Mundie Moms

Friday, March 9, 2012

Book Review: LOSS by Jackie Morse Kessler

Published by: Graphia
To Be Released on: March 20th, 2012
Source: ARC from publisher at ALA
3.5 stars: It's A Good Read
Pre-Order LOSS from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Fifteen-year-old Billy Ballard is the kid that everyone picks on, from the school bullies to the teachers. But things change drastically when Death tells Billy he must stand in as Pestilence, the White Rider of the Apocalypse. Now armed with a Bow that allows him to strike with disease from a distance, Billy lashes out at his tormentors...and accidentally causes an outbreak of meningitis. Horrified by his actions, Billy begs Death to take back the Bow. For that to happen, says Death, Billy must track down the real White Rider—who is lost in his memories.

In his search, Billy travels through White Rider’s life: from ancient Phrygia, where the man called King Mita agrees to wear the White Rider’s Crown, to Sherwood Forest, where Pestilence figures out how to cheat Death; from the docks of Alexandria, where cartons of infested grain are being packed onto a ship that will carry the plague, to the Children’s Crusade in France—all the way to what may be the end of the world. When Billy finally finds the White Rider, the teen convinces the man to return to the real world.

But now the insane White Rider plans to unleash something awful on humanity—something that could make the Black Death look like a summer cold. Billy has a choice: he can live his life and pretend he doesn’t know what’s coming, or he can challenge the White Rider for his Crown. Does one bullied teenager have the strength to stand his ground—and the courage to save the world? - quoted from Goodreads

The Riders of the Apocalypse Series is one of those gritty, honest and moving stories about a variety of real things that teens deal with. In Hunger we meet a girl who deals with an eating disorder and she her transform into the first rider of the Apocalypse, Famine. In Rage we met a teen who deals with bullying and cutting herself. During her story we watch her transform into the second rider of the Apocalypse, WAR, and see how she over comes her self mutilation. In LOSS Jackie again tackles the tough subject of bullying and ties in a teen who also has to deal with loss and a grandfather who is battling Alzheimer's and see his transformation into the third rider, Pestilence.

Billy Ballard is a teen my heart broke for. He's a sweet kid who needed a big dose of self confidence and the inner battle to fight back, vs being a teenager who gets the crap kicked out of him by the ruthless school bully. It angered to watch how many students and teachers stood by and did nothing about the daily bullying and taunting he received. Not only that, he kept hiding his visible injuries from his mom, embarrassed at the fact he was getting beat up in high school. He didn't tell anyone about what was going on. Jackie created a kid that all of us can relate to in some way. He's the quiet kid who keeps his head hoping that no one will notice him (which never works). He's the kid that quietly allows his anger to build up inside him, who has no one to turn to and talk about what's going on. He's the kid that needs someone to stick up for him just once, to boost his self-esteem and to be the voice he doesn't have.

I really enjoyed watching Billy grow from a character who lacks confidence at first, and is so sick and tired of being beat up on and over the course of the story to finally finding that inner voice who tells him to fight back. To be the better one and realize that is bully is nothing more than a coward. Billy's story is so much more than just dealing with bullying, it's also about helping someone you love battle Alzheimer's. Billy's transformation is one that takes him back through time through various points in history from ancient Phrygia, to Alexandria, the Sherwood Forest and to the Crusades in France. During each place he's learns to find his voice, fight back and embrace his new position as one of the riders of the Apocalypse. I love the way Jackie balances out the roles Famine, War, Pestilence and Death have in each other's lives, and how she allows each of them to interact through out the series.

Though I've not yet read Hunger, I really enjoyed Rage, and I liked Loss. Each story is moving, powerful and brutally honest about tough subjects. I admire Jackie for creating a series about these different subject matters that should be discussed more. Her writing is gritty, but it's not overly done. It's raw without being in your face. Though I felt like I connected more with Rage, I did like Loss. I liked that she able to create a story using both bulling and Alzheimer's/terminal illness. That alone is something that I've read little about in YA books. This book, much like Rage is a realistic story line with a good doss of rich mythology and it's one I personal recommend to YA readers.

I understand these subject matters aren't for everyone, and there may be some things that are tough for some readers to read, but I personally feel Jackie does a brilliant job at creating realistic characters who deal with real life situations and growing them into strong characters who are flawed, broken and learning to over come what ever it is they're fighting against. I'm looking forward to reading Breathe, the fourth book in this series.

*******

You can read my guest post with Jackie about what inspired her to write LOSS here.

6 comments:

  1. I have been wanting to read Hunger and Rage, but haven't gotten a chance to read either of them. Loss sounds amazing. I think I will definitely check out these books.

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    1. Amy I think you'll like this series. Jackie does such a great job at tackling tough issues and adding a unique paranormal spin to them. It's a great series.

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  2. I really liked Hunger. Like a lot. And I have Rage sitting here, but I'm not sure I can handle Loss emotionally speaking. It feels like one of those that I'll have to choke back angry tears and try hard not to punch something...

    Asher

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    1. Rage was an awesome read for me. For some reason I felt like I connected more to the character in that story, which is weird since I've not personally dwelt with cutting. LOSS was really good, and it's the journey he goes on that is worth reading about. It's definitely a tough subject to read about it and there were parts that made me angry, and in the end I felt like he was strong enough to tackle anything that came his way.

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  3. I've been wanting to read this series for a while now. Great review!

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    1. Thank you Erin! I definitely recommend picking it up

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