The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

Hundreds of years in the future, Earth is run by an artificial intelligence. Originally human, turned into an AI in a quest for immortality, Talis took advantage of access given to him by people at the UN and forced the people of Earth to stop fighting wars. First, he blew up cities to get their attention. Then he took the children of all the leaders – the Children of Peace – to hold hostage against their good behavior. If there is war, the children of the leaders die.

Greta, the narrator of Erin Bow’s book The Scorpion Rules, is one of those children. Canada is now the Pan Polar Confederacy, and she is the daughter of their Queen. If the Children make it to the age of 18, they are sent home and new hostages are taken. If their countries go to war, the Children disappear to some unspeakable end.

We see Greta and the other Children her age studying in their classroom and doing chores on the farm. The characters are not particularly well drawn or memorable. Greta takes great pride in maintaining calm and control. The new boy, Elian, does not. He takes pride in defiance and anger, no matter how he is punished. There is much punishment in this book, and torture. The torture is not graphic but it is extremely evocative, and I found it hard to read.

For the most part, the narrative engaged me. Despite my intense dislike of torture scenes, I did feel compelled to keep reading. I often enjoyed the author’s way with words, like in this passage: “Elian reached up and took one of my wrists, stopping the motion, looking me up and down. I’m sure he was trying for as a man looks at a woman, but it came off rather more as an engineer looks at a bridge pylon.” (p. 63 of the advance reader copy). At other times, the language was a bit overwrought ("I closed my fingers around the gun, and rose to my feet like the Lady of the Lake." (p. 173))

The ending of The Scorpion Rules surprised me, and the plot took a few turns I did not expect. There is a love triangle of sorts. Granted, it is an unusual triangle – a girl with feelings for a boy and a girl – but still, can’t we be done with love triangles? That aspect of the plot was so, so tired. Greta also develops strong feelings of some sort for Elian almost immediately – not quite insta-love, but insta-something.

Some cultural references fell flat, like a bad football joke and mentions of the Road Runner.  In his Utterances, Talis actually says, “Resistance is futile.” (p. 26). Also, some scenes were a little too reminiscent of The Hunger Games series. For example, Greta is to be tortured, with coverage sent to her mother by video. The producer, Burr, paces about checking camera angles and noting things on a clipboard. He wants the other Children nearby for reaction shots. This scene reminded me very strongly of The Hunger Games (as did the repeated use of the words “Tick Tock Clock Drop”). But I guess it is hard to write a dystopian teen novel and not be compared to The Hunger Games.

The Scorpion Rules is a first book in a series. It does not stand alone. This is a good thing if you really enjoy it and want more. The ending really left a lot of room for exploration in the next book. I would recommend The Scorpion Rules for readers of young adult literature who aren’t yet tired of dystopian works and also for questioning teens, as Greta is also questioning.

I read an advance reader copy of The Scorpion Rules. It is scheduled to be published on September 22 and will be available in the Young Adult section of the Galesburg Public Library.

Hide and Seek by Jane Casey

I love Jane Casey’s Maeve Kerrigan series, so much that I had to read her Jess Tennant series as well. The Jess Tennant books are aimed squarely at the teen market, the third entry even more than the first. (I somehow missed the second.) There’s a lot of angsty teenager stuff about true love and parents who don’t understand.

Jess Tennant is a kind of modern Nancy Drew.  After her parents divorced, she moved with her mother from London to the small coastal town where her mother’s twin sister lives. In the first book, How to Fall, Jess investigated the mysterious death of her cousin Freya. In Hide and Seek, she is caught up in intrigue around a high school classmate who disappears the night she is supposed to meet Jess at the library to work on a project. Jess finds her classmate’s diary and reads it before the police. She also flirts with a love triangle although she professes to be in love with her boyfriend Will, now away at college most of the year. His father and her mother were in love as teenagers but married others they didn’t love, which ratchets up the angst factor.

Characterization is Casey’s real strength. I would give this book two stars for its predictable and overwrought plot (but five for the writing and characterization). I figured out what was up with the missing girl as soon as I read her diary. Jess’s boyfriend’s father Dan is the local police chief, and it’s ridiculous and unbelievable that he allows Jess to go with him as he investigates the missing girl. The climactic scene with Jess, Will, and Dan in danger is also eye-roll worthy.

But Jess is a compelling narrator, and Casey’s writing compelled me to keep reading despite the plot. The English teen scene feels authentic, as does life in a small coastal English town. The tidy and happy ending was satisfying and I enjoyed reading the book. I think the entire series would be a hit with teens who enjoy reading mysteries. Overall I give this entry four stars. I’ll hunt down the book I missed, Bet Your Life, and read the next book in the series if Casey writes one.

I read a digital galley of Hide and Seek. It is scheduled to be published in August 2015. The first book in the Jess Tennant series, How to Fall, is available at the Galesburg Public Library in the Young Adult section and as a digital book through eRead Illinois.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Positives: strong female lead and a gorgeous cover

Negatives: love triangle and a PROPHECY

Princess Arabella, who prefers to be called by Lia (the shortening of Jezelia, one of her middle names, and this is Important to the plot), is about to be married to a prince she has never met. The book opens with the complicated creation of a wedding kavah, a kind of temporary tattoo, on her back. It is an intricate depiction of her kingdom, Morrighan, joined with Dalbreck, the kingdom of her intended. It will be splendidly displayed by the low-cut back of her wedding dress at the ceremony.

But Lia and her attendant Pauline have made other plans. They escape by horseback to Pauline’s childhood home of Terravin, where they take employment as serving wenches in the inn. Lia shows spunk, handling the crude comments of the soldiers who enjoy the inn’s brew. Then Rafe and Kaden, two handsome young strangers, arrive. One of the older servers guesses they are a fisherman and a trader. But unknown to Lia and her friends, they are the prince she left at the altar and an assassin sent to kill her.

I enjoyed The Kiss of Deception. It is well written and the plot is easy to follow. The world building is solid and the alien words not too cumbersome. The main character is strong and determined. The two handsome strangers have some depth.  But there are some pretty unbelievable plot twists, and the characters do some stupid things. I found the fight and make up scene between Lia and the young man she is most attracted to a bit cringe worthy.

The author keeps secret which young man is the prince and which is the assassin, and that annoyed me. I am certain I would have enjoyed the book more if I’d known earlier. I finally went online to find out (ironically, by reading the description of the second book in the series) long before the author revealed the secret.

The Kiss of Deception cannot stand alone. It is definitely a first book, and I liked it enough that I will read the second book. If you enjoy YA fantasy with strong female characters and don’t mind love triangles, I recommend The Kiss of Deception.