Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Published:  September 30th, 2010
Dust City
By: Robert Paul Weston
Razorbill
ISBN-13:  9781595142962

When your dad is the wolf who killed Little Red Riding Hood, life is no fairy tale.

Henry Whelp is a Big Bad Wolf.  Or will be, someday.  His dad is doing time for the double murder of Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother so everyone assumes crime is in Henry's blood.  For years, he's kept a low profile in a Home for Wayward Wolves on the outskirts of Dust City -- a gritty metropolis known for its black market, mind-altering dust.  And the entire population of foxes, ravens, and hominids are hooked.  But it's not just any dust the creatures of this grim underground are slinging and sniffing.  It's fairydust.

When a murder at the Home forces Henry to escape, he begins to suspect his Dad may have been framed.  With a daring she wolf named Fiona by his side, Henry travels into the dark alleyways and cavernous tunnels of Dust City.  There, he'll come face to snout with legendary mobster Skinner and his Water Nixie henchmen to discover what really happened to his father in the woods that infamous night...and the shocking truth about fairy dust.

Review

     In case you didn't get it by the bunches of other reviews on fairy tale infused books on this blog, I'm a bit of a nut for anything involving fairy tales or magic.   So when I saw this book on the shelf at my library, I was intrigued.  The concept of a retelling (in an urban setting, with humans "hominids" and animalia [ravens, foxes, wolves, etc.] as each others' antagonists, mind you) was interesting to say the least.  And Weston does manage to establish a world that is fairly easy for the reader to picture.  He has a great descriptive turn-of-phrase, that really brought things to life for me as a reader.  But there was some slightly annoying repetition of language, and overall stupid decisions, especially on the part of Henry Whelp.  I liked the integration of characters like Jack, the one friend Henry has at the reform school.  Jack is a mischief maker, and obviously some form of the kid from the "Jack and the Beanstalk" story.  The Detective who is always waiting for Henry to slip up (she also put away his Dad) is Detective White, aka Snow White.

      The main story of this book is a mystery of what happened to all the fairies in the land.  They disappeared years ago, and with them went the magic that kept people's lives on track - and their hopes up.  Another mystery interconnected with it is what really happened that night with Red Riding Hood and her Grandma.  Is Henry's father innocent?  Was he coerced by an influence he had no prayer of ever controlling or subverting?  Just what sinister plan do Skinner and his Water Nixies, not to mention the manufacturers of the new, improved "fairydust" have for the city's animalia?  Overall, it was an enjoyable read if you like noir and fairy tales, and don't mind the two being mixed together.  As I saw another reviewer point out, it was far more of a children's book than I'd have liked, in its overall simplicity and slightly too easy character arcs.  The ending is also somewhat loose and left me unsatisfied.  I did enjoy the idea presented, I just wish it would have been better executed.

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Journey to the Past

Published:  January 1st, 2014
Timebound (The Chronos Files #1)
By: Rysa Walker
Skyscape
ISBN-13:  9781477848159

When Kate-Pierce Keller's grandmother gives her a strange blue medallion and speaks of time travel, sixteen-year-old Kate assumes the old woman is delusional.  But it all becomes horrifyingly real when a murder in the past destroys the foundation of Kate's present-day life.  Suddenly, that medallion is the only thing protecting Kate from blinking out of existence.

Kate learns that the 1893 killing is part of something much more sinister, and Kate's genetic ability to time-travel makes her the only one who can stop him.  Risking everything, she travels to the Chicago World's Fair to try to prevent the killing and the chain of events that follows.

Changing the timeline comes with a personal cost, however -- if Kate succeeds, the boy she loves will have no memory of her existence.  And regardless of her motives, does she have the right to manipulate the fate of the entire world?

Review

     I am one of those people who are kind of obsessed with the possibility of time travel and I absolutely love reading books about it!  After reading Timebound, I am still trying to figure out how to make my brain comprehend everything!  So many things can go wrong with a time travel book, but this one managed to weave all the threads of plot, the people and the action together in a way that was plausible and exciting.  Not to mention, this is the first book in a really long time that managed to capture me so much that I sat down, and basically finished it in one sitting!  Another thing that was impressive to me is that it's a debut novel.  I cannot wait to see what Rysa Walker does in her future books with this universe that she's created!
     We are introduced to Kate Pierce-Keller at the beginning of the book, who splits her time between living with her Dad and her Mom.  It's a mostly amicable divorced relationship and Kate gets along decently with both of her parents.  Introduce her estranged maternal Grandmother, also Katherine, to the situation and things start to get tense.  See, Mom thinks Grandma is a little bit crazy.  When she tells Kate that she's inherited the time travel gene and is needed to fix things that have gone wrong in the timeline, Kate thinks her Mom might be right.  Then Kate experiences a major shift in her reality, which causes her Mom to disappear from existence, her Dad to be across the country and married to someone else, and she herself doesn't exist either.  It turns out her Grandmother was born in the future, and time travelled as a historian.  But, Saul, the man she travelled with (who became Kate's Grandfather) wanted to use time for his own gains and began to change things.  Kate's Grandma is now training her to fix the timeline, back to the way it was before Saul began creating his own religion, and setting himself up to be a false prophet throughout history.  With the help of Katherine, Connor (her assistant), and Trey (a guy she meets along the way), it's up to Kate to pinpoint when exactly everything changed...and turn it back, before it's too late.
     So...yeah.  Everyone in this book has a reason for wanting the timeline to go back to the way it originally was.  Kate wants her Mom and Dad back, Katherine's assistant Connor wants his kids back because they disappeared during a timeline shift, Kate's best friend is now part of Saul's religious cult in this alternate timeline and if they don't outwit Saul her missing Aunt Prudence may never be found.  But then there are some cons to changing things back as well: Kate's newfound love Trey won't remember her or their time together, because they never would have met in the original timeline.  Kate's Dad is happily married with children in this new timeline, which also won't happen if they change things back.  Also, Aunt Prudence just happens to be working with Saul to destroy the universe as they know it - so she's a little bit beyond saving.  I loved the chunk of time that the narrative spends with Kate in the past, at the Chicago World's Fair.  It explains how she meets Kiernan (the mysterious guy another one of her selves in another timeline has a relationship with - he also happens to be Connor's ancestor), shows her interacting with her much younger, time-travelling Grandmother Katherine, and also gives us a subplot involving a historically real serial killer of the time.  It also allows us to meet Prudence, who is slightly crazy and happens to want Kiernan for herself.  Oh, the drama! :)
     Also, Walker gives some great worldbuilding in regards to the explanation for the Chronos gene, the rules of time travel and the reasons why things work or don't work.  I got a pretty clear understanding of what was possible and what wasn't.  It was also truly wonderful having a main character that didn't spend half of the book arguing that none of it was possible, she didn't want to save the world, blah, blah, blah!  I understand that it might have been more realistic, but I am so sick of the "poor me" schtick in YA books.  For once I was just happy to have a heroine kick-ass enough to willingly and easily take on the challenge.  She's not perfect and does do stupid things, like seeking out her Dad once she finds out she doesn't exist anymore.  But Kate is karate trained, willing to make a difference, has close friends and family, and doesn't mind fighting for what she wants.  Such a change - a welcome one!  The twists and turns of the plot, and how everyone was connected to each other were fresh and unique.  I enjoyed reading this and I'm not going to say anymore to avoid any really large spoilers, but some serious shit goes down at the World's Fair and it ends on a pretty big cliffhanger!  As the first series I have been truly excited for in a LONG time, I highly recommend it.  I cannot WAIT to read the next one!

VERDICT:  4.5/5 Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

V is For Villain and A is For A-Hole

Expected Publication:  May 20th, 2014

V Is For Villain

By: Peter Moore

Disney-Hyperion

ISBN-13:  9781423157496

Brad Baron is used to looking lame compared to his older brother, Blake.  Though Brad's basically a genius, Blake is a superhero in the elite Justice Force.  And Brad doesn't measure up at his high school, either, where powers like super-strength and flying are the norm.  So when Brad makes friends who are more into political action than weight-lifting, he's happy to join a new crew - especially since it means spending more time with Layla, a girl who may or may not have a totally illegal, totally secret super-power.  And with her help, Brad begins to hone a dangerous new power of her own.

But when they're pulled into a web of nefarious criminals, high-stakes battles, and startling family secrets, Brad must choose which side he's on.  And once he does there's no turning back.

Perfect for fans of The Avengers, Iron Man, and classic comic books, V Is For Villain reveals that it's good to be bad.

Review

     This book reminded me of a cross between the Disney film, Sky High, and a recent superhero read called Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson.  It has elements of YA angst, with the majority of the novel being set in a superhero school and the classes being split into those with powers and those without them (or with entirely useless or barely there ones).  The Disney edge about it is that the novel centers around the Baron family, is which Blake has all the powers and works on a team, as a real-life superhero.  His younger brother Brad is ordinary and viewed as an embarrassment to the family, a freak accident of nature.  The Steelheart thing about this book, is that the entire world knows about the superheroes.  They are the celebrities of this world and are followed constantly for coverage of their heroic exploits.  

     Brad is the protagonist of this novel and we spend the whole thing in his head, trying right along with him to decide if the superheroes really are the good guys and if he should become a villain instead.  We definitely get Brad's end of the spectrum quite a bit more, with him almost being paralyzed at the start of the book after being tackled by one of the powered kids too hard.  After mouthing off to his teachers one too many times, Brad is switched over to the A Program, and falls in with a group of kids who call themselves A-Holes.  The real reason Brad is interested in becoming villain though, is to hack into his geneticist mother's computers, and look at his gene mapping.  He wants to know why Brad has powers and he doesn't, when genetically speaking he should.  But digging deeper into his own past brings to the forefront a horrifying secret about the involvement of the government in the existence of super powers in the world - and just who the real heroes and villains are after all.

     I really enjoyed reading this one.  I felt that the characters were well developed, especially Brad and Layla, who were both really trying to think things through and have a sound reasoning for going to "the dark side."  Also, the whole superpower thing with Brad made for an interesting ride.  I wasn't expecting Moore to give him a secret one that he never knew he had.  It did make for a connection with Layla on a completely different level and still allowed Brad to be a societal outcast, albeit in a different way.  I liked the rest of the crew too, but felt like they were little kids playing dress up and sure enough, as soon as shit got real they all bailed out.  Blake was a superb caricature of the smug, self-involved, dumb brute hero character that's common in comics - that is, until he wasn't.  I loved the way Moore lulls you into thinking everyone is something different than really are and rips you apart with revelations.  My only complaint is that while the big reveal about Brad and Blake's respective powers at the end made sense, it was pretty cliched and really damn "muhahaha" in tone.  Other than that, I truly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to fans of comics and superheroes.  It struck the right balance most of the time between humor, action and philosophical musings.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is May 20th, 2014.*

Things Are Not What They Appear

 

Published:  May 14th, 2013

The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil #1)

By: Soman Chainani

HarperCollins

ISBN-13:  9780062104892

 

“The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away.”

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…?

 

Review

 

     Sophie and Agatha aren't really even friends.  Sophie has taken Agatha on as her charity case, a good deed to make herself look better.  Because Sophie is expecting to be kidnapped by the schoolmaster, for the mysterious School for Good.  Agatha doesn't believe that the schoolmaster really exists or the School for Good and it's brother, the School for Evil.  Until they both get taken away that is.  And even more shocking, Agatha is sent to Good and Sophie is sent to Evil!  Trying to figure out what went wrong, Sophie hates Agatha for betraying her and does everything she can to scheme her way into School for Good.  But Agatha begins to wonder if she doesn't really belong at Good and if things are always as easy as what they appear to be.  Can the girls figure out who they are, their places in each other's lives and manage to not entirely destroy the structure of fairy tales in the process?

     I really enjoyed the concept of this book.  Two separate schools, one for good and one for evil, that train the heroes and villains from fairy tales.  Two girls, one inherently good and one with great capacity for evil.  But which one is which?  I liked the focus on friendship, but at the same time I felt like there wasn't much of a friendship to base things on.  Sophie is using Agatha, and she knows it.  So it felt really messed up when Agatha refused to let go of Sophie and insisted on acting like her friend, even when Sophie completely blames her for them being at the "wrong" schools.  And when the Prince starts paying attention to Agatha, all Hell breaks loose.  I guess in a classic fairy tale sense, it does seem like the right plot twist to have Agatha refuse to let go of the 'friendship' (due to her goodness and purity of spirit, etc.),.  It definitely doesn't make the characters much more than one-dimensional though or give them real room to grow out of their stereotypes. 

     The respective schools are full of the normal witches, hunchbacks, princes, princesses and lackeys of both good and evil persuasions.  We get to know witches in training, Anadil and Hester, and on the other side Prince Tedros, who Sophie becomes obsessed with.  There are others, but none that really distinguished themselves.  My main complaint about this book would be that it takes a really long time for anything to actually happen.  Once stuff does start happening, I feel like the author rushes through it sloppily.  At almost five hundred pages long, it definitely could have been paced better and Sophie's complete descent into evil could have taken longer and been more realistically written.  She goes from being somewhat stupid, airheaded and obsessed with manipulating her way into Good, to an evil mastermind and the most powerful witch ever.  Even the teachers are terrified of her!  The ending was abrupt and the simplicity of the characters, holes in the plot and overall youngness of a lot of it make this an awkward splice of YA and Middle Grade.  Overall I enjoyed myself, and I'm not going to say much more because I don't want to spoil it.  There were some issues with it though and I do think it's more appropriate for middle school and early high school readers than older teens and adults. 

 

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

 



**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair

 

Published:  May 10th, 2011 (Originally published in 2009)

Ruby Red (Ruby Red Trilogy # 1)

By: Kerstin Gier

Henry Holt

ISBN-13:  9780805092523

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

Review

     Gwyneth Shepherd has a very unusual family - into each generation one of it's members is born with the time travel gene!  There was a prophecy by from Sir Isaac Newton about this generation's member, and all the family believes that Gwen's cousin Charlotte is the one it speaks of.  She has been trained since birth to travel through time and they are expecting that it will happen any day now.  What no one counted on was a lie told by Gwen's Mom, trying to avoid the prophecy.  So when Gwen time travels during class she is absolutely shocked by it.  After she tells the family Gwen is thrown headlong into a whirl of secret societies, mysterious history and good versus evil.  Paired with another teenage time traveler, Gideon, it is soon apparent that Gwen is in way over her head.  Going up against Gideon's Uncle and her Aunt, who disappeared years before after stealing one of two machines owned by the Society that is dangerous in the wrong hands, the two must find a way to recover it before its too late.  And will their growing feelings for each other get in the way of their mission and put everyone at risk?

     Gwen was an interesting main character for sure.  She spends her whole life thinking that she's ordinary and her pretentious cousin Charlotte is the special one.  Only to learn that she herself is about to have adventures she never even dreamed of.  I thought that Gier managed an interesting and original time-travel mythology all her own.  I liked the explanations of the society that Gwen got, the mystery surrounding her Aunt Lucy and Gideon's Uncle running off together and the way the sudden addition of time travel into her life affects Gwen herself.  She has a great sense of humor, but is a little low on self-worth in regards to Gideon and Charlotte especially.  Gwen's best friend Lesley was hilarious and I was smiling every time her antics were happening on the page.  Gwen has told her everything about her crazy, time travel gene carrying family and Lesley not only believes her but is super excited to be included in the whole thing.  The friendship has no real reasoning behind it that we're given, but the loyalty and true strength of it is definitely shown whenever the girls are together.

     Gwen's Mom seemed like a nice lady, but I thought that her reasons for trying to hide the prophecy were weak and selfish.  She had to have known the truth would come out - there was no way around it.  Charlotte was portrayed as inherently obnoxious and a self-entitled, priggish, know it all.  But at times the reader would catch a glimpse of her as just a normal teenage girl, thrust into becoming someone not of her own making.  It's understandable she's be lost without what had become her identity.  As for Gideon, I agree with a lot of other readers who say that he acts like a douchebag to Gwen for the majority of the novel, all because he refuses to get to know her.  Gideon falsely stereotypes her just because she hasn't been training since birth (does everything to let her know he thinks she's stupid, except for just coming right out and saying it).  The romance between them was bare bones at best, insta-love at worst.  The mystery, world-building and time travel aspects are just interesting enough to almost cancel this particular fault out though.  The ending of the book finally gives us a window into the mysterious, 'evil' relatives and from the cliffhanger/surprise revelation, I am super interested in reading the rest of the series just to know how it plays out.  Overall, it fed my time travel addiction quite well but it reads a little young for my usual taste.  Unless you're okay with middle grade fiction (the level this reads at in my opinion) don't touch it;  or you'll spend the whole book frustrated and no one deserves that when reading a book.  If you like adventure and mystery, with a touch of fantasy though give it a whirl.

*On a side note, which cover do you guys like the best?  The original German, the American cover or the Polish one?  These are just a few as the series has been translated into quite a number of languages.  I like the German one best personally! :)

VERDICT:  3.5/5 Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Stay In The Shadows, Where You Belong

Published: February 12th, 2013

Dance of Shadows (Dance of Shadows # 1)

By: Yelena Black

Bloomsbury USA Children's Books

ISBN-13:  9781599909400

Dancing with someone is an act of trust. Elegant and intimate; you're close enough to kiss, close enough to feel your partner's heartbeat. But for Vanessa, dance is deadly – and she must be very careful who she trusts . . .

Vanessa Adler attends an elite ballet school – the same one her older sister, Margaret, attended before she disappeared. Vanessa feels she can never live up to her sister's shining reputation. But Vanessa, with her glorious red hair and fair skin, has a kind of power when she dances – she loses herself in the music, breathes different air, and the world around her turns to flames . . . 

Soon she attracts the attention of three men: gorgeous Zep, mysterious Justin, and the great, enigmatic choreographer Josef Zhalkovsky. When Josef asks Vanessa to dance the lead in the Firebird, she has little idea of the danger that lies ahead – and the burning forces about to be unleashed . . .

Review

     Being a completely uncoordinated, average schmuck I have a secret addiction to books or movies involving ballet - especially teen ones!  Center Stage and Save The Last Dance are my life's blood people (especially the soundtracks, which are awesome!) and I revel in them! :)  So I went into this thinking that it would be a dark, paranormal version of one of my favorite movies.  I was wrong in the extreme.  The book started out promisingly creepy and devolved very obviously into something subpar and disappointing.  The main character, Vanessa, is dealing with disappearance of her sister Margaret from her ballet academy months earlier, after which Vanessa vowed to find her - which she spends the book not really doing at all.  The idea that a demon could literally be abducting ballerinas and stealing their souls is a very interesting and original one, but when done with someone as bland as Vanessa being the searchlight it died for me.  She makes pretty much no attempt to find her sister (even though it's what she's supposedly there for) and is described as dancing with supernatural ability and being almost perfect.  Yet she never PRACTICES and shows some serious disinterest in dancing!  When girls start to disappear, one of them being a girl Vanessa is friends with, no one ever calls her parents to find out if the school's story about her going home is true.  Vanessa's two guys, Zep a.k.a Zeppelin Black and Justin, were both paint by numbers and the ways the author described them read like something out of a twelve year old's Twilight fan fiction story - only less believable at times.  The plot dragged because it was predictable to the very last 'twist' at the end.  All of the side characters were cardboard cutouts.  Their personalities were waiting to be delivered and never arrived.  I was unimpressed with the constant stupidity of everyone in the book (especially Vanessa) to see what was right in front of them.  Seriously, I knew who the villain(s) were less that halfway into the book and the constant overlooking of something smacking these people right in their faces just made me mad.  Just because they're teens doesn't mean they're complete and total oblivious morons!  I will say that in the last 15% or so the author redeemed it a little bit for me and I did like the ending.  But I won't be moving on to the next one because I'm sure that it will be just as badly written.  And a cliffhanger is not a good enough reason to read a sequel no matter what anyone says...  Not recommended to anyone except possibly fans of the Tiger's Curse series by Colleen Houck, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and Fallen by Lauren Kate.  In other words, just say no.

VERDICT:  1.25/5  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 February 12th, 2013.**

Just a Girl In a Frozen World

Published:  December 11th, 2012

Greta and the Goblin King (Mylena Chronicles # 1)

By: Chloe Jacobs

Entangled Teen

ISBN-13: 9781620610022

While trying to save her brother from a witch’s fire four years ago, Greta was thrown in herself, falling through a portal to Mylena, a dangerous world where humans are the enemy and every ogre, ghoul, and goblin has a dark side that comes out with the eclipse. 

To survive, Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young goblin king, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines her will to escape. 

But Greta’s not the only one looking to get out of Mylena. An ancient evil knows she’s the key to opening the portal, and with the next eclipse mere days away, every bloodthirsty creature in the realm is after her—including Isaac. If Greta fails, she and the lost boys of Mylena will die. If she succeeds, no world will be safe from what follows her back...

Review

     Greta has been living in Mylena for the past four years, working as a bounty hunter and trying to fit in with the locals.  But she never will, because Greta is forced to hide the fact that she is human due to the complete and total hatred of her race by all the people of Mylena.  But she has drawn the attention Isaac, the young Goblin King, who is determined to have Greta for his own and invades her dreams every night using his powers.  When Greta's identity is exposed and her mentor murdered, she is forced to go on the run from other bounty hunters looking to collect the price on her head.  Also, she just may be the key to opening an escape portal for the bloodthirsty Agramon, the demon who destroyed Mylena the last time he was loose.  Banding together with a hidden group of human boys, Greta is determined to rescue those of her race and send them home again.  But can she stay alive long enough to accomplish it?  This was different from anything that I had read before, with main supernatural characters being goblins, sprites and other beings instead of the requisite vampires/werewolves.  That alone made me want to read it.  But adding in the elements of romance and adventure definitely helped.  I enjoyed the characterization of Greta, as a strong female heroine who has rolled with the punches and done what was necessary to survive.  The whole romance with Isaac just didn't appeal to me though.  The fact that he was pretty much stalking her in her dreams (*cough*FreddyKrueger*cough*)  was creepy to me and not a basis for romance.  Not to mention that he expresses serious distaste for her entire species and makes a point of being willing to overlook that she happens to be human.  And he spends the whole entire book lying about why she's being hunted and whether he knew about Agramon's human slaves.   The interactions with the Lost Boys (a.k.a the other humans) were sweet but realistic.  Jacob, the littlest one was meant to be cute but basically annoyed me and took time away from the main plot.  Wyatt was definitely a major contender for Greta's romantic interest, but as usual the stupid supernatural stalker won that battle.  I was surprised at the ending, but felt that it wasn't a good enough cliffhanger to keep me going as a reader.  Overall, a disappointment and mostly mediocre book that I had hoped would be great.

VERDICT:  2.5/5  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 December 11th, 2012.*

Please Crash and Burn

Expected Publication: March 5th, 2013

Let the Sky Fall (Let the Sky Fall # 1)

By: Shannon Messenger

Simon Pulse

ISBN-13: 9781442450417

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

Review

     Vane Weston miraculously survived a tornado ten years ago that killed his parents, but he can't remember how he did it.  In fact he can't remember anything of his life before aftermath of the storm.  Now Vane is seventeen and has been adopted by loving parents and has a great life.  Other than the fact that some higher power seems to be sabotaging his love life.  Audra isn't a higher power, but she is a sylph (an air elemental) who has been charged with protecting Vane from Raiden, the evil sylph who killed his parents and now rules their world with an iron fist.  However, when Audra makes a serious mistake and gives away their location, she has no choice but to reveal herself to Vane and admit that he is a sylph like her - and possibly the only hope of saving their kind.  But will he submit to learn the ways of his people and can Audra resist his attempts at winning her heart, even though it is forbidden?  

     This book was horrible.  I only finished it out of courtesy to the tour site that graciously allowed me to read it.  For one thing, the minute the villain was revealed as being named Raiden, I couldn't think of anything other than Mortal Kombat for the rest of the book.  It made me laugh during parts the author probably intended to be very dramatic.  I couldn't stand Vane at all.  He was a spoiled, whiny, brat who only thought of himself.  He was constantly making things harder on Audra for his own amusement and I wanted to slap him for most of the book.  Audra was way too submissive and 'woe is me' to be appealing as a heroine.  The 'romance' that develops between them was entirely based on lies for about the first 2/3 of the book.  Then she finally tells him the truth and he doesn't care, so they stay together.  Yeah right!  Also, like the Gale Force would give up on their idea of Vane's arranged marriage that easily.  Vane's adoptive Mom gave a glimpse at why he was such an unfeeling prick.  I instantly disliked her and the way she treats Audra is unpardonable, unless she was deserving of it, and in those instances she wasn't.  The ending to the whole situation was not at all believable, but the twist about who was responsible for the death of Vane's parents was something I did NOT see coming.  So I can't entirely say the author completely bombed out with this one.  Overall though, not a book that I would ever recommend to anyone who likes to empathize and identify with characters and root for them.  I spent the whole book hoping Vane and Audra would get the Wicked Witch of the East treatment - and with the amount of high winds and tornadoes I am disappointed that they didn't. 

VERDICT:  1.5/5  Stars

**I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on March 5th, 2013.**

Lions and Tigers and Vampires, Oh My!

Expected Publication:  January 8th, 2013

Blud and Magick

By: Preston Norton

Cedar Fort, Inc.

ISBN-13: 9781462110889

Born from the ashes of the most fierce and powerful entity in all of Trivaesia, Darla was sent to grow up in the outside world with no knowledge of where she came from. When she finds herself wielding new power, she must decide which part of her will rule her heart—the evil from which she was born or the good by which she was raised.

Review

     Darla Summers is just the name of the most evil warlord ever in Trivaesian history spelled backwards - but she doesn't know that yet.  She just thinks that something mysterious happened in her past and that's why she lives with her Uncle Edmund.  But really Darla was born from the ashes of the most evil warlord in the history of a magical land that she is about to be thrown into headfirst, when his followers come searching for her as a way to resurrect him!  Now with the help of her reluctant misfit friends, Ash and Cirrus (one's a wizard, the other's a half-vampire) and her Uncle Ed, Darla must prove to herself and the world at large that she is her own person.  She may have sprung from the ashes, but Darla is NOT the reincarnation of evil!  She's just a teenage girl who wants to be happy.  But when she is captured can she be saved from a fate worse than death?  This was an interesting novel, one of the more intelligent creations of an original mythology that I've read recently.  First of all, it has names that I can remember and pronounce out loud!  A lot of high fantasy authors make it their mission for you to keep a notebook for their characters and plots, just so you can keep it all straight.  Not Preston Norton, who has an intricate mythology, but still considers the reader's peace of mind.  I really enjoyed Darla, although she was verging on a little too self-pitying and weak for a tolerable heroine.  But she made the cut off point.  I loved the dynamic between Ash and Cirrus, the unrelated brothers, who are both misfits in their own ways but are always there for each other.  The whole situation with the Sages and the god Alpha was very intriguing and made for a good mystery.  All in all, with the way it ended I will definitely be reading the sequel when it comes out (at least I'm pretty sure there will be one!).  I'd recommend it to those who'd like a different take on the supernatural world than the usual tripe.

VERDICT:  4/5  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 expected publication date is January 8th, 2013.*

Sweet, But Dead

Expected Publication:  May 14th, 2013

The Sweet Dead Life 

By: Joy Preble

Soho Press

ISBN-13:   9781616951504

“I found out two things today. One, I think I’m dying. And two, my brother is a perv.”

So begins the diary of 14-year-old Jenna Samuels, who is having a very bad eighth-grade year. Her single mother spends all day in bed. Dad vanished when she was eight. Her 16-year-old brother, Casey, tries to hold together what’s left of the family by working two after-school jobs— difficult, as he’s stoned all the time. To make matters worse, Jenna is sick. When she collapses one day, Casey tries to race her to the hospital in their beat-up Prius and crashes instead.

Jenna wakes up in the ER to find Casey beside her. Beatified. Literally. The flab and zits? Gone. Before long, Jenna figures out that Casey didn’t survive the accident at all. He’s an “A-word.” (She can’t bring herself to utter the truth.) Soon they discover that Jenna isn’t just dying: she’s being poisoned. And Casey has been sent back to help solve the mystery that not only holds the key to her survival, but also to their mother’s mysterious depression and father’s disappearance.

Review

     Jenna Samuels has a pretty sucky life, watching out for herself ever since her Dad disappeared and her Mom lost her mind.  Her older brother Casey isn't much help either, with his pervy tendencies but he has a good heart and is trying his best to support them by working two jobs.  But lately Jenna has been deathly ill and when Casey is rushing her to the emergency room one night, they get into a car crash and Casey is transformer - into an angel!  Soon Casey and Jenna figure out that she was being poisoned, by someone who doesn't want a dark secret to be uncovered.  To help their Mom regain herself, the two need to figure out who wants her to stay crazy.  Also, their Dad is out there somewhere and it may be closer than they ever dreamed.  Will they succeed, or will Jenna's family stay broken?  This book was FUNNY.  I was so surprised that I was really into a book with a 13 year old protagonist.  Although her life really sucks and she might be dying, Jenna knows who she is and what she wants.  She refuses to compromise.  The description for the book makes you think that Casey is some deadbeat pervert.  But really he's just dealing with their Dad being gone in a very different way than Jenna is.  I enjoyed the brother-sister interactions.  But the whole angel thing was slightly confusing.  Also the identity of the villain, and why they were hurting Jenna and her Mom, was extremely predictable.  I saw it coming from within the first few chapters.  If there is a sequel I will most likely read it, but I wasn't in love with this book.  It was a well-written, fun read though and I would recommend it.

VERDICT:  3.75/5  Stars

**I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on May 14th, 2013.**

Fan Girl With Fangs

Published:  September 11th, 2012

Fang Girl

By: Helen Keeble

HarperTeen

ISBN-13:  9780062082251

Things That Are Destroying Jane Greene’s Undead Social Life Before It Can Even Begin:

1) A twelve-year-old brother who’s convinced she’s a zombie.
2) Parents who are begging her to turn them into vampires.
3) The pet goldfish she accidentally turns instead.
4) Weird superpowers that let her rip the heads off of every other vampire she meets.(Sounds cool, but it doesn’t win you many friends.)
5) A pyschotic vampire creator who’s using her to carry out a plan for world domination.

And finally:
6) A seriously ripped vampire hunter who either wants to stake her or make out with her. Not sure which.

Being an undead, eternally pasty fifteen-year-old isn’t quite the sexy, brooding, angst-fest Jane always imagined....

Review

     Fifteen year old Xanthe Jane Greene may have been obsessed with all things vampire - that didn't mean she wanted to be one!  So imagine her surprise when she wakes up inside her coffin, with her very own set of fangs.  Of course it's nothing like the movies or books she's read.  Now Jane is dealing with her kind of creepy sire, Lily, some vampire hunters that are on her trail, and the fact that she's stronger than the average vampire.  Oh yeah, her parents and her steampunk obsessed little brother Zack are also begging her to change them over to be with her!   Unsure who to trust, Jane is only sure of one thing - being a fifteen year old vampire SUCKS.  Jane is just an average girl, and I liked that about her.  I was glad that she was intelligent and realized very quickly that the cons of being a vampire outweighed whatever pros there were.  Her parents and little brother Zack were absolutely hilarious!  I liked the confusion over who was the true villain, her sire Lily or super-ancient, child vampire Haakon and his minion, Ebon.  The twist on the vampire mythology we know and love was also humorous.  Vampires that are basically obsessive compulsive and can't leave things out of order?  Hilarious!  I especially loved when Jane goes after the hunters and they drop paperclips behind them so she'll have to stop and pick them up!  Other favorites was the vampire goldfish named Brains and the whole situation with Sarah, the transplant patient who had Jane's heart.  Overall, a fun book to read even for those completely sick of anything to do with vampires.  It was such a well-thought out parody that I couldn't help but like it, even with my propensity to avoid books with main characters from the U.K.  I usually can't handle Britishisms, which read like another language, but here the novel surpassed that personal quirk! :)

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Kinfolk, But Not By Blood...

Published: July 31st, 2012

Otherkin (Otherkin # 1)

By: Nina Berry

Kensington

ISBN-13: 9780758276919

I thought I knew myself. Then I met Caleb.

Dez is a good girl who does as she’s told and tries not to be noticed.
Then she rescues a boy from a cage, and he tells her secrets about herself.
Now inside her burns a darkness that will transform her.

Everything is about to change -- and neither Caleb, nor the Otherkin, nor those who hunt them are prepared for what Dez will unleash.

Review

   Desdemona (better known as Dez by her friends and family) has a loving Mom and Step-Dad, great friends and a safe home.  Plus the boy that she's been crushing on has just noticed her, although her back brace makes it kind of humiliating on top of the excitement she feels.  Then Dez shapeshifts into a tiger for the first time and all Hell breaks loose.  She's shot, kidnapped and stuck inside a cage by an organization called the Tribunal who wants to eliminate all shifters.  But she manages to escape, rescuing Caleb the boy in the cage next to hers on the way out.  It turns out that Dez is Otherkin and is able to tap into her shifter form due to an alternate dimension known as the Othersphere.  Forced to go into hiding at a special school for Otherkin teenagers, Dez and Caleb (who is actually able to call up the shadow in other objects and control it, but not shift himself) slowly begin to make ties with the other shifters, even though their clans are very stand-offish and self-serving.  But when the Tribunal attacks the school itself and the school's leader, Morfael, is wounded and other students captured it will be up to Dez, Caleb and the others that are left to face the Tribunal head on for a change.  Can they work together in time to save the clans from starting a war on each other?  And what explosive secrets is Caleb hiding that will change everything?

     I have been trying to steer clear of shifter/vampire/werewolf/fairy/angel, etc. fiction as of late because it always seems to disappoint my expectations.  This book pleasantly surprised me!  I liked Dez from the start, even if she is a little bit whiny about the back brace.  But the book got into the action right away pretty much, with Dez being forced to deal with a supernatural world underneath her own.  And yes, she's pissed off and bewildered.  But she's also strong, kick-ass and take names which lends to my liking of her.  She rolls with punches very well, especially with a tradition of wishy-washy YA heroines trailing behind her.  I liked that this book had some major set-up for the rest of the series, but also had a lot of action sequences to break up the monotony.  The tentative friendships between the kids from each Clan, who had been pre-conditioned to dislike and distrust each other their whole lives, very realistic.  When the shit hits the fan, those beginning steps almost get thrown from the window until Dez steps up and decides to take on the Tribunal.  It had a Percy Jackson vibe, but with shapeshifters.  The one thing I could have done without was the unnecessary romance between Dez and Caleb.  But it was easily ignored and for that I was grateful.  I just hope the next book bypasses the usual Supe love triangle.  Here's hoping! :)

VERDICT:  4/5  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 July 31st, 2012.*

A Very Geeky Exorcism

 



Expected Publication: October 2nd, 2012
Poltergeeks
By: Sean Cummings
Strange Chemistry
ISBN-13: 9781908844101

15-year-old Julie Richardson is about to learn that being the daughter of a witch isn't all it's cracked up to be. When she and her best friend, Marcus, witness an elderly lady jettisoned out the front door of her home, it's pretty obvious to Julie there's a supernatural connection.

In fact, there's a whisper of menace behind increasing levels of poltergeist activity all over town. After a large-scale paranormal assault on Julie's high school, her mother falls victim to the spell Endless Night. Now it's a race against time to find out who is responsible or Julie won't just lose her mother's soul, she'll lose her mother's life.

Review

 

   Julie Richardson is a witch in training who thinks that her Mom is overprotective.  But her reasons become apparent when Julie and her best friend Marcus try to do a routine exorcism for what they think is a poltergeist and all Hell breaks loose.  It turns out that it is a malevolent spirit, raised by another witch for unknown purposes.  But it seems to be targeting Julie and her Mom for some serious hurt.  Then Julie's Mom becomes a victim of the Endless Night spell, which takes away her soul and puts her in a coma.  Now it's up to Julie to learn the family secrets that have been kept from her, truly claim her powers and save her Mom from the verge of death.  Oh yeah and get rid of the malevolent spririt, which happens to be a famous and deadly witch hunter who has been dead for centuries!  Can Julie save her Mom with the help of Marcus and spirit helper Betty before its too late?  This book had a good start.  I think one of my favorite parts is when Julie traps the spirit in the teddy bear.  It made me laugh! :)  The sarcastic wit of both Julie and her friend Marcus are a refreshing change from most of the bland YA best friend duos I've had the misfortune to read about.  But a lot of the time dialogue felt very stilted and forced to me.  Also, Julie's relationship with her Mom seemed almost like an afterthought that suddenly became the main focus of the novel!  At first it's a routine exorcism and it turns into a discovery of family secrets, betrayl and destiny.  I enjoyed the family secrets, the betrayl was very trite and predictable and the destiny was mostly forgettable and unclear.  I was very annoyed by the romantic angst that Julie went through with Marcus for the last 2/3 of the book.  It was unnecessary and overall added nothing to the book, except for a half-baked explanation for the betrayl at the end.  I liked that the whole thing was a set-up by a con-woman who wanted to settle an old acount.  That was a nice touch.  Overall, an decent debut novel and a cute addition to the YA paranormal genre.  But I doubt I'll be reading the sequel if there is one.

 

VERDICT:  3/5  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 expected publication date is October 2nd, 2012.*

Unspoken (Is My Rage At You...)

Expected Publication: September 11th, 2012

Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy # 1)

By: Sarah Rees Brennan

Random House Books for Young Readers

ISBN-13: 9780375870415

Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

Review

   Kami Glass is a quirky, intrepid teenage reporter with what everyone else calls an imaginary friend - she's been talking to him in her head since she was a kid.  She has been treated like a bit of an outsider by the other villagers and questioned her own sanity because of this at times.  But then the Lynburns return to Sorry-in-the-Vale.  They are a mysterious family that lives in a spooky manor on the hill and has for generations.  Now sisters Rosalind and Lillian Lynburn have returned with their sons, Ash and Jared.  It turns out that Jared is Kami's "imaginary friend" and he is very much a real person.  Now, with the help of    

Jared, Ash, her best friend Angela and Holly she has to find out who has been sacrificing small animals before something more horrific happens.  And when Kami is almost killed and another girl does die, it's time to seriously investigate.  But will she find what she expected or will it be even more suprising than Kami ever imagined.  I went into this book not knowing exactly what to expect, especially considering that I was NOT a fan of Team Human, a book that Rees Brennan co-wrote with Justine Larbalestier.  I found this book to be very funny, sarcastic, with a well drawn heroine who was not the average YA shrinking violet who I end up hating.  I loved her quirkiness, the "imaginary friend" debacle and her relationships with her family and best friends.  Some of my least favorite interactions were with the Lynburns, whose return is at the center of the book's plot.  Jared became a complete asshole when he and Kami met in person and I disliked the he-man way that he treated her on a constant basis.  Ash wasn't much better, being basically a spineless and background presence more than a character.  I disliked all of the flip-flopping done with the identities of the "good" and "evil" people once the Lynburn secret was discovered.  The ending would have been alright for me with the major action sequence and the tie being severed between Jared and Kami.  But then Brennan had to go and ruin it for me with the last interaction between Kami and Jared which was downright reminiscent of Twilight/New Moon and completely cringe-worthy.  Unless you are dying to know what happens next, I wouldn't even bother reading the next book.  And I would only recommend this one to readers who can put up with pointless drama.

VERDICT:  3/5  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 expected publication date is September 11th, 2012.*