How did PJ get this book?
netgalley.com

Release Date:
January 3, 2011

Pre-Order:

Book Depository
Amazon.com

Rating:

Trickster's Girl By Hilari Bell

PJVs QUICKIE POV: Trying to jump "Out The Box" in YA might not have worked well in Trickster's Girl's favor. While I did read, Trickster's Girl to the end, I seriously contemplated just hitting delete on numerous occasions. I think reading this on vacation gave me more patience than I normally have - especially for netgally.com books. The book did stimulate a sense of suspense and climatic "chase" situations but overall it fell flat and irksome.

REVIEW: The setting is the year 2098 and Kelsa is your typical YA dystopian teenager. She is trying to deal with the death of her father and getting by in a very repressive and over-bearing nanny state. The current US government has been hit hard by terrorist attacks so the state borders are monitored, religion is almost cult-like and you can't even bury your father the way you want. 


In an act of daring, Kelsa "steals" her father's ashes and is determined to bury him in the way she believes he would have wanted. Alone in her grief she is startled by a boy who claims he is magic and he needs her to complete a task. She quickly dismisses him as crazy - but he is relentless and will not leave her alone.
When odd things begin to happen, including witnessing him turn into a fish - Kelsa is forced to believe that magic is real and alive, but not quite well in the world. She also might be the only human that can help save the Earth and repair the damages that humans have inflicted on the world, which is killing not only her dimension, but the other dimensions that are attached to Earth.

Frankly speaking, I'm tired of these global warming end of world type scenarios. Might be a bit played out, don't you think? More importantly, I'm tired of novels that always portray humans as the bad guys. The evil polluters and creators of nuclear energy. The ones that are choking the life out of all the magical beings that would rather see magic go down in flames than the human race to live on. That was strike one.

Strike two was the unrealistic nature of the novel. This nanny state type environment 100 years in the future that really hasn't progressed more than our current technology. The "wheel" cars were electric, the regular cars were magnetic technology - which we already employ in trains. The "coms" were basically phones, with GPS and internet. The scans: thermal imaging. I just didn't see the "future imagination" that I love with futuristic science fiction. Some of my favorites, like Henlein and Asimov mad bold futuristic predictions, their imaginations dreaming up water beds, the cell phone and electric cars fifty years before their inventions.

Put things in perspective in Trickster's Girl future world... 1910 compared to 2010 technology. Think how different 2098 technology will be. For Heinlin's sake... just the jump in technology from my high school years (which aren't that far ago) when kids carried beepers - not cell phones, to today where we all carry iPhones and Droids. If someone would have described an iPhone to 17 year old Parajunkee I wouldn't have believed it. A phone that can video chat - that was science fiction - I was just trilled that I could beep someone a certain number and it spelled out HELLO if you turned it upside down. 07734

Strike three was the incarnation of Raven.  I couldn't relate, didn't like him and thought the back and forth play between him and Kelsa seemed forced. There was a hinting of romance, but I think even the author knew there was no possible way to even incorporate a small romance between a god-like "seducer" and an innocent girl without it getting icky.

Say something nice, Parajunkee. There was a high suspense time at the end of the novel that I found intense and by the time I got to the end I was engaged. Kelsa was a strong character and I liked her.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Dystopian fans. Nothing to be scared to pass on to your 12 year old.