Leah BobetRezensionen

I love this series of books because they are short reading. Each part has a different author and style and it a consistent world. There are plenty of mysteries to keep one engaged and This book in particular gave some clues as to the contagion (not a spoiler) If liked X-files before it became the "great conspiracy" you will love these books.

Post-apocalyptic, with creepy monsters, and told the story of a pair of sisters who were just trying to make the farm that their late father left them work in his absence. The eldest sister's husband went off to war a few months back, and they were waiting anxiously for his return. But when they hire a veteran to help with the harvest, strange monsters begin to appear and circle the farm. . It was quiet and verged on YA, but riveting; I found it extra interesting because there were a series of place names that sounded... juuuust... familiar..... enough.... to the point where I looked up what place this was actually set in, and was gratified to find I was right.

A story of two sisters and family dynamics in a post-apocalyptic world (by several generations) currently threatened by invasions from a parallel world. Much is left unknown in this dark and hopeful story that is a sometimes heavy read. Great writing. I'm sad to see so few readers of this book. Worth it!½

Surprising in a good way. The language is Canadian, a little oblique and not what I expected. Admirable restraint in sketching the apocalypse that happened four generations ago. I thought it a little too pat, too healed by the end. But a satisfying visit to this world.

I received an ARC for this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

If absolutely nothing else, the initial blurb of this book is enough to make me grab it off the shelf. Dark things happening! There was a war! Ugly truths! Risks being taken and secrets being kept! Woo! What more could a reader ask for?!

This book is what.

Let me be honest with you. The plot for this book is not surprising. Many of the twists I saw coming, and it all wraps up the way one might expect. But this is what pushed it from a 4-star review to a 5-star.

The characters.

Hallie and Marthe are a brilliant duo of sisters, desperately trying not to live down to the reputation of their family, and failing every step of the way. They are younger women trying to hold down a farm by themselves, trying to prove they are worth the farm, trying to prove they are worth themselves. They each have their father's temper in spades, though it comes out in different ways, and they haven't quite figured out how to talk to each other as something approximating adults yet.

The farms around them, their friends and supports, are well-rounded without being overpowering. The romance arc that grows with Hallie feels natural and exactly as awkward as it should, there's a natural diversity represented without it ever being Presented As Diversity (in fact, it took me several mentions to realize what I was reading), and they're never treated as one-note "just here for the sake of being here" characters.

And then there's Heron.

In any book, when a quiet stranger is introduced at the beginning and clearly set up to be Not Important, you know they're the ones to watch. Heron is absolutely no different. I can't quite put a finger on what it was about this character that so completely trapped me, but every time he was around, my eyes were on him. There was such a sense of being genuine, such a quiet strength, a silent sense of honor...I don't know. But Heron was an amazing character and I loved every minute of him. He was real, and he was complex, and he was wonderful. I wish I had better words to tell you why.

Character is one of the most important pieces of a story for me. It's one of the pieces I will always focus the most on. Leah Bobet has absolutely nailed the art of subtle and real characters, and for that alone, this book is well worth the read.

Rating: ***** - Highest Recommendation

AN INHERITANCE OF ASHES hits shelves October 4th, 2015.

The writing of the book was lovely, just absolutely lovely.

And the characters were very, very real, which I liked. They were all flawed, and they had to draw strength from within, surfacing mostly from familial love, to overcome those flaws, which I liked very, very much. I also liked that Bobet didn't go for the love triangle between Hallie, Tyler and Heron.

But the thing about this book is that it was super predictable. I knew just about every plot twist a hundred pages before it happened.

Overall, I liked it. Solid 3.5 star.

I’m not totally sure what I was expecting when I picked up this book. Maybe something about fairies, cuz the girl on the cover has wings. Maybe something dystopic. But whatever I was expecting, its not what I got.
This book is completely unlike anything I have ever read before. It was about reality, and the way people are treated because they’re different. It was about magic, because those were the differences that set people apart.
It was about love. All kinds of love. Love when it’s ugly and when it’s beautiful.
This book was ugly and beautiful.
This book is something different.
It is totally worth the time it takes to read it.

Family, Pride, Spite, Stubbornness and their intersection. Add the end of the world mirroring what's happening in the core relationships and you have a powerful metaphor that leaves you thinking.

I suspect this book can mean different things to different people. To me, that's a very good thing.

Review: Above by Leah Bobet. 06/11/2017

I was disappointed when I read this book. It read like it was written by a teenager, Very abrupt short sentences, some didn’t even make any sense. I read a few reviews that said to give the book a chance because some readers are interrupting it wrong. I have read plenty of fantasy stories but I couldn’t even visualize the characters or feel any emotions.

The book was narrated by Matthew, who was an uneducated mutant who was living his life isolated in underground community named Safe. I believe the book was written in a style that reflected Matthews thought process. I couldn’t even understand the description of the area where the characters where or how they lived. I got the part about being an outcast, a runaway, an abused child, and some being institutionalized by parents but the author never explained how the characters were flawed in one way or another. When and why did one character have lobster claws for hands, why did one girl keep sprouting wings on her back that fell off and she would grow new ones. I believe they were not born that way and the deformities started when they were young.

Somehow, I missed the whole theme of the story and I must have missed the explaining pages to the entire why, who, what or where questions I was left with…

A post-apocalyptic coming-of-age fantasy novel with a bit of a Little-Town-on-the-Prairie feel about it. It's a story about keeping secrets and coping in the aftermath of traumatic experiences and asking for help. And it's more than a list of themes - it pulls those things together to craft a story that is coherent and thoughtful and gripping.

I found it really hard to put down.

Sixteen year old Hallie and her older sister Marthe are still waiting for Marthe's husband to come home from war, and they're struggling to look after their farm - and stay on good terms with each other - without him. Their situation becomes more complicated after Hallie finds a Twisted Thing on her windowsill.

I appreciated the heartbreaking yet believable complexity of Hallie's relationship with Marthe, and the way they struggle with a family legacy of dysfunctional relationships, especially conflict between siblings.
I also really liked Hallie's relationships with her childhood friends, Nat and Tyler Blakely, and the way Hallie and Tyler each other ask "Spite or pride?" when one of them is being stubborn or cross.

"My life has a terrible sense of humour, you know? I was proud of that speech." His cheeks were still ugly crimson. "I practiced it all week long to my bedroom ceiling."
"Did it have any good suggestions?"
"It said to definitely go with the wounded dignity. Very manly, super-tragic. I'm never asking it for anything again."

what happens after the terrible adventure. picking up the pieces after the world has been saved, the battle has been fought, the dead have been buried and the injured have come home.

In a world full of ash and burned things, remains a people scorched from a demonic god. An entity that came through a hole in the sky that oozed black oil on the land and animals. Rancid air brought down birds in the sky, which turned the creatures into acidic bullets. Cattle burned before the human eye and war came in one hellish swoop. What was left was a blackened, bitter land that looked pitiful and sore. This land was home to a young woman named Hallie and her older sister Marthe. Both were struggling to live off a farm that was barely livable, while Marthe waited for her husband to return home from war. Each sister seemed to resent the other and tension ruled the air, until a stranger showed up on the property. Hallie seemed to be drawn to the pitiful specter and made the stranger their hired hand. As time progressed Hallie became more intrigued with the hired hand and realized he was a solider from the war. Although Hallie knew he was a solider (Heron) did not discuss his past. However, fate would have Heron change his mind. Grotesque animals (twisted things) that were associated with the dead god started appearing on Hallie’s property. As the weeks passed by more strange things occurred that made both Hallie and Heron realize that the war with the demonic god might not be entirely over.

I really enjoyed this book and I found it to be very interesting. I liked the concept of a different dimensional universe and it intermixing with a low technical society. That was new to me. Usually a person only reads that with highly advanced society based novels. Everything was well written and easy to follow. I plan on passing this book to my daughter and I am positive she will enjoy it! I want to thank both Goodreads and the author for sending me this book in a giveaway. It was very much appreciated and I enjoyed myself. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for something new to read.

I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

Matthew lives in a place called Safe, which is an underground haven for all sorts of outcasts from society, whether they’re like Atticus, the founder who has pincers like a crab, or like Ariel, who is hiding some sort of trauma and turns into a bee when she’s afraid. Matthew was born in Safe and has scales and clawed feet. He is also the Storyteller for the community, and memorizes the stories of each person in Safe and how they came from “Above,” a world similar to our own. However, Matthew doesn’t know everything about people like Ariel, Atticus, or Corner, the only person ever to be exiled from Safe, for a horrible crime. When tragedy hits Safe itself, Matthew has to protect those in Safe, while trying to find out what really happened to Corner and to Ariel.

First off, I need to admit that this is one of my two favorite debuts this year, and I think it’s completely brilliant. I’ve read a lot of reviews for this, and the one complaint that I’ve seen the most, and completely disagree with, is that it’s confusing to read and illogical. Matthew, the narrator and POV, uses words a little strangely, it is true. But it’s the dialect of Safe, and it is internally consistent and logical throughout the book. Just compare it to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: it’s difficult to read and interpret sometimes, but totally worth it, AND much easier than Huck Finn, in my opinion. I loved the language in this, and the way they use words just a little bit differently than us. But the main thing I want to say is that if you can persevere through the difficulty, this book is very, very rewarding. There’s also the “confusion” of one of the character’s gender, but it’s an intended mystery within the story, so you’re supposed to wonder about it, and the answer we are given is perfect for the character and the story.

I really loved all the characters in this. Matthew especially, but Jack Flash, Ariel, Whisper, Corner, and Atticus were so real, so complex, and so interesting that I loved every moment with them, even when they made bad choices, or REALLY bad choices, but especially when they were strong and did the right thing. Corner and Atticus tore my heart into shreds, so there’s also that.

I’m not going to talk too much about the portrayal of mental illness, because I’m not qualified, but I thought it was respectfully done. It shows several different ways of behaving towards people with mental illness, and the characters that have to struggle with it are not defended or blamed at face value, but they are held responsible for their moral choices. There is a lot of fear in this novel, fear of “Them,” of mental illness, of “Above,” of people down below in Safe. All of the characters struggle with it, and some of them overcome it.

My favorite part of the book was the point of view: the choice of which was perfect, Matthew is the perfect person to tell this story. He’s the Storyteller, and while reading his story, we see him making choices on how to present stories, whether it is Jack Flash’s story of his time Above, or the overall story in the novel. We see how other characters perceive, interpret, or tell stories, whether or not they are true. Matthew himself controls much of the truth about the other characters, because he is the keeper of the stories. This makes him very powerful in influencing the choices of others, although not completely responsible, and it’s a very interesting part of the plot of the novel. The past of the characters is very important to the present story—they almost run parallel to each other, with important events in one influencing or reflecting important events in the other. Matthew thinks about this often and learns the importance of getting the past straight so one can deal properly with the present.

(also posted at my blog, bahnree.blogspot.com)

Matthew lives in a place called Safe, which is an underground haven for all sorts of outcasts from society, whether they’re like Atticus, the founder who has pincers like a crab, or like Ariel, who is hiding some sort of trauma and turns into a bee when she’s afraid. Matthew was born in Safe and has scales and clawed feet. He is also the Storyteller for the community, and memorizes the stories of each person in Safe and how they came from “Above,” a world similar to our own. However, Matthew doesn’t know everything about people like Ariel, Atticus, or Corner, the only person ever to be exiled from Safe, for a horrible crime. When tragedy hits Safe itself, Matthew has to protect those in Safe, while trying to find out what really happened to Corner and to Ariel.

First off, I need to admit that this is one of my two favorite debuts this year, and I think it’s completely brilliant. I’ve read a lot of reviews for this, and the one complaint that I’ve seen the most, and completely disagree with, is that it’s confusing to read and illogical. Matthew, the narrator and POV, uses words a little strangely, it is true. But it’s the dialect of Safe, and it is internally consistent and logical throughout the book. Just compare it to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: it’s difficult to read and interpret sometimes, but totally worth it, AND much easier than Huck Finn, in my opinion. I loved the language in this, and the way they use words just a little bit differently than us. But the main thing I want to say is that if you can persevere through the difficulty, this book is very, very rewarding. There’s also the “confusion” of one of the character’s gender, but it’s an intended mystery within the story, so you’re supposed to wonder about it, and the answer we are given is perfect for the character and the story.

I really loved all the characters in this. Matthew especially, but Jack Flash, Ariel, Whisper, Corner, and Atticus were so real, so complex, and so interesting that I loved every moment with them, even when they made bad choices, or REALLY bad choices, but especially when they were strong and did the right thing. Corner and Atticus tore my heart into shreds, so there’s also that.

I’m not going to talk too much about the portrayal of mental illness, because I’m not qualified, but I thought it was respectfully done. It shows several different ways of behaving towards people with mental illness, and the characters that have to struggle with it are not defended or blamed at face value, but they are held responsible for their moral choices. There is a lot of fear in this novel, fear of “Them,” of mental illness, of “Above,” of people down below in Safe. All of the characters struggle with it, and some of them overcome it.

My favorite part of the book was the point of view: the choice of which was perfect, Matthew is the perfect person to tell this story. He’s the Storyteller, and while reading his story, we see him making choices on how to present stories, whether it is Jack Flash’s story of his time Above, or the overall story in the novel. We see how other characters perceive, interpret, or tell stories, whether or not they are true. Matthew himself controls much of the truth about the other characters, because he is the keeper of the stories. This makes him very powerful in influencing the choices of others, although not completely responsible, and it’s a very interesting part of the plot of the novel. The past of the characters is very important to the present story—they almost run parallel to each other, with important events in one influencing or reflecting important events in the other. Matthew thinks about this often and learns the importance of getting the past straight so one can deal properly with the present.

(also posted at my blog, bahnree.blogspot.com)

I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

AN INHERITANCE OF ASHES by Leah Bobet is a gripping young adult fantasy exploring issues of war, family, and community.

Sisters Hallie and Marthe are alone on their family farm in the aftermath of a war. A mysterious veteran, the arrival of “twisted things,” and strange stone messages mark the beginning of a fight for survival.

This work of dystopia fiction has the feel of historical fiction, monster fantasy, and even the horror genre. However, at it’s core is a story of family, friendship, and forgiveness that transcends genres.

Librarians will find that this unusual fantasy appeals to a broad spectrum of readers.

To learn more about the author, go to http://leahbobet.com/.

Published by Clarion on October 6, 2015. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

I loved this book so much that I've since bought two copies to give to friends. "A++ would buy again" is literally true in this case.

Inheritance of Ashes is striking, it's haunting, it's beautiful, and it hurts. This book greets the reader with a level of psychological pain and triumph I've rarely found done well, let alone done this magnificently. Not quite science fiction, not quite fantasy, definitely otherworldly, and recognizably an ode to humanity. You won't leave this book without scars from the battle, but you will be stronger and grateful for the experience.

I would offer a trigger warning for some violence, but it's primarily off screen and it's central to understanding how your family can hurt and help heal you.

This is a beautiful book. Although it is set in a post-apocalyptic future, you could meet any of these people today. They are real, and their struggles are real. This is a story of people who have been broken, both by their pasts and their presents, and how they cope and move past that. There are grudges, and silences, and misunderstandings, and those things drive Hallie, the protagonist and point-of-view narrator, to do some things that end up causing more damage—even though she only wants to make things better.

Some reviewers have complained about the relationship between Marthe and Hallie, but I get it. They are both walking on eggshells, nursing their hurt feelings, and letting things stew until the lid blows off.

Likewise, I love the growing relationship between Hallie and Tyler. They have known each other forever, and Hallie is taken by surprise when she discovers that Tyler has more than friendship in mind. They are both broken—she by her father’s abuse, him by service in the war—and they grow into their love, rather than experience the insta-love that bothers me so much.

The supporting cast are realistic, and Bobet’s town is populated by people of a variety of colors, morals, and orientations.

The mysterious Heron’s secret wasn’t overly difficult to figure out, but his agony over both his past and his future are believable.
Some reviewers have complained that this book is not what they thought it should be. It’s not about the war, and rising up and fighting the mysterious forces threatening the town. This story isn’t about a quick-moving plot. The plot doesn’t race you along pell-mell; it’s true that it’s actually rather slow. This story is about the people, and all kinds of forgiveness, and moving past adversity to discover peace.

The writing is lovely, full of imagery. My favorite line as Hallie wakes up one morning with the need to tell her sister, Marthe, the truth hanging over her: “When dawn crawled hand over hand through my cracked window…”

Possible Objectionable Material:
There’s a same-sex couple. Magic and the killing of a “god”. Verbally abusive parent. Some violence and details of the recent battles.

Who would like this book:
Anyone who enjoys character-driven stories and doesn’t need a quick-moving plot. Those who enjoy coming of age. Although the protagonist is female, I believe this book could be equally interesting to both male and female. I believe the lower end of the recommended age range might not like the book much, lacking the maturity to understand the deeper themes. Approximate Lexile: 750

Thank you, NetGalley, for a lovely read.

An inheritance of Ashes
By: Leah Bobet
Published by Clarion Books
Copy Courtesy of Goodreads giveaways
Reviewed By: tk

Hallie ia16 years old. She and her sister Marthe have been trying to survive and maintain the farm they live on since their father died. It hasn't been easy, but should improve now that Hallie has hired a helping hand. Heron only wants room and board for his works which is almost more than they can give.
It appears things are looking up....but something horrible is coming.
War is experienced differently by many. Sometimes you don't even know who, what or why your fighting. What if it were strange monsters? Not anything natural or identifiable in this world but something other. Can broken hearts and a world that is breaking survive?
Creative and suspenseful, Leah Bobet creates an unimaginable world for young readers to explore. Somewhat of a coming of age, limits being pushed, and survival regardless of the odds stacked against you. A world where you have no choice but to reach out to others if you want to survive.
An absolute thrilling read. Fantasy although not my usual reading.... has now become a genre I truly enjoy.
4/5

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

I chose to request this title because I have read some of Leah Bobet’s short stories and enjoyed them. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from An Inheritance of Ashes, and what I got was definitely not what I expected. This is not your typical story, and that’s what makes it powerful. It’s a war story without a war. It’s a class story where the classes are defined by conformity. And it’s a personal story in the sense that the reader is sucked into the assumptions and misunderstandings of the characters.

The book begins with a prologue, with a horrible moment in Hallie’s life that is excruciating, evocative, and yet the true meaning only becomes clear as you read the rest. The person who chooses to skip it will lose something of value, and that largely defines the whole book. Every piece builds together to create situations where Hallie, her family, and friends have to twist their way through complex moral and social decisions where the answer isn’t always clear, nor are the consequences.

The story is about good people trying to do the right thing and failing. It explores the dangers inherent in hero worship and the need to take risks whether in an attempt to understand each other or the world you live in.

It’s a powerful narrative that had me in tears more than once as it struggled through the costs of war and the complications of family and history. There is a lot in here that is gut-wrenching and totters on the edge of despair. It never falls down that cliff, though, because no matter how wrongheaded she might be, Hallie doesn’t hurt people on purpose, and she runs toward the future instead of shying from it.

It might sound as though I’m talking around the story, but the truth is this book must be experienced. Giving you pieces would simultaneously spoil some elements and make no sense at all.

For example, the feel is fantasy medieval with the focus on farming communities and working by hand. As the story unfolds, though, you learn it’s post-apocalyptic but that the destruction of technological society is no more than a curiosity. It happened so long ago that the attitudes grown out of that time have more importance than the remnants of the world you know. Then you have magical elements, but how much are they magical? Having been cast back into a pre-technology world, the question is more complicated than you might expect and ties into the greater conflicts within the story.

In my reading, I care little for genre conventions and more for the characters. An Inheritance of Ashes offers a large cast with complicated interrelationships and fascinating personal histories that grab hold of your sympathies and drag you through the ringer with the characters. This is not an easy or light read, though it has its moments. At the same time, I would recommend it wholeheartedly. The story is good if untraditional and the meaning behind the experiences is crucial. Most definitely a thinking novel, but one that doesn’t require you to notice how much you’re thinking as you’re drawn into the escalating events in the characters within them.

P.S. I received this title from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

If Shadow Unit has a flaw, it's that it's too good at trauma. Everyone I know stopped when they got to the episode that hit them too hard. I stopped, the first time around, at aimforthe

Volume 14 of this series, and I just cannot emphasize enough how much an achievement it is on part of all the individual writers involved as well as the “show runners” Emma Bull and Elizabeth Bear to have kept Shadow Unit alive and fun to read throughout over such a long stretch.

This volume comes without any bonus material at all, presenting just two long stories. I’m missing the vignettes, but not quite as much as I was expecting to, because their usual functions are either to give us background on the Abnormal Crime Task Force’s history or glimpses into the private lives and minds of the team’s members, and the latter is here done by the two regular episodes, “Dark Leader” by Elizabeth Bear, Will Shetterly, and Emma Bull, followed by “Due North” by Leah Bobet. They are both very quiet and introspective episodes, with not much outward tension but rely mostly on character and psychological tension.

“Dark Leader” is an enjoyable read, but mostly “business as usual” for the ACTF (or, as it’s often fondly called by its members, the WTF), and for me at least this volume’s highlight was “Due North”, my favourite contribution by Leah Bobet to the series. The episode mimics TV shows in having an A plot and a B plot, both of which are only thematically connected – the theme being community, what it takes to create one, and what sacrifices are made to keep one alive, and it’s hard not to see both threads as a commentary on the WTF team itself that by now has become home and family for many of its members.

All in all, this is an almost contemplative volume, but none the less impressive for that. It marks the calm before the storm which is looming on the horizon in form of the much-dreaded final Volume 15…