodreads Summary: The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child “unwound,” whereby all of the child’s organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn’t technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

This is an interesting book.  I really liked it, but at the same time, I was oddly disturbed, especially when you see an unwinding towards the end of the book.

I wasn’t sure about the book at first, especially with the multiple points-of-view.  By the end, though, it all came together.  And the different narrators worked really well, because it shows different aspects of the society.

The storking laws were really interesting- you can leave your newborn on someone’s doorstep and they have to keep it, unless you get caught.  And the whole idea that you can retroactively “abort” a child- taken directly from the Bill Of Life at the beginning of the novel- is completely interesting and yet so not what I expected.  That at 13, kids can be unwound, and their organs donated to people who need it…it’s amazing that Shusterman managed to come up with an idea like this.

Shusterman has taken issues like organ donation, abortion, and when life should begin and end and written them in a really interesting and easy to understand way.  I can see so many parallels to what’s going on right now, with debates over reproductive rights.  It’s very thought-provoking.

Shusterman doesn’t come out in favor of any one side; he keeps it as middle ground as possible, with unwinding happening between the ages of 13 and 18.  It’s very well-written, and he handles all of the different issues incredibly well and with a lot of care.  It doesn’t feel forced, and not only is the storyline/plot well-done, but the characters are amazing too.

They were very much real, and could be anyone you know.  They had a past, present and future, and not once during the entire novel did I think about how anyone (or anything) was a cliche of some sort.

My biggest complaint was that things ended a little too nicely, and it felt a little out of place.  But at the same time, it definitely set things up for the sequel.  I can’t wait to read it once it comes out this year.  Although the gap of 5 or so years is a little weird when it seems like books in a series come out every 6 months to a year.  It stands well on it’s own, and while you wonder what happens to everyone at the end of the book, it’s also something you can figure out on your own too.

It gets a 4 out of 5.  I really liked the world that Shusterman created, and I really want to know more about the 2nd Civil War.

Book: Spells by Aprilynne Pike

Publishing Info: Published by Harper Teen; 359 pages; Hardcover

Goodreads Summary: Six months have passed since Laurel saved the gateway to the faerie realm of Avalon. Now she must spend her summer there, honing her skills as a Fall faerie. But her human family and friends are still in mortal danger–and the gateway to Avalon is more compromised than ever.
When it comes time to protect those she loves, will she depend on David, her human boyfriend, for help? Or will she turn to Tamani, the electrifying faerie with whom her connection is undeniable?

Spells is an interesting book.  It’s the sequel to Wings, and while it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, it wasn’t completely amazing either.

First of all, David and Tamani.  I don’t like either of them, and I have no clue why Laurel is interested in either of them.  Tamani and David not liking each other got old really fast, and by the end of the book, I totally hated both of them for forcing Laurel to choose between them.  Granted, she didn’t help either, because she kind of led Tamani on, and she wasn’t completely honest with David.  I think it’s cool that she wants to keep her life as a fairie and her life in the human separate, but at the same time, it wasn’t working.  Tamani seems to have some kind of plan…for something, and I’m curious about what this plan is.  I’m pretty sure it involves Laurel somehow.

Tamani and David were really irritating.  Tamani declares his love for Laurel, and it is a little unfair to Laurel, because she is (was?) with David.  She doesn’t remember the time when they were friends, but like I said, she wasn’t helping either.  But at least she realized what she was doing at the end- or least, she seemed to figure out.  For her, though, it meant David needing some time apart, because she snuck off to see a festival.

I liked Avalon.  It was mentioned in Wings that her old house was the gateway to Avalon, and in Spells, we actually get to see Avalon.  It’s not your traditional Avalon, but there are markets, an Academy, and all sorts of other things.  If Avalon were inhabited by fairies, you would end up with Pike’s version of Avalon.  She does incorporate Avalon as seen in Arthurian legend- I’m glad that she didn’t completely ignore it.

I loved the hierarchy of fairies in Avalon, and I really want Laurel to go back so we can see more of Avalon.  I loved the way Pike described it, and hopefully we’ll see more of it in the next book.  The customs, the way of life, and the fact that fairies bloom are really interesting.  She really does know how to make fairies interesting.

It gets a 3 out of 5.  I liked it, but it wasn’t spectacular.

Book: Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Publishing Info: Published by Harper Teen; 294 pages; hardcover

Goodreads Summary: Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful–too beautiful for words.

Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like wings.

In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever.

Wings is another fairy story, and I liked it.

It was a typical fairy novel, in the sense that she’s around 15 when she found out.  She was placed with her “family” when she was 3, so it was nice to see she wasn’t a changeling.  And fairies in this book are more plant-like!  It was refreshing to see such an interesting twist on fairies, instead of going with the stereotypical fairies most books have.  I can believe that fairies are more plant-like, bloom, and have children by pollination.

At first I wasn’t sure about Laurel, because all she did was complain about how she wanted to be home-schooled instead of going to a public school.  As it wore on, she (thankfully) got less annoying.

And no novel is complete with a little love triangle.  I can honestly say that I don’t like either guy.  Tamani knew Laurel before she was placed with her parents, and they were even best friends…before she was given a potion to forget that part of her life.  He was annoying and his focus on her friendship with David got to be really annoying.  As for David?  He wasn’t very developed in this book, and I get the feeling he only wanted to help her because she was the new girl.  Is it too much to ask that at least one of them be mildly interesting?

It gets a 3 out of 5.  I liked the twist on fairies, and it was a pretty easy read.