Quick review: THE DUST OF 100 DOGS
03/25/09 19:24
Full
disclosure: I have corresponded with A.S. King, and I
really, really like her. Very cool. Made of awesome
(I stole her phrase). We are also imprint buddies.
That aside, a YA lover MUST read this book. MUST. It’s unlike any other YA I’ve ever read. I read a lot in my subgenre of YA (realistic), and not so much in other subgenres. But this one . . . it’s its own subgenre, really: historic magic realism. I love magic realism. History, not as much--but by the time I was done with this book, I wanted to know tons more about Cromwell’s conquest for Ireland (look it up!).
So, the basics: Saffron is a teenager in the 80s. Not such a great family. Really smart. Really smart-ass. However--here’s the wild part--she is the first human incarnation of Emir Morrisey, totally (so totally!) bad-ass girl pirate who escaped Ireland not long after Cromwell invaded. Emir was cursed to live as 100 dogs back when she was a pirate, and Saffron remembers Emir’s life as well as the lives of the 100 dogs Emir became. Imagine what happens when you combine a pirate’s memories with dog memories and a teenage brain. It makes for a wicked good story.
The characters in this book are incredibly rich---Saffron and Emir are amazing. But wait until you meet Fred. I’ve never seen the likes of him in a YA novel---he could have walked out of the pages of King’s JUST AFTER SUNSET. Creepy. But his role in Saffron’s/Emir’s life is significant. Then there’s Seanie. Nothing like loving someone for 300 years, through 100 lives as a dog, to keep a girl’s heart stoked for romance! But whose heart---Emir’s or Saffron’s? You’ll just have to find out.
This book wrestles with important stuff: do souls continue after the body gives out? How does a person react in the face of complete adversity? When is it OK to kill someone (or pop their eyes out)? What will we do for safety and security? What is beauty? What should we do with other people’s expectations of us? But the issues don’t jump out at you--the story jumps all over you, and I was hanging on every single bit of it, ignoring the rest of my life to finish it, then being sorry I was finished with it.
I just realized, this very moment, that I didn’t include links for the other authors I reviewed (my apologies to Heather Brewer and Meagan Brothers). If you want to know more about A.S. King, check out her website here. AND READ HER BOOK!
That aside, a YA lover MUST read this book. MUST. It’s unlike any other YA I’ve ever read. I read a lot in my subgenre of YA (realistic), and not so much in other subgenres. But this one . . . it’s its own subgenre, really: historic magic realism. I love magic realism. History, not as much--but by the time I was done with this book, I wanted to know tons more about Cromwell’s conquest for Ireland (look it up!).
So, the basics: Saffron is a teenager in the 80s. Not such a great family. Really smart. Really smart-ass. However--here’s the wild part--she is the first human incarnation of Emir Morrisey, totally (so totally!) bad-ass girl pirate who escaped Ireland not long after Cromwell invaded. Emir was cursed to live as 100 dogs back when she was a pirate, and Saffron remembers Emir’s life as well as the lives of the 100 dogs Emir became. Imagine what happens when you combine a pirate’s memories with dog memories and a teenage brain. It makes for a wicked good story.
The characters in this book are incredibly rich---Saffron and Emir are amazing. But wait until you meet Fred. I’ve never seen the likes of him in a YA novel---he could have walked out of the pages of King’s JUST AFTER SUNSET. Creepy. But his role in Saffron’s/Emir’s life is significant. Then there’s Seanie. Nothing like loving someone for 300 years, through 100 lives as a dog, to keep a girl’s heart stoked for romance! But whose heart---Emir’s or Saffron’s? You’ll just have to find out.
This book wrestles with important stuff: do souls continue after the body gives out? How does a person react in the face of complete adversity? When is it OK to kill someone (or pop their eyes out)? What will we do for safety and security? What is beauty? What should we do with other people’s expectations of us? But the issues don’t jump out at you--the story jumps all over you, and I was hanging on every single bit of it, ignoring the rest of my life to finish it, then being sorry I was finished with it.
I just realized, this very moment, that I didn’t include links for the other authors I reviewed (my apologies to Heather Brewer and Meagan Brothers). If you want to know more about A.S. King, check out her website here. AND READ HER BOOK!