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Above
IRIDESCENCE.
I read that word in one of Atticus's thick old books once. When I went to Jack to ask what it meant, he held his hands out and they glowed so gentle I thought they might kiss the air, and since that day I wanted a place that was iridescent, that lit without burning. Being in love is sort of like that, when it's real. When it's true.
Matthew has loved Ariel from the moment he found her in the tunnels, her blond hair shining and her bee’s wings falling away. They live in Safe, an underground refuge for those fleeing the city Above--as does Whisper, who speaks to ghosts, and Jack Flash, who can shoot lightning from his fingers.
But one terrifying night, an old enemy invades Safe with an army of shadows and only Matthew, Ariel, and a few friends escape Above. Forced to survive in the most dangerous place he can imagine, Matthew strives to unravel the mystery of the shadows' powers and Safe's own secret history. For he knows he must find a way to remake Safe--not just for himself and his friends, but for Ariel, who's again faced with a life she fled, and who needs him more than ever before.
I read that word in one of Atticus's thick old books once. When I went to Jack to ask what it meant, he held his hands out and they glowed so gentle I thought they might kiss the air, and since that day I wanted a place that was iridescent, that lit without burning. Being in love is sort of like that, when it's real. When it's true.
Matthew has loved Ariel from the moment he found her in the tunnels, her blond hair shining and her bee’s wings falling away. They live in Safe, an underground refuge for those fleeing the city Above--as does Whisper, who speaks to ghosts, and Jack Flash, who can shoot lightning from his fingers.
But one terrifying night, an old enemy invades Safe with an army of shadows and only Matthew, Ariel, and a few friends escape Above. Forced to survive in the most dangerous place he can imagine, Matthew strives to unravel the mystery of the shadows' powers and Safe's own secret history. For he knows he must find a way to remake Safe--not just for himself and his friends, but for Ariel, who's again faced with a life she fled, and who needs him more than ever before.
363 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2012
69 people are currently reading
13278 people want to read
About the author
Leah Bobet
38 books287 followersI drink tea, wear feathers in my hair, and plant gardens in back alleys.
My first novel, Above, was shortlisted for both the Andre Norton Award and the Prix Aurora Award, and my second, An Inheritance of Ashes, was the winner of the Prix Aurora Award, the Copper Cylinder Award, and the Sunburst Award; an OLA Best Bets Selection; and shortlisted for the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Award and the Cybils.
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My first novel, Above, was shortlisted for both the Andre Norton Award and the Prix Aurora Award, and my second, An Inheritance of Ashes, was the winner of the Prix Aurora Award, the Copper Cylinder Award, and the Sunburst Award; an OLA Best Bets Selection; and shortlisted for the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Award and the Cybils.
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Want to read
April 21, 2012I have no idea why I want to have this book. I didn't even read the blurb. I guess the cover did it for me.. *ashamed*
April 1, 2012
Oh, I did not like the way this book was written. At all. It's weird but I actually tend to like it when authors write their novels in strange dialects, I think it adds a certain uniqueness and personality to the characters, for example, in Blood Red Road. However, the use of it in Above was teeth-grindingly annoying for me. The sentences became disjointed and simplistic, it felt like a book for a much younger audience at times because of this.
Also, I felt absolutely zero connection with the narrator. The distance was so great that it took me almost fifty pages to realise that a) the book was written in 1st person, and b) the narrator was male. I mean, if you're a female author and a book has a pretty cover with a girl on the front, then I'm automatically going to assume the main character will be a girl - unless you give me reason to believe otherwise. Actually, this book is narrated by Matthew and I'm struggling to recall ever finding such a bland protagonist. He has a name and he's in love with a girl called Ariel... that's it. That's the extent of his characterisation as I see it.
Ariel, too, is forgettable. She is defined by her beauty, her blonde hair and bee wings (which, admittedly, is pretty cool), but she is meek and uninspiring. I could not care for these characters even if the writing had been more sophisticated, there was just nothing exciting about them. Or the world they lived in either.
Matthew and Ariel are part of a group of "freaks" who've been living underground away from the horrors of the world above. But they are forced to flee when their home comes under attack one night. The book promises "the most dangerous place he [Matthew] can imagine" that lies in Above. But really, what actually happens? This is a very melodramatic statement to make when the world they ascend to seems rather mild and non-threatening compared to some frightening places I've read about.
Overly simplistic writing, not enough drama and dull characters. Yet 1 star seems too passionate for a book that left me unmoved, I didn't hate it, I simply didn't care much either way.
March 9, 2012
That's it I give up. Page 204 and I still don't know what's happening. Someone played Mad Lib with my copy and I'm not impressed!
It's written like the protagonist never learned to speak properly and although it worked for me in Blood Red Road, It's really confusing in this. Random words are capitalized and sometimes he means a person, other times a thing. But I never keep up on which is which. It's all showing, not telling/explaining and with the awkward writing style I'm just not following.
*I won't review this on the blog since it's a DNF*
It's written like the protagonist never learned to speak properly and although it worked for me in Blood Red Road, It's really confusing in this. Random words are capitalized and sometimes he means a person, other times a thing. But I never keep up on which is which. It's all showing, not telling/explaining and with the awkward writing style I'm just not following.
*I won't review this on the blog since it's a DNF*
Read
April 12, 2012*sigh*
I was really hoping to love this book since it is the first print ARC I received directly from a publisher. Unfortunately, it's just not for me. At page 10 I knew we weren't going to get along and I was right.
So, I know I say it takes a lot for me to not finish a book and I do believe this is the first one of 2012 for me. Considering I only made it to page 25 before I threw in the towel, I won't even give it a star rating.
Hopefully, someone else will love it, but for now Above and I must go our separate ways.
read-sample-lost-interest
June 19, 2012On to the examples:
But tonight it’s not the half I need, because there’s Atticus, spindly crab arms folded ’cross his chest, waiting outside my door. His eyes glow dim-shot amber — not bright, so he’s not mad then, just annoyed and looking to be mad.
“Teller,” he says, calling me so instead of Matthew to say it clear: that I owe him my life, the food in my belly, the tin roof and plank walls and tapestry-carved door of my home. My Sanctuary. “She’s your responsibility. And you’re responsible to Safe.”
To keep Safe. To do my best for Safe, so there’s a place for people like us always.
I know. “I’ll find her,” I tell him, and don’t meet his eyes. Atticus doesn’t have to say You better find her.
It takes a second to realize; they’re light, quiet, patter-quick. I straighten up — I’ve been half-asleep, and that’s stupid, dangerous-stupid — and squint into the dark.
“Hello?” I call out quiet, knowing a second later that was also stupid and I shouldn’t have said a thing. It echoes hello-lo-lo through the tunnel, and when the echo’s gone I shift my weight one foot to the other and there’s no footsteps no more.
I'm glad if you don't mind with the writing. But I did have a major problem with it.
But tonight it’s not the half I need, because there’s Atticus, spindly crab arms folded ’cross his chest, waiting outside my door. His eyes glow dim-shot amber — not bright, so he’s not mad then, just annoyed and looking to be mad.
“Teller,” he says, calling me so instead of Matthew to say it clear: that I owe him my life, the food in my belly, the tin roof and plank walls and tapestry-carved door of my home. My Sanctuary. “She’s your responsibility. And you’re responsible to Safe.”
To keep Safe. To do my best for Safe, so there’s a place for people like us always.
I know. “I’ll find her,” I tell him, and don’t meet his eyes. Atticus doesn’t have to say You better find her.
It takes a second to realize; they’re light, quiet, patter-quick. I straighten up — I’ve been half-asleep, and that’s stupid, dangerous-stupid — and squint into the dark.
“Hello?” I call out quiet, knowing a second later that was also stupid and I shouldn’t have said a thing. It echoes hello-lo-lo through the tunnel, and when the echo’s gone I shift my weight one foot to the other and there’s no footsteps no more.
I'm glad if you don't mind with the writing. But I did have a major problem with it.
April 29, 2012
Above is a deeply human tale. Bobet takes human problems, human hates, human sadnesses and disappointments, and human hopes, and wraps them up in a jarringly sparse, backwards prose about an underground community of Freaks, who wish for nothing more than to be left alone.
Above is a challenge, evidenced by the numerous reviewers who've abandoned ship before they ever set sail. Which is a shame, because while this may be categorized under paranormal and science fiction, it's really no more than a disguise. Bobet's story hits much closer to home than might be expected.
The prose. It is the gift and curse. The dialect is disordered and requires deciphering. Basic rules of grammar does not apply here. Our protagonist, Matthew, is a young man born underground, in Safe. A Freak-built safe-house for those who have gills, lion's feet, and crab claws; for those who speak to ghosts, who turn into bees, and who turn into shadows. The language is theirs; it is for them to use, and us to understand. It is specifically distinct of Matthew, who does not know above-ground talk. He grew up in darkness and isolation and so his words are altered; he is both innocent and unrefined in the way he thinks and describes.
Bobet blurs the lines in speech structure, and that is why it is difficult to join her rhythm, because you are constantly re-reading to re-confirm if what you understood is really what was meant. It isn't lyrical, but blunt - short. And yet, at times, it hits the point harder than anything you've read.
The manner in which the supernatural aspect of this novel was presented is interesting. No explanation is given as to how these Freaks came about. There is simply the society, and in this society, some have genetic disorders. This downplays the fact that these people are creatures instead of Normal. It grazes over their maladies and conditions. Because what Bobet focuses on is their plight. It's their pain that is sad, not that they were born different.
The emotional crux of this story is belonging. These people have been mistreated, bullied as children, cast out as adults. Some were surrendered by their own family, some by their lovers. They've dug their way underground, underneath the life of Above, to find shelter and comfort. When that is taken from them, they disperse into chaos and they panic because they are exposed. But it isn't just characters with deformation. Bobet incorporates cultural and racial prejudice, maltreatment (in multiple forms) towards patients of mental disorder, and the moral discussion over appropriate medical mandate.
Matthew may appear bland and almost like an Everyman, but only because he isn't as flavoured in ways that make other central characters entertaining or memorable. He is rather a quiet hero. He doesn't ask for applause or girls gushing over his noble looks. He stands for himself and his principles, and that is enough in my book. Matthew, or Teller as he's also known, is the Tale keeper of his people. He is a living, breathing storyteller, and it is his responsibility to pass on the histories of their struggles as well as their achievements. He represents duty and stalwartness, always longing for home and determined to restore it for his people. Mainly, perhaps, because he had not experienced being wronged. Because this also explores the bitter side of persecution. The fact that not everyone comes through the other end in acceptance and understanding. It talks about the hate and the anger that blinds one against their injustice, and the eventual price one is in danger of paying if one does not let go.
Above carried depth I didn't expect...and truthfully, depth I didn't know it had until I finished. And even more truthfully, more depth than I was probably able to grasp. There are obstacles along the way. Because of the language, some parts were a bit obscure and ambiguous. Ariel was occasionally frustrating - and just like I predicted, she was indeed a beautiful mess. The plot is substantially smaller than the word dystopia makes it out to be. But which, again, lends itself to Bobet's aim of telling a story about ourselves, rather than one about monsters and medical experiments gone awry. It could've been more here, and it could've been more there. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't epic. But much like the Freaks in this book, once you look past the debris, it really isn't all that peculiar.
This review also appears on The Midnight Garden
Above is a challenge, evidenced by the numerous reviewers who've abandoned ship before they ever set sail. Which is a shame, because while this may be categorized under paranormal and science fiction, it's really no more than a disguise. Bobet's story hits much closer to home than might be expected.
The prose. It is the gift and curse. The dialect is disordered and requires deciphering. Basic rules of grammar does not apply here. Our protagonist, Matthew, is a young man born underground, in Safe. A Freak-built safe-house for those who have gills, lion's feet, and crab claws; for those who speak to ghosts, who turn into bees, and who turn into shadows. The language is theirs; it is for them to use, and us to understand. It is specifically distinct of Matthew, who does not know above-ground talk. He grew up in darkness and isolation and so his words are altered; he is both innocent and unrefined in the way he thinks and describes.
Bobet blurs the lines in speech structure, and that is why it is difficult to join her rhythm, because you are constantly re-reading to re-confirm if what you understood is really what was meant. It isn't lyrical, but blunt - short. And yet, at times, it hits the point harder than anything you've read.
He yells, straightens up with a swear that tells me he is the one, he's the one that broke my Ariel, broke her down made her Freak made her scared of sweet words or touching so I had to walk slow and careful, talk soft and always be patient and never just kiss her like I wanted to. Took away her want to be kissed.(That's an easy one.)
The manner in which the supernatural aspect of this novel was presented is interesting. No explanation is given as to how these Freaks came about. There is simply the society, and in this society, some have genetic disorders. This downplays the fact that these people are creatures instead of Normal. It grazes over their maladies and conditions. Because what Bobet focuses on is their plight. It's their pain that is sad, not that they were born different.
The emotional crux of this story is belonging. These people have been mistreated, bullied as children, cast out as adults. Some were surrendered by their own family, some by their lovers. They've dug their way underground, underneath the life of Above, to find shelter and comfort. When that is taken from them, they disperse into chaos and they panic because they are exposed. But it isn't just characters with deformation. Bobet incorporates cultural and racial prejudice, maltreatment (in multiple forms) towards patients of mental disorder, and the moral discussion over appropriate medical mandate.
Matthew may appear bland and almost like an Everyman, but only because he isn't as flavoured in ways that make other central characters entertaining or memorable. He is rather a quiet hero. He doesn't ask for applause or girls gushing over his noble looks. He stands for himself and his principles, and that is enough in my book. Matthew, or Teller as he's also known, is the Tale keeper of his people. He is a living, breathing storyteller, and it is his responsibility to pass on the histories of their struggles as well as their achievements. He represents duty and stalwartness, always longing for home and determined to restore it for his people. Mainly, perhaps, because he had not experienced being wronged. Because this also explores the bitter side of persecution. The fact that not everyone comes through the other end in acceptance and understanding. It talks about the hate and the anger that blinds one against their injustice, and the eventual price one is in danger of paying if one does not let go.
Above carried depth I didn't expect...and truthfully, depth I didn't know it had until I finished. And even more truthfully, more depth than I was probably able to grasp. There are obstacles along the way. Because of the language, some parts were a bit obscure and ambiguous. Ariel was occasionally frustrating - and just like I predicted, she was indeed a beautiful mess. The plot is substantially smaller than the word dystopia makes it out to be. But which, again, lends itself to Bobet's aim of telling a story about ourselves, rather than one about monsters and medical experiments gone awry. It could've been more here, and it could've been more there. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't epic. But much like the Freaks in this book, once you look past the debris, it really isn't all that peculiar.
This review also appears on The Midnight Garden
December 13, 2012
Gosh. I understand that it was meant to be all Matthew's POV and everything...but it didn't make sense. Sorry Leah!
My favourite line to have a mental image of: "'His eyes glow dim-shot amber - not bright, so he's not mad then, just annoyed and looking to be mad. The glow's enough to light up the tapestry on my door."
My favourite 'aww' line:
Ariel: "I like the sky. I need it."
Matthew: "I'd be your sky."
A few of my reactions to this book:
The reason I'm so upset is, truthfully, I WANTED to connect more with this book! The cover was brilliant, the title was brilliant, the synopsis/blurb on Goodreads sounded brilliant...but for some reason (maybe it was just me?) but the POV and language oddities created a barrier I couldn't get past, which was a shame. I totally like the book and give Leah kudos for trying something so different and unique. But I just found it really hard to get through.
My favourite line to have a mental image of: "'His eyes glow dim-shot amber - not bright, so he's not mad then, just annoyed and looking to be mad. The glow's enough to light up the tapestry on my door."
My favourite 'aww' line:
Ariel: "I like the sky. I need it."
Matthew: "I'd be your sky."
A few of my reactions to this book:
The reason I'm so upset is, truthfully, I WANTED to connect more with this book! The cover was brilliant, the title was brilliant, the synopsis/blurb on Goodreads sounded brilliant...but for some reason (maybe it was just me?) but the POV and language oddities created a barrier I couldn't get past, which was a shame. I totally like the book and give Leah kudos for trying something so different and unique. But I just found it really hard to get through.
May 5, 2012
I really, really, really wanted to like this book. Why?
A) It has a beautiful cover (yes, I can be shallow)
B) I shelled out money for the hardcover, looks so pretty on my shelf
C) Canadian author
D) Toronto is on the cover. I mean, heck I hate TO most of the time (but I’m from Vancouver so it’s my right) but when was the last time a Canadian city was on a YA cover? This was supposed to do me proud, y’all
E) It sounded interesting
F) Some of the prose was really gorgeous
I really, really, really didn’t like this book. Why?
A) Some of the prose was really purple.
(that's right I'm bringing out the images)
Like super purple. ULTRAVIOLET PURPLE. Poetic license forged, confiscated, then revoked. And Everything is capitalized. Well, only Some things but it’s things that shouldn’t Be. It's Gimmicky.
B) Sentences are so purposely convoluted. It doesn’t make sense. To me, anyway, and maybe you, when you read: “The tunnels are always dark, but I know from dark, right now they’re darker than they ought to be.” – So what you’re saying is it’s dark?
“Everything under my eyelids is red. Red and long-fingered and slicked in blood and the curve of a broken horn” – So what you're saying is you have pinkeye?
“Whisper’s crying, harsh little inhales like a sock-foot sliding along stone” – So…wait, wuht?
“A little cold hand pokes into my belly, taking away the last of the morning’s quiet, the smell of mellow honey and wax that I took in from the pillow and held close to keep me warm.”
C) I didn’t like a single character. The MC, Matthew, I just…no...there was no connection. I couldn’t relate. He was passive and obnoxiously stubborn and ridiculously in love with Ariel who is a waste of space. And oh, a bee.
D) And gross. Ariel is always being ungrateful and whiny and trembling all over like something terrible has happened to her so you should feel sorry for her yet you don’t because she’s just a flat, useless character who turns into a bee when angry and attacks everyone and her wings spout out from her back and fall off and ew.
E) I like weird. This was bad weird. It was bad weird because it was boring. It took me months to read this. There was no flow. I stumbled over weird phrases and adjectives and metaphors and whatnot when simplifying it would have made it go much faster, much smoother. Look, I get it. It’s different. It’s arty. But if you’re going to be that different and arty, don’t do it with a different and arty setting and a dystopic future with zero world-building. Do it to something normal. The weird in this book didn’t need the help. We already have crab men with claws and red eyes and bee girl and lionfooted scale-backed dude and psycho hermaphrodites and...
F) The book made me feel stupid. Like, perhaps if I were smarter I would get the intricate prose and subtle nuances. But I didn’t and I’m fine with that.
Alas, Above just didn’t do it for me. I’d love to see what the author does with her next book. She's unique. She has potential to write beautiful things and make words come alive but it just needs to be toned down and put in a place where it will add to something, not subtract from it. That's just my two cents, of course. Obviously the Toronto Arts Council and Scholastic wouldn't quite agree with me.
Summary: This book was not for me. The end.
A) It has a beautiful cover (yes, I can be shallow)
B) I shelled out money for the hardcover, looks so pretty on my shelf
C) Canadian author
D) Toronto is on the cover. I mean, heck I hate TO most of the time (but I’m from Vancouver so it’s my right) but when was the last time a Canadian city was on a YA cover? This was supposed to do me proud, y’all
E) It sounded interesting
F) Some of the prose was really gorgeous
I really, really, really didn’t like this book. Why?
A) Some of the prose was really purple.
(that's right I'm bringing out the images)
Like super purple. ULTRAVIOLET PURPLE. Poetic license forged, confiscated, then revoked. And Everything is capitalized. Well, only Some things but it’s things that shouldn’t Be. It's Gimmicky.
B) Sentences are so purposely convoluted. It doesn’t make sense. To me, anyway, and maybe you, when you read: “The tunnels are always dark, but I know from dark, right now they’re darker than they ought to be.” – So what you’re saying is it’s dark?
“Everything under my eyelids is red. Red and long-fingered and slicked in blood and the curve of a broken horn” – So what you're saying is you have pinkeye?
“Whisper’s crying, harsh little inhales like a sock-foot sliding along stone” – So…wait, wuht?
“A little cold hand pokes into my belly, taking away the last of the morning’s quiet, the smell of mellow honey and wax that I took in from the pillow and held close to keep me warm.”
C) I didn’t like a single character. The MC, Matthew, I just…no...there was no connection. I couldn’t relate. He was passive and obnoxiously stubborn and ridiculously in love with Ariel who is a waste of space. And oh, a bee.
D) And gross. Ariel is always being ungrateful and whiny and trembling all over like something terrible has happened to her so you should feel sorry for her yet you don’t because she’s just a flat, useless character who turns into a bee when angry and attacks everyone and her wings spout out from her back and fall off and ew.
E) I like weird. This was bad weird. It was bad weird because it was boring. It took me months to read this. There was no flow. I stumbled over weird phrases and adjectives and metaphors and whatnot when simplifying it would have made it go much faster, much smoother. Look, I get it. It’s different. It’s arty. But if you’re going to be that different and arty, don’t do it with a different and arty setting and a dystopic future with zero world-building. Do it to something normal. The weird in this book didn’t need the help. We already have crab men with claws and red eyes and bee girl and lionfooted scale-backed dude and psycho hermaphrodites and...
F) The book made me feel stupid. Like, perhaps if I were smarter I would get the intricate prose and subtle nuances. But I didn’t and I’m fine with that.
Alas, Above just didn’t do it for me. I’d love to see what the author does with her next book. She's unique. She has potential to write beautiful things and make words come alive but it just needs to be toned down and put in a place where it will add to something, not subtract from it. That's just my two cents, of course. Obviously the Toronto Arts Council and Scholastic wouldn't quite agree with me.
Summary: This book was not for me. The end.
June 30, 2012
I should start out by saying that I can't write very good reviews for books I don't like. It's not that I don't know what I don't like about them, because I do; I simply cannot bring myself to put down a work of art that an author has worked for so long and hard upon. That being said, Above is a perfect example of why I became so dubious about dystopian novels. Unfortunately, I picked up Above with none of my usual qualms, probably because the last few dystopian novels I read had been utterly remarkable. However, Above was far from that.
Matthew, the narrator of this book, is a boy. Perhaps I should be blamed for assuming that the narrator of this novel would be a girl, especially when the cover so blatantly goes to depict one; so, you can imagine my surprise when it was revealed half-way through the first chapter that the narrator was male. Anyway, Matthew lives underground with a society of people who are all scarred or mutated in some form or the other. In his world, he is the Teller: it is his job to write down the stories of the many people who live underground with him. Matthew is desperately in love with Ariel and when their home is attacked, they are forced to flee to the mysterious world that lies above their own. Matthew cannot fathom the horrors that may lie in Above, but he will soon find out. [I on the other hand, did not as I abandoned the book at approximately this supposedly interesting and climatic point.]
I'm just going to come right out and say it: Above had a lot of faults. First and foremost, I didn't like the writing style at all. It was extremely confusing, forcing me to re-read passages to the point where it became cumbersome. Furthermore, I felt as if I barely knew what was happening in the novel for most of the story and even worse, I couldn't be bothered to care. The characterization of Matthew, Ariel, and just about every other character fell flat. In fact, the only reason I can remember for Matthew liking Ariel is because of her beauty, blonde hair, and wings. The characters all felt too one-dimensional, I felt no emotion or interest in them whatsoever, and thus abandoned the book without another thought. In other words, this book left me completely unmoved and its characters were utterly boring.
Above received a variety of mixed reviews from various reviewers. However, in my opinion, this is just one book that can be skipped.
Matthew, the narrator of this book, is a boy. Perhaps I should be blamed for assuming that the narrator of this novel would be a girl, especially when the cover so blatantly goes to depict one; so, you can imagine my surprise when it was revealed half-way through the first chapter that the narrator was male. Anyway, Matthew lives underground with a society of people who are all scarred or mutated in some form or the other. In his world, he is the Teller: it is his job to write down the stories of the many people who live underground with him. Matthew is desperately in love with Ariel and when their home is attacked, they are forced to flee to the mysterious world that lies above their own. Matthew cannot fathom the horrors that may lie in Above, but he will soon find out. [I on the other hand, did not as I abandoned the book at approximately this supposedly interesting and climatic point.]
I'm just going to come right out and say it: Above had a lot of faults. First and foremost, I didn't like the writing style at all. It was extremely confusing, forcing me to re-read passages to the point where it became cumbersome. Furthermore, I felt as if I barely knew what was happening in the novel for most of the story and even worse, I couldn't be bothered to care. The characterization of Matthew, Ariel, and just about every other character fell flat. In fact, the only reason I can remember for Matthew liking Ariel is because of her beauty, blonde hair, and wings. The characters all felt too one-dimensional, I felt no emotion or interest in them whatsoever, and thus abandoned the book without another thought. In other words, this book left me completely unmoved and its characters were utterly boring.
Above received a variety of mixed reviews from various reviewers. However, in my opinion, this is just one book that can be skipped.
October 3, 2011
This is a beautiful, sad story.
Underneath the world is a place called Safe, where anyone Sick or Freak or Beast is given Sanctuary. Matthew, the Teller, was born there. It is his duty to collect the tales of Safe so that they can be recorded for future generations.
And then, on Sanctuary Night, the unthinkable happens. Suddenly Matthew finds himself in Above with a ragtag collection of refugees from Safe. He must use all the skills he has--for Telling, for Passing, and for loving Safe--to help reclaim his home.
It has been a while since I read a book this lyrical. Seeing through Matthew's eyes, thinking his thoughts--I could almost believe that Safe is real. The prose is lovely, round, and vivid; at times it felt like poetry. At other times it felt like a painting come to life.
Matthew's relationship with Ariel, a winged girl whom he rescued some time ago, is perhaps the true heart of the story. She is broken by her past, and Matthew has spent months learning the quiet, slow ways of holding her together. Their exile from Safe is anything but quiet and slow, and both Matthew and Ariel are forced to confront things that they have spent much of their lives hiding from.
Part DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE, part MS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH, and all its own, ABOVE is a book that can't be missed.
Underneath the world is a place called Safe, where anyone Sick or Freak or Beast is given Sanctuary. Matthew, the Teller, was born there. It is his duty to collect the tales of Safe so that they can be recorded for future generations.
And then, on Sanctuary Night, the unthinkable happens. Suddenly Matthew finds himself in Above with a ragtag collection of refugees from Safe. He must use all the skills he has--for Telling, for Passing, and for loving Safe--to help reclaim his home.
It has been a while since I read a book this lyrical. Seeing through Matthew's eyes, thinking his thoughts--I could almost believe that Safe is real. The prose is lovely, round, and vivid; at times it felt like poetry. At other times it felt like a painting come to life.
Matthew's relationship with Ariel, a winged girl whom he rescued some time ago, is perhaps the true heart of the story. She is broken by her past, and Matthew has spent months learning the quiet, slow ways of holding her together. Their exile from Safe is anything but quiet and slow, and both Matthew and Ariel are forced to confront things that they have spent much of their lives hiding from.
Part DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE, part MS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH, and all its own, ABOVE is a book that can't be missed.
February 20, 2012
Wow....one of the most amazing books I have EVER read, with gorgeous mystical, lyrical writing, where every single sentence is a secret dying to be unlocked, and every paragraph is a clue to help solve the overall heart-pounding mystery. It had me breathless, and teary-eyed, and in complete and total awe. Leah Bobet is a master storyteller, and I will never forget the first time reading this book. Dear sweet Jesus, I wish I had read it years ago. That, or written it myself :) 5 stars, 1000 if I could :)
September 5, 2011
This gets the usual "I edited this, I'm biased" caveat.
And with that said: OH MY WORD this book is incredible. It is gorgeously imagined -- the story of an underground community where a man with electricity in his fingertips or a girl who can shapeshift into a bee can hide away, and what happens when those people are forced into the world, our world, Above. It is even more gorgeously written, with certain phrases used at certain times that will crack your heart wide open (especially in the central romance between Matthew and Ariel). It has real things to say about insiders vs. outsiders, safety vs. risk, and how much we can be responsible for one another.
It will not be for all tastes -- but what truly good book is? And this book is astoundingly good, especially for a debut. I am very excited to see it come out next spring.
And with that said: OH MY WORD this book is incredible. It is gorgeously imagined -- the story of an underground community where a man with electricity in his fingertips or a girl who can shapeshift into a bee can hide away, and what happens when those people are forced into the world, our world, Above. It is even more gorgeously written, with certain phrases used at certain times that will crack your heart wide open (especially in the central romance between Matthew and Ariel). It has real things to say about insiders vs. outsiders, safety vs. risk, and how much we can be responsible for one another.
It will not be for all tastes -- but what truly good book is? And this book is astoundingly good, especially for a debut. I am very excited to see it come out next spring.
June 12, 2018
I can't explained exactly how I feel other than borrowing Giselle's quote "I still don't know what's happening. Someone played Mad Lib with my copy and I'm not impressed!"
This had some serious Mad Lib issues. I can't remember the last book I picked up and didn't actually finish reading. It was probably years and years ago but I just could not get through this book!! I'm one of those people who ALWAYS has to finish a book, no matter how bad I think it is, but this one was too painful. Its really unfortunate because I love supporting Canadian authors :/
I'm not going to give it a rating since I only got about half way through it and I am quite bad at writing reviews for books that I don't like :/
This had some serious Mad Lib issues. I can't remember the last book I picked up and didn't actually finish reading. It was probably years and years ago but I just could not get through this book!! I'm one of those people who ALWAYS has to finish a book, no matter how bad I think it is, but this one was too painful. Its really unfortunate because I love supporting Canadian authors :/
I'm not going to give it a rating since I only got about half way through it and I am quite bad at writing reviews for books that I don't like :/
Read
April 12, 2012The language and writing style was impossible for me to follow. I had to go back numerous times and re-read passages. The book is short, but the time it took to try and decipher what the author was actually talking about was entirely too time consuming. I couldn't get attached to the characters and I didn't care for the plot at all. The descriptions of the characters/monsters were too vague for me to even try to picture them in my mind, the dialogues were packed full of nonsensical words and dialect that the sentences were muddled and confusing, and the references to Above and Safe seemed almost like how a caveman would describe his cave versus the outside world. I think that it is entirely possible that this is just not my type of book. I cannot bring myself to give it a fair rating because I just can't bring myself to finish it.
do-not-read
June 6, 2017Decided not to read based on the information about the genderqueer & intersex rep in this review:
http://diceytillerman.livejournal.com...
Also because I found out that This is not the genderqueer & intersex rep anyone needs, especially genderqueer & intersex youth. Reminds me of queer YA in the 70s & 80s.
http://diceytillerman.livejournal.com...
Also because I found out that This is not the genderqueer & intersex rep anyone needs, especially genderqueer & intersex youth. Reminds me of queer YA in the 70s & 80s.
April 2, 2012
Matthew was born in Safe, deep under the city Above; it's all he's ever known. Safe, his mother who died when he was three - she had gills in her neck; his father who had lion's feet - he went up Above and never returned when Matthew was ten; and the forty-odd other misfits escaping the whitecoats Above. Some, like Matthew, can Pass, can look Normal and go Above for supplies. (His Curse hides under his clothes.) Others, like one of the five founders, Atticus, are obviously Freak: crab's claws instead of hands, horns, or, like Jack, the ability to control electricity, which includes leaving a sparking trail of blown lightbulbs and malfunctioning equipment wherever he goes.
Now a young man and Teller for Safe, Matthew holds all the stories of the people he calls family - all except for Ariel, the scared girl he found in the Cold Pipes whom he loves. She sprouts bee's wings when scared or angry, and changes fully into a bee at will - very handy when you want to escape dangerous situations or difficult conversations. She has a tendency to run away, though so far she's always come back.
Safe is a refuge for the misfits of the city Above, until one day it is breached, the door opened wide, and shadows pour in. Shadows that can kill and fear only fire. Shadows that come with Corner, renamed Killer and exiled from Safe years ago. Matthew escapes with Ariel, and with Whisper and Jack make their way to a safehouse Above: the home of Marybeth, a doctor who's helped them since the beginning. But who opened the door for the Shadows? What happened to the others? And what is the real story about Corner?
Matthew is Teller for Safe, and in going Above he discovers the truth about all the stories he holds safe, and the danger of a lie.
First of all, I want to give Leah Bobet a big hug. She has here a novel that recaptures the magic of storytelling, and reading, and my childhood, and renews my faith and respect in well-written YA. Above is, above all, extremely well written, crafted and polished. But it's so much more: it's a wonderful, intriguing, exciting urban fantasy, a story of depth and layers and meaning. A human story, rich in all its irony.
There might be mild spoilers in this review, it's hard to say, but for once I want to really talk about a novel, about the things that struck me so much while reading it. There are no big twists to give away, nothing like that, but I don't want to infringe on anyone else's reading discoveries, so if you're thinking of reading this and want to approach it in ignorance - the best way to go, really - then stop here with my complete endorsement of this book. Otherwise, read on. Because it gets interesting.
There are elements of Above that brought to mind Isobelle Carmody's Obernewtyn: a group of misfits living in secret away from mainstream society. I loved the concept when I was 11, and I love it now. So the premise was always going to be a win for me. But Bobet has done some new and wonderful things with it, and none of them will make you think "Oh X-Men rip-off". This is something quite different.
It's nominally set in Toronto, but setting doesn't feature as precisely as it does in American books, where authors tend to use real places and position stories in states (my theory is that it's such a patchwork country and where you come from matters a lot, so state- and place-names are strong markers for American readers in providing context that non-American readers, like me, mostly miss out on. But it's just a theory), and you could easily imagine this story taking place wherever you live, which is fun. Since I currently live in Toronto, I picked up on the few little signs scattered here and there, rather like a scavenger hunt. But this story isn't tied to a single place, and that's an important element.
For a story about truth and perception, I can't go far without discussing the prose. Written in first person in Matthew's distinct voice, we get a mix of poetry and an outsider's view, an alien voice that is skilfully written to bring us into his world, not the other way around. And unlike Todd in The Knife of Never Letting Go - another character who spoke in his own grammar and syntax - Matthew's voice was never annoying. Instead it's refreshing, original and distinct. It's Matthew through and through, who never had a formal education but is bright and educated in his own way.
The fantasy element is strong in Above, and your imagination plays an active role. Not much is explained, as such, but there is plenty for the reader to infer, and understand. What's surprising is how much is meant literally - in the poetic flow of words and ideas coming from Matthew, the distinction between real and unreal becomes blurred, opening the doors to imagination that much wider. Take the shadows, for instance. They really are shadows, and yet they're so much more than that. They're corporeal, but not.
Most of the time, a thing sounds like it's not being described literally but metaphorically or symbolically, or in code, and then later you'll learn that, no, actually that is exactly how it is. The trick is that, in Above, what's Normal isn't what's normal. There's a new "normal", and it's strange and unique and unpredictable and unknowable. A lot of the time, it reads like a dream, like make-believe, or like ignorance: as if, if Matthew had our perspective and language, things wouldn't be strange at all. That maybe he's just being poetic or metaphorical and simply lacks the words to bring the alien back into the known. Not so. Matthew is drawing for us a world we are ignorant of, and for as much as they think they're freaks, or beasts, or monsters even, Matthew's story shows just how human they really are.
The beauty of the prose - Matthew's distinct way of Telling the story - is that it perfectly captures several things at the same time: the child-like understanding, the capacity for seeing things differently, the nightmarish quality to much of the story, and the sheer breadth of possibility.
Take Corner, whose real name is Angel. Even "Corner" is not the real misfit nickname: it was "Coroner", because of the bloodtouch, a grisly joke. The first half of the book, I thought Corner was a guy. There was just something about the way Corner was talked about. Corner became Killer and was exiled from Safe, and Matthew always refers to Corner as "it" - I thought because of Corner's "killer" status, "it" was reduced to something of a monster.
Spoiler
And in a way, that's part of it. Because later Corner is referred to as a girl, and then it becomes clear that she - he - it, was actually a hermaphrodite. Corner uses a blend of gender pronouns to refer to itself: "sie" and "hir", which does something different again. But because Matthew always called Corner "it", and we didn't know the story, he renders Corner a true monster, not human. A thing. And it's hard to get a visual sense of Corner. Which makes it all the more mysterious and nightmarish, and the truth all the more heartbreaking.
/Spoiler
The story comes together slowly and lovingly - I can't describe it any other way, but Matthew is careful about words and deeds and there is a tremendous amount of respect in everything he says and does, that comes across strongly. He takes his role as Teller seriously, and is observant, patient and listens well. The pacing is even, controlled and steady throughout, even in scenes of action and suspense. This is how Matthew Tells a story, and it's never dull. His voice is consistent and true to his character.
The power of language is a strong theme in Above, but it's more of a way to tell - show - the story than the dominant message, though the power of words and how they affect people is a constant presence. At its heart, Above is about finding a place for yourself in the world. It's something we all struggle with, so it's very easy to relate to the misfits. More, they've endured one of our worst nightmares: scientific, medical prodding and probing. Tests, experiments, shock therapy, and worse. Being locked up in institutions while the doctors - whitecoats, the people of Safe call them - try to find a way to make them "normal" again.
And herein lies the strongest theme of the book: the concept of normal. I have to bring this back to the setting, because this strikes me as so Toronto. It's a grungy, grotty city that's surprisingly clean - the grottiness is a sense I have about the place more than a real characteristic. It's one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world, so looking around, you don't get a sense of what real "normal" is. Different languages, food, dress, culture - yes, and more. Toronto is also a city of homeless people, drug addicts buying crack on street corners, people with mental health problems, sex workers, runaway kids and everything in between. You see it all, just like you see it in other big cities. It's a mix of sophistication, art, culture and glamour, and the forgotten. Above is about the forgotten ones, the ones we "normal" people try not to make eye contact with on the street.
Again, by not naming the place, by letting the setting come to the reader rather than the reader going to the location, Bobet allows Above to be a story that we take into our hearts, relate to, find familiarity in, and connect with in a deeply personal way. Instead of a story about homeless teens or schizophrenics, it's a story about "freaks" - because isn't that how mainstream, conservative and content society sees that portion of the population? The theme is nothing new, but the way Bobet handled it, incorporated it and rendered it, is.
This is not your standard YA fare, this is not a paranormal romance or a science fiction story. It's a story about understanding the world and finding a place in it, one that is true to you rather than forcing you to conform to it. I don't have scales or horns or wings, I can't talk to ghosts or control electrical currents. But I've felt out of place. I've felt small and alone in crowds. I've felt not-normal. I connected with Above and its characters emotionally, and had my heart wrung at the end. I loved that their misfit nature is never explained - there's no virus, no strange phenomena causing it, or none that we know of. They simply are. And that makes it all the more poignant, and bitter-sweet, and believable.
It might take you a while to get into the story, to get the hang of Matthew's voice, his narration style, but once you do you'll be well rewarded with a unique, superb story that tells an age-old tale in a new and vibrant way.
Now a young man and Teller for Safe, Matthew holds all the stories of the people he calls family - all except for Ariel, the scared girl he found in the Cold Pipes whom he loves. She sprouts bee's wings when scared or angry, and changes fully into a bee at will - very handy when you want to escape dangerous situations or difficult conversations. She has a tendency to run away, though so far she's always come back.
Safe is a refuge for the misfits of the city Above, until one day it is breached, the door opened wide, and shadows pour in. Shadows that can kill and fear only fire. Shadows that come with Corner, renamed Killer and exiled from Safe years ago. Matthew escapes with Ariel, and with Whisper and Jack make their way to a safehouse Above: the home of Marybeth, a doctor who's helped them since the beginning. But who opened the door for the Shadows? What happened to the others? And what is the real story about Corner?
Matthew is Teller for Safe, and in going Above he discovers the truth about all the stories he holds safe, and the danger of a lie.
First of all, I want to give Leah Bobet a big hug. She has here a novel that recaptures the magic of storytelling, and reading, and my childhood, and renews my faith and respect in well-written YA. Above is, above all, extremely well written, crafted and polished. But it's so much more: it's a wonderful, intriguing, exciting urban fantasy, a story of depth and layers and meaning. A human story, rich in all its irony.
There might be mild spoilers in this review, it's hard to say, but for once I want to really talk about a novel, about the things that struck me so much while reading it. There are no big twists to give away, nothing like that, but I don't want to infringe on anyone else's reading discoveries, so if you're thinking of reading this and want to approach it in ignorance - the best way to go, really - then stop here with my complete endorsement of this book. Otherwise, read on. Because it gets interesting.
There are elements of Above that brought to mind Isobelle Carmody's Obernewtyn: a group of misfits living in secret away from mainstream society. I loved the concept when I was 11, and I love it now. So the premise was always going to be a win for me. But Bobet has done some new and wonderful things with it, and none of them will make you think "Oh X-Men rip-off". This is something quite different.
It's nominally set in Toronto, but setting doesn't feature as precisely as it does in American books, where authors tend to use real places and position stories in states (my theory is that it's such a patchwork country and where you come from matters a lot, so state- and place-names are strong markers for American readers in providing context that non-American readers, like me, mostly miss out on. But it's just a theory), and you could easily imagine this story taking place wherever you live, which is fun. Since I currently live in Toronto, I picked up on the few little signs scattered here and there, rather like a scavenger hunt. But this story isn't tied to a single place, and that's an important element.
For a story about truth and perception, I can't go far without discussing the prose. Written in first person in Matthew's distinct voice, we get a mix of poetry and an outsider's view, an alien voice that is skilfully written to bring us into his world, not the other way around. And unlike Todd in The Knife of Never Letting Go - another character who spoke in his own grammar and syntax - Matthew's voice was never annoying. Instead it's refreshing, original and distinct. It's Matthew through and through, who never had a formal education but is bright and educated in his own way.
"Oh, Matthew," [Ariel] says, real different now, and leans our foreheads together.
I breathe in spring. I breathe spring and gold and the smell of powdered honey, sweet as peaches on the back of your tongue. My eyes water. It's a thousand kisses in a breath. [p.78]
The fantasy element is strong in Above, and your imagination plays an active role. Not much is explained, as such, but there is plenty for the reader to infer, and understand. What's surprising is how much is meant literally - in the poetic flow of words and ideas coming from Matthew, the distinction between real and unreal becomes blurred, opening the doors to imagination that much wider. Take the shadows, for instance. They really are shadows, and yet they're so much more than that. They're corporeal, but not.
There's another [shadow] behind it. Five. Six. Dozens.
"Narasimha's child," they whisper dead and loving, like the rustle of wings; like a voice in the dark that knows all your tales and names.
I run.
They follow in my feet, my footfalls. They jump between licks of sunlight like kids jumping the sewer flow, gone and then there again in the next bit of shade. They don't breathe (and I'm breathing too hard). They don't trip or slow or mess up (and there's too much on the ground to keep track of, to scramble over, for me to not, sometime, mess up).
[...] When I see the wall at the end of the alley it's almost no surprise anymore. Dead end. The end.
Dead. [pp.114-5]
Most of the time, a thing sounds like it's not being described literally but metaphorically or symbolically, or in code, and then later you'll learn that, no, actually that is exactly how it is. The trick is that, in Above, what's Normal isn't what's normal. There's a new "normal", and it's strange and unique and unpredictable and unknowable. A lot of the time, it reads like a dream, like make-believe, or like ignorance: as if, if Matthew had our perspective and language, things wouldn't be strange at all. That maybe he's just being poetic or metaphorical and simply lacks the words to bring the alien back into the known. Not so. Matthew is drawing for us a world we are ignorant of, and for as much as they think they're freaks, or beasts, or monsters even, Matthew's story shows just how human they really are.
The beauty of the prose - Matthew's distinct way of Telling the story - is that it perfectly captures several things at the same time: the child-like understanding, the capacity for seeing things differently, the nightmarish quality to much of the story, and the sheer breadth of possibility.
Take Corner, whose real name is Angel. Even "Corner" is not the real misfit nickname: it was "Coroner", because of the bloodtouch, a grisly joke. The first half of the book, I thought Corner was a guy. There was just something about the way Corner was talked about. Corner became Killer and was exiled from Safe, and Matthew always refers to Corner as "it" - I thought because of Corner's "killer" status, "it" was reduced to something of a monster.
Spoiler
And in a way, that's part of it. Because later Corner is referred to as a girl, and then it becomes clear that she - he - it, was actually a hermaphrodite. Corner uses a blend of gender pronouns to refer to itself: "sie" and "hir", which does something different again. But because Matthew always called Corner "it", and we didn't know the story, he renders Corner a true monster, not human. A thing. And it's hard to get a visual sense of Corner. Which makes it all the more mysterious and nightmarish, and the truth all the more heartbreaking.
/Spoiler
The story comes together slowly and lovingly - I can't describe it any other way, but Matthew is careful about words and deeds and there is a tremendous amount of respect in everything he says and does, that comes across strongly. He takes his role as Teller seriously, and is observant, patient and listens well. The pacing is even, controlled and steady throughout, even in scenes of action and suspense. This is how Matthew Tells a story, and it's never dull. His voice is consistent and true to his character.
The power of language is a strong theme in Above, but it's more of a way to tell - show - the story than the dominant message, though the power of words and how they affect people is a constant presence. At its heart, Above is about finding a place for yourself in the world. It's something we all struggle with, so it's very easy to relate to the misfits. More, they've endured one of our worst nightmares: scientific, medical prodding and probing. Tests, experiments, shock therapy, and worse. Being locked up in institutions while the doctors - whitecoats, the people of Safe call them - try to find a way to make them "normal" again.
And herein lies the strongest theme of the book: the concept of normal. I have to bring this back to the setting, because this strikes me as so Toronto. It's a grungy, grotty city that's surprisingly clean - the grottiness is a sense I have about the place more than a real characteristic. It's one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world, so looking around, you don't get a sense of what real "normal" is. Different languages, food, dress, culture - yes, and more. Toronto is also a city of homeless people, drug addicts buying crack on street corners, people with mental health problems, sex workers, runaway kids and everything in between. You see it all, just like you see it in other big cities. It's a mix of sophistication, art, culture and glamour, and the forgotten. Above is about the forgotten ones, the ones we "normal" people try not to make eye contact with on the street.
Again, by not naming the place, by letting the setting come to the reader rather than the reader going to the location, Bobet allows Above to be a story that we take into our hearts, relate to, find familiarity in, and connect with in a deeply personal way. Instead of a story about homeless teens or schizophrenics, it's a story about "freaks" - because isn't that how mainstream, conservative and content society sees that portion of the population? The theme is nothing new, but the way Bobet handled it, incorporated it and rendered it, is.
This is not your standard YA fare, this is not a paranormal romance or a science fiction story. It's a story about understanding the world and finding a place in it, one that is true to you rather than forcing you to conform to it. I don't have scales or horns or wings, I can't talk to ghosts or control electrical currents. But I've felt out of place. I've felt small and alone in crowds. I've felt not-normal. I connected with Above and its characters emotionally, and had my heart wrung at the end. I loved that their misfit nature is never explained - there's no virus, no strange phenomena causing it, or none that we know of. They simply are. And that makes it all the more poignant, and bitter-sweet, and believable.
It might take you a while to get into the story, to get the hang of Matthew's voice, his narration style, but once you do you'll be well rewarded with a unique, superb story that tells an age-old tale in a new and vibrant way.
June 18, 2012
First off I should say that this book is written for teens not grown ups so a teenager may very well like this book for all the reasons I don't.
I started reading this because she is a Canadian author and the cover is freakin' cool. Hello, fly girl and the CN Tower? Amazing. It took me until page 6 to realize the book is not written from the perspective of the girl, but some boy and that is actually where I have stopped. Besides not getting whose POV the story was from I find the writing style difficult to follow. Too many adverbs and adjectives used as proper nouns, too many capitalized words, and too many pronouns missing. I enjoy long sentences that accomplish a lot. And I don't want to have to think when I'm reading. The author should create the thoughts for me. That's not to say I don't leave words out when I talk with my friends or text, but that's just it, they are my friends and through long exposure my brain has learned to fill in the blanks.
Anyway, I think the book has a great story concept, but the writing style isn't for me.
I started reading this because she is a Canadian author and the cover is freakin' cool. Hello, fly girl and the CN Tower? Amazing. It took me until page 6 to realize the book is not written from the perspective of the girl, but some boy and that is actually where I have stopped. Besides not getting whose POV the story was from I find the writing style difficult to follow. Too many adverbs and adjectives used as proper nouns, too many capitalized words, and too many pronouns missing. I enjoy long sentences that accomplish a lot. And I don't want to have to think when I'm reading. The author should create the thoughts for me. That's not to say I don't leave words out when I talk with my friends or text, but that's just it, they are my friends and through long exposure my brain has learned to fill in the blanks.
Anyway, I think the book has a great story concept, but the writing style isn't for me.
March 11, 2020
For fantasy, I can suspend practical disbelief (how can she turn into a bee? This is set in the real world, not mythology world, but okay, it's kind of a fable, sure) but not emotional disbelief (why does Atticus love Ariel so much? They just met and she is never nice to him, so we're left with "she's pretty" which is weak even for a young man).
July 21, 2011
Yes, I am CURRENTLY reading this. I won a copy at Leah's reading at Readercon. So far, so good...
June 5, 2012
This book.
OMFG it is beautiful and I am sitting here sniffling and my fingers are shaking.
Book of the year so far. Fucking amazing.
Actual review to come when I get my thoughts straight.
OMFG it is beautiful and I am sitting here sniffling and my fingers are shaking.
Book of the year so far. Fucking amazing.
Actual review to come when I get my thoughts straight.
March 15, 2012
Breathtaking. That is the best word I can think of to sum up Above. I find it extremely hard to believe that this is Leah's debut novel, it's just so well done that it seems like she has written countless novels before this one. It's honestly hard for me to figure out where I want to begin with in regard to the review, because there is so much about this book that just screams amazing.
It's so hard to describe the writing in this book, it's very different than anything I have ever read before. It is a little difficult to get use to at first, since it is so different. But once you get through some of the book you start to gain an understanding of the writing style and it turns into this beautifully written story that I can honestly say I wasn't expecting. I had heard from several people that Leah's writing in Above is very different, and that they really liked it. But like I mentioned above, I was a little skeptical at the start because of the writing being so different and not something I was use to. But I am very happy that I stuck with it and got to the point where I really came to appreciate how well written this book really is.
It was nice to see that this book had a male protagonist, you don't really expect it based on the cover though until you read the summary. Matthew was an awesome character, I really liked the whole "Teller" plot line I thought that was really interesting, especially at the end of chapters where you would get to read the tales of some of the characters, some of which had multiple parts to their tales. It was just a really interesting concept. I honestly never really wrapped my head around the issue surrounding Ariel being a shapeshiffter, but it added a unique touch to the story. I think one of the most complex characters, in my opinion had to be Doctor Marybeth, I just really enjoyed her as a character and she played a huge role in the story.
I really enjoyed the concept behind Above. It was interesting to learn about the place that the characters called Safe, and see what they had to go through to protect it. The idea behind Corner and the shadows was a little confusing at first, but once you learn Corners complete tale you come to an understanding as to what happened and why things are the way they are in the book. It's a well driven plot backed by amazing characters and beautiful writing, I don't really think you could ask for much more.
Above is such an amazing debut, I can't stress that enough. This is going to be one of those 2012 releases that everyone should read. You might be like me and take awhile to get use to the writing, but I strongly think that once you get use to it you will come to really enjoy this book just as I did.
This review is directly from my blog. You can see the original post here: http://www.justinsbookblog.com/2012/0...
April 27, 2012
Leah Bobet’s Above has amazing cover art, and I’d be lying if I said that that didn’t influence my decision to add it to my wish list. But adding a book to my list doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll buy it. What tipped the scale was a positive mention by one of the book bloggers I trust for quality young adult and middle grade sci-fi and fantasy recommendations – Charlotte’s Library. I know I say it over and over, but one of the best things about blogging is finding fellow readers with similar taste, and following their lead into the great unknown.
The cover might convince you that the protagonist of Above is a girl with wings. But while she (Ariel) is quite beautiful, the book is instead the story of a boy named Matthew, or ‘Teller.’ His attempt to remake his own ‘safe’ place after its invasion is the central adventure – that and his need to protect Ariel, the damaged girl from the cover, and his duty to remember and ‘tell’ the true stories of the inhabitants of his underground home.
But what is Above? It is more than a book about a boy and a girl. It is the story of a rag-tag community and its broken, hurting members. It is the story of danger, abuse, of healing, of trying to find a place to be safe. It is a sharp, biting, and exquisitely written story that deserves the adjective “haunting.” It is all hard angles and uncomfortable truths and dark, secret things.
The prose, though – the prose! It’s exceptional. Feeling bled through words and heightened every sense, every reaction. Above was tense, mad, sorrowing, and altogether lovely. It will be one of my favorite books of 2012, I am quite sure.
There were several unusual elements present in the story: the connection of fantasy and mental illness, a discussion of psychiatry and its fringe elements of society, a bi-racial protagonist (and how I wish I didn’t have to write that that was unusual!), and a trained storyteller of a protagonist letting bits of the tale go free piecemeal. The glory of the reading experience was in the discovery of truths that hurt and pulled and tore – forming you, and the characters, into new people.
Recommended for: fans of China Mieville, Neil Gaiman, Kate Griffin’s A Madness of Angels, those who prefer a dark bite to their fiction, and anyone who has wondered if perhaps the shadows are stalking them – and why this should be so.
The cover might convince you that the protagonist of Above is a girl with wings. But while she (Ariel) is quite beautiful, the book is instead the story of a boy named Matthew, or ‘Teller.’ His attempt to remake his own ‘safe’ place after its invasion is the central adventure – that and his need to protect Ariel, the damaged girl from the cover, and his duty to remember and ‘tell’ the true stories of the inhabitants of his underground home.
But what is Above? It is more than a book about a boy and a girl. It is the story of a rag-tag community and its broken, hurting members. It is the story of danger, abuse, of healing, of trying to find a place to be safe. It is a sharp, biting, and exquisitely written story that deserves the adjective “haunting.” It is all hard angles and uncomfortable truths and dark, secret things.
The prose, though – the prose! It’s exceptional. Feeling bled through words and heightened every sense, every reaction. Above was tense, mad, sorrowing, and altogether lovely. It will be one of my favorite books of 2012, I am quite sure.
There were several unusual elements present in the story: the connection of fantasy and mental illness, a discussion of psychiatry and its fringe elements of society, a bi-racial protagonist (and how I wish I didn’t have to write that that was unusual!), and a trained storyteller of a protagonist letting bits of the tale go free piecemeal. The glory of the reading experience was in the discovery of truths that hurt and pulled and tore – forming you, and the characters, into new people.
Recommended for: fans of China Mieville, Neil Gaiman, Kate Griffin’s A Madness of Angels, those who prefer a dark bite to their fiction, and anyone who has wondered if perhaps the shadows are stalking them – and why this should be so.
April 3, 2012
ABOVE starts out with the destruction of Safe, home to our narrator, Teller. Safe, an underground home to Freaks and Sick, is invaded by Killer, a Freak previously cast out by Safe's leader, Atticus. The rest of the story is, on one level, the tale of how Teller and other refugees from Safe return to their home and defeat Killer.
I began the book with a sense that this was an okay story. Perfectly fine. The plot didn't quite hold together, and a number of the character motivations were weak, but, okay, whatever. I was a little bit disappointed, honestly. And then, about a third of the way through, the light dawned.
Oh, I thought. She's doing it on purpose.
What Teller finds out, what we the readers find out, is that this narrative is false. Or, rather, that everything in Teller's life is more complicated than he was ever led to believe. It's his job, Teller, to listen to everyone's stories are re-tell them for the community. He is the public record, the history text of his community. Teller, who is around eighteen years old, is not familiar with the idea that history is written by the victors.
He learns.
This book is audacious in its treatment of personal autonomy and identity. It's audacious in its framing of heroism. Avoid if you like your heroes to be unblemished and your narrators reliable. READ if you like your urban fantasy to be both urban and vampire-free, if you like your characters flawed yet able to learn.
An excellent book from a talented writer.
I began the book with a sense that this was an okay story. Perfectly fine. The plot didn't quite hold together, and a number of the character motivations were weak, but, okay, whatever. I was a little bit disappointed, honestly. And then, about a third of the way through, the light dawned.
Oh, I thought. She's doing it on purpose.
What Teller finds out, what we the readers find out, is that this narrative is false. Or, rather, that everything in Teller's life is more complicated than he was ever led to believe. It's his job, Teller, to listen to everyone's stories are re-tell them for the community. He is the public record, the history text of his community. Teller, who is around eighteen years old, is not familiar with the idea that history is written by the victors.
He learns.
This book is audacious in its treatment of personal autonomy and identity. It's audacious in its framing of heroism. Avoid if you like your heroes to be unblemished and your narrators reliable. READ if you like your urban fantasy to be both urban and vampire-free, if you like your characters flawed yet able to learn.
An excellent book from a talented writer.
May 18, 2012
The writing style of this book made it difficult to muddle through and often times I just didn't want to pick the book back up, however I am very glad that I did. This book was completely different than what I expected, I expected it to be another distopian fight against the government type of book. Instead this book is about people discovering who they really are as they fight their own past demons and on-going mental issues. The book was way more about the characters own issues than the outside action, and the government meant pretty much nothing to them. They accepted the conditions of their world they only wanted to live peacefully together in their own Sanctuary. Overall despite how difficult it was to read I really enjoyed this book but I admit that it is most certainly not for everyone, but if you can look past the writing style and enjoy character driven stories than this book is for you.
February 20, 2013
I loved Leah's writing style. It was like a breath of fresh air!! Hoping there is a trilogy!! I stayed up half the night to finish reading it. I couldn't put it down!
August 28, 2012
Originally reviewed on A Reader of Fictions.
What on this crazy, polluted planet did I just read? Seriously, I just finished reading this and I have no freaking clue. If this book were a person, it would likely end up in a straitjacket, trapped in the sorts of institutions many of its characters have been at one point or another. Mix together One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Dust Girl, and I think you've got something that roughly approximates Above.
The world depicted herein does have interesting features. For example, there are people with powers, like Jack and his lightning hands. Others are part animal, like Matthew and his scales. Some of these Freaks, those that aren't normal, have formed a community, hidden beneath the earth in tunnels, safe from the doctors and the institutions. They call their community Safe, and Atticus is their leader.
This basic premise could have made an outstanding book, but it didn't. The lack of explanation caused me to get stuck in questioning mode, unable to suspend disbelief. So far as I noticed, there was never once any sort of description of HOW society came to be this way. People don't just suddenly get born with lion feet for no reason. I'm not even asking for much. Just give me something! Really, I would have been a bit more positive towards the book had their been just a sentence telling me that these changes were the result of drugs, chemicals in the food, pollution, SOMETHING.
The character of Ariel, pictured on the book's cover, proved to be another insurmountable obstacle for me as a reader. While I can easily accept some of the curses (or so they call them) that the people of Safe possess, like wielding lightning or speaking with ghosts, I had major difficulty with the animal hybrids. Still, I could accept to some degree at least Atticus' claw hands and Matthew's dad's lion feet. Fine. Ariel, though, I could not fathom. You see, she is not precisely as pictured. She looks completely normal sometimes, entirely human. However, she can TURN INTO A BEE. Her ability differs from everyone else's greatly, and I couldn't deal with the whole conservation of matter issues. Sure, I've read books where I wasn't bothered by things like that (Harry Potter, for example), but this aspect just seemed out of place within Bobet's own world. Why was Ariel so unique?
Matthew is a meh main character, which is unfortunate, especially considering that I still found him to be the most interesting character. Everyone feels flat and I don't get a sense of any real emotion anywhere, even in the scenes that I know were meant to be gut-wrenching. Perhaps this stems from the way Bobet chose to tell the story, as Matthew's autobiography, thus creating a sense of removal from those moments?
Matthew has a momentous crush on Ariel, although it's never put into those terms. I will give the romance credit for not being remotely like any other YA romances. However, that does not make me ship them any more. Again, it's hard to root for them when I have no sense of who they really are. Ariel, especially, does not seem to much care for anyone and would probably be best off alone.
The writing teetered on the edge of dialect but, except for one brief section, remained normal enough that I didn't want to stab my eyes out with one of my stiletto heels. Her long (mostly about forty pages) chapters made my eyes cross. I was constantly flipping ahead to see how many pages of the chapter remained, and the answer was usually too many. Additionally, I did not care for the Tales told at the end of each chapter, a brief story of how some of the key characters came to be in Safe. The characters chosen seemed entirely arbitrary, with some important ones having been skipped and some we never even meet getting a section. Many of these didn't add to the book for me at all. I feel like it would have been stronger to integrate them into the rest of the text.
There were some ideas in Above that I really liked, some shining possibility from amidst the weirdness. I really wish that Bobet hadn't made this a paranormal. As an issues book set in a dystopian future with a crackdown on crazy people (like The Glimpse), this could have been so powerful. The paranormal elements detracted from the serious themes, like the abuse Ariel has suffered and the inhumane treatments perpetrated by the Whitecoats.
About all I can say having finished Above is that I didn't completely hate it. However, I have so little positive to say that I cannot even rate it a meh. Some readers surely exist who can appreciate Bobet's vision, but I am not that reader.
What on this crazy, polluted planet did I just read? Seriously, I just finished reading this and I have no freaking clue. If this book were a person, it would likely end up in a straitjacket, trapped in the sorts of institutions many of its characters have been at one point or another. Mix together One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Dust Girl, and I think you've got something that roughly approximates Above.
The world depicted herein does have interesting features. For example, there are people with powers, like Jack and his lightning hands. Others are part animal, like Matthew and his scales. Some of these Freaks, those that aren't normal, have formed a community, hidden beneath the earth in tunnels, safe from the doctors and the institutions. They call their community Safe, and Atticus is their leader.
This basic premise could have made an outstanding book, but it didn't. The lack of explanation caused me to get stuck in questioning mode, unable to suspend disbelief. So far as I noticed, there was never once any sort of description of HOW society came to be this way. People don't just suddenly get born with lion feet for no reason. I'm not even asking for much. Just give me something! Really, I would have been a bit more positive towards the book had their been just a sentence telling me that these changes were the result of drugs, chemicals in the food, pollution, SOMETHING.
The character of Ariel, pictured on the book's cover, proved to be another insurmountable obstacle for me as a reader. While I can easily accept some of the curses (or so they call them) that the people of Safe possess, like wielding lightning or speaking with ghosts, I had major difficulty with the animal hybrids. Still, I could accept to some degree at least Atticus' claw hands and Matthew's dad's lion feet. Fine. Ariel, though, I could not fathom. You see, she is not precisely as pictured. She looks completely normal sometimes, entirely human. However, she can TURN INTO A BEE. Her ability differs from everyone else's greatly, and I couldn't deal with the whole conservation of matter issues. Sure, I've read books where I wasn't bothered by things like that (Harry Potter, for example), but this aspect just seemed out of place within Bobet's own world. Why was Ariel so unique?
Matthew is a meh main character, which is unfortunate, especially considering that I still found him to be the most interesting character. Everyone feels flat and I don't get a sense of any real emotion anywhere, even in the scenes that I know were meant to be gut-wrenching. Perhaps this stems from the way Bobet chose to tell the story, as Matthew's autobiography, thus creating a sense of removal from those moments?
Matthew has a momentous crush on Ariel, although it's never put into those terms. I will give the romance credit for not being remotely like any other YA romances. However, that does not make me ship them any more. Again, it's hard to root for them when I have no sense of who they really are. Ariel, especially, does not seem to much care for anyone and would probably be best off alone.
The writing teetered on the edge of dialect but, except for one brief section, remained normal enough that I didn't want to stab my eyes out with one of my stiletto heels. Her long (mostly about forty pages) chapters made my eyes cross. I was constantly flipping ahead to see how many pages of the chapter remained, and the answer was usually too many. Additionally, I did not care for the Tales told at the end of each chapter, a brief story of how some of the key characters came to be in Safe. The characters chosen seemed entirely arbitrary, with some important ones having been skipped and some we never even meet getting a section. Many of these didn't add to the book for me at all. I feel like it would have been stronger to integrate them into the rest of the text.
There were some ideas in Above that I really liked, some shining possibility from amidst the weirdness. I really wish that Bobet hadn't made this a paranormal. As an issues book set in a dystopian future with a crackdown on crazy people (like The Glimpse), this could have been so powerful. The paranormal elements detracted from the serious themes, like the abuse Ariel has suffered and the inhumane treatments perpetrated by the Whitecoats.
About all I can say having finished Above is that I didn't completely hate it. However, I have so little positive to say that I cannot even rate it a meh. Some readers surely exist who can appreciate Bobet's vision, but I am not that reader.
October 30, 2012
Hmmm, this is my first time writing a review. I just felt compelled to be honest. Most notably because a friend of mine had asked about this book and since I was already reading it, I figure 'why not'?
WARNING: IT WILL BE LONG
Firstly, this book is more of a 3.5 for me for various reasons. Mostly because this book leaves me rather mixed: half good, half bad. Particularly on the subject that most will either get what's going on or be lost forever in the details and dialogue. I however hung in there and had the patience to keep going -- my efforts were rewarded, at least in my own opinion. I've seen the other reactions: both good and bad.
And while reading it I could see why.
The writing boardlines between whimsical and vagueness. There were lots of parts I loved or just stared at the page in confusion. Words as names such as Whisper and Pass and whole bunch of others just made me go 'why' for most part. Probably because there wasn't enough detail going into the attached word. It was more like 'Whisper crept' ... wait, who's this Whisper person? I didn't get my answers until I read more about the parts she was involved in as well as other characters. Yet I was left with trying to figure out who was who and why they were there with such name attached to them -- yes, I am aware it was mostly associated with their powers, but still ... give the reader a wee bit more detail-help here. :c
Besides that the main character: Matthew, oh Matthew, Matthew, how I had to read to the end to finally understand certain details of his character. I loved how he was called the 'Teller' of Tales in a sense. But there were certainly many things that the author could have fleshed out or detailed better in my opinion. Mostly vague and leaving up to the reader to decide who, what, where, who, how, huh? I was okay with it since I'm rather familiar in trying to explain the most obscure storylines and plot devices to others, but to those that favour the straight forward approach, you'll be sorely disappointed I'm afraid.
However the highlights of this book are to be admired and credited to Bobet's writing style. I simply adored how she formatted the story. My only complaint is the chapters are fairly long-ish, but that's just personal taste. Yet what she added with each characters' 'Tale' just made me go giddy with glee. It was such an interesting outlook to the world of 'Above' and its characters. It was there that I got the details (or most of it) that I had been looking for at the beginning.
Monsters and Whitecoats.
This story really truly explores who is the true monster and who is merely human, who is the Killer and who is Safe, and most importantly it tells the story that Matthew needs to tell to the reader. In his own way and form. And its that what drove me about 2/3 into the story to keep reading. The climax, in its own way, was chillingly beautiful. It also consulted an issue not normally discussed which just interested me more. And oh the Tale of that person was truly memorable, I almost felt shameful of my original thinking.
But above all, it really made me think in the end, and I think that's what is the most vital moral of what this story tells us -- the readers -- about.
Again, I had doubts at the beginning because of the vagueness and getting lost in the words and things jumping and whatever it was, but it truly proved me wrong by the last page thankfully.
So, to be honest here, don't take for granted what others deem a book or a story bad or good, because in the end you might be surprised. Sometimes its how it was told, or merely how it was written, or it could have been expanded further. Details may seem a bit blah at times but they really help flesh the idea and the message as a whole.
Just wish Bobet spent some more time fleshing things out and whatnot.
Anyway, I believe I've rambled anyone's ears off with this, so I shall stop here.
Hopefully this helped, if not then I'm terribly sorry. :c
I tried. :/
WARNING: IT WILL BE LONG
Firstly, this book is more of a 3.5 for me for various reasons. Mostly because this book leaves me rather mixed: half good, half bad. Particularly on the subject that most will either get what's going on or be lost forever in the details and dialogue. I however hung in there and had the patience to keep going -- my efforts were rewarded, at least in my own opinion. I've seen the other reactions: both good and bad.
And while reading it I could see why.
The writing boardlines between whimsical and vagueness. There were lots of parts I loved or just stared at the page in confusion. Words as names such as Whisper and Pass and whole bunch of others just made me go 'why' for most part. Probably because there wasn't enough detail going into the attached word. It was more like 'Whisper crept' ... wait, who's this Whisper person? I didn't get my answers until I read more about the parts she was involved in as well as other characters. Yet I was left with trying to figure out who was who and why they were there with such name attached to them -- yes, I am aware it was mostly associated with their powers, but still ... give the reader a wee bit more detail-help here. :c
Besides that the main character: Matthew, oh Matthew, Matthew, how I had to read to the end to finally understand certain details of his character. I loved how he was called the 'Teller' of Tales in a sense. But there were certainly many things that the author could have fleshed out or detailed better in my opinion. Mostly vague and leaving up to the reader to decide who, what, where, who, how, huh? I was okay with it since I'm rather familiar in trying to explain the most obscure storylines and plot devices to others, but to those that favour the straight forward approach, you'll be sorely disappointed I'm afraid.
However the highlights of this book are to be admired and credited to Bobet's writing style. I simply adored how she formatted the story. My only complaint is the chapters are fairly long-ish, but that's just personal taste. Yet what she added with each characters' 'Tale' just made me go giddy with glee. It was such an interesting outlook to the world of 'Above' and its characters. It was there that I got the details (or most of it) that I had been looking for at the beginning.
Monsters and Whitecoats.
This story really truly explores who is the true monster and who is merely human, who is the Killer and who is Safe, and most importantly it tells the story that Matthew needs to tell to the reader. In his own way and form. And its that what drove me about 2/3 into the story to keep reading. The climax, in its own way, was chillingly beautiful. It also consulted an issue not normally discussed which just interested me more. And oh the Tale of that person was truly memorable, I almost felt shameful of my original thinking.
But above all, it really made me think in the end, and I think that's what is the most vital moral of what this story tells us -- the readers -- about.
Again, I had doubts at the beginning because of the vagueness and getting lost in the words and things jumping and whatever it was, but it truly proved me wrong by the last page thankfully.
So, to be honest here, don't take for granted what others deem a book or a story bad or good, because in the end you might be surprised. Sometimes its how it was told, or merely how it was written, or it could have been expanded further. Details may seem a bit blah at times but they really help flesh the idea and the message as a whole.
Just wish Bobet spent some more time fleshing things out and whatnot.
Anyway, I believe I've rambled anyone's ears off with this, so I shall stop here.
Hopefully this helped, if not then I'm terribly sorry. :c
I tried. :/
March 23, 2012
Imagine a world with monsters with strange powers locked in our mental institutions to protect the public and study them. Now imagine those monsters broke free and lived in the sewers under your city. Well, with Above you don’t have to imagine because it’s exactly what you get.. from the monsters’ perspective.
Above is another book I have mix feelings for. Leah Bobet is a Canadian debut author, Above is a dystopian book and it has this insanely pretty cover. From the moment I heard of it, I’ve been wanting to read it. Yet when I started reading, I quickly realized in wasn’t quite for me.
The writing is very peculiar, which isn’t a bad thing, I mean I appreciate original writing style as much as the next person, but I found that Bobet’s particular style didn’t work for me. The style really confused me from the get go, and add to that the fact that we don’t know the main character’s genre or name until page 31 and I left like, I too, was lost in a dark sewer tunnel. As you can see Above and I didn’t start on the right foot, but I kept on reading because I really wanted to like the book!
As I read on, I got used to the writing style and it improved my enjoyment on the book. Leah imagined a fantastic world, close enough to ours to be believable but with so much more under the surface, quite literally. Some people are born with defect such has fish gills and lion feet, other develop into weird creatures with time. For example, crab arms or powers over electricity or even more subtle gifts like ghost talking. Those people were feared an locked away, but some escaped and formed a Safe community underground, surviving and protecting each other as best as they could, living with an immense fear of Above.
The idea is that much more original because the story is told from the monster’s perspective. It’s really a great story about discrimination, fear, but also courage, strength and love. It’s about a small group of people trying to overcome challenges, fighting for safety in a world that wants the shun them out, forget they ever existed.
Bobet created a wide spectrum of characters, old and young, born Above and in Safe, male and female, all with different imperfections, providing an array of personalities among its rank. While I appreciated the diversity, I didn’t feel any connection with any of them, which really hit my enjoyment of the novel. Matthew and Ariel, the two main characters, were both weird and I had a hard time understanding their decisions. It’s evident they care for each other, but their relationship is very awkward. It’s beautiful in a way, but it wasn’t for me.
The plot line was good enough. The people from Safe were sent running when their Sanctuary was invaded by monsters worst than them and they fought as best as they could from Above, a world they don’t know, to retrieve their haven and uncover the mystery being those terrifying creatures.
What I liked the most about this novel is the butterfly effect Leah Bobet sneakily included in the book. She showed that every decision the characters make, even the ones that seem insignificant, have a huge effect on their own future, but also on everyone around them. The conclusion being the apogee of the whole concept.
This book is definitely worth a shot, and just because some aspect didn’t work for me, it doesn’t mean you won’t like it. Above had a great concept and very good morals to share. I would say read the excerpt and see for yourself if Above is a book that might work for you =)
Above is another book I have mix feelings for. Leah Bobet is a Canadian debut author, Above is a dystopian book and it has this insanely pretty cover. From the moment I heard of it, I’ve been wanting to read it. Yet when I started reading, I quickly realized in wasn’t quite for me.
The writing is very peculiar, which isn’t a bad thing, I mean I appreciate original writing style as much as the next person, but I found that Bobet’s particular style didn’t work for me. The style really confused me from the get go, and add to that the fact that we don’t know the main character’s genre or name until page 31 and I left like, I too, was lost in a dark sewer tunnel. As you can see Above and I didn’t start on the right foot, but I kept on reading because I really wanted to like the book!
As I read on, I got used to the writing style and it improved my enjoyment on the book. Leah imagined a fantastic world, close enough to ours to be believable but with so much more under the surface, quite literally. Some people are born with defect such has fish gills and lion feet, other develop into weird creatures with time. For example, crab arms or powers over electricity or even more subtle gifts like ghost talking. Those people were feared an locked away, but some escaped and formed a Safe community underground, surviving and protecting each other as best as they could, living with an immense fear of Above.
The idea is that much more original because the story is told from the monster’s perspective. It’s really a great story about discrimination, fear, but also courage, strength and love. It’s about a small group of people trying to overcome challenges, fighting for safety in a world that wants the shun them out, forget they ever existed.
Bobet created a wide spectrum of characters, old and young, born Above and in Safe, male and female, all with different imperfections, providing an array of personalities among its rank. While I appreciated the diversity, I didn’t feel any connection with any of them, which really hit my enjoyment of the novel. Matthew and Ariel, the two main characters, were both weird and I had a hard time understanding their decisions. It’s evident they care for each other, but their relationship is very awkward. It’s beautiful in a way, but it wasn’t for me.
The plot line was good enough. The people from Safe were sent running when their Sanctuary was invaded by monsters worst than them and they fought as best as they could from Above, a world they don’t know, to retrieve their haven and uncover the mystery being those terrifying creatures.
What I liked the most about this novel is the butterfly effect Leah Bobet sneakily included in the book. She showed that every decision the characters make, even the ones that seem insignificant, have a huge effect on their own future, but also on everyone around them. The conclusion being the apogee of the whole concept.
This book is definitely worth a shot, and just because some aspect didn’t work for me, it doesn’t mean you won’t like it. Above had a great concept and very good morals to share. I would say read the excerpt and see for yourself if Above is a book that might work for you =)
December 1, 2013
Okay, it was not the easiest book to read. However, I did find it hard to put down. It was about people who were different and they hid in the sewer. It was their home and it was called Safe.
Atticus had crab claws, Jack - lightning fingers and electricity flowed through him; Matthew (Teller) who weaves and carves their tales on the doors to Safe - has scales on his back and big feet with claws; Ariel(the girl who Matthew loves) is a bee; Whisper can talk to ghosts and hear messages from the wind & carry messages to the wind; Corner has boy-girl parts and has the "bloodtouch" that can go through walls and people's body. All, except Matthew, have been in a psychiartic ward, Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital. A young intern, known to the characters, as Doctor Marybeth, helped them escape. She continued to help them by donating medicine, food and other necessities, which would have cost her her medical license, if found out. She also provided her home as shelter to those who needed a place to stay or were sick. Then, there is Beatrice, who also provided Sanctuary for runaways and Ariel. She knew Ariel was different; yet she did not turn her away and/or called the "Whitecoats" at Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital. Atticus and Corner loved each other. As Corner tells the tale to Matthew, I thought there were spelling errors; but, as I continued to read Corner's tale and the love she & Atticus shared, I realized that it was Ms. Bobet's description of Corner - it has boy-girl parts--Sie(she/he); Hir (him/her). The book was a hard read; yet I understood it. Ms. Bobet wrote about good people who didnt' care about other people's appearances and their willingness to help people who are different by providing shelter, supplies, friendship and trust. Ms. Bobet also showed in this book that love has no boundaries and yet can hurt the people you love the most-Atticus exiling Corner because he had to show power; Corner killing Atticus because she wanted Safe & Sanctuary and he would not give it to her & he chose Safe over her; Ariel constantly running away and not trusting Matthew, who always searched for her and found her; moreover, never gave up on her. Even after she stung him countless times, he was always defending her; talking gently to her and giving her the space he knew she needed. It was a hard read, but it was a good read.
Atticus had crab claws, Jack - lightning fingers and electricity flowed through him; Matthew (Teller) who weaves and carves their tales on the doors to Safe - has scales on his back and big feet with claws; Ariel(the girl who Matthew loves) is a bee; Whisper can talk to ghosts and hear messages from the wind & carry messages to the wind; Corner has boy-girl parts and has the "bloodtouch" that can go through walls and people's body. All, except Matthew, have been in a psychiartic ward, Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital. A young intern, known to the characters, as Doctor Marybeth, helped them escape. She continued to help them by donating medicine, food and other necessities, which would have cost her her medical license, if found out. She also provided her home as shelter to those who needed a place to stay or were sick. Then, there is Beatrice, who also provided Sanctuary for runaways and Ariel. She knew Ariel was different; yet she did not turn her away and/or called the "Whitecoats" at Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital. Atticus and Corner loved each other. As Corner tells the tale to Matthew, I thought there were spelling errors; but, as I continued to read Corner's tale and the love she & Atticus shared, I realized that it was Ms. Bobet's description of Corner - it has boy-girl parts--Sie(she/he); Hir (him/her). The book was a hard read; yet I understood it. Ms. Bobet wrote about good people who didnt' care about other people's appearances and their willingness to help people who are different by providing shelter, supplies, friendship and trust. Ms. Bobet also showed in this book that love has no boundaries and yet can hurt the people you love the most-Atticus exiling Corner because he had to show power; Corner killing Atticus because she wanted Safe & Sanctuary and he would not give it to her & he chose Safe over her; Ariel constantly running away and not trusting Matthew, who always searched for her and found her; moreover, never gave up on her. Even after she stung him countless times, he was always defending her; talking gently to her and giving her the space he knew she needed. It was a hard read, but it was a good read.
April 1, 2012
Above is at once a love affair with a cityscape, an homage to the power of storytelling and a reckoning with the reality of human suffering. It's written in a lyrical staccato of descriptive pairs that struck a kind of musical harmony between the first person narrative of a teenage boy and his gift for luring the stories out of everything around him. It is told in a 'dialect' but one borne of of the moral of this tale, that of enduring hope through despair. I think that was the most interesting part of this story for me, that hope came in the telling and the seeing, more than from the characters or circumstances, who were rendered simply 'as they were'.
The story's narrator, Matthew, put me in mind of The Chrysalids as he is a boy who has never know the world before whatever disaster/shift has occurred, so we learn the altered reality through his eyes, mining the things that are 'universal' about the world through his experiences.
This story had some profound sadness in it. I made it about 3/4 through and put it down to recover (and eat a cupcake) and came back to it a day later to have the pleasure of discovering it had an uplifting conclusion punctuated by a lot of doing the right, hard, true thing.
The weaving of the characters differences or extra abilities with their natures, experiences and emotions was very interesting as well. I saw some really neat parallels between animal harmony & cultural tales and the characters themselves (including musings on Native Canadian treatment & isolation along with smaller, subtler ones (a girl who stings like a bee, a boy who treads the world like a kindly but leader-hearted lion). The 'villain' of this story will stay with me ever-after and I'm particularly glad I got to hear the tale for each person in the book, their background and context highlighted for importance as Matthew collects them.
I have also had the pleasure of meeting the author--which is always a neat experience. Sometimes authors sound like their writing, sometimes not at all, often you can see them in their writing afterward. Meeting Leah had the effect of strengthening the convictions in this tale, its purposes and goals in showing vivid parallels between a fantasy story and the harsh realities it is drawn from.
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