The Borderlands of Death and Life

Published:  October 9th, 2012
The Unfailing Light (Katerina # 2)
By: Robin Bridges
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13:  9780385908306

Having had no choice but to use her power has a necromancer to save Russia from dark forces, Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, now wants to forget that she ever used her special powers. She's about to set off to pursue her lifelong dream of attending medical school when she discovers that Russia's arch nemesis--who she thought she'd destroyed--is still alive. So on imperial orders, Katerina remains at her old finishing school. She'll be safe there, because the empress has cast a potent spell to protect it against the vampires and revenants who are bent on toppling the tsar and using Katerina for their own gains. But to Katerina's horror, the spell unleashes a vengeful ghost within the school, a ghost more dangerous than any creature trying to get in.

Review

 

     Katerina, Duchess of Oldenburg has used her necromancy to save all of Russia and the Tsar in particular.  But now she just wants to put it aside and go to medical school like she's always dreamed of, becoming a Doctor like her Father.  Katiya is forced to put her plans on hold when she finds out that Lich Tsar, Konstantin, is still alive and after the Tsar.  She is forced to return to the Smolny School and the Empress casts a spell to protect the school and keep all the girls from being able to leave without her say so.  The spell awakens something that has been dormant in the school for the better part of a century.  Now Katiya not only has to deal with the court intrigues and threat of Konstantin, but also the machinations of a violent spirit, who will stop at nothing to get what they want.  Even if that means murder is carried out.  Can Katiya find a way to save all the girls in the school, uncover the secret of the mysterious Germanic Princess Alix and protect the Tsar?  And what secrets are those closest to her keeping that have the power to destroy them all?

     I had absolutely loved the original premise of the first book in this series.  It was doing something that nothing else I've read recently in YA has gone in the direction of.  It combined Russian history with paranormal elements, but went further back past the Romanov dynasty.  The happenings of the this story are set about 20 years before the downfall of Imperial Russia and the line of Tsars.  But mostly its about a teenage girl, trying to find her place in a world of political intrigues, while struggling to come to terms with the dark powers within herself.  This sequel expands upon the first book, with a leisurely plot that stops just short of being meandering.  Katiya is vacationing in Greece with her Mother, Cousin and Aunt before going off to medical school in Zurich.  But a disturbing encounter with the Lich Tsar in the caves leads to her plans being put aside and being forced to return to her finishing school. 

      After the events of the previous book, we are told by Katiya that George (the son of the Tsar) has proposed to her a couple of times but she has refused him because of their opposite positions on the Light and Dark Courts.  I feel like the reasons for this and the differences between the types of vampires, fae and the existences of werewolves/shapeshifters were far more expanded and clarified in this book than the first one.  There was some play on the love triangle between Vampire Prince Danilo, George and Katiya but the majority of this book was centered around the struggles of the side characters like Princess Alix, Katiya's Brother Piotr and George himself with his descent into a secret order that might actually be treasonous and evil.  The storyline with the ghost in Smolny was a slow burn and for me it was pretty obvious as to her identity, but I did enjoy the exposition as to her motives/fate at the end of the book.  Also, the aspect of Katiya being able to pass into the land between life and death was really well drawn and interesting to me as a reader.  The revelation about her Mother was definitely NOT what I expected and I'm curious to see what Bridges does with it.  I do feel like there wasn't enough action to really know the direction book three will take, but I liked the easy pace of this one (I'm not in the majority here though I would assume).  Not a perfect sequel, but it keeps up the momentum of the series, if slightly directionless.  And I'll be reading the third one to see how it all ends!  Recommended for those looking for something completely different from the average YA paranormal read, historical or otherwise.

 

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.**

If I Was Invisible...Wait, I Already Am

Expected Publication:  August 1st, 2013
Invisible
By: Marni Bates
K-Teen
ISBN-13:  9780758269386

Jane Smith has survived three years of high school without making a single enemy, all by keeping a low profile. Not even her three best friends, Kenzie, Corey and Isobel, can say the same. But with Corey dating the lead singer from ReadySet and Kenzie in a relationship too, being invisible tends to be lonely. But now she's written an article for her school newspaper that has accidentally snagged the attention of some celebrities. Turns out, people get really upset when their innermost secrets are splashed all over the front page. And new her well-ordered life is being blasted to hell, with results that are wildly unexpected.

Review

 

     Jane Smith has managed to fly under the radar for her entire time in high school and she liked it that way because she still had the support of her truly awesome best friends.  But than Cory started dating a famous lead singer and Kenzie became America's Most Awkward Girl AND got the guy.  Now they never have any time for her and are always going places/doing things that they don't invite Jane along for.  Not to mention they take her for granted any time the opportunity arises. This does nothing for her already non-existent self-esteem.  Than she punches school bully Scott in the lunchroom and gets forcibly teamed up with Scott, a boy she can't stand (because of a perceived snub) for a front page article in the school newspaper that she never even wanted.  All Jane wanted was for someone to let her add a fiction page into the paper - quietly!  Now she's breaking rules, making changes and forcing everyone to actually look at her for once.  But not everything that happens as a result is good and Jane ends up hurting the people she cares for most unintentionally.  Can she fix things before she really does end up invisible and alone?

     To be quite honest, if you have read the first book with Kenzie you may be kind of wary of this one like I was.  And the synopsis is really misleading, because the blow-up with the article doesn't even happen until the last 25% or so of the book.  The main focus is Jane learning to stand up for herself and assert her own needs to the other people in her life.  Also, learning that we can't choose who we have romantic feelings for and that you shouldn't be a douchebag because of it (that last part is something she's REALLY slow at learning, but having Scott on the other end does nothing to help the point across!!!).  Jane got on my nerves for a good majority of the book and that's putting it mildly and politely.  She was one of the most milquetoast 'heroines' that I've read so far this year in the realm of YA.  Yes, teens are not a species of perfection which is perfectly okay.  But she has no self-respect, which kind of detracts from when she does something really awesome (like punching Scott in the face or...yeah can't think of anything else right now).  The whole book is spent with her whining about how no one sees her and her friends are ditching her.  Of course she does NOTHING about it until she blows up at Kenzie closer to the end of the book.  Also, there's something borderline call-the-suicide-prevention-hotline about coming up with ways to die when you're bored, etc.  It kind of creeped me out.  I loved Isobel and honestly thought a book with a romance between her and the girl in the baking club would have been lots more interesting and majorly cute (Mabye I'm inferring something there, but that's what I saw anyways).

   The romance with Scott wasn't swoonworthy at all.  He spent most of the book acting like a complete manipulative, blackmailing douchebag to Jane (who spent the whole book being an a-hole to him cause she wanted to pretend she didn't like him).  Scott crashes her first date, provides the pictures for the ruinous article and goes to a horrible family dinner at Jane's being her fake 'boyfriend.'  All while doing his best to be an arrogant jerk and make her life a living Hell!  And this is supposed to make me root for them as a couple?  WTH???  Their whole dynamic is borderline abusive and after spending the whole book just wanting him to jump off a cliff and with the meanest interactions possible, they suddenly like like each other?  A world of no!  Just not a thing I could get behind.  I did like Jane's crazy old lady, bookstore boss who wanted them to take a picture in the makeout section.  She was hilarious.  The real highlight character-wise for me though was the nice side of somewhat mean-girl Chelsea.  At times she was a better person than Jane's supposed best friends.  By the time the story broke, I had already started skimming through it because this book was boring me and making me cringe.  Some may identify with this book and really like it.  They may even find it somewhat funny and cute.  I just really didn't and wouldn't really recommend it to anyone.  Just re-read Awkward instead, it'll be a much more satisfying experience!

 

VERDICT:  2.25/5  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's expected publication is August 1st, 2013.*

Hell Yeah, Bring It On!

 

Published:  October 16th, 2012

Hell Yeah!  Volume 1: Last Days On Earth



By: Joe Keatinge and Andre Szymanowicz (Illustrator)

Image Comics

ISBN-13:  9781607066071

 

Today is the worst day of Benjamin Day's life. He's the poster child for the first generation raised in a world where superheroes exist, but he wants nothing to do with super-anything. When versions of himself from throughout the multiverse show up dead, this one-man crisis of infinite selves tears open twenty-year-old secrets. Ben's now forced into the super-society he's long denied. Eisner award-winner and writer Joe Keatinge and illustrator Andre Szymanowicz team to bring the comic described by Third Eye Comics' Steve Anderson as "Watchmen for the Kick-Ass Generation." Features an introduction by the acclaimed creator of Madman and iZOMBIE, Michael Allred.

 

Review

 

     Benjamin Day has grown up in a world where superheroes and villains are a reality.  All he wants is to lead a normal existence as a regular guy/college student.  But when he goes out with his best friend and is hijacked by the band they saw play, things turn really weird.  One of the girls in the band has dated Ben - just in an alternate universe!  That Ben Day was murdered and someone is killing off all of Ben's alternate reality counterparts.  Can he help figure out why and stop the killer before he's next?  And is the answer closer to home than Ben ever could have imagined?

     So, this comic had lots of my favorite things in it - alternate dimensions, parallel selves and the like.  I adore things like that in a book, comic or not.  Ben Day is seemingly nothing special and while nothing was ever concretely nailed down as to why he's so special, there were some hints.  It was basically his origin story and that's a concept that I am familiar with and when done right, it's what I enjoy the most about comics in general (especially superhero ones).  The people coming through from other dimensions, all looking for Ben Day, created some hilarious situations and some rather horrifying ones too.  My favorite character besides Ben was actually one of the superheroes from another dimension, a woman who is on a mission to find and kill Ben (being away from her wife and kids to do it).  She was a bad-ass with a seemingly harsh view of things.  But there were moments, especially with her fellow superheroes, that you could see something more.  The change in Ben by the end of the comic was an interesting one and with the way things ended I'm eager to see where the author takes the story.  I did enjoy the artwork, but while it was good I did feel like it was a little too classic comic mashed together with a noir-esque graphic novel.  It was a little stylistically confused to my eyes, but what do I know?  All in all, a good origin story and I would recommend it to fans of superhero comics looking for a new mythology to deconstruct and analyze.  A good read that I don't regret spending time with, if a little incoherent at times.

 

VERDICT:  4.25/5  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 October 16th, 2012.*

Snatched Up By POD People

Published: June 4th, 2013
PODs (Pods # 1)
By: Michelle Pickett
Spencer Hill Press
ISBN-13:  9781937053284

Seventeen-year-old Eva is a chosen one. Chosen to live, while others meet a swift and painful death from an incurable virus so lethal, a person is dead within days of symptoms emerging. In the POD system, a series of underground habitats built by the government, she waits with the other chosen for the deadly virus to claim those above. Separated from family and friends, it's in the PODs she meets David. And while true love might not conquer all, it's a balm for the broken soul.

After a year, scientists believe the population has died, and without living hosts, so has the virus. That's the theory, anyway. But when the PODs are opened, survivors find the surface holds a vicious secret. The virus mutated, infecting those left top-side and creating... monsters.

Eva and David hide from the infected in the abandoned PODs. Together they try to build a life--a new beginning. But the infected follow and are relentless in their attacks. Leaving Eva and David to fight for survival, and pray for a cure.

 Review

 

     Eva is sixteen and just wants to live in peace with her parents and maybe grow up to do something that makes her happy.  But than an unknown virus starts breaking out across the country and the government takes action that will changer her life forever.  Unsure how the virus is even transmitted, the government decides to have a lottery to decide who will live protected for a year in underground PODs, that will support life and keep them safe.  But is the lottery really fair?  Eva is chosen and goes into her POD not knowing what to expect.  A year later when she comes out, she's in love with David and ready to start a new life in a society different from what she left behind.  The virus may not be destroyed like they thought, and when things take a turn for the worst Eva and David may be forced to retreat into the PODs once again for safety.  Can they make it long enough for a cure to be found or will they be killed by the infected who are hunting them relentlessly?

     This book is scary in way that I haven't felt since watching that movie Contagion a few years ago.  How easily this could actually happen in the reality of the world we live in makes it downright terrifying to me!  And to be honest, as horrible as it was that the government only chose people between ages 12-24 for the POD lottery, it made sense on a certain level.  They needed people young enough and healthy enough to survive and rebuild a broken society.  They needed to be able to be taught and molded into certain career/societal roles and they also needed to be self-sufficient and not dependent on an adult for survival.  With only 70,000 spots in the PODs, it makes sense.  But it would still be extremely agonizing to know that everyone you left behind is almost assuredly dead and they died in a painful way.
     Eva is a strong, admirable girl but she is unsure how she can make it without her parents.  Living with 10 strangers for a year isn't her idea of fun, but somehow they start to get close to each other and make their own family.  Especially after delivering her fellow POD survivor's baby and falling in love with another PODmate, David.  But when the doors open a year and a half later and they are all separated into different 'village' assignments, Eva and the others have no real hope of seeing each other again.  The relationships between all of them were really realistic, not perfect because they were all basically scared teenagers.  But they managed to prop each other up and survive for their time in the PODs.  Also, other people are complaining about insta-love between David and Eva, but to me it just seemed like instant attraction.  The will-they/won't-they dynamic and their attempts to 'protect' each other DID start to annoy me.  But the romances in this book were very sweet and had some great chemistry.  I won't tell you what happens after they leave the PODs, but this book was full of action, romance and truly great character interactions and growing maturity on the part of Eva especially.  It was a wonderful book and one of the best I've read so far this year.  It could stand alone, so I'm interested to see if the next one is a sequel or a companion novel.  I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great dystopian read, and happening to be sick of the same old stories.

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 was published June 4th, 2013.*

The Bermuda Triangle Is NOT a Vacation Spot!

Expected Publication:  June 18th, 2013
Triangles
By: Kimberly Ann Miller
Spencer Hill Press
ISBN-13:  9781937053369

A cruise ship. A beautiful island. Two sexy guys. What could possibly go wrong?

In the Bermuda Triangle—a lot.

Hoping to leave behind the reminders of her crappy life--her father's death years ago, her mother's medical problems, and the loser who’s practically stalking her--seventeen-year-old Autumn Taylor hops on a ship with her sister for a little distraction. When she wakes up in the Bermuda Triangle, she fears she's gone nuts for more than one reason: that loser’s suddenly claiming they're a happy couple... a hot guy is wrapping his arms around her and saying "Happy Anniversary"... and suddenly, she’s full of bruises, losing her hair, and getting IV medication. Autumn visits the ship's doctor, hoping for a pill or a shot to make the craziness go away. Instead, she's warned that these "alternate realities" could become permanent.

She just has to ask herself one question—how the hell is she going to get out of this mess?

Review

 

     Autumn Taylor's life completely sucks.  She works at an auto-mechanic shop with a guy who is practically stalking her, her Mom is in a coma that she's pretty sure is her fault, her sister has decided that she's in charge of Autumn's every move and she's pretty sure she'll never save up enough money to leave New Jersey for good.  She's excited when her sister tells her that they're going on a cruise their Mom had planned before her accident.  Maybe Autumn can get away from Joey (stalker-boy), her crazy & depressing life and let herself relax for a change.  But when Joey and hot, local playboy Marcus are both on the ship with her things are bound to get crazy - especially when they're passing through the Bermuda Triangle!  Each day in the triangle has Autumn living an alternate reality and trying to figure out the meaning of her real life in comparison.  Can she get back to her own reality or will she be trapped in another version of her life?
     From the synopsis, I expected a little more mystery about the Bermuda Triangle and it's strange effects to be present.  If that's what you're looking for TURN BACK WHILE YOU STIILL CAN!!!  What I got instead was a book full of rom-com fluff (if you can call man-whore playboys and stalkers romantic), mixed with some moments trying to emotionally heavy and 'important' to character development.  The feel of this book is distinctly New Adult hormones/actions/language, mixed with middle-grade maturity levels.  In other words, at times it is a serious train wreck.  Autumn has had a lot of bad stuff happen in her life and I can understand how that might make her unreceptive to other peoples' attempts to connect with her.  But other than when she wants something from others, Autumn is a complete and total rude, unfeeling, manipulative, spoiled, selfish, little bitch to everyone.  Including her sister, who is doing her best to take care of an uncooperative teenager who refuses to act like a human being.  And yes Joey was pretty much the epitome of a creepy stalker, but Autumn uses him when she feels like it and treats him like dirt while she's doing it!  Then when she wants him to go away, Autumn completely ignores him!
     The alternate realities are an interesting idea and the fact that they take place in the Bermuda Triangle is a fresh concept for a YA book.  The first alternate universe had Autumn with playboy Marcus, in a 'committed' relationship and Joey doesn't even know who she is, plus her dead Dad is alive.  The next time Autumn is married to Joey, has an infant daughter and her sister is with Marcus.  The third time Autumn is sick with cancer and dying (Joey is her step-brother).  As she goes through the different realities, Autumn learns to appreciate the things she has in life, the people around her and everything else she's taken for granted.  That said, I feel like even being guided by the mysterious ship's Doctor (who is otherworldly in some way...) that Autumn still didn't understand the fact that the entire universe didn't center around herself by the time the end of the book rolls around.  I enjoyed this book overall, but in spite of the main character and not because of her like I would have preferred.  As a character driven reader, this book's extremely unlikeable characters were a letdown.  But the plot kept me going, even though the ending was a little too clichéd for my tastes.  I would have preferred more scientifically-supernatural material to be included based on the Bermuda Triangle connection.  The fantasy execution of that plot point is respectable but not anything new or extremely interesting.  Overall, not something I will read again and I might recommend it but only to very specific people. 

VERDICT:  2.25/5 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 June 18th, 2013.*

Dark Side of the Moon

 

Expected Publication:  June 5th, 2013

Spike: A Dark Place (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9: Spike)

By: Victor Gischler, Paul Lee (Artist), Joss Whedon (Executive Producer)

Dark Horse

ISBN-13:  9781616551094

 

Fresh from his latest attempt to get Buffy to act on her feelings for him, Spike has fled to the dark side of the moon. His trip leads him to a group of dangerous demons and a rude awakening from his reverie, which in turn leads him on an unexpected adventure to . . . Sunnydale! Collecting Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike—A Dark Place #1–#5.

 

Review

 

     So, I did not realize that this comic was set during Season 9 of Buffy or that there even was a Season 9!  I haven't quite caught up on 8 yet and this threw me into the deep end of things without any real clue what was happening.  All I know is that Spike is somehow Captaining a spaceship to the dark side of the moon (literally) and in charge of his own army of buggy, alien minions.  The artificial sun-room on the ship was awesome and Spike trying to drown himself in alcohol was definitely in character.  He has some wonderful sarcastic and smarmy remarks, but the bugs are pretty funny too especially head bug, Sebastian.  I especially love when he's willing to commandeer the ship and get Spike away from a very suspicious (but hot) succubus who is trying to play him like a fiddle.  The later part of this story arc is about Spike trying to prevent her and from opening up the Hellmouth with a shard of some alien seed.  And some other characters from his past are also after the shard, for the power and magic that it will bring them the use of.  My least favorite thing about this other than the slow burn of the plot is the weird, and overblown infiltration of straight sci-fi into the Buffyverse, which is strictly fantasy in my mind.  There is a fine line between the two, and I definitely prefer demons/magic to aliens/spaceships.  As much as  I love Spike, this whole plot just felt like unnecessary filler and I reveled in his wonderful Spike-ness which I've missed.  But overall it was a disappointment and if that's the direction Season 9 is going I'm not even going to bother catching up.  It does get major points for kick-ass art and great action sequences, plus some truly funny remarks.  Not highly recommended to fans of non-comic Buffy though unless you're diehard and have to read/see everything Buffy ever created.  Otherwise I say you should just skip it.

 

VERDICT:  2/5  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 is June 5th, 2013.*

This Is A Hopeless Case of Sickness

Expected Publication:  June 11th, 2013
Plague In The Mirror
By: Deborah Noyes
Candlewick Press
ISBN-13:  9780763659806


It was meant to be a diversion — a summer in Florence with her best friend, Liam, and his travel-writer mom, doing historical research between breaks for gelato. A chance to forget that back in Vermont, May’s parents, and all semblance of safety, were breaking up. But when May wakes one night sensing someone in her room, only to find her ghostly twin staring back at her, normalcy becomes a distant memory. And when later she follows the menacing Cristofana through a portale to fourteenth-century Florence, May never expects to find safety in the eyes of Marco, a soulful painter who awakens in her a burning desire and makes her feel truly seen. The wily Cristofana wants nothing less of May than to inhabit each other’s lives, but with the Black Death ravaging Old Florence, can May’s longing for Marco’s touch be anything but madness? Lush with atmosphere both passionate and eerie, this evocative tale follows a girl on the brink of womanhood as she dares to transcend the familiar — and discovers her sensual power.

Review

 

     May is going to Italy this summer with her best friend Liam and his travel guide writing Mom, to be her research assistant.  It should be the adventure of a lifetime, but all May can focus on is the fact that back at home her parents are on the verge of a messy divorce.  So when a girl named Cristofana, who is identical to her, shows up in her room one night and starts a confusing game of cat and mouse, May finds herself being drawn in against her better judgment.  Drawn into fourteenth century, plague ridden Italy May becomes infatuated with soulful artist Marco and gets invested in living Cristofana's life instead of her own.  But in a time when deadly disease is raging through the city, can they even possibly have a happy ending?  And will May ever return to her own time and life? 

     I don't know how much I've mentioned this on this blog, but I am going to tell you a secret about myself: I am a complete and total SUCKER for anything involving time-travel, portal jumping, alternate dimensions and wibbly-wobbly, timey wimey stuff of any kind.  So I wanted so badly to like this book, which chose an interesting time period and was supposed to have a great romance in it as well.  I should have known better than to go in headfirst like I did.  The writing style of this book was atrocious.  It reminded me of an elementary/middle school aged kid's writing assignment.  It was full of prose and descriptive language, along with whiny emo inner-monologues from May who got on my nerves almost immediately.  I only made it about 100 pages into this one before I had to quit and save myself, which I try to do very rarely when reading review books out of courtesy to the publisher and author for being generous to me.  But the lack of dialogue or true character interaction really tanked what little interest I ended up having in this book.

     The characters are cardboard cut-outs and the Mary-Sue tendencies of May had me wanting to chuck her off the Empire State Building or something.  She goes along with Cristofana, who is obviously very crazy and up to no good, with little or no thought/fighting to do the right thing.  She instead decides that she's rather follow her nutcase doppelganger into a portal of which she has no clue as to the end point.  All because Mommy and Daddy won't be together anymore when she goes home again!  Oh yeah, and also because of that 'dreamy' guy she saw when Cristofana portal-napped her the first time!!!  WTF!!!  I'm sorry, but you want to take over someone else's life in a PLAGUE-INFESTED 14TH CENTURY ITALY FOR A BOY???!!!  Screw you, I don't truck with insane and brainless hos!  And on that note I will say to read at your own risk and against advisement.  But I guarantee that many people will love it, so it could just be that I'M crazy.  I guess find out at your own peril.

 

VERDICT:  0/5  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 June 11th, 2013.*