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| Image from author's website |
First of all, thanks so much for having me—and for giving me such a great topic to write on.
I think young women are playing a totally kick-ass role in dystopians today and I am absolutely thrilled to see that this is so. I’m sure this is helped along by the fact that so many strong, wonderful women are writing dystopian novels right now, so of course they are creating strong characters of both sexes who meet challenges instead of shrink from them. But I also think that the female, dystopian heroine is simply, finally, having her day. We’ve read/seen dystopians with male heroes (Anthem, Brave New World, 1984, Star Wars) for decades and while I love them, I do think it’s kind of fun to see things from an alternate perspective, as well. With that in mind, I thought I’d make a list of my favorite female dystopian heroines of the last few years, and see what you guys thought of it
- Katniss from the Hunger Games—This, I’m sure, is no surprise to anyone. Here’s a girl who has never aspired to be a revolutionary, never aspired to do anything more than keep her family safe, who somehow manages to survive the most dangerous competition on earth. And, not only to survive, but to somehow find love in the midst of a society gone terribly, terribly awry. Though I’m a Gale fan, I still admire everything Katniss is able to do, as well as her ability to see that the new government was leading them right back down the same path that was taken by the government she’d worked so hard to bring down.
- Saba from Blood Red Road—Like Katniss, Saba isn’t your typical YA female character, but I fell in love with her in the first chapters of the book. She, too, never meant to be a hero. She sets off to find her twin brother, who was kidnapped right in front of her, and along the way she learns a lot of truly terrible things about the world in which she lives. And while she doesn’t deliberately set out to change them—her quest is to find her brother—she can’t overlook the bad that’s happening and changes things anyway. She’s strong and smart and, like Katniss, above all a survivor in a world that could so easily crush her.
- Beatrice from Divergent—I, like a lot of others, love Beatrice. She’s brave and smart and strong and insecure and scared and determined all at the same time. What’s not to like? But seriously, she’s a really interesting character, one who—like the others—does what has to be done no matter the personal cost. That’s a thing in my mind, the ability to set self aside in order to do what’s right, even if it means you end up dying .
I love these three heroines and think they are exceptionally strong, well-written characters and I really enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) reading about them. But when I wrote Pandora, my main character in Doomed, I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted there to be nothing textraordinary about her at the beginning of the book—I wanted her to be just a regular girl who is thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Katniss was always incredible with a bow and already knew how to survive in bleak circumstances. Beatrice was Divergent. Saba was incredibly strong. But what would happen if a girl who really was just completely ordinary, who lived in the world we live in today, ends up thrust into a major quest to save the world as she knows it. Would she rise to the occasion? Would she falter? What mistakes would she make?
The great thing about women in Dystopian stories today is there is no one, right character. Authors have created all kinds of different worlds and all kinds of different heroines to live in these worlds. As a reader and a writer, I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Thanks again to Tracy for taking the time to post here! Here's where you can find her on the web:
Tracy's website
Tracy's blog
Tracy on Twitter
Beat the game. Save the world.
Pandora’s just your average teen, glued to her cell phone and laptop, surfing Facebook and e-mailing with her friends, until the day her long-lost father sends her a link to a mysterious site featuring twelve photos of her as a child. Unable to contain her curiosity, Pandora enters the site, where she is prompted to play her favorite virtual-reality game, Zero Day. This unleashes a global computer virus that plunges the whole world into panic: suddenly, there is no Internet. No cell phones. No utilities, traffic lights, hospitals, law enforcement. Pandora teams up with handsome stepbrothers Eli and Theo to enter the virtual world of Zero Day. Simultaneously, she continues to follow the photographs from her childhood in an attempt to beat the game and track down her father, her one key to saving the world as we know it. Part The Matrix, part retelling of the Pandora myth, Doomed has something for gaming fans, dystopian fans, and romance fans alike. (From Goodreads)
Best Bits: This book was a thriller! The book begins on Pandora's birthday, and the rest of the story spans the country, and two realities (the second being the virtual world of Zero Day). I wasn't sure whether it was going to work to have a portion of the story take place in-game, but it did. Not only did the game emphasize the ultimate message behind the virus, but it also helps her understand exactly who is behind it. Although I knew there would be some tension regarding a love triangle, I was glad that it wasn't too long into the book where the reader is clear on who Pandora will choose (see my nit pick below). As many readers of this blog know, I'm a bit tired with this trope. It was nice to have a simple, non-dramatic conclusion to it. The end of the world does take precedence over dating, after all. Deebs also does a good job showing the severity of the worm. Sure, at first it didn't seem like much was wrong. As chaos and fear begin to take over, so does violence and crime. It put urgency behind Pandora's quest, and that kept me flipping pages.
Nit Picks: My nit pick for Doomed is related to one of the stepbrothers who end up helping Pandora navigate Zero Day (called Pandora's Box in my galley edition). Eli, although very useful throughout the story, also seemed to invade Pandora's personal space. Now, this doesn't happen all the time, and Pandora does struggle at the beginning of the book about whether she's attracted to him...but in one scene at a motel he is supposed to be keeping watch and ends up falling asleep in bed with her.
Doomed
By Walker Books
Published by Bloomsbury USA
480 Pages
Received for review
Rating: A
As many readers of this blog know, I am obsessed with fairy tales. Movies, TV shows, books...I love it all. In honor of that, I thought I would host a giveaway for some of my favorites!
There will be two rafflecopter contests, the first is US only and is clearly marked. The second will be international as long as The Book Depository ships to your country!
The Prizes:
US ONLY:
Once Upon A Time: The Complete First Season
Plus, three books from the list below!
INTERNATIONAL:
Three books from the list below shipped to you from The Book Depository!
THE LIST
THE WIDGETS
a Rafflecopter giveaway
International -
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I discovered that Debz Bookshelf is hosting a
Fairy Tales Retold challenge for 2013, and since I used her Goodreads list to gather ideas for the prizes, I thought I would link to her. If you love fairy tales, consider heading over to check it out!
Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme shares the upcoming books that I'm most excited about.
Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay
In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret...
In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.
Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.
As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love. (From Goodreads)
Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Release Date: July 23, 2013
When Mallory discovers that her boyfriend, Jeremy, is cheating on her with an online girlfriend, she swears off boys. She also swears off modern technology. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in 1962, Mallory decides to "go vintage" and return to a simpler time (when boyfriends couldn't cheat on you online). She sets out to complete grandma's list: run for pep club secretary, host a dinner party, sew a homecoming dress, find a steady, do something dangerous. But the list is trickier than it looks. And obviously finding a steady is out . . . no matter how good Oliver (Jeremy's cousin) smells. But with the help of her sister, she'll get it done. Somehow. (From Goodreads)
Best Bits: I absolutely loved the premise of this one. I have certainly had my moments where I'd like to throw my phone away and swear off the internet. Sadly, unlike Mallory, I'm not brave enough to go through with it. This technological ban occurs after she discovers her boyfriend has an online girlfriend in a role-playing game, and declares that she's had it with all the calls/texts/internet drama that comes afterwards. Another favorite: Oliver (Mallory's ex-boyfriend's cousin). He's old-school dreamy. He sings her songs, calls her on the landline, and says criminy. What isn't to love? Ginnie, Mallory's sister, is awesome, too. She has her own things going on in her life, but it's great when she ensures that Mallory sticks to her vintage life by removing certain contraband items from her room.
Nit Picks: The hardest thing for me was getting involved in all the various side-stories. Things are happening with her grandmother, who inspired the vintage lifestyle, and her parents are arguing. Not to mention continued drama with Jeremy at school, a budding romance with Oliver, and completing the list she's created to have an excellent Junior year. It made it a little hard to invest in each story. I wanted to learn more about what was going on with her grandmother, cared less about her parents. I probably shouldn't admit this, but I didn't like Mallory's mother at all. Even after she was redeemed at the end of the book, I had no sympathy for her.
Going Vintage
By Lindsey Leavitt
Published by Bloomsbury USA
320 Pages
Received via Netgalley for review
Rating: C
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