*Made Possible by NetGalley.com! Thank you very much!
Publisher: Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Series: Spellbound Trilogy #1 Website: Author website Published: Feb 19 2012
Introduction
Graylee
and Charlene are twins with polar opposite personalities. Charlene is more
aggressive and snotty, and Graylee is the kinder one. And they’re witches, so
life is ever so slightly more complicated for them. One day Graylee goes to
sleep…and wakes up as her sister. Months before she went to sleep and
apparently died. A resurrection spell gone wrong has put her soul into
Charlene’s body. Now the two share the same body in twenty-four hour shifts.
Now Grey has to pretend to be her preppy sister and take all the drama she
never knew her sister was involved in. But there is more to her sister
Charlene, and it makes Graylee fear for her existence. With the help of the
bad-boy warlock and a few other magically inclined friends, Graylee struggles
to figure out her love life, how she died, and how to get out of her sister’s
body.
#2
#3
Cover(s)
The cover is wonderful and
it immediately drew me in. As I said before, everyone judges books by their
covers before they read the back blurb. It’s what we do. And Entangled has a beautiful cover. The
next two books have similar covers, and it looks like it is the same girl. I
might be wrong-the models might be different, I don’t know. But I like the
continuity. If you’re going to put a face to a character on a cover, make sure
when the sequels come out that the faces at least look alike. All three covers
are awesome.
Characters
My favourite character has to be
Raj. He comes off as a devilish little bad boy that you can’t help but crush
on. Yet he is kind of a jerk with his overly cool demeanor and his occasional
spell casting for less-than-good intentions. The truth to Raj’s incident in the
past is explained in less than a page. With all the build-up, I was expecting a
dramatic retelling of the incident that has caused him to be labeled as a
trouble maker.
Adrian is a character that I
warmed up to eventually. At first, he seems like the typical con artist that
takes advantage of Raj. As the story unfurled I began to like him. He totally
changes and he becomes a loyal member of the group that I did not expect. He
really pulled through. His mentioning in the second book intrigues me as well.
The twins come to be interesting
with time. Charlene is clearly the evil twin, and Graylee is supposed to be the
good one. My complaint is that Graylee isn’t entirely good either. And it’s
more than she has a more realistic and complex personality. There is an
incident early on in the book where she retaliates against Raj. Homicidal much?
She has the same violent tendencies as Charlene. I am sure we are supposed to
believe that she would never ever
hurt him or anyone else, that she was just trying to scare him. Graylee is a
bit on the boring side. I feel like we did not get to know her personally. Or
she really just doesn’t have a personality. At least Charlene does. While she’s
the evil, snotty girl you hate in high school, she is not boring.
Maturity Rating
There are lots of sexual
moments in this book. They are not so bad, like Gray (as Charlene) speaking with
her friends about which boys are “doable” and which boys they have already
slept with. I say it’s not so bad because it is hallway banter that actually
does occur in real-life. There are no actual sex scenes, though at one
harrowing point it is implied.
Gripes
The
ending was just way too abrupt. Everything goes back to normal, la la la. No.
Shouldn’t the antagonist be actually punished? Like, sent away, punished? And
Gray gets a new life and just…adapts? What about Raj? We finally see his
character development and nothing more is said. Does he go back to live with
his dad after the big reveal? I found out after I finished the book that it is
a trilogy, so there should be more about life after the ending of the first
book that should tie up my complaints.
The way the author writes is
particularly uninspired. I feel like this author is growing into her personal
writing voice still, as the first book has very little personality to it at
all. At times the author tries to give it some girlish flare that is popular
now and when it happens it is almost cringe worthy. However, I have to stress
that it isn’t bad writing. There just
isn’t a way to define her voice out of the sea of authors already published. I
would love to see her writing in the future to see if she has improved.
My biggest gripe happens in the
beginning of the novel. Charlene has threatened to commit suicide by jumping
off the roof of the school. Gray reminds her sister that the fall wouldn’t kill
her, but it would cripple her. Gray then proceeds to “walk around like a gimp”
to make Charlene laugh. I know a lot of people with physical disabilities, and
this left a terribly sour taste in my mouth and mind. If someone did this in
front of me, I’d probably make them cry by reminding them how bloody offensive
they are being. It’s not funny. I read the passage and seriously questioned if
I wanted to read the rest of the book.
Verdict
Overall,
it is an alright book. The characters of Raj and Adrian were what kept me
reading. The writing itself does not stand out to me, though I am interested in
seeing the author develop her own style in the series/other future books. And I
will be reading (eventually) the next two books in the series because of Raj
and Adrian. I would recommend this to the older YA range for the (implied)
sexual content/themes.
Published: February 2013 (I have an ARC)
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Series: Micah Grey Series #1
Website: Laura Lam’s Blog
*My first NetGalley ARC! Many thanks!
Introduction
Iphigenia Laurus, also known as
Gene, is the daughter of a wealthy family, being raised in the typical fashion.
She learns to dance, sing, sew...but her real purpose as a woman is to marry.
And she hates this life. She feels that she does not belong and that life as a
pampered woman is ill-suited for her. On the other hand, we have Micah. He has
run away from his parents with the police on his trail. While he did not intend
on it when he entered R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic, he joins them as an
aerialist. He has to hide who he is from his fellow performers and try to live
in the complex social world of the circus. If he can’t cut it, he will be
swallowed up by street life in no time at all.
Genre
YA fantasy, but the fantasy
elements are very faint. The atmosphere is more of an alternate Victorian
England, and could arguably be considered a light steampunk. The rich are prim
and proper and they play their roles in society. The poor scrape by or are destitute.
The world of Ellada is filled with pieces of ancient technology, called Vestige,
and Penglass. Not really a book full of magic. Even when the Penglass begins to
react, the subject is dropped until the end of the book. It is more of a story
about identity, gender issues, the gender binary, and independence. More of a
character drama because in the end, not much happens. Micah goes to the circus
and joins. He has to keep his identity secret. We get flashbacks of Gene's life.
Micah questions his identity some more. He starts to like a girl. The big
reveal to his friends about who he is...and it’s over. The pacing is slow, but
still interesting to read.
At the beginning of the chapters
are blurbs from books in Ellada that explain their religion (the Lord of the
Sun and the Lady of the Moon), myths, and circus information. By the end of the
book, I still do not fully comprehend the world. I sense that it is a rich
world that was not adequately presented to the reader.
The Circus
The passages
describing the circus are intriguing. The description of the acts were not
particularly gripping for me; rather I enjoyed the dynamic character
interactions. You would imagine that a circus is one big family of performers,
but it is not. Poor Micah is hazed because he is the newcomer. The others are
particularly cruel to him, and he must bear it to stay. He finds companions in
Drystan and Aenea, though he still cannot reveal himself to them.
Yet we come
to realize that Micah is not the only one who has run away from life and joined
the circus. Everyone has their secrets. My favourite character is the white
clown, Drystan. He is much more detailed than Aenea, and I felt that I “knew”
him more than her. The circus is full of colourful characters, though I thought
the author could have done more with the characters she introduced us to.
Love Story
I didn’t
particularly...like or dislike Aenea. She was just a bit flat. And
Micah is still trying to figure out his gender/sexual identity, so the romance
was a bit tainted. Yes, there is a love story, but I did not quite buy into it.
Honestly, I was more interested in Drystan.
Ending
It ended on
one of the most crushing cliff hangers ever.
I still have no idea what Penglass is supposed to be and I was expecting most
of the mysteries to be explained by the end of the book. Not a whole lot was
explained. I still have 99% of the questions that I asked while reading the
book. Micah is...magical? Or not? What about his origins? The book teased us
all the way through and leaves us in the dark.
Gripe
Aside from the ending, the only
gripe I have with the book is a fairly obvious one: the whole “Gene and Micah”
element that you see in the blurbs did not fool me at all, and I find the blurb misleading. The reality of the book is much more interesting. The big reveal of
the two “characters” was not a surprise. It’s terribly obvious. The blurb
should be different.
Verdict
If you want
a book that certainly is different
from the vast majority of YA lit, Pantomime
is a great choice. The cover definitely brought me in-look at it! It’s
gorgeous! I am not a fan of the official blurb it gets, but it more than makes
up for it with the themes of sexual and gender identity and independence. With
that said, I think it would make for a great YA book club pick, if the teens are a
tad bit on the older side. Currently, the teens I’m involved with are probably
too young to really get the issues present, and I am not particularly trying to
get uptight parents angry with me. If you don’t mind slower, character driven
stories, I recommend this.
*Thoughts on the
movie trailers after the book review.
Introduction
Published: December 2009
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Series: First book of
the Caster Chronicles
Website:http://beautifulcreaturesnovels.com/
Ethan
Wate has lived in the nearly non-existent town of Gatlin since he was born,
just as his ancestors before him did. New and exciting are foreign concepts
until Lena Duchannes (rhymes with rain) enrolls in the high school. She is
beyond the cookie-cutter crowd of girls his age. She is a brunette with huge
green eyes and wears whatever she likes, not what is in style, including a
necklace with trinkets that most would call junk, and she reads poetry.
Unfortunately, this means that everyone else hates her. Except Ethan. He has
been dreaming of her, literally, before he even met her. They are linked.
One day
in English class she is the victim of her peers’ ridicule and suddenly the
window behind them blows out into tiny fragments. From this point forward she
is labeled a freak and a danger to the student body, but Ethan is not deterred.
Mysteries begin to unfold, linking them together, spanning hundreds of years.
Obviously, Lena and her family are beyond normal in a paranormal way. But, as
it turns out, so is Ethan, in his own way.
Lena is counting down the days
until her sixteenth birthday, when a monumental event will occur. She will be
Claimed for either the Light or Dark. Basically, she will then be good or evil,
and once you’re evil, you do horrendous things and are separated from your
family to protect them. There is no choice in this. It is simply fate. There is
no going back once you are Claimed. And to top it off, she has to deal with the
ignorance of a community who do not accept strangers into their flock.
And remember, witch is a stupid word.
Narration/Male POV
This
book, beyond a doubt, has one of the best male, first person POVs that I have
ever read. It’s so natural and non-alienating that girls can read
it too. He’s sixteen, on the basketball team, tall, and is always hungry. He needs a haircut but he isn't too concerned about it. His
mother died the year before and since then, his writer father has locked
himself in his study, rarely emerging to shower or eat cereal. He isn’t angst
ridden, though he does reminisce occasionally. Day after day he goes to school
and deals with life, no matter how crazy.
Love Story
The
love story is actually believable. They do not hang out for twenty minutes and
decide that they must be soul mates.
There is the supernatural element involved where they have been dreaming of
each other, sharing dreams, and waking up covered in mud and bruises from the
dream. They touch an artifact and they share visions of the past. Yet they do
not immediately start gushing that they love each other. The supernatural
elements aside, this one of the more realistic love stories that I’ve found in
YA lit lately.
Librarian
I am
biased, but the librarian character is awesome. Chapter 10.13 is named for her:
“Marian the Librarian”. She is educated, unique, and kind. Not a reclusive,
dusty, shushing crone. Her quotes of famous people and works are some of my
favourite moments in the book, and Uncle Macon does this too and it made me
smile while I read. As a librarian is, she is the gateway to knowledge. She was
also Ethan’s late mother’s best friend.
“I’m just the librarian. I can
only give you the books. I can’t give you the answers.”
Pacing
The pacing is only a little wonky
to me when they finally discover the story behind the locket and then it seems
to be forgotten. The story moves on to the next thing to be figured out, but
there is a gap where nothing much happens, aside from the social issues stuff
with Lena and the school and some reading of an ancient text. It is interesting
to read, but my thoughts are that this is the slow bit. Perhaps something else
a tad more exciting on the magical mystery front could have been going on too?
Or maybe…could some of the content have been cut?
Length
The hardcopy edition that I read
is 563 pages long. I enjoyed the ride, but having a massive book can be a
double-edged sword. Some people LOVE lengthy books. Longer stories can
make readers feel good about reading so much, etc. But it can also deter readers.
I know when I picked it up, in my head I thought, Of course. I’m trying to get content out on a new blog and this book has to be nearly 600 pages long. This work
was created from two creative minds, and it shows. Honestly, some of the
explanations of Gatlin or Civil War history and customs seemed unnecessary.
This book could have used some editing to make the writing tighter.
Verdict
This book is admittedly too big
for a normal book club. However, it has a detailed and intricate paranormal
story set in the contemporary South, and it sports a fantastically accessible
male POV. It has the themes including mental illness, death, family, good and
evil, pre-determined fate, and social issues. I resented any annoyance (i.e.,
life) that made me put it down. I highly recommend it for teens who are beyond
the bland paranormal romances that have flooded the market. If they want more
meat to their story, this will probably satisfy them.
Trailers
I went to see Silent Hill: Revelations 3D in theatres and a
trailer for the Beautiful Creatures film came
on in the previews. At that moment I knew I had to read the book. Surprisingly, it was still at the library!
Actors
Lena looks...ok. She doesn’t have that “I clearly don’t
belong here” attire. She just looks...pale. But she smiles occasionally so at
least she’s not trying to be Bella Swan.
The Youtube videos have enough comments about Ripley no
longer being blonde. Personally, I think it makes more sense to make the whole
family brunettes. It gives Lena a visual family. They look like her. They are
her kin. Ripley lacks the rocker look she had in the book, though she is still a femme fatal. I thought Ripley was an awesome and complex character
in the book so I am looking forward to seeing what she does in the film.
Ethan...poor Ethan. It looks like he’s being played by a
30-year-old. He’s supposed to be 16 and he needs a haircut. This guy...needs to
date girls his own age. While the Youtube comments have declared him ugly
(which I think is unfair), I think they should find actors that at least look
the age they are supposed to be portraying.
Macon looks pretty close to what I was imagining. For some reason I imagined him with a curled handlebar villain mustache for a while. I don't know why. He is wise yet unavailable. Around...yet absent. He might be evil...but Lena trusts him and loves him dearly. For his actor...he looks ok?
“Marian the Librarian” appears to be absent from the trailers!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
Looks like Amma takes over part of her role. I am disappoint.
Adaption
Now might be a good time to remind people that when you take
a book and make it into a movie, it is called adaption. Taking the story to a different media (book to movie)
will make it different because the way we make movies and write stories, and
what works in books and what works in movies, are different. Very different. To
make these ventures successful ($$$) the movies adapt, which is defined as “to
make suitable to requirements or conditions; adjust or modify fittingly”. Like
it or not, films will change aspects of the books they are based on because the
screen is different than the page. If you don’t like change, stay home.
Release Date
Release date is scheduled for February 13 2013. Naturally, I’m
already reserved to take some teenaged fans. I genuinely want to be blown away,
so I can’t wait for February! Hopefully the world doesn't end.
Published: November 1st 2012
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Series: (Nothing released yet...)
Website: Author Website
Introduction
Banyan
is young, but he is an exceptional tree builder. In this future, there are no
trees. The trees he makes are made from scrap metal, and he specializes in
seasons. The rich pay him to make metal forests rigged with LED lights. The
only plant that still grows is corn. The world has become barren dirt. Locusts
devour anything that is editable. People are snatched regularly on the roads.
Like his dad. When people are taken, you assume that they have died. Or worse.
It’s best not to think of them anymore.
One day
he meets a woman who has a tattoo of a tree of her body. Her daughter, Zee, has
an old camera with picture…of his father, chained to a tree. Surrounded by a
forest of trees. Believing that this place, The Promised Land where plants can
still grow, has his father, he gathers a ragamuffin team to make the journey.
But there are others who wish to exploit The Promised Land, and the journey is
nothing close to uneventful, especially considering that it is impossible to
trust everyone you meet.
Pacing
Excellent
use of action and dialogue. None of the dialogue struck me as boring or unnecessary. When
people were speaking, it was for a reason. Authors sometimes forget that
dialogue should be the brightest green light to advance plot. When Rootless characters are speaking, they
are not wasting pages speaking about the weather. Everything pertains to the
plot.
This
book is about travelling from one place to another, essentially. Travelling in
general is dangerous, so nothing goes according to plan. There are dust storms,
the shortage of food, water, and gas, slavers, thieves, pirates, an evil
corporation...and the odd people Banyan keeps picking up in his vehicle.
Gripes
The book is full of colourful
characters. Too bad I found it difficult to connect to most of them during the
first half of the book. Even Banyan was a difficult character for me to get
into. It’s not as though the protagonist is a bad person and we’re not supposed
to like him. We’re supposed to like him, yet I could not care about him too
easily. That said, there is a whole stock of interesting characters. Zee, the
child who wants to find the trees. Her mother, a strung-out addict who knows
something about the trees, but cannot remember. Zee’s step brother, Sal. Frost,
who is also after the trees. Crow, Frost’s body guard who is more than just a
body guard. My favourite character by far was Alpha, followed by Lockjaw.
They’re pirates. Mostly morally good pirates. You can’t go wrong with pirates.
I found that Howard uses the words
“suck(s)” and “sucker” a lot, especially towards the end of the book. That
really stood out to me and I found it annoying.
Movie
I think
this book would make an awesome film. Most of it is action. Stuff exploding. Shooting.
I imagine the setting would be a barren wasteland similar to The Book of Eli.
The characters and the metal trees would look fantastic visually.
Audience
What
this book does exceptionally well is reaching a wide audience. It sports a male
protagonist that guys will love, but he’s not such a male as to alienate all
female readers. It is dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction. There is some
blood and violence, but surprisingly, it is not too bad, considering where I’ve
been finding guts and gore lately in YA literature. No sex, minimal love story, but there is one.
Verdict An excellent sci-fi book for boys or girls interested in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world with an active storyline that just keeps going. This is book one, so it is great for teens who want to get into a series. The whole book isn’t just a cloak to write a romance story. It would make a great book club title.
Published: August 7th 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Series: #1 Watersong (sequel, Lullaby coming November 27th 2012)
Website: Official Blog
Introduction
Tourists flock to the ocean side town
of Capri. This year, three drop-dead girls arrive. There used to be a fourth
girl in their click. Now, they have their sights set on swim-star Gemma Fisher.
There is something creepy about Penn, Lexi, and Thea, but when Gemma parties
with them one night and wakes up on the rocks battered and ill, she knows that
there is definitely something seriously wrong with them. And from that point
on, she herself begins to change. She is an even better swimmer. She’s faster,
stronger. And the water is calling out to her, to leave behind everything she’s
ever known to become part of it...for a price.
The next book in the Watersong
series is Lullaby, which will be released month. The book is on its way
to me and I’ll be reviewing that shortly. I figured it would make sense to
review the first one instead of diving into the second book.
Mermaids
Mermaids
are coming up big in YA lit right now. It’s an interest for me, so I’m not
complaining. At least these lame vampires stories will finally go away.
However, this story is simply not about just mermaids. Of course not. They’re sirens. The author uses Greek mythology as the explanation. They
are not The Little Mermaid kind of
mermaids. They’re the kind that lure males. The ones you’d actually find in
mythology. So if you’re looking for a magical journey of seashell bras and talking
fish, you’ll not find that here.
Genre
Gemma gets
a new summer romance that should make the teen readers go “aaawwwww!” and her older sister, Harper, gets a love life. So,
romance. There’s one genre. There’s the paranormal element. All good. But then
this book also has some darker moments. Passages describing rotting corpses. In
detail. It’s romance and happy butterflies and rainbows, but then...some
horror. Aside from the beginning where there are two girls with blood stains
talking ominously, it had been a pretty standard, slice-of-life affair. In
fact, it was a bit boring at times. The whole, there’s something paranormal about those three ridiculously pretty
girls is laid on pretty thickly. It’s too obvious. It’s not scary at all.
So I hesitate to let it fall in the horror genre, but the moments of bloated
corpses lying around are jarring. Like the author couldn’t quite decide who she
was trying to market the book to.
Gripes
I hate the name Gemma. It sounds like it’s
short for something, but it isn’t. I know everyone is supposed to have
interesting names. Gemma sounds like
you’re talking with your mouth full. Harper points out that people can’t pick
their birth names, and it’s not nice to make fun of people’s names. Which is
true. So I’m just saying that out of all the “unusual” names out there, why
Gemma? Harper is a cool name. Penn is great (reminds me of Jake’s original name
from Adventure Time with Finn and Jake).
Thea is a different name. Lexi is normal. Too normal. Alexia or the variants of
it can be turned to Lexi. Not special at all. By the way, if your name is
Gemma, sorry. I really am.
The
beginning is S L O W . Yet Gemma’s relationship with Alex feels rushed with me.
Gemma isn’t
the most convincing character. She’s flat. She starts finding scales that are
obviously coming off herself and she doesn’t freak out. Unbelievable. She’s
also majorly level headed about everything. Yet she decides to get
life-altering advice from her mentally ill mother. Right.
The Good
While Gemma
was boring, Harper is a much more detailed character. Their father works long hours
to support the family, her mother is mentally unstable, and Harper has to step
into the mother role. Some might find her overbearing. And yes, in reality she
would be. I found her to be realistic. She’s trying to keep everyone safe and
everything in order so much she has not really been living life. I found her
eventual love interest to be more believable than her sister’s. I have to
wonder how the sister got more detail than the protagonist, though.
Also, the
hardcover’s dust jacket has a cool image of a girl underwater reaching for a
boy. I lent this book to a teen and she pointed it out to me. I would have
never noticed! The cover is beautiful too.
Verdict
Great for teens who are into paranormal romances. I’d recommend it to girls who have exhausted the vampire genre and are seeking to move on. My sister, who is nearly 13, loved it. I don’t recommend this for boys. There will be boys who will love it, of course. But for the average male teen, I don’t see the appeal for them. It’s very girl central. However, Daniel is my favourite character. Alex is actually an awesome, geeky guy. The father is typical. But the story is centered on Gemma and the three girls, with Harper on the side. Writing-wise, this book isn’t the greatest penned work of all time. But it delivers a story and it gives you some entertainment. The beginning is slow, but if you can get over that hurdle there are bits of gold in here.
