Scan barcode
ajsterkel's review against another edition
3.0
I feel conflicted about this book! It’s unique. It stars a teenage girl who decides to become a suicide bomber. I enjoyed the untrustworthy main character and the author’s attention to detail. I still have so many “Why?” questions! Stuff just happens without explanation. But, it’s definitely memorable. I can see myself rereading it.
buuboobaby's review against another edition
wow - don't know how I feel about this yet. 3? 3.5 stars? i just don't know....
teenytinylibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Holy cow, this book was off the hook! I am not even quite sure what to say about it. It was action-packed and mysterious and one I will definitely be thinking about for a LOOOOONNNNGGG time.
heykellyjensen's review against another edition
3.0
This book is going to garner a lot of discussion. I read it three times before I felt like I had a grasp of what was going on.
15-year-old Valkyrie -- Val -- has had a hell of a life. If it can even be called that. Her mom was killed by the black helicopters when she was young, and her father went to great lengths to protect her and her brother from Those People thereafter. But Bo, her brother, had way more privileges than she did. He could actually go out. It was her job to stay hidden, to know the plan, to understand just how bad Those People were.
Then the house burns down and their father is now dead. It's up to Bo and Val to establish some sort of life now. Except, they've been so indoctrinated with contempt for all they've lost thanks to Those People, they see nothing but the need to destroy. And even in seeking safe places, they're finding more dangerous places. They're finding out about the true life dad lived. That true life means that, well, there's no hope here.
Val is herself a weapon.
Bleak might be a nice word to describe Woolston's third book.
Woolston marries Val's story with a brilliant and mind-bending metaphor about chess. But even though she's Queen and she has the power to keep the King in check, ultimately, she is reminded again and again that she can and will never rise above where she is now.
Val's a weapon because
This is a little book, but it is dense. It's very literary, and what is not said is more powerful than what's actually said. It's masterfully crafted and requires rereading to pick up on how the timelines interact, how Val's character comes to be as it is, and to appreciate the ending as it is. There are no punches pulled in this book: it's dark. It's not dystopia nor futuristic -- this is a slice of life by the likes we rarely, if ever, read or see. This is contemporary.
There are a lot of interesting threads here about gender, about power and privilege, about choices. I'm fascinated, too, by the depiction of rural life, of, sex/body politics/ownership, violence, government paranoia, and more. I'm not sure how so much is packed into 160 pages but damn.
Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2013/03/black-helicopters-by-blythe-woolston.html
15-year-old Valkyrie -- Val -- has had a hell of a life. If it can even be called that. Her mom was killed by the black helicopters when she was young, and her father went to great lengths to protect her and her brother from Those People thereafter. But Bo, her brother, had way more privileges than she did. He could actually go out. It was her job to stay hidden, to know the plan, to understand just how bad Those People were.
Then the house burns down and their father is now dead. It's up to Bo and Val to establish some sort of life now. Except, they've been so indoctrinated with contempt for all they've lost thanks to Those People, they see nothing but the need to destroy. And even in seeking safe places, they're finding more dangerous places. They're finding out about the true life dad lived. That true life means that, well, there's no hope here.
Val is herself a weapon.
Bleak might be a nice word to describe Woolston's third book.
Spoiler
What's at heart in the story is a girl who has been brainwashed to believe she needs to be paranoid about the world around her, particularly in regards to government. As such, she is herself a tool of destruction, led to believe that her duty in life is to bring it down, since it was what brought so much devastation to her own life. But it's not just that she's been brainwashed to believe her duty is to destroy the system, she is literally the tool by which the destruction must happen. She is the Queen.Woolston marries Val's story with a brilliant and mind-bending metaphor about chess. But even though she's Queen and she has the power to keep the King in check, ultimately, she is reminded again and again that she can and will never rise above where she is now.
Spoiler
There is a painful scene in the story where Val's body becomes the payment for her debts. But it's not so much what those men do to her to remind her of her place, it's what happens with the gun immediately after the first time someone collects the rent. The violence and anger and emptiness of it all is penetrating. Is a reinforcement of all she's experienced in her life.Val's a weapon because
Spoiler
the only way she can get out is through death. And where this story takes a turn is that, when the plans for destruction are sidetracked because of another person's decision to seek momentary jollies, Val's left alone to her own devices. She's seeking the help of a high school boy who knows she's the girl to be watching out for. And when he's kind enough to help her and do so knowing she could at any second destroy him and his little brother, Val has her turnaround. She knows the death she needs -- the out she needs from this existence -- can only be her own. No one else has to pay for what she's already suffered.This is a little book, but it is dense. It's very literary, and what is not said is more powerful than what's actually said. It's masterfully crafted and requires rereading to pick up on how the timelines interact, how Val's character comes to be as it is, and to appreciate the ending as it is. There are no punches pulled in this book: it's dark. It's not dystopia nor futuristic -- this is a slice of life by the likes we rarely, if ever, read or see. This is contemporary.
There are a lot of interesting threads here about gender, about power and privilege, about choices. I'm fascinated, too, by the depiction of rural life, of
Spoiler
what I believe to have been drug and human trafficking issues that were at the heart of her father's life/what caused the death of her mother and the desire for revenge on both sidesFull review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2013/03/black-helicopters-by-blythe-woolston.html
kyleg99's review against another edition
4.0
This is a concise, tense, and at times sad read. Valley is an interesting narrator with an intense, militaristic view of the world very different from other characters I've read before. I think a little more detail would've elevated it, but at the same time, some of the strength of this book is in its ambiguity and implications.
chinacatsun76's review against another edition
2.0
This book had SO much potential, with a unique plot and POV paired with a distinct narrative voice, but unfortunately, it lost me about 70% of the way through. The protagonist ended up being a person I cared little about and I was disappointed in pretty much everyone in the entire book. I need someone to root for, even if it's a bad guy.
The ending felt extremely rushed. Notice I said rushed, not unfinished. I love a good unfinished ending, this one just wasn't it. It was only 175 pages, so not too much time invested, but it's not one I'd recommend to most people.
The ending felt extremely rushed. Notice I said rushed, not unfinished. I love a good unfinished ending, this one just wasn't it. It was only 175 pages, so not too much time invested, but it's not one I'd recommend to most people.
skundrik87's review against another edition
3.0
Good, but really creepy. Get inside the head of a suicide bomber.
tarheel99's review
3.0
Won this on Firstreads. Very quick read, and not just because it's under 200 pages. The main story line is interesting, but with so few pages there's nothing that gets fleshed out, and it just leaves you wanting the story to be more. A good idea that feels like it was cut short.