Wonderful Only In the Dark

 



Published:  March 20th, 2012
Wonder Show
By: Hannah Barnaby
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
ISBN-13: 9780547599809

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, step inside Mosco’s Traveling Wonder Show, a
menagerie of human curiosities and misfits guaranteed to astound and amaze!
But perhaps the strangest act of Mosco’s display is Portia Remini, a normal among
the freaks, on the run from McGreavy’s Home for Wayward Girls, where Mister
watches and waits. He said he would always find Portia, that she could never leave.
Free at last, Portia begins a new life on the bally, seeking answers about her father’s
disappearance. Will she find him before Mister finds her? It’s a story for the ages, and
like everyone who enters the Wonder Show, Portia will never be the same.

Review

 

     Portia Remini has always lived a life of uncertainty, with only one thing she knows to be true - even though her Father left her with Aunt Sophia, he will return for her someday.  So when Sophia sends her to live at McGreavy's Home for Wayward Girls because she can't deal with her wild spirit, Portia is angry and confused.  Add into the mix a sinister benefactor known only by the name "Mister" who might possibly be a Bluebeard-esque murderer and you have plenty of reasons for Portia to run away.   Joining together with Mosco's Traveling Wonder Show, Portia becomes an apprentice to the ballyhoo under the pretext of looking for her Father.  Along the way, Portia may just find something more important - who she is and what her place in the world happens to be.  But when Mister finally catches up to her, will Portia be able to make a stand for her future and set herself free once and for all?  I went into this book expecting a fun, thoughtful circus-oriented novel.  What I got was a book about a girl named Portia, the normal girl traveling with the freak show and on the run from a twisted benefactor she wants to escape from.  I liked the balance of vulnerability and snark in Portia and her familial issues made her very easy to relate to.  I wanted (alternately) to give her a hug and to smack her upside the head for making dumb decisions.  I think that her friend Caroline served as a portrayl of the road not taken in Portia's own life.  It felt like she was the contrasting side of Portia's personality.  The whole book gave off a dark, magical feeling like the world was trapped inside a snow globe with a dust storm raging around everything.  It was beautiful prose, that was on the verge of poetry.  Including narratives from so many characters was a bold choice for a debut author and even though I was disappointed that I couldn't get closer to Portia through perspective focusing, I did like the extra insights.  The ending was wonderful, and not overly cliched which made it all the better to me.  However, there was a very clunky plot twist explaining away Mister's 'graveyard' with the missing girls.  I felt that it came from nowhere and did not fit into the book, or his previous characterization at all.  My overall feeling is that this was an unusually haunting and strong debut novel and I am definitely putting this author on my watchlist; you should too!

 

VERDICT:  4.5/5  Stars

 

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

Dawn Goes Down Today

Expected Publication:  May 14th, 2013

Golden 

By: Jessi Kirby

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

ISBN-13:  9781442452169

Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost may be a distant relative of Robert Frost, but she has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a mystery in her lap—one that might be the key to uncovering the truth behind a town tragedy, she decides to take a chance.

Review

     Parker Frost has spent her entire life being the good girl, and playing it safe.  Now she's almost ready to graduate from high school and she's never broken any rules, given in to her feelings for the bad boy or truly enjoyed herself just being a teenager.  But when she is thrown into the middle a mystery, holding the piece of the puzzle that might solve it over a decade after the fact, Parker must decide whether or not to do the 'right' thing, or follow her heart for once.  Things aren't always what they seem though, and the town tragedy may be more tragic than anyone ever suspected.  Can Parker set things right, or will she only make things worse? And can she learn from the mistakes of two doomed, teen lovers or will she repeat them?  I felt sorry for Parker and yet wanted to smack some sense/adventure into her at the same time.  It was admirable how much she loved her Mom and wanted to make things easier for her by being good.  But to let her Mom map out her entire future and control every last aspect of her life, at the age of eighteen?  That was a little much.  I couldn't imagine going that far for someone I loved, if it would make me miserable for probably the rest of my life.  The relationship between Parker and her best friend Kat was amusing, touching and wonderfully written.  There were sparks between Parker and Trevor were more sweet than hot for me.  But after the all-consuming nature of Alison and Willem's relationship from Just One Day, it was a welcome change.  The mystery of what happened to local teens Shane Cruz and Julianna Farnetti was interesting, but it was also pretty predictable.  I did like the ending that allowed for some happiness though and it was good that Parker got a dose of reality and learned that life isn't like a Nicholas Sparks book/movie, while still maintaining her romantic outlook.  Overall it was an interesting book.  Seeing Julianna teach Parker to live by these words by Mary Oliver,  "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" was definitely a different approach to the usual dead girl guide trope.  It reminded me somewhat of the coming of age novels that have made Susane Colasanti, Sarah Dessen and Jennifer E. Smith famous.  Jessi Kirby is well on her way to being in their league.  Also, the cover is gorgeous and the tag line is in keeping with the story for once.  Good on you S&S, good on you. :)

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. It will be available for purchase on May 14th, 2013.*

Jessie Pearl Is More Than Just a Pretty Girl



Published: February 1st, 2013
The Ballad of Jessie PEarl
By: Shannon Hitchcock
Namelos
ISBN-13: 9781608981410

Sometimes when the kerosene lamp casts shadows, I think I see Ma's ghost. If she were still alive, she'd say, Jessie Pearl, you keep on studying. Not everybody is cut out to be a farm wife. We'll find a way to pay for teachers' college. Leave your pa to me

And tonight, Ma would notice how my hands are trembling. I can almost hear her voice. Jessie, fourteen is too young to help birth a baby. Why don't you go and study in the kitchen? But Ma is just a memory.

It's 1922, and Jessie has big plans for her future, but that's before tuberculosis strikes. Though she has no talent for cooking, cleaning, or nursing, Jessie puts her dreams on hold to help her family. She falls in love for the first time ever, and suddenly what she wants is not so simple anymore.

Review

     Jessie Pearl is the youngest child in her family and with all her grown up siblings married, living on farms she is determined to go places and do things.  Most of all she wants to become a teacher the way her Ma planned before she died.  But then Jessie helps her sister Carrie during the birth of her nephew and Carrie falls seriously ill.  Jessie has no choice but to drop out of school and nurse Carrie as she slowly wastes away from Tuberculosis.  All the time Jessie is worried about catching the very contagious disease and feeling guilty for her dreams of still leaving home.  When Carrie dies, she leaves a letter asking Jessie to be Ky's Ma until her husband Frank re-marries.  Now 15 year old Jessie has a baby to take care of and no hope that she can see of reaching her dreams.  Then the boy she loves moves away and another tragedy strikes Jessie's family, leaving her to wonder just what she's supposed to do with her life?  Is she meant to be just a farm wife or will she still do something greater?

     My love for this book knows no bounds.  It reminds me of every good old West book from my childhood: Caddie Woodlawn, Sarah Plain and Tall, etc. but with just enough of a hint of modernity thrown in.  The lack of curse words and familial disrespect from the teenage main character was definitely a nice change of pace (not that I don't like a good curse word every now and then still...).  Jessie Pearl was a strong, defiant and proud heroine, exactly the kind that I love; as long as the heroine still has a nice, big bleeding heart beating in her chest for the ones she loves.  Jessie has all of that and more and her humanity touched me in a way that goes beyond time.  The struggles of her family against the often deadly disease of tuberculosis (which is highly contagious) were heartbreaking, but they matured Jessie and kept her from making as many rash decisions as she used to.  In other words: Jessie Pearl grows up big time.  It had a lyrical quality about it, this book, even though it was definitely a prose novel.  I am interested to see what this author comes out with next.  I think she could definitely be the next Patricia MacLachlan, only for the Young Adult set of readers.  Highly recommended to fans of well done YA historical fiction, with strong heroines and well drawn storylines.

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 February 1st, 2013.**

Painting the Roses Red

Published: January 1st, 2013
Splintered
By: A.G. Howard
Amulet
ISBN-13: 978149704284

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.  When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Review

 

     Alyssa has grown up with a very valid fear of losing her sanity - the women in every generation of her family since her great-great-great Grandmother Alice Liddell have been committed to asylums.  Yes, Alyssa's three times great Grandmother was the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's books about the twisted world of Wonderland.  But she insisted that it was real.  And since Alyssa has been communicating with bugs and plants for most of her life, she's pretty sure she's going insane too.  Until she discovers that it's all true and she has to travel to Wonderland in order to break the family curse and free her Mom before more drastic measures are taken to 'cure' her.  But Wonderland is not the same as it was before Alice fell down the rabbit hole and Alyssa must fix all her mistakes if she's to ever be sent home again.  She didn't count on her best friend (and secret crush) Jeb getting dragged down into the rabbit hole with her.  And who will she trust with her life - Jeb or Morpheus, her childhood guide thorough Wonderland who has his own selfish and possibly deadly motivations.  When Alyssa uncovers a secret from her family's past that changes everything, can she still save Wonderland without sacrificing who she is?

     I was expecting disappointment when I went into this, even though I was giddy with excitement.  Thankfully it lived up to my expectations, unlike the 2010 Tim Burton film redux.  Everyone should skip that and go with Syfy's Alice miniseries from 2009.  There's a very HOT Hatter in it...but I digress!  The book managed to take a darker spin on Wonderland and still make it relatable and not completely out of context.  It was like coming upon a treasure chest of Gothic jewels.  And they were very well crafted.  It was pure awesomeness having a heroine, who while pretty much crush obsessed, managed to not let it overtake her entire life.  Alyssa was brave, strong, independent and wonderfully snarky.  I liked that she was being tested and (supposedly) had to fix Alice's mistakes to break the curse of madness in her family.  The author managed to make both Morpheus and Jeb both likeable love interests, even though about 80% of the time I wanted to smack one, or both, of them upside the head.  The mystery of all the original characters' true stories, Alyssa's family lineage and the motivations of everyone offering to 'help' her finish her quest make for a truly gripping story.  Some truly creepy scenes had me flipping pages, desperate to find out what happened next.  The ending leaves things open for a sequel, but could also be a fairly satisfying ending which is nice in a world full of never-ending trilogies and quartets.  Highly recommended for anyone looking for an innovative and well crafted tale with romance, adventure, twisted fairy-tale elements and pure surprise.

 

VERDICT:  4.75/5  Stars (I can't go higher because of the loose ending.  I would have liked more definite closure or cliffhanger.  One or the other.)

 

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

The Moonlight Made You a Monster

Published: January 29th, 2013
Othermoon (Otherkin # 2)
By: Nina Berry
Kensington Teen
ISBN-13: 9780758276933

Everyone has secrets. I had no idea mine would lead me into shadow. Dez has found the place where she belongs. With the otherkin. With Caleb. Or so she thought. As the barriers between our world and Othersphere fall, a wall rises between Dez and Caleb, leaving her fiercest enemy her only friend. 

And maybe something more. 

Now Dez must make a devastating choice: keep the love of her life, or save the otherkin from annihilation.

Review

     Dez is hoping life might head in the direction of normal - at least for a little while.  After rescuing Siku, a fellow shifter and friend, from the Tribunal with the rest of their friends she just wants a break.  But then a stranger breaks in  and steals her DNA, and her Mom is possessed by something from the Othersphere - something that just may be Dez's birth mother.  Forced to go on the run again, Dez returns to Morphael's school so that they can make a plan to stop the Tribunal from wiping out all the otherkin in one attack.  But can Dez and her friends stop a particle accelerator or is that too big for the teens?  And will Dez be able to do the right thing for the damaged Lazar and keep her relationship with Caleb from crumbling?  I went into this with very high hopes, having really loved the first book.  I was disappointed.  Dez has almost no character development, shows signs of idiotic martyr syndrome, and moons over Caleb who treats her like dirt for most of the book.  Not that she's perfect either, as she persists in lying to him about anything involving his enemy, half-brother Lazar.  I thought that the only one who really showed any development was Lazar, who became a truly interesting and layered character in this book.  November and Siku's relationship wasn't a surprise, and Arnaldo's family issues were just another situation for Dez to meddle in when she should have kept out of it.  I was surprised by London and Amaris' relationship and how close they became, but it was extremely sweet.  It almost made up for the emotionally unstable train-wreck that Dez and Caleb were building throughout the book as I watched in horror.  The plot itself felt like a less thought-out redux of the first book, with them trying to stop the bad guys against all odds.  And the revelations about Dez's birth mother and her true origins were kind of 'blah.'  Ximon became even more one-dimensional as a villain, with even more evil deeds being added to his greatest hits.  But I am still holding out hope for the next book and thinking that maybe Nina Berry just succumbed to the disease that seems to plague YA authors.....the dreaded sophomore syndrome!  Overall, not what I would have liked to read but better than a lot of second books in series that I've read in the past.

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

* I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published January 29th, 2013.*

Hearts On Fire, Hiding From the World

Expected Publication: May 28th, 2013
Monument 14: Sky On Fire (Monument 14 # 2)
By: Emmy Laybourne
Feiwel and Friends
ISBN-13: 9780312569044

The world hasn't ended...yet.

In this sequel to MONUMENT 14, the group of survivors, originally trapped together in a superstore by a series of escalating disasters, has split in two. Most of the kids are making a desperate run on their recently repaired school bus for the Denver airport where they hope to reunite with their parents, be evacuated to safety, and save their dying friend.

But the world outside is dark and filled with dangerous chemicals that turn people into bloodthirsty monsters, and not all the kids were willing to get on the bus. Left behind in a sanctuary that has already been disturbed once, the remaining kids try to rebuild the community they lost. But when the issues are life and death, love and hate, who can you really trust?

Review

 

     Brothers Dean and Alex have parted ways, with Dean staying behind at the superstore and Alex going away with most of the other kids on the school bus, trying to make it to Denver.  Both groups still face horrible dangers, with all of the kids in the store being Blood Type O which makes them violent when exposed to the chemical compounds in the air outside.  When the bus is hijacked and the store is under siege by a group of teenage raiders, it will be up to Dean and his brother to each try and keep their respective charges safe until they can find a way out of their destroyed world and back to their families, in the safety of the world beyond.  So, I had really enjoyed the first book and went into this one with pretty high expectations.  I mean who has never once wondered what it would be like to live in one of those superstores.  Well, this book picks up right where the first one left off.  It deals with some harsh realities, like when to give up on a friend if they're dying and there's nothing you can do.  Jake, the father of Astrid's baby, finds his way back to the superstore but because he wants the drugs in the pharmacy not to help anyone else.  Dean still has feelings for Astrid and she treats him like shit until the chemical reactions bring them together involuntarily (which I still don't know how I feel about that - did she even really like him, or was it 'just because?').  The kids on the bus deal with being stolen from, on the verge of starving, and being the guests of a crazy old guy in an airtight bunker (who is most likely a killer).  The fact that more than half of their parents are still MIA was very realistic and I was disappointed that not everyone made it to Denver, but the author's realism pleased me and makes up for it.  This is an 'apocalypse' book.  Not everyone gets a happy ending if the author's doing it right!  I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading the next one in the series, especially with the cliffhanger the author dropped on me at the last second!  I highly recommend this series to fans of Ashfall by Mike Mullins, The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and Article 5 by Kristen Simmons.

 

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. It will be available for purchase on May 28th, 2013.*

Your Kiss Just Might Kill Me

Published: October 1st, 2012
Who I Kissed
By: Janet Gurtler
Sourcebooks Fire
ISBN-13: 9781402270543

Samantha is new at school and just recently joined the swim team. She’s been flirting with one of her teammates, Zee, who invites her to a party and just as quickly dumps her for another girl. Hurt, but pretending not to care, she turns to his best friend, Alex, and gives him a kiss. And he dies—right in her arms. Alex was allergic to peanuts, and Samantha had eaten a peanut butter sandwich right before the party. She didn’t know. Overnight, Samantha turns into the school pariah and a media sensation explodes. Consumed with guilt, abandoned by her friends, and in jeopardy of losing her swimming scholarship, she will have to find the inner-strength to forgive herself for the tragedy.

Review

 

     Sam just moved to a new town and is starting to make friends, even if it is just with the kids on her swim team.  One of her teammates, Zee, invites her to a party and because she likes him Sam decides to go.  But when he spends the party hooking up with another girl, Sam decides to flirt with someone else.  When they kiss, Alex has a seizure - and dies right in her arms.  It turns out that he was allergic to peanuts and Sam ate a peanut butter sandwhich before the party.  She had no clue about his allergies, but now everyone blames her for Alex's death.  Sam retreats into herself, in agony over Alex's death thinking that she killed him.  She quits swimming and talking to anyone at school, and lets herself be used by a boy she thinks likes her.  Will Sam be able to find the strength to move on?  Especially when it may never have been her fault at all.  I spent the majority of the book feeling really bad for Sam.  It wasn't her fault that she didn't know about Alex's allergy.  She was just a girl who kissed a guy at a party.  How many of us have done that without knowing that sort of thing about the person?  Sam has a really supportive Dad and her Aunt is awesome.  I liked the depth of her issues of not knowing what really happened with her Mom - the fact that it took this long for them to tell her that her Mom was bi-polar is sort of pathetic.  I couldn't understand what she saw in Zee though.  I thought he treated her like crap even before what happened with Alex, and then after that he was a total asshole to Sam.  I could understand the grief of Alex's family and thought the author handled that really well.  My major anger was that Sam went through all of this, when at the end of the book you find out that it wasn't really her fault (and two of the teens blaming her knew that all along).  Overall a really thought-provoking read that keeps you guessing the entire time.  I recommend it for fans of Sarah Dessen, Susane Colasanti, and Jennifer E. Smith.

 

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.**