“I don’t even know how everyone decided to shut down. It was like a silent understanding passed through the neighborhood over the past few days: if our electoral voice can be snatched away so easily, then fine, we won’t speak in any other way, either. No songs, no stories. No gossip on the corner, no old folks in the park. We’re only hurting ourselves, really, but when you’re left with no move to make except to withhold your voice, maybe that’s the only thing that makes sense.”

OwlCrate Unboxing

The Chosen Ones May 2022

The theme this month is "The Chosen Ones", and I have to say it's one of the best boxes I've received in a really long time. Part of that is luck - it features some of my favourite fandoms. Part is down to the types of items included.

The book is "Ballad & Dagger" by Daniel José Older. I hadn't heard of it before the theme reveal, but I've been looking forward to getting it, because it sounds so good! The exclusive edition is a bit of let down. There is very little different on the "exclusive cover". The only thing that appears to have been changed is the background right at the top, which has changed from pink and yellow apartment blocks with flowers, to plain purple apartment blocks. There are no sprayed edges, no ribbon bookmark, and they've left the endpapers the same as the original (which are beautifully drawn maps so I wouldn't want to change them either, to be fair). There is a fair amount of extra foiling on the hardcover, but it's quite amateur. The reversible dust jacket, however, is actually designed as an alternative cover! Usually they just slap some artwork on it, but this could genuinely be reversed and still look like a proper dustjacket.

The first item out of the box is the one I was most anticipating, the Lord of the Rings bowl! Each features a different location from Middle Earth. This one is based on The Shire. I love these bowls, and I can't wait to get all four. I'm hoping the other two locations will be Gondor and Rivendell, but honestly I wish I could have a dozen of them.

The next item is a travel chess set, based on "The Raven Boys". It's one of my absolute favourite fandoms, and this item is so beautifully designed. I love chess, but I'm almost sad that I won't get to use this item very often, because it is honestly so pretty. I would love to have this design on something I could show off all the time like a wallet or tote bag or make up pouch.

Next is the wooden wall banner, featuring the words "As Travars" from "A Darker Shade of Magic". I like the books and this actually goes really well with my bedroom decor, but I have nowhere left to put it! I've seriously run out of room, so I'm going to have to think long and hard to see if I can move things around enough to squeeze it in.

The only featured fandom that I'm not familiar with is "Jade Fire Gold", which is represented on the bookmark. It's a bit of a cheap item - it's cardboard, not wood or metal. But the design is so gorgeous, that I'm actually still quite happy. If I ever get round to reading the book, I'll definitely use this bookmark to do it!

The last item is a set of pens, inspired by "The Song of Achilles". It's one of my favourite books of all time. Each of the pens features a quote, and they're decorated in gold with figs and lyres and swords and laurel leaves and a dozen other things. The design is absolutely beautiful, but again, they are a really cheaply made item - they're the flimsiest, cheapest ballpoint pens possible, and I just don't think they'll last longer than a month.

This month's luggage pin features Terrasen from "Throne of Glass". I read the first one, and didn't like it at all, but my sister loves them and is currently rereading the whole series. So the nice thing to do would be to give this pin to her. The thing is, it's so pretty that I just don't want to part with it! It's a gorgeous purple suitcase with a stag and a full moon, and I just don't want to give it up!

This was such a full box, five items plus the pin and book! Mostly fandoms I love, and all beautifully designed. It was just let down by the fact that OwlCrate always produce their items as cheaply as possible, and it really shows! I think it would be better to lose an item, but have the rest be better quality?

Much of this book is about Mateo overcoming his fears and anxieties, and that really hit me very personally as a very anxiety-riddled person. And you impart some really fantastic wisdom on your readers. Is any of that from your own personal experience?

Oh, yeah. All of it. Definitely. I always tell writers, students, and anyone writing who asks my advice, listening is the most important thing a writer can do. For that to be Tía Lucía’s main tagline that she’s trying to impart on Mateo and he’s not hearing her for so much of the book—that’s what I had to learn. I don’t just say that as a teacher, I say that as someone who has had to learn how to listen over and over in life. And what is life if not learning how to listen—to yourself, to the world around you, to the people who are important to you. We have to listen to each other, and not in a passive way. In a very active way. And I think that’s particularly what’s required of us as creators, telling stories, is that we listen. So, you know, figuring that out as a life lesson and a writing lesson is truly a turning point for me—and an ongoing one—and so it felt really right that a book that’s this personal and close to my heart would have a truth like that imbued in it.

BOOK REVIEW: Ballad and Dagger by Daniel José Older

BOOK REVIEW: Ballad and Dagger by Daniel José Older

I’m back with another book review since I finally had the chance to read BALLAD AND DAGGER! Thank you Rockstar Book Tours for letting me host a spot on the tour, and stay until the end for a giveaway! Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Daniel José Older’s music-and-magic-filled YA urban fantasy about two teens who discover each other and their powers during a political battle within a…

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Ballad and Dagger by Daniel José Older

Tuesday, 25 April 2023

A YA entry in the Rick Riordan Presents universe, Ballad and Dagger is unique for not having a pre-existing cultural mythology to draw on, the way the Aru Shah (Indian) or Tristan Strong (American) books do. Instead, Older invents a vibrant culture that feels real, because it has all but the living, throbbing heartbeat of one. He defines the music, the food, the religion, the way communities come together to celebrate and mourn, the way everyone feels both tied together and to an island home that once existed among the waves, only to have been claimed and sunk. (San Madrigal.)

The result is one that touches on a lot of interesting themes in a way that doesn’t talk down to teens or imagine they might not be thinking or talking about some of the topics mentioned in here. The world is effortlessly inclusive without calling attention to the fact and every cultural touchpoint feels natural and true. Which makes it super trippy to remember that everything we have been introduced to doesn’t exist — or rather that it is an amalgamation of some very real things, but with a distance that allows us to talk about it and tell this kind of story.

The book moves fast and I enjoyed it for the most part. I’d definitely recommend this for a YA book club for teens. Honestly, I’d be interested to get their thoughts on this as I think Older is particularly adept at writing for this age experience.

Sometimes a book is a good time and that’s all you can ask for. I am looking forward to the sequel coming out this year. Should be a fun time!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Ballad & Dagger by Daniel Jose Older: A Review

Title: Ballad & Dagger

Series: Outlaw Saints

Author: Daniel José Older

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Rating: 3/5

Release Date: May 3rd 2022

Format: Physical Book

Synopsis:

Almost sixteen years ago, Mateo Matisse's island homeland disappeared into the sea. Weary and hopeless, the survivors of San Madrigal's sinking escaped to New York. While the rest of his tight-knit Brooklyn diaspora community dreams of someday finding a way back home, Mateo--now a high school junior and piano prodigy living with his two aunts (one who's alive, the other not so much)--is focused on one thing: getting the attention of locally-grown musical legend Gerval. Mateo finally gets his chance on the night of the Grand Fete, an annual party celebrating the blended culture of pirates, Cuban Santeros, and Sephardic Jews that created San Madrigal all those centuries ago. But the evil that sank their island has finally caught up with them, and on the night of the celebration, Mateo's life is forever changed when he witnesses a brutal murder by a person he thought he knew. Suddenly Mateo is thrust into an ancient battle that spans years and oceans. Deadly secrets are unraveled and Mateo awakens a power within himself--a power that not only links him to the killer but could also hold the key to unlocking the dark mystery behind his lost homeland. From the author of the award-winning Shadowshaper Cypher series comes the first novel in the Outlaw Saints duology--a brilliant story that will transport readers to a world where magic, myth, and gods reign over the streets of Brooklyn.

Review:

I gotta be upfront with y’all from the beginning. I did not like this book. Something about it kept me reading the entire things, but it just did not hit right for me. It seemed like there was something always just on the brink of being fantastic, but the twists and reveals never delivered on the promise. Even the twist at the ending seemed trite to me. I got the Owlcrate edition of this and I always try to give those special editions the most honest shot I can, but this didn’t deliver what I hoped for. I think I am the wrong audience for this book. Maybe if I was younger, or a POC and not white. I think the story and the lore of the book were well presented, and for a lot of people it would resonate well with them.

I think in the beginning you were supposed to feel for Mateo, a boy raised by his tia and his ghost aunt. His mother and father are off being doctors somewhere and he doesn’t see them often. But Mateo never seemed to struggle with these things. He had a loving family, he knew his mother and father cared for him, and he didn’t seem to care overly much that they were out of the picture. Indeed he seemed to mind more that when he was a child they would shepherd him around the world instead of letting him stay in Brooklyn and Little Madrigal. Mateo did not make sense to me and did not have a lot of depth. In the end he became this being that saved the world, but that did not tie in with who he was in the beginning. I understand character growth, and I understand that in these circumstances, Matteo was actually also the spirit of one of his people’s maker gods. But that should not mean that Mateo changed so completely that by the end of a book he is completely unrecognizable, especially since not much truly happened before he changed.

The first two thirds of this book are all about the politics and the issues between the ruling factions of the city, but honestly, I can still tell you nothing other than one of those factions was pirates? It wasn’t until Mateo was betrayed that the book even picked up speed, and honestly, I think we all expected that betrayal. Then once the book picked up speed, it did not slow down, but it also felt disjointed. Almost like the author took separate scenes and tried to piece them together with the middle bits, without a clear understanding of what the story was supposed to be.

So much of the story was talking about finding a way to resurrect San Madrigal from the ocean, but we never truly know anything about San Madrigal. Maybe that is the point honestly. We are viewing this world through someone who was too young to remember the sinking of San Madrigal, but it also felt as if this grand thing that the book was leading towards meant absolutely nothing to Mateo, and thus we as readers don’t really know why we should care either. I loved the story of Atlantis growing up, and I expected to feel some kind of way about San Madrigal, but by the end of the book, when Mateo and Chela are seeing the island for the first time, I felt nothing but bored.

And Chela, I did not understand the relationship between Mateo and Chela. There were no sparks leading up to it, nothing at all to indicate the interest. Mateo went from being scared of Chela because she killed someone in front of him, to being in love with her. It did not make sense.

This book felt altogether too long and too short. The politics and factions of the beginning should have been cut down. The interesting fast paced story of the end should have been stretched out. And Mateo and Chela should not have been together in this book until maybe, MAYBE the very end.

I just finished reading Ballad and Dagger, by Daniel Jose Older.

Ballad and Dagger by: Daniel Jose Older

Ballad and Dagger by: Daniel Jose Older

Ballad and Dagger gets four (4) stars for me, right off the bat. I was excited when I read the premise for this book and it did not disappoint. Our main character is Mateo. He’s part of a small diaspora of people from a lost Island. The people are an eclectic mix of pirates, spiritualists, there’s Spanish, Jewish, Yoruba religion and gods. It was such a brilliant mix. It was vibrant, beautiful…

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The Little Foot Page by Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale

“If anyone ever tells you it’s time to do burpees, run. Run like your life depends on it, because it does. The only, i repeat only, reason someone wants you to do burpees is to murder you, because that’s all the push-ups of death coupled with leaps are good for.”

Evangeline in ACFTL asking: "What are you to me?"

and Jacks answering: "Nothing."

VS

How he actually felt like:

I know it’s an overused term to call a voice “fresh,” but it’s the perfect description of Older’s writing style. The dialog is generally upbeat, fun, and real. There’s a musicality to it that you often hear in the real world but doesn’t always come across on the page. It’s banter so natural, I could hear it with my own ears. When one character hits a drum beat, the other answers with a piano chord, and it thrums throughout your whole body.

Everything about this book is dynamic—it’s constantly moving, jumping, dancing, rolling, sashaying, and twirling forward. It’s certainly one of the most vivid stories I’ve read in a while, not only because of the colorful characters and splashy setting, but because of the way Older describes it all: Not only can I see what Mateo sees, but I can hear the unique way he interprets the world through music. And as someone who doesn’t have a musical bone in her body, that’s truly something I’ve never experienced before. And it’s a gift I won’t forget.

first read of the new year: Ballad & Dagger by Daniel José Older!

i’m a bit late to the party on this one but holy shit, i devoured this book in a single day. the blending of cultures felt so real, and immense care was given to representing the real world traditions properly.

Caribbean Pirate Culture, Sephardic Judaism, and Santería were all represented beautifully, as were the very real and deep relationships between characters.

i cannot wait for Last Canto for the Dead to see the story continue!

Review: Ballad & Dagger by Daniel José Older

Series: Outlaw Saints #1Author: Daniel José OlderPublisher: Rick Riordan PresentsReleased: May 3, 2022Received: Own (OwlCrate) Book Summary: Mateo Matisse’s homeland disappeared into the sea. Yes, exactly like the story of Atlantis, only not. Because there are living people who are grieving the loss of their home, Mateo and his family are working hard to keep their culture alive, hoping to one…

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I just started reading Ballad and Dagger, by Daniel Jose Older.

Title: Ballad & Dagger | Author: Daniel José Older | Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents (2022)