Book Review | We Are Pirates by Daniel Handler

We Are Pirates by Daniel Handler

Published by Bloomsbury USA on February 3, 2015

Genres: Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Adventure 

Pages: 289

Format: eARC

Source: NetGalley

Goodreads: ★★★★

Mega-bestselling author Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) gives us his long-awaited and most ambitious novel yet: a dark, rollicking, stunningly entertaining human comedy.

A boat has gone missing. Goods have been stolen. There is blood in the water. It is the twenty-first century and a crew of pirates is terrorizing the San Francisco Bay.

Phil is a husband, a father, a struggling radio producer, and the owner of a large condo with a view of the water. But he’d like to be a rebel and a fortune hunter.

Gwen is his daughter. She’s fourteen. She’s a student, a swimmer, and a best friend. But she’d like to be an adventurer and an outlaw.

Phil teams up with his young, attractive assistant. They head for the open road, attending a conference to seal a deal.

Gwen teams up with a new, fierce friend and some restless souls. They head for the open sea, stealing a boat to hunt for treasure.

We Are Pirates is a novel about our desperate searches for happiness and freedom, about our wild journeys beyond the boundaries of our ordinary lives.

Also, it’s about a teenage girl who pulls together a ragtag crew to commit mayhem in the San Francisco Bay, while her hapless father tries to get her home.

REVIEW

Sometimes I finish a book and I have no idea how to rate it. That was the case with We Are Pirates, and it took me hours of thinking upon completion of the book to be able to formulate my thoughts into words and into a star rating. Let me begin by saying this is one of the most disturbing books I've ever read, and it's classified as adult for that reason. There is violence, crude language, and some sexual content. I definitely recommend this book for mature readers only. 

We Are Pirates is a novel that I picked up purely because Daniel Handler's name was written on the cover. I've never read anything by him before, so I wanted to give his work a try. I expected a fun fantasy story about pirates, and I could not have been more wrong. We Are Pirates is the ultimate family drama. Readers follow the Needle family as an unnamed narrator is relating the story from some point in the future. The book is divided to follow dad Phil, a radio producer in a struggling marriage, as he travels to a conference with his young assistant, and his fourteen-year-old daughter Gwen in separate yet intertwining points-of-view. 

When the story begins, Gwen attempts to steal from the local drugstore, and is sentenced to one month of volunteering at a nearby nursing home. She's partnered up with Errol, a senile old man who asks Gwen to read to him from the pirate books he owns. Soon Gwen becomes enamored with the life of pirates, and decides to put together her own pirate gang and leave her family behind forever. 

We Are Pirates is separated into two parts of equal size. The first part was a bit slow-going for me, as it took me a while to get used to Handler's writing style. It reminded me of JK Rowling's voice in The Casual Vacancy, but of course the stories are quite different. Despite my reluctance at the beginning of the novel, once part two of the story began, I could not put the book down, and flew through it until the end. I will admit, however, I had to take short breaks to process the action. We Are Pirates is very heavy in substance. 

While labeled as a dark comedy, I truly saw nothing funny in We Are Pirates. I didn't laugh while reading, but instead felt shocked and sad, and I cringed a lot. I had to keep reminding myself that this book is a work of fiction because Handler does an amazing job of making the story feel real. It's an unbelievable tale, and I honestly cannot find the purpose in it besides making a comment on humanity. I questioned Handler's sanity at many points while reading We Are Pirates. Who, in his right mind, could even concoct such a tale?!

I know this review is vague and you're probably curious as to why I'm so disturbed after reading We Are Pirates. The only way to cure this is to pick up the novel and read it yourself. If you're even remotely interested in it, I recommend this read with the disclaimer that the contents may shock you. I ended up rating this book a four out of five stars as the beginning of the book was difficult to get into, but I truly did love the writing style. Handler's prose is amazingly done,  and I especially enjoyed the descriptive language and how the story is weaved together. We Are Pirates is a book that is going to stay with me for a very long time. 

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Snapshot Sunday | NBA All-Star MetroCard

I had a scary moment earlier this week when I went to swipe my MetroCard only to discover it wasn't in my wallet. After a few moments of brief panic I remembered – it was in my other bag. My fear turned to annoyance at myself, and I grumbled my way over to buy a new card. I was pleasantly surprised when the machine at Penn Station provided me with a Limited Edition NBA All-Star MetroCard! I had seen these MetroCards advertised on the MTA website, and even though I wanted one (basketball is the only sport I follow regularly), I wasn't going to purchase a new MetroCard just to get one. Thus, you can imagine my surprised when this beauty popped out of the machine. At this point, All-Star weekend was already over, but I was still able to snag one of the 600,000 NBA All-Star MetroCards. Sometimes forgetting something at home isn't all that bad! 

Book Review | The Master of Misrule by Laura Powell

Note: This review contains spoilers for the first book in the series. Please see my non-spoiler review of The Game of Triumphs HERE.

The Master of Misrule (The Game of Triumphs, #2) by Laura Powell
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on June 12, 2012
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 384
Format: Hard Cover
Source: Purchased
Goodreads: ★★★★★

When Cat and her friends put an end to the sinister Game of Triumphs, they thought they could simply collect their prizes and walk away. But they unwittingly created a monster. Before the dust has settled, the self-proclaimed Master of Misrule is engineering a sadistic lottery that will unleash the power of the Game onto an unsuspecting London. Misrule's agenda of chaos threatens life as they know it, gambling away free will for fickle fortune. And his power has quickly grown to proportions they never could have imagined. It all comes down to one final play. Cat, Flora, Blaine, and Toby must go back into the Arcanum and take fate into their own hands. This time they have everything to lose.

This spine-tingling follow-up to Powell's The Game of Triumphs is everything you could hope for in a sequel and more! It's every bit as thrilling and complex as the first book, with higher stakes and even a hint of romance added to the mix. 

REVIEW

I was extremely excited to pick up The Master of Misrule after finishing The Game of Triumphs. The cliffhanger was killing me, and I needed to see where the characters would end up. I was surprised that The Master of Misrule picked up right where the first book left off, with no gap whatsoever in the story. While I was reading the books back-to-back, this second book includes a quick recap of the first book at the beginning if you need a refresher. I found that really helpful! 

The Master of Misrule is thus a direct continuation of The Game of Triumphs, but with an added twist. Unlike the first book, where readers only followed Cat, we now get to learn more about her friends Toby, Flora, and Blaine as they work to get the game back under control after setting the Master of Misrule loose. I really liked getting to know the other characters, and I think Powell did an excellent job with character development. When I learned more about what the other characters had at stake, I was more invested in the story. 

I also found that Powell's writing really matured in The Master of Misrule. The book flowed quite easily, the chapters were a good length, and I kept turning the pages to find out where the game would go next. As with the first book, I found that the story was difficult to predict, but each twist and turn in the plot was logical and believable. I especially loved how each character's story wrapped up at the end.

All in all, I really enjoyed the Game of Triumphs duology. I would love to see this repackaged as a bind-up of the two volumes, as one can't read the first book without continuing on, and because they take place without any lapse in time between the two. The story is imaginative, the characters are complex, and the ending is incredible. I highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a good young adult fantasy, especially those who are fans of the movie Jumanji. Trust me. 

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Currently Reading | February 2015

I'm the type of reader who prefers to read one book at a time. Well, sometimes that doesn't work out the way I want it to! I thought it would be fun to share with you the four (yes, four) books that I am currently reading, or about to start reading this weekend.

The Master of Misrule (The Game of Triumphs, #2) by Laura Powell

The first book I'm reading is the sequel to The Game of Triumphs, which I just reviewed HERE. This is the second book in a young adult, urban fantasy duology. I'm really enjoying this world, which co-exists with current day London. It's so cool how the author created a game using Tarot cards. I never know what is going to happen next, so it's really fun to turn the pages and discover what our characters will be mixed up in, in the next chapter.

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

This is a short story collection that I got for review from Edelweiss. I've never read any Neil Gaiman before, so I was excited for the opportunity to review Trigger Warning. I've been reading a story or two before I go to bed, and I have to say I'm surprised so far. The stories are really well written, and I quite enjoy Gaiman's voice. However, even though they may be weird and creepy, none of the stories so far have required a trigger warning. I'm easily scared, so that's saying something! I'm interested to see how the stories continue.

Finding Harry Styles by GB Hope

You're probably wondering why I'm reading a book with the name Harry Styles in the title. Well, I saw this book on NetGalley and just had to grab it. I laughed at the cover, and figured it would be a fun contemporary about a huge One Direction fan. Boy, was I wrong! This is a post-apocalyptic story where all of a sudden, the power goes out, all cars stop running, and people go crazy. I'm about 25% through this Ebook, which I'm reading on my commute when the trains are quiet. It's not great, but I'm interested to see what's going to happen!

Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury

Last but not least, I will be picking up Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In this weekend. One of my professors gave the class brand new copies of this book and is requiring us to read it. I'm actually quite excited to pick this up, because I've heard great things about it. Everyone could use some good negotiation skills, so definitely pick this up if you're looking to talk your way into a lower price for that new car, or a higher wage for your new job!

Those are the four books that I'm currently reading! I don't know when I'll be finishing any of them, but you will definitely see reviews for each book upon completion. Please let me know what you are currently reading in the comments!

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Book Review | The Game of Triumphs by Laura Powell

The Game of Triumphs (The Game of Triumphs, #1) by Laura Powell
Published by Ember on March 9, 2011
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Goodreads: ★★★★

At an exclusive Soho party one rainy night, Cat stumbles into an ancient and dangerous game of fortune. A mysterious quartet of game masters deal out challenges—moves that unfold in the Arcanum, a dream-scape version of our world. Success can earn players fame, fortune, inspiration. Failure can be deadly.

At first Cat is skeptical, but undeniably curious. And when a journey into the Arcanum reveals a shocking glimpse of her family's past, Cat begins to understand what drives people to play. Sometimes it's greed or longing—other times desperation. She must know more. 

Right now, the game masters hold all the cards. But Cat finds others like herself on the fringes of the game. And together an unlikely group of chancers hope to change the rules in their favor.

In the Game of Triumphs, the risks are high, but the rewards may just be worth dying for. . . .

 REVIEW

I've been looking forward to reading The Game of Triumphs ever since I picked up the duology this past summer. I stumbled upon the second book, The Master of Misrule, at The Strand for $2, and decided to snag it. It was only once I got home and added The Master of Misrule to my Goodreads that I discovered it was a series! Luckily I was able to get a discount copy of The Game of Triumphs on Book Outlet, and the series has been sitting on my TBR shelf since then.

The Game of Triumphs is an urban fantasy that craftily incorporates Tarot cards into the plot. Main character Cat accidentally becomes part of a mysterious game after coming into contact with some players on the streets of London. Cat is invited to Temple House, the headquarters of the Game of Triumphs, and while she doesn't want to get involved, she is too curious to refuse the invitation. What she thought was just a simple role-playing game for the geeks of SoHo turns out to be something a bit more. Cat ends up diving headfirst into the Game, and discovers the new world of the Arcanum. 

I really enjoyed The Game of Triumphs. I never knew what was going to happen next, but the story flowed quite logically. Cat meets a great cast of characters on her journey, and I thought Powell added them in really well. As with any fantasy story, world building is an essential element. While I was a bit confused at the beginning of the book, I began to understand the way the Game functions, and learned along with Cat. Thus, I found the pacing and intrigue very well done. I was inclined to keep reading, and was never bored. 

I decided to give The Game of Triumphs a four star rating for two reasons. First, this book is definitely on the younger end of young adult, and at times I found the writing a bit cliché. This was mainly an issue in the dialogue, and because the characters are teenagers I didn't find this too annoying. Second, the book ended with a major cliffhanger. This is, of course, the first in a series, but Cat had a main goal throughout the entirety of The Game of Triumphs that was left incomplete at the book's end. In this way, it becomes absolutely necessary to continue on with the series, because this first book is just an introduction to the world and the characters. I would have preferred a conclusion of Cat's current mission before continuing on into the next book. However, I can definitely understand that Powell wants readers to continue on with the series to find out what happens.

All in all, I definitely recommend The Game of Triumphs for fans of young adult fantasy. I've never come across a story like this before, and found the incorporation of Tarot cards into the plot a lot of fun. I will be continuing on with the series, and will have a review up for the second book as soon as I've completed it! 

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Snapshot Sunday | The Glorious Subway

I find myself taking the subway much more in the winter months because it is just way too cold to walk on my normal routes some days. This week I found myself standing at a place in the station where I could see all the way down the tracks. It was a cool view, so I figured I would snap a picture. Now, when I look at the photo, I see an old, decrepit subway. The walls are dirty, the ceiling needs work, and it's just not a great sight. It may not look pretty, but I'm always thankful to have the subway, especially in the winter.