Glory O'Brien's History of the Future
By A.S. King
By A.S. King
Published: October 14, Little, Brown
From GoodReads: Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities—but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she’s never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person’s infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions—and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying.A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women’s rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she’ll do everything in her power to make sure this one doesn’t come to pass.
My Thoughts:
There are two things about A.S. King's writing that I absolutely love: her creativity and her choice of characters.
A.S. King is known for disregarding all the rules when it comes to writing. She breaks them and breaks them well. Her stories have always been inspirational to me because she finds ways to break into all my secret thoughts I didn't think anyone else would understand--about growing up, femininity, family, and the unfairness of life. Her characters are always underdogs, the kids we might overlook because they don't fit the mold of what we think a teen should look or sound like.
In many ways, Glory O'Brien's History of the Future felt like two different stories: one of Glory's path from teen to adult and one of the History of the Future. Preferably, I was most interested in Glory.
Glory's view of the world has always been different. After her mother committed suicide and her father gave up his painting to become a lump on the couch, Glory grew up on microwaved meals and kept femininity an arm's length away. A.S. King explored how a girl grows up motherless to explore her self awareness and sexuality.
There were some gorgeous lines about why girls care so much about clothes and shoes and mascara and hair products and sex--and why Glory does not. Also, "I am tortured by belly fat and magazine covers and how to please everyone but myself" struck a particular and familiar chord with me.
The best part about this book was when Glory and her best friend Ellie drink the bat. Yep. Drank a bat. A liquified bat from a jar...which prompted this deal between Jodi Meadows, Joy Hensley and me--so thanks, A.S. King!
There are two things about A.S. King's writing that I absolutely love: her creativity and her choice of characters.
A.S. King is known for disregarding all the rules when it comes to writing. She breaks them and breaks them well. Her stories have always been inspirational to me because she finds ways to break into all my secret thoughts I didn't think anyone else would understand--about growing up, femininity, family, and the unfairness of life. Her characters are always underdogs, the kids we might overlook because they don't fit the mold of what we think a teen should look or sound like.
In many ways, Glory O'Brien's History of the Future felt like two different stories: one of Glory's path from teen to adult and one of the History of the Future. Preferably, I was most interested in Glory.
Glory's view of the world has always been different. After her mother committed suicide and her father gave up his painting to become a lump on the couch, Glory grew up on microwaved meals and kept femininity an arm's length away. A.S. King explored how a girl grows up motherless to explore her self awareness and sexuality.
There were some gorgeous lines about why girls care so much about clothes and shoes and mascara and hair products and sex--and why Glory does not. Also, "I am tortured by belly fat and magazine covers and how to please everyone but myself" struck a particular and familiar chord with me.
The best part about this book was when Glory and her best friend Ellie drink the bat. Yep. Drank a bat. A liquified bat from a jar...which prompted this deal between Jodi Meadows, Joy Hensley and me--so thanks, A.S. King!
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