Review: Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves
Goodreads | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble
YA, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, 505 pages, Simon Pulse

• Series: companion to Bleeding Violet
• Pub date: January 4th 2011
• Disclosure: Bought a copy. Yay!

Judged byits cover: Love, love, love. Just the right combination of sweet, quirky, and creepy for this book. The photo is great and the font is even better.

 Goodreads blurb:

Kit and Fancy Cordelle are sisters of the best kind: best friends, best confidantes, and best accomplices. The daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, Kit and Fancy are used to feeling like outsiders, and that’s just the way they like it. But in Portero, where the weird and wild run rampant, the Cordelle sisters are hardly the oddest or most dangerous creatures around.
It’s no surprise when Kit and Fancy start to give in to their deepest desire—the desire to kill. What starts as a fascination with slicing open and stitching up quickly spirals into a gratifying murder spree. Of course, the sisters aren’t killing just anyone, only the people who truly deserve it. But the girls have learned from the mistakes of their father, and know that a shred of evidence could get them caught. So when Fancy stumbles upon a mysterious and invisible doorway to another world, she opens a door to endless possibilities….

The Long...

I don't know why I put off reading this book for so long. I think I was terrified it wouldn't live up to the gorgeously f**ked up promise of Reeves' debut, Bleeding Violet. I think, in a way, I was almost more terrified it would, because while Reeves is working on a third book, neither title nor release date have been announced, and I wasn't sure I could bear the wait.

I'm still not sure I can bear the wait, because--unsurprisingly in hindsight--Slice of Cherry was even better than Bleeding Violet, and I can't wait to explore more of Reeves' wickedly lovely world.

It takes guts to write about a couple of sweet-and-on-the-verge-of-sexy sisters that also happen to be serial killers and make them sympathetic, and indeed, we are as often horrified by Kit and Fancy as we are surprised and delighted. But as with schizophrenic Hanna of Bleeding Violet, Reeves has proven herself exceptionally talented at creating anti-heroines we love to be creeped out by.

The most interesting thing about Slice of Cherry for me was its unabashed lack of any real plot. Unlike most horror--especially YA horror--driven by ticking time bombs and plot so thick you could stand a spoon in it, Reeves rests the heft (and at 505 pages, there is a lot of heft) of the novel on her characters and the quirky mythology of Portero. For me, it's a more satisfying kind of horror: the story has a venus flytrap quality to it, blooming slow and sweet, and while it might not keep readers flying through the pages, it's captivating in its own way.

It's also very definitely for older teens and adult readers, as the gore is exactly as nauseating (and nauseatingly riveting) as the blurb would suggest. It's one of the first books I'd hand to an adult who thinks YA is just for kids, as its exploration of violence, sex, and the intimate connections between the two is as complex and interesting as any I've read.


Excluding pulp series, YA horror is exceptionally hard to come by, and when I read one this good I'm even more confused as to why. Slice of Cherry pushes the envelope in all the right ways, and proves that Bleeding Violet wasn't just a fluke--Dia Reeves really is in it for the long haul, and I can't wait for book three!

...and the Short:

Gory, sexy, slow, and sweet--Slice of Cherry has it all, and establishes Dia Reeves as one of the most exciting YA authors out there. I want more!

The Final Word: Loved it. 

Diversity and YA covers: Why we need to keep talking about this.

I'll let Kate Hart's fantastic analysis of YA covers do the talking, as well as her follow-up: YA covers have a problem. And it's not just the angst face or the I have bemoaned in the past. It's that only 14% of YA covers feature a character of color--and even then, they're often obscured, looking away from the camera, or portrayed with a group of white friends. It's that not a single cover I have found features an LGBT couple holding hands, or portrayed in a romantic manner. To be fair, this is an entirely unscientific observation on my part, and there are covers out there that feature LGBT characters--but the complaint still stands.

At least there are covers out there like that of Huntress by Malinda Lo, featuring not only an Asian model looking directly at the camera, but also one who portrays a lesbian character:

And then there are covers like Julie Kagawa's The Immortal Rules, which so blatantly whitewashes an Asian character, it's sickening. (And for what it's worth, I think this cover design is hideously ugly, besides.)

That's why we need to keep talking about this--to send the message to publishers, once and for all, that it's about time their covers portrayed the actual demographics of the United States, instead of just what they think will sell books. It's why I make a concerted effort to buy books that feature people of color on the cover, like Huntress above, and get books like The Immortal Rules from the library.

Please note that I'm not talking about the content of these books at all--that's another blog post entirely--just the way that they're marketed, which is just as important a discussion. These things certainly aren't the authors' fault, and they say nothing about the quality of the book between the covers. It's publishers that need to get this message, loud and clear, and I'm hoping you'll help me send it. Put your money where your mouth is and start buying these books--if you look in the Kate Hart post, there's a great list of the titles that feature covers with PoCs. Write letters. Let's make a difference.

My BEA schedule...so far.

I wish I had a witty way to open this post, but really, I'm just too excited: in two weeks (almost exactly), I'm going to be in New York City for Book Expo America and its accompanying BEA Bloggers Conference!

I'm looking forward to getting the chance to explore and learn more about my favorite hobby, to meet as many of my favorite authors as I can cram into my schedule, to sightsee in one of my favorite cities in the world, and of course, to (hopefully) meet some of you, my fellow bibliophiles! I'll be around handing out business cards and generally looking dazed and blinking a lot.

Basically, if any of my readers are going to be in NYC anytime between the evening of June 3 and the afternoon of June 7, I'd love to meet you. Feel free to drop me a line at mdesmondobrien@gmail.com or call/text my cell phone at (763)-442-1560, and I'll do my best to say hi!

Of course, you're also free to stalk me in person--here are some of the events I'm planning on attending that week:

Monday, June 4th:

8:00-5:30 - BEA Bloggers Convention! I may duck out before it officially ends, but I'll hopefully stick around for the whole thing and I can't wait to network and meet so many of my blogging heroes in person!

I'm planning on leaving the evening free to meet with some lovely author friends and to explore the city.

Tuesday, June 5th:

8:00-9:30 - Adult Author Breakfast. Barbara Kingsolver is one of my all-time favorite authors, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet her in person.

10:00-10:50 - YA Editors Buzz, room 1E14/1E15. Looking forward to seeing what titles are going through the promotion machine this year.

3:00-5:00 - Meet the Apocalypsies, room 1E04. This year's debut author lineup looks great!


I'll also do my best to attend the Malinda Lo and Mary Casanova signings.


Wednesday, June 6th:

8:00-9:30 - Random House Power Readers Breakfast. I was so psyched to score an invite, and it looks like lots of awesome people will be there!

Other than that, looks like a whole lot of signings--Kristin Cashore, Maureen Johnson, Veronica Roth, and Libba Bray especially. You might see me at any or all of them; I'm playing it by ear! 


This is my main sightseeing and hanging-out-with-awesome-people day.


Thursday, June 7th:

Again, just signings--I'd really like to catch Maggie Stiefvater.


I'll be heading to the airport sometime that afternoon.

---

My mother and me will most likely come with dirt under our fingernails and smelling slightly of goats; if you really need help recognizing me, check out my Twitter avatar. I'll be the short, blonde, hippie-hipster child with the nose-ring.

Any other events I should know about? Have time for lunch, dinner, or just a quick hello? Let me know, and I can't wait to see you there!