May 12, 2014
In contrast to dystopian novels with world-shaking stakes, Fine (the Guards of the Shadowlands series) focuses on a detailed microcosm within an unjust society. She centers her tale of forbidden love and social awakening on a single industrial complex, where brutal bosses control workers by keeping them permanently in debt. Sixteen-year-old Wen has recently come to live with her father, a doctor at the Gochan factories. There, Wen is subject to the constant threat of sexual coercion, especially when she wears the richly embroidered dresses that remind her of her late seamstress mother. Meanwhile, the factory is wracked with ethnic tension between Wen’s people, the East Asian–inspired Itanyai, and the Noor, despised migrant workers. Wen gradually sheds her prejudices after she inadvertently contributes to an accident involving a Noor worker and the Ghost, a Phantom of the Opera–like presence who grants the wishes of Gochan’s people in sometimes-horrific ways. Though the course of Wen’s enlightenment offers few surprises, Fine creates a memorable atmosphere of desperation, deftly weaving together numerous subplots that intersect in a grisly and satisfying climax. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kathleen Ortiz, New Leaf Literary and Media.
June 1, 2014
A reckless wish has tragic consequences in this homage to The Phantom of the Opera.Sixteen-year-old Wen lives with her father at the medical clinic he runs in the Gochan One factory compound. Their family is far better off than the slaughterhouse's workers, but they are no less prisoners to the debts they owe to the factory. After one of the Noor-foreign workers brought in to cut costs-shames Wen in the cafeteria, she angrily presents the Ghost rumored to haunt the slaughterhouse with an offering and a challenge: "Prove yourself to me. I want to be impressed." She's horrified when the boy who teased her is promptly injured in a violent accident; when she attempts to make amends by helping the Noor, she finds herself increasingly attracted to their charismatic leader, Melik. Fine effectively conveys the industrial and human horrors of Wen's life, from the slaughterhouse's gruesome work to automaton killer spiders to the underboss who preys sexually on young women. It's unfortunate that the world beyond the factory remains largely unexplored and unexplained. Much of the novel's action is driven by threats to Wen's virtue, which quickly grows repetitive, but Wen and Melik's star-crossed romance will likely satisfy many readers. The open ending leaves room for a sequel.An imaginative but uneven retelling. (Steampunk. 12-18)
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