Amelie Wen Zhao: Blood Heir (Blood Heir #1)

Title: Blood Heir (Blood Heir #1)
Author: Amélie Wen Zhao
Genre: Fantasy, 21st Century Young Adult Literature
Published: November 19, 2019
Format: 464p, Hardcover, 9780525707790, $18.99
Source: Purchased
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Themes: Racism, imperialism, slavery and human trafficking, oppression, justice, freedom

Summary:

In the Cyrilian Empire, Affinites are reviled. Their varied gifts to control the world around them are unnatural—dangerous. And Anastacya Mikhailov, the crown princess, has a terrifying secret. Her deadly Affinity to blood is her curse and the reason she has lived her life hidden behind palace walls.

When Ana’s father, the emperor, is murdered, her world is shattered. Framed as his killer, Ana must flee the palace to save her life. And to clear her name, she must find her father’s murderer on her own. But the Cyrilia beyond the palace walls is far different from the one she thought she knew. Corruption rules the land, and a greater conspiracy is at work—one that threatens the very balance of her world. And there is only one person corrupt enough to help Ana get to its core: Ramson Quicktongue.

A cunning crime lord of the Cyrilian underworld, Ramson has sinister plans—though he might have met his match in Ana. Because in this story, the princess might be the most dangerous player of all. (via Goodreads)

Review: My initial reaction to this gem of a book was: AMAZING! Blood Heir is one of only two top reads from my 2019 TBR. It was breathtakingly cinematic, exciting, heart-wrenching, and powerfully moving. The world and characters were multi-dimensional, vivid, and colorful. The message Zhao weaves through this book had me in tears and ready to fight for a better world.

“I suppose we are all heroes in our own eyes, and monsters in the eyes of those who are different” (367).

“I boarded a Cyrilian ship in the hopes that I would find my brother and return home. But when I landed, they took my belongings and my identification papers” (368).

First, Zhao’s writing is extremely cinematic and visual, which is fully fleshed out with deeply emotional prose that highlights the themes she explores related to human trafficking, imperialism and racism, oppression and freedom. Her introspective and deeply affecting descriptions and narration had me fully engaged in the story and fully connected to its characters.

Her character and world-development is rich and multi-dimensional. Zhao has successfully created a fully realized and living world that is diverse with a sense of relatability and realism despite its fantasy genre. The Russian-inspired world presents a full array of cultures, customs, belief systems, and politics that make the conflicts and characters believable.

Zhao is a wizard with pacing and plotting. Blood Heir is action-packed, with an edge-of-your-seat structure that keeps the tension alive and kept me wanting to read on, feeling like I couldn’t stop the roller coaster.

Overall, the thematic exploration of racism, imperialism, and oppression are inspired by real human experience, which provides a very real and heartfelt emotional debut that is inspired by a deep desire for more change and love in the world.

I couldn’t have asked for a better start to this series, and I can’t wait for book two. I highly recommend this.

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Three Contemporary Writers of the Indian Diaspora You Must Read

I am back after a rather unexpected and forced hiatus. I can’t believe I went all of September without posting anything. My job has kept me insanely busy these past months. I haven’t had nearly enough quality reading time as I would like, and what reading I have done has been for work. I need to sort out my priorities. Anyway, I want to offer another concise reading list, this time for fiction of the Indian diaspora, which is one of my favorite genres to read within. It’s also my academic area of expertise. If you haven’t read anything in this genre, start with these three authors–they’re amazing.

3. Tania Malik: Three Bargians
Published: 2014
Purchase: Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books, Indiebound

This is the only book so far by Tania Malik, but it’s one of those rare books that, while reading it, you just know in your heart that it is a significant book. It follows a young man who grapples with the rigid and often unforgiving class system in modern day India. In trying to transcend his very poor, working-class station, he quickly learns how destructive the consequences of attempting to do so can be. Malik addresses such serious social themes as class, social expectation, and more with honesty and sensitivity. The writing quality and style of this volume is masterful. Three Bargains is one of my favorite books of all time; it’s a must-read and a very important one at that.

2. Thrity Umrigar: The Weight of Heaven
Published: 2009
Purchase: Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books, Indiebound

Thrity Umrigar is one of my go-to authors when I’m feeling down, am in a book slump, or need some comfort reading. Her books in many ways are home for me. Umrigar’s novels, most of them, focus on women’s relationships with other women and how we can support and gain strength from honest, true friendship through these connections. These books are a breath of fresh air in a modern society that is quick to pit women against women. For Umrigar, strength and freedom is found in women SUPPORTING women–as we should. These works also explore the deficits of the human experience, the consequences of unrealized dreams, and damaging rigid social and familial expectations.

Some of my favorite titles by Umrigar that you should check out are: The Weight of Heaven, The World We Found, and The Space Between Us.

1. Rohinton Mistry: Such a Long Journey
Published: 1991
Purchased: Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books, Indiebound

It’s sad that such a gifted and important post-colonial writer hasn’t written anything in over a decade. Rohinton Mistry’s Such A Long Journey, Family Matters, and A Fine Balance present some of the twenty-first century’s best postcolonial fiction from the Indian diaspora. His narratives are expertly crafted with completely velvety and enveloping prose. Such a Long Journey, specifically, explores a man who works hard, endures loss and hardship, and through it all remains steadfast in his morality in the face of the oncoming modern world. It’s absolutely beautiful, and I wish he’d write more. He deserves his position as one of the best, and one of my most-recommended.

Honorable Mentions:
Salman Rushdie: Fury, Midnight’s Children, The Satanic Verses
Jhumpa Lahiri: Unaccustomed Earth, The Lowland, The Namesake
Monica Ali: Brick Lane
MG Vassanji: The In-between World of Vikram Llal, The Book of Secrets
Manil Suri: The Age of Shiva, The Death of Vishnu

Salman Rushdie: Two Years, Eight Months, and Twenty-eight Nights

Title: Two Years, Eight Months, and Twenty-eight Nights
Author: Salman Rushdie
Genre: Literary Fiction, Cultural Fiction, 21st Century British Literature, 21st Century American Literature, Fantasy
Source: Publisher in exchange for a review
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: September 8, 2015
Format: Hardcover; $28.00; 978-0-81299-891-7
Pages: 306
Rating: 10/10 (5/5 Goodreads)

Summary: A blend of magical realism, fantasy, history, and epic mythology, Two Years, Eight Months, and Twenty-eight Nights explores the nature of myth, the complexity of religious thought, and the legacy and lingering consequences of one’s past as it bleeds into the present. This is Mr. Geronimo’s problem as he tries to figure out why, one morning when he wakes, his feet no longer touch the ground. The crux of the novel is a love affair between Dunia–a jinni–and a philosopher. The descendants of the jinni spread across the globe and will be pulled into a fight between light and dark, reason and faith.

Review: This book made me swoon for all the right reasons. This is literature at its finest. Rushdie is what every literary fiction writer should aspire to, and this isn’t just because he’s my literary idol. He’s a true master of word-craft.

It’s been five years since Rushdie last released a work of fiction–Luka and the Fire of Life. And it’s been a good solid three years since his memoir, Joseph Anton. So, this is an important release for Rushdie, and readers are long overdue for another epic trek through his postmodern, postcolonial, magical realist goodness. Personally, since news broke that Rushdie was writing a new novel, when he announced a hiatus from Twitter to do so, I hoped beyond hope for something reminiscent of Midnight’s Children or The Satanic Verses, and I was not at all disappointed.

Two Years, Eight Months, and Twenty-eight Nights recalls the epic scope of Midnight’s Children, with its focus on familial legacy and history, and how events from one’s birth can have lasting consequences for the future. Geronimo and Ibn are reminiscent of Saleem Sinai in-depth and development. They struggle, they fall in love, fall out of love, and are completely fallible. Rushdie’s characters are so well-rounded, deep, and emotionally charged that readers will follow them to the end.

Rushdie’s use of magical realism mixed with fantasy suites his discussion of religion and myth; it’s an insightful metaphor of form and style to represent his subject–he crafts a novel about real issues and veils them in the fantastical. It makes for a fun read. Combine this with humor and pop culture, and you have a recipe for a an amazingly superb literary romp.

I will offer a warning for those new to Rushdie. His character development, world building, and thematic focus is deep: we have characters grappling not only with the idea of diaspora, but with myth and religion, and the nature of reason in opposition to blind belief. This is Rushdie’s specialty–insightful themes. He asks us to think and reconsider the very core of our understanding of the world. The use of Jinni and our endearing philosopher in this novel are great representations of this thematic exploration.

This novel is so well-written; the prose is absolutely lyrical and beautiful; the world-building and character development is classic Rushdie; and the themes are thoughtful and important to our time. If you haven’t read Rushdie yet and you want to start, this might be a good starting point for you. It’s a reasonable length and contains everything Rushdie is known for in tasty, manageable bits.

Purchase:
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Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis 2

Title: Persepolis 2
Author: Marjane Satrapi
Genre: Autobiography, Memoir, Graphic Novels
Source: Borrowed
Pages: 187
Format: Paperback; 978-0-375-71466-5; $12.95
Rating: 10/10 (5/5 Goodreads)

Summary:
Marjane’s parents send her to Austria to escape the Iranian Revolution and its new strict and oppressive social codes. Marjane lives, grows, and learns in Europe while she grapples with her identity as an immigrant and modern woman. As she becomes an adult Marjane realizes that she needs to return to her family and Iran to reconnect with and truly discover who she is. What she learns is that borders do not define a person and that what truly defines us is the choices we make and the character we build.

Review: This novel was freakin’ fantastic. It got my migrant studies part of my brain buzzing with excitement. However, the first thing that I love about this text is the art. The illustration style is different from a lot of the graphic novels I’ve read lately. It is much more focused on universality than absolute detail. What I mean by this is that you will notice, particularly with Satrapi’s illustrations of herself, the images convey a sense “this can be anyone and everyone,” that this experience gives voice to anyone fighting marginality and dealing with the migrant experience.

This experience with migration, being an “in-between” in a foreign country, and then returning home and finding you no longer fit in with your homeland is what Satrapi examines in Persepolis 2. In this light, Satrapi’s novel is set against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution, the civil war that ended Iran’s freer secular society and brought on an Islamic fundamentalist state. The loss of freedom to live her life as a free, independent, and cosmopolitan woman is why Satrapi’s parents send her away to Vienna, Austria. Unfortunately, this migration brings its own hardships and subtle forms of oppression. In Vienna, Satrapi navigates various social circles, none of which she belongs to. First, she finds herself in a group of communist-focused youth who she watches espousing the same ideologies that she left behind in Iran. She constantly cycles through friends and living spaces, which is an excellent metaphor for her continual migration though this is true to her real-life experiences.

Eventually, Satrapi feels like she no longer has a place in Europe and decides to return to her family in Iran. When she goes home, she has to learn to become Iranian again, to relearn Iranian customs and new moral codes. She must do all this while trying to be as free as possible in a country that won’t let her be so. Thus, she discovers that she is a foreigner in her homeland and as such a perpetual migrant.

Satrapi’s graphic novel is spare on prose, which is expected in a graphic novel, but what prose is included is focused on the important moments in her life, the things we must know, and what she writes is expertly done, poignant, and full of raw truth and honesty–all while being a bit cheeky about her experiences. This adds a unique voice to Satrapi’s work. Also, through this she retakes power for herself and embraces her cultural heritage. However, in the end, Satrapi must leave Iran again, this time for good. It’s interesting that once one becomes a migrant, one may continue to be a migrant or to at least occupy some in-between space; when putting down roots in another country, she will encounter the struggle with hybridity. It’s a complicated existence and she draws attention to this through a medium that allows her to illustrate in segments to mirror a segmented life. She does eventually come to a sense of wholeness and hope for the future, which in reality she finds.

In all, Satrapi’s Persepolis 2 is a beautiful, fantastic, and engrossing novel that deserves its place in the list of top graphic novels of the 21st century. If you’re looking for a great cultural read in an entertaining format, this is for you. I highly recommend this book.

Purchase:
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Summer 2014 Book Haul, Part 2

Now it’s time for part two of my summer 2014 book haul. You can read part one below, or click here. This is the largest book haul I’ve ever done, and even a day later I’m still shocked that I brought home this many books.

I had to split this post up over two days because the blog entries were getting way too long. I had a total of 17 books and I think in the last post I was able to go through about 9 of them. That means I’ve got 8 to go through today…well actually 7 because I bought two copies of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (and I already covered that). So yeah, I have 7 to talk about today, and they’re all hardcovers.

I still feel so giddy! 😀 😀 On with the show!

Thrity Umrigar: The Weight of Heaven

Title: The Weight of Heaven
Author: Thrity Umrigar
Genre: 21st Century Indian Literature, 21st Century American Literature, Postcolonialism, Cultural Fiction, Literary Fiction
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Rating: 8/10

Summary: Frank and Ellie have suffered the unthinkable: the death of their only child, Benny, to a mysterious and fatal disease. In an attempt to come to terms with their devastating loss and repair their marriage, they move to Girbaug, India, for a fresh start. They end up moving their entire lives, including Frank’s business with HerbalSolutions, a pharmaceutical company specializing in “wonder drugs.” Frank’s big money-maker from India is an anti-diabetes drug made from the leaves of a local tree. This tree is important to Girbaug’s citizens, especially to their traditions and livelihoods and this is destroyed when Frank’s company comes to town. What grows from the tension this blind corporate greed espouses is a downward spiral of native versus empire where Frank will be forced to come to terms with the consequences of his blindness. On top of this is Frank’s growing affections for their housekeeper’s and cook’s son, Ramesh. Ramesh, a boy with so much talent and promise, becomes the repository for all of Frank’s hopes and dreams, those hopes and dreams he lost when Benny died. Additionally, much to Ellie’s horror, Ramesh becomes a replacement for their son Benny. Ramesh’s father watches in horror as Frank begins to Americanize Ramesh, leading to another confrontation that will leave scars across Frank’s and Ellie’s lives. Ultimately, Frank will pay an unimaginable and heartbreaking price for everything.

Review: Umrigar is one of my favorite contemporary Indian authors, particularly because she has a talent for beautiful, lyrical prose and emotional and socially important themes. This novel was no exception. The writing in this novel is superb, and the emotion Umrigar pours into it is real, raw, and beautiful. I had only a couple gripes and most of them have to do with Frank’s character; he is exponentially selfish and short-sighted when it comes to how much his actions hurt not only his wife, but the villagers whose lives his company has ruined. I could not bring myself to like him. Moreover, there seemed to be an underlying “white devil” critique aimed at Frank portrayed through the abundant chastisement he endures from the citizens of Girbaug. It seems Frank can do nothing right (except for one gesture he does for Ramesh and his father toward the end, but a part of me thinks it wasn’t altogether altruistic), but this, I feel, is due to his selfishness; losing his son has destroyed the “good Frank” from before. This novel develops to be quite the postcolonial work. However, all of this, and particularly my dislike for Frank, has nothing to do with the quality of this book; the two are not the same. I believe the mark of a good book is that it makes you feel strongly about anything, even if it is hatred for a certain character, because that is how life is. The Weight of Heaven is a reflection of this, and Umrigar does it well. Overall, this is an excellent book, and like all of Umrigar’s work it is extremely engrossing, well-written, and a fast read; I recommend it.

NoViolet Bulawayo: We Need New Names

Title: We Need New Names
Author: NoViolet Bulawayo
Genre: Literary Fiction, 21st Century African Literature, Postcolonial, Cultural Fiction
Source: Personal Copy
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 10/10

Summary: Darling and her friends run through the streets of their shantytown, Paradise, in the rural outskirts of Zimbabwe. Struggling to survive and retain a sense of childhood while growing up in poverty, she and her friends take to stealing guavas from around the area. The children and their families weren’t always residents of Paradise, however. Many of the families were forced out of their middle-class lives in the midst of the nation’s incessant political party maneuvers. This forms the backdrop of this novel–these children, born in a free and independent Zimbabwe, struggle in their post-colonial space for identity and a future. This is the issue Darling is symbolic of.

Review: Oh. My. God. Y’all. What do I say about this book? What? I can really only think of one word to describe this book: AMAZING! It’s been so long since I’ve read a really insightful and enjoyable postcolonial novel. What’s really impressive is that this is Bulawayo’s first book, and she has already won numerous awards for it–she’s already nabbed a PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction. What an honor! It would also make an excellent candidate for the Booker Prize. I had no idea that when I grabbed this at Barnes & Noble that it would be such a wonderful book. I was drawn to the title, the author’s name, the summary inside, and I like the colloquial style Bulawayo uses to craft her narrative, but…wow. The book surpassed my expectations. I never wanted this story to end, but at the same time I couldn’t wait to finish it because I need to talk about. I.NEED.TO. It’s SO good.

Thrity Umrigar: The World We Found

Title: The World We Found
Author: Thrity Umrigar
Genre: 21st Century Indian Literature, 21st Century American Literature, Literary Fiction, Cultural Fiction, Women’s Literature
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Rating: 10/10

Summary: Laleh receives word from her best friend, Amraiti, from college that she has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor–she has been given six months to live. It is her friend’s dying wish to see her three best friends from college again. Laleh, who still lives in India, with this devastating news, takes up the task of contacting and reuniting the group and taking the trek to America to visit Amraiti.

However, twenty-five years have passed since the women, Laleh, Nishta, and Kavita, once cultural revolutionaries, have talked to each other, and they soon find out how much they’ve all changed–yet in their love and devotion to each other, has not changed at all.

The journey they each take to get to Amraiti teaches each woman a valuable lesson about herself, her strength, and the world and people around her. Kavita must learn to accept herself as she is in her homosexuality amid a modern yet still conservative India–as her friends did a long time ago. Nishta must find the strength to fight her way out of an oppressive marriage, from a man who is no longer the man she married from college. Finally, Laleh mist learn to accept and be thankful for the family, husband, and life she has, one of comfort and privilege.

In the middle of this there is Armaiti, struggling to live the remainder of her life on her own terms in the face of hopelessness, all the while coming to understand and reacquaint herself with the beauty and magic that exists in this thing called human life. Rounding out this story is the one last revolution they all participate in: they all become better people; they are true, loyal, and after twenty-five years they love each other.

Review: This was perhaps the fastest read I’ve ever done–I finished the bulk of this book in two days. That’s a record for me. This goes to show how deeply moving, engaging, and well-done this book is. It is what Thrity Umrigar does best and is why she is one of my favorite authors. This book is tragic in its central themes, but the love, togetherness, and the resilience in human strength makes this novel deeply and exquisitely beautiful.

Yes it is well-written, and Umrigar is a master at crafting imagery and narrative that sparks real and tangible emotion. The scenes between Amraiti and her daughter, in the midst of their pain, made me want to pull my own mother close to hug her. The moments between Laleh and her husband made me want to kiss my own significant other. Nishta’s and Kavita’s battles for freedom were my own. In the midst of all of this, I came to recognize the need for change in a society still stuck on tradition starts when we change ourselves, individually. That’s where we find the strength of our character.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. If I could force you to read it, I would. After finishing it, I felt like I was saying good-bye to a friend. Amazing.

Purchase:
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Jhumpa Lahiri: The Interpreter of Maladies

Title: The Interpreter of Maladies
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
Genre: Literary Fiction, Short Stories, 21st Century Indian Literature. 21st Century American Literature
Format: Ebook and paperback
Source: Personal Copies
Rating: 10/10 families struggling to find a place in a nation not their own

Review: There isn’t any real way of summarizing this book since it is a collection of short stories, but each story bound in this beautiful and poignant collection deals on some level with the same cultural themes: displacement, the struggle to assimilate and find oneself in the midst of migration, family, love, and marriage. All the stories are equally thoughtful and Lahiri is able to reveal her characters’ inner struggles and triumphs with a discerning eye and elegant prose.

Jhumpa Lahiri: The Namesake

Title: The Namesake

Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
Genre: 21st Century Indian Literature, 21st Century American Literature, Cultural Fiction, Postcolonialism, Postmodernism, Literary Fiction
Source: Personal Copy
Format: Paperback

Rating: 10/10 Copies of Nikolai Gogol’s bibliography

Review: Jhumpa Lahiri’s bookclub favorite, The Namesake follows the lives of the Ganguli family as they immigrate to America from India. When the Ganguli’s first son is born, they name him Gogol after Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol in memory of a tragic memory Mr. Ganguli possesses. This act refects the connection of the past and old way of doing things (the Ganguli’s lives in India) to the future and new way of doing things (their new lives in India); this is also a fusion of East and West in Gogol. What’s more, Gogol grows to hate his name as he tries to shake off his Indianness in an attempt to become more “American.” What ensues is a journey Gogol must take to understand, accept, and be proud of his identity and heritage.