Almost Enchanted...

Published: May 22nd, 2012

The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #6)

By: Michael Scott

Delacorte Press for Young Readers

ISBN-13: 9780385735353

The two that are one must become the one that is all. One to save the world, one to destroy it. 
 
San Francisco:
Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel have one day left to live, and one job left to do. They must defend San Francisco. The monsters gathered on Alcatraz Island have been released and are heading toward the city. If they are not stopped, they will destroy everyone and everything in their path.

But even with the help of two of the greatest warriors from history and myth, will the Sorceress and the legendary Alchemyst be able to defend the city? Or is it the beginning of the end of the human race?
 
Danu Talis:
Sophie and Josh Newman traveled ten thousand years into the past to Danu Talis when they followed Dr. John Dee and Virginia Dare. And it’s on this legendary island that the battle for the world begins and ends.

Scathach, Prometheus, Palamedes, Shakespeare, Saint-Germain, and Joan of Arc are also on the island. And no one is sure what—or who—the twins will be fighting for.
 
Today the battle for Danu Talis will be won or lost.
But will the twins of legend stand together?
Or will they stand apart—
one to save the world and one to destroy it?

Review

   Sophie and Josh Newman have had a crazy week.  They have been trained in all of the elements, met many figures from mythology and history, learned that one of them will save the world and the other will destroy it - oh yeah and their parents are really Isis and Osiris!  Now they are 10,000 years into the past, on Danu Talis (Atlantis) preparing for the final battle.  John Dee, Virginia Dare, Scathach, Prometheus, Palamedes, Shakespeare, Saint-Germain and Joan of Arc  are also on at different spots of the island, trying to find the twins.  Are Isis and Osiris who they claim to be or is it far more complicated than the twins ever could have imagined?  In the present time Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel are trying to defend San Francisco from the invasion of the monsters from Alcatraz Island.  Will they be able to ally themselves with Billy the Kid, Machiavelli and other unusual forces long enough to save the present day world, or will the monsters manage to kill them all?  Josh and Sophie will have to decide which world to save - Danu Talis or their own.  In the end will they stand together or apart?  And what is Marethyu's (Death's) true identity?  There was a lot of resolution in this book which I appreciated.  It is not an easy thing to write a consistently good series, when all of the action is taking place in a time-frame of less than two weeks! At the same time, it was a little overwhelming just how many characters played a major role in the storyline by the start of book six.  I think that while the storyline with the Flamels and other characters in San Francisco was interesting, it wasn't necessarily relevant to whether or not Sophie and Josh triumphed or failed.  At the end of the book I was a little confused about the prophecy and whether or not it had come true.  "The two that are one must become the one that is all. One to save the world, one to destroy it."  It seems a little vague and confusing, even now.  My favorite character development in this novel was Virginia Dare.  I loved the interactions between her and John Dee.  Marethyu was kind of an interesting inclusion, but it seemed kind of cliched what his true identity ended up being.  The whole thing with Isis and Osiris was decently carried out and more than a little creepy.  The whole loop of time and characters was over-confusing and not explained well enough for my liking.  If you're a mythology and history geek like me, reading this series is worth it if only for all of the interesting characters.  A somewhat lukewarm ending to a slightly directionless series.

VERDICT:  3.75/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published May 22nd, 2012.*

Blood On My Hands

Published: April 10th, 2012
The Book of Blood and Shadow
By: Robin Wasserman
Random House Children's Books
ISBN-13: 9780375968761


It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up. When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love. When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark.

But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead. His girlfriend Adriane, Nora’s best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora’s sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also—according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone—a murderer.

Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora follows the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. It ultimately brings her to the ancient streets of Prague, where she is drawn into a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. For buried in a centuries-old manuscript is the secret to ultimate knowledge and communion with the divine; it is said that he who controls the Lumen Dei controls the world. Unbeknownst to her, Nora now holds the crucial key to unlocking its secrets. Her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life.

Review

  Nora had a happy life with her best friends and her boyfriend.  So what if her parents were treating her like she was invisible and her brother was dead, leaving her with no real family anymore.  At least she had Chris, Adriane and Max to keep her tethered to real life.  But ever since they've gotten a job as assistants to a Professor trying to unravel and ages-old mystery their lives have changed without them even realizing it.  Then Chris is murdered, Adriane is catatonic and Max is missing.  This leaves Nora to puzzle out what has happened to them all from the clues left behind.  Starting with a 500 year old letter, covered in Chris' blood.  Nora will be lead to Prague on a mission to find a machine called the Lumen Dei, that has the knowledge of God himself.  But there are others searching for the machine and they will stop at nothing to get it - even murder.  With unexpected allies and a shocking betrayl of the worst kind, will Nora and the others be able to find the Lumen Dei in time?  And will they all survive it once they have?  The first half of the novel is full of character building and setting foundations for the mystery of the Lumen Dei, through the centuries old letters of Elizabeth Weston (daughter of a slightly mad alchemist in Elizabethean times).  You really get to know Nora, Chris and Elizabeth.  Max and Adriane are slightly more enigmatic but later in the novel you really begin to understand that they feel this way to Nora as well.  I truly liked Eli, Chris' 'cousin' who feels the need to trail Nora searching for answers about Chris' death.  It ended in a way that wasn't entirely unexpected and seemed slightly abrupt.  That was a little disappointing after such a great, high-level and intelligent mystery.  This novel was definitely one of a kind in the YA market and worth the read for fans of mystery, slight paranormality and adventure.

VERDICT:  3.85/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's publication date was April 10th, 2012.*

Questions of Life and Death

Published: October 4th, 2011
Liesl and Po
By: Lauren Oliver
HarperCollins
ISBN-13: 9780062014511


Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice—until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.
That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable.
Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.
From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver comes a luminous and magnificent novel that glows with rare magic, ghostly wonders, and a true friendship that lights even the darkest of places.

Review

   Liesl is locked away in the attic upon the sudden death of her Father, by her evil Stepmother (who only wants Liesl's money without her in the way).  Liesl is unexpectedly visited by Po, not a boy or a girl, but most certainly a spirit from the Other Side and Po's Cat/Dog companion Bundle.  She makes Po promise to find her Father and tell him goodbye.  Po doesn't expect to ever actually do this, but does find Liesl's Father.  He wants his ashes to be taken to the house they lived in when Liesl's Mother was still alive and well.  She decides to undertake the journey, sneaking out of the attic to do so.  What she isn't aware of, is that the alchemist's apprentice, Will, had accidentally switched the box of her Father's ashes with a box of the most powerful magic in the world.  Now Liesl is being chased down by the woman who it was intended for, the Alchemist, Mo (the woman's kind security guard) and her stepmother who wants to get rid of her once and for all.  Will Liesl be able to get her Father to his resting place and will she be able to let him go in the end?  More importantly what will happen to the magic once it's unleashed?  This was a cute book, full of magic and fantastic occurences peppered in on top of ordinary people and places.  I truly enjoyed reading about Po, Bundle and the Other Side.  However, I was at times bored by the slowness of the plot and detached from the characters' predicaments.  I liked Liesl and Will, but never really empathized with them at all.  Mo was wonderful, but I felt like Lauren Oliver did him a diservice by making him mentally slow (kind of like saying he was only kind to the children because he wasn't exactly a 'real' adult) and it bothered me.  Overall a fine story, but a little off in it's connection with me and I would recommend it more for children twelve or under (maybe teachers too).  The illustrations were a serious high point for me.

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores and online.*

How To Be A Disappointment

Published: November 17th, 2011
How To Make A Golem and Terrify People
By:  Alette J. Willis
Floris Books
ISBN-13: 9780863158407



"You think you're a fairy godmother or something?" I asked. "Or something," Michael agreed. Edda is tired of her nickname, 'Mouse', and wants to be braver. But when her house is burgled on her twelfth birthday, Edda is more afraid than ever. That is until new boy Michael Scot starts school. There's something peculiar -- and very annoying -- about know-it-all Michael. He claims to be a great alchemist who can help Edda overcome her fears by teaching her to build a golem. But surely they can't bring a giant mud monster to life? Can they? Winner of the Kelpies Prize 2011.

Review

   Edda is a young girl whose family constantly moves around.  She's finally happy in Edinburgh and it's the longest that they've lived anywhere.  The only things getting her down is a serious bully at school named Euan and the fact that she's scared of everything.  Then her house gets burglarized on her 12th birthday and Edda feels like she'll be scared forever.  She meets a strange boy in her school, Michael Scot, who claims he can help her overcome her fears by building a golem to protect herself.  Can Edda overcome her fears?  Will she be able to stop the golem from terrorizing the neighborhood?  This was like reading an after-school special on the dangers of bullying and how to overcome your fears.  It was a cute book, but everyone and everything in it were extremely one-dimensional.  I was bored quite a bit as I was reading it and felt like it could've been so much better, with just a little more magic and hint of attitude.  But then again, I have no tolerance for weak heroines and Edda wasn't exactly like the Viking she was named for.  Not recommended except to teachers or parents wanting to teach about overcoming fear.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money was exchanged for this review.  This book was published November 17th, 2011.*