Somebody Save Me

Published: August 3rd, 2012

Saving Mars (Saving Mars # 1)

By: Cidney Swanson

Williams Press

ASIN: B008SULWZ6

When the food supply of Mars’ human settlement is decimated, seventeen-year-old Jessamyn Jaarda, the best pilot Mars Colonial has ever seen, flies to Earth to raid for food. Earth-Mars relations couldn’t be worse, and her brother is captured during the raid. Breaking rules of secrecy and no contact, Jess finds an ally in Pavel, nephew to a government official, but their friendship only makes more agonizing the choice before her: Save her brother or save her planet?

Review

     So anyone who follows and reads these reviews knows that I generally have a pretty obvious style.  Well, I'm breaking habit for this one because it is a very special review book minions.  It's a review for Cidney Swanson's newest book, a sci-fi adventure that takes place in the future on a colonized MARS!  Our heroine Jessamyn Jaarda wants to be a pilot more than anything, so she can fly the raiding missions to Terra and do important and adventurous things.  At the start of the novel Jess is a rule-breaker, whose biggest concern is her alter-abled brother Ethan's mental comfort and getting a piece of ice for her Mom's second birthday gift (everyone has two birthdays a year due to Mars' different rotation cycle from Earth).  But when she is suspended from the flight academy for disobeying a direct order and during a celebration the food supply is decimated, she fights to be allowed to go on the mission to get enough food to save the planet - especially when the government recruits her brother because of his technological genius.  But when things go horribly wrong will Jess be able to find a way to rescue her brother and their other shipmates from a fate worse than death?  And can she trust the help she receives from Pavel, the nephew of a corrupt Terran government official?  Worst of all will Jess have to choose between saving Ethan or saving Mars and everyone they left behind? 

     When Cidney sent me an e-mail asking me to read and review this novel for its upcoming release, I was SUPER excited.  Ever since I finished reading the Ripple trilogy I knew that Cidney was definitely and author to watch and that I would be reading any other books she had published.  This is reminiscent of Rippler, with the strong female main character and the sci-fi premise, but that's where comparisons stop.  Jessamyn Jaarda is a rash, young daredevil who has led a sheltered and happy existence on Mars.  She thinks she understands the precarious position of Mars Colonial, but until the food supply disaster, it's obvious that she isn't quite aware of it as much as she thinks.  I loved that Jess was a take-action sort of hero, ready to do whatever it took to save her home and her family.  I understood her protective spirit toward Ethan - I think it's something that every sibling feels to a really great extent.  Even if you don't get along with your brother(s)/sister(s), most of the people I know would take a bullet for them (I know I would).  Ethan himself was portrayed as a very strong character as well, unlimited in his possibilities on Mars in a way that I hope will someday be a major reality on Earth.  In our society he would most likely be diagnosed with autism or Asperger's, but on Mars he's recognized for his brilliant mind and technological capabilities (called only alter-abled). 

     The supporting characters like Jess' parents, Harpreet, Kipper, Lobster and Pavel all added something special to the overall story that is irreplaceable.  I was impressed by the complexity of the plot and the ease that Cidney built her world with.  It just gradually sprung up around the reader and by the ending I was immersed, unlike many books where the details are shoved in your face unceremoniously and without any flair.  Earth's obsession as a culture with youth manifests itself in a chilling process called 'rebodying.'  The process consists of the conciousness transfers of the old into the young, and vice versa at different points in the lifetime for maximum efficiency.  The idea is that youth is wasted on the young.  The scariest part is that I could actually see this happening if our society continues in it's current direction.  The setting for me was paramount to enjoyment.  It gave the book an extra level of tension to have it set on Mars instead of Earth, as a futuristic science fiction.  This reversal allowed for the showcasing of an outside perspective and gave a more empathetic feeling to me as a reader.  I loved the small details such as the colony's history, the planetary dog, the ingredients list for the ration bars, Jess eating butter and kale like they are regular foods at the banquet for the conciousness transfer teens.  The difference between the offensive Terran term "Martian" and the term they use, Marsian was a nice touch.  

     Overall, this novel was a a very high action, suspense novel where eveything that could possibly go wrong does.  The ending gave me serious chills and made me want to cry, yet cheer at the same time.  I highly recommend it to fans of YA or of science-fiction in general.  If you want a book that makes you laugh, grip your armrest, AND cry, this is the one for you.  

VERDICT:  5/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the author and no favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available on Amazon.com in Kindle format and Paperback.*

The Magical, Mystery Chocolate Pot

Published: May 22nd, 2012 (as eBook, originally published April 15th, 1988)
Sorcery & Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot (Cecelia and Kate #1)
By: Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
Open Road for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9781453254677

A great deal is happening in London and the country this season. For starters, there's the witch who tried to poison Kate at the Royal College of Wizards. There's also the man who seems to be spying on Cecelia. (Though he's not doing a very good job of it--so just what are his intentions?) And then there's Oliver. Ever since he was turned into a tree, he hasn't bothered to tell anyone where he is. Clearly, magic is a deadly and dangerous business. And the girls might be in fear for their lives . . . if only they weren't having so much fun!

Review

   The year is 1817 in an England where magic is a natural part of life.  Kate and Cecelia are cousins that have trouble staying out of mischief when they are together.  That's why their Aunts decide to separate them for the summer - Kate will go to London for her Season with her younger sister Georgina and Cecelia will stay in the country with her brother Oliver.  It turns out that Kate doesn't need Cecelia around to get into trouble and this becomes apparent when she gets in the middle of a feud between an undetermined assasin and the Marquis of Schofield.  On the other hand, Cecy's summer in the country has become just as strange when she discovers neighbor James Tarleton spying on her very shy (and strangely popular) friend Dorothea.  Neither man will explain things to Kate or Cecy, so they decide to investigate the increasingly odd goings-on for themselves.  Meanwhile, they are corresponding everything to one another with surprising dedication and wit.  Someone has set a rather horrible plan into motion that may involve harm to the Queen herself - but it won't happen if Kate and Cecy have anything to say about it.  And what does an enchanted chocolate pot have to do with anything?  This book started off a little bit slowly, but once it got going it was so much fun!  I loved the intrigue surrounding (of all the ridiculous objects) the choclate pot, the strange enchantment of Dorothea and the plots swirling around the whole affair.  The idea of proper and boorish Oliver being turned into a tree was absolutely hilarious, as were most of the things that happend in the country setting.  The London issues were a slight bit more of the alarming sort.  I adored the letters between Cecy and Kate.  You could tell how fond of each other they were and how much they trusted each other. I thought the romances were well-done, if obvious.  My favorite was not Kate and the Marquis (Thomas) though it was wonderful.  I loved Cecy and Thomas because of how truly nonsensically they started out and by the end of things, I couldn't imagine them without each other.  At times things did seem disjointed, considering this book began as a letter game between the authors, with no real direction.  But other than that I loved the plot, characters, and the conclusion fit very well for me.  I loved this book quite a bit and would highly recommend it.  If the fact that it's part of a series is off-putting, be glad to know that this book can stand on its own.

VERDICT:  4.5/5  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 as an eBook on May 22nd, 2012.*

Dust Consumes Me

Expected Publication:  June 26th, 2012

Dust Girl (The American Fairy Trilogy #1)

By: Sarah Zettel

Random House Children's Books

ISBN-13: 9780375869389

Callie LeRoux lives in Slow Run, Kansas, helping her mother run their small hotel and trying not to think about the father she’s never met. Lately all of her energy is spent battling the constant storms plaguing the Dust Bowl and their effects on her health. Callie is left alone, when her mother goes missing in a dust storm. Her only hope comes from a mysterious man offering a few clues about her destiny and the path she must take to find her parents in "the golden hills of the west" (California).

Along the way she meets Jack a young hobo boy who is happy to keep her company—there are dangerous, desperate people at every turn. And there’s also an otherworldly threat to Callie. Warring fae factions, attached to the creative communities of American society, are very aware of the role this half-mortal, half-fae teenage girl plays in their fate.

Review

   Callie Leroux has grown up in Kansas, during the height of the Great Depression AND the Dust Bowl.  Her Father disappeared before she was born, but promised to come back for them.  So her Mother refuses to leave for the city and a better life.  Callie has gotten the dust pneumonia, which will eventually kill her if her situation doesn't change.  Also, she's forced to hide the fact that she's the product of a white Mother and a black Father in a time when it's considered nigh unto a sin to be biracial.  Something else is different about Callie that she only learns after a mysteriously supernatural dust storm carries away her Mother - Callie is half-fairy and royalty on top of that.  With the help of Jack Hollander, a young man heading toward California to become a journalist, Callie heads out of town to find her parents.  But not everyone she meets is a friend or trying to help her on her quest.  All the fairies she meets have their own agendas, including the ones that claim to be family.  Can Callie and Jack survive the hunger, racial prejudices and magic that work against them?  Will they make it to California and reach their dreams?  Callie is a great heroine - strong, with a distinctive voice and very sympathetic.  Zettel never overplays the biracial aspect but does a wonderful job of emphasizing all of the prejudices in America at that time working against Callie.  Another thing that I enjoyed was the idea that the Seelie Court (the Shining Ones) were white and the Unseelie Court (the Midnight People) were black.  This put a new spin on the same old fairy mythology that is usually overused in the same ways.  My only real complaint would be the ever-changing reality of who the villain was.  Sometimes that's a good thing, but it turned a little schizophrenic in this case.  This novel was about two young people trying to find themselves and their places in a changing America.  Fantastitcal overtones were there, but not as present as in most fairy books.  This was probably the best book dealing with fairies that I've ever read - and I have read A LOT of them.  I would highly recommend this one to people who aren't even fans of books dealing with fairies, because at its heart it really is a character centric book. 

VERDICT:  4.5/5  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's expected publication date is June 26th, 2012.*