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A Fantastic Prequel to Graceling!
Eighteen-year-old Fire lives in a world where she and certain animals and insects are known as "monsters." But they are not monsters in the way we normally associate with that word. They are all gorgeous, particularly...more
A Fantastic Prequel to Graceling!
Eighteen-year-old Fire lives in a world where she and certain animals and insects are known as "monsters." But they are not monsters in the way we normally associate with that word. They are all gorgeous, particularly in the exotic color of their hair, fur or skin. And the most astoundingly beautiful of all are human monsters like Fire. Fire was named for her most remarkable feature, long, lustrous hair which is predominantly red, but in reality is made up of multiple colors not found among regular humans, such that it is like rainbow-hued flame. The beauty of monsters, human and non-human, serves to entrance human prey. But far more dangerous than their seductive beauty is the ability of monsters to hypnotically sway the minds and hearts of humans. This innate talent is strongest of all in a human monster like Fire, who is able to not only manipulate the emotions of animals and humans, but to shape their thoughts as well, thereby gaining control over them.
Fire inherited this gift from her monster father. He used his magical powers for evil and encouraged her from earliest childhood to do the same. But Fire made a vow to herself long ago that she would never go down her father's dark path, and she's kept that promise ever since. Until the moment arrives when the king and prince of her kingdom desperately need her to help them protect the people of their country from the invasion of an enormously strong enemy army.
I absolutely loved Graceling, even though I normally don't much like sword-and-sorcery type fantasy, because the book is brilliantly done. In fact, I loved it so much, I was initially sorely disappointed to hear that this book is a prequel, not a sequel, to Graceling. But within pages of diving into Fire, I became every bit as enthralled with this story as Graceling.
Fire's personality is completely different than Katsa's, but they have some strong similarities. The main one is that both have magical powers, and each sees herself as an isolated freak in her society. In both books, Cashore also uses flashbacks to give us crucial glimpses of her heroines' formative years and the main influences that shaped their character. In both societies, women have access to birth control that gives them a degree of control over their fate that is not usually associated with pre-pharmaceutical historical eras. In both stories, the heroines have a powerful growth arc across their story, both in their understanding of and ability to use and control their magical powers, and, even more importantly, in their understanding of themselves as fierce young women who will stop at nothing to protect those they love--especially helpless children and animals. In both Fire and Graceling, there is a wonderful romantic subplot. Though the personality of the love interest in Fire is very different than Po in Graceling, he's equally appealing in his own way. Finally, though Fire, like Graceling, is primarily a magic-based "coming of age" story, with all the internal conflict and mental confusion that entails, there is plenty of action and adventure to keep fans of exciting, external conflict happy.
I highly recommend this book not only to teens, but to adults who enjoy fantasy novels with strong characters and excellent, tight plotting. It's a joy to read from start to finish.(less)
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Review of Kindle edition, social drama for young teens about bullying
Daisy Rose Brown is a 14-year-old freshman who has been the victim of bullying at school for years, beginning shortly after the death of her mother. She is determined to make a fres...more
Review of Kindle edition, social drama for young teens about bullying
Daisy Rose Brown is a 14-year-old freshman who has been the victim of bullying at school for years, beginning shortly after the death of her mother. She is determined to make a fresh start in high school and to reinvent herself.
Daisy has a very sad, tragic life, and as someone who rarely reads social dramas and much prefers comedy, I personally found this story very depressing. However, many readers enjoy sad stories, and I would not grade it down for that reason, especially since Daisy has a strong growth arc and the book has a positive, hopeful ending. The author also does a very good job of illustrating just how destructive bullying is by showing Daisy bullied by two main girls, from two different extremes of the social spectrum.
I read the Kindle edition of this book. The formatting and editing are well done.
I would rate this story as follows:
Heroine: 4 stars
Subcharacters: 4 stars
Writing: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Overall: 4 stars(less)
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Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker. I received a copy through Simon & Schuster's Galley Grab (the link was tweeted by the author and I still have it, if any Galley Grab members want it). My "ladies can't fucking swear my ass" shelf? Is att...
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Nobody knows this, but Simon and Schuster has built a YA fiction robot, Codename: Rebecca Serle. All they need to do is feed pages of existing works into the bot’s built-in scanner, and it will automatically process the data and import it into its...
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 This book is a real snarkfest, in fact I kind of wish someone other than me was reviewing this right now, I have a good many friends who could really go to town on this one. The author successfully manages to be sexist to both men and women, indu...
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"In my experience there are only a handful of reasons for murder....Jealousy, vengeance, greed, fear and pleasure....Some killers enjoy the kill....For them it is a great game, and for the most part they are the ones I hunt."
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Amanda Quick
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Book 1 in a new Jayne Ann Krentz paranormal, historical, romantic-suspense trilogy
Evangeline Ames is a spinster by the social standards of Victorian England. She believes she has little chance of ever marrying because her father, an obsessed inventor...more
Book 1 in a new Jayne Ann Krentz paranormal, historical, romantic-suspense trilogy
Evangeline Ames is a spinster by the social standards of Victorian England. She believes she has little chance of ever marrying because her father, an obsessed inventor, left her penniless when he committed suicide a few years after Evangeline's mother's death. Fortunately, after years of struggle, Evangeline has come into her own. She has a budding career writing "sensation" novels which are serialized in a newspaper, and she works as a paranormal "private inquiry agent," the historical equivalent of a modern private investigator (PI). She has the paranormal ability of being able to find anything, whether it is something lost, or some information that a criminal wants to hide. She works for an agency run by two women whose three investigators are all women with paranormal talents (the "ladies of Lantern Street" of the series title). The agency's primary clients are wealthy women who require a discrete investigation into men who might potentially be out to bilk either them or their heirs.
Since Evangeline always works in disguise, rendering her presumably invisible and anonymous to the people she investigates, prior to her most recent investigation, she did not consider her work dangerous. But not long before the story began, someone tried to murder her. Though she successfully defended herself (using means that I can't reveal without a spoiler), it was a tremendous shock. She has come to the small village of Little Digby for a dual purpose, to recover from the trauma of the attack and also to have uninterrupted time to work on her current novel, which has stringent deadlines for regularly delivering chapters to her publisher.
At the moment the story opens, Evangeline is struggling with writer's block and boredom. The only interesting thing in the neighborhood is the estate her cottage is attached to. Its gardens are notorious in the area for their weird and deadly plants which, rumor has it, killed the former owner. In spite of--or perhaps because of--these frightening tales, Evangeline has been gingerly exploring the outer areas of the estate, using her paranormal abilities to protect herself from stumbling into trouble with a garden that, she discovers to her delight, actually is infused with potent, paranormal energy.
As it turns out, it is extremely fortunate she has been trespassing into the mysterious estate, because another would-be murderer invades her home, and Evangeline flees from him onto the mystical estate grounds. There she encounters her landlord for the first time, the current owner of the estate, Lucas Sebastian. He helps Evangeline head off the murderer, and in the process each learns that the other has paranormal abilities, something neither has ever before encountered in the opposite sex.
I've been a fan of Jayne Ann Krentz's contemporary and futuristic romances for many years, but I did not begin reading her historical romances written as Amanda Quick until she added paranormal elements to them with tie-ins to her contemporary, Arcane Society books. I enjoyed the Arcane historical romances so much, I went back and read all the Amanda Quick historicals I had missed and thoroughly enjoyed them all.
Crystal Gardens is not directly part of the Arcane world in that none of the previous Arcane Society characters appear within it and the Arcane Society itself is never mentioned. However, the book's paranormal elements have similar names and functions to those in the Arcane series, so those who are fans of Krentz's Arcane books should enjoy this story.
In this book, Krentz employs a fan-favorite structure that she has used in essentially every one of her romantic-suspense novels: the hero and heroine meet, discover that each has a mystery to solve, that their mysteries are somehow tied together and, after much (often humorous) back-and-forth, stop fighting against each other and join forces. Besides this book, Krentz has also written multiple other historical romances set in Victorian England in which either the hero, heroine or both are PI's, and it is a theme that works well within the romantic suspense genre.
Evangeline is a classic Krentz heroine. She is independent, morally staunch, and determined to the point of bullheaded stubbornness. Best of all, she is as willing and capable as the hero of being a positive, protective warrior, which is demonstrated by her regularly defending herself, the hero, and helpless victims from the depredations of the villain.
In this story, as in all Krentz's novels, the heroine and hero are fascinatingly unique to the point of being eccentric--a tendency that is amplified in Krentz's paranormal novels by the addition of magical powers to the mix. The unconventional abilities and goals of Krentz's protagonists have inevitably led to isolation and loneliness, and in each other they experience for the first time real understanding, appreciation and acceptance. This is a huge reason why Krentz's romances are never just festivals of sexual chemistry. Instead, they always present a vital meeting of minds and spirits between the protagonists, making it possible for the reader to truly believe what all romance novels aim for (and many fail to achieve), that the protagonists are "soul mates" destined for each other.
I personally find Krentz's overt use of recurrent themes and plot structures to be an asset, not a liability. It makes her a dependably entertaining writer. She knows how to write romantic suspense, and she does it well, every time. In addition, her characters are always strong, and their blood relations and families of affiliation can be counted on to provide entertaining and emotionally satisfying interactions, whether they are acting as mentors, allies, or humorously subverting the protagonists with "friendly fire." Most of all, readers can count on Krentz for her skill as a writer. Her use of paranormal elements is logically consistent, and her command of language is smooth, clear, and never calls irritating attention to itself with gimmicky flourishes. In short, her writing gets out of the way and lets the story take center stage.
I rate this novel as follows:
Heroine: 4
Hero: 4
Subcharacters: 4
Fantasy World-Building: 4
Romance Plot: 4
Action-Adventure Plot: 4
Writing: 5
Overall: 4(less)
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Young adult science-fiction thriller with star-crossed lovers
When Janelle Tenner is brought back from the dead by a guy named Ben from her school, whom she's never talked to and previously viewed as an alienated stoner, no one believes her when she s...more
Young adult science-fiction thriller with star-crossed lovers
When Janelle Tenner is brought back from the dead by a guy named Ben from her school, whom she's never talked to and previously viewed as an alienated stoner, no one believes her when she says she died. The doctors at the hospital talk about how weird it is that she isn't paralyzed and how they can't figure out how her spine healed from an obvious injury. But they don't believe in miracles and neither her best friend nor her FBI-agent father assume she was anything but lucky.
Janelle has practically raised her brother, who is three years younger than her 17 years, since her mother became bipolar around the time of Janelle's third birthday. Even as a preschooler, Janelle's innate sense of responsibility pushed her to take over the care of her brother. Janelle loves her father, but he is rarely around because of the demands of his job. Naturally curious, Janelle has frequently spied on her father's notes in his home office about his cases, and the one he is working on currently is almost as weird as Janelle's miraculous healing. People are turning up dead, burned unrecognizably from radiation, but no one can figure out what has happened to them. Even more terrifying is the fact that an unknown improvised explosive devise (UIED) is counting down to some horrible destruction, but no one can figure out how to disarm it.
The structure of this book is a series of chapters ranging from short to very short, each headed by countdown numbers, starting from 24 days, 14 minutes and 32 seconds until, presumably, the end of the world. Janelle is a strong, compelling, very active protagonist. The fact that she just keeps on going and never gives up and is utterly loyal and devoted to those she loves makes her a very sympathetic heroine. Ben is also a strong character and a very appealing love interest. I particularly enjoyed that there is no love triangle!
I don't usually like science fiction, but the author is an excellent writer, and she does a good job making the science she uses accessible such that it doesn't overwhelm the story yet seems plausible within the story's construction.
I am relieved to learn, from visiting the author's website, that there is a sequel to this story, but this will only be a duology, not a trilogy. The author states in her FAQ page that she originally intended this to be a stand-alone book, but her publisher urged her to write a sequel. Perhaps they did that because the ending of this book is quite dark. I am happy to report there is not a cliffhanger ending. The plot arc of this book is logically and carefully resolved. I was quite relieved about that since I number among those readers who find cliffhangers quite irritating in YA series books.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 4
Romance Plot: 4
Subcharacters: 4
Science-Fiction Plot: 4
Writing: 5
Overall: 4
Disclosure: I got this book through Amazon's Vine review program.(less)
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The Between
by
L.J. Cohen (Goodreads Author)
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Exciting adventures in the magical world of the Fae
Seventeen-year-old Lydia is a quiet, studious girl living a perfectly normal life with her pleasant parents and adorable younger siblings until the day a handsome but strange young man begins stalkin...more
Exciting adventures in the magical world of the Fae
Seventeen-year-old Lydia is a quiet, studious girl living a perfectly normal life with her pleasant parents and adorable younger siblings until the day a handsome but strange young man begins stalking her at her school. Lydia is at her wits end as to what to do about him when one day, on her school bus, he saves her from a terrifying, black cloud of menacing beings called Darklings. Clive, a Fae of the Bright Court, has dragged Lydia to the Between, a world between the land of Faerie and the mortal world, and nothing will ever be the same again for Lydia, who discovers she is anything but a normal girl.
I enjoyed the author's use of alternating points of view of Clive and Lydia. For those who enjoy stories of the Fae, this will be an exciting journey into the world of King Oberon and Queen Titania of the Bright and Dark Courts respectively. Clive and Lydia are more friends and allies than romantic partners, which is an unusual and interesting treatment of a male/female relationship in young adult (YA) fiction. I enjoyed the psychological journey of these two main protagonists every bit as much as the action and adventure of the plot.
This story is well-written, and the Kindle edition of this book, which is what I read, is excellently edited and formatted.
People who enjoyed Kersten Hamilton's YA series about the Fae, Goblin Wars, will especially appreciate this book.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 5
Hero: 5
Subcharacters: 5
Fantasy World-Building: 5
Writing: 5
Friendship Plot: 5
Overall: 5(less)
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The Selection
by
Kiera Cass (Goodreads Author)
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Book 1 in a new YA dystopian romance trilogy
Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book through Amazon's Vine review program.
This book has been pitched by the publisher as a cross between The Bachelor and The Hunger Games, and that certainly see...more
Book 1 in a new YA dystopian romance trilogy
Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book through Amazon's Vine review program.
This book has been pitched by the publisher as a cross between The Bachelor and The Hunger Games, and that certainly seems to be the case. Seventeen-year-old America Singer lives in a dystopian world with a caste system in which each level of society has a number from 1-8. America is Level 5, and the boy she is madly in love with, Aspen, is Level 6. Only the upper echelons are allowed to use any birth control other than abstinence, and this might be why sex before marriage is outlawed, though the reason for the law is not overtly explained in this book. The lower levels of the population are worked practically to death in servile, underpaid jobs, and they make so little money and have such large families (due to no birth control), that they don't have enough to eat. As a result, they often die young from the combined effects of exhaustion and malnutrition.
As I read all this at the beginning of the book, I thought this book would be about the people revolting against their horribly oppressive government. However, rather than being picked to fight to the death in a gladiator-style realty show featuring preteens and teenagers as in Hunger Games, America is selected as one of 35 attractive, young women from all levels of society to participate in a Bachelor-style reality show in which they vie to become the bride of the country's handsome, young Prince Maxon.
For readers who like romantic triangles in young adult (YA) fiction, this book definitely has one. In fact, the romantic triangle is at the core of the entire story.
For readers who are fans of reality shows like The Bachelor, this book's premise will be quite enjoyable.
For readers who like lots of violent action in YA dystopians, as occurs in Hunger Games, this book is not what you are looking for. But those who enjoyed Matched by Ally Condie will very likely greatly appreciate this story.
The writing itself is smooth and the characters convincingly drawn. Both of the heroine's romantic interests are attractive, sensitive and sexy, though neither is given a chance to be particularly heroic in the plot of this first book in the trilogy. However, the end of this book does create a setup for the next two books in the series that promises much more potential action and chances for the two male leads to shine. So there is great hope for fans of this series to have plenty of opportunities to root for either Team Aspen or Team Maxon, a pastime dear to the hearts of YA paranormal romance fans since The Twilight Saga entered the marketplace.
I rate this book in this way:
Heroine: 4
Fantasy World-Building: 3
Writing: 4
Romance Plot: 4
Overall: 4(less)
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3.64 avg rating — 55 ratings
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2011
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4 editions
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