Catch A Severed Head, and Put It In Your Pocket...

Expected Publication:  August 27th, 2013
The Beginning of Everything (Originally titled 'Severed Heads and Broken Hearts')
By: Robyn Schneider
Katherine Tegen
ISBN-13:  9780062217134

Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life.

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes?

Robyn Schneider’s The Beginning of Everything is a lyrical, witty, and heart-wrenching novel about how difficult it is to play the part that people expect, and how new beginnings can stem from abrupt and tragic endings.

Review

 

     Ezra Faulkner had it all - the girl, the car, the friends, popularity, jock status and the possibility of an athletic scholarship.  But then one night after he left a party, Ezra was in a horrible car accident that shattered his leg and destroyed his dreams for the future.  Now his friends are no longer involved in his life and his girlfriend, Charlotte, is dating his former best friend.  So he finds himself sitting with Toby, his friend from elementary school who caught someone's severed head on a Disneyworld rollercoaster and was ostracized for it.  Ezra also becomes the newest member of the debate team, as his schedule has been changed to accommodate for no longer being on the tennis team.  This is how he meets new girl Cassidy, who is mysterious and smart, completely different from anyone he's ever met before.  They begin a whirlwind romance, but with all the secrets she's keeping things may not last as long as Ezra hopes.  Can he become the person he always should have been and will his life ever be the same now that Cassidy is part of it? 

     I went into this expecting it to be more like reading a Sarah Dessen book than anything else.  That would have been totally fine, seeing as I love Ms. Dessen's books but what I got was something special in its own right and very original!  Unlike the synopsis implies, Ezra's friends are still trying to half-assed include him in their lives and activities.  But they do it in stupid, unfeeling ways like inviting him on sporty trips he can't be part of because of his leg.  And he's rightfully angry and confused, because none of them stayed to help him when he was hurt in the accident, they all left because they didn't want the cops to bust them for the party.  None of them visited him in he hospital either.  Toby's reacceptance and integration of Ezra into his life, group of nerd friends and the debate team he captains is wonderful.  He is an excellent example of taking an unfortunate circumstance and not letting it derail you (aka the severed head).  Also, he's not afraid to tell Ezra when he's acting like a douchebag.  Cassidy was my least favorite character, although the friendship and eventual romance between the two of them did make me smile.  But she is hiding some major secrets and has a serious superiority complex, acting like everyone else is dumber than her and beneath her notice.  Her stunts at the debate team competition are stupid and juvenile, and made me angry even though I understood her pain (if not her jacked up reasoning).  I guess that was the point of some of the events in this book, life doesn't always make sense and we don't always know people as well as we think we do.  The best thing about this book is the transformation of Ezra (definitely for the better) and how he becomes a completely different person gradually through the course of the book. 

     There was some very smart, witty dialogue but I never felt like I was being pandered to and I never got an impression of phoniness from any of the characters (except for Cassidy, but it fit with her habit of trying too hard to be okay).  Ezra's narration was very teenage boy, real and involving some deep feelings but also dealing with moments without common sense and garden variety teen behavior.  He's caught between letting himself change and trying to hang onto the way things used to be, even if they no longer fit into place the same way.  That's something everyone can relate to.  The ending was heart-wrenching, but wonderful in that it was completely unexpected and more true to life than most contemporary YA books turn out to be.  I did feel like some of the pop culture nostalgia was more in line with mid to late twenty-somethings and not teens.  For example, Furby and Tamogachis were both mentioned! Although Ezra's Halloween costume is pure late 2000s and will make you laugh if you have a sense of humor like mine!  Also, the twist involving an unknown connection between Cassidy and Ezra felt like it kind of came out of nowhere and didn't fit in with the feeling to the rest of the narrative.  Highly recommended for fans of contemporary YA romance/coming of age stories, who like a book that will play with their emotions and make them fall in love with the characters.

 

VERDICT:  4.5/5  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's expected publication date is August 27th, 2013.*

Time Probably Has More Than Two Sides

Published:  January 1st, 1997 (Originally published July 1st, 1995)
Both Sides of Time (Time Travelers # 1)
By: Caroline B. Cooney
Perfection Learning
ISBN-13:  9780780769670

Imagine changing centuries--and making things worse, not better, on both sides of time.

Imagine being involved in two love triangles in two different centuries. What if, no matter which direction you travel in time, you must abandon someone you love?

Meet 15-year-old Annie Lockwood, a romantic living in the wrong century. When she travels back a hundred years and lands in 1895--a time when privileged young ladies wear magnificent gowns, attend elegant parties, and are courted by handsome gentlemen--Annie at last finds romance. But she is a trespasser in time. Will she choose to stay in the past? Will she be allowed to?

Review

 

     Annie Lockwood has always been a hopeless romantic.  But she is stuck in the twentieth century, with a seriously cute boyfriend, Sean, who calls her by her initials, spends all his time working on cars and doesn't have a single romantic bone in his entire body.  When the town decides to tear down the crumbling Stratton mansion, Annie rides out there on her bike the day summer vacation begins to visit Sean and help him pack up all his tools before the demolition - she never expects to fall back in time!  Now Annie is in a world of riches, parties, old-fashioned romance and a boy named Strat who just might be her true love.  But they come from different worlds and Annie doesn't belong in 1895 and when she is accused of murder, the clock starts ticking.   Can Annie find a way to get back home to her own family, which is falling apart at the seams?  And does she even want to?  I read this series for the first time when I was about 8 or 9 years old and LOVED it to pieces!  I adored anything with time travel and the fact that it had romance was a bonus.  I've re-read the series a couple times as a middle-schooler and again in high school (one of those times was for when book #4 in the series was released).  I shouldn't have picked it up again as an adult.  I remembered a fun read that was romance, murder mystery and time travel all rolled into one.  What I got was overall bland characterizations (except for a few exceptions) and shoddily constructed plots - except for the murder, which was one that I never expected, although I'm sure others have guessed it before.  I guess I'm just naïve like that! :)  Annie is basically a placeholder character, who hates her life and wants adventure to come along and to have a romantic guy sweep her off her feet.  But she is content enough to stay with Sean and be bored until time takes the decision from her.  Strat is a product of his time period, wanting to save the women from themselves and not being able to see past outer appearance in favor of  his plainer best friend, Harriet, who is in love with him.  His sister Devonny is young and not a very prominent character, but I did love her excitement over new technology and inventions, along with her determination to be a modern woman.  She was a great role model for younger girls reading this book and the ones after it.  Harriet's only purpose seems to be as the requisite plain, orphaned, rich girl who never gets the guy.  She was devoid mostly of personality and really the only emotion we ever see on her part is some form of jealousy for Annie (either her looks, personality, etc. or her interactions/relationship with Strat). 

     The villains of this book were mostly cookie cutter and easy enough to understand once they were found out.  The most common motive in this book for anything was money.  But one villain in particular (who is carted off screaming and acting insane [in a believable way] at the end) stuck with me and was realistic enough to send chills up my spine.  The constant emphasis of the author on class distinctions, especially the romance between the maid  Bridget and the stable boy Jeb, was somewhat overdone and in your face.  The same thing goes for the constant downtrodden state of the women in the novel.  Although the ending and the part Florinda (Strat's ditzy Stepmother) has in catching the murderer was awesome.  A lot of plot holes existed and we never really find out how or why Annie is suddenly traveling through time.  And now that I'm older, the whole 'love at first sight' thing made me want to gag.  Plus, would you really act so 20th century in the presence of people 100 years in the past?  And go around announcing that you'd traveled through time, causally like they wouldn't lock you in a nuthouse for it???  Yeah, didn't think so!  That said, even with some of the heavy-handedness, it's a fun read and sets up for the rest of the series nicely.  I would recommend it more to kids  around ages 10-18 though.  Adults, be prepared to feel underwhelmed unless you're a fan of somewhat questionably done writing.  Overall, won't be reading again but might give it to my niece someday.

 

 

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars (Some of this is based on old feelings.  I'll always have a soft spot for this series!)

**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 Best Of Both Worlds

 

Published:  August 29th, 2005
Disney After Dark (The Kingdom Keepers # 1)
By: Ridley Pearson
Disney Press
ISBN-13:  9780786854448

In this fantastical novel, Disney's Magic Kingdom suddenly becomes a bit eerie. Finn Whitman and four other teens have been hired as Disney World guides, but with an odd twist: With cutting-edge technology, they have been transformed into hologram projections capable of leading guests around the park. What begins as an exciting theme park job turns into a virtual nightmare as Finn and his pals attempt to thwart an uprising by a menacing group of Disney villains.

Review

 

     Finn Whitman was really excited to be part of an experimental program run at Disney's Magic Kingdom theme park.  He and four other kids his age are to be the basis for holographic hosts, to give tours to all the park's guests.  But what he and the others don't know is that they are secretly being used as an experiment and will have new abilities that Disney hopes will save the park - from its own characters.  With villains from various Disney tales banding together and calling themselves 'the Overtakers', they won't quit until they've busted loose from the park and started taking over the world.  It's up to Finn, with help from Willa, Philby, Maybeck and Charlene to put a stop to the overtakers.  But with the truly evil Maleficent leading them, will good lose this time?  Like other people, I went into this expecting a lot more recognizable Disney character cameos.  But I had read reviews beforehand from disappointed readers, and so I braced myself.  But it reminded me a lot of the old video game, Kingdom Hearts, for Playstation.   It has a Disney feeling to it with hints of the old, but original characters are the focus of the story.  Finn was not a very in-depth character, yet it didn't bother as much as something like that normally would.  Probably because the holographic host situation and the kids waking up in the park at night reminded me a lot of those old Choose Your Own Adventure books.  It felt like a book you could put yourself in and therefore the characters should be a little bit vague!  And they weren't even necessarily vague, they just ready pretty young and naïve to me.  The whole relationship with Wayne, the old guard of Disney's Imagineers, was funny but also mysterious and I'm interested to see the interactions later on in the series between him and the kids.  The 'battle' scenes with the dolls from It's a Small World, the pirates from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and the dinosaur from Thunder Mountain were something from the best part of being a kid - the kind that make you laugh and hang on to the edge of your seat, like watching your first action movie.  I have seen complaints about the characterization of Maleficent, but I thought she came across just as creepy and chilling as she does in the Disney film.  I was willing to suspend my disbelief and be terrified right along with Finn and his friends.  The revelation about seemingly evil new girl at school Jezebel and Finn's friend, Amanda, is not particularly surprising but does set up for future books quite nicely.  The majority of the plot was spent trying to solve Walt Disney's secret fable 'The Stonecutter's Quill' and use the answer to stop the Overtakers.  It was an interesting and original idea lacking depth of execution, but just as fun as deciding whether to turn to page 4 or 81 to find out who lives and dies.  Overall, a fun adventure read and one I would recommend for reluctant readers and middle school aged kids especially.  Only one noted, beware:  If you're looking for a character filled romp this is NOT IT.  This book is more behind the scenes, technology based.  One of the reasons I liked it a lot, but definitely not for everyone! :)

 

VERDICT:  3.75/5  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.**

NANTUCKET BLUE GIVEAWAY!!!

 

 

For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.

Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.

But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.

A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.  (Summary Courtesy of Goodreads)

 



 

     Hey guys!  So it's been literally almost a year and a half since my last giveaway!!!  My personal life has been more than a little bit hectic and it's been all I could manage to work 40 hour weeks, take a full courseload at the local college and keep this blog updated.  But now I'm done with school, so I'm able to do more fun stuff for my followers again.  Also, I'm getting a lot more ARCS passing through my hands and since I can't trade them at the used bookstore, I might as well pass along the wealth! :)  I wanted to be generous, especially with my own birthday approaching this coming Tuesday, so there are three possible prize packs that you can win.

A link to my review of the book: http://diamondinroughcoal.blogspot.com/2013/04/far-beyond-blue.html

Here is a picture of the grand prize:

GRAND PRIZE

- 1 Print ARC of 'Nantucket Blue', 1 blue infinity scarf, 1 bottle sea-blue nail polish, 1 blue-polka dot notebook (to keep a diary like Cricket's Mom!) and 1 aqua necklace. 

*In case you can't tell there is a theme here... :)

FIRST RUNNER UP

 

- 1 DVD copy of 'Splash' (1984, Daryl Hannah & Tom Hanks), 1 CD copy of Muse's 'The 2nd Law' and your choice of ebook or print copy 'Nantucket Blue' preordered from Amazon.com 

 

*The DVD is according to Leila Howland, Cricket's BFF Jules' favorite '80s movie and the CD is the latest from her new friend Liz's favorite band.

 

SECOND RUNNER UP

 

- 1 copy 'Nantucket Blue (your choice of ebook or print copy from Amazon.com).

 

 

As said by Porky Pig, that's all folks! :)  This giveaway is for U.S. entrants only because of shipping etc.  I'm sorry if this knocks any of you from the running.  It starts today and goes until 12am on Saturday, May 11th.  Good luck to everyone entering, just fill out the entries on the Rafflecopter form below and even if you don't win you should all read this really awesome book anyways! :)



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Up In Lights

 

Published:  April 1st, 2013
That Time I Joined The Circus
By: J.J. Howard
Scholastic
ISBN-13:  9780545433815

Lexi Ryan just ran away to join the circus, but not on purpose.

A music-obsessed, slightly snarky New York City girl, Lexi is on her own. After making a huge mistake--and facing a terrible tragedy--Lexi has no choice but to track down her long-absent mother. Rumor has it that Lexi's mom is somewhere in Florida with a traveling circus.

When Lexi arrives at her new, three-ring reality, her mom isn't there . . . but her destiny might be. Surrounded by tigers, elephants, and trapeze artists, Lexi finds some surprising friends and an even more surprising chance at true love. She even lucks into a spot as the circus's fortune teller, reading tarot cards and making predictions.

But then Lexi's ex-best friend from home shows up, and suddenly it's Lexi's own future that's thrown into question.

With humor, wisdom, and a dazzlingly fresh voice, this debut reminds us of the magic of circus tents, city lights, first kisses, and the importance of an excellent playlist.

Review

 

     Self-proclaimed teenage music snob and outcast Lexi Ryan (formerly known as Xandra) is forced to leave behind her life in New York City to find her long estranged Mom, when her Dad dies in a tragic accident and she's left without money or options.  Due to a huge mistake Lexi made with her best friend Eli, she is more than happy to leave the city and start over again - even if it is with a broken heart.  Arriving at the circus where her Mom was supposed to be, Lexi finds out that she isn't there anymore and is left trying to scrounge a job and place to live from the ringmaster while she looks for her Mom.  Soon finding her niche as the resident fortune teller and friends in the ringmaster's teenage daughters, who are trapeze artists, Lexi is discovering who she is and what she wants to do with her life.  But it all might come crashing down when someone from her past finds her and she finally comes face to face with her Mom.  Can Lexi build a life for herself with the best parts of the new and the old? 

     Lexi as a character struck me as an odd mixture between self-hating, superior know-it-all and insecure outcast.   But surprisingly enough, she didn't get on my nerves as a main character.  Her snarky wit and jack-of-all-trades persona appealed to me and I enjoyed her voyage of self discovery throughout the novel.  Although I hated her romantic decisions and the guy she ends up with happens as an atrocious plot device/twist that really annoyed me as a reader.  Probably the worst thing in this entire book was the bouncy castle of romantic relationships and feelings!   Lexi's relationship with Eli really pissed me off.  He's supposedly her best friend, but as soon as he started dating Bailey he ignored and treated her like crap 99% of the time.  But because he still gave her little bits of his time, Lexi was convinced it was all 'evil' Bailey's fault as the shallow girlfriend.  It couldn't be because, I don't know, Eli is a complete douchebag???  The whole 'mistake' between them re-inforces this belief.  And the ending completely doesn't fit in with this obvious fact of his character.  Jamie, the guy on crew at the circus who shared a kiss with Lexi was described as a player, with a string of broken hearts behind him.  So color me confused when he immediately latches on to Lina (the girl who has been in love with him and he has ignored) and becomes a one-girl kind of guy!  Also the relationship with Nicolae was too similar to insta-love and never felt like it had any true depth.  It felt like the characters were going through the motions.

     If it feels like I'm mega focused on the romance, let me get to the actual plot and execution.  The book was very unbelievable in it's overall plot.  Yes, I can get behind a girl going to find her Mom at the circus.  It has awesome potential.  What made no sense was the complete lack of grief or any emotion resembling it from Lexi for her dead Dad.  Also, yeah right!  Like no social worker, school counselor or other officially inclined adult is gonna stop a 17 year old from dropping out of school, being evicted and traveling from New York to Florida by herself.  Can you say 'foster home'?  The resolution of the lifetime of pain, betrayal and anger sitting between Lexi and her Mom, along with the ease and quickness she accepts her Mom's version of the divorce/abandonment, pissed me off.  Plus, for a book supposedly about a girl trying to find her Mom it spends an awful lot of energy on a love triangle that is weak as a best case scenario.  I was more interested in the time Lexi spent and the circus and her friendships with the trapeze sisters Lina and Liska.  Both of those side characters intrigued me and they were fleshed out characters with dreams, disappointments and feelings of their own.  I felt like they were in and out of the plot, only there when it was convenient for Lexi to pay attention to them.  The lack of interest on Lexi's part towards finding her Mom after she gets to the circus, coupled with the fact that her Dad left all his money to his cheating ex-wife, with no provision for his supposedly beloved daughter, who he was a single parent to for over a decade, really took the cake and was almost more than I could take as a reader.  It just made no sense whatsoever.

     While I did feel the magic and mystery of the circus setting, I felt that the author didn't give enough details or descriptive scenes/moments about the circus to really connect or picture the setting other than in a vague sort of way.  It wasn't at all like other circus books I've read where you can picture everything that's happening in high definition and Technicolor.  I guess it was ideal for those who want to insert themselves into the book, but to me it was lacking something.  I just am disappointed that this book really waffled between what it was aiming for and what it actually achieved in terms of plot and character development especially.  I actually felt like Lexi's character had taken steps back by the ending, instead of forward.  This book was like cotton candy, nice and fluffy with some fun moments and some feel good ones.  But it had no lasting effect on me and too many inconsistencies to really make my day.  The alternating between present day and flashbacks before the tragedy and the 'mistake' do add some extra development to the story, but can be jarring.  Sometimes right when you immerse yourself into a certain setting or event, the time and place shifts abruptly to something very different.  The quotes from songs and the songs used for chapter titles were a fun touch though.  They represented Lexi in a fun (sometimes cheesy) was that I loved.  Overall a fun read, but if you have hang ups about cheating or are expecting something really deep it may not be for you. 

 

VERDICT:  2.75/5  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 April 1st, 2013.*

W.A.R....What Is It Good For?

Expected Publication:  July 2nd, 2013
This Is W.A.R.
By: Lisa Roecker & Laura Roecker
Soho Teen
ISBN-13:  9781616952617

This is W.A.R. begins with a victim who can no longer speak for herself, and whose murder blossoms into a call-to-arms.  Enter four very different girls, four very different motives to avenge Willa Ames-Rowan, and only one rule to start: Destroy James Gregory and his family at any cost.  Willa's initials spell the secret rallying cry that spurs the foursome to pool their considerable resources and deliver their particular brand of vigilante justice.  Innocence is lost, battles are won—and the pursuit of the truth ultimately threatens to destroy them all.

Review

 

     Everyone knows that James Gregory murdered Willa Ames-Rowan, but no one is willing to speak out against the most powerful family in town.  Those who go against the Gregorys tend to disappear or have bad things happen to them.  But Willa's best friends have had enough and are determined to exact justice for themselves, if the police won't take any real action.  Rose wants to help because she regrets not letting herself really be Willa's friend and also, she is feeling guilty from lying to her police detective Father about what she happened to see.  Rose joins forces with Lina, Sloane, and Madge to punish who they believe to be guilty - but when the truth is exposed what decision is truly the one to honor Willa's memory? 

     I feel like this one was a mixed bag for me personally as a reader.  I actually had originally thought this book sounded like a modern interpretation of An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser.  It seemed like more of a cross between that book, the Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepard and with a hint of John Tucker Must Die.  The beginning gives the last moments of Willa as she is being drowned and then cuts to Rose's narration of the aftermath (for some reason Rose's voice reminded me of the unnamed second wife in Rebecca - in the best way possible) scene at the exclusive Club they all frequent.  Rose's point of view caught me the most because she was completely on the fringes, with only a slight connection to Willa.  Her Mom is a club employee and her Dad is a cop.  But her interactions with the other girls made her my favorite character by far.  Lina is a complicated, tattooed girl with no one who cares about her, except for her friends.  Madge, Willa's stepsister, is the most vengeful and zealous of all the girls when it comes to waging W.A.R. and avenging Willa's murder.  Her intensity and overall bitchiness for a major portion of the novel kept me waffling as to whether or not I liked her character.  Sloane is basically the stereotypical smart Asian girl, except she got there by faking it and cheating in school.  Willa was the only person who believed in her enough to help her try to do things the right way.

     Plot in this novel starts out intriguing and full of wonderful ambiguity, but quickly devolves into something more teen 'movie of the week-esque.'    The girls' revenge ideas for James and his demented brother Trip are juvenile at best and completely ridiculous at worst.  They have $75,000 at their disposal and the best they can come up with is hormone therapy, nude picture scandals, and stealing Cartier watches to auction on eBay.  And they naively seem to think that these things are enough 'bad behavior' for the brothers to be disinherited based on a morality clause in their Grandfather's will.  Yeah, whatever!  I could barely suspend my disbelief on that part.  Also, a lot of the girls' plotting sessions, interactions with each other and thought patterns were extremely shallow and didn't move too far past the clichéd 'killing for the money' trope.  Some of the conversations between James, Trip and their Grandfather (any combo thereof) were pretty chilling though.  It was entirely predictable, but had a very nice tone to most of the novel.  My only real confusion was over the ending.  I won't give any details, but suffice it to say that the prose was beautiful, but nonsensical in relation to the plot (at least in my opinion).  The characters were decently developed, but my favorite was a tie between Lina (who was a truly good person) and Rose, who was completely loyal to the girls who became her friends.  Sloane's emphasized stupidity really bothered me though.  It's like the authors felt it necessary to emulate all the stereotypes in one fell swoop.  Overall a decent read that keeps you guessing at the details of the ending, even if you know most of it already.  This would be a good beach read for the summer, nice and relaxing with more fluff than anticipated.

 

VERDICT:  3.5/5  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 July 2nd, 2013.*

My Bloody Valentine

Published:  April 9th, 2013
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Sleepy Hollow
By: Dan Wickline
Zenescope Entertainment
ISBN-13:  9781937068813

A legend is about to become all-too real! When a prank goes deadly wrong, those responsible will learn the truth behind the legend as the Headless Horseman returns to exact a horrifying vengeance none will never forget! From the writer of Salem's Daughter: The Haunting comes a tale of horror and terror that will leave you on the edge of your seats. Hold on to your hats...and your head!

Review

 

     This story is yet another version of the ever infamous American folk-tale, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.  In this one, it was fiction but based upon true events involving the ancestor of the protagonist.  A soldier was led out to a ditch and beheaded by some traitors from his regiment.  He became the headless horseman.  The horseman's descendant is Craig, an avid history student at the local college, who is kidnapped by the basketball team who want him to give the answers to a test so one of the players can keep his scholarship.  When Craig refuses, they tie him to what they think are abandoned train tracks.  So of course he gets beheaded by an oncoming train.  The team covers up the incident, but when they begin to be picked off one-by-one, in brutal beheadings they're forced to admit that maybe The Legend of Sleepy Hollow isn't such a legend after all.  I absolutely LOVED the historical aspect of this that explained the 'true' story of Ichabod Crane and Brom von Brunt.  It was a plausible story of what the truth could be, if Sleepy Hollow was based on some factual events/people.  And the artwork for those panels was wonderful, with just the right combination of creepy and colorful.  The plot set in the present day was very clichéd and predictable.  Not necessarily in a bad way, but also not in a really good way either.  It was a very horror movie of the month story.  The main character is betrayed by people close to him and comes back for revenger a killer with powers from Hell itself.  I did enjoy it all the same, but the ending left me feeling very ambivalent in general.  I prefer to be wowed by a book, rather than to just like it in an 'okay' way.  The artwork throughout was very well done and even though there was a lot of violence and gore (almost gratuitous) but with a Headless Horseman as the killer that's no surprise.  Plus the author has written for the 30 Days of Night series.  Enough said right there.  Overall, a graphic novel/comic that had great potential and I feel that it only partially achieved what it was capable of.  A fun quick read, but don't be expecting a complicated or involved plotline.  All the same, I'd recommend it for any Sleepy Hollow fan. 

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 was published April 9th, 2013.*