Romeo and Hamlet's Excellent Adventure

Published:  February 4th, 2014
Such Sweet Sorrow
By: Jenny Trout
Entangled Teen
ISBN-13:  9781622661589

Never was there a tale of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo...  But true love never dies.  Though they're parted by the veil between the world of mortals and the land of the dead, Romeo believes he can restore Juliet to life, but he'll have to travel to the underworld with a thoroughly infuriating guide.

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, may not have inherited his father's crown, but the murdered king left his son a much more important responsibility -- a portal to the Afterjord, where the souls of the dead reside.  When the determined Romeo asks for help traversing the treacherous Afterjord, Hamlet sees an opportunity for adventure, and the chance to avenge his father's death.

In an underworld filled with leviathan monsters, ghoulish shades, fire giants and fierce Valkyrie warriors, Hamlet and Romeo must battle their way through jealousy, despair, and their darkest fears to rescue the fair damsel.  Yet finding Juliet is only the beginning, and the Afterjord doesn't surrender souls without a price.....

Review

     Romeo's poison didn't work quite the way it should have, and now he's alone dealing with the aftermath of Juliet's death.  He enlists Friar Laurence to help him find a witch who can tell him how to bring Juliet back from the dead.  The witch tells Romeo that he has to go North to a kingdom whose King has just been murdered.  By the time he reaches Denmark, Romeo meets Hamlet for the first time in a tavern.  And of course they pretty much hate each other on sight, which almost ends in a duel.  Then Romeo and Hamlet each learn about the other, resulting in them agreeing to work together.  Hamlet will let Romeo into the Afterjord, if he agrees to help along his quest to avenge his father's death, by telling Hamlet what he finds there.  Romeo of course, pulls Hamlet in after him and they are both thrown headfirst into battling mythical creatures and overcoming harsh tests, to prove themselves worthy of re-entering the world.  Can they save Juliet and make their way back aboveground, or will they be trapped in the underworld forever?

     So, the synopsis of this book led me to believe it would be one of two things: a hot mess, or an awesome retelling.  While a little bit of both, it was more of the first by a landslide.  This book just has way too much going on in it!  It not only tries to incorporate Hamlet AND Romeo and Juliet, but tries to bring in multiple types of mythology such as Greek, Norse, Celtic, etc.  I appreciate what she's trying to do, but it gets overwhelming in the scope.  I never really felt like the characters or the plot were fleshed out enough to give a new persepective to some old stories.  While reading, I just had such an odd feeling towards the entire book.  Juliet was nothing like her Shakespearian self and as other readers have pointed out, it was nice to see her be an ass-kicking, sword-wielding warrior girl.  But how exactly (and when) did that happen, when she's spent her whole time alive as a pampered noblewoman and her whole death chained up and unawares?       Romeo spent most of the book as a complete douchebag, with a hair-trigger temper and a serious problem listening to directions.  Hamlet was a jerk too, but at least him being the original emo, loner dude made that somewhat believable.  Also, how in the Hell did Friar Laurence and Romeo get all the way from Italy to Denmark?  Isn't this supposed to be somewhat medieval?  It's not like Romeo could just book a flight to Denmark and how did he find out where he was supposed to go?  The witch didn't even tell him an exact location, just told him to go to a kingdom with a murdered king!  All in all, especially with a cliffhanger ending that hints towards this being a series, this just wasn't the book for me.  Maybe if there had been more focus on building the plot, and less jumping from myth to myth I could have connected to it more.

VERDICT:  2.5/5 Stars

*I received this book from Entangled Teen, on NetGalley.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book was published February 4th, 2014.*

A Plague On Both Your Houses

Published:  February 4th, 2014

Prince Of Shadows

By: Rachel Caine

NAL

ISBN-13:  9780451414410

In the Houses of Montague and Capulet, there is only one goal: power.  The boys are born to fight and die for honor and -- if they survive -- marry for influence and money, not love.  The girls are assets, to be spent wisely.  Their wishes are of no import.  Their fates are written on the day they are born.

Benvolio Montague, cousin to Romeo, knows all this.  He expects to die for his cousin, for his house, but a spark of rebellion still lives in him.  At night, he is the Prince of Shadows, the greatest thief in Verona -- and he risks all as he steals from House Capulet.  In doing so, he sets eyes on convent-bound Rosaline, and a terrible curse begins that will claim the lives of many in Verona...

...And will rewrite all their fates, forever.

Review

     Retellings are something that I love to try, because I hate to see a good story end.  As a younger person I was NOT a fan of Romeo + Juliet, thinking that they were beyond stupid and I couldn't understand why people romanticized their story.  But as an adult I look at them and think, "Those poor, stupid teenagers.  That's not what love is and they never had a chance to figure that out."  I was intrigued when I learned that Rachel Caine, whose Morganville Vampire series I happen to love, was writing a R&J retelling from Benvolio's point of view I was excited.  I am definitely happy that I gave it a chance!  In this book, set months before the events of the infamous Shakespeare play, Benvolio is chafing at the bit of family responsibility.  His rebellion is to be the greatest thief Verona has ever known, the Prince of Shadows, and humilate all of his enemies.  One night, he decides to attempt a truly deadly theft and steal from Tybalt Capulet.  While in the Capulet household, Benvolio is seen by Rosaline and the interaction between the two promises that things will never again be the same.  Then Benvolio's domineering Grandmother orders him to retrieve Romeo's love letters to Rosaline, and stop his infatuation.  All this while Benvolio is trying to hide Mercutio's love affair with another man from everyone, for fear of his friend being put to death.  When everything comes crashing down around them, will both Montagues and Capulets be cursed beyond redemption?  Or will Benvolio and Rosaline be able to bring themselves out of destruction and start over again?

     The majority of this book was set before the events of the original play, which in and of itself was different than the majority of retellings.  Most of them seem to be set during and in the aftermath.  But this book chose to give readers a backstory and some reasoning for the whole disastrous sequence of events.  I love Benvolio as a narrator!  It was wonderful to get his side of the story, since in the play he's basically just Romeo's right-hand man.  I also liked seeing Rosaline as more than just a mere mention and learning a bit more of who she actually was.  In this version, she is strong, feisty and makes up her own mind.  But she is also a practical realist.  Rosaline just wants to go to the convent and be away from the whole mess between the Capulets and Montagues - and away from her brother Tybalt's rage and heavy hand.  Probably my absolute favorite thing about this retelling though, was the focus on Mercutio, his story and the reasons for his behavior, etc.  I loved the relationship between him, Romeo and Benvolio (both of whom are keeping Mercutio's secrets).  They has some great quips and banter going on, and the scenes with Romeo and Mercutio creating drunken diversions for Benvolio's thieving were hilarious.  

     I think the only thing that seemed abrupt and out of place were the random inclusions of Shakespeare's dialogue, sometimes slightly butchered, and the inclusion of witchcraft and curses.  The book has a decidedly modern feel to it, and though witchcraft was often in Shakespeare's plays and it was a plausible explanation for the whole mess, it still felt kind of odd and out of place in this particular book.  Overall though, this was definitely a great read for fans of R&J, but not necessarily the actual characters of Romeo and Juliet.  They are both shown to be what they were in this book: thoughtless, dreamy children with a penchant for leaping before they looked.  I would recommend this one though.  It was definitely worth my time.

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.**

She Knows Not What the Curse May Be...

Expected Publication:  May 8th, 2014

Camelot Burning (Metal & Lace #1)

By: Kathryn Rose

Flux

ISBN-13:  9780738739670

By day, Vivienne is Guinevere's lady-in-waiting.  By nigh, she's Merlin's secret apprentice, indulging in the new mechanical arts and science of alchemy.  It's a preferred distraction from Camelot's gossipy nobility, roguish knights, and Lancelot's new athletic squire, Marcus, who will follow in all knight's footsteps by taking a rather inconvenient vow of chastity.

More than anything, Vivienne longs to escape Camelot for a future that wouldn't include needlework or marriage to a boorish lord or dandy.  But when King Arthur's sorceress sister, Morgan Le Fay, threatens Camelot, Vivienne must stay to help Merlin build a steam-powered weapon to defeat the dark magic machine Morgan will set upon the castle.  Because if Camelot falls, Morgan would be that much closer to finding the elusive Holy Grail.  Time is running out and Morgan draws near, and if Vivienne doesn't have Merlin's weapon ready soon, lives would pay the price, including that of Marcus, the only one fast enough to activate it on the battlefield.

Review

     People who read this will most likely fall into two camps - true enjoyment or the deconstructions of an angry/annoyed, Arthurian purist.  I will admit that I have things I am a purist about and would absolutely abhor to see retold, or altered in any way whatsoever; for me, Arthurian legend is NOT one of these things!  I am usually not a fan of steampunk at all, which was my initial hesitance at reading this book.  I am glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone, because I truly enjoyed it.  I definitely needed to read an Arthurian retelling that departed from the original legends in more than just minor details.  I feel like most of the stuff I've experienced based on Arthur's legends has been a rehash, just told from different points of view, in a different time period, sympathetic to a still-evil Morgan, etc.  I was getting bored with it all.  This book is a game changer, to be sure.

     The book is told from the perspective of teenaged Vivienne, who is nobility of Arthur's court and the lady in waiting to soon-to-be Queen, Guinevere.  She knows it is her destiny to be a wife and mother, lady of the court and to stay in Camelot for all her days.  However, Vivienne is working to change her destiny by being Merlin's apprentice in alchemy and the mechanical arts.  The former magic-addict/sorcerer has been dedicating his life to bringing Camelot into the mechanical age, and reshaping his talents towards inventing useful things.  But things begin to get dark again when the King's sister, the evil sorceress Morgan Le Fay, returns to Camelot seeking to destroy everything Arthur has built for himself and his people.  Their twisted relationship will be Arthur's undoing, unless he can break free of her influence.  Also, what secrets are Lancelot, Guinevere, and Lancelot's squire, Marcus, hiding?  Will their price be higher than any of them imagined?  It's up to Vivienne and Merlin to save Camelot (and its royals) from ultimate destruction at the hands of an abomination, with a mechanical invention the likes of which has never been seen.  Can they manage before its too late?  And can Vivienne fight against her own forbidden love for Marcus?

      The difference in Merlin's backstory I think was the clincher for me.  It intrigued me to the point of needing to finish this book, to see what would happen!  And also, I loved that the author didn't shy away from the nastier, darker aspects of the usually dreamily portrayed Camelot mythos.  Lots of retellings find some way to skirt around the fact that Morgan is Arthur's half-sister - and they happen to have an illegitimate child together!  Mordred was the product of incest, yo'!  Squicky, but a truth of Camelot.  The portrayal of Viv didn't give her overmuch personality, but I did enjoy her as a character.  All she wanted was something more from life than domesticity - she wanted adventure and freedom!  Plus, she has no problem getting down and dirty, not to mention putting her brother and his asshole friends (fellow knights-in-training) in their place!  The whole conflict with magic being outlawed has been mentioned in Arthurian legend, but usually Guinevere is a devout Christian and a root cause of the phenomenon.  In this, she is from a kingdom called Lyonesse that was destroyed down to every last person (except for her) and doesn't seem to be quite as religious.  Lancelot and Guinevere's affair was played off as a curse on the part of Morgan, when Arthur foolishly let her inside the city.  I did like the slight vague, iffy nature of it though.  From their interactions pre-curse, you could tell they had a history.  How much of their adultery was magic and how much was real?

     The dark magic, mutated soldiers that Morgan used were described so realistically that it was downright horrific to think about!  Also, the only thing I have to say in regards to Mordred is "Poor Mordred!"  Those are two words I NEVER thought I would put together in my entire life.  But dear God, his mother sure does a number on him in this version.  That is all I will say for fear of spoilers, needless to say it isn't pretty.  The book leaves off with Merlin becoming something completely different than they ever imagined and going away to reclaim himself, Camelot basically being demolished, everyone dying that originally died (trying to avoid spoilers) Guin going to a convent, and Lancelot taking over what's left (i.e. not a whole helluva lot).  It's up to Vivienne to use what Merlin taught her as his apprentice to help the Knights on their continued quest for the Holy Grail, which is about the only thing that could ever restore Camelot.  Overall, this book has a great twist on a familiar mythology, some kick-ass action scenes and battles, a sweet romance, interesting steampunk elements that add to it without dominating everything, and a great direction for a sequel.  I'd highly recommend it, if you don't mind your Camelot doused in mechanical parts and grease.  It's definitely not for everyone!

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received this book from Flux, on NetGalley.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication is May 8th, 2014.*

The Animal I've Become

Expected Published:  January 28th, 2014

Her Dark Curiosity (The Madman's Daughter #2)

By: Megan Shepherd

Balzar + Bray

ISBN-13:  9780062128058

To defeat darkness, she must first embrace it.

Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping from her father's island - and the secrets she behind.  Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau's horrific legacy -- though someone, or something, hasn't forgotten her.

As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father's creations may have also escaped the island.  She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again.

As Juliet strives to stop a killer while while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger.  Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer -- Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.

Review

     Juliet thought that she might be able to have some semblance of a normal life after she left the island behind - along with all its twisted 'experiments', the creatures and her now dead father.  She is starting to become part of polite society again and has been taken under the wing of Professor Von Stein, her father's former colleague, who is now her guardian.  But Julitet is still unable to let it all go, because her illness is steadily killing her.  Without a cure soon Juliet will die, so she's been studying her father's diary and notes looking for an answer - for a serum that will end her suffering.  Keeping a secret appartment and selling hybrid roses to buy ingredients, Juliet is horrified when people with a connection to her begin to turn up murdered.  They have a signature mark, three clawlike scratches, that are familiar to Juliet.  Turns out not everything died on that island and something is more obsessed with her than ever.  If he can't have Juliet, no one can.  Can Juliet find the killer before Scotland Yard does?  And will the situation turn out to be even worse than she ever dreamed?

     This book was a slight bit of a slow starter, with Juliet by herself trying to hybridize roses, and come up with a cure for herself - in secret.  I enjoyed the quite obvious allusions between Shepherd's story and the original tale of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  It's really hard to write a comprehensive review that compares the two though, unless I want to give out some pretty major spoilers!  The murders were pretty gruesome and the identity of the killer, while pretty obvious from the start to people who read book #1, still had some puzzle pieces missing in regards to motive, etc.  There is a really great camraderie between Lucy and Juliet, who have renewed their frienship now that Juliet is back in the city and society.  They are both involved with the murderer (knowingly and unknowingly), have connections to the experiments of Juliet's father and are connected to up and coming Scotland Yard Detective John Newcastle.  Probably my least favorite part of this book was the love triangle.  It carried over from the first book, and while I could understand it somewhat, it did make Juliet loose some backbone when making decisions for herself.  There are some points where she gets downright pathetic about it too.  Probably the least historically realistic to me was Juliet engaging in premarital sex.  It's the Victorian Era!!!  And she absolutely NEVER struck me as the type to do something like that, even if she was a societal outcast.  Just way out of character for me.  Overall I greatly enjoyed this book and it was an extremely strong follow up to The Madman's Daughter.  The plot twist at the end of the book was completely unexpected, had me shaking in surprise and slapping myself on the forhead saying D'oh! for not realizing it sooner!

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, Balzar + Bray (Imprint of Harper Collins), via Edelweiss.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is January 28th, 2014.*

One of These Nights

Published:  October 22, 2013

Last Night At The Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind

By: Gavin Edwards

It Books

ISBN-13:  9780062273154

Hollywood was built on beautiful and complicated matinee idols: James Dean and Marlon Brando are classic examples, but in the 1990s, the actor who embodied that archetype was River Phoenix. As the brightly colored 1980s wound down, a new crew of leading men began to appear on movie screens. Hailed for their acting prowess and admired for choosing meaty roles, actors such as Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage, Keanu Reeves, and Brad Pitt were soon rocketing toward stardom while an unknown Leonardo DiCaprio prepared to make his acting debut. River Phoenix, however, stood in front of the pack. Blessed with natural talent and fueled by integrity, Phoenix was admired by his peers and adored by his fans. More than just a pinup on teenage girls' walls, Phoenix was also a fervent defender of the environment and a vocal proponent of a vegan lifestyle--well on his way to becoming a symbol of his generation. At age eighteen, he received his first Oscar nomination. But behind his beautiful public face, there was a young man who had been raised in a cult by nonconformist parents, who was burdened with supporting his family from a young age, and who eventually succumbed to addiction, escaping into a maelstrom of drink and drugs.

And then he was gone. After a dozen films, including Stand by Me and My Own Private Idaho, and with a seemingly limitless future, River Phoenix died of a drug overdose. He was twenty-three years old.

In Last Night at the Viper Room, bestselling author and journalist Gavin Edwards toggles between the tragic events at the Viper Room in West Hollywood on Halloween 1993 and the story of an extraordinary life. Last Night at the Viper Room is part biography, part cultural history of the 1990s, and part celebration of River Phoenix, a Hollywood icon gone too soon. Full of interviews from his fellow actors, directors, friends, and family, Last Night at the Viper Room shows the role he played in creating the place of the actor in our modern culture and the impact his work still makes today.

Review

     I honestly can't say I was a fan of River when he was still alive - mostly because I was only three years old when he overdosed.  But no matter if you follow someone's career in real time or after the fact, there are some artists, actors, musicians, writers, etc. that just managed to captivate you no matter what.  The first time I saw River Phoenix was at the age of eleven when I saw Stand By Me.  His performance (the whole movie, really) was so entirely honest that I was hooked on watching him.  The air of mystery that shrouded him has only intrigued me even more as an adult.  So when I saw that there was going to be a biography published about him, I knew I absolutely had to read it.  I had to learn more about River than the almost tangible nothing that I already 'knew.'

     Gavin Edwards manages to do something extremely interesting with this book.  He strikes a very nearly perfect balance of pop culture biography and personal biography.  This book is just as much about River and his troubled youth/death as it also manages to be about his entire generation of fellow actors.  Edwards gives us interesting facts about the ways River not dying would have affected the movie industry.  Young Leonardo DiCaprio wouldn't have been in Basketball Diaries or The Man In The Iron Mask.  Christian Slater wouldn't have been the interviewer in Interview With a Vampire.  Would his brother Joaquin still be as famous as he is today?  There are definitely some interesting what-ifs that this book presents to the readers.

     All of the information about River's nomadic childhood, the sexual abuse he suffered and how he was the family's sole means of support for quite some time was heartbreaking.  Add in the slow decline of becoming addicted to drugs, self-sabotage and unhappiness and things become that much worse.  Edwards managed to describe the drug abuse without in any way AT ALL romanticizing it and actually managed to make reading about it cause me to feel sick to my stomach.  The interviews with friends, family, girlfriends and even just people who barely knew who he was (like Johnny Depp, who only saw him at the club the night of the overdose) all lend to the bigger picture of the book, but also give us detailed information about River himself.  We got to learn about his vegan lifestyle, the awkwardness of who he was in general.  River wasn't even sure if he wanted to act anymore, actually being more interested in a band that he formed with some friends and one of his sisters, called Aleka's Attic.  He was also good friends with lots of musicians (including Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers).  This read very personal, almost like a story instead of straight, cold hard non-fiction.  I was happy about that, because it's how I prefer my biographies/autobiographies to read.  I like feeling like I'm being told something with some feeling behind it.

      Overall, this book gives us as readers a good window into the life of one interesting young man, full of potential that was wasted by an early death.  Also, it gives us insight into an entire generation of young Hollywood and the way it developed into what we're familiar with today.  I did like that while River's drug abuse/addiction wasn't romanticized it also wasn't the book's focus.  Instead we got to focus on the life leading up to it and the fact that no one even knew he was in that downward spiral.  I will always wonder 'what if' he had lived, grown older and made more movies.  What would he look like, what career choices would he have made?  Obscurity, TV Star or film, movies or music?  I guess we'll never really know.

VERDICT:  4.5/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, and imprint of Harper Collins, via Edelweiss.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book was published October 22nd, 2013.*

The Lone Ranger Rides Again!

Expected Publication:  July 9th, 2013
The Lone Ranger Omnibus, Volume 1
By: Brett Matthews (Story), Sergio Cariello (Illustrator) and Paul Pope (Illustrator)
Dynamite Entertainment
ISBN-13:  9781606903520

Dynamite's The Lone Ranger series - written by Brett Matthews and expertly rendered by Sergio Cariello and Paul Pope, with incredible covers by the amazing John Cassaday - is a must-read for long-time fans of America's favorite hero of the Wild West! Now for the first time ever, all 25 issues, plus The Lone Ranger: Creed #0 FCBD story, are available in one-amazing collection! The Lone Ranger Omnibus Volume 1 features 632-pages of this classic Eisner Nominated series, as well as a complete cover gallery! Read the entire story of how John Reid was transformed into The Lone Ranger, and, along with his partner Tonto, set a new standard of justice in the Old West!

Review

 

     I have heard of Lone Ranger before and know about the T.V. show from the 50s, the comic books and even the racist stereotypes of the character Tonto, his Native American companion.  Never have I experience any of these things firsthand before now.  What the hell took me so long???  Seeing as this was a review copy, only the first hundred pages or so was collected in it, instead of the 600 and some in the full volume that will be released in July.  But the first hundred pages held more than enough adventure, tragic backstory and hero origins to make any comic book proud.  I loved the balance between dark and light in the artwork.  It had splashes of major color, like the real Old West but also represented the darkness in Lone Ranger's life and it's evolution while dealing with the massacre of his family, all the while not trivializing it or making it into 'statement' art like so many graphic novels become.  I loved the depiction of Tonto as his friend, equal and mentor in revenge, avoiding stereotypes for the most part except for a depiction of him carrying come scalps, but to say that no Native American ever scalped anyone would be PC rewriting history, so it didn't bother me all that much as a reader.  This comic managed to represent copious amounts of violence without becoming an exercise in unnecessary gore like another I read fairly recently, a retelling of Sleepy Hollow which could have taken lessons in tasteful violence from the newest incarnation of the Ranger.  As a fan of Westerns such as Young Guns, The Angel and the Badman, Dances With Wolves, Lonesome Dove (book and film), and the miniseries Into The West, this had an apprehensive start for me.  I knew I would enjoy it in some capacity, but was unsure quite how much - I was rewarded for my faith with a comic that I really loved.   My copy left off with a cliffhanger and I want to know if the Lone Ranger ever has a showdown with Butch Cavendish, the main villain of this rebooted series! :)  I guess I will have to get my hands on a full copy when it's published.  All I can say is that this comic managed to avoid some of the traps that comics trying TOO hard often fall into - lurid or sparse artwork, too much text, clichéd action sequences - and it definitely impressed me as a reader.  I don't know if I'll be seeing the upcoming film, but I'm a definite fan of the upcoming graphic novel!  Recommended for fans of Western novels and films, who like the tragic hero stories and have a thirst for justice.  I don't know how fans of the original comics will feel, but I'd like to think they'll enjoy it.

 

VERDICT:  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 July 9th, 2013.*

Crash Into Me Baby...

Published: January 5th, 2012

Slammed (Slammed # 1)

By: Colleen Hoover

Self Published

ISBN-13: 2940014187602

Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she's losing hope.

Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.

Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the secret that keeps them apart.

Review

     So I got schooled this year, by this novel.  This one was what I consider to be my first true introduction to the New Adult Contemporary genre that has popped up over the last few years and expanded like mad in the writing community.  This book in particular seems to be one most people either really dislike, or really love.  I saw an article about New Adult fiction in Romantic Times magazine and figured I'd give one of the spotlighted books a shot.  Boy am I seriously grateful that I chose this one (which won the draw mostly because it's set in my home state of Michigan!).  Layken was a relatable main character, who although she was mature and good-hearted was far from perfect.  In fact there were times when she was a downright brat to everyone who loves her.  And that made this more real to me than a million perfect heroines with true 'speshul' loves ever could.  We are never our best selves 100 % of the time - EVER.  I loved the way that she and Will met and while the source of their angst and the thing keeping them apart was very cliched, for the most part it was handled extremely well by the author and never delved into the realm of lurid fantasy that it could have easily hijacked.  Layken and Will's little brothers were hilarious and heartbreaking, especially with the tragedy that they're going through with Layken's one remaining parent.  Their Halloween costume made me cry and laugh both.  This book was so sincere and gripping in its emotions that I couldn't put it down, reading it straight through in one sitting!  I can't say much more without giving major spoilers, so all I will say is that if you love romance and reading characters that are people you could actually know, this is the one for you.  But have the sequel within close reach or you'll be dying for the next fix! 

VERDICT:  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.**

I Want a Restraining Order

Expected Publication: January 29th, 2013

Nobody But Us

By: Kristin Halbrook

HarperTeen

ISBN-13: 9780062121264

Bonnie and Clyde meets IF I STAY in this addictively heart-wrenching story of two desperate teenagers on the run from their pasts.

They’re young. They’re in love. They’re on the run.

Zoe wants to save Will as much as Will wants to save Zoe. When Will turns eighteen, they decide to run away together. But they never expected their escape to be so fraught with danger....

When the whole world is after you, sometimes it seems like you can’t run fast enough.

Nobody But Us, told in alternating perspectives from Will and Zoe, is an unflinching novel, in turns heartbreaking and hopeful, about survival, choices, and love...and how having love doesn’t always mean that you get a happy ending. Described as “beautiful, heartbreaking, and exhilarating” by Kody Keplinger, author of The DUFF, Nobody But Us will prove irresistible to fans of Nina Lacour, Jenny Han, and Sara Zarr.

 

Review

     Will and Zoe run away together, hoping that they can outrun everything bad in their lives - her abusive Father, his lack of family or chances in life and the obvious fact that they're too young to be able to survive without any support.  She is educated and naieve and he is an emotional train-wreck, with so many issues that he is constantly fighting the world.  And when things get dangerous, and the FBI comes chasing after them will Zoe and Will be able to have their happy ending?  Or will their story be just another teenage tragedy?  I went into this wanting to fall in love with it.  But alas, it wasn't meant to be.  AT ALL.  This book is nothing like If I Stay, which leads me to believe that the person who wrote this blurb didn't even read the damn book!  I love a good romance, with tensions and obstacles as much as the next person.  But poor abused Zoe had absolutely no self-respect and chose to run away with a guy whose answer to every problem is to beat someone up and who blames HER when she is sexually harrassed while they're traveling.  That is so unromantic it makes me gag.  Also, several times in the book Will makes her afraid that he's going to hit her.  Zoe just basically goes from an abusive Father, to a very unhealthy and bordering on absuive relationship with Will.  Yeah, I get that Will's had a shitty upbringing and plenty of his own problems but y'all, that's NO EFFING EXCUSE!!!  Nothing makes abuse and violence okay!  The way the book ended was super unsatisfying, because even though they are split apart from each other, Zoe is basically still thinking that Will is her soulmate and the only guy for her.  This book glorified abusive and unhealthy relationships and it was disgusting to me as a reader.  Yes the relationship is intense, but in this case that's a bad thing.  Also, did they really think Zoe could enroll in high school with just a fake I.D.?  And when Will kills someone they STILL think they can get out of the situation okay.  Overall a badly written novel that I hated and would not recommend to my dog as a chew toy.  I might recommend it to my hillbilly neighbors' bonfire though...

VERDICT:  0/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via Edelweiss. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is January 29th, 2013.*

Lucidly Afraid of You

Expected Publication:  October 2nd, 2012
Lucid
By: Adrienne Stoltz and Ron Bass
Razorbill
ISBN-13: 9781595145192

What if you could dream your way into a different life? What if you could choose to live that life forever?

Sloane and Maggie have never met. Sloane is a straight-A student with a big and loving family. Maggie lives a glamorously independent life as an up-and-coming actress in New York. The two girls couldn't be more different--except for one thing. They share a secret that they can't tell a soul. At night, they dream that they're each other.

The deeper they're pulled into the promise of their own lives, the more their worlds begin to blur dangerously together. Before long, Sloane and Maggie can no longer tell which life is real and which is just a dream. They realize that eventually they will have to choose one life to wake up to, or risk spiraling into insanity. But that means giving up one world, one love, and one self, forever.

Review

 

     Sloane and Maggie have never met, but they know everything about each other.  This is because only one of them is probably even real.  They have the same name, but everything else is different.  Maggie is an aspiring actress who is on the road to a GED and a serious career in New York.  She lives with her Mom and little sister Jade, having lost her Dad a few years previously.  Sloane is a small-town girl, one of the smartest at her high school, who has a happy family and a wonderful best friend named Gordy.  But she is also dealing with heartbreak, the senseless death of her other best friend Bill the year before, in car accident.  At first everything is okay, until both girls are torn between superficial relationships and true happiness with the right guy.  Now they each have a reason to want the other gone for good.  Spiraling out of control and unable to tell what world is real, Sloan and Maggie begin to blur together.  But who will be the one to survive the breakdown?  I liked the premise of this book at first and thought it was a really intriguing concept.  I thought that both girls would be real and inexplicably connected for some reason.  I liked how detailed and true both girls' lives came across as and the budding romances were very sweet.  However, I felt no need for Sloane and Maggie to be strining along two or three guys each AT THE SAME TIME.  Seriously?  You really don't know which one you like more?  I could really feel Maggie's heartbreak at losing her Dad and Sloane's at losing Bill.  But I got lost around the last 100 pages or so, when the girl(s) start to have a mental breakdown and reality becomes blurred.  For most of that chunk of the book I couldn't even tell who was speaking because they were half in both worlds in every chapter.  I saw the ending coming from a mile away and felt that it was extremely cliched and predictable.  It could have gone in so many fresh, original directions if only the author hadn't gone the 'suppressed guilt' route.  Overall, a disappointment and I feel like I wasted my time.  But for the decency of the first half and how well-written it was, I give this a couple concessionary stars.

 

VERDICT:  2/5  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 October 2nd, 2012.*

I Will Survive On My Own, Thankyouverymuch

Published:  August 2nd, 2012

Survive

By: Alex Morel

Razorbill

ISBN-13: 9781595145109

Hatchet meets Lost in this modern-day adventure tale of one girl's reawakening

Jane is on a plane on her way home to Montclair, New Jersey, from a mental hospital. She is about to kill herself. Just before she can swallow a lethal dose of pills, the plane hits turbulence and everything goes black. Jane wakes up amidst piles of wreckage and charred bodies on a snowy mountaintop. There is only one other survivor: a boy named Paul, who inspires Jane to want to fight for her life for the first time.

Jane and Paul scale icy slopes and huddle together for warmth at night, forging an intense emotional bond. But the wilderness is a vast and lethal force, and only one of them will survive.

Review

   Jane comes from a really dysfunctional family - both her Grandma and her Dad killed themselves because of mental illness.  Now Jane has attempted at least twice, so she's been packed off to the hospital where she has to convince the Doctors that she is well enough to go home again.  But Jane is just playing along, so that once she's out of there she manage to actually kill herself without any interference.  On the plane ride home for Christmas, Jane's in the bathroom with her pills getting ready when turbulence knocks her out.  Upon waking up Jane figures out that the plane has crashed and she and the guy next to her, Paul, were the only two that survived.  Now it's up to them to figure out a way to survive until the rescue crews can find them.  In the meantime will Jane figure out that she never really wanted to die and fight for her life for the first time ever?   I went into this book thinking that it was a winner for sure.  A survivalist fiction story, with a heroine who starts out like Charlie in LOST and ends up wanting to live?  If done right, it could have been phenomenal.  It was very sub-par in the way it turned out.  I was majorly disappointed that Jane wasn't really depressed and only treated suicide like a freaking family tradition.  That was very poorly done.  How can you sympathize as a reader with someone whose thought process is that ridiculously stupid???  Then there was the romance with Paul.  It got on my nerves that they barely knew each other, they were both pretty messed up (not to mention he was old enough that she was jailbait) and they ended up falling in 'love' and sleeping together.   Then one of them DIES.  What the hell?!!  The survivalist parts were few and far between compared to the boring build-up and this novel just didn't compare to the expectations that I had built up for it in my mind.  Not one I would recommend for fans of more hardcore books like the Hatchet series, or My Side of the Mountain (which I never considered hardcore per se before reading this piece of trash).  This is a romance masquerading as a survival story.  If you like that sort of thing, have at it by all means.  If not, avoid it like the plague.

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.   This book became available for purchase on August 2nd, 2012.*

Redmeption Is At Hand...

Expected Publication: October 9th, 2012
Romeo Redeemed (Juliet Immortal # 2)
By: Stacey Jay
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9780385740180

Seductive companion to the popular Juliet Immortal, in which former lovers—Romeo and Juliet—meet, not as true lovers, but truly as enemies.

Cursed to live out eternity in his rotted corpse, Romeo, known for his ruthless, cutthroat ways, is given the chance to redeem himself by traveling back in time to save the life of Ariel Dragland. Unbeknownst to her, Ariel is important to both the evil Mercenaries and the love-promoting Ambassadors and holds the fate of the world in her hands. Romeo must win her heart and make her believe in love, turning her away from her darker potential before his work is discovered by the Mercenaries. While his seduction begins as yet another lie, it soon becomes his only truth. Romeo vows to protect Ariel from harm, and do whatever it takes to win her heart and soul. But when Ariel is led to believe his love is a deception, she becomes vulnerable to Mercenary manipulation, and her own inner darkness may ultimately rip them apart.

Review

  At the end of Juliet Immortal, Romeo Montague had been cursed by the Mercenaries for his betrayl of them to live out the rest of eternity in his rotted corpse.  Then Juliet's former Nurse, an Ambassador of light, comes and offers him a chance to redeem his soul.  All he has to do is make Ariel Dragland believe in true love - the catch is that he'll be inside the body of Dylan Stroud, a boy who made a cruel bet involving her virginity.  Oh yeah, plus he's only given three days.  In the last book Juliet used Ariel's body to carry out her mission, but this time it's the real Ariel, a girl who is broken and full of darkness.  Winning her heart is a job at first, but soon becomes a reality when Romeo starts to have feelings that he thought died with Juliet in Verona hundreds of years ago.  But will he be able to save them both from a major betrayl and the double-crossing intentions of both the Ambassadors AND the Mercenaries?  Why does the story of Romeo and Juliet not exist in this reality and what really happened to Juliet when she refused to become an Ambassador of Light?  This book was exciting for me, because I loved the premise of Juliet Immortal, but with the focus of the narrative on Juliet, I got sick of the gushy teenage girl treatment.  Plus, she never seemed to have as many dark corners in her soul as Romeo did.  He was interesting to me even then and I'm glad he got his own story.  That said, this book was nowhere near perfect.  I was dragged through so many different schemes, plots and double-crosses by Ariel, Romeo, the Nurse and the Friar that I could barely catch my breath or know who to cheer for.  Plus it made my insides roil that Juliet's supposed happy ending from the first book was taken away from her, leaving her to be virtually tortured and almost burned alive!  Romeo was a complex character, with some pretty interesting reasons for joining the Mercenaries in the first place and for his actions after that.  I loved his snarkiness and the sweet things he does for Ariel.  As a character, Ariel is somewhat lacking for me.  I always felt like she was playing ar being tortured.  Even with her ability to see the spirits of those who haven't moved on and her accident as a child, I felt like she had nowhere NEAR enough of a reason to be so dark and twisty inside.  Gemma was a one-dimensional as ever and I really thought there was no reason for her to be included in the narrative.  All she did was slow things down almost glacially where she was involved.  One of my favorite scenes was Romeo and Ariel shopping for dance clothes at Goodwill, but Gemma buts in and kind of spoils it for me.  I did enjoy the flashbacks to Verona in 1304 and I liked the split narrative, although I think I would have enjoyed just Romeo's perspective even more.  The ending was satisfying for me and leads me to believe there won't be more books in the series, which is a nice change nowadays.  I liked the intensity of the romance in this one, versus the almost sickly-sweetness in the first book.  The twist with the Nurse's real purpose and her connection to the Friar made it work out very well and added something to the story that was absolutely needed.  I was alternately mad, happy, laughing crying and smiling during this book.  The rollercoaster was the mark of a well-written story, but also leads to a deduction because of how upset the destruction of Juliet's original happy ending made me.  Overall a great book and highly recommended for fans of Juliet Immortal. 

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 October 9th, 2012.*

Pushing Me To the Brink

Expected Publication: July 31st, 2012
Pushing The Limits
By: Katie McGarry
Harlequin Teen
ISBN-13:  9780373210497

"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.

So wrong for each other...and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

"An edgy romance that pulls you in and never lets go. I was hooked!"-Gena Showalter, New York Times bestselling author of the Intertwined series.

Review

   Echo Emerson has been an outcast since she disappeared from school and came back with disfiguring scars on her arms.  All of her classmates think she tried to committ suicide, but the truth is much darker than that.  It keeps Echo awake at night and haunts her dreams, even though her mind is a total blank and she can't remember what happened.  Plus she has to deal with having lost her brother in Afghanistan, her parents divorcing and her Dad marrying the babysitter, who is pregnant with his child.  Noah Hutchins has been the resident bad boy at Echo's school, but even with the drugs and the parade of girls, he is something much more.  His parents died in a tragic fire and he was separated from his younger brothers, bounced around the foster care system.  Now all he wants is to get his family back together, but he'll need to clean up his act first.  Now with the new counselor Mrs. Collins pushing Echo into tutoring Noah so she can make money to fix her dead brother Aires' car, the lines will blur and they will find something in each other that has been missing from their lives.  As they fall deeper into each others situations, can Echo and Noah find a way to heal together or will they destroy each other once and for all?  I LOVED this book.  It was not completely perfect and sometimes the stupidity of the characters actions annoyed me.  Such as Echo and Noah trying to steal their files, her to find out what happened the day she almost died and him to get the address of the foster home where his brothers are.  And Echo feeling like popularity and getting her old life back were the most important things ever, including her old boyfriend who was a total douchebag and her old BFF who is shallower than a kiddie pool.  I loved the gritty issues that they both had to deal with, that made the story twice as intense.  Plus the chemistry between Echo and Noah was completely smoking hot.  Like off the charts insanely hot!  I liked Lila, Isaiah and Beth although Beth truly made me want to bash her head in at times.  I could not put this book down.  I literally read it in one sitting and wanted more at the end.  By the time things were resolved with Noah's issues and Echo's memory, I was practically bawling.  This was so close to five stars that I have to say I highly recommend it for fans of gritty, contemporary YA who don't mind a little raciness in their fiction.

VERDICT:  4.85/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is July 31st, 2012.*

Oh, Sweet Child Of Mine

Published: April 17th, 2012
The Springsweet (The Vespertine # 2)
By: Saundra Mitchell
Harcourt Children's Books
ISBN-13: 9780547608426

Heartbroken over the tragic death of her fiancé, seventeen-year-old Zora Stewart leaves Baltimore for the frontier town of West Glory, Oklahoma, to help her young widowed aunt keep her homestead going. There she discovers that she possesses the astonishing ability to sense water under the parched earth. When her aunt hires her out as a "springsweet” to advise other settlers where to dig their wells, Zora feels the burden of holding the key to something so essential to survival in this unforgiving land. Even more, she finds herself longing for love the way the prairie thirsts for water. Maybe, in the wildness of the territories, Zora can finally move beyond simply surviving and start living.

Review

   Zora Stewart stops caring about life after her fiance Thomas and her cousin Amelia both die.  With her Mother determined to shove her back into her old life, Zora takes drastic measures.  After almost publicly ruining herself, her Mother finally agrees to send her to live with her widowed Aunt Birdie(not much older than her) and her cousin Louella in West Glory, Oklahoma.  Once she gets there, Zora finds out that she is a springsweet, able to sense water underneath the parched surface of the Earth.  This is a really valuable talent on the dry frontier land, so her Aunt Birdie starts hiring her out to the neighbors.  Meanwhile Zora is resisting the attentions of Theo De La Croix, the man from back home that she used in scheme to get sent away.  She is undeniably attracted to Emerson Birch, a man regarded as trashy and a problem waiting to happen by the other townspeople.  Can Zora make a decision that will allow her to follow her heart or will she be unable to let go of the past?  I honestly was iffy about reading this book after being disappointed by the mediocrity of The Vespertine.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  I really liked Zora in the first book and watching her grow as a person, become even stronger and move past the heartbreak she'd suffered was wonderful.  I honestly didn't particularly care for Aunt Birdie all that much.  I felt like she was too pushy and not a deep enough character.  While I liked Theo, I felt that Emerson was definitely the right match for Zora.  Theo was too much like her old life, while Emerson was part of the frontier world Zora joined.  The supernatural abilities that Zora and Emerson possess were unique.  I've never read of anything like Zora's water sense before in YA.  My major complaint is that this book was far too short.  I would have liked another 50-100 pages to allow the story more time to develop and the characters more time to get into my heart.  All the same, this book stands alone pretty well but the ending would be a little confusing without the backstory of The Vespertine.  Other than that, I'd say skip the first one and dive right into this interesting and fun novel.

VERDICT:  4.25/5  Stars

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

Glowing In the Moonlight

Expected Publication: July 31st, 2012
Moonglow (Darkest London # 2)
By: Kristin Callihan
Forever
ISBN-13: 9781455508587

Once the seeds of desire are sown . . .

Finally free of her suffocating marriage, widow Daisy Ellis Craigmore is ready to embrace the pleasures of life that have long been denied her. Yet her new-found freedom is short lived. A string of unexplained murders has brought danger to Daisy's door, forcing her to turn to the most unlikely of saviors . . .

Their growing passion knows no bounds . . .

Ian Ranulf, the Marquis of Northrup, has spent lifetimes hiding his primal nature from London society. But now a vicious killer threatens to expose his secrets. Ian must step out of the shadows and protect the beautiful, fearless Daisy, who awakens in him desires he thought long dead. As their quest to unmask the villain draws them closer together, Daisy has no choice but to reveal her own startling secret, and Ian must face the undeniable truth: Losing his heart to Daisy may be the only way to save his soul.

Review

   Daisy Ellis Craigmore was not as lucky as her sisters in having a loving, happy marriage.  Hers was full of verbal abuse from a religious, fat old man who refused to touch her in the marriage bed at all after the first time.  Now that Craigmore is dead, Daisy is finally free to be the passionate and loving woman that she was before her marriage to him.  Then her life gets turned upside down after someone is killed outside a party she is attending - while wearing a perfume that is supposed to by hers.  Now the only man who might be able to help her is Marquis Ian Ranulf.  He knows exactly what the beast is thinking and feeling because he is akin to it himself - a werewolf.  However, a rogue is a threat to the entire pack community so Ian has a sacred duty to put an end to the beast.  Helping Daisy becomes part of the equation when he realizes that he can't keep his hands off of her and doesn't even want to.  Could this be the beginning of a love that will last?  But with secrets being kept by Daisy and Ian, the possibility for heartache is just as great as that for love.  I liked that Ian and Daisy were the principal characters in this novel, seeing as they were my two favorite secondaries from Firelight.  Daisy's snarky, loyal and lovable personality reminded me of my favorite cousin, so I couldn't help but fall in love with her as the heroine of the novel.  Ian's wounded spirit, issues with acting responsibly and overall rakishness were a major attraction for me.  I'm a sucker for the wounded, reformable bad boy, what can I say? :)  The fact that the killer was a sick and mentally unstable werewolf (from illness not inherited insanity) added to the interest of things mystery-wise.  One thing I didn't like was the utter predictability of the identity of the mad, syphilitic werewolf.  Also the verging on tragic ending for Daisy and Ian REALLY made me mad.  Daisy's solution was also predicatable, with set-up near the middle of the novel.  I rather liked the way the steampunk was incorporated.  It didn't overwhelm to fantasy or paranormal elements of the novel.  I was happy about the revelation that all of the sisters have elemental powers.  Truly waiting with excitement for oldest sister Poppy's story.  I would recommend this to fans of the first book.  It could be read separately, but I still think readers should go in the sequence of the series.

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 is July 31st, 2012.*

Tainted Legacies

Expected Publication: July 31st, 2012
The Goddess Legacy (Goddess Test # 2.5)
By: Aimee Carter
Harlequin Teen
ISBN-13: 9780373210756

For millennia we've caught only glimpses of the lives and loves of the gods and goddesses on Olympus. Now Aimee Carter pulls back the curtain on how they became the powerful, petty, loving and dangerous immortals that Kate Winters knows.

Calliope/Hera represented constancy and yet had a husband who never matched her faithfulness....

Ava/Aphrodite was the goddess of love and yet commitment was a totally different deal....

Persephone was urged to marry one man, yet longed for another....

James/Hermes loved to make trouble for others-but never knew true loss before....

Henry/Hades's solitary existence had grown too wearisome to continue. But meeting Kate Winters gave him a new hope....

Five original novellas of love, loss and longing and the will to survive throughout the ages.

Review

   Hera was once a loving, loyal and happy goddess - time and Zeus' unfaithfulness changed that.  Aphrodite saw love as something that is shared by many, not tied down by committment.  Was it so wrong to love Hephaestus and Ares both, just in diffferent ways?  Persephone grew up destined to be with the man her parents chose for her, thinking that they knew best.  But she never loved him and only grew to feel trapped and resentful.  There is a man she could love, however it might be too late for a happy ending.  Hermes was a mischief-maker, but when he became involved with an indepent and spirited human girl, a tragic ending may shatter his heart.  Hades had given up on life after Persephone chose to be with someone else.  His siblings have an idea that might save him.  Will he allow them to carry it out or will he fade into a mere memory?  I enjoyed the revelations that came from Hera/Calliope's novella.  It gave a lot of insight into why she became scorned and angry at everyone in the family.  Plus it explained her unreciprocated attachment to Henry/Hades.  Ava/Aphrodite's novella was definitely one of the more interesting ones, but I honestly felt like she was a tramp/whore who was just looking for an excuse to not have to choose between Hephaestus and Ares.  Her erratic 'romantic' behavior really spoiled any enjoyment I had for her story.  I was bored and annoyed at Henry's novella because I felt that it was totally unneccessary.  Everything had already been told by that point and there was no good reason to have yet another telling of how the tests for the next Queen of the Underworld came about.  My absolute favorite novella was the one for Hermes/James.  I adored his attitude which was quirky and sarcastic as always.  I loved the Robin Hood type setting for the plot that unfolded.  The way he connected with the band of orphans and the slightly tragic romance with their leader was heartrending.  He is definitely my favorite character now, hands down!  One major complaint is the soap-opera behavior and situations of the gods and goddesses.  But then again, Greek mythology is rife with that sort of drama.  Still got really old.  I would recommend reading this before the other books actually, since it's more of a prequel, if you're new to the series.  If not, you should read this for the background it gives.  Overall a decent prequel.

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 is July 31st, 2012.*